What got you interested in radio?

[Blackcat630]

For me it started with a 10 channel scanner when I was about 10 or 11. It just fascinating me. I would sit in front of it at the kitchen table for hours with a list of 10 codes and a note pad...Then about a year later I got a midland hand held cb. I found some locals on a couple channels that were very welcoming. I then moved up to a couple old mobiles and a 102 whip mounted above mom and dad's tv antenna. Then I discovered ssb and dx....I was really hooked then. Found a great friend a couple years older than me that encouraged me to get my ticket. Got the no code tech and played for a year or two...then I discovered girls, cars, booze, girls. Took a 15 yr break. Now I'm settled down..upgraded to general couple years ago. Now I think I'm more interested in the hobby then ever. Still working on putting my station together. It's coming along slowly but surely. One thing is for sure, once the bug bit me it never left completely.

 

[The War Wagon]

CB radios in movies & TV fascinated me as a kid. My first truck was a '79 Bronco I bought in '87. Was commuting 110 miles round trip a day then, so I put my first CB in it. Traveled all throughout the southeast at the time as a textile engineer, & ^&*%&^$^#^@ cellphones hadn't been invented, so it was still THE way to communicate on the road.

I later went to work in commercial radio in the early '90's - was an AOR jock in NC and later MS, but always enjoyed amateur radio more. When I got my Jeep Commander in 2011 (my first truck in 21 years!), I was all about getting my CB and a scanner setup in it, although I probably listen to the scanner more than the CB in the big city. Ditto the setup in my Ramcharger, although I'll get more use out of the CB offroad.

Will get off my lazy butt SOMEDAY, and figure out ham radio... eventually... Leaves me something still to learn!

 

[W4KVW]

Started playing with CB's in 1965 at age 5 & I've been hooked ever since.Still enjoy CB every now & then & lots of Ham Radio these days since I have retired.Been in Ham Radio since 1994 it's been a lot of fun so far.

 

[Atlasta]

What got me into radio? Nothing- I just was. It was something that I honestly feel I was born to do.

From the earliest age I was drawn to radio. While other kids went to sleep with Teddy Bears I had a six-transistor Panasonic and stations from all over. Being fortunate enough to live in the Northeast during the 60s and 70s exposed me to some of the great air personalities during the heyday of AM radio. If i stood on the roof of my house I could see the tower for WABC.

By '74 I was studying for my Novice ticket but got sidetracked by CB radio which was a lot easier to get OTA with. Spent the better part of the next 40 years in and out of CB, all the while amassing a collection of radios that borders on a hoard. That is where I was when a local ham finally convinced me to to get my ticket in December of last year.

About 3 weeks ago I upgraded to General- and I can honestly say that I am experiencing the same level of enjoyment and excitement on HF that I had when I first signed on to CB so very many years ago.

Only problem now is I will likely start a similar collection of ham equipment- and I don't really have room for it!!

 

[Tallman]

I wanted to know how the magic worked inside. My first enticement was a very old crystal radio that used no electrical power. Just one diode, a coil and a capacitor. I think that's all that was inside. It had an earphone and a alligator clip that you just attached to a metal structure adjust the coil and you had music and news in your ear.

It was magic because nobody I knew could explain it.

 

[Bearcat]

I was a 70's kid...smokey n the bandit ect...then I started CB hunts as a teen..girls and beer and 4x4 trucks..steel whips ..ect.thats when all the old timers had tube radios and big base stations

 

[Blackcat630]

..girls and beer and 4x4 trucks..steel whips ..ect.

This statement brings up memories. ..miss those days!

 

[midnight special]

mid 60s dad and mom had an old cathedral radio that i would listen to late at night,,,then was given a walkie talkie set that only one worked but listened to it constantly it recieved very broad banded,,,,then as years went on cb came in and won a hygain 2 at a skeet shoot that was 1975 been cbing ever since,, 1995 studied and got my tech and of course that helped me with my main interest build and experiment with antennas,,, just renewed my ham ticket,,,,cb scanning swling ham been into all of it,,,when i was working every time the company i worked for bought new radios they brought them to me to be programmed...another business found out this and wanted me to install business band antennas for them did good as a second job for a while,,, now retired and most times have 2 or 3 radios going on at once,,