What got you interested in radio?

[iiiquaziii]

I'm just curious where everyone came from?

I come from a moderate electronics background. I went to BOCES for a technical education for 2 years, and got a cert, than went to college at Bryant and Statton for "Technical Electronics" which was basically a 2 year degree in circuit design/troubleshooting. I did a couple local jobs in the field and quickly discovered this was no good for any kind of money, but neat education as a hobby. My buddy Kube (KD2GOE) had a couple of CB radios in High School, and I had one too with a huge antenna mounted to my house on a tower. We didn't really know what we were doing then though, and I never really had much luck....and probably burned out the finals in a couple radios....lol

So I went into IT/Communications. I havent really messed with component level stuff in 11 or 12 years.....totally lost interest, and forgot knowledge.

My dad used to fix electronics on a component level for a living, and my grandpa who was/is a ham was an engineer.... Grandpa is getting up into his 90's though and looking to unload some stuff as he's slowing down, so he hooked me up with his vintage Drake TR7. My same buddy from before (KD2GOE) is becoming a serious RF head, so he's been trying to get me back into CB for a few years....and the last year or so "ham". I tried a couple CB radios and antennas, but am having best luck with my grandpas stuff so far. My buddy is sorta getting me interested in it all over again. I just passed my tech and general and am waiting for my license.

What I think is really cool about the hobby is that you can build stuff, and see it work yourself. Simple stuff. I mean we did this stuff 45 years ago to talk to the guys on the moon....way before microprocessors and silicon valley...its been around even before that. Most people would say it's obsolete, but computers and internet have made the knowledge more available, and combining computers/networking with oldschool radio is cool....Its like discovering the dawn of wifi all over again by yourself. I'm particularly interested in rtty and sstv and sending pics and data. If you know what you're doing you can MacGiver anything, even with old gear. Math has meaning in the real world again. Things you do really matter on a physical level, and some seriously scientific stuff is happening.....It's just neat.

I don't know, I ramble. Anyways, I'm a noob still, and my name is Matt. I'm 32 yrs old in Buffalo NY. Getting more interested the more I read.

 

[Charlie337]

Same way here Matt..it all started when i got a scanner for my birthday in the single digits. It has progressed and regressed over the years but I always come back to it..Id like to incorporate this with my first true love, aviation..one step at a time..thanks for sharing your story.

 

[iiiquaziii]

You're a flyer, huh? My uncle Bob is a flyer too. He was an electronics engineer before he went into professional flying. He took me and my dad for a airborne tour over the grand canyon and the hoover dam and the Elvis green and stuff since he lives in Las Vegas. He's been working in Afghanistan lately as a civilian pilot. I don't particularly like flying, it hurts my head/ears. I've had a 3 surgeries on my sinuses, and its uncomfortable to say the least, but he's a flight instructor too and he let me and my dad fly the plane a little bit over the desert, and I had a blast.

 

[Charlie337]

Student pilot myself with a whopping 27hrs built although my old man was a pilot himself and have been around things with wings all my life heh..its a blast for sure.

 

[Cookie55]

I got my hands on an old tube AM radio and would listen to the clear channel stations coming in at night, made me want to be a DJ. Back in the 60's I saw a FM transmitter kit in the Green stamp catalog, talked my grandmother out of enough books to get it.
That's what got me started since the kit didn't work after I built it, that got me interested in figuring out how to fix stuff.

 

[309hellinois]

I used to drive a straight truck hauling tile and setting materials. I bought my first two radios to run in the freightliner. I progressed to a Lil Wil for the mobile with a Cobra 29.
I've owned quite a few cobras since and a few others. I got bit by the ssb bug and only use AM for travel and talking to locals now.
The more I've learned about 11 meter, the more I want to get my ticket and expand my choices.

 

[wavrider]

wanted to build antennas, got my ticket so i could experiment on different antennas.

