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Born in 1942, I grew up in Ferriday Louisiana which is just across the Mississippi river from Natchez Mississippi.  I became interested in ham radio at age 12 after visiting Carter Wailes K5HQJ where I witnessed him making contacts with hams in South America.  At that moment I knew that talking to people in far away places was my main interest.   I was not familiar with the term DX at that time but knew where the continent of South America was and also knew that it was not just down the road.   I wasted time but at age 14 became KN5LXZ and 9 months later was K5LXZ.

            My first rig consisted of an old 3 to 6 mc command receiver and a Heathkit dx-35 that I built.  For several months I thought that 80 was the only band, then I heard about a guy who had a Hallicrafters S-76 receiver for sale with the speaker for 75$s.  He let me give him $25 down and the remainder was paid at $10 a month.   I worked in a grocery store on Saturdays only and made $5 a day which began at 6 a m and ended at 9 p m and I had no official lunch break or any other break, but, I did not care---the job paid money and jobs of any kind were scarce in those days.   Plus, I did TV antenna work for all the TV repair shops in town when they needed help.   While in high school I participated in DXing and contesting.   I was not much on nets but did check in with Norm W5JHS when ever I could on 3.925 and later in the 70s I was the Tuesday night net control for several years.

            While in high school I traveled to Hamfests with Raymond Russell W5WYN and thru him became a member of the Old Natchez ARC.   It was with this club that I first was active in field day with W5KHB and gang.   I remember that I did not operate too much but do remember climbing towers, trees and in general doing what I could to help the effort.  In those days only the best of operators were permitted to operate and even though I thought I was good, there were just too many older more experienced operators.  It was during this time that I met Dave Thompson K5MDX.  We became friends and I envied Dave and his station not to mention his operating ability. 

            After high school, I joined the air force and while in tech school volunteered for a 18 month tour on Okinawa.  I did not know where Okinawa was but figured it must be DX.  As luck would have it, I was assigned to a room occupied by Dee Blanchard KR6AZ who was from Houma Louisiana.   Dee had a Hallicrafters  SX-100 receiver and a Heathkit AT-1 transmitter with a vertical on the roof of the barracks supported by sand bags.  I wrote home and Raymond Russell W5WYN shipped my Central Electronics 20A that we used to drive a 350 watt amplifier that I built while waiting on the arrival of the 20A.  By this time I was KR6BH and Dave K5MDX was my qsl manager.   Four months later I heard that the MARS station was looking for a ham to operate the gear and run phone patches.   I volunteered (honorable but not a wise habit, hi hi) and immediately began running patches thru K7LJA in Scottsdale Arizona.   At that time I worked the midnight shift on the flight line and went straight from the flight line to the mars station where I would run patches until 3 or 4 each afternoon depending on propagation.  The flight line was only 5 days a week but the mars duty was 7.   Finally after about 6 months of that I was transferred to the mars station and that became my sole duty.   Tuff job.   While at the mars station I had the privilege of running a phone patch for the Honorable Mr.  Bob Hope to his daughter in San Bernadino California.  

            One airman named Mike Murphy thru a series of phone patches, first professed his love for his girl friend back in the states.   This followed with a proposal of marriage and then planning the wedding which took place in Guam.   All MARS stations did not have the capabilities we had at KR6AF which is why we ran the phone patch for Bob Hope since the Marines or Army stations could not make a contact with any stations in the states.   So we were contacted by telephone and since we were running patches those waiting agreed to let Mr. Hope break in line.

A short time later a General officer flew in from Korea unannounced early on a Saturday morning.

He said he heard that we could run a phone patch for his wife to her father who was rather ill.  Conditions were very bad that morning, even for us at KR6AF, but I managed to make a contact with our regular station K7LJA and they ran the patch for the General's wife and then the band simply died and we were not able to even hear a stateside station for the next 2 days.  The General really did not know how lucky his wife was and the sergeant at KR6AF told me I did not know how lucky I was to make the patch for the General.  

            It was while I was at KR6AF that I use to chat with a couple of guys in Guam and another in Korea.   Don Miller HL9KH in Korea ask the three of us to be a part of a Dxpedition that he was planning to Rota.   Rota is the first island north of Guam by about 40 or so miles and at that time was a separate DX country (entity).   During WWII bombers used Rota as a dumping ground for unspent ordinance upon returns from bombing runs.   Yet while on Rota I saw little evidence of such.   I had to walk leave papers thru channels on base because there was not time for them to take their regular course after which I flew to Tachikawa Japan where I met Don Miller and we flew on to Guam.   We landed late in the day and spent most of the night driving to hospitals and infirmaries gathering up medical supplies to take to Rota.   Don was a Urologist and he had agreed upon receiving permission to go to Rota to treat those needing his type of medicine.   The next morning we flew to Rota in a Coast Guard SA16 seaplane which was the roughest riding airplane I have ever been in and I still do not know why I did not get sick.  We landed on land at Rota and these planes are no less ruff on land.   We circled the pasture strip and noticed it was not only short but full of water filled holes.   I knew I was in for a ruff ride when the crew chief threw me a may west before we even taxied for the take off.  This plane shook every direction at the same time but we landed safely.  The deputy commissioner and the local priest met us in a jeep and took us to our quarters in the only village named Sing Sing.  

            We made over 5000 QSO's on Rota which by today's standards is not very many but in 1963 it was respectable.  I returned to Okinawa and finished my tour.   After the Air Force I drifted around a few years and finally enrolled at La Tech U in Ruston Louisiana.   While in Ruston I and a couple of others formed the Ruston Area ARC which now is known as Piney Hills ARC.   I finished college and began a career with the U S Postal Service as a letter carrier, clerk and then became Postmaster and retired in 1995 after having served as Postmaster in 3 different offices in northern Louisiana.    In 1989 Barry Blanton WC5N and I went on a Caribbean tour and operated from Puerto Rico while enroute to Dominica(J79T) and at Antigua enroute back to Louisiana.  While at Dominica we made over 100 QSO's on 6 meters and gave many a new country on 6, but our main qso generator was 40/20/15 c w and phone.  On those bands over 5000 QSO's were made on each mode but c w led the way...

Then in 1990 Barry and I went to Cocos Keeling (more correctly Keeling Cocos) Islands and operated as VK9EW and VK9WB and did the best we could with what we had and helped a few with a new one on 80.   Also, we made quite a few on WARC bands which seemed to make many happy.  

            My main interest thru the years (august of 2007 will be 50 years a ham) has been DXing and contesting.   I began going to field day as a teenager and still enjoy that annual event more than any other in ham radio.   Presently I can be found on 30 meters where I am working on DXCC/30.   I do have CW, phone and mixed mode DXCC and was on the Honor Roll but need 2 new ones to get me back on the honor roll.  I do have 5BWAS and YLWAS along with WAZ on 20CW and WAZ mixed.  I am a life member of ARRL and served as the Louisiana Affiliated Club Coordinator...........73s and good DX (entities).

Ray Husher

W5EW