Author: N7ONP

          I just realized that I had not completed, corrected nor posted the September blog. My life has been full of spontaneous occurrences these last two to three months so I am not surprised.  I will try to stay on track and get this article to press. 

          The older I get, the more often I think back to my growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s.  I was doing my weekly shopping for groceries and I passed by a “special” in the ice cream freezer.  Drumsticks, a little treat of ice cream in a cone dipped in chocolate with a sprinkle of nuts on the top.  As a child if I was “good” my grandpa would buy me one.  It was a special deal because a drumstick was 10 cents whereas a the normal treat such as a fudge bar was a nickel.

          Now I realize in today’s world most people will not even bother to stop and pick up a dime off the sidewalk let alone a nickel!  But in those days Abe Abrams store had a two foot display of penny candy and we young’uns would spend minutes trying to decide between the bubble gum, the root beer barrel, the wax bottle with sugary liquid inside or the caramel piece of candy. Since we had a nickel to spend and wanted to get the most sugar and tooth decay for our money!

          Getting back to the  Drumsticks, realizing that everything seems larger to a child, I could not believe that the  Drumsticks I took home were anywhere near the size I devoured as a kid!  Our cars have gotten smaller, the  loaf of bread has more “holes” in it, and, yes, our radios no longer need a manly man to move it from one place to another.

          A year or so ago I was “rummaging” under the stairs and found a radio I stashed there many years ago.  It had to be many years ago because in my present state I could barely move it and I almost had to call the EMTs to extricate me out from under the stairs.  This wonderful example of post-WWII technology could put out a signal on 40 through 10 meters.  To change from one band to another, all you had to do was put a different set of coils in and re-tune it for the new band.  It probably took 15 minutes to go from one band to another!

          It was a loving creation of some ham long since a silent key.  It was great for the time and showed that a ham could build his own rig including winding the necessary coils!  I didn’t have the space to display it nor the courage to try and restore it and I’m sure that the folks that re-cycle electronics where both puzzled and herniated by my “donation” of copper, aluminum  and steel to their efforts.

          The move to smaller items is not only frustrating at the grocery store but it frustrates those of us who used to take pride in fixing that radio that suddenly developed a strange problem.  I used to open the case and look for components that now were more black carbon than component.  Then the process of desoldering and start replacing things with new components.  That is no longer the case.  But to be fair, if I look under the hood of my car it in no way resembles what was under the hood of that 1968 Mustang GT that I now wish I had not traded it in on a Mazda station wagon that the babies and German shepherd could fit in.

          So I have moved from ice cream Drumsticks to radios to Mustangs with a degree of smoothness that only I can see.   Sorry about that.  Since this is a blog for amateur radio I will try to seamlessly move back to that subject.

          That fast back Mustang was the reluctant recipient of a Heath kit CB.  I say reluctant because there was no way that a relatively large rectangular box was going to conveniently fix under the dash and in front of the 4-speed transmission!  After it sliding down by the foot pedals once too often as I turned “smoothly” through a corner, I gave up on mounting a CB in my car.  I got the additional benefit of getting rid of that 102 inch whip antenna on the rear bumper!  When I came to a stop I no longer looked like Broderick Crawford of “Highway Patrol” with that long stainless steel whip swishing back and forth for 15 seconds after his car slid to a stop at the scene  of the crime.  (For you young ones, that was a TV show before color TV and he was the head cop driving a sporty 1957 Dodge 4-door with a long whip antenna on the rear fender.)

          Now-a-days, we have small radios that can be mounted on a device that sets in the coffee cup holder and sticks up into the driver’s and passenger’s personal space.  Back in the “olden days” cars didn’t have cup holders and we were left to our own devices to travel with minimal spills and scaldings resulting from our cups of coffee set in various places in the car.

          Or if that isn’t your cup of tea, some radios now come with a detachable face plate and you can mount the radio under a seat or some other “convenient” spot where a grandson with size 14 feet can’t kick at it as he rides in the rear seat.  A “selling” point seems to be if a thief breaks into your car and steals the radio he only gets a useless face plate.  Leaving you with a “useless” radio unless you can find the thief selling your face plate on Craig’s List or buy a new face plate from the manufacturer  for a modestly exorbitant price.

