It has finally come to fruition - I am officially an amateur radio operator. A Ham.
How this all began is a long story that begins with listening to my folks talk on the CB radio, eventually having my own CB, learning and studying for my Amateur Radio License, failing multiple times and finally giving up on it. Every time that I took the test for the first license, I would pass the written part, but inevitably fail the CW (Morse Code) part of the test. It was frustrating, to say the least.
There have been some changes in the past few years with the licensing structure and, at first, licenses were offered that did not require the operator to pass a CW test. Last year, the rules were changed again and CW was dropped as a requirement for all classes. Dropping the CW requirement initially caused a rift within the community, but I think that has waned. Sure, there are a few that see those of us that do not know code as overrated CB enthusiasts, but the amateur community as a whole, has really gone to great lengths to remove barriers that would otherwise hinder the growth of the hobby.
So, on June 19, 2010, I traveled to Rockford, IL to take the test to finally become a Ham Operator. I took the the Technician test as well as the General test. While I passed the Tech, I missed the General and so (for now) I just have the basic license. I have a lot of frequencies that I can use, but the most important thing is that I am finally a Ham.
