eHam.net News

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90-Year-Old's Hobby is Ham Radios:

Posted: 15 Jul 2016 07:50 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37183


At 92, Ralph Dunn has been a ham radio operator for nearly 60 years. Dunn
said he got his license on Christmas Eve 1957. "I worked at Alatex as an
electrician," he said. "It got to be involving a little electronics and I
decided a ham radio would work right in my job." Since then, it's been his
hobby. "It is a means of transferring voice from here to yonder all over
the world," he said. "We can talk all over the world, if you're on the
frequency they are on." The last weekend in June is when local ham radio
operators have their annual field day, but it's not something the
nonagenarian cares much for these days. "I used to participate," he
said. "It's just not my thing anymore. It's great for younger people to get
together and have refreshments." But he's still into his ham radios. "I
still do it," he said. "I check in on the Alabama Net. That's a place for
transferring intelligence one place to another." Dunn said ham operators
are good during natural disasters. "You may not have communication, but a
ham radio can communicate," he said. One of his favorite memories is
helping with the Elba floods. "There was no communications," he said. "The
telephones were out of order and we handled communication for the Red Cross
out of Elba." They handled 2,000 pieces of "traffic" out of Elba, he said.
He said he's talked to California many times and in the Canal Zone, and
Europe. The love of it has kept him doing it all these years, he said.


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Ham Antenna Rises to the Occasion:

Posted: 15 Jul 2016 07:49 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37182


There was a time when you could do what you wanted in your yard and hams
could build giant antenna farms. These days, there are usually laws or deed
restrictions that stop that from happening. Even if you can build an
antenna, you might want to quickly put up something temporary in an
emergency. [Eric's] solution? Suspend a wire from a weather balloon filled
with helium from the local WalMart. The 8 foot balloon took two containers
(18 cubic feet) of gas before it would rise sufficiently. Once you have a
floating balloon, the rest of the concept is simple: connect a wire (100
feet of 26 gauge), use a tuner to match the load to the transmitter, and
you have instant antenna.