Category: Chuck’s Blog

Chuck Gertulla W7CRG

When I was in the Army we had the phrase “We fight as we train”. Thus we emphasized to make training and practice as real as possible and yet keeping it as safe as possible. Just as our muscles have “memory” that allows them to perform the same task with the same speed and accuracy each time we put them to the task; so does our brain function. Remember learning the “times tables” in the 4^th or 5^th grade? Even today, many years later, the answer immediately comes to mind. OK, I’ll admit that lately I may be fudging a little on the “immediately comes to mind” part of that.

But the things that were repeatedly beat into my psyche by my parents are still very strong in me today. I always walk on the traffic side of the sidewalk when walking on the sidewalk with a woman. I open doors for others. I feel guilty when I use certain words. My brain repeats the mantra “If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all” (my brain also ignores certain cautions and I usually pay for ignoring). I respect my elders but I have found that I am now one of those “elders” so it can be confusing. 

Without beating this to death, the phrase practice makes perfect has a lot of truthiness to it.

As stated I think hams could practice better operating skills. I know I sure can use improvement. The first thing that comes to mind is the phonetic alphabet. It was created to meet a number of criteria. The words should easily be recognized and should not conflict with international languages. The word should be short. The word should be easily pronounced by users of all languages. For instance, if the suffix of your call sign is “ILC”, identifying as “I Like Chevrolets” might be cute and indicate your vehicle preference but it is neither short nor easily pronounced by all languages. “India Lima Charlie” is recognized, pronounceable in most languages and short.

The Phonetic Alphabet is also created so during poor band conditions an operator might not clearly hear the entire phonetic but will be able to determine the proper letter as “Lima” after hearing only “ima”. That doesn’t work with “Bacon Lettuce and Tomato” or “Itseey Bitsee Teenyweeny” call sign suffixes I have heard on the air.

I never realized how many amateurs were named Roger. I hear “roger Roger all the time. So there must be a lot of hams named Roger. I understand that some things are old habits and combined with a desire to have a longer response but which takes longer to say, “Yes” or “QSL”? I also understand that QSL can mean “I acknowledge receipt”. These Q codes were meant to speed up and shorten CW contacts and have slipped over to phone use but why say “Hi Hi” when the actual sound of laughter will carry over the airwaves?

We have some phrases and phrasing that has been with amateur radio since its very early years and are still in use throughout the ham community. I never thought much about using “YL” and “XYL” until one of the female class members commented that she didn’t think of herself as a “Young Lady” and that these terms were archaic and come from an age that she does not identify with. I didn’t have a good response for her. The ham community is predominately male and older. Most of us have never thought about time and phrasing evolving. If we want new members we might adjust to the times … says the guy who still uses tubes in some of his radios.

I’ve realized that to some the weather bone is connected to the amateur bone. (I had to really concentrate not to write ham bone there) One operator in a round table wanted to know why hams are so interested in the weather at each others location. As one of the hams replied “the weather gives me a subject that is not controversial and somewhat universal to start my conversation with another operator. I can then easily transition to other more meaningful topics like radios, antennas and SWR. But everybody has weather. Not everybody has digital or uses CW or is knowledgeable on a multitude of other ham topics. Weather is a safe opener.”

I realize this blog will not change many, if any, operators. I hope I have not insulted any of my friends as the intent was to get readers to think about some of their on-the-air habits. QSL? Hi Hi Hi!

Have a good beginning of the year. Let’s work to make it the year of the Ham!! Pick up that microphone and get on the air!

Chuck Gerttula W7CRG, 73.

Chuck Gerttula W7CRG

I assembled my low power station (QRP and yes it is Chinese, an RS-918) and hooked up the loop antenna. I was ready to begin a little adventure in chasing stations with low power … even if the adventure was from the back deck on our house. Log book, pencil and cup of coffee, what more could I need? Check connections and push the power switch … nothing happens. The nifty little digital meter hooked to the battery terminals reads low. My lithium iron phosphate battery I got specifically for this type of operation was in need of charging (I got it because of low weight, good power and decent operating time). OK, OK, the low weight wasn’t so important as I only had to carry it from my workshop to the back deck … but that did involve a flight of 14 stairs.

I’m sure this sort of thing happens to all of us but I’ve noticed that it is more recurring in the years past my 70^th year on this rock. Yes, I forget things more often now. As a matter of fact, sometimes I forget that I’ve forgotten. Thus setting up a station with a battery I was going to charge.

