A Half-Century of Ham Radio

Wow! Where has the time gone? Today marks 50 years of ham radio for me. I was first licensed as WN3YSV on this date in 1974, after finishing a four-year hitch as a Navy Radioman. Over those years, I’ve made a lot of great memories. I also made a lot of great friends, both in-person and on the air. 

My first station included a Heathkit DX-60 crytal-controlled transmitter and a Realistic DX-160B receiver. This picture was taken in 1975, about 8 months after leaving the Navy.
WN3YSV (pre-WB3GCK). My first station included a Heathkit DX-60 crystal-controlled transmitter and a Realistic DX-160B receiver. This picture was taken in 1975, about 8 months after leaving the Navy.

Thanks to the thousands and thousands of hams I’ve had the pleasure of working over the past 50 years. I look forward to many more contacts over the next 50 years!

72, Craig WB3GCK (ex-WN3YSV)

9 thoughts on “A Half-Century of Ham Radio”

  4. I was googling around looking for articles about inexpensive and low profile multi band antenna —I’ve been inactive for many years but I often think about getting back on the air again — and I happened to land on your site. I was astonished to read that you were originally licensed as WN3YSV, as I was originally licensed as WN3YSW, which I suppose was also 50 years ago. It’s truly a small world.

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    1. Hi Russell: It’s possible we were licensed around the same time. However, I learned a while back that someone held the WN3YSV callsign before me. Since the Novice licenses back then were two-year non-renewable, it appears that they recycled the callsigns. Anyway, I hope you get back on the air soon. 73, Craig WB3GCK

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  5. Thanks. I do recall using 74 as a check in the November Sweepstakes contests, so I think it’s likely that I received my license then. My first QSOs weren’t until the spring of 1975, in part because (aged 12) I messed up assembling my own DX-60B transmitter and had to take it to the Heathkit store north of Baltimore to get it working.

    In any case, I was struck by the coincidence of the consecutive callsigns and wanted to share. TNX and 73 — Russ K3RSF

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