[image: Logo for Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, part of Allina
Health]
*Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for
the week of Wednesday, 16 August 2017*
This is a free weekly news & information update from the Courage Kenny
Handiham Program <https://handiham.org>, serving people with disabilities
in Amateur Radio since 1967.
Our contact information is at the end.
Subscribe or change your subscription to the E-mail version here.
<//www.freelists.org/list/handiham-world>
------------------------------
*Welcome to Handiham World.*
*In this edition: *
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*A note from the coordinator*
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*The Ken Gruetzmacher Story*
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*Things Technical Part 2—Why radials?*
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*Eclipse Webinar with Ken KB3LLA*
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*“Observe” August’s Eclipse with Your AM Radio*
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*Eclipse App Description*
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*Other Options for Remote Operation*
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*Easily Install and Maintain Computer Apps*
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*Blind Friendly Ham Radio Site*
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*Avery's QTH*
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*Down memory lane…*
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*Check into our nets!*
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*...And more!*
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*A note from the coordinator...*
As we have been emphasizing in the E-Letter each week, 2017 marks the 50
year anniversary of the Handiham Program. The following article originally
aired in the Spring 1997 issue of Handiham World, celebrating 30 years of
the Handiham Program. It is a good chance for us to review the history of
the program and even get a glimpse of the different names the program has
used over the years!
* The Big Three-Oh!*
By Richard Jorgenson, KB0QPY
In 1997, we celebrate 30 years of Handihams! Come and join the party! Work
the Handiham headquarters station, W0ZSW, or the Radio Camp station, W0EQO,
and get a special 30 year commemorative QSL card.
The Courage Handiham System was “born” in Rochester, Minnesota in 1967, the
idea of Ned Carmen, W0ZSW. Ned worked for a clinic, and, in the course of
his work, would visit people with severe physical disabilities. As he spoke
with his clients, who often had few opportunities to leave their homes, he
realized that Amateur radio would be the perfect hobby for them. Here was a
hobby that could open a window to the world!
A person with the most severe disabilities could stand as an equal with
fellow hams in the world of Amateur Radio! Ned enlisted the help of a group
of local nuns, the Sisters of St. Francis, on April 30, 1967. Although
their first action was as weather watchers during a thunderstorm that
passed through Rochester that day, the Sisters were committed to helping
Ned with his new project, and several received their licenses. Among them
was Sister Alverna O’Laughlin, WA0SGJ, the current Educational Coordinator
for the Handiham System.
The first Handiham was Edna (Eddy) Thornson, N0YL, who took her General
Class license exam in December, 1967.
Very soon, the Rochester Amateur Radio Club, and, a little later, the PICO
Net of South Eastern Minnesota took up the torch of service that Ned had
lighted. The Handiham System soon expanded throughout southern Minnesota
and northern Iowa.
By 1969, it was very evident that the expansion of Handiham services could
not continue without some rather substantial financial support. This
support came from the nonprofit Minnesota Society for Crippled Children and
Adults (whose name would later change to “Courage Center”). The Society
granted full affiliate status to the fledgling System and helped with money
and equipment.
Word of the Handiham System spread throughout the Upper Midwest, then
across the country, and around the world. It became impossible to continue
the work of the System as a volunteer organization…Something had to be
done, or Handihams would be a victim of its own success. The answer emerged
when Courage Center agreed to accept the System as a program, and, in 1975,
the Minnesota Handiham System merged with Courage Center to become a full
service providing help wherever there was a need.
The Courage Handiham System, now a fully-integrated service of Courage
Center, is able to call on the resources of its parent organization, from
accounting and counseling to rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy,
in order to better serve its students and members.
Ned Carmen is a silent key, but the Courage Handiham System’s headquarters
station bears his call sign, W0ZSW, and an organization of volunteers and
paid staff carries on his good work of sharing Amateur Radio with people
who have physical disabilities.
Eddy, N0YL, was featured in last week’s E-Letter. Be sure to check out her
amateur radio story if you have not already read it!
What name do we use now? We are the Handiham Program. We no longer use the
terms Handiham System or even Handihams, although you will still hear them
from those of us who have been in the program a long time. Old habits die
hard!
Do you have a story to share about your ham radio related activities?
