I listened to this story as a child. It was one of the things that got me interested in amateur radio. Jean Shepherd was my one of my original inspirations to get into the field. It took over forty years but I finally took up the art. I got my Technician Class ticket in August of 2017 and worked my way up to the Amateur Extra Class ticket in April 2018. Thank you, Jean.
Shep. 1920-1999 America's greatest storyteller............something almost extinct today when people are mesmerized by their iPhones....and no longer even know how to communicate by speaking. His books are some of the greatest humor ever written. A multi talented guy.....who left a deep impression on many of us. Thanks for all the great stories.
I loved this bit of ham history. I was first licensed as WN5CVI in 1962 when I was 13. I think it was in the summer before the 8th grade. Mr Shepherd was exactly correct about being caught up in a whirlwind of emotions I couldn't control. It was comparable to feelings about that unmentionable little three letter word! Thanks for the nostalgic look back in time. I miss those days, not to mention that enthusiasm and passion.
my great friend Mike from Cooper U - a ham operator himself - loved to recount the story of how Jean Shepherd had once "keyed the oscillator/transmitter" of WOR-AM - a 50000 watt clear channel station - a communications practice offence roughly equivalent to issuing a death threat against the President of the United States.
Did he put WOR on 160 meters? I know a ham who put a commercial AM station on 160 for one evening a few years ago. (It was a station with a dawn to dusk broadcast day.) He sure got some great reports! He did have the okay from the station engineer to do this by the way.
What dazzles me about Jean Shepherd, what really blows my mind about Jean Shepherd was the vast amount of knowledge he had about anything and everything. He could not only talk about "stuff" in general, he had a deeper understanding about what ever it was he was discussing. He was the smartest man I've ever known...well, except for myself of course.
Oh, I can relate to this story. In my sophomore year I passed my novice exam and 5 wpm code test and built a homemade transmitter. I also failed biology and math classes. I was the only ham, to my knowledge, in two high schools I attended. A licensed ham since 1962. .... WA7VVV
I got my ticket in 1988, the same year I first saw A Christmas Story. I was about 30 at the time and related to Shep's movie from my childhood then found out he was an old ham. I enjoy his word smith style of talking, his humor and can relate to the man in many ways. This was fun to listen to... Thanks for posting it
I can feel for him. I had a ARRL Amateur Radio Relay League handbook swatted from my hands in study hall by my English teacher. I was learning vacuum tube theory when I should have been learning to spell and speak English.
I like this video and the story behind it.I let my license expire long ago.Don't miss it a bit.I was first licensed in the early summer of 1993,the license expired in 2003.
@5CX1500 Similar story: 1968, tenth grade, I'm a Novice ham. My friend's father picks me up before dawn and takes us on a four-hour drive to the Federal Building in Buffalo, NY. We get there and a guy in a white shirt and skinny tie is setting up a paper tape code machine. I felt like I was in the presence of God himself, with the power to chew up and spit out wannabe ham operators. He turned out to be a nice guy, though. My friend and I both got the Advanced ticket that day.
Great stories and no intrusive adverts. A win-win channel. Thank you.
I listened to this story as a child. It was one of the things that got me interested in amateur radio. Jean Shepherd was my one of my original inspirations to get into the field. It took over forty years but I finally took up the art. I got my Technician Class ticket in August of 2017 and worked my way up to the Amateur Extra Class ticket in April 2018.
Thank you, Jean.
Welcome from N3LCO!
This is wonderful. Shep was great. You bring back childhood memories that make America great.
Shep. 1920-1999 America's greatest storyteller............something almost extinct today when people are mesmerized by their iPhones....and no longer even know how to communicate by speaking. His books are some of the greatest humor ever written. A multi talented guy.....who left a deep impression on many of us. Thanks for all the great stories.
+Yermak29 Viking Strong.
I loved this bit of ham history. I was first licensed as WN5CVI in 1962 when I was 13. I think it was in the summer before the 8th grade. Mr Shepherd was exactly correct about being caught up in a whirlwind of emotions I couldn't control. It was comparable to feelings about that unmentionable little three letter word! Thanks for the nostalgic look back in time. I miss those days, not to mention that enthusiasm and passion.
my great friend Mike from Cooper U - a ham operator himself - loved to recount the story of how Jean Shepherd had once "keyed the oscillator/transmitter" of WOR-AM - a 50000 watt clear channel station - a communications practice offence roughly equivalent to issuing a death threat against the President of the United States.
Did he put WOR on 160 meters? I know a ham who put a commercial AM station on 160 for one evening a few years ago. (It was a station with a dawn to dusk broadcast day.) He sure got some great reports! He did have the okay from the station engineer to do this by the way.
What dazzles me about Jean Shepherd, what really blows my mind about Jean Shepherd was the vast amount of knowledge he had about anything and everything. He could not only talk about "stuff" in general, he had a deeper understanding about what ever it was he was discussing. He was the smartest man I've ever known...well, except for myself of course.
Oh, I can relate to this story. In my sophomore year I passed my novice exam and 5 wpm code test and built a homemade transmitter. I also failed biology and math classes. I was the only ham, to my knowledge, in two high schools I attended. A licensed ham since 1962. .... WA7VVV
I got my ticket in 1988, the same year I first saw A Christmas Story. I was about 30 at the time and related to Shep's movie from my childhood then found out he was an old ham. I enjoy his word smith style of talking, his humor and can relate to the man in many ways. This was fun to listen to... Thanks for posting it
I can feel for him. I had a ARRL Amateur Radio Relay League handbook swatted from my hands in study hall by my English teacher. I was learning vacuum tube theory when I should have been learning to spell and speak English.
Ha Ha..I can identify..who knows why passion for certain things grips us...but I was bitten bad by the ham radio bug at age 13....
I like this video and the story behind it.I let my license expire long ago.Don't miss it a bit.I was first licensed in the early summer of 1993,the license expired in 2003.
November Two Tango Quebec Echo
@5CX1500 Similar story: 1968, tenth grade, I'm a Novice ham. My friend's father picks me up before dawn and takes us on a four-hour drive to the Federal Building in Buffalo, NY. We get there and a guy in a white shirt and skinny tie is setting up a paper tape code machine. I felt like I was in the presence of God himself, with the power to chew up and spit out wannabe ham operators. He turned out to be a nice guy, though. My friend and I both got the Advanced ticket that day.
an interesting story but I couldn't sit through the lot for all the desk thumping and paper shuffling.