Charging batteries, as well as changing batteries, is an on-going problem no matter what your age. The Fire Departments have campaigned to tie checking the batteries in smoke detectors to the changing of clocks from Standard to Daylight Savings as many fatality or injury fires they respond to have a dead battery in the detector. 

Amateur radio has had an increasing dependence on batteries. We have handhelds (often times more than one), laptops, instruments (how corroded is the battery in your Volt Ohm Meter?), clocks, calculators and many other items. Don’t forget the batteries for your “Go Kit”. Part of the supplies in my “Go Box” is a zip lock baggie of AA and AAA batteries. When I need one in the shack I go to the baggie and grab it and when I get a fresh supply of batteries I replace the batteries in the baggie.

Try to determine a “trigger” for you to think about the various batteries you need to maintain. The Fire Departments use the clock change. I know of one ham who uses a clipboard with the various batteries and other items he needs to check on listed with a monthly space to check-off. That works for him but is far too much for me. But, whatever works for you, try it.

The batteries I have the most trouble with are those for my various HT s as it seems the manufacturers make almost every battery different and the charger has a different configuration. Many have the same voltage and so forth but the charger has a very different connector or plug. So if you don’t use the radio on a regular basis, when you want to use it, it is often with a low charge. 

Now I know I had another item to discuss … but I forgot it. Oh, now I remember, manuals. We as hams collect a wide range of radios and equipment. Some of you may remember all the aspects of said equipment. Which button to push to do various tasks. I do not. My philosophy was always I don’t want to clutter my meager number of brain cells with large amounts of information. I just need to know where to find that information when I need it. But as Hamlet said, “Aye there’s the rub.” Sometimes that can be problematic unless one plans ahead when they get the material. By that, I mean right after the “Wow this is great! Look what I can do with it!” I put the information which tells me what it can do and how to make it do that, into a clearly labeled file. A brief bit of organization now saves so much frustration later. And, over time it becomes a habit rather than a task.

“Cheat Sheets” such as the Nifty Mini Manuals are a great help. I’ve found they were more helpful a number of years ago when my eyesight was better and could read that teeny tiny print but they provide a huge amount of operational information. I saw one ham who made a small pocket from clear wide tape and had the Nifty on the back of his handheld. I guess he had a pocket for each battery. The hams who respond with him probably have either adopted his pocket Idea or know where he is to borrow his Nifty trifold when they forget which button to push.

I think in previous blogs or blog I mentioned how one can find themselves in a circle of need (read frustration). By that I mean I set off to fix the “whatchamacallit” and find I need tool A to do it. I search for and find tool A but it needs work/calibration/the manual. I search for and find the necessary work/calibration/manual but find that to accomplish said task I need item B. You can see where this is going, can’t you? If I am lucky the circle quickly closes and I actually fix the “whatchamacallit”. Other times I set it aside and move on to another problem which hopefully doesn’t have a “circle of need”.

Over time I have come to realize that if I fix the item when I first discover it, I save myself hours of frustration and work. I have come to the realization but that doesn’t mean I’ve conquered a bad habit. But it does mean that more and more often I go to use tool A and I can both find tool A and tool A works as it should! (Read smile smugly.)

Another kind of “forgetting” is what I consider re-learning. To set the stage, I’m going out for the afternoon and I grab my trusty Yaesu FT 60. I have programmed a multitude of repeaters and as well as the simplex frequencies on the little hand held. But … I don’t use the radio often enough to remember the number for Otter Crest repeater nor the number for the simplex channel. So I go through each channel looking for what I seek. To make things more complicated, I didn’t enter a name for each channel when I did the programming I “relearned” all right. I reprogrammed when I got home and made the listings useful for the “forgetful” one, me.

Hopefully this has been useful, amusing and provided some ideas to make your ham life better. If it hasn’t, sorry about wasting your reading time but have a happy hammy New Year!

Chuck Gerttula

W7CRG

Christmas Blog Dec 2024 Chuck Gerttula  W7CRG

Twas the night  before Christmas and Santa was flying around in his sleigh and trying out a few of the HTs he would be delivering to some lucky hams.  He liked to add “Aviation Mobile” to his KL7STA call sign when he signed off with “73 to all”.  It was amazing what  operating from 30.000 feet did for a rubber duck antenna.  He was able to stay in touch with Mrs Claus even when he was orbiting over Europe.  Of course since she had put a full array of yagis on the North Pole the signals improved on all bands.

