A Buncha Talking Hams

I've noted it before, but I want to talk about it again. Actually, it's "all about me"...yes, I know...again.

Many moons ago, 1961 if you will, at a very early age, I managed to pass a "test of theory and electronics and rules and such", along with a CW test, and jumped into what so many in that day thought was reserved for geeks (CW, by the way, is Continuous Wave, a tone that's transmitted but is interrupted by dots and dashes. Ok, I'll get less geekish...it's Morse Code).

I became a ham. An amateur radio operator. WN4HMR, as a novice; then "graduated", after another test, to a general-class ham, WA4HMR.

In those days, we really didn't know what geeks were. Except that we were them. I guess. I never thought of it like that. I always considered it an opportunity and privileg to talk with people all over the world. And I did just that. Sometimes, to the dismay of my sister. Oh, yeah...my transmitter interfered with her "record player". Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, the Beatles...I was MUCH more powerful than any of those guys. And, in my French II class, I played a tape recording several times of an elderly gent, F3II, a ham in Nice, France, reading the headlines from a Paris newspaper, then translating those headlines. I absolutely aced French II.

Anyway, after a run at the ham thing, I became preoccupied with other hobbies, including SCUBA diving.  My license expired, and I didn't renew it. Shame on me.

Over the decades since, I toyed with the notiion that, one day, I'd do it all over again. Well, folks, I did. Or, I have. Whatever. A year ago, thanks to the fine hams at a club in Jacksonville (NC), I brushed up on the current rules and such, passed the test, and picked up a new radio. Boy, have they changed over the decades. The rules AND the radios. What once took up a large chunk of real estate in my bedroom now sets on the corner of my computer desk. More powerful than the older rigs I had, too.

Of course, I needed an antenna. A simple one. For now, anyway. You should have seen my "antenna farm" back then. Utility poles, a tower, antennas strung from trees...you name it, I built it. Because, that was what hams did. And, it was fun. Much more fun that "chatting"with voiceless entities on those "social-less" networks. I talked, in those days, with real people, in real countries, people from all walks of life. From research stations in Antartica, to the jungles of South and Central America, to a ham in his car in Germany, to hams on board Navy and Coast Guard vessels. It was a blast.

And, hey. Guess what. I'm doing it all over again. Take today. Just an ordinary Wednesday. While working on some rules for an upcoming fishing tournament that I'm chairing, I tuned across one of the ham bands that, at times, can be rather lively. So, today, from my little "shack"(that's we hams call our radio rooms...man-caves to the other folks out there), I "worked" (that means I had conversations, or QSO's, with them) Ivan, IZ4DLR in Calderara di Reno BO (that's in Italy); Stan (Stanislaw), DF8WZ, in Bergheim Gemany; Javier, HR2J in San Pedro Sula CO, Honduras; and Altino, CU7AA, in HORTA Portugal (in the Azores, to be specific).

Now, to you non-geeks out there, that might not mean much. But, geek or not, being able to reach out to other guys all over the world, and just "chat" for a few minutes or an hour, is pretty darn cool. And, as it did when I was in school, it certainly makes me a lot wiser about geography. What's cool about "playing ham radio" these days, is that I can instantly, via the internet, punch in the other guy's call letters on a ham web site, and I get the location of my "contact", and even pick up a bit of information about him. It tells exactly how far I am from those contacts. 4500 miles from Ivan, for instance.

Now, that's just pretty darn cool. Even if I am a geek. 

By the way, after passing the test in 2010, I applied for my original call sign. It had remained dormant for about six years, at that time. I am now, once again, and 50 years later, WA4HMR. (Another ham had been assigned that call in the 1970's, and kept it 2004...been wondering exactly what happened to him).

If you're a ham, reading this, in a land far, far away, you can find me from time to time, on 17 meters. I do check in, regularly, on a ham network, at 14.300 MHz. That's a frequency a lot of hams monitor and listen for other hams who are on their boats...Maritime Mobile hams. As you might guess, when I return to the high seas this spring, my radio's going with me. When the fish aren't bitin', I'll be chatting it up on one of the ham bands.

If you want to know more about the hobby, and have an interest, you are likely near a ham club. If you have troubles, drop me an e-mail, and I'll send you in the right direction.

73's. (Look it up)