K7PEH Novice Station (as WN7ECQ)

K7PEH Novice Station As WN7ECQ

It took me a long time to get my novice. I remember studying for the test when I was in the sixth grade. My mother would quiz me on the questions. She knew the material better than I did. I think the main reason that I never got my ticket at that age was that I kept putting it off. I think I liked the idea of tinkering with the electronics more than getting on the air. I believe I took apart and rebuilt my Eico 720 transmitter three or four times. It is a miracle it ever worked.

After my freshman year in college I got serious. In high school I used to hang out at times in the shack of K7RMT who lived in North Bend Oregon. He lives in Texas now and is still on the air today (2004). But, Bud was the one who challenged me to stop fooling around and take my test and get my license. So the summer after my freshman year in college, I took my test, got licensed, and got on the air with a half-dozen different 40 meter CW band crystals for the 720 (no VFO).

Most of my contacts were made that summer while I worked swing shift at a local plywood mill. I was on the air from midnight until about 4 AM each day. Swing shift creates strange operating hours. Most QSOs were with novices in California but I did get a few General class hams who were operating down in the CW zone.

Also that summer of 1966 I built the dual-811A linear and its power supply from circuits taken from the ARRL Handbook. I also started building a Phasing type SSB exciter taken from the ARRL handbook -- I wound my own coils for that thing though I never actually used it on the air.

WN7ECQ Station At Home (North Bend, Oregon)

• Eico 720 Transmitter (middle section of rack cabinet).
• Hammarlund HQ-170AC (left of rack cabinet).
• Homebrew 1700 volt (1 amp) Power Supply (sitting to the right of rack cabinet).
• Homebrew dual-811A Linear Amplifier (below 720 in rack cabinet).
• Homebrew Phasing Type SSB Exciter (above 720 in rack cabinet).
• [Not In Picture] 40-meter dipole in back yard.

Novice Station At College (OSU, Corvallis, Oregon)

Roughly the same equipment I have in the home picture above but without the rack cabinet and without the SSB exciter.

My shack in college was in a little alcove next to our room in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity at Oregon State University. My room-mate at the time was Greg, KM6SG, who is the one that encouraged me to get back into ham radio.

If you have good eyes, you can also see my Vibroplex speed key, my US Call Book, and my log book (sitting on top of the call book) and my headphones.

I had a 40-meter dipole on the roof of the fraternity but it was only about 3 feet above the roof line but the fraternity was three floors so that put it about 40 feet up I guess.