          The Elves were active on QRP with a Xiegu G90 so Santa switched over to 20 meters on his fancy Elecraft transceiver mounted on the dash of the sleigh.  Elmer the lead Elf was busy making contacts all over western Europe.  Everyone seemed to enjoy getting the QSL cards from the North Pole.  It was fascinating how many contacts Elmer could make with low power even using SSB.  If he went digital using FT8 he was often swamped with contacts.

          “KL7STA this is KL7XYL, I need you back here at the home QTH so quit with the joy ride and head the reindeer back to the stable!”

          With the glow of moonlight on Santa’s crestfallen brow he wheeled the sleigh around and zoomed off to the North.  Rudolph’s nose glowed brighter and brighter as the homing beacon on the North Pole got nearer and nearer.  In no time at all they made a perfect eleven point landing (that’s two sleigh runners, and nine reindeer) and taxied up to the Claus workshop.  Wisps of smoke drifted from the chimney and soon dissipated into the snowy air.

          Santa no more than got in the door and started to remove his warm red and white coat then Elmer the head Elf ran up to him.  “Santa!  You forgot to make one of the most important deliveries!  The children’s orphanage just had all of the third year students graduate from the radio class with their ham license and we promised them a new station for Christmas!”

          There was no station in my bag!  You can see it’s empty!” said Santa.

          We had to miniaturize it to fit in the bag.  It’s caught in the lining,” stated Elmer as he crawled through the magic bag.  “By my calculations if you leave now and follow the flight path I programmed into your sleigh you can still get it to them before the wake up and go down to their Christmas tree!  Get your jacket on and get those reindeer into high gear!  New hams are hard to come by and we don’t want to loose any!”

          So laying his finger aside to his nose … with a whoosh Santa was on his cushy seat and the reindeer were following Elmer’s program flight path to the orphanage!  In no time at all the magical group landed on the roof of the orphanage missing the guy wires to the antenna tower and all the coax cables feeding the antennas.

          Whoosh! Santa was down the chimney and heading to install the station.  Unfortunately, the orphanage had not had the chimney sweep clean the flue in some time and Santa left sooty foot prints and grime from his jacket all the way to the Christmas tree!

          I’ll use my magic cleaner-upper on the way back to the sleigh,” he muttered.  “I’ve got to get this station set up quickly, I think I hear stirrings up on the sleeping level.”

          With a wink of his eye a complete station was up and operational.  “I’ll leave it on 20 meters so I can wish them a Merry Christmas on my way back to the North Pole!”

          And just as the eager new hams rushed down the staircase, Santa whisked up the chimney and was into his sleigh.  Once more being careful of the guy wires and coax he zoomed toward the North Pole.  Santa plugged in the headset built into his stocking cap and keyed the trans.  “Merry Christmas to all the new young hams, may you have good QSOs and to all a Good Night!”

I’m Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old (and forgetful)

If I remember correctly (and I often times don’t) this title belongs to a Garth Brooks song. Growing up in Taft and living next door to my maternal grandparents I formed a special bond with them and developed a special understanding of old folks. Grandma was the quiet one with strong meaningful advice. Grandpa was the storyteller and adventurer but also very wise and “smart as a whip”. He, like many young folks of his time, had only an eighth grade education but built a successful life and complicated businesses with that knowledge. Gramps built one of (according to him not one but “the”) highest logging railroad trestles in the U.S.. Quite an engineering feat for an eighth grade education. I saw the trestle in the 1970’s and it was an impressive structure.

As a young man Grandpa accepted a money belt from his wealthy stepbrother A.S. Kerry and went “North to Alaska” and the Klondike gold rush. There he built a boarding house/hotel/store on the Whitehorse River, he then built a steam boat to haul miners and their materials back and forth. After a couple of years work he brought a trunk of gold back to his stepbrother who became an even wealthier member of Seattle society. Kerry Park in Seattle is named after his brother A.S. Kerry.

My intent was not to tell the family history but to establish that in 1950 when I was starting the first grade in Mrs. Morrow’s class in Taft my Grandfather was 71. I like most children had no ability to determine adults age. They were simply adults some older, some not so old. I also had no appreciation for the toll that years take on an individual. Now being almost a decade older than what my Grandfather was at that time, I realize and appreciate many of the things about my Grandparents.

Asking myself things such as, “What IS his name?” “Where did I put the …?” “Did I solder that to pin four or five?” “What was the frequency they said they were moving to?” I like to tell myself that I’m as sharp as I used to be … just a little slower getting to that sharpness.

