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N9DD's

Pile of "Stuff"

Main HF Station

QRP Rigs I've built

Vintage Station

Over the years, I've been a fairly low-budget ham: wire antennas, QRP kit rigs, used transceivers, etc. I've never had a lot of discretionary income for fun things, but I don't think that has hurt my ability to have fun with ham radio at all.

When I first got licensed, I was 17 years old, still in high school, and living with mom and dad. My parents were supportive of my ham radio hobby and never said a word about the wire antennas I strung above the house. My Novice station was a Christmas gift from them - a Heath DX60B transmitter and HR10B receiver. It wasn't a bad setup at all. I worked lots of guys running HW16s who probably would have loved to have the "seperates."

After I started working, I was able to save enough money for a "new" HF rig. Actually, it was a demo, but my Kenwood TS-520 was quite a step up for me. I saw no reason to upgrade from the 520 for years. I got interested in QRP, started building kits, and I had a ball.

It wasn't until the 520 finally died with a shorted power transformer, that I decided to get a new "big rig." Did I burn up my credit card with a kilobuck purchase? No. I bought a used ICOM IC-735. I had a ball with that rig. It was a nice step up. I had great fun finally having a rig I could interface with the computer.

When my IC-735 started developing more problems than I could easily fix, I couldn't help but notice ICOM's IC-718 rig. For less than $500 I could get a decent HF transceiver. True, it lacked lots of the bells and whistles of the pricier rigs, but it fit my budget just fine. At the Dayton Hamvention I bought a new IC-718, my first truly new HF rig. I added a cw filter and now I'm in hog-heaven and having a blast on HF, getting reaquainted with PSK and other digital modes, getting back into contesting, etc.

I've been a ham now for over 36 years. I've owned only 3 commercial HF transceivers, only one brand new. Some people might think that ham radio is an expensive hobby. For me it hasn't. Sure, there are times when I wish I had a big tower, beam antennas, an amp and a rig with all the bells and whistles possible. I've done OK though. I've had great fun, worked the world, and accomplished a lot. It's been a great ride!

N9DD Home N9DD Biography My Station Radio Restorations QSL Card Gallery
I'm a runner! Frisz Family History South Bend Weather Online Logbook Guestbook