May 20, 2017

A short outing for ham radio hobbyists at a nearby park can be a lot of fun for the people participating and especially interesting for some of the passers-by.  So was the case for Dave and Gil at Shane's Park in Rockford, Ohio.

Dave had just completed his 30 foot end-fed wire antenna and a 9:1 un-un he'd built pretty much from scratch and wanted to try it out.  So, at about 1:00 PM, Dave and Gil made the trip.  Dave from Coldwater, Ohio and Gil from Decatur, Indiana.  Gil brought his Alinco DX-70TH mobile HF radio and all the things to make it work.  Dave brought the antenna, an antenna tuner, SWR meter, cooking stuff, lunch, and COFFEE!  Can't be a ham without COFFEE!!!

First, we tried unsuccessfully to throw a fishing weight up into a tree so we could get the antenna more or less vertical. Unsuccessful because of a brisk wind between 20 and 30 mph, even with decent sized fishing tackle.  We settled going as far up as possible into a distant tree and running the antenna as far up as we could, so it would be far away from anyone who could touch it.

Once set up, we were able to tune the antenna to bands from 40 to 17 meter without an issue.  Dave tried to make CW (Morse Code) contacts with several stations on 40, 30, and 20 meters.  Although we could hear them clearly, they couldn't hear us. We also tried 40 and 20 meter phone (voice) with the same results.  Possibly because the antenna was almost horizontal, short, and with a very poor counterpoise (ground plane).  If the antenna had been mounted correctly, it would have performed as designed. This one seemed to receive as well at the one Dave uses at home, but we just couldn't be heard.

We got attention!

While we were set up, we got questions from passers-by.  One 22 year-old was very interested and Gil gave him one of his personal cards, this website, and some information as to how to get his license. He was amazed when we explained how ham radio and the Internet play together and that it can be so cheap to get into the hobby nowadays.  Some of the city workers in the park found our setup fascinating, as well.  We have to remember that in the age of cell phones and computers, ham radio is brand new to many people.  If you're a ham and you get the opportunity to participate in an activity like this, it can be very satisfying to show the general public what can be done without a cell phone.  It's also a lot of fun to attend the ARRL Field Day during the last full weekend in June. If you've never held a radio mic or if CB has been your only experience, you could find it exciting to make contacts hundreds or even thousands of miles away. At the Field Day event, anyone can make contacts on any frequency that's legal for the operator present, usually a general or extra class. If you're a new ham that hasn't experienced HF, grab a mic and make a contact or a hundred.  You'll be appreciated!