The Early Years

I thought I'd put a little something out there about my ham radio adventures.

While I've wanted to become licensed for many years (since I was in my 30s), it just never got to the top of my priorities. However, in late 2015, I noticed that the ARRL was going to significantly raise membership prices, including that of a Life Member. My calculation showed that I would "break-even" in about 20 years so I wanted to go for the Life membership. I bit the bullet (tube?) and joined the ARRL - and I wasn't even licensed yet!

I found a club locally (I was living in Salem, Oregon at the time) and joined that in late January 2016. I finally took the Technician exam in early February and passed easily and I was now a licensed Ham Operator although I didn't have any radios yet.

The then-president of that club became my Elmer (mentor) and helped me through the early days, getting a radio (Yaesu FTM-100DR), a 2-meter band antenna (a Tram 1481), and a power supply. I mounted the antenna on the wall of my shop so it was about 15 ft above ground.