Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club

Well, Here I am, the month of my birth and 79 years later. That
was of no help in writing this blog except it gave me an excuse for the
muddled thoughts I sometimes write. These months seem to fly by.
Didn’t I just post the September blog??

I know that each ham has different interests and priorities. I like
operating in the HF (High Frequency) bands. I like to think the
stations I reach are interesting new acquaintances and I learn
something about them, their station and their QTH (home location). It
is like being invited to someone’s house for coffee and a chat. For the
extraordinary contact I will send a QSL card and in most cases I will
receive one in return. Yesterday I received a card from W1AW which
is the ARRL’s station at their headquarters in Connecticut. My signal
went from my Icom IC-746Pro up the coax to a folded dipole antenna
30 feet high, which is partially obscured by the roof of the garage,
across the continent to their sophisticated station! Wow!

Of course I have had contacts much farther away but this one was
special as they have been a large part of American ham activities since
the very early days of amateur radio. I am glad to have the QSL card
to confirm our QSO. I don’t have a good open space in my shack to
display my cards so I scan them and use the file containing those cards
to create my computer screen’s wallpaper. It changes from card to
card constantly every 20 seconds.

Another pursuit many Hams have is being a volunteer. I’m
guessing we have members of LCARC who have volunteered for
committees, community positions, church positions, activities to help
others such as food banks and lets not forget ACS. When the need
was there for help, other than communication duties, Jenny Maris has
found hams stepping up to assist. Then of course the communication
duties are always the most interesting to help with.

Those studying for their license often mention such quotes as;
“When all else fails …” Which tells us that they view ham radio as a
resource in times of need or catastrophic events. It’s true, hams can
continue to communicate when other means are no longer
functioning. Cell phones are great but they depend on towers and the
tower depends on a source of electricity which may have backup to
the power grid but when the fuel runs out or the batteries discharge the
system fails. Also, the cell phone operator needs to know the phone
number to call for help and assistance and 911 is not always the
number to call.

Such activities as the “Noon time Net” on the Cape Foulweather
145.370 Mhz repeater are great training. “Training” you ask? Yes, for
those who help out and fill in when W7ALX is not able to run the net
that experience is invaluable. During an emergency or event, a Net
Control may not be available. Someone needs to step in and get the
communication started. If you have done it before in an informal
situation, you will be more at ease and do a better job in an
emergency. But, just picking up that microphone and pushing the PTT
(Push To Talk) button is a major step for some hams. Across the
nation clubs offer courses with titles like “I got my license, now
what?”

People in general, and new hams in particular, are reticent to
make themselves look foolish or inept. We all started somewhere and
have made mistakes everywhere. We have been tongue-tied or lost
our train of thought while talking on the radio. As central to our ham
identity as our call sign is many of us have “forgotten” it or misstated
it, particularly if it is not a series of letters that flow together such as
KF7WZV which was my old call sign. (I found that using phonetic
letters helped both myself and the stations I was communicating with.
Kilo, Foxtrot, Seven, Whiskey, Zulu, Victor resonated with the other
operator much better than KF7WZV.)

Some of us are by nature quiet whether it be having coffee with
friends, at a meeting, or on a radio net. Others seem to talk easily and
sometimes endlessly. The well thought out expression is often appreciated and more easily taken to heart by the listeners. I knew a ham who used multiple “scripts” for his QSOs. He preferred to use CW or Digital operations as it allowed him to communicate without having to talk. As I learned, he had slight speech impediment as a child and it has always made him self-conscious when speaking, even though he had lost any impediment.

These are some of the things that make our hobby so adaptable.
No matter what our abilities or interests we can find a niche in
amateur radio. I just read a blog from the Eugene radio club and a
woman who is by no means a “techie” has become fascinated with
moon bounce. Her husband is a ham and she got a license because of
him. But poetry rather than radios and antennas were her interest.
Then somehow sending a signal a quarter million miles into space,
hitting the moon’s surface, and reflecting it back to earth became a
fascination!

We all need to find interests within our hobby to keep it relevant
to us. We may not even see it coming. It may sneak up on us and all
of a sudden – Wow! 73 Chuck Gerttula W7CRG

I was born and raised in Lincoln County.  I lived in Taft which is now a district of Lincoln City.  Our house my father built was on “Taft Heights” and looked out to the ocean from the front and Siletz Bay from the back porch. 

          We didn’t have television until I was in the seventh grade, about 1957.  It was a huge 24 inch black and white that my dad built into the end of the living room and was part of a state-of-the-art High Fidelity (not stereo) sound system.  Dad was a real craftsman and the mahogany cabinet was a work of art!  A company from the Portland area sold him the electronics and provided hookup instructions.  The TV signal was provided by an antenna and rotor on the roof and my brother and I were the “remote controls”.

