Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Mar 16 2018 09:39 am
FOR THIS HAM IT'S RADIO REDUX
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: There are also radio returnees, embracing what they once
loved so long ago. Paul Braun, WD9GCO, caught up with a ham who's
enjoying rediscovery.
PAUL'S REPORT: As one who got involved in ham radio as a teenager, and
then went inactive for a few decades before getting back in, I am always
interested in people with similar stories. I recently spoke with Alan
Thompson, AJ6AR, who was originally licensed as a Novice and then a
Technician in 1962. I asked Thompson how he got started:
THOMPSON: I'd have to owe a debt to my father. He owned a TV repair shop
in Whittier, California, and during the daytime, my mom was also working,
so he'd kind of babysit me in a way. They had a big shop in the back, and
they'd work on repairing radios and TV sets, so I just kinda grew up with
electronic gear around me.
PAUL: And then, as is the case with many young boys, as our own Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW said, he was overcome by fumes - car fumes and perfumes.
His license eventually expired, and he was out of amateur radio for 55
years. And then, suddenly, it came back into his life:
THOMPSON: I think what started it was that I do VSAT - Very Small Aperture
Terminals for satellite internet. I started to look at the marketplace
that's out there for disaster mitigation, emergency services, and so on,
and I thought, "You know, there's a real need for this, to be able to have
a mobile communications rig, to be able to go out, and provide internet
communications with some of these remote fire camps, and things like that,"
and, of course, with the hurricanes and all that that, pretty well
underscored that.
So it was kind of a short step from there, as I started to think about
that type of communication and I'd think, "You know, I used to do this
stuff. I used to do it with ham radio, used to talk all over the world,
and that was a great way to run out there in an emergency, and throw
something up there in a tree, and get some communications when other
types of communications simply wouldn't work. That just made me think,
"You know, this is something that I love to do when I was a kid, I had
a passion about it." I made the determination that I was going to go for
it again, only this time around, I promised myself that I was going to
just go straight to the top, and get an Extra, so I studied for all three
exams to take them all at once, I didn't want to fool around, and I
didn't want to have any restrictions on my license capabilities.
PAUL: Thompson is active in the El Dorado County Amateur Radio Club in
California. He's enjoying exploring all that modern ham radio has to
offer, while getting comfortable in the shack again. His business is
communications and electronics, so he's finding it a very good fit.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
**
FINDING FAMILY TREASURE IN A QSL CARD
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Ham radio is the story of connections. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH,
has this story of one connection that was deferred for decades - until
now.
JEREMY'S REPORT: Peter, G0GPH, credits his uncle, Alan Haycock, GD2HCX,
with opening his eyes and ears to ham radio. At 13, he first watched his
uncle operate from his shack on 80 meters, with a Collins 75A4 receiver,
and a homebrew transmitter, into a trapped dipole, that ran down into the
garden. Uncle Alan also gave Peter's older brother an army receiver, which
Peter used for listening to 80 meters at night. That was the birth of
Peter's love of radio - and of 80 meters. By the time Peter became
licensed in the 1980s, his uncle had relocated to the Isle of Man, and the
two did get to sit together again to chat about radio. Then Uncle Alan,
who had been in failing health, became a Silent Key.
In February of this year, Peter was on 80 meters in a QSO with David,
G3ZPF, and mentioned he was in search of anyone who might have known his
late uncle. David, who maintains the website for The Radio Amateurs Old
Timers Association, posted a message there. Within two days, Mike, G3TEV,
responded in a note. Mike, it seems, had been a good friend of Peter's
uncle, starting in the 1960s. The men shared old radio parts, a love of
angling, and membership in an 80 meter net.
As it turns out, Mike offered just what Peter had been seeking for so
long: a chance to see his uncle's QSL card. Mike scanned, and attached
a copy of the card, with the G2HCX call sign Alan Haycock had used when
he lived in England. It was the highlight of his experience, Peter said.
Sometimes when you're making the search of a lifetime, you don't need
to turn to Scotland Yard - just a fellow amateur.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
**
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