 

[Singularity35]

Dunno, my father was a small town politician. One election he had a radio in his car. Since I saw them in movies, I tried pressing the PTT and talking into the mike. Somebody told me to get off the air. I was around 5 years old then. Since then, I've always been attracted to radios.

 

[Garrett Kennedy]

CB radios - back in the 70's ... when Hams were a tad elitist and somewhat less than welcoming .... fortunately it didn't put me off ... After I got my first AM CB, I wanted an SSB rig. Then I wanted a 'base' antenna and put a Cobra GTL2000 in the house (I didn't know that constituted a 'shack' at that time ... from there I became interested in building better antennae and chasing DX .... eventually the Hams dropped the requirement to pass a morse exam as an entry qualification and recently I did the exam - now I'm a Ham - and the irony of the story? ... I'm now actually interested in and learning morse .... hehehehe

 

[BettysNephew]

My Boy Scout leader was a ham and got me interested in electronics in the late 1950's/early 1960's. I got my license earlier this year (another of those no code Extras ruining the hobby) after retiring and I am trying to learn code now out of respect to him. I have made a very decent living due to his inspiration and feel it is only right to take the time to be able to understand CW. It is very difficult for me to learn, but I will. RIP WA0AMD.

 

[LDG]

Survival communications. Most know what is coming.
Think NVIS.

 

[RatsoW8]

Even as a toddler I would stand in the yard with my little fishing pole looking at the trees not knowing why. Then I found ham radio

 

[222DBFL]

Father was a Sheriff Officer for the county we live in. At 5 or 6 I did what singularity35 did and pushed the PTT, thankfully my father knew the lady at communications center and it was okay, but never did again!! Later in life at like 18-19, my friend bought a Cadillac that had a cb radio built into it. Anyway, we would mess with the locals and such. My friends dad then got interested and made friends with all the locals. He ended up placing a 75ft tower up with a Shakespeare Big Stick I think that is what it was. He had a 2510 for a base and a tube amp that did like 500 watts I think. Anyway he got really into it and as time went by a couple years later around 1999 or so, I got the bug. First radio was a cobra 19 and a monkey made coil antenna mounted on trunk on an 87 Honda Accord. I ended up trading antenna for a long shaft single coil, the big Jon. After that is was an 89 Jeep Cherokee that I had a 1 x2 driving an 8 pill built by a guy named 54 Steele out of Jax, FL. His little trademark was a copper bullet soldered to the copper board. Used a Breedlove mount and raidios I went through so many, but ended up with a Northstar 4400, same as Galaxy 44. Also had 2 DEKA Unigy 2 150amp batts behind back seat. Had to get air shocks for the rear due to the weight lol. But those batts never let me down ever!!!

 

[Moleculo]

I got my first exposure to CB when I was a little kid going with my folks and grandparents on a 5 week road trip from California to Massachusetts and back. We used CB for comms between the cars. Forgot all about it until later in life when some offroad buddies told me I needed to put a CB in my jeep to talk to the other guys on the trail. As a techie, when the CB didn't work so well, I wanted to learn why and all about it. Then I found out how unreliable a CB is for emergency communications when you're out in the desert or mountains with no cell service, at which time I started investing ham radio. It's been a fun ride.

 

[binrat]

My parents were into cb during the craze in the 70's. I would hangout at the coffee breaks etc with some other teens drinking everything except coffee.
Meet a lot of good people back then and a certain red head cb'r broke me into life shall we say.
A few years later I joined the local Army Res Unit and after basic training and my time on the guns I took a communicators course and ended up in the Battery CP operating 3 radios at once. After awhile got moved to other jobs, no more communicating for me.
Got away from it until around 2000 when I meet my current XYL who had a cb in her 3/4 ton pick up. We went on a roadtrip south and found just how much I missed it.
I put a cb in my truck and when a few boys at the base saw the antenna, and then it started (they were both hams). Finally switched to the darkside and took a basic ham course with the local club. Wrote my test and got 98% which gave me HF privileges. A year later I wrote my advanced with around 90% for more power. Been having fun and spending ever since.