Rick Palm, K1CE
(formerly WN1YIU/AK1YIU)

I started out as a Novice in 1976. I remember how thrilled I was to pass the test, then receive my license in the mail, and then finally to make my first contact, which I remember like it was yesterday. I made my first DX contact on a Christmas morning, and I was
ecstatic.

It was a nice long QSO with a Czchechoslavakia station, an OK3 as I recall.

I still have my first QSO QSL card.

73,

Rick, K1CE

Editor's Note: Those of us, like Rick, who were Novices during the American Bicentennial were allowed by the FCC to celebrate the event by using a special prefix, AK#.  We could at our option to convert our WN# callsign to a AK# callsign, i.e. WN1YIU could use AK1YIU, WN6JPA could use AK6JPA.  In 1976, I often used the more exotic AK6JPA to call CQ.  I would work the station which came back to me as AK6JPA and then work them as WN6JPA.  1976 was also the year the FCC suddenly, without announcement, recinded WN# callsigns and replaced them with WA# or WB# callsigns.