John Cunningham W1AI with Ham Test OnLine

Published: Sept. 22, 2021, 12:22 a.m.

b"John Cunningham W1AI. Johns interest in Amateur Radio began around 1970, back when he was in High School (and as he says still had hair). His first call sign was a Novice call, WN4EKG. He started on his Worked All States (WAS) Award on HF CW! When he upgraded to Advanced a little while later, his call sign changed to WA4EKG. Since his call sign had changed, he had to start over again, this time using a mixture of CW and SSB. A couple of years later he was doing well over 20 words per minute and got his Extra. He couldn't resist applying for a shorter call. He got KC4J (Kiss Chickens 4 Jollies) and stared over again on his WAS. Then life's priorities interrupted \\u2014 college, jobs, marriage, babies. He did the unthinkable. He let my 2x1 ticket expire! In June of 2002, He was out jogging in the park and ran across a local ham club doing Field Day. (John says he always loved Field Day \\u2014 and the amazing taste of grits and eggs cooked in bacon grease after operating all night!) They let him operate their GOTA (Get On The Air) station for a couple of hours, and he was hooked \\u2014 again! Three weeks later he passed all 4 exams in one session! He kept his fourth call sign, AB1BK, for only a few weeks before getting his fifth and final call sign \\u2014 W1AI. He says - I won't let this one expire! John is the publisher and author of Ham Test OnLine."