Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club

Did you ever have a fire on the beach?

Chuck W7CRG

A couple of years ago, while up at Sea Pac in Seaside, I was invited to go to the beach and observe hams operating portable stations. Seemed like it would be a great spot to set up a radio and it can be fun to sit around a beach fire. Fun except for the carrying of firewood, blankets and the like down to the beach. But I was only going with the group. I probably would not end up in the role of pack animal. That was a thought but not a realistic thought.

It was fun and we had some good conversations. The station they had set up did OK and made some good contacts. It also took me back to growing up in Taft on the same Oregon coast where the logs and firewood was plentiful and you didn’t have to buy and pack wood for a fire; it was all over the beach, just gather it up!

OK, have you ever had a fire on the beach? I guess the next question would be, how old were you?

I was probably ten or so years old. We, my friends and I, would spend a lot of time on the beach, both the ocean beach and the Siletz bay’s beach. You are probably asking, “Your mother let you go down on the beach by yourself when you were ten years old?” Well, yes because it was a different time and because I asked if I could go play with Ricky. I didn’t ask if I could go down on the beach. The sand in our clothes probably gave us away but we were allowed a certain amount of leeway and as I said, “It was a different time.”

Building a fort in the multitude of logs on the beach was always an adventure and a great creative exercise. How do we construct it? What about food and water? Do we have a good view from inside as well as from outside the fort? How do we have a fire without setting the whole beach ablaze? Can we attack the other guys fort from ours?

We boys of the mid 1950’s were products of “the greatest generation” which meant our parents and their friends had weathered WWII. Most of us had wonderful treasures from garages or surplus stores such as canteens, ammo belts or helmets which were much too big and much too heavy. We “attacked” each other either with toy weapons or pieces of driftwood that we thought looked like a certain weapon we had seen in a movie or one of the numerous “combat comic books”.

We were a generation that in years to come, found there was nothing “comical” about war but we went just like our fathers and uncles did and served where and how we could. But as kids, we built “forts” or shelters in among the driftwood and logs on the beach.

One of the best forts we made had a stove made from a tin one gallon paint thinner can which had a chimney to vent the smoke out and a door to feed the sticks into the fire. That was special and was probably the third or fourth version of a heat source. 

But the “piece d’resistance” was the periscope made from stove pipe and mirrors. It was only eclipsed by the “dirt clod launcher” made from a bicycle inner-tube and a giant “Y-shaped” branch that allowed us to shoot a clod fifty yards or so. The launcher was abandoned when it’s payload landed about ten yards behind a high school guy and his girl walking on the beach. They were so enamored with each other they didn’t notice. The aim wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near them but the “Y-shaped” branch was not secure and moved to the left just as we let go of the cloth holding the clod. We were so afraid the guy was going to come and get us that we used secret evacuation route #1 and skidaddled out of the area.

As we grew older, notice I didn’t say matured, fires on the beach were a coed occurrence and the fire was crafted so as not to provide too much heat thereby giving those attending a chance to cuddle and ward off the cool coastal air. It didn’t seem to matter where you sat around those fires, the smoke would eventually give all of us teary eyes and that beach fire smell. But, we were young and who cared, it was our version of all those great teenage parties in the movies … minus the surfboards, bikinis and witty lines.

The best beach fires occurred on the 4^th of July! Food and drinks were part of the fun. That is if smores, burnt marshmallows or wieners and cokes are considered food and drinks. Then the fireworks would shoot off the Taft dock and every once in a while more than was meant to go off, went off. Then it was put out the beach fire and go up to the Taft skating rink for a band and dance. The bands were traveling groups usually out of Portland. If I remember right one was Paul Revere and the Raiders and another time it was “Louie Louie” and the Kingsmen. Ah, yes those were the days my friend …. Now my “dance moves” are just a memory and climbing over logs on the beach is a non-starter.

However, building a portable station, such as the one they used at Sea Pac can be fun and useful for both recreation and emergency situations. You will learn what works and what doesn’t. You will learn that size and weight are considerations. You will learn more than you knew existed about antennas and feed lines. You will also meet people who find you operating and want to know more about ham radio.

Just as a suggestion, I would forget about the beach fire. When the smoke drifts your way, and it will, you will either have to endure the burning eyes and coughing or move your station. Moving will probably solve the problem for a little while; but, the smoke will find you. I advise dressing warm and using some form of lighting rather than building that beach fire.

As the weather improves, enjoying the Oregon out-of-doors becomes more and more a reality and an attraction. For some of us older ones it also becomes a memory.

Build a portable station and get out and on the air! 

7 3 

W7CRG Chuck Gerttula

The obvious answer is 32.8 feet. But if you are talking amateur radio Ten Meters is 28.00 Mhz to 29.700 Mhz which is a big chunk of radio spectrum! As a Technician from 28.300 to 28.500 phone privileges are available. What does it mean to have that 200 Khz portion of the band? It means that as a Technician you can put your toe in the world of High Frequency (HF). It means that with a relatively small investment of money, space at your residence and equipment, you can communicate around the world. Especially with the sun spot cycle we are currently in.

A half-wave dipole for ten meters is 16 feet 8.5 inches and can be easily erected in a backyard, on a roof top, or even on the wall of your “ham shack”. It can be constructed with the simplest of materials. That lamp you were going to throw out has an electrical cord that may work if it is nine feet long. Split it into two 8 foot 4.25 inch lengths and you have the basis for that dipole. 

