Avionics

[TimTaylor]

For what purpose, just chit-chat or talking with people you know around the world or what? I really know nothing about ham radio except it has a huge range.

[drseti]

It varies. For those hams who are engineers, there's a lot of tech talk and sharing of creative ideas. Others are (like me) globalists who love how ham radio breaks down International boundaries. Some enjoy exploring new propagational alternatives (meteor scatter, ionospheric scatter, moonbounce, sporadic e-layer, etc.) Then there's QRP, the challenge of reaching out over the greatest distance with the lowest power level), or elegant digital signal processing modes. Something for everyone.

[Scooper]

It varies. For those hams who are engineers, there's a lot of tech talk and sharing of creative ideas. Others are (like me) globalists who love how ham radio breaks down International boundaries. Some enjoy exploring new propagational alternatives (meteor scatter, ionospheric scatter, moonbounce, sporadic e-layer, etc.) Then there's QRP, the challenge of reaching out over the greatest distance with the lowest power level), or elegant digital signal processing modes. Something for everyone.

Paul, when I was working on Kwajalein in 1972 as KX6IS, I had a SSB QSO on 15 meters with a guy on Ascension Island which is almost exactly on the opposite side of the globe. I was using a Ten-Tec 505 Argonaut running 5 watts PEP to a dipole strung up between two cocoanut palms. It lasted about ten minutes before I lost him due to QSB. That was probably the best QRP contact I've ever had.

[drseti]

Stan, when you were on Kwaj, did you know Sam Gorham, N1MPB? He was there for 38 years, and often operated the club station. He was from Lock Haven, retired back here about 15 years back, and died here 2 years ago.

On a more cheerful note, I too had a TenTec Argonaut back then. Great rig!

[Scooper]

Stan, when you were on Kwaj, did you know Sam Gorham, N1MPB? He was there for 38 years, and often operated the club station. He was from Lock Haven, retired back here about 15 years back, and died here 2 years ago.

On a more cheerful note, I too had a TenTec Argonaut back then. Great rig!

Paul, I actually lived and worked on Ennylabegan Island (also called "Carlos" which was its WW2 code name), a smaller Kwajalein Atoll island three islands north of Kwajalein Island where most of the action was. The telemetry ground station where I worked was on Ennylabegan and that's where I had my Argonaut set up in my trailer. I probably worked Sam at some point because I often chatted with the operators at the club station on 40 meters SSB.

There was also a flying club (Nike Flying Club) on Kwaj with a C-150 and a Beech Musketeer. I flew the 150 regularly around the atoll.

[Scooper]

I found a couple of Kwajalein photos circa 1972. My 505 Argonaut in my trailer on Ennylabegan, and pulling the Nike Flying Club C150 on the Kwaj ramp after taking one of my coworkers for a sightseeing tour around the atoll.

[drseti]

Damn, Stan, were we really ever that young?

[Scooper]

Damn, Stan, were we really ever that young?

I know, I know... I really can't complain, though.

[EyeInTheSky]

Very cool photo! Always liked Ten-Tec gear and wanted to get a Scout at one time.

[Scooper]

Always liked Ten-Tec gear and wanted to get a Scout at one time.

Yep; I've been a Ten-Tec fan since the early seventies. I have a Scout, but never really warmed up to it. It suddenly shifts frequency in 100 Hz "steps" that drives me crazy on CW. It's barely noticeable on SSB, but I sent it back twice to get fixed and they finally said it's just the nature of the beast and to learn to live with it.

They've introduced a new Argonaut model, the model 539 Argonaut VI, that looks interesting and sort of competes with my KX-2.
https://www.tentec.com/539-argonaut-vi-qrp-txrx/

[Scooper]

For what purpose, just chit-chat or talking with people you know around the world or what? I really know nothing about ham radio except it has a huge range.

Tim, when I was working on Johnston Atoll in the mid-sixties, I spent hundreds of hours running phone patches for USAF and civilian personnel stationed there so they could talk to family and friends in the U.S. This kind of public service is an important part of the hobby. In natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, especially in parts of the world without robust communications infrastructure, ham radio is the only means of communicating where emergency medical and humanitarian help is most needed.

[drseti]

And then there's the R&D aspect of ham radio. It was hams who invented the personal computer, the cellphone, the internet browser, and the satellite TV receiver.

[TimTaylor]

Back in 1962, my sister was in Brazil for a year on a Presbyterian Church mission trip. Our family drove to a nearby town in NC where a ham radio operator set up a call to Brazil so my sister could ask my parents if they would be willing to adopt two young orphans from Brazil. They have been my brothers for 57 years now. There were already 5 of us kids, that made 7.

[EyeInTheSky]

Indeed. Ham radio, I believe, still has a place in society as an emergency means of communication, and it would be nice to see more involvement by this generation, but it looks like interest is waning. I remember back in the 80's, 2 meters was very active in the Seattle area (it was hard to get a word in edgewise), but now it takes some hunting to find anyone using the band.

When in flight, and SHTF, I want to have all means of communication available (in addition to 121.5). Besides that, being able to work other hams while at elevation on simplex is inviting. I realize that a pilot's time should be spent operating the aircraft and scanning the skies for others, but being able to listen to something helps me to stay alert.

It's nice to see others on here who share the same hobby

[drseti]

It's nice to see others on here who share the same hobby

Indeed, our common overlap areas on this forum seem to include flying, wrenching, ham radio, motorcycles, and sports cars.
73 de n6tx