Please send your articles and stories via email to Lucinda.Moody@xxxxxxxxxx
or by calling me at 612-775-2290.
------------------------------
*The Ken Gruetzmacher Story*
Editor’s note: For persons with disabilities, achieving that coveted
amateur radio license can mean having to work harder than most other
aspiring hams. While accommodations may be available for some people with
certain disabilities, the reality is that those accommodations are no
substitute for hard work and consistently applied effective study methods.
The following article demonstrating the extra effort necessary to reach
personal goals was printed in the Fall 1994 issue of Handiham World:
*The Ken Gruetzmacher Story*
By Janice Robidoux, K0JA
For Ken Gruetzmacher of St. Paul, receiving his amateur radio license and
call letters, KB0OCU, must be almost as exciting as getting his hole-in-one
on the Hiawatha golf course come years ago.
Five years ago, Ken, a retired organic chemist, suffered a stroke that
damaged his brain, putting a seemingly overwhelming obstacle in his path to
getting his amateur radio license. Before his stroke, Ken had completed an
amateur radio course offered by the St. Paul Radio Club and had even
purchased a Kenwood TS820S and antenna in anticipation of getting on the
air. After the stroke, Ken couldn’t remember any of the material he had
learned and had lost any and all code skills.
The VA hospital suggested he contact the Courage Handiham Program for
assistance in recovering the lost material and skills. Ken embarked on a
correspondence course and found that although he could do fairly well with
radio theory, he was unable to recover any code skills. The Handiham
Program recommended he go for the No-Code Novice or Technician license, but
even that seemed overwhelming.
Perseverance, determination to get on the air, and lots of hard work won.
Ken enrolled in the radio classes taught by Tony Tretter, W0KVO, at Courage
Center. Despite constant transportation difficulties, Ken completed the
course and was one of two students to get the Technician level of No-Code
license in July, 1994.
Ken has since purchased a Realistic 2 meter handi-talkie and intends to
become active on the repeaters in the Twin Cities.
That doesn’t mean that Ken has forgotten that Kenwood TS820S. He still
intends to overcome the code obstacle and get the license that will allow
him to transmit with it on the HF bands.
Congratulations Ken, and good luck on upgrading. See you on the air.
------------------------------
*Things technical Part 2—Why radials?*
From the Fall 1992 issue of Handiham World, editor Pat Tice, WA0TDA, shares
the following introduction……
Last time, Don Newcomb, W0DN, discussed the finer points of grounding as
related to vertical antennas. This time, he takes on some practical aspects
of grounding systems. Do you really have to copper-plate your back yard?
Read on
*Reprinted with permission from DX Engineering / Butternut*
Some practical considerations, however, before we take a close look at some
fairly typical installations and draw some rough conclusions: the perfect
ground system for a vertical antenna operating in the HF range is probably
out of the question on most residential lots, but that doesn’t at all mean
that nothing can be done to reduce earth losses and turn more of your
applied power into useful radiation rather than heat. The most important
thing to keep in mind as we go along is that some of your precious R.F.
will be radiated straight-away (good), a relatively small amount will be
lost forever in feed line, traps, loading coils, and the like (not so good,
but we can usually live with it), and a fair amount will come raining down
from the vertical radiator onto your lossy real estate. Your main task will
be to help this last portion of R.F. work its way back to the antenna feed
point with as little wear and tear as possible so that most of it will be
available to run up the radiator again on the next cycle. How to do it?
Copper-plate your back yard? Hardly practical, but you can do quite a bit
with plain old wire (bare or insulated) in any gauge heavy enough to stay
in one piece if stepped on or if ground between rocks during a hard freeze.
Many radial wires emanating from the base of the antenna will offer a
number of low resistance paths back to the feed point. These radial wires
can be buried an inch or two under the sod to protect them from lawn mowers
and foot traffic, or they can simply be draped on the earth. There’s no
point in burying them any deeper than is necessary to get them out of the
way. Space them more or less uniformly over 360 degrees (not always
possible, but that’s the goal).
How many wires? That depends on how long they are. How long should they be?
