I've been a working electronics technician since the age of 18 (now 76). ?I never was interested in ham radio as a hobby because I always had the philosophy, "Leave the job at the job." ?Besides, I had other hobbies, fast cars, radio controlled model airplanes, backpacking, etc.
What got me into ham radio was First Person Video (FPV); a method of flying radio controlled model airplanes via a video camera mounted in the model where the pilot would be and a video transmitter to downlink the video to a ground station. ?I needed to get my tech license in order to legally operate the video transmitter in the ham bands. ?So I joined a local club, sat for the tech license, got interested in HF, set myself a goal of being an Extra within the calendar year. Passed the Tech test in Feb. 2011, Extra in Nov. 2011. ?Yippee!
So now I'm an Extra, a ARRL VE, in a club with a great bunch of guys & gals, do some rag chewing on HF and the local repeaters. ?Funny thing is, I never did do the FPV thing.....
73,
Charley -- af5ao
