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April 5 2005

My amateur radio background In the spring of 1975 I passed the exam of the Icelandic Post and Telegraph authorities for the "A-license". This was during my first year in the junior college and my license for the call sign TF3KX was issued on May 27 1975. My first equipment was a crystal controlled Heathkit DX60B transmitter with a Lafayette receiver and the antenna was a"W3DZZ dipole", stretching from my parents' house in the western part of Reykjavik, over to the neighbors' house. Later on I built a Heathkit HW101 transceiver, that was in a big part based on the vacuum tube technology, which was still in wide use at that time. During my junior college years I was fairly active on the air as a radio amateur, but I put this mostly aside while attending the engineering program at the University of Iceland.

Kristinn Andersen, TF3KX

After graduating with my engineering degree in Iceland I received a Fulbright grant to to continue graduate studies at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee - where I obtained my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. While going to graduate school I purchased a Kenwood TS440S transceiver, in 1989, and got again on the air as W4/TF3KX. Shortly afterwards I passed the Extra class radio exam in Tennessee and was given the call sign AB4ST. In addition to using CW (morse code), I was active on RTTY (Radioteletype) og AMTOR, which was a popular mode at that time.

I have continued my interest in amateur radio since moving back to Iceland, at the end of 1992. Amateur radio is a hobby that is constantly in evolution and has many aspects. Every weekend of the year one or more contests take place on the airwaves, and the design and construction of antennas and equipment is a continual challenge as technology advances.

Sometimes we are asked if there is any future for amateur radio, with the invent of the Internet and explosion in the marketing and technology of telephones. I believe amateur radio will not be replaced by these commercial technologies. Conversation, as such, between two people is only one aspect of amateur radio. The challenges and fascination aspects of amateur radio are also found in the technology, where radio waves are generated and transmitted over oceans to places far away on the globe. The radio waves pass through the ionosphere and are affected by aurora regions, solar winds and other natural phenomena that experienced radio amateurs recognize by listening to the received signals.

One analogy may be found in salmon fishing out in the nature. Anyone can purchase salmon in the supermarket, at a reasonably price. But salmon fishing is not all about catching the fish for the sake of eating it. A large part of the pleasure is in finding the right spot, enjoying the nature and finally catching the fish through one's own patience and struggle. The same feeling of accomplishment can be found in establishing wireless communications to a distant place, frequently with home-made or simple equipment, and independently of the commercial telephone or data networks.

Life besides amateur radio

I work at Marel, an Icelandic company that develops and manufactures high technology equipment for food factories world wide, where I am the manager of research and technology development. I live in the town of Hafnarfjordur, just south of Reykjavik, with my wife, our two sons, two persian cats, a hamster and three goldfishes. This is a great place to live and whenever I find the opportunity I sit down with the morse key in the attic... and the time takes off.