Answer: The longer the better. The hitch is that as the wires become
longer, more of them are required to take full advantage of their greater
length. This is because a longer wire will intercept current on the surface
out to a greater distance than will a shorter wire (good), but for a given
number of wires, the separation between adjacent wires necessarily
increases as the wires become longer, in which case currents on the surface
between two highly–conductive wires must cross an ever-greater stretch of
lossy earth to encounter a low-loss path home (not so good). Of course,
four 1/2-wave radials will do a better job of reducing ground losses than
will four ¼-wave radials, but the difference may not be very great for the
reason just given and because the intensity of currents flowing out near
the end of the wires will be much less than that of currents closer to the
antenna.
It’s generally reckoned that approximately half the ground loss encountered
occurs within a circle having a radius equal to the antenna’s height and
that most (though not all) of the remaining loss resistance occurs in the
next quarter wavelength out from the antenna as the capacitance between the
vertical radiator and the earth rapidly decreases. In any case, it’s clear
that for a given amount of wire, it pays to lay down a larger number of
radials when they have to be short, although some have pushed this sound
principle to ridiculous lengths, cutting 120 one-foot radials (covering
approximately the same surface area as a garbage can lid) when a dozen
10-footers would have done a much better job.
Perhaps you’ve heard or read that all radials should be some particular
resonant length, say a quarter wavelength, before they’re draped on the
earth or buried slightly under the sod. Resonant radials have their uses
(as we’ll see shortly), but, within a few feet of the earth, any practical
length of wire in the HF range will have enough capacitance to the earth to
be tightly coupled to it and thus be detuned considerably, much as a
horizontal wire dipole at very low heights will be detuned from the formula
lengths for resonance by the earth. Luckily, radials at ground level need
not be resonant at all, so at ground level your only problem is to make the
earth around the antenna more conductive than it is to start with. In
practice, that means putting down as many radials as possible and making
each one of them as long as possible.
In essence, all we’re talking about is efficiency. If you put 100 watts
into an antenna, how much of that leaves the antenna as useful radiation,
and how much is lost as heat? Some of the quantities we have to deal with
are elusive and usually can be measured only indirectly, but with a little
theory and seventh-grade math, we can begin to evaluate things more or less
logically and usually come up with useful insights into the probable
effectiveness of a proposed vertical installation.
The first basic concept we have to deal with is radiation resistance. This
term is a misnomer in that it doesn’t denote a real resistance, but R.F.
energy that is “lost” by radiation—just what we want. In fact, we can say
that radiation resistance is “good” resistance as opposed to “bad” ground
and conductor resistance which represent a total loss.
Let’s assume that the antenna is a full quarter-wave tall and resonant or
nearly so (the usual case), so that we don’t have to worry about any
inductive or capacitive reactance components or losses in loading coils or
matching networks. Of all the several “resistances,” the radiation
resistance is the easiest to estimate because that’s largely a matter of
radiator height (length) and to a lesser extent, diameter. Conductor
resistance is usually negligible for radiators constructed of tubing, but
leading losses can increase rapidly as the structure to bring the antenna
to resonance and the various trap circuits required for multiband operation
add their own losses. Some of these are lossier than others, so one should
refer to the *ARRL Handbook* or other publications for a more thorough
understanding of such concepts as “Q” and “form factor”.
But ground losses can easily exceed combined conductor, loading, and trap
losses if no measures are taken to reduce them. Let’s consider a ¼-wave
vertical at ground level with only a 6-ft. rod for a ground system (a
fairly typical installation, regrettably). Because a quarter-wave is a
resonant length, we can forget about loading and trap losses, and the
conductor losses will usually be low enough to ignore.
Therefore, we can assume that whatever feed point impedance we encounter
will consist of the antenna radiation resistance plus the ground loss
resistance and little else, so we attach our 50-ohm cable and measure the
SWR. Hmmm. The lowest SWR in the center of the band is 2:1! What does that
tell us? First, we know that a SWR of 2:1 on 50-ohm line means a feed point
impedance of either 100 or 25 ohms. Which is it? Luckily, we also know that
a ¼-wave vertical has a radiation resistance of approximately 35 ohms, so
there’s no way our total feed point impedance can drop below that value.
Our feed point impedance at resonance, then, is 100 ohms, and we now have
enough information to say something about the efficiency of this antenna
and its ground system. If our radiation resistance is 35 ohms, we must also
have some 65 ohms of pure ground loss resistance that’s doing us no good at
all.
