I love a captive audience!  Thank you for coming.   I am humbled by the fact that you paid $47.50 for this.  Normally people hold a 20 up in the air to get me to stop talking.  It is a gift indeed to be talking about the thrill of ham radio rather than enforcement--amateur radio, by the way, was the first social network, wasn't it?

   Now I am going to start out with some preliminaries:

First, if any cell phones go off, I am not here.

   Did you ever see the QST photo of all 7 of my stations?  I have since drastically thinned everything out, but let that photo be a lesson to you. “NEVER get on eBay intoxicated!!!

   Third, I always get asked 3 questions so I will get them out of the way FIRST, OK??

1 - Will no-code ruin Amateur Radio? 

2 -What is your favorite enforcement story?

3 - How did YOU get started in Amateur Radio?

1 - Will no-code ruin Amateur Radio?  No, no more than the development of SSB did — AM’ers said it was the end of radio — that it was all over.  Also, less that 1% of you filed comments on the rule making to eliminate it as a requirement, so if it wasn’t important then, it isn’t important now!  But Code activity continues to rise and it is just one of the many fascinating aspects of radio.  And, the original digital mode.  Young folks seem to love it.

2.  What is your favorite enforcement story?  The one where I learned that a wife or girlfriend can be the most effective enforcement tool that we have.

   This happened in the first year of enforcement, when I used to get so aggravated about enforcement problems that it would sour my weekend.  I didn’t particularly mind that, but it did sour it because I would hear so many people on who were several French fries short of a Happy Meal.  And I rarely operated, I usually just patrolled, and not having been very active I was appalled by what I heard on the bands.

   One Friday afternoon, I decided to CALL and try to resolve something before I went home for the weekend.  I knew it would spoil the weekend, just thinking about the stupidity of it, and I had learned that one on one with some people works very well.  Wife answered.  Asked what is was about.  Against my better judgment I told her what the complaints were and how it was ruining the frequency. 

   After an unusually long pause, She said “Well I tell you WHAT.  He gets home at 6,… and I can guarantee you that after about 6:15 this evening you will NEVER HAVE THIS PROBLEM AGAIN!

   We never heard from or about him again. I felt sorry for him, because what he did wasn’t ALL that bad, but I decided to just leave it alone.

   3.  How did I get into Amateur radio?  Now I can tell you the real story. When I had to be politically correct, I said it was because of a breadboard SW receiver my Dad bought me after a long trip he had taken.  That was part of it BUT the TRUTH is –

    I got that breadboard SW receiver because I was ALREADY interested in Ham radio due to another Uncle of mine.  His name was LD (LD didn’t stand for anything, which always mystified me) and he lived in the textile mill village in Rock Hill, SC.  (They once had a beauty pageant there — and NOBODY won!)

   He had been a radioman in the Army. He detested the lady next door — Mrs. Bagley, because he hated her dogs—they were like the bumpus hounds on Christmas Story.  Mrs. Bagley was the bane of his existence.

   He built a three tube device that would interfere with TV reception.  When my cousins and I would come over, he’d get it out.  We could see Mrs. Bagley thru the window, in her recliner chair watching SOAPS, since the mill village houses were about a foot apart. 

   He’d say “NOW WATCH THIS:  And he would flip a switch, Mrs. Bagley would slowly get up and slap the heck out of the TV, then he would instantly flip it off.

   Once he said “I can even make her do a U-turn!”  He flipped the switch, and turned it off when she was almost to the TV.

   I was fascinated with those tubes, the way they lit up, got hot, how they smelled.  I did get the breadboard later, then a KnightKit Space Spanner. I heard hams and was soon directed towards a family acquaintance who elmered me with the code and I was hooked for life.

   [Speaking of tubes, Much later I got a Johnson Valiant. Remember the purple glow of the rectifier tubes?    My dad was incredibly AFRAID of it.  He never related to electricity and if there was any kind of electrical problem in our old house I had to fix it because he wouldn’t go near it.]

   When I told him those tubes  were SUPPOSED  to glow purple, he said (and he ALWAYS gave this preface before imparting something I should seriously know)…. “Look son, hold your horses. I been around the block a few times, In fact, I been around the world twice.   I was at Pearl Harbor, I dove on the submarine Squalus rescue.  I’m telling you that anytime you make something electrical GLOW PURPLE, you’re asking for a load of problems!”

  By the way, as to my Morse code elmer, he is 86 now, W4WZ………. I talk to him once a week on CW……. and sometimes have to ask him to slow down.

   Just like a lot of you, I occasionally missed school because of radio.   I walked across a big field to catch the school bus, and if it was more than 5 minutes late, my parents had gone off to work by then. So I would go home and spend all day on the radio.

