Through the years, I've had lots of fun in this great hobby of ham radio. I've experienced the thrill of being DX while living in Costa Rica and Honduras, and even of operating from Russia (I made all of one momentous contact from there). I've had fun in contests (even winning some), collecting wallpaper, running traffic, helping in emergencies (blizzards, earthquakes), you name it. But most important, I've met some wonderful people and made some great friends.

When I read of the recent closing or converting of several FCC monitoring stations, I was reminded of two men I had met years ago as a result of ham radio--two men I wish I hadn't met. Here's the story.

In the fall of 1960 I opened the mail one day to discover I was now to be known as KN8WHB. Hooray, I'd passed my Novice exam. I rushed to the basement, tuned up my borrowed DX-20 transmitter on 40 meters, heard a strong station on my AR-3 receiver, and called KN8UDM for my first contact as a ham. No 13-year-old kid could ever experience a greater thrill than I did on that day.

Novices were crystal controlled in those days and I only had one crystal, which was on 7184 kc (no longer a part of the Novice band). The 40-meter Novice band was always full of QRM, and it was even worse for me because I was stuck on just one frequency. What I really wanted to do was get on 15 meters, where there wouldn't be so much QRM and where I could work a real DX station. My 40-meter dipole would do the trick just fine on 15. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the $5 for another crystal, so I was stuck on 40.

But, alas, here's where our ham friends always come to the rescue. K8QDM, my ham radio elmer across the street (who had his General Class license and was no longer rock bound), loaned me a crystal for 7037 kc which I could use on 21111 kc (7037 x 3 = 21111). I thought I was king of the hill when I worked my first VE6. Hi!

Unfortunately, my venture into 15 meters is what led me to meet those two previously mentioned men. You see, while a few DX stations were now hearing my signal, so, I discovered, were a few of my neighbors on their TV sets.

One day in early 1961 there was a knock on our door and two men introduced themselves to my mother as being from the FCC monitoring station in Allegan, Michigan, which was about thirty miles south of our Grand Rapids home. They asked to speak with me. Immediately my heart began to pound. They said they had received complaints from neighbors two doors to the north and two doors to the south that I was interfering with their TVs. They wanted to do some tests from my station. So, while one of them went with me to my shack, the other went to one of my complaining neighbors.

Talk about being scared to death! I thought for sure I was going to end up in the Federal Penitentiary. Instead of KN8WHB, I'd be something like 437852.

Anyway, when the one guy got to my neighbor's house, he called us on the telephone and had me start transmitting on 15 meters. Mercy! He said I completely wiped out the screen. Great!

After more tests at the other neighbor's house, they concluded I was completely at fault. This, despite the fact both their old TVs had 21 mc I.F.s in them. I didn't have a chance. I was transmitting on 21 mc. My two friends (I told you ham radio was great for making new friends. Hmmm!) didn't officially put me on what was known then as quiet hours, but they strongly suggested I limit my 15-meter operating to hours when no one was watching TV.

Yeah, right!

You'd think this scared-to-death kid would have learned his lesson, wouldn't you? Think again. Being hams, you'll understand this. If I wanted to work DX, 15 meters was my only good shot at it with my present setup. So, a couple of weeks later, I was back at it.

One Saturday morning I was determined to open up what was a completely dead 15-meter band. It was DX or die for me. I called and called CQ, but to no avail. I called again and again and again, but no one was there.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I tentatively answered it and, horror of horrors, it was one of the guys who'd visited me a couple of weeks earlier. He was listening to me from the FCC monitoring station in Allegan. My heart skipped several beats. This time I knew for sure I'd be the first teenager in Jackson State Prison. I think I then prayed one of those real eloquent prayers. You know, something like, "HELP!!!" The subsequent conversation went something like this.

FCC: "Dale, whatcha doin'?"
Me: "Nothin' much."
FCC: "Well, I'm listening to you call CQ on 15 meters."
Me: "You are?"
FCC: "Yup! Whatcha hearin'?"
Me: "Nothin'!"
FCC: "I know. Think maybe you better not operate right now?"

I thought that was an excellent suggestion and I told him so. In fact, I would have told him anything he wanted to hear. I also gave my friend back his 7037 kc crystal so I wouldn't be tempted to get on 15 again for a long time. I didn't either.

As I reflect on this experience now, I realize those two men were really super-nice people. They could have been real nasty, but instead they were courteous and helpful, if not somewhat intimidating to a young teenager. But I wish I knew who they were, because I'll bet you anything they were also licensed hams.