Efficiency (the ratio of power radiated by the antenna to the total power
fed to it and expressed as a percentage) can be easily calculated by
dividing the radiation resistance by the total impedance of the antenna
circuit (i.e., radiation resistance + ground loss resistance + conductor,
trap and loading losses of all kinds). In this little example, we’ve
assumed a resonant quarter-wave antenna to simplify matters, so we can now
say that the efficiency is equal to the radiation resistance (35 ohms)
divided by the same radiation resistance (35 ohms) and ground and other
losses (65 ohms) of 35/100 = 35%, meaning that a little more than one watt
out of every three applied to the antenna goes anywhere.
Suppose, however, that we put down a half dozen radials and find that our
SWR drops to 1:1? (It may or may not!) That would mean that the feed point
impedance has dropped to 50 ohms, and since our radiation resistance is
still 35 ohms, we can assume that the ground loss component is down to only
15 ohms. Our efficiency, however is up to 35/50 or 70%--a notable
improvement for a dollar or two worth of wire! Additional increases in
efficiency will come more slowly and require much more wire, of course, but
from zero radials to a half-dozen or so, there’s probably no easier or less
expensive way to make your signal louder. Just how much improvement you can
expect from adding radials to a system that previously included none is
hard to predict because we don’t usually know what the local R.F. ground
loss resistance is to start with, and the technique of working back from
the SWR with no radials at all permits only a rough estimate if we have an
approximate idea of the radiation resistance of the antenna. If the antenna
is much shorter than ¼ wave and has to be loaded to resonate on a given
band (the usual case with multiband verticals), the radiation resistance
will be lower still and the overall efficiency reduced, particularly if the
loading or trap coils are lossy, as they usually are, though you’re not
going to find this mentioned in any of the ads of those concerns who sell
them.
Most commercial multiband vertical antennas stand less than 30 ft. tall (a
bit less than ¼ wave at 7 MHz) and, worse, the use of traps to decouple
sections of the radiator for resonance on the higher frequency bands means
that less than ¼ wavelength of the available radiator will come into play
on all but the highest-frequency band (usually 10 meters). This, in turn,
means that the radiation resistance will reach 35 ohms only on that band
because the first trap, inserted at the ¼-wave point for the
highest-frequency band, acts as a loading coil on each lower-frequency band
and progressively reduces the length of the radiator required for
resonance. In other words, the 10 meter trap “loads” 15 meters, the 10 and
15 traps load 20 meters, the 10, 15, and 20 meter traps load 40 meters, and
so on, each trap adding its own little bundle of loss resistance and
helping to reduce the radiation resistance at the lower frequencies where
the antenna is already “short” and thus has relatively low values of
radiation resistance to start with.
Consider a vertical antenna having the same physical height as a quarter
wave but now loaded to resonate at half-frequency over our original
no-radial ground system. If the antenna is ¼ wavelength on, say, 40 meters,
its physical height is about 33 ft. A 1/4-wave resonant vertical for 80 or
75 meters would have to be some 60 ft. tall, so what order of radiation
resistance can we expect from something half as tall? Probably something in
the range of 12 ohms, and we can assume that our ground loss resistance
won’t be any worse on 80/75 than it was on 40 meters because ground losses
tend to increase with frequency. Anyway, if we apply a little power to it,
we’ll probably read SWR = 3:1 or so at resonance. With 50-ohm line, we know
that the total feed point impedance at resonance must be either 3 x 50 ohms
or 50 ohms/3, either 150 ohms or 16.6 ohms. Again, it’s almost certainly
the higher values because our 12 or so ohms of radiation resistance
subtracted from the lower value would leave only 4.6 ohms for any ground
and loading coil loss resistance. If we met with 60+ ohms of ground loss on
another band, we’ll probably have nearly as much to contend with on 80 or
even 160 meters. Further, we shouldn’t completely ignore possible loss
resistance in the loading coil, so figure maybe 5 ohms of our total feed
point impedance for that.
