I guess it was inevitable. My father was an electronics wiz kid in the 1950s and as an adult, a highly sought-after electrical engineer. It was only a matter of time when he would teach me some of his knowledge. From my infancy I grew up with tall antennas on the roof of my house, radio equipment all over the place, and computers in our home in the 1960s. By the time I was eight years old I knew how to solder wires and electronics components together, Dad had ordered me a Heathkit Electronics Project 35, and I knew how to hook up the oscilloscope to see the wave form of audio output. So it was only natural that at age twelve, Dad introduced me to amateur radio. I never liked the nick name of “ham” radio and I went out of my way to make sure I never said it in that manner. I always said “Amateur Radio.”
Dad started things off by giving me an old copy of the Licence Manual and told me to study it. There was a new licence called the Novice, which required a basic electronics theory test and a Morse Code test at five words per minute. So I started to study the Morse Code and electronics. I was sort of cocky with the electronics part and decided to take the General Class sample test right from the beginning. I thought I’d know all the answers since I had grown up with it. There was more to it than that. I got a few of the answers right, but there were so many terms and definitions that I didn’t know. Principles like amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, single side band, and heterodyning. And mathematical formulas galore. I was humbled. And the best place to turn was to the fount of all electronics knowledge itself, as I saw it, my Dad.
No comments:
Post a Comment