Jim Brooks, KY4Z, was licensed in 1987 as a Novice with the call KB4YGL. His first transceiver was a Hallicrafters SR-150, nicknamed “Ironsides,” which he acquired from Oak Bailey, W4DHV, in a barter+cash arrangement. Jim’s first contact was with his Elmer WE4K (now N4KZ), David Greer on 10-meter phone.
Jim’s path into Amateur Radio soon accelerated; he worked E-Layer skip on 10 meter phone, upgraded to Technician and a new call, N4SRT. He soon acquired a Heathkit SB-102 transceiver, and with the Heatkit — equipped with a CW filter — Jim made his first forays into CW in the 80 and 40 meter Novice CW subbands. The SB-102 was an excellent performer, and Jim added the HD-1410 keyer to his Benton Harbor lineup, as well as the matching VFO and station clock.
Within a year, Jim passed the 13-wpm CW test and upgraded to Advanced, the class he held until 2003 when he upgraded to Amateur Extra, keeping his 1 x 3 callsign.
In 2004, the callsign he was waiting to seek as a vanity call became availaable — KY4Z. Jim was one of several applicants who applied for it in the vanity call program. At the time, when multiple applications were received for vanity calls, the FCC computers would select one application at random, and individual on the application would “win” that callsign. In order to “improve” my odds of getting the callsign I wanted — being the scofflaw I am — I took advantage of a then-legal loophole; I submitted more than 50 application on the first day for the same callsign. My multiple applications made it about an 85 percent chance I would get the callsign — and my luck held out. But as a result, I became — and still reside the last time I looked — in the Top 25 of of a vanity callsign website’s list of “bad hams” who took advantage of the loophole. Phhht!
In late 2006, Jim ran for ARRL Section Manager for Kentucky. In an election contest facing former Kentucky SM Bill Uschan, K4MIS (SK), Jim was elected by a large margin. He began his first term April 1, 2007. He served for four two-year terms and did not seek re-election when his term ended March 30, 2015.
Jim’s obsession with Morse keys — particularly semi-automatic keys (aka “bugs”) — continues unabated. That obsession — and his various rambling thoughts about ham radio, and life in general, is documented here for all to see.
HISTORY OF THE WEBSITE. Bluegrass Ether Clippings actually began in 2003 as a blog on a then-popular blogging platform called Blurty. Blurty was powered by the same engine on which Live Journal is based. The entries in my archives only go back to 2005, as that was as far back as I exported the blog entries when I did so about 2009.
But in 2009, Blurty began having issues ….the site would go down for a while, then it would come back; after several disappearing acts, I decided to export as much of my blog as I could before I lost it all. Fortunately, I did not lose everything. Blurty went dark nearly 10 years ago and has never come back. The only thing that remains is a placeholder that states “server upgrade in progress.”
WHAT’S IN THE NAME? Back during my term as ARRL Section Manager, I enjoyed learning about the movers and shakers in Amateur Radio’s history here in Kentucky. A long defunct Kentucky ham radio newsletter was published under the banner, “Bluegrass Ether Clippings.” When I ended up moving my ham radio website from Blurty to a WordPress site, the name was a natural choice.
73 es CUL …. de KY4Z SK SK …. dit dit ….
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