Efficiency, then, would be approximately 12/150 = 8%! If we put back our
six radials and observe that the SWR at resonance has dropped to 1.5, we
can assume that the total feed point impedance has dropped to only 75 ohms
and that our efficiency has gone up to 16%. That may not sound like much
compared to a full-size dipole operating at 90% efficiency or more, but
don’t be misled, for it still amounts to a signal gain of 3dB! Most
low-band dipoles can’t be put high enough above the earth to produce much
low-angle radiation for DX operation, and even an “inefficient” vertical
will often out-perform a low dipole on 80 or 40 meters when the path length
exceeds a few thousand miles. Longer and more numerous radials would
further reduce the ground loss resistance and increase efficiency, and, if
you managed to string out 100 radials for zero ground loss resistance would
you ever arrive at even 90% efficiency? Probably not, because of the loss
resistance in the loading coil or in the traps that contribute to the
loading. The total feed point impedance would consist of the antenna
radiation resistance (12 ohms), loading coil loss resistance (5 ohms) and
zero ground loss resistance, 17 ohms in all, so 12/17 = 70% efficiency at
best. Your signal would be stronger by some 6 decibels, equivalent to
quadrupling the transmitter power, and your SWR would be up to 3:1 again,
but a simple matching device can take care of that. Have we really gained
anything? Yes, we certainly have. It’s much easier and less expensive to
match the feed line to the antenna than to use an amplifier!
Several important points emerge from this last discussion. The first is
that one should try to keep the radiation resistance as high as possible in
relation to the circuit loss resistance for the sake of efficiency.
Unfortunately, the radiation resistance largely depends on the height of
the vertical structure, so as a practical matter, all we can hope to do is
to reduce the ground loss resistance through the use of radials and the
loading losses through the use of high-Q loading inductors of large
diameter. The slim loading coils and traps of light wire encased in metal
that one sees in today’s commercial designs are not what is needed!
Next time: Don reaches into his magic hat and pulls out…Hmmm, what is this?
Yikes! SWR! Put it back! We need to take five before we find out whether
low SWR means high efficiency. Find out when Don discusses SWR and
superstition in the next issue of Handiham World.
------------------------------
*Eclipse Webinar with Ken KB3LLA*
Earlier this week, Erin McKinley and Ken, KB3LLA, connected with Hadley
Institute for a special NASA-Hadley Eclipse edition of their online
podcast. It was a great event, and they have uploaded the recording here:
https://hadley.edu/eclipse-webinar.asp
------------------------------
*“Observe” August’s Eclipse with Your AM Radio*
Bob Kelley, K1KVV, told us Sky and Telescope is sponsoring an opportunity
using AM radios. See the link below for all details, including preferred AM
stations to monitor during the passage of the moon’s shadow during the
(partial) solar eclipse.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/2017-total-solar-eclipse/how-to-hear-the-...
<http://www.skyandtelescope.com/2017-total-solar-eclipse/how-to-hear-the-solar-eclipse/>
------------------------------
*Eclipse App Description*
Kitty Hevener, W8TDA, sent in the following: I just listened to a
demonstration of an iPhone app that provides a multisensory approach to
“viewing” various eclipses, including the upcoming total eclipse on August
21. It sounds really cool! I thought others might be interested in checking
it out. Listen to the demo at
http://blindabilities.com/technology/quickhit/eclipse-soundscapes-projec...
<http://blindabilities.com/technology/quickhit/eclipse-soundscapes-project-app-overview-and-demonstration/>
------------------------------
* Other options for Remote Operation *
John Glass, NU6P, says the remote control rig from Remote Rig might be an
option for those who would rather have hand controls similar to those found
on a radio rather than computer based controls. More information can be
found at their web site: http://www.remoterig.com/wp/
Harwood West, WB4RLO, suggests the controller from Remote Shack as an
option that allows you to control your radio remotely via a telephone. More
information is available at the following web site: http://remoteshack.com/
------------------------------
*Easily Install and Maintain Computer Apps*
Dick Garey, WA0CAF, alerted us to this next site where you can install and
maintain your computer applications easily. This is a collection of apps
that have been tested and are known to work with common screen reader
software for people with visual impairments. The website can be found at
the following address: https://ninite.com/accessible
------------------------------
*Blind Friendly Ham Radio Site*
Harwood West, WB4RLO, also told us about another ham radio web site for
hams who are blind or visually impaired. You can find the information at
http://www.hamradioandvision.com
------------------------------
*Welcome once again to my humble QTH:*
How I became a licensed Radio Amateur:
One of my relatives our family visited had a Zenith Transatlantic short
wave radio I used to listen to every time we were there. At one point that
person bought a brand spanking new Zenith Radio and gave me the old one...
