May. 03, 2002 - 22:43 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Codercise

Back in the 50's I was bitten by the bug, severly. The radio bug, the, "I wanna talk to the whole world," insect. Finding out that I could get a Novice license allowing me on certain bands and frequencies using Morse code only, by passing a short test and code proficiency check. Memory is weak now but I think the test was administered by a General Class Amateur -- fuzzy there.

Never was too good on memory work, in an emergency I could remember my name, address and phone number. But I wanted to be an Amateur so the grand effort began. Sitting after supper at night studying the short list of Morse Code characters in between building a code only transmitter in preparation for the desired activity. Work went slowly on both things but it did go.

I would go to sleep with the dits an dahs of the code rattling in my head like balls off the cushions of a pool table, and then try to remember in the morning what I had learned up to then.

Seems to that the speed required was five words a minute, both sending and receiving. Finally got the whole thing memorized and began to listen to a Hallicrafters receiver to code on the air. I finally found one of the frequencies that Amateurs used and slowly began to learn to receive code.

I had fifteen miles plus to drive to work and about half of that distance had billboards along side. When I could read the letters on a sign my effort to stutter our the dits and dahs for the letters on the signs was pitiful at the start. At night I would listen to my radio learning to receive code and practice sending vocally on the way to work.

I wasn't sure that I could receive five words a minute yet because I couldn't get ARRL code frequency on my radio. ARRL would send code at several different speeds so that amateurs could practise. but I thought I was close. One day on my way to work I realized I had completely coded each word on each sign, even the longwinded ones as I passed by. My receiver was built, my test taken and passed, my antenna put up and my desire from youth to be an Amateur Operator became a reality in my thirties.

When I finally got on the air and began to send and receive, my biggest problem was forcing myself to get some sleep.

There were a few folks who I seemed to get along with quite well and sometimes our communication would go on through the night on weekends. There were some thrills for me. Recognizing some one just by the way they swung their code and hooking up with them. Across the United States and even communicated with a man in New Zealand. I sort of figured he was at the antipodes from my spot in Florida. I called our local newspaper and asked them, a day later they gave me my answer -- it was not far from being at the opposite end of the earth -- out at sea a couple of hundred miles was the antipodes of where I was. Danged if the paper didn't make a short item of it and put it in the paper. I guess it was news to them.

I got postcards from shortwave listeners the world over - QSL cards I think they were called.

My rig was low powered but I managed to build a good antenna, put it up away from buildings and got it up high enough so that my signal ranged the earth.

Many years later I got on Webtv and began to once again range the earth, this time on the web. It is much easier to do this as no code has to be memorized and I could easily type from practise at work I had done over the years.

So, I guess my desire to communicate began with home brewed Codercize . . . . . . . .

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