Hello..This is Mel, WA5UTK..I live in San Antonio, Tx & have been in ham radio since I was a teenager..I got my Novice license in 1967 at the age of 13 & my General license in 1969 at the age of 15..It is hard to believe that I have been in the hobby over 40 yrs now..

The hobby has changed a lot since I came into it..My 1st transmitter was a 2 tube crystal controlled unit..It had a 6ag7 driver & an 807 final tube..The tank circuit was link coupled..The tank coil was actually wound around a broom stick & the coupling output coil slid up & down that to obtain resonance & max output..

My receiver was an old hallicrafters, ( I don't remember the model #)..It was old enough that if you slapped the side of the receiver case, you could hear the tubes resonate thru the speaker..Primative as it was, I made a lot of contacts with that receiver..

To change the antenna between receiver & transmitter, I used a "knife" switch that I flipped one way for rx & the other way for tx..Again, primative, but it worked..

That kind of station was from a whole different era..Nowadays, you see very little building or "home brewing", virtually everything is store bought, not that that is a bad thing necessarily, but I think a lot of people miss the fun & excitement of the hobby by building something, then getting it to work if it doesn't work the 1st time around..

Obviously I have upgraded equipment since then..Even though I have no idea what happened to my "gear" from those early days, I still have the memories of it which will stay with me until my last breath..

So now you know a little bit about me & my beginnings in ham radio..Thanks for reading..73s, Mel, WA5UTK