After many years as an electronics dabbler, something strange happened to me in 2012. Suddenly, my cousin Jeff's (N9IXW) 20+ years of patient badgering took hold and I had to have a ham license. I studied physics at IU back in the 80s under the expert tutelage of the high enery physics "gang" - Dzierba, Pollock, and Brabson. I ended up being a programmer/information scientist, but the physics bug never really let go of me. How can you resist the urge to experiment with something you cannot see or hear or feel, but can measure and demonstrate and wield with such precision?
Finally, though, the hobbyist aspect of electronics technology got hold of me with enough intensity that I wanted to build circuits and test them. Sure, the ISM bands are there, but playing around with GHz+ frequencies requires a lot of skill. Theory is fine, but when the fabrication begins, that is the true test. So, realizing that the HF frequencies are arguably the least demanding place to begin, I ran out and grabbed a General class license so I could play in that sandbox.
The acronyms are astounding in any field. Ham radio is no different. Pretty soon I had to learn Q codes, CW, tons of ham jargon (XYL at QTH gotta QRT), tons more of electronics tech jargon (FTE, VCE, degenerative feedback, not to mention the various DIP SMT MFP PQFP DSOP LGA FCBGA package designations).
Separating the noise from the jargon from the lore was hard, but I eventually stumbled across "Experimental Methods in RF Design" (EMRFD), by Wes Hayward, Bob Larkin, and Rick Campbell. That combined with "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill got me really cooking. I didn't care to buy a packaged radio and "hit the repeater" just to make idle chitchat after finding the Neoanderthal (WA7MLH) or the many QRP enthusiast sites out there.
I was especially incensed by the Neoanderthal site - look at that! That guy is building spectrum analyzers and radios and measurement equipment from the god-awfullest pile of electronic junk I ever saw. Solder everywhere! Ugly construction! "IF is 5 crystals at 4421 kHz from a box of them I found at SEAPAC hamfest..." - WHAT!? YOU CAN DO THAT!?
For someone with a freakazoid gadget fetish, hoarding instincts, and intense curiosity of how things work, electronics is a fabulous hobby. Ham radio is quirky in some regards, but the work done there is important and the fellowship is pleasant, too. For me personally, I've made an effort to learn CW out of respect for the old-timers, who knew what works and had good reasons to demand those skills. You don't need that to get a license, though, so I encourage you to broaden your mind and give it a whirl.
This blog will follow some of my painful antics as I learn, the hard way, how to assemble chunks of sand (and sometimes, vacuum captured inside little glass vials) and make it Do Stuff.
