Amateur Radio, KJ7WT

I am a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator, and my call sign is KJ7WT. I was first licensed in 1969, while a high school student in Aurora, CO, and my first call sign was WA0ZEW, which was a "Technician" class license. I had skipped the lowest level "Novice" class by completing a more difficult technical test, but my Morse code was still not fast enough for a higher class license. The FCC normally assigns call signs based upon the "call area" in which you live. Back in those days (late 60's) if you moved to a different call area, you had to get a new call sign, and so when the family moved to Puyallup, WA, I got a new call sign, WA7NTG, just as I joined the US Coast Guard.

Now a short side note: People often ask, "In this era of internet and cell phone technology, why ham radio? Wouldn't it be easier to just chat via internet, or call on the phone, or text?", and my answer is that ham radio is unique in the sense that you are independent of any other communications systems. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the damage to infrastructure took out all of the normal communication systems, and ham radio operators were the first to re-establish emergency communication. In many other natural disasters, ham radio operators often provide the ONLY communcaitions link to the outside world. I also recently read this explanation: if you know an avid fisherman, you could ask, "Why do you spend the time and money to go fishing? You can just go to the store and buy fish there.", and the answer you would get is that there is much pleasure in the process of fishing. Ham radio is the same - there is pleasure in talking with another ham in Europe, or Australia, using equipment YOU are operating, and the only connection is the radio waves between the two of you.

While in the USCG, I did very little ham radio operating. I did buy a used 6 meter transciever, and had exactly ONE QSO (contact) with it. After my discharge from the USCG in California, I almost dropped out of the ham radio world, but a friend with whom I worked was a ham, and I ended up getting another call sign, N6AFV, so that I could talk with him, using mobile radios. I then borrowed a couple of "rigs" (radios) that allowed me to communicate on the lower frequency bands using Morse code (A Technician license does not allow voice operation on these bands). I used Morse code (CW) for several years, and gradually built up my speed, and in 1983, I took the 13wpm test at the FCC office in Reno, NV (my family and I were living in Carson City), and passed it! I was now a General class, and could use voice on the lower frequency bands, which I did for a while. By this time, the FCC had stopped requiring a call sign change if you moved to a new call area, so I kept my N6AFV call.

Since then, my interest has moved up and down, and most recently, I have been more active, especially with some digital modes (PSK and JT65). I have also helped with event communications at several local running/bicycling events. My station equipment can run from a standard 12V car battery, so I have the capability of communication if power goes out.

In 2014, I passed another technical test, and I'm now an Extra-class licensee! More recently, I have been trying a digital voice mode called "DMR", Digital Mobile Radio. This mode allows both local and world-wide communication via a combination of radio and internet.

As technology has moved forward, so have the various communication modes. I have been using several digital weak-signal modes, such as JT-65 (mentioned above) and more recently FT8 and JS8. These modes are able to communicate when signals strengths are very low, and ionopsheric propagation is marginal, as things are right now (2018).

In December of 2017, I changed my callsign to KJ7WT, in honor of my son, Jeremy Wilson Telling, who died from cancer in 2012.

If you have any questions about ham radio, feel free to email me, using the email contact form on the right side of the page!