Now you need some insulators: one for each end of the antenna and a means to separate the two legs of the antenna. I’ve made one from an old cutting board or once I actually used a glass antenna insulator. For a minimal amount, especially at a ham fest, you can buy a commercially manufactured one. Or ask a ham in your club, I’m sure I’ve got one somewhere. (Having it and finding it are two vastly different things!) A length of coax or other feeder line and you have a very workable antenna. You can install it horizontally or hang it vertically, I’ve heard of hams using it both ways. Experiment, try one and see how well it works. If it isn’t working well, try the other configuration.

One of the fascinating aspects of ham radio is experimentation. Don’t be afraid to try things. It is so rewarding when you figure it out on your own!

The antenna has not taken up a great deal of your money nor the space at you residence so that leaves the equipment. There are many solutions to the equipment problem. This is where creativity comes into play. If you are rolling in money, you have no problem. If money is a concern there are many solutions. Older transceivers cover ten meters and can be inexpensive. Better yet there may be hams in your area or club who have a transceiver they would loan you or part with for a few dollars, ask around.

In its heyday, Radio Shack produced some relatively good products. The HTX-10 and HTX-100 were the two I remember. One had lower output power but they covered ten meters and were SSB and CW capable. I bought one for under $100 and you can still find them on eBay and at Ham Fests. For very little money you can find yourself talking locally, across the U.S. and around the world.

There is a special thrill when you hear an unfamiliar call sign, respond to it and they hear you and call you back! Ten meters can be your gateway to the world of DX (Distance). You check the call and find it is from Croatia, Peru, Japan or South Africa. Thousands of miles and still able to communicate! Much more thrilling than the time my boyhood friend and I fastened a string between two tin cans and talked to each other when we were twenty feet apart.

Things only get more exciting the older we get. Or, maybe the older we get the more desperate we are for some excitement. But let’s get back to Technicians on ten meters.

Field Day is coming the 28^th and 29^th of June. Here is a chance to see for yourself what can be done on that segment of the ten meter band! The club will be set up in the parking lot of Oregon Coast Community College. OCCC is located in South Beach. If you want to try ten meters here is a ready-made opportunity. Sign up to operate, show up, the antenna is multi-band and I’m going to discuss with the FD Chair Michelle KA7OQQ to have a ten meter capability should there be interest.

I’ve seen how making QSOs on HF can change a ham’s out-look on the hobby. Whether it is at Field Day or on your own, be adventurous try Ten Meters phone! 7 3 enjoy your hobby! Get on the air!

Chuck Gerttula W7CRG

by W7CRG

The unknown is intriguing. The first day at a job, school or that blind date that your friend talked you into always creates a certain amount of uncertainty. Beginning something new to you creates both anticipation and anxiety. First new school, first date, first CQ or the first time you tried to repair something. Will it culminate in a “Wow I did it!” or an “Ohh No! Did I really do that?”?

If you use High Frequency (HF) you most likely have called “CQ” to find a contact. Sometimes we narrow the search by “CQ DX” for a distant station usually in another country, or “CQ any 7” meaning we want responses from distant stations or anyone with a 7 in their call. “CQ” is an open invitation to talk with any station. On the VHF/UHF bands calling “CQ” is frowned upon. The best you can try is something like “W7CRG monitoring” should you just want to talk with someone about anything that comes up.

There are those that follow the mantra of “Listen first and call CQ as a last resort”. Like any other encounter with a human, I’ve had pleasant and interesting QSOs and I’ve had those that you want to remember that call and not respond next time. I’m sure that there have been hams who have felt the same regarding calls with me.

As I’ve tuned around the bands I’ve noted some QSOs I would like to be part of (some I’ve had the opportunity to join) and I’ve heard some that I’m glad I’m not a part of. One thing I always told myself I would not do is talk about surgeries, aches and pains and all things regarding my health. Now that I’m older (OK, maybe way older) I realize those are the realities for many older hams. I still refuse to put such comments on the airways.

One of the problems in joining a QSO is getting the call sign right and the English language has many parts to it that have similarities. For instance, B,D, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z, and all end with the sound of “E”. With poor band conditions, aged hearing and noisy equipment one might ask was that W8DXE, CXE, or maybe EXE? Once you have the call correct you can possibly carry on with the conversation.

I’ve been asked, “What do you talk about?” I usually answer with those topics I don’t talk about. Topics such as my aches and pains, politics, religion and controversial things I try to shy away from. There are so many aspects to our hobby that just staying on that topic can occupy a lot of airtime. I had a very interesting time talking with a ham about CW which at one time was the only means of communicating on the radio.

He was just learning CW and was fascinated with it. I told him it was a mode I had not operated in since being a Novice in high school but it was a mode I was open to learning. He likened it to learning another language, which is also my belief so he must be very smart. He also asserted that it made him feel like he was a member of a secret club that most others could not decipher the code. I realized he was close to my age when he compared knowing CW to the thrill he got when he got his Little Orphan Annie secret decoder! Now that’s going back in time. But, he also maintained that he could make contacts on CW that he could not get through to with SSB, which is very true.

The spoken language varies so much with Americans it tends to be largely a regional thing (or thang, or thin, or ….). I was on a Field Exercise in Germany with a young commo SGT who was from west Texas. His Texas drawl was so heavy that the most common response to his communications was “Say again”. On a break I asked him how he ended up as a Commo SGT and I’ve always remembered his reply.

“Wahl sir, the recruiter asked me whoot Iah did and I sayd Rodeo Hand; he wrote Radio Ham; and here Iah am”. Sometimes the spoken word is not as clear to the listener as it is to the speaker.

So what ever mode, FM, Digital, SSB or CW, turn on, tune up and connect with one of the thousands of hams out there! You’ll find ones you agree with; ones you don’t agree with; some you will learn from; and some you will count as a good example of a bad operator. All of which will make you a better ham and a more rounded person.

“7, 3” 

W7CRG Chuck Gerttula