W1PDI - Thomas F. 'Tom' Miller W1PDI

Thomas F. 'Tom' Miller
Bay Village, OH

QCWA # 32435
Chapter 1

I relocated to Bay Village, Ohio (20 minutes due west of Cleveland on Lake Erie) from Hamden, CT in 1993. I received my novice license (WN1GLS) in May 1966 (age 12-pictured above), granted WA1GLS (general) in 1967. Active until I went to college in 1972 and was QRT until 1980-1982 then QRT again until February 2003. In January 2003 I inherited my dad's ham equipment, which, ironically enough, I had purchased for him as a birthday gift in 1981.

I also inherited all of my dad's QSL cards he had received over the years, his logs books that contain notes and dates on equipment he built/owned over the years (where purchased, to whom he sold his equipment, antennas constructed and set up etc...), dating back to 1946. Also included were old Heathkit and Allied Radio/KnightKit catalogs (among others) and callbooks from 1940's, 50's and 60's. Some pretty cool stuff to go through.

To my surprise my dad even kept most of my original equipment, which I was not aware of. Some of the equipment includes my first receiver-Heathkit HR-20, my DX-40 transmitter, Heathkit AM-2 SWR bridge, my first morse code straight key and I also have my father's original Vibroplex Delux bug circa 1947. Needless to say, all of these things bring back very fond and vivid memories of when I first entered the hobby.

In April 2003 I decided to change my call sign through the FCC vanity call program from WA1GLS to W1PDI-my father's call which he held from 1946 until his passing in 2002. In fact, I still have a hand full of his original W1PDI QSL cards that were printed 1946/47-QSL cards were somewhat different back then! Click on the link below or copy and paste this address in your browser to view the QSL card:

http://hamgallery.com/qsl/Antique/USA/Connecticut/w1pdi.htm

As a novice, I was lucky enough to win the 1966 ARRL Sweepstakes Contest (Novice class-New England Division) and was runner up in the 1967 ARRL Novice Roundup (Connecticut section-New England Division).

I received my second class FCC radio telephone license (that's what it was called back then) in 1970 in order to work part time on weekends at two a local 5000 watt radio stations (WELI AM 960 & WCDQ AM 1220) both located within 2 miles from home-both in residential neighborhoods. But my license has long since expired, along with nearly all that I had learned and applied.

Modest station set up here includes Kenwood equipment: TS520SE, DG5 Digital Display, SM200 Station Monitor, AT200 antenna tuner and a Radio Works Carolina Windom 160 Special antenna (132 feet long) up 60-65 feet.

Here's a link to an article that ran in a 2003 issue of QST that you might find interesting: http://www.kb6nu.com/author/w1pdi/

And a related ARRL Web site sidebar: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2004/04/15/1/sb.html

It's good to be back.

P.S. I QSL 100% NO SASE required. OMISS # 4877; FISTS # 11434

April 2, 2015