A Little About Me And My Station

Hello, I'm Harold Bell (Hal). I operate Amateur Radio Station K4HB, which is located in Milledgeville, Georgia in the United States. My interest in radio came early in life, while in elementary school, when I constructed a Knight Kit Space Spanner short-wave radio. Listening to foreign broadcasts on this radio really sparked my interest in short-wave. I was so fascinated hearing broadcast stations from around the world. Radio Moscow, one of my favorites, always had a good signal into the US. About the only thing that could pull me away from the radio was in 1957 when Sputnik was making it's rounds. There was nothing more exciting at the time than to run outside at night to watch Sputnik pass over. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision that one day I would not only be hearing Russia on the radio, but would be talking back to Russia. Nor would I have believed I would actually be talking to people in space.

Not only could I hear broadcasters on my short-wave radio, but I could listen in on these people called "hams." One ham I especially remember hearing was Ben Jordan, W4PCF. I was fortunate to meet Ben in person and was invited to sit in on his Friday night sessions with several other local kids, where we learned Morse Code and Ham Radio Theory. What I learned in these sessions prepared me to take and pass the examination for the Novice class license. I was issued the call WN4CUZ in 1962. Ben is now, unfortunately, a silent key. He is dearly missed by his many friends, both hams and non hams. His callsign W4PCF is now the radio callsign of the Milledgeville Amateur Radio Club.

My Novice license expired in 1963 and I wasn't licensed again until 1980, at which time I was relicensed as a General with the call N4DPC. In 1994, I upgraded to Extra and in 1996, I was issued the vanity call K4HB. I'm an active DXer, meaning I go mostly for long distance contacts. I'm also what is know as a "paperchaser," since I chase various amateur radio awards. I find ham radio both rewarding and exciting. I find it most exciting to be able to communicate with other operators in all areas of the world, which include the North Pole and the South Pole. While most of my contacts have been with land based stations, I have also communicated with operators on ships, planes, trains, big tucks, farm tractors, you name it. I even have confirmed contacts with cosmonauts & astronauts aboard orbiting spacecraft! My total country count is 338 countries and political entities confirmed and approved out of a possible 340.