My Adventure Into Ham Radio

The Buick and The Boy Scout Cub Book

Part One

In 1959, I received my first scouting book from the Boy Scouts of America. On the last afternoon of that week, my parents and I were heading to ESKO Market in the backseat of our Buick. My mother was about to embark on her adventure of browsing every store aisle while my dad and I patiently waited.

As I looked through the book, I came across two exciting chapters. The first was Morse Code, and the second was Radio. In this era, kids would always want to have their decoder ring, but Morse code was far beyond that. The second was Radio. I have always wondered how the radio announcer could talk into his microphone and have it come out of the speaker of the tabletop radio.

So, the adventure began. While talking to my dad about the code and the radio kit, I never knew he was once a Ham radio operator. He was always interested in Radio and owned a radio repair shop in New York. So here I say with a master teacher to help start in Ham radio.

As we sat in the car, my dad taught me some of the letters of Morse code and my first name, and I thought I was the smart kid in the class.
As time went on, I saved my money and finally was able to go to the Scout store in the basement of the Hinshaw’s department store and purchase my radio kit. My dad and I had some sweet moments as he taught me what each part of the Radio was for; he was a kind but challenging teacher. It was my Radio, and I had to build it. It was a success, and I had a lot of fun listening to the announcer early Sunday morning, reading the funny papers to me and my favorite, Dick Tracy. I always wanted his wrist radio.

Finally, I became more interested and found his old General Electric Console radio in the garage. I asked my dad if I could use it, and when I said yes, I brought it into my room. When I built my first Radio, my dad had put up a long wire antenna between the house and garage. Shortwave listening became my hobby when I hooked it to the console radio.

I remember getting a shortwave listener call sign from Popular Science magazine. While listening, I heard stations from all over the world, but then the bug hit. I listened to Amateur radio bands and heard people talking about their radios, locations, and fun stuff.

After talking to my dad again, he arranged for me to attend the Rio Hondo Radio Club. From there, the bug bit even harder, and I wanted to study for my Novice class license. After about six months, I was ready to take my test. I was in awe when my dad took me to Glen Shaws W6PBR. All of his transmitters were built on pine boards. His receiver was a National HRO-60, and he used a modified teletype machine to send Morse code.

The big moment came, and I had my cup of pencils and a writing pad. The code started to play, and I broke half of the pencils because I was nervous. Then came the big moment: sending the code. The written test was easy, just the basic rules. Then the word I was waiting to hear: You Passed!!

Then, as a young boy would do, I checked the mailbox every day after school, and finally, it came. My assigned call sign was WN6GZH.

Regards, Eric Werny – WB6MTK