One thing my family taught me was patience. I didn’t think they were teaching me to be patient, I just thought they were making me wait. Lessons were sometimes harsh. Like when I was in the seventh grade and my birthday was approaching (as in two or three weeks away approaching). For probably the fiftieth time that week I asked, “What am I getting for my Birthday, Mom?” Mom turned away from me, took a box off the shelf and opened it handing me a pair of shoe skates. “Happy Birthday son. Your birthday is going to be very quiet and unsurprising now.”

Wow! Not what I wanted to happen. Did I learn a lesson in patience!

Some things a person must wait for. As a young adult you wish you were older, then you are older and you wonder why all of a sudden you have all these responsibilities and problems.

As a ham radio operator patience breeds success. As you tune across the frequency take a moment to realize all the things that need to align for you to hear that other station. Your radio, feed-line and antenna need to be working properly and efficiently. The atmosphere needs to be providing good propagation. The other station needs to be transmitting and its signal needs to be of a quality your station can function with.

Often times we tune quickly across the frequency and our equipment doesn’t have the ability to process the signals that are there. Or they are just beginning to transmit but you have already moved “off-frequency”. Sometimes being the “tortoise” is better than being the “hare”.

Listen and copy the information the station may give out: call sign, frequency, location, power, name, special status. Nothing identifies a “Lid” (ham slang for poor operator) more than after giving a glowing signal report asking two or three times for clarification of their call sign. If they are truly registering “59” that means they have a strong signal and are completely understandable.

I know, in the contest world, all signal reports are “59”. Many hams are offended by that but that is the accepted protocol for that group. It tends to bleed into other ham activities which lessens the value of signal reports which I use to assess the condition of my station.

Another example of ham patience is waiting for your turn which is part of the mantra “listen first then speak”. If a station is “answering by the numbers” they are breaking responses into the ten districts. So if they are taking “7s” and you are a “6” you need to wait through 8, 9, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. If you can’t wait go to another frequency and come back. If you time it right you will show up as they are taking “6s”.

A station I found of 20 meters was calling “CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ 20 meters. This is K7— calling CQ. CQ, CQ, CQ. CQ 20 meters. This is K7— calling CQ. CQ, CQ, CQ …….. On and on and on I timed him for close to three minutes before he paused for ten seconds and started his constant calling once again. A little patience and someone might have been able to respond to his CQ.

So, when Gramps said, “I’ll take you with me when I go to the Post Office and give you a nickel for some candy,” that was on his schedule not mine. That nickel candy had to wait an hour or two and maybe he might have forgotten the offer. I didn’t understand the dynamics when I was young but I sure do now!

One of my friends sent me a post where the older person was in the middle of the stairs and was asking, “now was I going up to the bathroom or down the the living room?” At this time in my life, I can relate.

I ask myself, “is this writer’s block I’m going through …. or is it getting older and older and older.

73, Chuck W7CRG

          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

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.

By W7CRG

          Sometimes my mind has lots of ideas and other times it is fairly empty as I am sure my wife will attest.  As I searched for a topic this month I didn’t find one that really resonated with me. 

          I thought about my first QSO but since that  consisted of dots and dashes and was the product of an overly excited 16 year old I quickly discarded that idea.

          But the idea of beginning anew stuck with me.  My novice license expired without me upgrading and KN7ORZ fell by the wayside.  The interest never faded.  Work, family and life took the forefront.  Retirement found me and provided less conflict so when my wife told me about a class in Newport to get a ham license I decided to renew an old interest.  Took the class, passed the test and KF7WZV was born!

          I found an excuse to go to Salem and stopped at a dual purpose store which sold ham gear as part of the dual purpose.  I bought a Wouxun HT for 2 meters and 70 cm.  I was ready to get on the air again!  I carried it with me, listened and occasionally responded.  I showed up at the Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club and paid my dues.  I was accepted into the group and was eager to participate.  I met new friends and put voices on the airwaves to the faces at the meeting.

          VHF communication was great but I wanted more.  I knew how far my Novice CW signal traveled with 75 watts and decided I needed to get on HF.  I didn’t want to use CW as I was never very good at CW.  So, I started to study for my General and I started to search eBay for ham radio bargains.  The first “bargain” that fit my needs and my pocketbook was a TS-140 by Kenwood.  It arrived in the mail encased in a briefcase with foam padding inside and complete with a wire dipole antenna.  Perhaps someone’s radio for going on Field Day.

