When I was about twelve, I was captivated by the idea of “ham” (amateur) radio and wanted to become a ham radio operator to talk to people around the world. A lot of the learning was easy enough for me, except for two things: I had great trouble memorizing all the frequencies, and the way I was taught Morse code was by memorizing visual flash cards.

Back then, you were required to operate with only Morse code for a year as a “novice” before you were allowed to upgrade your license and use any other modes. You couldn’t talk on the radio until you had used Morse code for a year, and you needed to get better at Morse code before you could upgrade. You had to pass a 5 words per minute (WPM) test perfectly to become a Novice, and I think at that time it was 13WPM for General, and 20WPM for Amateur Extra.

I never got past 4WPM, and eventually gave up the dream and moved on to other things. Then when I experienced the early internet in college, I got to live my dream of talking to people around the world, so when the Morse requirement was dropped for ham radio in the US, I didn’t pursue a ham radio license.

When hurricane Helene arrived in NC, I was cut off from communication with one of my (adult) children, who was living in the affected area. Then, shortly after we regained contact, I learned that information was getting in and out of western North Carolina in large part by ham radio. It was too late to be able to be helpful for this disaster, but now I had a reason to get my license to be able to help next time.

I started studying every waking moment that I wasn’t working. The test no longer expected you to memorize every frequency in the band plan. A lot of the information made sense to me because of my other interests, too. I passed all three tests in one sitting, becoming, as I put it, “the world’s least qualified Amateur Extra” for at least a short time.

Other than wanting to be prepared and able to help in the next disaster, I had really no idea what I wanted to do with ham radio. I thought it might be a fun hobby to dabble in from time to time. I was confident of only one thing. I was not going to touch Morse code, my childhood failure.

Ham radio has been full of surprises for me.

Morse Surprise

I bought VHF/UHF radios (line-of-sight frequencies, not round-the-world frequencies) and tried participating in local “nets” where you check in at a fixed time, and the net controllers gives you a time to say whatever you want to say. It works as practice for when you need to have organized communications in an emergency (as well as been a social outlet), but as a pilot who trained carefully to use only the minimum number of words on the radio, I found myself “mic-shy” and checking into the net “in and out” — meaning “just record that I was here, I don’t have anything else to say.”

The nets were held using a “repeater” — our radios can’t all reach either other directly, but everyone can reach an antenna high up on a tower, and can hear what that radio transmits, so we transmit to the receiving radio on the tower using one frequency, and listen to the transmitting radio on the tower on another frequency, and can hear each other indirectly through it. By the rules of amateur radio, these repeaters must identify the license under which they are operating from time to time. Many of them do this by quietly and rapidly transmitting their ID in Morse code.

Two weeks into having my license, I broke down and decided I wanted to be able to understand the repeater IDs. I signed up on LCWO to learn Morse code. I studied lightly, off and on, for a couple months, but then in December 2024 started to get more serious. By January, I knew that I wanted to become good at using Morse code on the radio. By March, I bought an additional radio primarily for doing portable operations using Morse code.

Studying Morse code started out as “type 2 fun” — I was often frustrated by how slow I was learning while practicing, but still glad I was learning. As I learned, it turned into “type 1 fun” — fun and relaxing in the moment. I’m not yet fluent, but I keep seeing signs of (slow) progress. This is the hardest I’ve worked to learn any one thing in at least a decade. Probably the single hardest learning I’ve done since becoming an instrument-rated pilot. I think I’m actually really bad at learning Morse code. Most people who I talk to who have done the kind of intensive drill I have over the past year are far more fluent than I am. But now I go practice in order to relax. I even practice Morse code entirely in my mind to relax to go to sleep!

It’s really been like learning a language. When it flows best, I am not translating it; the dits and dahs themselves carry meaning, and translating into letters and words is extra work. I’ve never become fluent in another spoken language, just learned some rudiments of a few of them. So perhaps it’s not a huge surprise that it’s taking me a while to become fluent in Morse. But now I want to be fluent in Morse.

I’ll keep learning in the new year.

Family Surprise

My wife and one (so far!) of my (adult) offspring have joined me and gotten their licenses. My wife has joined me as an Amateur Extra licensee. Her special interests are being the “net controller” running nets for community service events like bike rides and teaching ham radio classes. We also sometimes go to parks together to both spend time together outdoors and also participate in the Parks on the Air (POTA) program, using portable radios in state and national parks to see who we can talk to on any particular day.

Community Surprise

I’m fortunate that my most-local ham radio club is a very active and friendly community. Raleigh Amateur Radio Society (RARS) has some sort of get-together most weeks, and a large variety of expertise and encouragement. Of its 500–600 members, probably around 100 are really active in one or another club activity. I didn’t expect the ham club to become one of my social anchors, but it has. I am there about every other week, sharing ideas with and learning from other hams.

Hobby Surprise

Ham radio is “ten hobbies in a trench coat masquerading as one hobby” and hams have wildly different interests. Some only want to operate radios. Some find designing and building things more interesting than actually talking to people over the air. I love making things; it’s why 3D printing and hobby machining have been so fun for me. I found that designing and making antennas has been an unexpected hobby. I joke that it’s my “antenna of the month club” hobby, but the joke is not far off reality. I think I have designed and/or made either a new antenna or a newly-designed part of or new feature for an antenna at least a dozen times this year. Some of them have turned into open source projects that I’ve published, like my QRP 6/10/12/15/17/20/30/40m inverted-V linked dipole. This goes beyond antennas; I also designed a 3D-printed single-lever paddle for sending Morse code, and have fixed things for fellow hams.

There is more to learn in this hobby than one person can learn in a lifetime, and since I started well more than halfway through a typical full lifetime, I can’t imagine ever becoming bored.

I’m looking forward to a new year of learning more.