Wow, Phil, you sure brought back memories.

This July 9 will be my 42nd year, although I failed to pass the Conditional 
the first time, so my original call lapsed.

I became a Novice at age 9 with wn8nhw.  I got my Conditional in 1966 as 
wa8vaa.  Talk about a horrible call for SSB, the a's and the 8 just wasn't a 
real good call phonetically either.

When I started, I had a DX-35 and a Heath GR-91.  AT the Michigan School for 
the Blind, there was a Hallicrafters HT-40 and a Hamarlund HQ120 I think.  I 
didn't operate there much, as I was a day student.

Once I got my Novice, I upgraded to an NC-300 receiver.  After I got my 
Conditional, my folks bought a used Viking Invader.  I used that with the 
NC-300 until 1971, when I got my first transceiver, a Hallicrafters SR-400A, 
the baby brother to the Hurricane, the legal-limit transceiver they 
marketed.  That was a nice rig, but the sweep tubes were real 
heat-sensitive, requiring a muffin fan to keep them cool enough.  I remember 
when the first set got weak, and the glass envelop was kind of melted in.

I also had one of the HA1 keyers until the late 70's when it was stolen and 
I replaced it with an MFJ iambic keyer.

In 1976, three of us were probably the first hams in Michigan to upgrade to 
the TS-820.  That was probably my favorite rig; it had extremely quiet 
relays for working Vox and QSK.  At that time, I went down to the cookie 
company and wrote my General, Advanced, and Extra the same day.  They had a 
Braille version of the General, but no answer key.  So, the engineer gave me 
the advanced and when I passed that, I took the extra.  That's when I got my 
current call, as they just waived the 25-year requirement for Extra calls, 
and Extra Class ops were allowed to choose their preferred calls.  This was 
my third choice.

I think I recounted my story of running AM right after I got my Conditional 
and the guy thinking I was a YL.  I ran pretty much 100% CW until the late 
70's.

Now, I generally hang out with a group on 3976, but can work just about any 
band except 6 meters right now.  Will definitely have 6 meter capability 
later this year, as I do have the TS-2000, just no 6-meter antenna right 
now.

Steve, K8SP