Watching the glowing tubes late at night SWL'ing the short wave bands, I
heard many things. Commercial short wave broadcast stations from around the
world, thumping—no BFO to copy it—sounds (CW), people chatting with each
other (hams), and, oh, how I wished I could enter the conversations. Later,
I built an external BFO and copied commercial CW stations.
Before school I would hear BBC in London, HCJB in Peru, Radio Moscow in
Russia, Voice of America and some others. Probably I was more informed on
World News than even my teachers. It always amazed me how the same news
could be reported so differently depending on which country was reporting
it.
Around 1954-5, I was introduced to Amateur Radio by a couple friends. The
high school I attended had a ham radio club that had meetings after school
was over. One of the school's teachers was a licensed ham and started the
club.
About this time I figured it would be fun to get licensed, so I started
studying. Back then there were 5 classes of licenses, and, besides the
written exam, there was an International Morse Code test which had to be
passed before being able to take the written. 5 wpm for Novice and
Technician, 13 wpm for General & Advanced, 20 wpm for Extra class.
One minute of solid copy out of the five minutes it was sent was required
to pass. The Novice was good for only one year after which one either left
the air or upgraded to General. My novice went about 9 months, when I
passed my General. Tests were taken in the FCC office in St. Paul, MN. If a
person failed they had to wait thirty days before taking the exam again.
The written part contained some questions that required drawing diagrams of
different circuits. No multiple choice guessing on those.
OK, so now with a passed test, the wait for the license to could be up to
three months (mine did), and no operation at that class until the "ticket"
came in the postal mail. In 1956, I was a Novice with the call, KN0HLA, and
when I passed my General, the "N" was dropped. K0HLA was and is my original
call.
My first rig was a Hallicrafters S-40B with a Heathkit "Q" multiplier
attached and a Heathkit DX-35 transmitter with a Heathkit antenna tuner and
a very long, long-wire antenna.
The DX-35 was both AM phone & CW, however, it was cathode controlled
carrier modulation and, other than a few locals on 80 or 10 meters, I
didn't operate much phone because the modulation was so poor I'd get signal
reports of " strong carrier but very poor modulation." On CW, I worked the
world and, not realizing it, my code speed increased just from using it so
much.
Just shortly after I became General Class, I heard 2 CW stations, and,
since I thought I was a "Hot shot CW operator," I broke in on them. We had
quite a 3 way going on CW, but our speed kept increasing until I couldn't
get much of their transmissions. Well this hot dog CW operator was humbled
when it turned out those two guys were the radio operators on board ships
on the Great Lakes and all they did all day was CW...
Their ham chats were a bus man’s holiday off the commercial frequencies...
Well, that taught me about the gentlemen’s agreement that you only send as
fast or slow as the other person... QRQ & QRS were used by me quite often
after that...
When Single Side Band first came on the bands I was still only AM and CW,
but I had a very stable VFO for that point in time, so I'd very carefully
zero beat the SSB stations and chat with them. Most of the time, they never
checked to see if I had a carrier and never knew I was an amplitude
modulated station. Every once in a while a station would drift off
frequency noticing my secret but not very often.
Novice Roundup was a favorite of mine. I'd go down on the novice CW bands,
giving them contacts and slowing down to whatever speed they were at.
Field Day was another one of my favorites. One year when Bruce, K0HR, was
Handiham manager, I helped with a Field Day station set up on the patio
just outside the Handiham office. In those days, the office was on the main
floor at the end of the building. Several Handiham members operated Field
Day from W0ZSW that year.
As the years passed, I was involved with most of the activities radio
amateurs are associated with, operating most of the bands and modes.
Last Thursday, I visited Lucinda & Nancy at the Handiham Headquarters where
I was greeted by these and a million more memories. So ends a trip down
memory lane.
73 es DX de K0HLA Avery
------------------------------
*Down memory lane...*
In honor of the celebration of 50 years of the Handiham Program, here is an
article by Peter Gamble, N1SCL, first reported in the Summer 1995 issue of
Handiham World. It is a good reminder to keep your HT close by and your
batteries charged!
