I'll begin first with a bit about myself. I am a licensed HAM radio operator,
but I haven't gotten much chance to actually use my license. I have been
licensed for a while, but only recently got to dip my toes in. I got a cheap
BaoFeng and brought it on a trip with me to Mt. St. Helens.
Now I have never talked to someone using this thing. I tried talking to a local
repeater, but no such luck. Receiving transmission is easy enough.
Before I went on this trip I was determined to look up some information about
local frequencies to see what I could hear. Having no experience with this, I
just shrugged after only really finding EMS and police frequencies.
They do have a local amatuer radio club (W6TQF) but with COVID it seems that
they have shut down operation. They have one 6m open, but I only have UHF/VHF so
it's not like it matters anyway.
When I looked around on their site I came to the section where they talked about
their naming.
Here's the link:
http://skamania-prepare.org/ares/w6tqf-about-our-station-call-sign/
If you're using elpher like me, going to that link will be easy ;P
To those that don't wish to browse the normal web, here's the text as of today
---
W6TQF was the call sign of Gerald O. Martin. Gerry was an ARES® member from
Concrete, WA and died at the age of 64 while on duty reporting the eruption of
Mt St Helens on May 18, 1980. His tactical call sign was “Coldwater 2”. His last
transmission was “Gentlemen, the camper and car that’s sitting over to the south
of me is covered. It’s going to hit me, too.”.
We chose to take Gerry’s call sign as our own to memorialize his making the
ultimate sacrifice on that catastrophic day in Skamania County. Gerry’s life was
one of service prior to this. He was a retired U.S. Navy radioman serving in
both WW2 and Korea.
To listen to a recording of Gerry’s last transmission during the eruption,
please click here.
---
I had read before of a photographer that knew he was going to die, so he took
photos as the debris was raining down, and covered the camera with his body to
ensure it would survive.
Maybe it's from having spent 5 hours at high altitude, but this really digs at
me. Imagining being aware that your death is assured leaves me paralyzed. How
they must have felt in their last moments, alone.
It makes me consider everything I hold dear and realize how much I enjoy of my
life. I think of the work left undone, the pet projects that will never be
finished because no one has quite the same level of interest as those who have
left.
I think about all the knowledge that I gained. It seems almost pointless to
gain this knowledge if one day I will be gone and so will the information locked
in my brain.
I don't actually buy this line of thinking because it is ultimately defeatist.
It is just hard not to feel as if you have been caught in the act. Life points
at you and laughs, "Ha ha! This fool thinks that his work will transcend himself!"
But you can't go on thinking this can you ;)
Steeling yourself against the current of emotion is a task you must learn lest
you find yourself swept downrivier. You must recognized which thoughts are
useful and which aren't, even if those thoughts are true.
If you are aware of what is going on in the world, you know what I mean.
Keep your head up and your eyes open.
And like usual, feel free to drop me a line :)
