What was your first rig?

[K3MRI]

For some of us, me in any case, my first rig was my dad's and he had several Collins, Drake, and others, so those do not really count. My own first rig, the one I bought with my own money, was a Yaesu 101 that I bought in 1972. And when I say 'my' money, I mean "Dad, I really want to buy this radio, could you lend me the inordinately large sum of money required and I promise I will pay you back?" Needless to say, I remain, to this day, in debt... his debt. This was also the radio that would become the centerpiece of my very own first shack, literally a shack. It was a garden shed that my father helped me build (no insulation in the Canadian bush... hello parka). I so so wish that I had photos of those days, but alas I do not. But if I may, let me take you down my memory lane. I will be very brief. All I really want you to picture is one of those old Sears Roebuck vinyl chairs. It was red and always cold! I discovered the joys of Prep. H. at a young age (sorry, I know, TMI). The table was a 4x8' 1-inch plywood sitting on a stack of the good ol' milk crates we used to get our milk delivered in. I think I mentioned no insulation already; let me mention it again. The good news was that it did not leak! My father made sure of that. The last thing I'll add for this post is that the antenna was the greatest challenge of all. My father had an insane antenna farm and was not about to have me disturb it with my own antenna so the deal was that I could use one of his which gave birth to my very own, homebred, antenna switcher. Many a wonderful night was spent in that shack, parka and all. But hey, when you're a teenager and you're on the radio with someone over 7000 miles away (it was fairly good cycle) it's all worth it.

[K3MRI]

By the way, don't forget to enter your own 'story' or 'journey' into Amateur Radio here: https://hamcommunity.com/hamhistory.html/