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 Previous: What's Coming Up in the January/February Issue of QEX |  Next: New Prefix for Bosnia-Herzegovina Officially Announced |
Alexis Humphrey, K9LXI
mkhumphrey@charter.net
December 25, 2007
Following ham radio as it is passed down through the generations.
Have you ever wondered how many fourth generations of ham radio operators there are in the world? It was a question that crossed my mind. Have you ever researched this topic?
I am a fourth generation ham operator, K9LXI. I obtained my Technician license in April of this year at age 11. My father, W9VAJ, has been an Amateur Radio operator since 1982, receiving his license at age 16. My grandfather, W9AVM, has been an Amateur Radio operator since 1952, age 19.
My great grandfather Harold was an amateur radio operator from 1926-1974. He became a silent key in 1974. Harold lived in Madison, Wisconsin and taught Morse code to the military troops during WW2.
The Buzz Around the Neighborhood
When my grandfather Jim was little, in the 1940s, he would run a wire from his house to his friend’s house down the street. They used telegraph keys, powered by a large battery, and a buzzer so that when they pushed on the telegraph key and completed the circuit, the buzzer sounded. They would send messages in Morse code back and forth. When he graduated from high school and received his ham license, he became a radioman for the Navy. He also was on the 1972 Apollo 16 recovery ship, the USS Ticonderoga, in the South Pacific Ocean. He assisted with 700 phone patches back to the states. My grandfather Jim changed his original call sign from W9VAJ to my great grandfather’s, W9AVM, in 1996. He has more than 50 QSL cards of his father’s on his wall that are dated a few years before he was born in the early 1930s! He is still very active in Morse code and SSB. My grandfather Jim is the one who sparked my interest in ham radio. Whenever I would come to his house, I would hear him talking on his radio. I always thought that it was so neat that he could talk to people all over the world from his back room. From there he could talk to people in Asia, Africa, even astronauts in outer space. His radio room is decorated by all of the many QSL cards that he has exchanged with other hams.
My grandmother Elizabeth, N9ISR, is also a ham radio operator. She used her license to talk with her brother in Waspam, Nicaragua. Her brother Hugh, YN4HP, was a priest for over 30 years. Waspam is way out in the jungle and there was no other way to communicate with him. He became a silent key in 1995.
My dad has not been very active in Amateur Radio since he received his Novice license in 1982. My dad’s original call was KA9PWN. He obtained my grandfather’s old call sign (W9VAJ) after receiving his Technician license this year. Now that I have started to take it up, my dad has sparked a renewed interest and we both passed our Technician license test at the same time. My grandfather came to the test site and was very proud.
Morse Code to EchoLink
In the future, I would like to obtain my Extra class license. I have a special interest in learning Morse code, since that is how my great grandfather started out in the 1920s. I am hoping to get my friends involved so that instead of calling them on the phone, I could talk to them on EchoLink, through Amateur Radio. Through Amateur Radio I hope to learn more about geography, electronics, technology, communication skills and different cultures around the world.
I think that Amateur Radio is fun and useful. It can send out messages if there is a natural disaster. Ham radio is also a way for weather watchers to communicate to others if there is a bad storm coming. They’re even useful if you need to get in contact with a family member who you can’t reach by phone. In Australia, there is even the School of the Air. The kids who live in the outback, who aren’t close to a school, talk to teachers over ham radio. There are many more ways that ham radio is useful, and I believe that it will continue for years to come. I hope to be able to use some of these ways to help the community and my family.
Alexis Humphrey is a seventh grade student at South Middle School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She has been licensed for eight months and uses an ICOM IC-706MK2G with a dipole antenna. She enjoys EchoLink and having QSOs with her grandfather. She hopes to have more QSOs with other middle school age kids around the world.
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