Month: July 2024

I was reading through some of the amateur radio feeds I have on Facebook.  Yes, I have a FB account, mostly because of the grand kids but as time has passed I have subscribed to some of the amateur radio pages.

          As I read, something struck me about many of the posts.  These posts are asking for someone to tell them about various subjects.  Isn’t that what these pages are all about?  What bothered me was many of these requests were expecting someone to do the researching and experimenting for them.  I realize that some things can be beyond our capabilities and we hope others will provide insight for us.  Explaining the difference between two electronic designs is probably beyond most of us.  Finding out the requirements for an amateur license shouldn’t be beyond our abilities. Google “how to get a ham license” and you have it.

          One of the qualities many hams have is an avid curiosity.  The desire to find the “why” or “how” to a problem or piece of equipment.  Modern technology has tended to stunt the development of an avid curiosity.  Why put your mind to explain a question when the computer is so close and so easy?  Just “Google” it.  One of reason to “put your mind to it” is that exercising your mind is like exercising your muscles, use builds the mind like reps builds the muscle.  Satisfaction is another motivator, the feeling of accomplishment is incredible!

          Some things are going to be different for different cases.  For instance, one ham was asking which configuration works best for a G5RV antenna.  Should he install it horizontally or as an inverted V.  When you think about it, there are so many variables that may not work for your installation.  The W8 station with an inverted V that works very well for that station but following the installation at a W3 station’s horizontal configuration may be best for you.   Yes, it is a lot of work to try different configurations; but, experimenting has been a fundamental premise of amateur radio and is the only true way to find out which works best for you!

          Another post was from a disappointed ham who had taken the recommendations of numerous hams and purchased a specific  transceiver.  Now he is not happy with the layout of the controls!  Ergonomics, the science of efficient operation within a work environment, has been the reason why some people love their Toyota and others trade in the  Toyota for a Buick.  One works well and fits that driver while the other seems clumsy.  The ham who wanted to buy a new transceiver should try-out the possible choices.  A number of ham radio stores have models on display and often “on the air”.  Or at a ham fest, other local hams may have the unit you are interested in and would be glad for you to give it a test drive at their QTH.

          An example of this sort of thing in Icom came out with the IC-7300 and many reviews raved as to it’s qualities.  The unit has been a best seller for some time.  But, check out the used ads such as QRZ and you will find many IC-7300 radios for sale.  Obviously it was not the “perfect radio” for many hams.  Or as a friend of mine often says, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

          Develop a “ham curiosity” and do the work yourself.  Sure advice, be it online or over pie and coffee, is valuable and can be very time saving.  However, our society needs to work at developing self-sufficiency.  That’s why it is so valuable to practice programming your handheld.  It is entirely conceivable that your could be in a situation when no computer is available and you need to establish communication with a repeater you have never  used.

          In the 1970’s and 80’s EMP was something hams and others in electronics thought about and took preventative measures for.  You may ask what is EMP?  Electromagnetic Pulse is a sudden huge burst of electromagnetic energy.  Why would we be concerned?  It could wipe out most modern day electronics destroying the transistors and chips.  No computers, cellphones, and many modern day appliances such as toasters and refrigerators would be non functional.  Any thing using a transistor or microchip would cease to function.

          Is it something to worry about?  Many preppers think so and have electronic devices protected and stored in such things as metal garbage cans or Faraday cages.  The USSR built a modern fighter that had all tube electronics.  EMP has little or no effect on electron tubes.  Therefore, that plane would continue to be functional should an EMP from either nuclear or solar storm flux strike the earth.

          So there are many reasons for becoming self-sufficient.  Ask for help and advice but, first continue to seek your own answers and solutions.

73, Chuck W7CRG

          OK, I’m trying to produce my blog for this month and boy am I having the “roadblocks.”   So many that my original theme which was “Dealing with the unexpected” really seemed apropos.  Since starting this month’s blog, my wife was hospitalized, my kids have had problems and if my pickup truck wouldn’t start and my dog ran off, I would have the perfect country song.  I’m not asking for sympathy; I’m just stating how sometimes things don’t work out like we expect them to.  By the way, after four weeks she is out of the hospital and in a “advanced care facility”.

          My original intent was to discuss how we as hams should be ready for the unexpected.  The unexpected could be a natural disaster such as a storm, earthquake, or fire.  It could be something involving friends or family.  The point is that your help or services may be needed at a time which you have not planned for.

          I have mentioned friends and family so I would like to emphasize that they are your first responsibility before rushing off to help with other things such as a flood or fire.  It is the responsible thing to do and it insures that your focus is clear if you are responding to a disaster or whatever.

          How do we prepare?  Sometimes you will have little or no time to prepare.  You will go with what you have.  I remember way back to when I was 16 or 17 and my buddy Rick and I had purchased SCUBA equipment and wet suits (water is chilly on the Oregon coast even in the summer).

          We were down at the Taft dock discussing what we should do as we had an hour of air in our tanks.  The Sergeant for the Oregon State Police drove out onto the dock and asked, “I was told I might find two divers here, does anyone know who they are?”  He was less than impressed that the divers were teenagers but he took what he could get.  Two sport fishermen had fallen overboard above the Kernville bridge and they were dragging and searching  for them.  Did Rick and I have any experience searching? No. Were we willing to help? Yes.

          We were put on a small river tug with two “Coasties” and the tug’s skipper.  The Coast Guard men had been manning the lines with grappling hooks they had towed over the area.  They had “hooked” something a couple of times but lost it as they pulled the lines in so they hoped divers might be able to retrieve whatever it was.

          We went in going down an anchor line and tied another line to the anchor and swam two-abreast in a circle using the line to create our search pattern. I was on the outside and the river was very murky.  I could only see about 12 to 18 inches in front of my mask so it was quite a surprise when the face of the first corpse I’d ever seen suddenly appeared in front of me!  I probably sucked five minutes of air out of my tank in one breath!

          This story from my youth only relates to ham radio in that we sometimes find ourselves trying to help in a situation we are neither trained for nor really equipped for.  On active duty with the Army I spent two years with the 2^nd Armored Cavalry in Germany and their motto was “Tojours Pret”, “Always Ready” a good motto to live by it would seem.  Sometimes we are offered training and we either pass on it or do not take it seriously thinking “how will I ever need to know or use that skill.”  When I learned to SCUBA dive bringing a corpse to the surface was NOT one of the reasons for diving that I had in mind.