Licensed in late 1961 as WN0CHK.Worked a little CW on 80 & 40 meters witha Hallicrafters S76 receiver & an Elmac A54H transmitter, also built a 40 meter 6V6 rig for a few contacts.Built a Heathkit HW-30 Twoer, put up (24feet?)a five element Cooper (later Wickel) beam, and was hooked on 2 meters, thanks to one of my favorite Elmers,W0LFE Ed Porter. Upgraded to Conditional in late 1962, August I think, and began to work a little AM phone with the A54H and S76.Several of the 75 meter AM contacts were with Marlin WA0AUX in Earlham, IA, BC #915. Still hear Marlin on the Breakfast Club on 3.973 most mornings. Bought a Parks Nuvister converter for 2 meters to go in front of the S76, which allowed a few more contacts with the 1 1/2 to 2 watts of AM out of the Twoer. Put up a Gain Inc. 8 over 8 J-Slot beam (at nearly 30 feet), and was into DX with my Twoer! All this while living at home with my parents near Spencerburg, MO (try to find that on a map!).
Married Sandra the love of my life 1963, and moved to Hannibal, MO. Bought an NCX-3 National tri-band transceiver in late 63 and worked 75 meters from our first apartment, and later a house at 814 Hayward Street. Put up the 8 over 8 J-Slot at the first house, and built a handbook 2E26 2 meter rig and a modulator for maybe 10 watts output on a good day. Traded the NCX-3 for a Drake 2B receiver with a 2BQ Q multiplier and speaker so I could use the Parks converter with a good receiver.
Moved to Topeka, KS for a year withthe American YearbookCompany, bought a Galaxy 5 transceiver, and worked 75 meters from our house at 2117 W. 21st Street in Topeka. Took an accountingJob with a portland cement manfucturing plant at Clarksville, MO in 1967, and movedto Bowling Green, MO. Built a house on S. Penn in Bowling Green, (down the street 5 blocks from W0LFE), put up a 58 foot Rohn 25 tower with the 8 over 8 J-Slot antenna about 10 feet out of the top of that, and began to chase states on 2 meters. Built a transverter for SSB and used a Central Electronics 20A with a transistorized VFO to drive the transverter, which drove a single home brew4x150 for 200 watts out on a good day, mostly around 150 watts output. Worked 42 states on tropo, meteror scatter, and aurora. Put upfour 14 element Oliver Swan (LPDA driven element antennas, later bought out by KLM) and continued to chase states on 2 meters. Heard VE7BQH and K6MYC off the moon with the Swan array, but not well enough to really copy them. This was using the Parks nuvister converter with a 6CW4 first RF stage, (still own the Parks converter). Built a W6PO 8877 amp. for 2 meters in 1971, and drove that with a P&H 2 meter transverter. Built a house in the country (Praise the Lord, finally able to move back out in the country) in 1973, put up the Rohn 25, now a 58' foldover, bought a few (10) 28 foot boom HyGain 215b 15 element long yagi's, and made plans for a 100 foot tower, and an EME antenna. Bought an Aeromotor MP-5 100 foot self supporting tower for $175.00 and a trip to pick it up in Cedar Falls, IA. Got it installed in 1975 thanks to a lot of help from my Sunday School Class, my brother Marion, and Dick Hart K0MQS. Dick had owned this tower as the second owner, when he lived in Cedar Falls. I am the fifth owner, and the third owner to get it up. The current antenna's on the MP-5 are a Tennadyne T-10, 2 feet above the top of the tower, 80 meter extended double zepp (315 feet center fed wire) at about 94 feet fed with open wire line, and a 160 meter inverted V center insulator at 96 feet. The HF bands have been open most days since installing the T10 on 9/24/11, and I have been having way to much fun operating the 5 upper HF bands!
At a CSVHF meeting in 73 or 74 Jay, K5JL told me that he had heard Extra Class licensees would be able to select an available call sign of their choice in a year or so. This was the incentive I needed to upgrade. Vern Killion currently W5UYF, also a conditional and I made a pact to go to Kansas City as many times as it took to get the Extra Class license. In March of 75 we made our first trip to attempt the exams, and both passed 20 WPM code and wrote all the exams successfully Novice through Extra for our Extra Class licenses. When the FCC allowed the selection of call signs, my first Choice was N0JA which was issued to me in 1977. One of the first N prefix calls, I actually had a number of hams question if it was a legitimate call sign, and two guys stopped talking to me on 2FM in Indianapolis, IN while I was mobile on the way to the Dayton Hamvention. In 75-76 I installed a 28 foot Rohn 45 tower and an array of 4 modified HyGain 215B's spaced 13' vertically and 14 feet horizontaily, and worked W6PO for the first MO to CA 2 meter EME contact, still using the Parks with a 6CW4 as the first RF stage. Worked Marshall Williams WA5UNL (currently K5QE) operating EME from Hawaii for state number 50 on 2 meters in 1978, had a 2 db noise figure MOSFET as a preamp by 1978. WAS #3 for 2 meters. Connie Marshall K5CM beat me by an hour for #2, Frank Miller K9HMB was #4, I believe, working Marshall an hour or two after my contact. Dick K0MQS was #1 a couple of years earlier when he worked KH6NS in Hawaii for his #50. I currently have an M2'd 2M5WL and a 30 foot boom 7 element 6 meter yagi on a 73 foot Rohn 45 tower. The 6 meter beam is at 73 feet, and the 2M5WL is at 80 feet. No longer work EME, but enjoy casual operating on HF and 2 & 6 meters. Will run 2 meter MS on CW or SSB if someone needs MO or EM49, and will schedule anyone anywhere in the world on any band 160 thru 10 meters, SSB or CW. Digital modes were not recognized as valid contacts by the ARRL in the 70's, I do not currently operate with digital modes other than CW.
Sandra and I have 3 children, and 7 grandchildren. Our 2 sons live close by with 5 grandchildren, and our daughter (who is 10 years younger than our 2nd son), grandchild #6 Luke, youngest grandchild #7 Quinn, and son in law, live in Lafayette, LA. We visit Lafayette several times a year.
Sandra & I are Evangelical Christians, and are active in our local Church in Bowling Green.
