Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club

Curiosity seems to be a trait of many Hams.  We are curious about how something works or functions.  We are curious about new and innovative things and processes.  We are curious about how we might use, change and improve various things that come into our hobby and, for that matter, our lives.

          That trait has been good for our hobby and good for our minds.  We grow when we exercise our minds and experiences.  This hobby has grown from spark gap CW to modulated speech; AM, FM, SSB; to specialized communication modes such as RTTY (Radio Teletype), SSTV (Slow Scan TV), Satellite and bouncing signals off the Moon’s surface (EME), digital modes such as PSK31 and FT8.  Those are just a few of the technologies hams have come up with and there are many more developing using UHF and microwave technologies.

          Hams are also looking for challenges.  We try to accumulate the highest number of something.  For some that is equipment … “How many radios do you really need??”  “Just one more …”  For others it is contacts, they collect the number of contacts they make for countries around the world, the various states within our country, the counties within each state, contacts from Grid Squares, Parks (County, State, National), SOTA (Summits on the Air), lighthouses, islands, you name it.

          One ham I met was so proud of the QSL cards he had collected that all of the walls of his ham shack were covered with them.  An impressive array which took years to accumulate and probably weeks to organize and place on the walls.

          Part of this blog is about curiosity and part of this blog is about diversity.   Hams are individuals who have some group interests and traits but also hold a wide variety of interests and abilities.  For instance, not all hams have the ability or desire to build, modify or repair electronic equipment.  Not all hams have the patience to tune up and down the bands listening for a call sign from a faraway place (DX).  Not every ham finds the challenges of accumulating the most points during a contest fascinating.  Not every ham wants to train to provide communication during emergencies but the satisfaction of public service and being there “When All Else Fails” is a lure to many in our midst.   Some like maximum power and some get pleasure from contacts on the least power (QRP).

          To me, after nearly 30 years of Army service, the phrase “Be All You Can Be” is more than a recruiting slogan.  I find satisfaction in becoming an Extra class operator.  Not that it provides me any sense of status; but, rather it  was one more challenge to meet and allowed me to provide certain things like testing as a VE for all levels of license.  Many of the things I do as an amateur radio operator are simply for my own satisfaction.  Isn’t that  one of the reasons we humans have hobbies?

          So, I challenge those of you who might read this blog, stretch yourself, don’t be afraid to try something new and different.  Obtaining a higher class license may not make a significant difference in your ham activities but perhaps it will give you self-satisfaction.  CW is something that has been a difficult skill for me.  Perhaps I’m too old to become really proficient but I’m exploring developing some CW skills to satisfy my personal bucket list.  Is it easy?  No, it is very frustrating and I have started and stopped more times than Wile E. Coyote has tried to catch the Roadrunner and with about the same success rate.  But the challenge is still there and maybe one day ….

          Remember Field Day is coming up this June and will be held in the parking lot of Oregon Coast Community College in South Beach.  Hope to see you there and as always hope to hear you on the air!  73!

Chuck  W7CRG

Just sitting here and monitoring the 20 meter band and a thought
came to me about Go Bags. I have put together a few of these and I’ve
never been satisfied with the final result.

As I see it there are three basic types of “Go Bags”. A very small one
you can carry with you all the time, grab it going out the door or keep
it in the car. Next would be a larger one, perhaps a backpack or some
kind of briefcase/pilot’s map case. Finally the big one that you are
moving a major amount of ham radio gear out the door with you.
For my “big one” I used a carpenter’s tool box about the size of a
medium suitcase on wheels. I have this baby loaded with a power
supply, batteries, HF radio, VHF radio, computer, antennas, antenna
tuning unit, parts and tools to put the parts into whatever is broken (I
know that was the king of run-on sentences!). The only thing missing
is a donkey to pull the thing to the set up position. Once I replaced the
lead-acid batteries with LiFePo batteries I found I could substitute a
St. Bernard for the donkey as the new batteries totaled only 5 to 6
pounds for two 12 v 10Ah batteries.

The backpack version has been used more often. Not surprising as I
could actually get it out of the house. The backpack was the result of
winning the raffle at the ham club meeting years ago. It is light
durable and has more zippers that a pair of parachute pants. I counted
once and I think I came up with ten pockets or compartments
including one on the shoulder straps. It is the product of Dell so I can
only imagine some computer guy of long-ago hauling everything from
his huge laptop to the modem and boxes of floppy disks, CDs and all
kinds of jumper cables.

I have loaded this with enough to last me a day or so and still be able
to carry it out the door. I soon found that my memory as to what I had
and which of the ten compartments contained the item was a real
problem. I had to embarrass myself as I searched for the multi-tool
pliers as I pulled item after item out of the bag (thank God there was
no dirty laundry in there) looking for that elusive item. There on the
grass before me lay: an ACS shirt; a bright yellow vest; water; MRE;

First- Aid kit; ACS ID; pens and pencils; multiple coax adapters; a
VHF ground-plane antenna, VHF/UHF HT, ziploc bag of batteries;
flashlight; shortwave/broadcast band receiver; notebook; matches;
candles; heat source tabs (not C-4 as in the Army days); handi wipes;
poncho; para cord; Swiss Army knife; carabiner; whistle and finally
that multi-tool!

To prevent a recurrence of such an event I taped lists to each
compartment. It helps but sometimes numerous items need to come
out so the desired item can be accessed. I also learned that due to the
load of items, buttons could be depressed which were not meant to be
depressed thereby turning on items like radios and flashlights. This
can cause two major problems. The first is that radio or flashlight is
not working when you need it. The second is that when the batteries
are depleted they begin to corrode themselves and everything around
them. So, even if you have replacement batteries the radio will not
function until and unless you can clean the battery compartment. It is
a pain but I have learned to remove the batteries and install them when
I need to use the radio or flashlight.

Another hint, the list states flashlight. I have found those great little
lights you strap to your head are a great improvement. Nothing like
having both hands free to do whatever the emergency dictates and the
light is pointed where ever you are looking!

Perhaps we should have a “Bring your Go-Bag to the meeting” night.
We could share all kinds of good ideas as to what to do and what to
NOT do. It might inspire those “bagless” hams to put one together or
provide ideas as how to improve their bag for those with a “Go-Bag”.
The “Go-Bag” is useful for things other than an earthquake or tidal
wave (I would have used Tsunami but I couldn’t spell it). Activities
like POTA (Parks On The Air), SOTA (Summits On The Air), support
of special events such as the Barrel to Keg or Gravel Classic might
find having that “bag” with you very handy.

73 Chuck W7CRG