I love ham radio. Long before embarking on this wonderful hobby I discovered radios at an early age when I started building a crystal radio set as a kid. Maneuvering the cat whisker to tap a small piece of galena embedded in lead was the best part. The coil tube allowed some selectivity but overall the Q was so low in the front end that clear channel station KSL was about all I could hear. Tuning the “rig” was achieved by wiping a metallic arm across the top section of the coil. I don’t remember if my crystal radio was a gift or a request but I do remember sitting quietly in the basement curled up on the old couch with an old headset listening to those AM stations. Nobody else in the family could figure out why I would get so excited about a radio (the same can be said today). My crystal radio was always in need of a better antenna. Dad was leery of my growing appetite for home based electronic projects so the installation of a good antenna was going to require stealth methodology. I managed to hide the antenna under the eaves of the house. Dad didn’t know a thing until the wind shifted my wire one night. I miss my old crystal radio. I hope to someday find it buried in a pile of memories hidden in the basement of my growing years; please, let it be there so that I can frame it! Electronics and Ham Radio go hand in hand. I distinctly remember one day in 9th grade when I decided that I wanted to be an electrical engineer. From that day so long ago I’ve never wavered. I love electrical engineering. After 22 years of professional work it is in my blood. Ham Radio is rich in tradition and I want to keep it that way. There is a lot of tradition in what we say. I’ve been privileged to teach Ham Radio classes where I introduce the “talk” of Ham Radio. I find great satisfaction in seeing my students develop their love for this wonderful hobby. I’m saddened by changes in relaxing Morse code as I see this as losing a great tradition of our forefathers. In 2000 I was fed up with people telling me I couldn’t put up an HF antenna on my property. I was tired of running in “stealth” mode and tired of not having normal qso’s because somebody might hear me on the radio. I did something about it, I moved. I refuse to sign anything that restricts me from enjoying this great hobby. I’ve never regretted it. I challenge you to do the same. Join me on HF. I usually work 20M Saturday afternoons.