Tribute

[vwflyer]

My son was born today; John Logan. He's not really named after me. He and I are both named after my grandfather who has been SK since 2001. When I think of a ham I think of him. He started out building radios from kits when he was a boy in the early '30s. His love of electronics and his desire to use his knowledge and skill to help others stayed with him all his life. When he went to war he did so as the radio operator on a B-24 Liberator in Europe. After the war he got work as an electrician for a lumber mill. He started raising a family but still had time to get his ham license and study for an engineering degree by means of correspondence classes. After getting his degree he got hired by Martin Marietta at the hight of the space age. He worked alongside my other grandfather there. Grandfather Roger drew up the plans for the rocket components and grandfather John used the plans to build them. He always stayed abreast of technological developments.

He wasn't a good teacher though. When I was very young I remember riding with him in his car. He was holding a conversation in CW while driving. I remember him driving along and listening to the dits and daws as if he was listening to the oldies station on the radio. I must have shown how impressed I was because he later decided to help me learn CW. He lent me a solidly built key and oscillator and told me to go practice. He didn't give me anything to listen to to learn to copy and it was before a guy could get online and find training aids. Needless to say, I never learned CW that way.

He taught everything that way. Learn by doing. I guess it's how he did it and it worked for him. Grandma about had a heart attach when grandpa taught my brother to drive the snowmobile. The lesson consisted of these words, "squeeze this lever with your thumb and she'll go." So he squeezed. My grandmother saw my brother shoot past the kitchen window, barely dodge two parked cars and a large tree before my frightened ten year old brother thought to release his death grip on the lever. My grandfather thought it was  a hoot.

He was the handiest guy in town. Everyone said he could fix anything. The school, ferry boat, and lumber yard would all call him up on a regular basis long after he had retired when they couldn't get something working. That is how he died. He was backed over by a log mover while he was troubleshooting another machine. He lived on an Indian reservation and even though he was not a member of the tribe, or even an Indian for that matter, they gave him a plot in the tribal cemetery and a tribal burial.

I inherited his ham shack, the heart of which was his Collins KMW-2. I'm just now dusting it off and firing it up. I'm a bit scarred of blowing something up in it. It's been sitting for so long and I know nothing of old tube radios.  It still seems to grab the signals though and I've measured 80 watts out of it. Now I'm learning CW and am anxious to start CW QSOs with my grandfather's old rig just like he did. I've had my ham license for ten years now and it's come time for renewal. I decided that grandpa's old call sign should be what comes out of his rig and so I've applied for his call sign. I hope they give it to me. I'm looking forward to the day I can teach little John how to operate CW on his namesake's radio.

[KK0G]

Very nice tribute to your grandfather, sounds like he was a very interesting guy. Very cool that you have his station now, no doubt you'll think of him every time you use it.




I'm fortunate to still have my grandparents and am very close to them. Realistically I know my time with them is limited as they near the twilight of their lives so I try to spend as much time with them as I can. The older I get the more I realize how important family is to me, I didn't realize this at the time but my grandparents were instrumental in instilling the value of family into me since I was a small child yet ironically it's taken me until they're near the end of their lives to fully realize how important they are to me.

[cockpitbob]

Very, very nice.  I enjoyed reading that, and I do hope you do get his call sign. 

[gil]

Great story John, thanks for sharing. Congratulations on the birth of your son and learning Morse code. Just keep at it, it will eventually sink in. Read the numerous posts here about learning the code...

Gil.

[Archangel320420]

The KWM-2 should fire up OK. The only thing that could go wrong is blowing some capacitors since over the years they dry up from non use. You might want to just have it idle for awhile and that might let the capacitors get warm on their own and be just fine.

Dipping the plate current and loading the finals is a lost art I think. You can read up on it. Here is a video of tuning up an old Drake xcvr but the KWM2 is similar ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjd9WfmRiXI

Good luck.

Great tribute and thanks for sharing!

Terry

[vwflyer]

I'm fortunate to still have my grandparents and am very close to them. Realistically I know my time with them is limited as they near the twilight of their lives so I try to spend as much time with them as I can.

Right on! I normally get home about every two years to see my family but this year my wife and I are going to make a quick trip home after one year just to see my grandmother. Next year might be too late.

I enjoyed reading that, and I do hope you do get his call sign.

Thanks!

Congratulations on the birth of your son and learning Morse code. Just keep at it, it will eventually sink in. Read the numerous posts here about learning the code...

Thanks Gil. This forum has been a big inspiration and help in learning morse.

Dipping the plate current and loading the finals is a lost art I think. You can read up on it. Here is a video of tuning up an old Drake xcvr but the KWM2 is similar ...

Thanks. I'll definitely take a look at that video when I get home from the hospital. I downloaded part of the user manual for it and tried to follow the instruction on how to do it but it seems like they take for granted you already know something about what you're doing. It makes for unspecific instructions like "and finally adjust the loading with the load lever" and I'm left scratching my head saying to myself "well, I found the load lever but what am I adjusting it to?" So I just adjusted it for maximum power indicated on the wattmeter/dummy load.

[Archangel320420]

Wishing you WARM, in your chest GLOWING feel with the birth of your son, proud dad. Congrats.

[Archangel320420]

X-Spurt help? I know there is a guy in Johnston Pennsylvania restores Collins gear too. I don't have his name or call or phone number. A buddy of mine used him to restore some old gear for him and it came back LIKE NEW. Here is another source... http://www.wb4hfn.com/


p.s.  I talked to my friend who had the Collins gear refirbished. He said look up W3CRA on QRZ.com   He said that that is the guy who did the work on his gear. Very satisfied.

p.p.s.  A variac is the best way to bring old caps to life. A little voltage to the KWM2 at a time, bu t I am not sure you have one (I don't) and I am not sure how long it would take. Heck... just replace the Caps if they blow  :) 

[gil]

My grandfather is the reason why I am somewhat of a prepper and like the outdoors. He was in WWII and saw the devastation... He knew life could change really fast. He taught me how to trap, hunt and fish. Actually, he got me my first walkie-talkie and first pellet rifle when I was a child. He wasn't a Ham. After WWII he became a cop. He sure was a very good shot. Fortunately the only time he used his service revolver was on a mad dog that had to be put down. The darn thing blew up in his hand! He would talk about WWII when I asked him, but there were things he did not talk about...

These men from another era knew what hardship means and had skills to cope with it. Many still knew how to be self sufficient, live off the land. They had the patience to learn how to do things right. Consumerism hadn't poisoned their lives yet. They could fix things instead of throwing them away. I am sure many here remember their grandfathers or still have one or two.

If I wanted to learn about life and a flurry of useful skills, I think I'd rather go to a retirement home than to a university...

Gil.

[Archangel320420]

Many old soldiers have been through it all. They know, for sure, Gil.

[KK0G]

If I wanted to learn about life and a flurry of useful skills, I think I'd rather go to a retirement home than to a university...

I couldn't agree more. I could sit and listen to grandpa's stories for hours on end (and have many times), everything from how they built coffer damns when he worked for a county bridge crew during the late depression to the crazy antics they pulled as young men - (like turning the miniature donkey loose in the house ;D ), some of the stories even R rated yet always told in a tasteful way ;) . If there's one thing I've learned from his stories, it's that people never really change throughout the generations - kid's get into mischief, boys chase girls, some people are lazy and some people work hard. There's definitely a reason for the old saying "Boys will be boys", and trust me, our generation didn't come up with that one, nor did his.

[vwflyer]

22 days after I sent in the application and after 14 years of disuse my grandfather's callsign is back on the air.

[John Galt]

Congrats!!!