Dream vacation for amateur radio operator

To most people, Hartford, Connecticut, is not even a blip on the radar of most vacationers.

But Bob and Kay Warren are not most people, and there is something in Hartford that, for them, made the city a vacation destination.

Bob Warren is a ham radio enthusiast and Hartford is home to W1AW, the flagship station for the Amateur Radio Relay League.

“The highlight of the trip was getting to see the radio station — it’s the dream for every ham to get to do that,” said Kay Warren.

Not only did her husband get to visit W1AW, he was invited to operate the radio by the station manager.

Bob Warren, retired at the age of 69, has been involved with ham radio since the eighth grade. Having grown up in the country, radio has always played a role in his life.

“That was my way into the world, through radio,” he said.

Warren tinkered with transmitters and receivers to learn more about electronics. His experience in radio helped his success in his many electronics-related jobs in television broadcasting, microwave signals, radio tower maintenance, and working with sonar for the U.S. Navy.

Warren qualified for his ham license more than 50 years ago and still has the same call letters, K4CCO.

“My call letters have a good rhythm to it,” he said. “The CCO flows better, unlike people with call letters like XWY.”

Warren considers himself a casual operator. He has a couple transceivers, a 2-meter 440 Rig, both VHF and UHF transceivers and a QRP, which is a low-powered operator.

He gets more enjoyment from meeting people from all over the world. He has had conversations and call-letter exchanges with other radios globally. With newer technology incorporating the use of the Internet and computers with the software Echolink, Warren carried on a casual conversation with a man at a coffee shop in London.

“I enjoy meeting and talking to people, we talk about our families’ hobbies and grandkids,” Warren said. “I’ve met a lot of people in the past 50 years I’ve never even seen.”

The Warrens said the trip to Connecticut was a much-needed boost for him. Warren has undergone bypass surgery twice and has a heart condition, so the trip, his wife said, was a dream come true. “I thought [the trip] would be great for him.”