Welcome to Rich's K7QNZ Home Page
Recently, I was checking out qrz.com and noticed that they invited hams to write something about their amateur radio
experiences and post it on qrz.com. I went about writing my ham radio biography. The problem turned out that it was
impossible to keep it the 500 words they as a limit! Soooo.... I put the first part there and continued it here!
(If you came from qrz.com, continue reading at the "*****" below.)
Bookfield, Illinois
I first got interested in electronics through the hobby of model railroading when I was 11 or
12 years old and living in the Chicago area (Brookfield Ill). I was not doing the Lionel
or American Flyer trains like my friends. I got into HO gauge railroading that involved lots of wiring,
control circuits, signals, DC power supplies and such. This was model railroading as opposed to
toy trains. Nothing was available "ready to run" - either you bought kits or "scratch built"
locomotives, rolling stock and track. My older brother, Eugene,
learned about Amateur Radio and even gotten some Morse Code records. I
remember the two of us sitting on the front steps of our house talking and he told me
about ham radio. He never did get a license and I do not remember ever seeing him
practice code.
Staten Island, New York
We moved to Staten Island, N.Y. (34 Colonial Court) when I was in 8th the grade (P.S. 45) and I spent long hours
listening to hams and foreign broadcast stations on the old
Silvertone console radio in our living room that we for as long as I could remember. One day my dad
suggested I check at the local hardware store for a job - he thought the owner could use some part time help. I did
so and was hired at Forest Hardware Store. I realize now that my dad prearranged that job.
The store was owned by Sid Miller, a retired electronics
engineer. He helped me modify that old Silvertone with bandspread and improved
sensitivity and better audio. I learned a good deal of "hands on" electronics from him. He set up a
small radio & TV repair shop in the store and he and I would together talk about what the
problem might be, and then he would show me how to replace the part(s) needed and
then we would retest the unit. I was still doing model railroading (HO gauge) and there
was an article in Model Railroader Magazine on how to build a “High Frequency RF
Lighting System” that would allow the lights on the train (engine headlight and caboose
and passenger cars, etc.) to remain at normal brightness regardless of the speed of the
train, or even if the train was stopped. It worked great! That was my first real electronics
project. At home I would listen to the hams on the Silvertone and I really got the "bug" to get a ham license.
But I knew no hams to help me. I dug out those 33-1/3 rpm Morse Code records many times and worked with them, but with
limited success. I and my best buddy, Dave Winrock (now KA2LGX), collected old newspapers and sold them at the salvage yard.
We each bought a used Hammerlund HQ129x via an ad in QST magazine. A ham on Long Island responded to my ad and my
dad drove us over to look at it and I bought it. That Hammerlund was a BIG improvement over the old Silvertone.
This would have been about 1957.
Curtis High School
When I was a Freshman at Curtis High School, my Spanish teacher, Mr. Presto, was a ham and
we sort of a ham radio club. I say “sort of” because we never did much but meet
once in a while and talk. He did encourage us to work on code and such. At one time
there been a good active club at the school. I remember one time Mr. Presto took us up in one of the towers of the
old main building. There were some old dusty remains of what was once a pretty good
ham station up there. I think it was Mr. Presto who recommended an HQ129x and an ad in QST to
find one.
*****
My dad was an Army officer and he received transfer orders to Oakland California.
One day he noticed an article in the newspaper telling about a ham radio “Field Day” station
that was going to be in the park about 5 miles from our house there on Staten Island. He
volunteered to drive me there which he did. This was my first REAL meeting and contact
with any local hams - and they really took me in! In no time I was logging contacts and
even doing some on the air voice contacts. I ended up calling my parents and informing
them I was spending the night. That was my first Field Day - I was to enjoy many more of
them in the years to come. That Field Day experience gave me the incentive I needed!
