Dan Schobert, W9MFG
(formerly KN8ADD, 1955)

Fair to say, most novices were young people... perhaps still in school though we know many came to the hobby later in life. For me, it was in 1955 when I was 15. My interest had developed after I was given a Hallicrafters receiver (S-38C) as birthday present.

As I tuned across the frequencies, I kept hearing people talking to each other and wondered...how did that happen? All of this led me to a school where they actually taught ham radio as a science course and where you had to learn the Morse code. It was an exciting time for a teen.

Next came the day of actually getting on the air and finding that first contact. That was many years and log books ago. But the excitement still exists as blood flows through my fingers into that telegraph key, knowing that on the other end is a friend waiting for a word FROM ME. 

Here a picture of me... not sure of the date... probably in '56 or '57...(Kn8ADD, at the time) I may have already passed into General land but my Heath AT-1 is very visible as is the Knight Kit VFO as well as the Johnson semi-automatic key to my right hand, a bug I use to this day. At the time of this picture I was using a National HRO-5 receiver; sure wish I had that today.

Ham radio: a great hobby.

Dan Schobert