Ham Radio Operator
VE2DPE

Ham radio operator first 1974 car license plate.

I became a ham radio operator through shortwave listening and my love of electronics.

As far back as I can recall, I have always been fascinated by shortwave radios. I used to read (devour) the electronic articles in Popular Mechanics magazine back in '58.

One day, I built my first transmitter by modifying an FM receiver with the help of instructions and schematics in that magazine.

My sister would listen to my transmissions on a portable AM/FM radio down the street. "Operating" from my upstairs bedroom, I could see her jump up and down when I "transmitted" loving words to her over the air waves!

I was hooked!

My First Ham Radio Equipment

Ham radio receiver Hammerlud HQ-180. Source

Source: www.eham.net

I bought y first serious receiver in 1972. It was a used Hammerlund HQ-180. I would shut the lights in my room ("shack-to-be") in the evening and watch the luminous dials, and the S-meter swing, as I listened to ham radio operators from exotic far away countries. Man, what a thrill that was!

I knew nothing about antennas then. (I had strung a random length wire out the window and about 3 meters above ground to a post some 10 meters away).

I practiced copying CW on that receiver for hours. Every day, I would test my ability to copy ... while my wife would test her ability to cope!

We had only been married for two years then! We are still together after 40 years. She was tough ... and still is ;-)

The First VE2DPE Ham Radio Shack

VE2DPE ham radio operator shack in 1974.

I obtained my first ham radio operator license as VE2DPE in 1974.

Here is what my first ham shack looked like.

The Drake TR-4. My first transceiver as a ham radio operator.

A Drake TR-4 Hybrid Transceiver. The vfo and local oscillator were transistorized while the rest ran on vacuum tubes ("valves" outside North-America).
A homemade audio processing unit for the microphone.
A homemade antenna tuner (transmatch) with a roller inductor and two heavy-duty variable capacitors salvaged from old army "signal corp" surplus equipment.
An old tube-type signal generator (on the shelf) that I used with the old oscilloscope when I was experimenting with new circuits, or playing at fine-tuning my TR-4.
A old tube-type VTVM.
And, of course, a classic "brass-pounder" (cw key) set on a very heavy homemade metal base. I don't know many hams who can pound a clean 20 WPM on a monster like that any more (sigh)!

Man! Just describing it brings back warm memories!

The VE2DPE Ham Radio Shack Today

Ham radio operator shack of VE2DPE today.

Today, I still operate mostly on the HF bands. Here's a shot of my operating position in the basement. Simple but effective.

A ICOM IC-735 transceiver.
An MFJ antenna tuner
A "Carolina Windom" antenna for 80-10 meters. The highest part is about 15 meters above ground and the lowest about 6 meters up.
A homemade inverted-L for 160 meters with the top part about 12 meters above ground.
A ICOM 2 meter xcvr for the occasional local chat. The 2M antenna is a Cushcraft Ringo Ranger II installed on top of a 48 foot DMX tower.

The ICOM xcvr is about to become "second fiddle". I am avidly investigating Software Defined Radio (SDR) for my next "rig". A true ham radio operator 's dream machine!

I have more to say about SDR here on this site.

Stay tuned,

73 de VE2DPE

P.S. My new hobby within the amateur radio hobby is to promote ham radio to thousands of unique visitors each month with this Web site. Such outstanding results became possible when I discovered how to become an "infopreneur"!

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