          With that picture of my childhood reality, one can understand that radio was a large part of my early entertainment.  I listened to and was thrilled as each week a new episode of “The Lone Ranger” came to me via the Halicrafters S-38B’s speaker.  “The Lone Ranger and Tonto camped in a grove of cottonwoods just outside of town ….”  I imagined the old west to be a bunch of small towns all having a grove of cottonwoods nearby.

          Radio programs like “Big John and Sparky”, “The Whistler” and “Captain Midnight” came to life through my little Halicrafters speaker and my imagination!  Occasionally I would search the shortwave frequencies and hear boats operating up and down the coast, or a foreign country’s broadcast and sometimes ham radio usually having a “rag chew session” on 75 meters.

          The cable system was just getting started and was run by Carl Schmauder who lived in Wecoma Beach at the north end of what is now Lincoln City which was then a bunch of small cities and communities: Cutler City, Taft, Nelscott, Delake, Oceanlake, Wecoma Beach and Roads End.  Carl was the mainstay of the cable system. I remember him driving his pickup around and working on the cable strung from pole to pole wearing a climbing belt and spurs.   I thought it would be so neat to climb up those poles and work on whatever while suspended by that belt.

          As we know, antennas on the Oregon coast are not maintenance free!  Carl had approached  Dad on numerous occasions to hookup to the cable and Dad always declined as his antenna and rotor “were doing just fine”.  But Carl drove by one day as Dad was on the roof working on the antenna/rotor, connecting cables and guy wires.  “Say Ben, that’s a lot of work and that shake roof can be awfully slick here on the coast.  Why don’t you let me help you bring that antenna and rotor down and I’ll hook you up to the cable.  That way the maintenance is my job and you’ll get more channels and better reception.”  It was an opportune timing and Dad became another of Carl Schmauder’s customers and we had snow-free reception on multiple channels!

          Right now you are probably wondering, “This is all well and kind of interesting, Chuck; but, what does it have to do with amateur radio?”  Well, Carl was a ham and a few years later when I was in high school, he was one of my “Elmers” that helped me get my Novice ticket, KN7ORZ dated March 9, 1962  (Yes, I found the notification from the FCC a number of years ago and have kept it with my other and more recent licenses).  It started a fascination with electronics and radio that blossomed and waned over the years but has always kept my interest and now as an Extra is a wonderful hobby!  Mentors like Carl are a wonderful resource for amateurs!  They take a seed of interest and help it develop into thriving plant.  I sometimes hear or read of a ham asking a question that seems so simple.  Then I remember there was a time when such a question wasn’t so simple!

          We need more Elmers!  An Elmer can be a technical whiz or more often just a helping hand or an opinion.  Someone to help or advise on some of the myriad of questions a new (or not-so-new) ham can have.  Someone who is willing to take the time to teach; or to help install an antenna; put that mobile radio in a vehicle; or show how to have a  QSO and pickup that signal that is elusive.  Sure, one person can install a dipole antenna; I’ve done it.  But it can be exhausting and frustrating and take many times longer than if two or more helpers are there.  Little things like waterproofing the coax connection or using the right kind of line to hold it in place can make such a difference immediately and down the road!  How disappointing when you find your antenna on the ground because the line you used to suspend it has deteriorated from the sun’s UV rays and broken!

          I remember not so long ago I thought 15 meters was a dead band.  Then I got some advice to use the pre-amp on my transceiver (I have a pre-amp? Oh yeah I do it’s that little button there!) and tune the band more slowly and, zounds, there were signals there!  Those signals became contacts and 15 meters has become a band I visit.

          Helping others not only is beneficial to the person needing assistance; it can bring satisfaction to those giving the assistance.  Stretch yourself, Elmer.  Maybe you don’t think you are experienced enough to Elmer; your support can often mean a lot to a struggling ham.  Who knows how much you might learn while helping another ham or want-to-be ham work through a problem?

          The memories can last a lifetime.  I remember had a storefront on Hwy 101 in Oceanlake.  If I drove by I would stop to ask a question or chat when I saw he was there. One time Carl invited me to his house to see his station!  It was much like the ham stations pictured in magazines but better!  This was a real amateur radio station!  The room’s walls were covered with the bottoms of egg cartons to provide sound deadening.  He had a display of QSL cards from special contacts around the world.  On his operating desk was a Halicrafters SX-100 receiver and a Multi-Emac Trans-Citer to drive his amplifier.  All those glowing tubes, all those switches, it was so mesmerizing to a 16 year old kid!  I was hooked for life!  I still have a special place in my head for equipment using vacuum tubes … and in my radio shack as well!

          Mentoring is teaching and after 30 years in education I can truthfully say teaching was seldom monetarily rewarding (at one time I worked as a teacher, soldier, grocery store worker and fire fighter to make ends meet and provide for my three children) but the thrill of getting a student to grasp a concept has always been a tremendously rewarding occurrence!  One of the best things about our hobby is that there is always something more to learn.  Often times by teaching you learn more than you give to the student.  Many of you already are helpful to other hams.  Thank you!  To the rest, if an occasion comes your way help a ham. 

