Contributing Author 

Greetings from Altoona, Pennsylvania, the former home of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

I was once the Curator and then Director of the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum where I ran a folk-life documentation program which specialized in the oral history of the area’s former steam railroaders. Then a cultural anthropologist, then a technical writer for an art and architectural restoration firm, where I mostly stared through a microscope at paint chips and wrote reports which few people ever read!

First licensed in 1975, I continue to operate in fits and spurts, mostly CW with some occasional RTTY.

I’ve amassed a nice collection of Heathkit SB series radios over the years, though my favorite rig is probably the Elecraft K2, which I built myself.

A self-taught hobbyist machinist, my primary obsession is building telegraph keys. I live in a restored 1888 church building, which houses my metal shop, a library, and of course, a small “radio room.” At any particular hour, on almost any day, you’ll probably find me at work in the shop on my “latest” strange or exotic idea for a telegraph instrument. I hope you’ll stop by!

A Few Milestones:

• Successful completion of my first solder kit, a Heath SB-303, a long time ago!
• Rag Chewer’s Club, and Old Timer’s Club.
• Eight-band DXCC and Challenge Plaque (1000 level). All done with 100 watts and a simple antennas.

Bucket list:

• Own a real antenna (a steerable beam) on a modest tower some day!
• Get that FISTS QLF certificate on a future trip to Xenia!

The picture shows me in my natural habitat. (For some reason, the camera seems to have deprived me of most of my hair, and aged me by a few extra years!)

Contributing Author

I practically breathed in ham radio growing up as a child near Chicago, Illinois. My father was Rodney Newkirk, W9BRD, conductor of QST magazine's column "How's DX?" for 30 years or so, from late 1947 to 1978.

Throughout my childhood the beautiful sounds of Morse code were all around me.

W9BRD originated the term "Elmer," coined in 1971 in a "How's DX?" column. I am so grateful to have had W9BRD as a father, a mentor, and an Elmer.

At the age of 15, or so, I became, with my dad's help, WN9PMC. Although I allowed that license to expire when I was still a teenager, I am happy to say that in January of 2017 I passed my Technician Class license exam, becoming KD9HWE. In August 2017 I applied for, and was granted, my original call sign my father helped me attain so many years ago, WN9PMC. I am thrilled to be a radio amateur once more! I've always had a passion for history and I love learning everything I can about amateur radio's past.

I am a complete CW fanatic. This was true of my father W9BRD, a silent key since 2012, and his son, my brother David Newkirk, the current holder of W9BRD.

As we say, CW forever!

My earliest recollections of radio include nightly dramas and comedies from the big Pilot radio in my parents’ room, sitting in our apartment’s dining room with my father winding the coil of a crystal radio set we built after a visit to Allied Radio in Chicago, and trying to figure out how to send Morse code with a WWII surplus Vibroplex J-36 my father brought home to me, all when I was growing up on the south side of Chicago.

Years later, a friend got an S-53A and we listened to foreign broadcasts and to some of the action on the amateur bands. Another friend began studying for the Novice test, and I thought, “I can do that!” So I did. An SX-110, DX-40 and the 15-meter rotary dipole from the 1961 ARRL Handbook put me on the air with that old Vibroplex (I finally figured it out). And, I’ve been having fun ever since. I still have the J-36 and the coil I wound for that shortened dipole. The coil is a decoration; the bug still gets a regular workout. CW ragchewing, chasing a bit of DX, some light contesting, a bit of NTS traffic handling and writing for the K9YA Telegraph are my favorite radio activities. Hope to c u on the bands,

73, John

Contributing Author

It all started in a log cabin in the backwoods of Ohio...

Restart:

I was first licensed in 1979 and because I was always an overachiever I got my Extra about 1984 or so. Frank, Charlie, Charlie gave me the NR8U call sign because they knew how much I loved CW.

Since that time I’ve rarely used CW.

My main activities in amateur radio since then have been low-power phone entries in just about all the major/minor contests, which are on the air. I do have a caveat though because in the fall my amateur radio activities take a back seat to college football. My son is the offensive line coach at Manchester University and a lot of my weekends are spent on the road to games.

I love learning the history of things and amateur radio and radio itself has fascinated me for some thirty years or more. I have met some great people through amateur radio and two of the best are Francis “Fritz” Tender, WD8E, and his wife Billie Tender, N8LEL. Thanks to Billie letting Fritz go, we have had some really nice adventures involving amateur radio.

I just renewed my license for another 10-12 years, which will probably outlast me as I just turned 70 years old.

I really appreciate the staff of the K9YA Telegraph for letting me work out my neurosis in front of everybody. Thanks guys.

Bob Cashdollar, NR8U, SK (a real last name and call sign).

1945 - 2017