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, a 2-meter band antenna, and a power supply. Once I was on our net, I focused on an HF radio, ultimately getting a Yaesu FT-857D.

In researching for an antenna, I wanted something that I could use now and still be portable for events. So, I bought a Buddipole Deluxe. I used that for some events, ultimately buying their 10m Mastwerks™ Tripod and Mast System, thus giving me enough parts for 2 separate antennas. My only opportunity to use both came at the 2019 Winter Field Day. Unfortunately, some unexpected RF conditions reared their heads and our club performance was below par.

One thing I discovered (actually re-discovered) was that changing bands on the Buddipole was a pain and I'm not getting any younger. It had to be lowered, then adjusted, raised, tested, and possibly redone several times to get it tuned properly. One of my club-mates had a Super Antenna, which while easier, still needed to be adjusted manually at the antenna location. Why the big deal? In addition to the RF issues, we had pouring rain most of the event, so I didn't want to get drenched. It also took 2 people to quickly change the band. I wanted something simpler.

Enter the Alpha Antenna. A vertical antenna like the Super Antenna, it was adjusted simply by using the tuner from 6 to 80 meters! Now we're talking!