About K9HI

[A more mundane factual bio about K9HI can be found at http://www.qrz.com/db/k9hi]

Humble Beginnings

Phil Temples has been somewhat overindulgent in the hobby of Amateur Radio—also known as ham radio. He started at the tender age of fourteen; he's been at it now for over 35 years.

"Amateur Radio was my entire life when I was growing up," reflects Phil. "I would spend literally every waking minute outside of school camped out in front of the radio. I had no social life outside of my bedroom, which of course, was my entire world."

"My first station consisted of a Heathkit DX-40 transmitter and a Hammerlund HQ-160 receiver. The DX-40 was a loaner from my mentor, Jim Stockton, WB9AKG. I transmitted with 40 watts of cw telegraphy into a random-length wire antenna running out my bedroom window."

Phil recalls that he upset his father greatly with the first wire antennna he used.

"I didn't have the sense to terminate the antenna with an insulator. Instead, I wrapped the wire around the trunk of the tree in the font yard. Over time, the RF energy from the transmitter burned the wire into the bark, evenutally kiling the tree!

Phil is a member of the Boston Amateur Radio Club, having served as a two-term president and a two-term vice-president. The Boston ARC meets the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Newton Police Department in West Newton, MA.

"The 90's were exciting times for BARC," recalls Phil. My fellow club officers and I built the club into a vibrant, successful organization that topped over 350 members. The club had various events throughout the week. We met in luxurious accommodations at Lotus Development Corporation near Kendall Square in Cambridge.

In the recent past, Phil was a member of the Harvard Wireless Club, W1AF. The HWC was established in 1909 and is quite probably the oldest amateur radio club in existence.

"Being involved with HWC was fabulous," says Phil. "The club has had some amazing milestones, like the first US-Soviet ham radio operation (US1A) in 1990. "The club 'shack' rivaled anything that any other individual or club might have, besides W1AW. It was equipped with top-of-the-line equipment, thanks to some very generous alumni. And Mike Manafo, K3UOC, kept the facilities spotless. It was a real pleasure to visit and operate there."

Phil invested time and effort in creating a web site for the club. The original "look and feel" is still present today.

Phil Temples is a life member of the American Radio Relay League, the national association of radio amateurs. In 2002 he was elected to his third term of office as Section Manager for the Eastern Massachusetts section. At present, Phil serves as an Assistant Section Manager.  He is also an Assistant Director in the New England Division.

"I've been a life member of the League ever since I had a paper route as a boy. At the time, my parents wisely allowed me to invest the substantial sum of several hundred dollars to become a life member. I'm sure that I've gotten my money's worth many times over by now.

"I'd like to think that I've also given back something to the ARRL and to Amateur Radio with my volunteer service to the Indiana and Eastern Massachusetts sections."

As it turns out, ham radio is a wonderful past time for young and old; able-bodied and disabled. Phil works with an outfit based in Golden Valley, Minnesota called the Courage Center HandiHam System. HandiHam provides ham radio training and support for individuals with disabilities. Phil volunteers as an instructor at two of their camps each year. It's a very rewarding and humbling experience, which is probably why Phil continues to come back each year.

"It may sound cliché, but there's no doubt in my mind that I receive far more than I give in volunteering my time to work at the camps. I've met some outstanding human beings through the HandiHam program."

Phil has had several articles on the radio camps published on ARRLWeb. The latest story on the winter, 2007 camp is entitled, Radio Camp: A Community Building Lifetime Skills and Longlasting Friendships.

A few years ago, Phil joined a distinguished organization of "over the hill" amateur radio operators known as the Quarter Century Wireless Association.

"My first encounter with the local QCWA Yankee Chapter happened when I was serving my first term as ARRL Section Manager," Phil recalls. "I showed up as a brand new QCWA member. I was 39 years old. I was, by far, the youngest person in attendence. The ladies and gentlemen in attendence probably thought I had wandered into the wrong room."

His buddies know him as Phil, but the Federal Communications Commission knows him as K9HI. ("HI" in telegraphy, or "didididit didit," means laughter. And Phil would much rather be caught gripping a telegraph key than a microphone.)

For many years, Phil used nothing but Morse code in the car during his long commute to and from the Merrimack Valley.

"I've found Morse code or CW to be my preferred mode of operation. Other hams think I'm crazy, but I could concentrate more fully on the traffic around me while driving than if I were using a microphone and talking. I suppose you use a different part of the brain to process code than speech."

Phil's mastery of Morse code made him the ideal test subject in a graduate school study and thesis. "An MIT researcher was conducting expermentation to see how well simple binary codes might be applied in a tactile fashion to aid persons who were both blind and deaf. "I and another expert test subject —Joe Parskey, NJ1P, copied morse code by 'feel'. We'd stick our hand inside of a box with a telegraph-type device that moved up and down. Our ears were blocked with stoppers and we were blindfolded to deprive us of visual or audible cues."

Joe and Phil became quite proficient at the mode. They both eventually tested at 20+ words per minute—far below their 40-50 wpm audible abilities, however.

To round out this strange saga, it should be noted that Phil holds the highest class of license, the Amateur Extra. Phil thinks that this accomplishment speaks volumes about his expertise and mastery of the hobby. His friends, of course, know otherwise.