Berkeley, California and KN6QNZ
We moved to the Bay Area of California (Tulare Ave, Berkeley) a few weeks later and
then I REALLY hit the code records! At church I met Andy Strebel (he was to become
WV6HNT, then WA6HNT, then WA7DEC, and is now KF7QW) and we quickly discovered
we both wanted to get ham licenses. We worked together and the code came better. It
turned out the young man my sister was dating was a General Class and he offered to
administer my Novice test! I was issued KN6QNZ in February of 1958 (I was 17 years
old)! I bought and put together a Heathkit DX-40 transmitter which together with my
HQ129x made a great Novice station. I got on the air on 80, 40 and 15 meters CW. I
mean I was on the air - about night and day! I never got on 2 meter phone. That was an
option back then for Novice class, but I was determined to get my code speed up - that was my priority. Back
then you could only obtain a Novice License ONE time and it was only good for ONE
year! If you did not get your code speed up to 13 for a General upgrade, the only thing
you could do is go for a Technician and be "forever" banned to VHF and up. That and the
fact that I was REALLY enjoying CW! I still LOVE CW. I have never been “cut out” for
high speed CW. I have never been able to copy words. I copy letters. I enjoy 13 to 15
WPM the most and I love to teach CW. I am a firm believer that CW should remain a
requirement for a ham license. I am NOT happy with the new FCC rules!
Just a couple interesting things about my call: K6QNZ. California was the first call area to “run
out” of “W” and “K”, one by 2 and 3 calls (like W6AA through K6ZZZ).”A” and “N”
calls were reserved for military, aviation and government use back then. This was just
prior to starting the WA6 series calls and the FCC “cleaned house” - that is, they reissued
all the available old calls first. - K6QNZ was a reissued call. One month after I received
my call they started the WA6 (WV6 for Novice) series. The other thing is that there are
fewer “Q” calls than any other letter of the alphabet. That is because the FCC does not
issue official International “Q” signal calls - like K6QRZ or W8QTH! However, “QNZ”
is a “Q” signal. It is not an “official” international “Q” signal - it is one of a series of
“net” “Q” signals, and it means “Please zero beat net control station”. To me it is a little
different. It’s dumb, but I like it and so I have kept it.
Berkeley High School
There were a number of us teens who ham licenses at Berkeley High. Mr.Amdahl
was the electronics shop teacher and advisor for the school ham radio club (I was
president my senior year). He was a ham (I wish I could remember his call) and he
helped us a lot. One thing that he did that helped us was that he gave us the opportunity
to help teach the other students about electronics and coach them on construction of
simple projects. We were like teacher's aids. Many of us were active in the Richmond Radio Club and some of the
adult hams there helped us kids a lot - Elmers they were, and I learned a lot from them!
Stan Bell (K6ESZ - Easy Sliding Zipper - now deceased) spent a LOT of time helping us
build, modify and repair equipment. Steve Partin (K6MOG, now W5IHV) also helped a
lot.
My senior year of Berkeley High School, I got a job at another hardware store. Berkeley
Hardware, owned by Charles Judy. This was a rather large hardware store with a number
of departments. I worked in the “model railroad department” - a store within the store.
Both Sid Miller (from Staten Island) and Charles Judy were big positive influences in my
life. Both very solid, high and good business ethics. I learned a lot from them.
Without my really knowing it my Morse Code proficiency went up fast.
It was in July of that same year, when I was on CW with a ham in southern California
and he asked when I was going to go for my General. I responded that when I could copy
a solid 13 WPM, I planned to do so, and that I been studying and was ready for the written test. He
responded with a question as to how fast I thought we were communicating at right then?
I not realized my code speed gone up that much - heck, I was just having fun!
We were sending and receiving at over 15 WPM then! I checked myself on W1AW that night and
I went for my General the next
Friday (that was the day the FCC in San Francisco gave Amateur exams).
K6QNZ & Mobile
I passed my General on July 11, 1958 and received it on August 28th (yes it took 6 weeks
to get your upgrade then - and you could NOT operate the upgrade until you it in
your hand)! I was then K6QNZ. By that time I could almost copy 20 wpm - but back then
you could not upgrade to Extra - the next class up - until you had a General for at
least one year. Easy Sliding Zipper designed and helped me build a rather simple AM
crystal controlled mobile rig to go into my 1941 Dodge which I had bought for $75 from my uncle in southern
California. I bought a used Gonsett “Super Six” converter for the receiver. What more
could any teenager want? I had a General Class ham license and a mobile rig in my own
18 year old car with a 75 meter whip on the back and my own call letter license plates
(I still have those plates on the wall)! It worked and it worked well (I still have that rig).
