About
Hi there. My name is Linda and I have been listening to radio of all forms for decades.
I always have had a short-wave radio to listen to. When I was a toddler my parents had a radio that was a regular piece of furniture. It had the AM band and it had the short-wave band. It also had a record player for the old 78's. I wish I still had that baby - last time I turned it on in the 80's it still worked! But my mom eventually got rid of it, never thinking I might want it. If you were a kid in the 40's or 50's you probably at least saw one of these radios. They were common then.
When I was in my early teens, my cousin let me listen to his Amateur Radio equipment and I was hooked. As I grew up and moved away from home, I always had at least a portable radio. And every one that I had always covered the short-wave frequencies too. I found it fascinating to be able to listen to voices from around the world. In the 70's I started to have friends that were Hams and since then I have preferred to listen to the amateur bands. The people are just like family sitting around the kitchen table chatting about just about anything. Having a real good visit. And they share their knowledge and ideas.
In the late 80's I got a scanner. There are a number of frequencies where one can hear Hams on a scanner. There was one fellow who would rebroadcast the sounds of NASA TV over the amateur band that he used when there was a shuttle launch. What a treat that was as it was before I had NASA TV to watch.
A few years back when there was a huge, devastating fire in Oakland, California I was listening to the Hams on my scanner. They were helping in any way that they could. Relaying messages to loved ones from those who were safe but not able to be reached by any other means was one of the things they did that really sticks in my mind. They are heroes in the truest sense of the word.
Maybe someday, given enough time, I'll join them. I'm on my way as I now have my Technician license, KD7NGZ.