tcarney57

I was born and reared in Concord, California, but now I live in Medford, Oregon, USA. I'm an Associate Professor of History and Political Science at Southern Oregon University. I was introduced to ham radio at the age of eight (1965) browsing my Dad's Heathkit catalog. He built a number of their instruments, mostly for audio work. Later I discovered my Grandfather had been a licensed amateur in the 1920s. All their stuff was tube-based. To me, the see-through tubes with their lovely orange glow--*that* was electronics. Compared to glowbugs, the little black pieces of plastic that is today's solid state disappoint my aesthetic sensibilities. I can be excited by what they do, but their looks bore the hell out of me. Maybe that will change now that pcb solder mask comes in colors other than dry-heave green. Fast-Forward to adulthood: In the late 70s I worked as an engineering-support technician in aerospace electronics. In the 1980s I put myself through graduate school working as a technician at the Space Dynamics Lab at Utah State University. We did mostly upper-atmosphere research on solar wind and infrared emissions from aurora borealis. Among other things, this often entailed launching IR interferometers on a variety of sounding-rocket vehicles. Additionally, some of our instruments flew on the Shuttle. All the years between mid-childhood to middle age have raced past, but I would catch the bug once in a while, buy a book or two, get code-practice tapes, and then the rest of life would shove it all aside. FF again to 2011: I finally acted on my latent, but ongoing, interest I was granted a Tech-class ticket as KF7SIS. I have since been granted the vanity sign "kilo-seven-tango-foxtrot-charlie" derived from my initials. You may have noticed that by waiting so long to be licensed, I avoided mandatory code qualification. I swear on my collection of 6L6s that I didn't plan it that way. In fact, I was quite surprised when I learned code was now optional. I don't think it makes any difference to me, except now I get to mess around a little while I learn the code. I think that's the way it is for many newbies. Activity on 2 meters, for instance, leads to other things--you know, like pot leads to heroin. Code may no longer be legally required, but it still seems to be the *sine qua non* of amateur radio. I've reserved a place at the next General class exam in Grants Pass, Oregon, on August 24, 2012. I'll let you know.