One of our favorite activities was the Richmond Radio Club
transmitter hunts. I can't count the number of times my old 6 volt Dodge had to have a jump
start out in a cow pasture after transmitting for half an hour or forty five minutes! Tubes
and a dynamotor ran the battery down pretty fast!
SOS At Midnight
One other interesting positive influence to me was one you might not expect! I have
always liked to read and somehow got a copy of “SOS At Midnight” by Walker A.
Tompkins, K6ATX. This book is a novel about a teen age high school student (Tommy
Rockford - K6ATX) with a General Class ham license. Ham radio is the theme of the
book as he first identifies a smugglers boat, and then gets kidnapped, and then rescued,
by way of ham radio. I REALLY identified with this “hero”! Tompkins originally wrote
three books in the Tommy Rockford series. Then before he passed away a number of years ago
he wrote three more and upgraded the original three into the “solid state” era. These are
still excellent books and I recommend them to anyone - especially young "wannabe" hams.
All six books are available from the American Radio Relay League
ARRL.
Hamming The Bay Area
It was at a Richmond Radio Club meeting that I first heard about “repeaters”. As I recall
some members of the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club came and did a program about
the 2 meter repeater they had installed. I remember the biggest problem was the FCC!
The FCC required them to tape record all conversations over the repeater and then every
day they had to listen to the tape and enter everything into a set of log books for the
repeater.
Bill Parkinson (K6OSO) was sort of the “leader” of us Berkeley High hams - he had a
General and could copy about 200 words per minute! At least it seemed that way to us!
One day, he was not in school. The next day, I asked him if he were sick and he told me
he had gone over to San Francisco and taken his 2nd class Commercial Radiotelephone
License - I didn't even know what that was, but I couldn't let him get the best of me! So I
went down to the local electronics store and bought a study guide and started studying for
my Commercial License. A couple of months later, I took and passed my 2nd Class
Radiotelephone!. I didn't know what I would use it for at that time, but I was not going to
let “OSO” get away with that!
3995 kc (yes, that was before the term “hertz” was brought into use) was “our” frequency
- the East Bay Mobile frequency. That was before repeaters on 2 meters and by far most
local hamming was done on HF - 80 meters. As I look back over my old log book there
are many calls that bring back fond memories in addition to those that I have mentioned
above. K6OKS (Jim), WA6AFF (Jim Wuertel), K6TYF (Jack), K6CUH (Toni), K6JHV
(Bob), W6WKB (Vance), W6OUE (George), W6PZE (Marve), W6PS (Steve), K7OAD
(Bob), K6YKT (Cam, now W4LIX), W6HBF (John), and WA6JKB (George). This is
hardly a complete list but these guys are the ones that come to mind.
About this time, I sold my old ‘41 Dodge and bought a 1954 Chevrolet and moved my
mobile rig into it. Now I had really arrived! And at about twice the gas mileage too!!
That old Dodge with the “Fluid Drive” really burned the gas!
El Cerrito, California
My dad passed away in 1961, and my mother bought and moved into a house in El Cerrito - just north of Berkeley. I
bought a Hygain Hytower vertical antenna from K6JHV and put it up behind our house
there on Ramona Ave. By this time, I had graduated from Berkeley High and was
attending Oakland Community College. W6HBF, John, helped me to design a new HF
mobile rig which I built. It was a big improvement over the old crystal controlled rig I
had built in 1958. By this time SSB was coming in. I remember the first SSB station I
ever heard - it was Steve Partin (K6MOG). Mr. Amdahl had a Heathkit TX-1 (Apache)
transmitter that he sold me. That was a major upgrade of my base station. I added a
Single Sideband Slicer (Heathkit) to my Apache and I was on sideband. I converted the
“tool shed” behind the house into a “ham shack”.