Chuck Gerttula   W7CRG

By Chuck Gerttula  W7CRG

          Why do we pursue Amateur Radio?  The answer is many things to many people.  Some find satisfaction in building things.  The smell of solder smoke and the accomplishment creating of a working device is very alluring to these hams.  Then add to that  the pride of operating a something you have crafted and the feeling of accomplishment can be immense.

          Other hams are not into the technical side of the hobby.  They like to operate!  And operate they do!  Code, or CW (Continuous Wave), is the oldest modes of radio operation.  Going back to the telegraph operators who sent messages over wires using Morse Code to spell out the words; this has been, and still is, a stalwart of radio communication.   Since the FCC dropped the code requirement for getting an Amateur Radio License CW has become more popular than ever before!  Now we don’t need the wires strung from pole to pole across vast distances, radio waves have very effectively replaced those wires and the dots and dashes of  CW carry the message when other modes cannot communicate.

          The modes of operation have progressed with the hobby and often have created new technologies and industries.  Many hams prefer to use their voice.  Transmitting voice over the airwaves has many modes; AM, FM, SSB are among the most popular.  When the “Titanic” sent it’s distress calls, it was using Morse Code.  Now the letters SOS are more often replaced by a voice calling “Mayday” and giving the position of the ship or plane in trouble.  Hams have been the innovators who developed and improved these modes of voice communication.

          But we also have the “microphone shy” people who still are fascinated with the concept of communicating over the airwaves.  Yes, there are modes that give them the ability to “ham it up”.  The first was our old friend  CW.  Some operators had a “script” that they used so that they were never at a loss for words.  Then another mode transitioned from over the wires strung between poles to the airwaves, Teletype.  This system basically put a keyboard as the means to send a message that was printed out on paper at the receiving station.  It had been developed by the news agencies to send everything from election results to the progress of baseball games.  Ronald Reagan spent his early years “calling” baseball games over the radio by reading the teletype printouts.  He used his wallet to whack the desk for the sound of the ball being hit by the bat.  Hams took the technology and used it to communicate.  Often times creating pictures using the letters and symbols on a keyboard creating a picture as simple as a Christmas tree to as complex as a portrait.  In the beginning it entailed using machines the size of a small refrigerator.  Now radio-teletype (RTTY) is still used but a laptop interfaced with a radio replaces the huge electro-mechanical machines of yore.

          Lately, digital technologies have been the mainstay of alternative modes of communication.  Computers and keyboards have created new and innovative methods of  amateur radio.  This was very attractive to hams with hearing loss as they could participate in their hobby despite their limitation and modes such as PSK31 and FT8 have become popular.  FT8’s popularity has grown as it has been a means to make contacts that have been elusive to all but the high power expensive antenna array stations.  Thus making Worked All States (WAS)  and other achievements such as working 100 countries (DXCC) or a certain number of Parks On the Air (POTA) possible to the ham with 100 watts or less and a simple antenna.

          Others have developed modes such as Slow Scan Television (SSTV) which transmits a still picture, or Fast Scan Television (FSTV) which transmits a moving picture with sound like a commercial TV station does.  Lately, groups have developed microwave communications utilizing re-purposed antennas from TV services such a Dish.  Other specialized modes such as (EME) Earth Moon Earth or Moon Bounce and transmitting to an orbiting satellite which re-transmits it to another amateur station are interesting certain hams.

          Besides the various modes we have hams who are motivated to provide their skills to Emergency Service and developing communication links during disasters and the like.  Some hams like to check into various nets on a regular basis; and there are many nets on HF (High Frequency) as well as VHF/UHF (Very High Frequency/Ultra High Frequency).  Others are challenged to get the highest score on contests. They gain points for the number of contacts made, bands used, for using different modes and power and other such things.  And some hams just like to talk (Rag Chew) about everything and anything.  Sometimes it is about amateur radio and sometimes it is not.

          Yes, there are multiple reasons to be a ham.  There are multiple interests for amateur radio and multiple activities to participate in.  As one activity ends another emerges.  I remember during the Vietnam war Military Auxiliary Service (MARS) stations were a source of messages home as the internet and cell phones were nonexistent.  Many times a phone-patch was used linking the radio to the telephone system so the family actually heard their soldier’s voice and had to remember to say “over” when they were done talking.

          I remember working  a station in Zimbabwe for 40 minutes and learning what it was like running a large farm in that African country.  Politics and other differences were not part of the QSO, just two people exchanging information on their life and livelihood.  Amateur radio can be a wonderful means for people to meet and get to know other people.

          What ever is your interest, techie, contester, public service, experimenter, or friendly voice on the airwaves; ham radio has something for you.  Look into an aspect of the hobby you didn’t know about or one that has always tickled your fancy and see what it might add to your life.

          Chuck Gerttula,  W7CRG

          President, Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club