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It's fun to see this. My father (W7AAI) recently passed away, and we were just going through his QSL cards from the 60's and 70's. I never learned Morse code,
by pugworthy 2y ago
It's fun to see this. My father (W7AAI) recently passed away, and we were just going through his QSL cards from the 60's and 70's. I never learned Morse code, but spent a lot of time hearing him using it as a kid. He first got his license in 1955, and my time in his HAM shack, playing with teletype tape, oscilloscopes and other such things was really pivotal for me becoming a CS major but handy with a soldering iron.
If you're curious about what it was like, here's something he wrote up in 2020 about his experiences with HAM radio in the early days. I see now I shared this once before on a YC post about QSL cards...
https://www.qcwa.org/w7aai-29229.htm https://www.qcwa.org/w7aai-29229.htm
- bityard 2y agoSorry for your loss. I enjoyed the write-up. It's fascinating to see how much ham radio has changed. It used to be the height of novelty (and expense!) for the privilege of talking to someone across the world in real time via dits and dahs. A lot of people don't realize that even though telephones existed in that time, they were really only practical for local or regional calls.
- _whiteCaps_ 2y agoI don't know what the US FCC rules are, but you might be able to inherit his callsign.
- pugworthy 2y agoHmm actually yes you can! https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service/amateur-vanity-request-types-2 https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-divis...