Provo, Utah
After a couple of years at Oakland City College (some part time) I enrolled at BYU in
Provo Utah. I operated 75 meter mobile my first year there. The following spring I sold
my car to go visit my sister and her husband in Western Samoa. The next school year, I
set up my old mobile rig as a base station in my off campus apartment in Provo. We did
have a ham radio club at BYU and I got to do some hamming on the club station
(W7OHR). As a club we also provided communications for some events - “Y” day for
example. We had some “Benton Harbor Lunch Boxes” (Heathkit 2 meter FM portable
rigs) we used for these events. I was president of that club for one year.
Offshore Navagation
The summer after my first year at BYU, I was looking for a summer job in my field of machine design and drafting
and I just happened to
see a job opening for a 1st or 2nd class radiotelephone licensee - it said "must be willing to travel". It took
me a moment to realize
that was me! Two days later, I flew out to Astoria Oregon to work for Offshore Navigation. I operated
a land mobile shoran radio station for that summer. It was an excellent summer
job - I worked for them the next summer also and made it through college financially because of it!
All because I had gotten that license back in high school. Working for
Offshore Navagation was a great experience. I learned a lot of electronics but more important
they put a LOT of responsibility
on their employees and I feel that helped me to learn responsibility and gain self esteem. Basically they issued
me a 4WD pickup with a camper and loaded with radio & shoran
equipment and generators and I spent the summer, alone, operating the mobile station
from mountain tops along the California, Oregon and Washington coasts. It was like a
summer long Field Day! I often "worked" 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We had lots of time to read
while "on the job" - you had to stay right with the station when it was one the air but if all was
working well, there was nothing much to do. I studied for my 1st class radiotelephone license and passed it
in Salt Lake City the next fall. The pay was good and there was not much opportunity to spend much of it.
It was a perfect college student summer job!
K6QNZ/Convertable Mobile
I had mentioned to my dad many times before he passed away that I would like a sports
car. Practical old dad always talked me out of it! The next summer I found and bought a
1957 MGA Roadster. First thing I installed my mobile rig - it was a tight fit, especially for my passenger, but I was mobile
again (believe it or not - I still have that car - it is 42 years old now)! School took a lot of my
time - that and dating! I was married for my senior year at
BYU and as graduation came up I was sending out applications to many companies who
might want a “Machine Design & Drafting” guy with two minors - one in math and one
in electronics.
Heath Company and Icky Green Vegetables
I always liked smaller towns and businesses and as such I wondered about
Heath Company in Benton Harbor Michigan. I had built lots of electronic kits and
especially liked Heathkits. I sent an application and they were interested. After a plane
flight there for a personal interview, I was hired. I and my wife moved to Benton Harbor
(Fairplane Area), Michigan sending our “stuff” in a moving van and driving the MGA
mobile rig. I worked for Heath for three years as an electronics engineer. Those were
good times for Heath but even then I predicted there were problems to come as it was
being bought and sold and loosing it’s small company status. I worked in the
Instrumentation Division - designing power supplies, signal generators and multimeters. I
upgraded to the “S” line heath ham equipment and was active in the heath employees
ham club. It was at this time that the FCC introduced incentive licensing and so as not to
loose too many of my General privileges, I went over to Chicago and upgraded to
Advanced Class. I taught CW classes for the local club but had not used any CW over 5
or 6 WPM for many years and so did not feel my CW was anywhere good enough for an
Extra Class - I figured that “someday” I would do that upgrade. I decided to keep my
K6QNZ primary call sign and was issued an additional station license - W8IGV - Icky
Green Vegetables!
The Golden Anvil
I had always felt the ultimate goal was to be self-employed and having come to like the
South Haven area, just north of Benton Harbor, I left Heath, moved to South Haven and
opened a hobby shop - The Golden Anvil. We sold all the usual hobby and craft items but
I naturally did a lot of model railroading and electronics. I even hooked up with a few
wholesale suppliers of ham equipment (Kenwood and Regency) and kept those and many
ARRL publications in the store. When Radio Shack was trying to expand their network
of dealers, we added that to the store (Radio Shack Dealer #H034). We got a local club
going (Black River Amateur Radio Club) and put up a repeater with an autopatch. We
did license classes and really built up hamming in that area. When one of our great young
hams, Al Fiddelman (WA8???) was killed in an auto accident, his family donated his
station to the club and so we bought an old travel trailer and gutted it and made it into a
Memorial Emergency Radio Station in his honor. It was not long after that, that a major
tornado dropped down just east of South Haven and traveled towards and into Kalamazoo
wrecking havoc all along the way. That emergency station was a godsend.
