Licensed on June 3, 1975 as WN5OSD. As an 18 yr old Novice I qualified for W.A.S. endorsed 40 m. cw and took first place in La. during the 1976 Novice Round-Up ! My rig was an crystal controlled (WA5UAJ constructed ) Heathkit HW-16. I had a weekend job pumping gasoline at a small service station to make the $ 10 monthly payments. My Qth was Trees City, La. To my knowledge I have been the only Ham Operator to have operated from the community as a resident.
While still a Novice the FCC upgraded my Callsign to WB5OSD. A few weeks earlier I had passed the General class exam before an FCC examiner in Shreveport, La. ( Oct. 6, 1976 ).
On Dec. 2, 1976 I worked Maine for the final state needed to qualify for the ARRL Bicentennial W.A.S. Award (all cw - all HW-16).
I held the Advanced Class from Sept. 1983 until Jan. 1985 when I passed the Extra exam.
DX chasing is my primary interest. Presently I have 318 DXCC entities worked with 313 confirmned. On Oct. 4, 2013 I qualified for the CQ Worked All Zones award ( almost all cw ) .
No computer logging. All on paper, having recorded over 22,100 hf contacts.
I possess the Worked 25 AA award ( W 25 AA ) for contacting 25 stations with only the 2 letters "AA" in the suffix of their callsigns. I spent 7 years tracking them down . Only 27 awards have been issued. I have # 27. Quite the coincidence today I am a member of AA, a friend of Bill W. ( " Birthday " Nov. 28, 2001 ).
I belong to ARRL, Old Timers Club, DXCC, and the Amateur Radio Club of Shreveport.
I have had the unique opportunity to ascend the KSLA channel 12 tv tower (via elevator) to an height of 1700 ft. This occured on Dec. 1, 1984.
The highlight of my Ham Radio operating occured on March 6, 2010 as I experienced my third tandem skydive. During that jump I operated an Kenwood TH-K2 handheld transceiver, secured in the cargo pocket of my pants leg. We deplaned from an altitude of 10,000 ft. Once the main canopy deployed , I managed to make 7 contacts via the ARCOS 146.670 mhz repeater, beginning at an altitude of 4000 ft.
On Feb. 17, 2013 I made my fourth tandem skydive, bailing out from an altitude of 12,000 ft. Although I carried along my handheld 2 meter rig no contacts were made due to local inactivity. I use the photography of these 4 events on my QSL cards. "Outrageous Sky Diver".
Equipment : Icom IC-718, Kenwood TS-440s, Ameritron AL-811h amplifier. I also utilize a second hand Heathkit HW-16 and HG-10b vfo. ( My original HW-16 was stolen by a " ham " who said he could repair it. I never got it back ). Antennas : Cushcraft A3S at 33 ft.( 10 m), mounted on an homebrew foldover rotatable mast, constructed from second hand oil field pipe. An G5RV "MAX" (160 thru 10 m ) in an inverted "v" configuration, on tree limb at 74 ft. (22 m.) and an 40 meter inverted vee up at 38 ft. (11 m ). All on a 150 ft. by 96 ft. city lot.
I also collect (and use) 15 straight keys, 3 vibroplex "bugs", (the oldest manufactured in 1924), a Bencher paddle, a vibrokeyer and a keyboard.
I QSL 100 % direct ( sase appreciated but not required ) or via bureau.
Blue skys and 73
Bobby