          Thus began my friendship with eBay “ham radio”.  I looked at all kinds of items offered for sale and learned the value of equipment.  I found items I had no knowledge of and researched them.  Most often I determined I had no use or interest in the item but I now knew what it was.

          The Kenwood TS-140 gave me many interesting contacts and I learned what “100 watts and a wire” could accomplish.  I also improved my technical skills when it suddenly developed a problem.  Joe Joncas, who has forgotten more than many hams will ever know about electronics, came to my rescue.  Joe insisted that “we” could troubleshoot and hopefully fix the problem.  I stood behind him in his crowded workshop/ham shack as he poured over the schematic of the TS-140 and he showed me what various sections did what. 

          I have some technical skills but I would never have been able to determine the problem was part of a large integrated circuit (IC).  The IC was functional for everything but this one small section.  “What do we do Joe?  Can we buy a new IC?”  Joe informed me that the likelihood of that was smaller than small.  But we could build a replacement for that section.  Wow, I wanted to see how Joe did that!

          Once again the term “we” was used.  Joe dug around through the vast supply of electronic components in his workshop and showed me that all the necessary parts to replace that section were on the desk.  Then I was told to sit down and start soldering the parts together on the small perforated board.  Once I had done that and Joe accepted my solder job, he showed me where to solder the leads thus replacing the bad section of the IC.

          We connected everything, hooked up an antenna and tested it!  Voila it worked!  So I learned a number of lessons.  I learned that a segment of an IC could be replaced.  I learned that my soldering skills weren’t as bad as I thought.  And I learned how an “Elmer” worked, taught and passed on skills to other hams.

          Did I think I could do that?  No, I didn’t until Joe helped me to do it.  I have tried to pass that kind of “Elmering” on.  It is a valuable experience to learn what we are capable of and that often flows over to other things in our lives.  I’m pretty sure I still could not identify which section of an IC was the problem.  But I grew one step closer to being technically proficient.

          Later at one of the meetings, Joe asked if anyone would like to try an Icom IC-746pro that had come to the club collection.  Since no one was using the radio, I thought I would give it a whirl.  I was satisfied with my Kenwood but this 746pro was so much more radio.  I soon was in love with it and constantly amazed at what it offered me.

          A couple of months later Joe asked me at a club meeting when I was going to return the Icom 746pro.  Did someone else need to use it?  No, and l, I realized that it was not mine to keep using for free.  I dug down and found the money to purchase it and the club treasury grew.  The capabilities of my ham shack grew far more than the club treasury.  That radio is still my primary radio.  I have come to depend on it so much, that when I started to experience some problems with it I found a backup at a very good price (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)  I could send the radio out for repairs and still have the familiar radio to operate with.

          What I’m trying to convey is that one does not need to obtain an expensive bunch of equipment.  Be aware of bargains and if the bargain appears at the same time as the means to purchase the bargain, go for it.  Try to avoid creating a situation where the significant other is asking “So just how many radios do you need?”  (This has been a failure on my part and a response of “Just one more” is not a recommended.)

          Moving to new and different factions of the hobby involve more than changing radios.  If you are going to operate on HF you need bigger antennas.  Now depending where you live this may be a big or a not so big problem.  Wire antennas tend to be the cheapest and easiest to put up.  I’ve talked to hams using everything from pieces of wire strung together to speaker wire or just some wire they found along the side of the road.  Hams have used drain pipes and gutters, slinkys and coax to create high frequency antennas.

          But having the space to string it up and not get complaints from the HOA, neighbors or the other resident in the household can be another matter completely.  It can also be difficult or downright dangerous getting the wire up high enough to suit you.

          Back when I was younger and far more agile than I am now I owned a climbing belt and spurs.  Was I an experienced and trained climber?  Do I really have to answer that question?  My parents had owned a logging company at one time.  I had watched climbers top and rig spar poles to bring the logs up to the landing and then load them onto log trucks.  Far better than watching a You Tube video wouldn’t you say?  (I know the internet wasn’t even a dream back then.)  Besides, I was a Lieutenant in the Toledo Fire Department and we had done rope training which I had also done in the Army.  What more did I need to learn?

          I was up early one Saturday, my wife was pregnant so I let her sleep in.  I donned my climbing gear and started up one of the 80 foot tall trees in my back yard.  Our yard slopes in the rear and the house has a daylight basement at the rear.  Imagine the surprise my wife got when she walked out into the living room and looked out the large window and saw her husband slightly above her in a large fir tree.  He was affixing a rope to the tree as he hung there in his climbing belt.