Along with the hobby shop/electronics we operated a fried chicken business, a canoe
rental business, and a video arcade (we also had Western Union for a few years). The
chicken was the most profitable. At home I operated the Heath station I had put together
along with a 80 and 40 meter dipole and a tri band beam on a 50 foot tower (actually the
tower part of the old “Hygain Hytower”). I had a number of 2 meter mobile rigs - mostly
Regency since I could buy them wholesale. this was still pretty much the crystal
controlled days but synthesis was coming. my first synthesized 2 meter rig was the Icom
IC22A handheld that I still have for secondary use. I still use an old Regency HR2ms on our
autopatch here in Montana (crystals work fine for that!). Since I could now buy Kenwood at wholesale
I tried a few Kenwood HF rigs.
Back to K6QNZ
When my next renewal time came up for my ham license, I did not realize the Federal
Candy Company had changed some rules. They would not let me have both call signs and
so I had to let one go. I actually decided to keep the W8IGV but due to a mix-up in
paperwork, I ended up with K6QNZ. It had been a hard decision to make and so I left it
that way - I did not plan to remain in Michigan forever but I KNEW I would never return
to California either!
We had purchased a number of properties in South Haven and had a few businesses going. Since
most of our family lived west (mostly Utah and California) we did feel we wanted to move west some day.
One day someone wanted the arcade (we called it King's Castle) more than we did. We banked that money and
decided to sell out everything. It took a couple of years but we did it.
The Bitterroot Valley of Montana
After a number of exploratory trips west I found the Bitterroot Valley of Montana
just by accident. I had also gotten into horseback ridding in Michigan and wanted a place that I could pursue
that interest more. We moved “lock, stock, and barrel” to Montana. The “stock” included
4 horses. After moving to Montana, I started hearing about The Grubstake Restaurant. It was not
open to the public at that time but when I talked to people and mentioned I had been in the food
business, they would bring up The Grubstake. I contacted the owner, very unaware of
just what it was. It was winter and he took me up to see it in his snow cat. It was love at
first sight!
To make this story have an end somewhere, we bought it, then divorced, and so I now
live here at The Grubstake. I, along with many others, got a ham club going here (The
Bitterroot Amateur Radio Club). When one of our great old hams,
Clairice Goodman, died a few years ago, the club took on her call - W7FTX. It comes with the territory, when
a ham owns property 2000 feet above the valley floor, that our club repeater (146.72-) is
located up here, along with the autopatch (147.57), and the digipeater for packet (along with 3
cellular telephone companies and 3 FM radio stations).
Extra Class & K7QNZ
A few years ago, I decided that “someday” was here! I got back on the air on CW and
started loving it again! I got a computer program to help and without too much time
going by felt I could again copy 20 WPM. I took and passed my Extra Class License. It
was soon after that, the vanity call system was put into being and I applied for and was
issued K7QNZ, thereby having a call that is correct for my call area and yet sort of still
having the same old call.
A number of years ago, I sold the Kenwood HF rig and bought an Icom IC735 which I now
use as a base station as well as mobile when I take winter trips with HamStick mobile
whips for 75, 40, 20, and 10 meters. At home I use a G5RV antenna At home I am most
likely to be on CW but do use the mike once in a while! The three main cars I drive have
the same 2 meter mobile units - Kenwood TM-261A’s. It is so nice to have the same rig
in each car - that way my old feeble mind does not have to deal with three different ways
of programming and using them! I have played with packet some but am not active with
it now. There are other phases of ham radio, like satellites, which I keep saying I would
like to play with but have not done so yet! So now you know the rest of the story!
If you are ever in our valley, you will usually find me monitoring 146.72-. Give me a call
and come up and visit. If it is winter, and The Grubstake is closed, I will come down and
get you on a snowmobile and give you a tour! If it is summer, how about a horseback
ride?
Richard Kingdon K7QNZ
01/01/2k
If you have any comments or questions - please feel free to e-mail me at: k7qnz e-mail