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Speak Out: Your Funniest Ham Story?

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KX7Q on 2006-02-24
Believe it or not: A True Story...When I was in Sparks NV (Reno area), I upgraded to General and wanted to see if I could beat the system. So, I checked on how many licenses were being issued each month, each week, and each day. And, I calculated the approximate date on which I could get N7EEE ... sent the 610 in via Federal Express and was issued N7EEU (just missed it by a few and actually got a better CW call).

So, I figured, "I almost did it once, I can't lose with the Advanced." When I upgraded, I checked the stats again and waited until the very day before I knew I could get KD7DK (reads the same both ways) ... they sent me KD7DI (Rats, missed it by two! But, I'm a preacher so I became "Divine Interpreter" to the Nevada ham community). So...(well, you can figure where I am going)...when I upgraded to Extra, I wanted to get NE7V (Nevada and the best 7-area CW callsign on the Planet) ... studied the same stats, VERY few Extra licenses being issued and I knew I had that one figured out.

I Fed-Exed the 610 ... and the next day I called Gettysburg and was told by the lady, "I'm sorry I can't insure any callsign, as you know, but we are going back to pick up the KX prefix that were originally for experimental stations and therefore not issued; you will probably get a KX7 call."

Rich Warren N7RH (SK, the call is now owned by Don Steele) said, "You idiot! You thought you could beat the system and now you're gonna get something stupid, like KX7Q..."

Guess what came in the mail?

WX9DX on 2006-01-02
Hmmmm?

A few years ago my friend "M", did let a female ham think He was me. On the Vhf radio repeater in our area, of Central Illinois. Our voices sound the same, big time. She did not notice that He was using his own call either. She just did assume it was me. Well, She was " flirted with" big time by my friend "M" just for fun. To make it worse, She was dating another friend of mine at the time in another town. Well, when this woman got in front of the local club She told all. “ You know what Jimmy did”? She said to everyone at the meeting. God, my wife found out later and everything. My Friend "M" I was so MAD at.
When I did see Him at a Ham fest in our area He was laughing his butt off. I got right up to Him and said “ Hey you got to fix this”. Well He did go tell the woman at that Ham fest, but only after She did bad mouth me to everyone, for flirting with Her. My friends said it was that She was proud that I had done it. But I said “ Hey it was not me, it was M”.
Thank Goodness "M" did fix it with everyone. But for over a month I could not show my face anyplace, in person, on the radio, even on packet. I did hear about that for over a year from all kinds of people. Finally, WOW, Finally it was over. That’s my friend "M".

It’s kinda funny now. We even joke about it when we are together. He really is one of my best friends. He did that as just a lark. Not knowing that She really thought it was me.

Jimmy:)

N7ZSD on 2005-12-16
My daughter has been hearing the words ham and ham radio all of her 11 years. When she heard the song "Paint Me A Birmingham" by Tracy Lawrence, she thought it was a song about ham radio.
"Paint Me A Burning Ham"!
Either that, or she was talking about my wifes' cooking!
(was that my out-loud voice again?)

W4RUO on 2005-12-12
In the late 60's there was an earthquake in Nicaragua. At that time I was the engineer for a local radio station. One of the jocks called me and said a lady had called and asked if he could help by calling Nicaragua to find out about her parents. He said he knew a ham who could do that. So he called me. After several minutes of disclaimers informing him that it wasn't like a telephone line, I said I would try. So I went out to the shack and warmed up the TR4. Tuned across 40 and found a QSO where there was a station with a Nicaragua call. Broke in and asked my question. The Nicaragua station came back and said he was a Catholic priest and knew the people I was asking about and that he had seen them since the quake and they were ok. I thanked him and went back to the jock at the radio station with the news still explaining that it was not like a telephone line.

KB7LYM on 2005-12-06
About 8 years back my friend ( silent key ) KB7NNJ
Wife returned after being gone for 25 some years.
Moved into a trailer with hubby Dick. After the honeymoon
was over I visited Dick in his old trailer home. When he opened the door
I was in for the shock. The stench I can not describe. His beloved wife had 16 cats
And 4 dogs. Cat & Dog ( you know that brown stuff ) all over the floor.
On a bench stood his aged Tempo transceiver glowing and 4 cats on top.
Balls of hair lay on the floor like a Persian carpet.
Not at all the Hams Shacks in full color brochures displayed here on E-Ham
The best article Dick could have bought to improve his CAT Shack would
Have been a box of matches

K6BZ on 2005-11-27
I have an African Gray parrot named 'Bob'. When I switch on the Icom he will whistle the sound of me tuning past carriers and then sound a morse 'K'. Some times he will whistle a perfect CQ and then sometimes it'll be CTT. We call him 'birdy Bob' so when I'm on ssb he'll bust out with 'Kilo-Six-Bravo birdy Bob' thinking he has his own call. I never use VOX so there's no danger of him becoming a pirate, even if he is a parrot. BTW he never gets to listen to 80m.

KC8VWM on 2005-11-26
After returning from the garage to look for something, my wife informs me that "some guy" just called.

I asked, "Is he still there?"

She replied, "Yeah."

So, I proceeded to pick up the telephone in the shack and said, "..hello?"


Wife responded, "no you idiot, - on your radio!"

N6AYJ on 2005-11-26
Listening to Ralph, WA6GVG, and Paul, W7DVJ, argue with Gary, WA6JIY on 3922 in the '70's. You can hear this and other such idiocy at:

http://pageproducer.innercite.com/bcrowell4/index.html

WF7A on 2005-11-25
When I was first licensed as a ham in California, all of my contacts were domestic. Then one night, while calling CQ, a VK call answered me. Since it was a historic moment, I was about to push myself out of my chair so I could go fetch The Wifoid when the chair broke beneath me; the pieces breaking inward, my arms were locked into place and couldn't reach the radio or my key ... and all the while the VK was waiting for my reply to his transmission. I shouted for my wife to come help me out of the chair--which she laughingly did after she took a photo--and I was able to complete the QSO.

(I think that pic of me is in a 1986 or 1987 issue of _QST_.)

Ciao!
Rich

KI6YN on 2005-11-24
Had a QSO with a guy in Florida and he gave me a 59 +10 while I was running 100 watts into a cubical quad up 60 feet. When I finshed the QSO, I got a call from a guy in North Carolina and he gave me a 54! When he told me his antenna was a 20 footlong dipole in his attic, I had to laugh and ever since then, almost 20 years, I realize a signal report is puresly subjective without a baseline! I am located in California.

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