          A very loud, familiar and angry voice directed me to get out of that tree!  I started to comply and luckily I was out of her line of sight when the lack of experience thing got me.  Spurs are meant to allow you to support yourself as you climb, work or descend the tree.  They are strapped to your leg and foot.  You must be sure the spur is well into the tree or pole before you put all of your weight on it.  One should never hurry setting your spur.  I’ll claim the demanding voice over ruled the never hurry part of that advise.

          I put my left spur down lower but it was not solidly into the tree.  When I put weight on it my leg just slid down the tree.  My climbing belt held me to the tree and my right spur was still well anchored at the original height.  So there was Charlie, right leg bent as tightly as possible and held firmly against the tree by the climbing belt, and left leg connecting mostly to air.

          A possible headline flashed through my mind.  “Fire Department Officer trapped in tree and must be rescued by his own Department.”  Frantically I tried to anchor my left spur.  A lot of the tree’s bark had been ruined as the spur slid down the tree.  By moving slightly to the right and lifting with my right leg and my arms grasping the climbing belt I was able to get the left spur to set about 6 or 8 inches higher.  I rested, recouped my strength, and was able to gain another few inches allowing me to reset the belt’s rope and get into a more advantageous position.

          The familiar voice called out again.  “I’m almost down I’ll be up to the house in a couple of minutes.” I assured her.

          The belt and spurs hung in the garage for a long, long time.  There are some things better left to the professionals.  There are all kinds of devices to keep us out of trees.  Slingshots and air guns which trail fishing line that is then used to pull heavier line up into the tree are popular and much safer than spurs and climbing belts.

          “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” is not just a Ricky Nelson song from the sixties.

Chuck Gerttula  W7CRG

By W7CRG

          It was called a Big Ben alarm clock made by Westclox I believe.  As I remember it was about 4 inches in diameter and came in white or black.  Mine was black.  I’m not sure but I think it had a luminous dial so when I woke at 2:00 a.m. I could know it was not time to wake up.  I would like to be able to say it quit telling the time; but, in the 1950’s that was seldom the case.  Planned obsolescence was a concept of the 1980’s -90’s.  Things broke but it was not the common occurrence.

          I think I can blame it on curiosity. How did all those cogs and gears fit together and create a machine that circled the dial in one hour?  And it continued to do so for a day or two after which you wound it for the next period of time.

          I could have just removed the back and marveled at how that little machine worked.  I didn’t.  I disassembled it.  Why, you ask?  Why does a ten year old do most dumb things.  I assured my mother that I could put it back together again.  Alas, like Humpty Dumpty, I couldn’t put Westclox back together again and I didn’t get another alarm clock until my birthday. 

          Yeah, just what every kid wants for his birthday!  I think it was more that Mom was tired of having to wake me in time for school and to teach me a lesson, which happened more than once as I grew up.  At any rate I was one year older and the proud owner of  a new and functioning alarm clock.

          This was a portent to my life of building and working on things.  Most turned out better than the Westclox but there were drawers and cardboard boxes scattered through my parents house with “projects” that were not completed.  Some may have been for lack of parts.  Some for loss of interest or lack of time.  But some actually were finished and …. wait for it … worked!

          I may have mentioned my uncle Bob was an electrical engineer for Boeing and got me interested in electronics and radio.  I got a crystal radio kit for Christmas from uncle Bob and aunt Maxine, I’m relatively sure aunt Maxine had little to do with choosing the gift.  Christmas day I found the time to follow the directions and assemble the kit.

          That led to my first real lesson with electronics!  Was it the concept of radio waves coming through the atmosphere and the thrill of hearing a station on a radio I had built?  No, it was not.  It was the shocking reality that the antenna picks up a current and when you hook the bare ground wire to a water pipe you might feel the wonder of electricity!  Shocking!  I was much more careful connecting wires in the future and have succeeded in have relatively few similar experiences.  Keeping one hand in your pocket insures that you don’t form a circuit and experience the shocking affects of electricity.

          Being partially colorblind has been a hindrance in my electronics development.  I would often times have to bother my wife asking if the band on the resister was red, green or brown.  She was generally cooperative and willing to help the handicapped until the “Transformer Incident”.

