Anniversary

On Saturday, November 9, 1974, I went to the Oberpostdirektion in Frankfurt to take an examination for the amateur radio license. I passed the exam and was assigned the call DC6ZF. I was 18 years old at the time and that was the age required to get an amateur radio license.

So that was the moment it all began. I had my first QSO that very afternoon with Joachim, then still DC0ZJ, (now DF3FF) on 144 MHz in SSB.

As far as i can remember this picture should show my first rig:

At the very back was the Heathkit HW-101, which I already had at the time, and in the middle was the Goetting HG-70 A, with which this first QSO was made. I can’t remember what the radio in the foreground was for. The table on which the appliances stand is still in my shack.

With my C license at the time, I was only allowed to operate on the VHF and UHF bands. I started on 144 MHz and later also became QRV on 432 MHz. Most QSOs were made in SSB mode. It’s a bit hard to keep track of but in the 8 years under DC6ZF I made about 3250 QSOs.

In February 1982 I was back at the OPD Frankfurt to take my CW exam, which was a prerequisite for working on shortwave. My current callsign DL8ZAJ was assigned to me at that time. So im am on shortwave for 42 years now. Since then I have made more than 61000 QSOs from home under DL8ZAJ.

For information about activity outside my shack please see my QSZ.com place:  https://www.qrz.com/db/DL8ZAJ