Monday, November 24, 2008

Were DJs Hams?

This is Ron Henselman from Melrose Park, IL. I think I was the first contributor to
mention I have a ham radio license. My call sign is W9FT, and I don't have 50, 000 Watts.
I did get a first class FCC license with a ship radar endorsement. Yes KAAY warped my mind,
and I still work in radio related fields.

I expect to be contributing a few more early KAAY skywave recordings and maybe even a recording
of KTHS 1090 Kilocycles. I was a strange fifteen year old kid who swiped his older sister's tape recorder
for devious purposes such as recording KAAY. I never dreamed anyone would like to hear what I recorded
forty-six years later. Let's hope my old acetate tapes hold together long enough to digitize them for the
KAAY blog.

Who said DJ's are not hams? I think Emperor Weber, W9FFB, is still a ham here in the Chicago area.

73,

Ron W9FT

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, Ron, from Bud, KC4HGH! Couldn't see your e-mail on QRZ, so could you contact me directly, please? melvin.stacey@cummins.com

Thanks! Bud, Mobile, AL

Anonymous said...

A.J., one of my fellow Hams, W5DUG, Doug Robbins, was a radio personality over in Memphis TN. Here he is: http://www.qrz.com/callsign

I forgot to ask him, but I think he got his callsign after he got out of the biz. I'll check with him later. Bud, KC4HGH, Mobile, AL

Anonymous said...

Loads of us had Ham Licenses as well as First Class FCC Licenses back in they day.

Anonymous said...

I heard Chicago Eddie Schwartz say he had a ham license, but he said he did not do much hamming after he became a professional broadcaster. When he got home after talking on the radio he did not feel like doing more of the same on the ham bands. I never heard him mention his call letters.

I think he's around 60 years of age now and not working much because of health issues. In his younger days he was on WIND AM 560 in Chicago, WGN AM 720 and a few other Chicago stations.