          We were always on a budget as a young family and therefore most of the parts for my electronic builds were salvaged out of defunct radios, TVs or electrical devices.  Color coding was used for parts and certain wiring.  Transformers had a multitude of wires blossoming out of holes and you were supposed to be able to determine what they did by the color of the insulation.  So the primary power leads were black.  Good I can tell black unless the lead has become discolored due to heat, dirt and dust.  High voltage is red and the center tap is red and yellow (I know, for many of us this is getting rather technical, but bear with me).  The filament winding, these are lower voltage and are what “heats” the vacuum tube, the colors are green, brown, slate and usually really discolored from heat and dust.

          As I said before most all of my parts were salvage.  I was in my workshop trying to figure out which wire was what, when my loving wife brought me a cup of coffee.  She set the coffee on the bench (lucky for me) and asked, “What are you doing?”

          “You can help me, I’m trying to identify two green and two brown wires.”

           She picked up two wires and said, “These two are the closest to green that I can tell.”

          Now here is where the infamous “Transformer Incident” went awry.  I asked without thinking, “Oh, do you feel anything?”  It only took her a millisecond to realize that she could have been shocked!

          In defense of my actions I was thinking which wire was which, it was very low voltage as I was working with a Variac, she was holding the insulation and I had a very stupid sense of humor!  I was also lucky she was no longer holding a cup of hot coffee.  Needless to say, color identification help was not as forthcoming in the future and it was quite awhile before I got a nice cup of coffee in my workshop.

          This meandering diatribe has wandered from windup alarm clocks to electronic projects and gone a little far afield.  I apologize to the reader but the point to be gleaned from it all is the satisfaction one can get from putting something together and having it work!  It might be setting up your radio station or installing a mobile rig in your car. It could be building a simple kit on Wilson’s Wednesdays Workshop or constructing an antenna.  The satisfaction of making that purchase from the swap meet work or learning to use a new mode such as digital.  These are a few of the things that can bring a grin to an operator’s face.

          One of the best things I’ve received from my dalliance in amateur radio is the satisfaction of achievement.  That was why I pushed to upgrade my license.  That is the feeling I got when I built a buddipole from the inventor’s instructions.  That is the hit I got when the broken VTVM (Vacuum Tube Volt Meter) worked.  Did I really need it?  No, but it is nice to have and makes me feel special when I use it.  A sense of achievement can give a real boost to an otherwise bad day.

          Am I an avid DX’er?  No.  But you should have seen the grin on my face when I made my first contact with a station in Finland!  My father was the product of a Finnish family so it was the same feeling as my first contact from Germany as my maternal Grandmother sailed around the Horn to become an indentured servant in the Hawaiian sugar fields.  Ham radio was relating to my heritage.

          Are you stuck on a problem with your radio?  Ask at a club meeting or call in on the Noontime Net. Go to the 2:00 Wednesday Pie and Coffee or call one of the members.  I can’t tell you how many times Joe Joncas NJ7OK has helped me with a problem.  He always does it in such a way that I’m the one fixing the radio and learning new skills and information.  We have a vast array of experience, ability and talent in the Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club, don’t be afraid to tap into it!

          Hope to hear you on the air!

          Chuck Gerttula  W7CRG

Get On the Air!

I remember my first bicycle. It was blue. It was small enough that my feet could touch the ground. It was new and beautiful! My brother and I had a very special Christmas that year ! His was normal sized and red while mine was smaller, blue and had training wheels. TRAINING WHEELS??? I assured my dad that I didn’t need TRAINING WHEELS! Then I got on the bike and proved myself wrong. But within a day (or two) I pretty well mastered the art of bicycling. That is if the art of bicycling was riding in circles on the smooth street in front of our house.

In the 1950s most of the side streets in Taft were gravel. Some were well compacted and relatively smooth; others not so much. A decent road for the big tires of a 1949 Ford; a real challenge for bicycle wheels. If the road was a sloping one, stopping before reaching the bottom was usually due more to a crash than successful braking. On one trip down that steep road behind our house the lever fastened to the bike frame that allowed the brake to work when the rider pressed the pedals in reverse came loose. I tried to slow the bike and all that happened was I was repeatedly lifted up in the air as the lever allowed the wheel to rotate the pedals in reverse! My only choice, more fate than choice, was a crash into the ditch which bent my front wheel as well as a few of my body parts.

