Short Wave Radio

Some time back I was looking at statistics of boat racing friends, and one on the east coast mentioned he was into short wave radio, but now I can't remember who it was. I checked David Weaver, and Dave Augustine, but it wasn't either of them.

I was interested in learning about short wave because my daughter and son in law live 50 miles away, and I want to be able to get in touch in case there is an emergency and towers go down. It can happen during hurricanes, but right now I am mostly concerned with "man made disasters". Whoever it was, I would be interested in any advice on equipment and helpful hints in order to get what we need and set it up. Obamas short trip into "exile" reminded me I need to quit putting it off and get something done.

There many HAM radio clubs all over the USA and World. There is a band that does not require Morris Code. I think it is 2 meter. Been a long time so I do not remember. Find a club in your area.

I found one in the Corpus Christi area Bill, when I was first looking, but I didn't call. I wasn't interested in joining a Ham club, or getting deeply involved, and that's what it seemed to be. I just wanted to get licensed to operate a short wave to communicate with family and friends. Incidentally, I found a flow chart for morse code, and it is ingeneous. It seems like it would not take as long to learn it as I originally thought, although you are right.....you can get a license now without having to learn morse code.

Ham operators are like boat races. You do not have to join a club. They can give some good advice. My good friend John Carnakis( Manuals son) can help you. I will send you a private mgs and you can E-Mail him. I think he is into 2 meter K6DKY is his call sign.

Thanks Bill, I send him an E mail.

Amateur (Ham) radio is what you will need to be able to transmit. Anyone can receive signals. I've been a Ham since 1984 and work in telecommunications professionally. It can certainly provide the communications you are interested in during an emergency when EVERYTHING else fails. Let me direct you to http://www.arrl.org/ if you want to know more, or send me a PM.

Dale-KL7V

Okay...thanks Dale. I will do it tommorrow. If anyone is in a position to appreciate ham radio operation, I'm sure you Alaskans have experienced situations where ham operators have come in handy more than all the lower 48 states combined.:cool:

An interesting story to tell about Ham Radio, the way I got started hanging around with the Yukon 800 folks was that I started as a Ham Radio checkpoint person. The race used to have several remote river checkpoints, mostly they were set up in villages along the route, some were truly remote. We use a small transceiver, about 15 pounds, a 12 volt deep cycle battery, some coax and wire and we are on the air. These days they use Satellite phones.

It would be interesting to see some photos of the races from remote spots.

ADD: I put the website on my favorites list so I can keep it handy to study. Thanks Dale.