    Now in that time if you missed school you had to come in with a signed excuse from a parent within 2 days.  I wrote my own.  In fact, I got so good at it that by the 11th grade, I was writing them for all my school friends - whether for dentist, sick grandma - whatever they needed.

and everyone knew not to pick on Riley, because sooner or later  you, too, would need an excuse.

   In fact these forgeries and misrepresentations probably led me to the legal profession now that I think about it.

   Now, picking up on what Kay (ARRL President Cragie) said last night (and since Kay took over, best door prizes.)  I am amazed at the leaps in technology that have occurred in this Radio Service in just ten years.  Look at Flex radio, look at the Elecraft linear, the auto tuners by LDG and countless other devices out there that are state of the art and beyond.  Sadly, they don’t have tubes and rarely get hot or smoke, and I’ll never forgive that - But I think of the hours and hours of labor that have gone into those creations and know that it is a labor of love from the people who were excited by the magic of radio.  By dedicated people who love what they do in Ham Radio, and  they tried and failed, tried and failed, and failed better each time and finally got it right.

   Michael Jordan said “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot…and I missed.  I’ve failed over and over again in my life and that’s why I succeed.

   And you show that the inventor and tinkerer in the basement is the keystone of technological innovation - and your passion is a more powerful force than pecuniary interest will ever be.

   Now of course as I have been cautioning you for 12 years now, in sermons all over the country:  every gift of lasting value comes with responsibility.    Our goal must be to help Amateur radio last a thousand years.  I feel it is my calling in life to preach that message to you.  I have a moral obligation to tell you that because enforcement is like the Hotel California:  YOU CAN CHECK OUT, BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE!  Nothing is too big to fail - we have certainly learned that awful lesson in the last few years, and Amateur Radio is no exception.

FOR THAT REASON:

   WE have to welcome and adopt these newcomers into radio - about 50,000 in the last three or four years. We have to make them feel welcome and help them.  I notice that a huge number of them are worried about making mistakes.  We have to preach to them - don’t worry about making mistakes.  Jump in and enjoy it - everyone in this room makes mistakes no matter how long they have been in radio.

   Just last year I melted a 125 watt dummy load testing a kilowatt amplifier - melted all the solder out of it.  Set off the smoke alarm.  My wife opened the basement door and said are you all right down there? I said, “Yep - just testing something!”

   When I first got licensed I used a Gonset vertical antenna nailed to a rose bush trellis - I didn’t know what radials were.  Once I tried to build what I hoped would be a linear amplifier and set off the silent alarm in the house.  My Mom came up mad as a hornet and said ---”That thing you built ---- could it possibly be related to the fact there are two city POLICE CARS  in the front driveway?”

   But nobody got hurt, and by failing we learn. And it is exciting as long as it’s not fatal of course!

   If we don't welcome them and help them, they'll lose interest.  We need their numbers and we need their new blood.

   This Amateur radio thing we have is a WONDERFUL ILLNESS.  I was at the Grand Canyon one time and all I could think about was stringing a long wire across it.  You could do it with a couple tour busses!

   Amateur radio is as valuable as it is exciting.  And think about it:  The WORST days of us who enjoy what we do are better than the BEST days of those who don’t.

   To this moment I distinctly remember my first contact.  It was magic to me that a simple wire across the roof would get Canada.  Sometimes at night I’d just go out and stare at it.

   Now Amateur radio is a cross section of society and that is good.  There’ll always be 1% who try to mess it up for those of us having so much fun.  But you saw people like that in the 4th grade -- in fact, I bet it’s the same people.  So far nobody has figured out how to regulate stupidity.  Just ignore them and enjoy what you’ve worked for.

   But what is wonderful about this hobby is the friendliness and integrity of our members.  I learned early on that their word is better than anybody's

   Oh, of course you’ll hear that Amateur radio will become extinct, and this and that.  (Good article in CQ magazine about this -- Feb 2011, debunking all those negative myths.  

   But throughout history so-called experts have always pontificated beyond their intellect.

   In fact, the wizards at Popular Mechanics magazine said in 1949 that “in the future, computers will weigh no more than 1.5 tons”.

   Decca Recording Company said in 1962, when they rejected the BEATLES:  “We just don’t like their sound, and, besides, guitar music is on the way out”.

   We were told in 1977 that “… there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home”…..by the Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation”

   Even the government will pontificate beyond its intellect.  The Chairman of the Patent Office told the President in 1899 that “Everything that can be invented has now been invented.  The Patent Office should be shut down in the interest of economy.

   Such stuff even comes from geniuses - in 1981, Bill Gates said, “640K ought to be enough for anybody.