How does this relate to getting on the air with your brand new shiny radio? Well, new experiences can be daunting and sometimes you need training wheels, sometimes you need to have a harrowing episode to teach you the things you need to know to successfully practice your new hobby. In my case training wheels allowed me to learn the balance necessary to ride a bike. The crashes were painful lessons to teach maintaining a bike meant to periodically tightening screws and bolts. We all had to learn to walk before we could run. Some did so easily and somewhat naturally … others took a more circuitous and painful route.

I’m hoping to inspire new hams to turn on their radio (after connecting it to power and an antenna), pick up the mike, listen for an opening and press the PTT. Oh, yeah, and to speak … “This is K7XYZ checking into the Noon Time Net” A great way to start is on 145.370 Mhz. When net control welcomes you onto the net you are hamming! Don’t be afraid to let everyone listening know that it is your first time. If you need help with a particular problem with your radio or radio station … ask.

Most new hams start with a small VHF hand held transceiver. Programming these little wonders is often a daunting and confusing task. There are numerous videos on the internet some are helpful and some are just more confusing. But what is confusing to one may be enlightening to another. Check the programs until one seems to be right for you. Ask for help. If you can’t get on the air to ask, come to the meeting either in person or by zoom. Chances are someone can help you out of the confusion and onto the airwaves!

The Technician class license is meant to be the introduction and pathway to amateur radio. Many think it is a great way to get into the hobby and a quick way to operate on the air with relatively inexpensive radios. It is. But it provides opportunities that many overlook. I offer the following to consider diving deeper into your new hobby.

As an interesting experiment, I put 28.300 MHz on my transceiver and began to slowly turn the dial until I reached 29.700 MHz. Why slowly? Because my radio covers more of the spectrum the faster you spin the dial and I wanted to simulate a normal search for a station. Also, if you tune too fast you can pass over signals without knowing they are there. In this instance “slow and steady wins the race.”

This is the 10 meter band and a part of it is available to Technician class for HF phone operation. From 28.300 Mhz to 28.500 Mhz is the portion of the band open for Technician operation Many Technicians don’t take advantage of the privilege and equate HF High Frequency phone with the General and higher license. Not only is the band a decent slice of the spectrum; when conditions are right one can communicate all over the world! And right now conditions are right and getting better as part of the sun spot cycle improves the band.

Tune, listen, make sure you are on frequency and respond with your call sign after the station finishes calling CQ. Tune along the band to find a station that is coming in strong and clear. Why? Chances are good that if the station is strong coming to your receiver your return signal will do its best getting to them. Listen how the station operates. Some call CQ for a long period of time; some for a very short period of time. It would seem that some want to broadcast a CQ more than answer a CQ because they pause for such a brief time before calling CQ again.

If the station doesn’t answer, keep trying. Sometimes the conditions at a station are very heavy with static or noise. Keep trying and if you are lucky your call will hit a clear spot and the station will hear you and return your call. If you don’t connect within a reasonable time move on and keep trying. Patience is an important quality for a ham!

Many times it is band conditions. Sometimes it is something with your station. Your fingers have touched or moved a control (how could that have happened with my banana fingers?). I have found that the mike gain on my transceiver got turned down; the RF power was way low; or that I was a little off frequency. These things can all drastically affect your signal and success in making a contact. Patience and perseverance often times win out. Keep trying and the thrill of making that contact will be a real reward!

What do I talk about? That depends on you. What sort of conversation do you have over a cup of coffee or tea? Possibly the comment about Starbucks or your preference for Earl Gray tea would not be appropriate in this case; but the idea is not without value. You can ask about the weather, or what it is like where they are. Do they have other interests besides ham radio? Whatever you do when you are trying to get to know a new acquaintance is good advice. Maybe creating a “script” of questions to ask would up your comfort level.

Try to stay away from religion and politics and don’t get too personal is good advice. I was listening to a female operator and this male asked if she was married. I was so astounded, I wanted to contact him and tell him this is amateur radio not a dating service! The young woman handled it very well by answering him with the question if hams asked HIM if he was married and what did her martial status have to do with ham radio. Ask about their station; their experience in radio; their contact that was the most interesting or the most distant.

The important thing is to pick up your microphone and depress the Push To Talk. Get on the air! There are no “contact police” until the operator begins to use foul language or disrupts other amateurs contacts in a purposeful and damaging manner. If the contact is a “Rag Chew” the topics are pretty much open to whatever the parties want to discuss that is not considered inappropriate.

Climb on that “bicycle” and start riding. The reward will be worth the possible bumps in the road and hopefully any “crashes” will be minor!

73, Chuck Gerttula W7CRG