MY WORLD OF
AMATEUR RADIO
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Then years later he dragged me to these flea markets filled with what I saw as junk called "Hamfests". I must admit, I wasn't very nice. I looked for the odd person 8~0) and I'd whisper to my husband, "Nerd Alert! Nerd Alert!" And well, will you take a look at me now -- The Super Nerd! And happy as a clam, or should I say, a ham? LOL!! I am now proud to be N2TKA, an Amateur Extra. I have high hopes that the new re-structuring will bring many newbies to add more to our hobby.
I now belong to a local radio club, a large wonderful group of people who form the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club AKA LIMARC. I am proud to have been elected a Director of this club and I have held the position of "Good & Welfare Chairperson" for the past 6 -7years. What I've learned that as a nerdy ham, I've been given the opportunity to meet new people, to make friends, to be there to help in times of disaster, to assist the American Red Cross with their communications, to help the runners in many marathons, including the NYC Marathon. We let their families know what has happened to them and where they are, if an ambulance was summoned or if they were able to get home on their own.
If you've heard of a disaster, you've heard there were volunteers, but I doubt if you are not a ham or close to one, you heard that Amateur Radio Operators were there helping all the time, night and day. Think of all of the major disasters, and know that "hams" were there helping in a way no one else can, and even with the proliferation of cell phones, hams were needed and will be in the future and you will be very pleased to have hams around should we lose our electricity because even cell phones need electricity to get the signals out. Public service is a big part of ham radio, but we all get the benefits of all the fun things too. There are many very dedicated hams who offer public service to the community on a regular basis. I am an occasional helper. I spend most of my "work" time with my Good & Welfare duties, helping the members of my club get through their rough times and spreading the news to our members as quickly as possible. Then I'm in charge of hospitality, welcoming new members and guests at our meetings. Of course, as Director I get to give my feedback on running the club; it's not always as easy as it looks, but I enjoy being a part of the group.
In our family, we are all hams. My hubby is Rich N2STU and my daughters are Nicole N2TKD and Lynda N2WJK. While the girls are not very active, they usually help out at the NYC Marathon. It's fun to bring the giant Thermos of Hot Chocolate and goodies and have a good time while doing something good for people. My OM (that's my "old man" or hubby for my non-ham friends) bought a mobile all mode rig that I first had strong doubts about and I didn't think that he/we could do any real HF operating. I was proven wrong by the ICOM 706 Mark 2G. We have made many long distance foreign contacts and this radio transmits my soft voice better than our HF rig at home with a dipole. It's been fun taking our SUV to the water's edge and making contacts all over the world while at the same time enjoying the peaceful view and having the coziness of just the two of us together. -))
I hope you will check out the links to the left, they are chock filled will lots of info that I know you will enjoy. 73/33 my friends, ham radio is alive and well and if you are interested in joining the hobby, check out the ARRL for a club near you! Enjoy!