          But, no matter the tongue-in-cheek comments, today’s radios are a far cry from the radios of yesteryear.  I remember my uncle Bob who first got me interested in radio and electronics.  He was a Boeing Electrical Engineer and a truly creative ham.  Loved to build his own equipment.  Boeing sent him back to the east coast for a couple of years.  Returning to Seattle he stopped at our house in Taft.  The 1954 Chevy 4-door sported a 10 meter whip antenna, (you guessed it, Broderick Crawford would have been jealous) a transmitter he built which was crystal controlled and the crystals were changed by an old dial phone (the latest 1950’s technology).  All of this was conveniently located on the floor in front of the passenger’s seat.  I’m sure my aunt OKed that installation as she was forced to travel with her feet resting on a large, sharp cornered, humming metal box …. LOL.

          So today’s mobile installations are cleaner and less of an infringement on the people in the vehicle.  Such wondrous inventions like magnetic antenna bases and mounts that attach to everything from the window to the trunk edge have meant that antennas can be mounted without putting holes in the roof or the fender.  (“Charles, why is water dripping on me from the roof  liner?” asks my wife.  Or the car salesman remarking, “you know that hole in the roof will mean I can only offer you $X for your trade-in?”)

          Yes, progress can mean a smaller ice cream Drumstick that costs more for one than the whole box did when you were a kid.   It can mean your radio works better and has more abilities (many of which you don’t fully understand).  You can use your vehicle for your hobby and your family with little or no compromise.  The bad side is the thief is far more difficult to detect as he/she has your radio in their coat pocket and they are not in the ER for a possible hernia from carrying it away from your vehicle.

          All things have pros and cons to them.  Weigh those and make your best choice.  Remember, what is right for Charlie may not be right for you.  You can have a mobile installation by simply taking your handheld with  you in the car.  It might even fit in the cup holder with the 18 inch antenna merrily waving back and forth between you and your passenger.  If you invest in a headset (headset has earphones AND a microphone) you can communicate with both hands on the steering wheel thus eliminating possible crashes or tickets.

          I will stop before my meandering prose gets too far afield.  Enjoy the fall weather and remember it is more fun to operate your radio than it is to rake leaves.  Let the winter winds blow those leaves into the neighbor’s yard.

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.

Women On The Airwaves

          I didn’t have a sister, only had a brother two years older and six inches taller than me.  The taller was notable to me because for some unknown reason my parents bought boxing gloves for us.  Neither of us was overly interested in the pugilistic pursuits but occasionally we would don the gloves and go at it.  The result was usually the same.  My brother would hold me off at arm’s length and use his other hand to pound me on top of the head as my gloves futilely swung at air.  The resulting headaches may have been the portent for some of my quirks today.

          Geri the neighbor girl three houses down the street was one year older than me and one year younger than my brother Kerry.  Geri was one year older than me in age but she was YEARS ahead of me in maturity.  She and I got along very well and I considered her my “sister”.  Looking back with the clarity of many years passing, I have trouble understanding why she put up with me.  By the time I was in  high school I was passably acceptable as a teenager and Geri continued to provide me with “big sister” advice and counsel.  Such was the majority of my early education about females.

          First of all,I think if I’m trying to help more women get on the air I should ask them, “What keeps you from keying the microphone and getting on the air?  How can we help you?  What can local amateurs do to help?”

          I provide this family background so the reader does not think I have any special insight into the female gender of our species.  I have successfully worked with, supervised, taught, socialized with and attempted to advise women during my lifetime.  I should not have included advising in the success column but I did use the word “attempted” in that statement.

          I have found women to have some of the finest brains and minds I have associated with.  Some of the female troops under my command were among my best soldiers.  Bright, tenacious, capable and self-sufficient are all adjectives describing many women.  So why don’t we hear more of them on the airwaves?  I read a statistic that 15% of amateur radio licenses are held by females.  I do not hear 15% of the QSO’s having female voices and viewpoints.  Obviously there is some interest or they would not have pursued getting licensed.