   Do what you love and ignore the pessimists and question everything.   Your hobby has invented more things than any other I know of and all that was done by people excited by ham radio.   LOOK beyond emergency communications - now in fact we MUST show those people who are getting into Amateur radio because of emergency communications that there is MUCH MORE to it than that - otherwise they’ll become bored and we’ll lose them.

   Of course emergency communications are critical - all our wonderful cell systems and so forth are the first to fail, and remind me of a bumper sticker I saw on a Jaguar:  BUT OH WHEN IT RUNS!  

   When all else fails of course there is Amateur radio, but look beyond that and enjoy the dozens of exciting things about Amateur radio:  contests (try one  just for an hour--but be careful.

   PSK 31 and all the digital modes, DX, nets, and most of all the camaraderie.

   I have been licensed a long long time and I am always discovering new and exciting things to do on Ham Radio.

   Last year I worked RTTY for the first time - when you tire of one mode or one activity, it is ALWAYS a THRILL to TRY another one.

   You’ll be surprised at how much fun it is to try a new band or mode of activity.

   We have to get this message to the young people.

NOW, IN CLOSING:

   All of us stand on the shoulders of a lot of great people who gave us this wonderful service known as Amateur radio.  To the people in the room today that are in their 70’s and 80’s:

YOU are OUR greatest generation.  You taught us everything about ham radio, and delivered a legacy to us that joyfully occupies our lives.  We will be thanking you the rest of our lives and many of us owe our careers to you.   Our long sought new people coming in to Amateur radio now by the THOUSANDS will also stand on your shoulders.  You have left Amateur Radio a legacy that has wonderfully changed our lives.  Whether you realized it or not, you were our teachers for those moments of your lives that that you gave to us.

   And you know what they say about teachers:  Teachers may very well be immortal, because no one knows when, or even if, their legacy EVER ends.

   And YOU are certainly the people I worked for over ten years - I considered myself working for YOU primarily, and for the FCC secondarily.  I loved it as much as I loved Amateur Radio.

   I’ve thought almost every day about people that are so devoted to the enjoyment Amateur radio and I realize that you are all bound together by one common bond: the love of the magic of radio.  I got that phrase from Walt Stinson.  You are people who want to make a difference, who want to leave a legacy, and who want to make the world a better place.

   I’ve thought about what inspired all the people I see to be so giving of their personal time in a world where there are never enough hours in a day, and where there is, sadly, no Main Street America anymore,  and why they were so dedicated and with little or no regard to financial gain or fame.

Well, here it is:

   Amateurs that organize Hamfests, help out in disasters and teach classes — the QRP’ers, the contesters, the traffic net participants, the satellite folks---- all understand that the greatest reward in doing anything is to experience joy in doing it.

   You care about life, you think about what you’re doing with Amateur radio  … and most of all:  you have vision and a passion for Amateur radio and for its success.  I really believe what E.M. Forster said is true:  “One person with passion is better that 40 people merely interested.”

   I have thought a thousand times about what must motivate you all.  It has to be far beyond what Teddy Roosevelt implored: “Do the best you can with what you have, where you are.”  You all do that but it’s more than that.

   The North Carolina writer Thomas Wolf said that “We are the sum of all the parts of our lives.”  And as see the joy and enthusiasm of gatherings like this it becomes clear to me - and this has especially been evident since Hurricane Katrina, when Amateur radio had yet another “finest hour”-that in your passion for radio and technology, and for running clubs, field day operations, Dxpeditions, public service events and for helping out in Joplin Missouri and countless other events that have occurred since Katrina, what is it that motivates you?

   What it is, is this:  you CARE more than others think wise; you RISK more than others think safe;  you DREAM more than others think practical, and you EXPECT more than others think possible.  THAT, my captive audience…. DEFINES EXCELLENCE.

   Just enjoy Amateur radio and pursue your passion and let radio joyfully occupy your lives - and be sad for those who aren’t excited by technology and have no clue as to the MAGIC of Amateur Radio.

   I’ll leave you with this thought - and this may be the last time you ever see me.  It’s occurring to me that too many Hamfest chilidogs may be taking their toll.  Once at Dayton, I got one and put the thing back - having second thoughts about taking another 15 minutes off my so-called life.   But before I did I carved my call sign in it.  The next 2 years at Dayton I saw that same hot dog in the rotisserie, rotating K4ZDH K4ZDH K4ZDH.

   But I thank you for allowing me to share your convention, and I leave you with this thought in regard to the thrill of Ham Radio,  and indeed of life in general if I may be so presumptuous.

   It comes from William Saroyan: “In this wondrous time of your life, live so that you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it all.”

   Thank you.