JA9PPC since
1975 JA9PPC since
1975JA9PPC was first licensed in 1975, when I was a junior high school student. I didn't start QRV because I had no equipment for Ham operation at that time. Instead, I enjoyed BCL and SWL for a while with rather simple radios. I got a SWL number from Japanese Amateur Radio League (JARL), JA9-2156, and collected a lot of QSL cards from radio amateurs all over the world. I got more than 100 verification cards from radio and TV stations throughout Japan as well. Gradually my activities became geared toward Dxing both as SWL and as BCL.
My QSL
When I entered a high school in 1976, my father bought me YAESU FT-400S and I finally stepped into the real Ham world. I spent more than 3 hours everyday watching 21MHz band. (I was not allowed to operate on 14MHz band at that time because I was a novice.) . It was not easy for me to work with DX stations with no more than 10 watts and a simple dipole antenna for 7MHz band. It was not until I set up 2-el. Swiss Quad on the roof at about 10 meter ( I seldom hear of this antenna these days, but it was very popular then.) that I worked with an African station and a South American station. The Quad taught me how interesting it was to talk with people all over the world. And I continued to study to upgrade my license in order to be granted more privileges.
I didn't enjoy Ham at all during my senior year
of the high school to concentrate on the preparation for entrance
examinations of universities. I chose Tohoku University out of several
options partly (not mainly? Hi) because it had a famous amateur radio
club, JA7YAA,
the first licensed club station in the JA7 district. I was happy with
the equipment and members there and had great experiences, especially
regarding Dxing and contesting. Thanks to its location (the northern
part of Japan is said to have favorable propagation toward North
America) ARRL DX Competition (Contest) was always a lot of fun. I still
remember a huge pile of stations calling me on 28MHz in 1982. I made
more than 2500 QSOs. I am looking forward to a next explosion on 28MHz.
As I always operated at the club station, JA9PPC was heard only during
long holidays when I was back in my hometown. I sometimes used JR7SEI
(no dash in suffix) at my apartment house in Sendai for local contacts.
After graduating from Tohoku University, I came back to my hometown to start my career as a senior high school teacher. My hometown is located about 250 miles west of Sendai. So it became almost impossible for me to operate JA7YAA. Instead I found JA9YBA, Kanazawa University, to satisfy my desire of DX contesting. The operation at JA9YBA was also a lot of fun because the station was located on the top of the hill in central Kanazawa. I enjoyed many major DX contests until the station made a move from the top of the hill to the side of the mountain in the suburb of Kanazawa. .
To be continued.