          Here are a few names amateurs should check out:  Jeri Ellsworth AI6TK, Ria Jairam N2RJ, Cat Scogins W4DXY, Mary Domaleski KI4HHI and Rasia R1BIG (Russian) and OH7BG (Finland).  Each one of these amateurs has a special story and each one is contributing to the hobby of amateur radio.

          Jeri Ellsworth is: a ham, race car builder and driver, entrepreneur, inventor, computer developer and a free spirit.  She grew up in the Monmouth / Independence area and would ride her bike over to the ham fests held at the Rickreal fair grounds and pick up equipment that was left behind by exhibitors.  She learned from playing and tinkering with the equipment. She is self-taught having dropped out of school.  She learned computer programming and developed video games one of which sold millions of units.   She went to a ham fest and passed all three tests in one sitting.  Obviously she is an extraordinary person with an extraordinary brain. She sees a challenge and works to solve it by herself.

          Rasia is a Russia YL who operates out of Russia, Finland and Canada, the some times remotely.  She is enthusiastic and even learned Japanese phrases to respond to Japanese operators for contesting.  Rasia produces many interesting videos and tries to bring people to the hobby, especially women.  She can’t operate out of her home 27^th floor apartment in St. Petersburg. Russia so she does a lot of her radio work outdoors or with another amateur’s station (i.e. Finland and the remote station in Canada)

          Ria comes from the Dominican Republic and is now an American citizen, an Electrical Engineer, a mother, was an ARRL Director for a number of years.  She creates a very interesting web page “Ria’s Shack” and is an advocate for women in amateur radio.  Ria wrote a Technician Class study series and checked with the ARRL if there was any “conflict of interest” as she was a Director on the Board.  They gave her permission to publish the series and later rescinded permission and used her actions as a reason to remove her from the board.

          Perhaps the Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club can do something to help improve female  participation and membership.  I have talked about a class that would be  on the subject “I Have My License, Now What?”.  I need to quit talking and create the class.  If you have any ideas which would help with this, please contact me.

          Some ideas would be a regular class but could be a breakout at a Club meeting or during Field Day.  Perhaps a zoom session like Daron’s Wilson’s Wednesday Workshop.  Subjects could range from setting up a simple station to putting up an antenna or “what do I say on the air”.  One ham told me that making contacts on the air with his computer keyboard  gave him experience and confidence to pick up the microphone and have a verbal QSO.

          One of the major frightening aspects seems to be “making mistakes while I’m talking on the radio”.  I think that the fact that there is no facial “feedback” can be a factor.  Maybe what you say will seem strange, silly or wrong to the receiving station.  OK.  Everyone has to start somewhere and everyone has made and will make mistakes.  One can say, “oops” or “so what?  You’ll likely never see nor talk with the person again and if they can’t overlook your mistake … perhaps that is for the better.”  I have seldom had a QSO with the same person (other than local hams) multiple times and if it was not for my computerized logbook I wouldn’t know that we had a QSO in January of 2020 let alone know what was said.

          I talked with one ham who had multiple scripts that he used during his first few months on the air.  Many hams seem to be obsessed with the weather.  “It’s sunny and warm here on the Oregon coast, we are 78 degrees and no wind.  How is the weather in the Himalayan mountains?”  Is it an obsession or just a interesting comment that almost anyone can relate to?

          Others will discuss their station.  This can lead to common and not so common ground.  “I’m running a Flex 6500 through a 1,000 watt amplifier to a StepIR beam on a 150 foot mast.”  Which can bring up many comments such as “Wow you must really be rich.”  “I’ve always been interested in the Flex radios, are they hard to set up?”  “I had a Flex radio but I didn’t like it as it had no knobs to fiddle with.”  Or it might bring a comment like, “Well I’m running 100 watts and a wire 30 feet off the ground.”

          QSOs, like life can be good, bad, interesting or boring (you might ask yourself is this guy ever going to stop talking?)  And with that comment, I will take the hint and “stop talking”. 

73

Chuck Gerttula

W7CRG

orefinn@yahoo.com