A proper ham

You surely remember: back in the day, 27MHz CB was the thing! Having a CB rig in a car, plus a base at home was a way of telling your mates that you are not just a nerd, but a cool dude.

Norfolk – like probably every other country town – had it share of active users, and to this day, one can still spot a vertical or two driving around the island.

There is a particular house on a ridge I drove by with a rather shiny 5m tall vertical. Plus a low wire antenna visible only to those who know what they are looking at. A sign of activity! Of course, there is no way I would stop by and knock on a stranger’s door, enquiring whether the occupant practises some kind of RF magic. None of my business.

Yet yesterday, as I was driving by, a man who very much looked my age was standing at the gate, chatting with another local, a tradesmen of some kind. I quickly decided to pull into the driveway.

“So who are you and where do you come from” – asked the nerd.

I replied with a question:

“Nice CB antenna there, are you on the air?”

“I am NOT a CBer! I AM A HAM. With a proper callsign” he replied, slightly annoyed -“…and who are you?”

“I am Nick, VK9DX”.

“Paul, VK9NF”.

The tradesman left without saying goodbye.

Five minutes later, Paul and I became best mates. He has been on Norfolk for over forty years, on and off. Semiretired. CW operator. Not only did we have common friends, but we are also neighbours in Sydney. We chatted about the late Jim Smith – and it turned out that Paul has Jim’s radios, including the infamous TL922 amp. Crazily enough, both our sons are into manufacturing, and both run machining shops in Brookvale!

“So, are you on air, do you play radios?” – I’ve asked.

“Not really, apart from an occasional CW with the mainland. Yet to unbox that brand new IC-7300!”

Is the world getting smaller, or what?