KAØOBI - Steven J. 'Steve' Bonine KAØOBI

Steven J. 'Steve' Bonine
Little Canada, MN

QCWA # 36333
Chapter 8

As a young boy I always had a fascination with electronics and eventually ended up building a crystal set. My father had an old Hallicrafters shortwave receiver that provided me many great hours of evening listening. When it came time to go to college I thought I wanted to be an engineer but realized I enjoyed the hands on experimentation more than the theoretical side. When I joined the U.S. Navy in 1967, as part of the aviator training, I was required to learn Morse Code. I had had some exposure to the code in Boy Scouts but this was a more serious application since we were all headed to Vietnam.

When I left the military in the mid-70s, I used my VA educational bill to get a mail order course for training in color TV repair which included a 25" color TV kit to build. That kit lasted over 20 years and was great fun to build, use, and repair. I later built several Heathkits since I was fortunate to have a Heathkit store close to my home in Minnesota. My LED clock kit still works and is the best bedroom clock I have ever had. I never built any amateur radio kits but I did keep a straight key and code practice oscillator handy.

In the late 70s, I got my first ham license and later upgraded to the Advanced Class. I set up a shack in the basement of my home with a Kenwood, 60 ft crank up tower, and my straight key. In 1986, I took a job as Station Manager at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station where I was thrilled to find an old ham setup with a 1,000 watt amp and an amazing antenna system. Since I was the only licensed ham on station, I used the station shack to connect with several hams in Texas who were kind enough to set up phone patches for my crew. John Lehman, the Secretary of the Navy at the time, visited the station on an inspection tour in the summer and I was able to set up a phone patch for him to talk to his father back in the U.S.

As a young boy I always had a fascination with electronics and eventually ended up building a crystal set. My father had an old Hallicrafters shortwave receiver that provided me many great hours of evening listening. When it came time to go to college I thought I wanted to be an engineer but realized I enjoyed the hands on experimentation more than the theoretical side. When I joined the U.S. Navy in 1967, as part of the aviator training, I was required to learn Morse Code. I had had some exposure to the code in Boy Scouts but this was a more serious application since we were all headed to Vietnam.

When I left the military in the mid-70s, I used my VA educational bill to get a mail order course for training in color TV repair which included a 25" color TV kit to build. That kit lasted over 20 years and was great fun to build, use, and repair. I later built several Heathkits since I was fortunate to have a Heathkit store close to my home in Minnesota. My LED clock kit still works and is the best bedroom clock I have ever had. I never built any amateur radio kits but I did keep a straight key and code practice oscillator handy.

In the late 70s, I got my first ham license and later upgraded to the Advanced Class. I set up a shack in the basement of my home with a Kenwood, 60 ft crank up tower, and my straight key. In 1986, I took a job as Station Manager at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station where I was thrilled to find an old ham setup with a 1,000 watt amp and an amazing antenna system. Since I was the only licensed ham on station, I used the station shack to connect with several hams in Texas who were kind enough to set up phone patches for my crew. John Lehman, the Secretary of the Navy at the time, visited the station on an inspection tour in the summer and I was able to set up a phone patch for him to talk to his father back in the U.S.

Unfortunately, a year later when I returned home from the Antarctic, all my radio equipment had been sold. So I had a long absence from the hobby until a recent bout with cancer caused me to retire. Now I am back with all new equipment and an upgrade to Extra and lots of time to enjoy radio again. My shack is in the 4-season porch of my one-level townhome. Due to the HOA rules and to keep my wife happy, the antenna is a stealthy HyPower Model OCF80 multiband(6,10,12,17,20,40, and 80 meters) dipole strung up in the trees (50 ft on the West end, 18 ft in the middle, and 35 ft on the Northeast end). Even I have a tough time seeing it and I know where to look. I run an ICOM 7600 on both SSB and CW usually at 2 to 50 watts. I was thrilled to have my first SSB contact after all that time off the air with KW5P in Texas on 12/09/2013. I am still practicing every day to get my code sending and copying speed up to a respectable level.

In March 2014, I added an Elecraft KX3 and a Buddipole antenna for my portable setup.

SKCC - 11297
NAQCC - 7022
QCWA - 36333
FISTS - 16457

August 13, 2015