As a schoolboy I was interested in crystal sets and built "secret" radios in hollowed out dictionaries using miniature Hivac tubes (Valves in the UK). I became a radio amateur in the early 1950's when a young man in Sri Lanka with the call sign 4S7IW. At that time there was plenty of ex-military radio gear left over from World War II, as Ceylon was the base for South East Asia Command. An area in Colombo (the capital) had plenty of ex military radio and equipment.
As an aside, Radio SEAC became Radio Ceylon using some powerful Marconi shortwave transmitters. There was and is a flourishing Amateur Radio Society where I became Editor of the 4S7 Bulletin and the first 4S7 Callbook.
I am now forgetting people's call signs, but two I remember were Gabriel 4S7GR (who showed me how a few watts of RF power can illuminate a fluorescent strip light and encouraged me to go for the exam) and Soma 4S7YL who had an amazingly high power AM station with a pair of 813's in the final. The power supply used 5R4GY tubes which had a wonderful violet glow.
My first ham shack had a two tube tx, using a 6C4 crystal oscillator and an 807 final. Receiving was with an RCA AR88LF - a real boat anchor! I only had one crystal which was on 7005 MHz. You could disassemble the FT243 crystal holder and lower the frequency by rubbing the crystal gently with a graphite pencil.
My next transmitter was a Heathkit DX40U (c.w. and AM) which I imported and assembled. I used a Dow Key relay for switching between tx and rx. I used various antennas including 40 and 20 dipoles fed by the same coax (the 40m dipole is OK on 15), and a 10m ZL Special made from 300 ohm ribbon and bamboo poles.
Other Heathkits I built were a Heathkit GDO, a VTVM, and a GC-1A "Mohican" general coverage receiver. I also had an ex Navy tx, the TCS-12 made by Collins which used a pair of 1625's (12 v version of 6146). There was a companion rx which I did not have. Those were the days when one could work the world on a few watts of AM and a piece of wet string (or at least a dipole!) and 15 and 10m were good DX bands.
When on leave in England I really splurged and ordered a Collins KWM-2 with its PS2 power supply that fitted into a Samsonite suitcase. It was obtained through an ad in QST from a firm "Organs and Electronics" in Lockport, Illinois (can anyone tell me what happened to them?). This was and still is a wonderful radio! I used this with a Hygain TH-3 three element monobander on 20m at 70 ft. The mast was made from a tall gum tree sunk eight feet into the ground. I was the only 4S7 operator on ssb at the time which made me very popular with DX'ers and caused some mighty pileups! My QSL Manager was K8RTW who gifted me the
matching Collins 312B5 external VFO so I was able to work split frequency.
I became involved with the South East Asia Net and was Net Control for some time. A well known ham I often spoke to was Father Moran 9N1MM in Nepal (now a silent key). It was through him I became the relay station for the American Mount Everest Expedition and was able to pass the news on their base station in Khatmandu that two climbers had reached the summit.
The KWM-2 accompanied me after I left Ceylon, so I was able to operate around the Arabian Gulf for some years and one time in the British Virgin Islands.
Back in the UK I obtained a British callsign (G3UZI) and had various radios, including a TS120S, a TS440, and various Icoms. On my yacht "Lungta" I operated as G3UZI/MM, using a Kenwood TS50S for a long time with a Kenwood AT300 tuner and insulated backstay.
For my Atlantic crossing from Florida to England I changed the TS50S for an Icom 706 as the SCS PTCIIex Pactor box easily connected to the Icom accessory socket.
I currently operate on the HF bands from Green Cove Springs, Florida, USA first with the General Class License KI4UUO which I changed to W3UZI, using an Icom IC746 Pro and a Gap Challenger vertical antenna. I also use a Kenwood TS120S and external VFO (VFO-120) for old time's sake.
CALLSIGN CHRONOLOGY:
4S7IW (Ceylon/Sri Lanka) from 1952 - 1963
MP4BGS (Bahrain), MP4DAU (Das Island),
MP4TCD (Trucial States), MP4MBK (Muscat and Oman)
(Arabian Gulf 1964 - 1972)
British Virgin Is 1981
G3UZI 1977 (now for life no fee!)
W3UZI
More of my web pages here:
Motor Racing & Flying for Fun in Ceylon(many years ago)
http://lungta99.googlepages.com/home