1977 - DX AND SSB

Here is a picture of me at my 11 meter station on November 9, 1977 (my birthday). My station included the Siltronix 1011D, a Shure 444 microphone, a Mattco model 711 frequency counter, and a Siltronix SWR-3DX SWR/Watt meter.

That whole year was 99.9% SSB for me at the time, and my home frequency was 27.395, or channel 39. We had an affinity for joining dozens of SSB clubs, receiving membership #s which were used as identification. I even started a couple of clubs, such as "Endeavor" (see Endeavor 1 on the cards) and "RHF" (which stood for "Rhode Island HF") and folks would come to me to be issued a number. Here are some of my QSL cards that I had made up with several of those #s printed on them. The classic and one of the first SSB numbers to be used were "Whiskey" numbers. Each state had its own number, so R.I. was 13W ###. My # was 13W 380.

Many folks went from operating in the illegal frequency ranges (27.405 on up) to getting their amateur radio license. One such friend was my substitute high school bus driver, Robert Osbourne, WB1ALC. His CB handle was "Crazy Fisherman". He went on to get his ham ticket in 1978.