Hi Carolyn,
It can be difficult to get people to help with antennas etc.
I have been blessed with people who are willing to help.
I suspect it makes a difference who you ask and if you and those people are interested in the same things.
I always choose people who understand the value of Public Service even if they don't do it themselves.
Since I am very active in Navy Mars and Nts Traffic Handling and Skywarn I have been able to find people to help when the need arises.
Sometimes you have to wait awhile but usually things get done when they are really necessary.
Colleen, N8TNV;



----- Original Message -----
From: carolyn johnson <[log in to unmask]>
To:  [log in to unmask]
Date: Saturday, Apr 26, 2014 02:40:04 AM
Subject: Re: Happy Ham's Day

>
>
> Hi,
> 
> Well, I feal like a baby, because I loved ham radio for years, but my late 
> husband got me into the hoby since he was a ham, so I got my ticket in the 
> mail on April first 1983.
> 
> Carolyn Kj4vt
> 
> Oh, my first call I didn't like. It was Kb4eoq.
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2014 3:32 PM
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Happy Ham's Day
> 
> > It was 48 years ago today I made my first contact as a novice.  I was at 
> > the
> > school for the blind when my mom called from home on a Monday afternoon 
> > and
> > told me my ticket came.  I had her repeat the call sign a dozen times to 
> > be
> > sure.  I had been walking to our regular Monday after school student 
> > council
> > meeting.  I was representing the 9th grade, and the office secretary 
> > called
> > out the office door as I passed by going to the library for the meeting.
> > She said, "Phil.  You have a phone call."  The only person who called me 
> > at
> > school was generally my uncle in Kansas but this time it was my mom with 
> > the
> > good news.  I hunt up the phone, and spun around and took a step to the 
> > open
> > office door.  Our superintendent was a nice guy and although he was not a
> > ham, he made sure we always had good equipment, unless one of our radios 
> > was
> > down for repair, but he called out and said, "Hey, Phil.  You got your
> > license."  It wasn't a question.  I was so out of it, I just grunted a 
> > yes,
> > and ran down the hall to the radio room.  A couple of friends were already
> > in the ham shack and one was a novice of about 3 months.  I told him to 
> > move
> > over, I was getting on the air.  It took them a few seconds to believe me
> > but when I threatened to dump him off the king's chair in front of the
> > radio, he got the picture.  At this time, our DX60 was off the air so I 
> > used
> > an A T 1 on 80 meters to make my first contact.  I was WN0ORO and my first
> > countact with another guy in Nebraska and his call was WN0OHO.  We kept in
> > touch for years after that.  After supper that night, I was back in the 
> > ham
> > shack pounding out CQ again and having the time of my life.  To this day,
> > although I only had my novice license 6 months before I took the general
> > class, it was still the most fun I had as a ham.  The guy I almost dump 
> > out
> > of the chair lived at home where the school for the blind was so we worked
> > each other, building up our code speed, in the evenings and then when 
> > school
> > was out for the summer.  We had a lot of the same crystals so we ended up
> > working each other hundreds of times that summer.  We even started a
> > midnight schedule which we carried on for years after getting our generals
> > and could work side band.
> >
> > Phil.
> > K0NX