* Handheld Radio Proves a Lifesaver: Murphy Pays a Visit Twice, but Is
Thwarted By an HT!*
My little 2 meter HT has saved me twice in the past six months. I am a
paraplegic who likes to consider himself very independent, but keep my
radio handy “just in case.”
My wife and I rent an apartment in the town of Hanover where I am now going
to school. We also have a tree farm in a town about an hour south of there.
In January, I went to the tree farm to get some tools out of the house. I
was trying to fix my wheelchair lift on the van and needed the soldering
tools. Unfortunately, the soldering iron I had was a low wattage one and
what I needed for this job was a heavy duty iron. It was pretty cold
outside (about 0 degrees Fahrenheit), so that low-watt iron really couldn’t
do the job. I was trying to replace a toggle switch on my lift, but no
matter how long I held the iron up to the terminal it wouldn’t get hot
enough to melt the solder off the joint. I decided to pack it up for the
day before it got too cold outside.
I put the tools inside and turned on the alarm for the house as I was
leaving. I got outside and reached back to close the door behind me and
heard a POP! My left shoulder popped out of the socket. This has happened
only a few times since my accident a few years ago, but has been happening
more lately since I started a swimming class. Now I was stuck outside with
my arm hanging off my shoulder, bent over in my chair, and unable to move
with only one arm to use.
I thought to myself, “OK, since I didn’t close the door to the house, the
alarm should go off, and a cop will come. I should be outta here soon.”
So I waited. I decided to scream out for help anyway just because it hurt
so much. I knew there was no one around for miles, but at least I got to
shout some of the pain out. After about 20 minutes in agony, I realized I
was going to have to figure out how to call for help. I was getting colder
and colder waiting for the police to check up on the house alarm, and still
bent over in the chair when it dawned on me, “Hey, I’ve got my HT! I can
call for help on the repeater!”
I reached down to the net under my chair and started grabbing for the HT. I
finally got it and broke into a conversation that my Elmer was having. He
called the dispatcher for me using the autopatch, and the ambulance came in
a few minutes.
The other day, I got home late from a trip to Boston. I got into the shower
as soon as I stepped in the door and didn’t take the time to turn the heat
back up. I was in the shower and reaching for the soap at about ten after
midnight, and I heard a POP! Out came my arm again.
It took me awhile to sit upright on the shower bench, but I got there.
Next, I tried to shut the water off so my neighbors could hear me shout for
help. I shouted my head off, but no one heard me. Meanwhile, I was thinking
about how to get more comfortable…I was freezing cold. I decided to lean
over to my left so my arm hung over the side of the bench and my head
rested on the toilet seat. This way, I thought I could try to pop my arm
back into place and reach my HT. I couldn’t get my hands on the HT until
about 4 am and never did succeed in getting my arm back into its socket.
But I got my HT. Of course, the battery wasn’t strong enough to reach the
repeater that has autopatch capability, so I tried a closer repeater.
Nobody uses the smaller repeaters at that time of day. Naturally, I wore
out the battery trying to make contact. God stepped in at about 8:30 am and
recharged my battery just enough for me to break into a conversation on the
small repeater. All I had was enough juice to transmit my location, my need
for an ambulance, and my call sign. Help showed up about 9 am (the cop had
to break the window to get in).
Now I’m recovering at home. I have bought a 12 inch antenna and a larger
battery that I will always keep charged. Also, I plan on taking my cordless
phone with me into the bathroom from now on.
------------------------------
*What are you waiting for? Check into our Handiham nets... Everyone is
welcome! *
How to find the Handiham Net:
-
The Handiham EchoLink conference is 494492. Connect via your iPhone,
Android phone, PC, or on a connected simplex node or repeater system in
your area.
The Handiham Net will be on the air daily. If there is no net control
station on any scheduled net day, we will have a roundtable on the air
get-together.
[image: Cartoon multicolored stickman family holding hands, one
wheelchair user among them.]
Our daily Echolink net continues to operate for anyone and everyone who
wishes to participate at 11:00 hours CST (Noon Eastern and 09:00 Pacific),
as well as Wednesday evenings at 19:00 hours CST (7 PM). If you calculate
GMT, the time difference is that GMT is five hours ahead of Minnesota time
during the summer.
Doug, N6NFF, poses a trivia question in the first half of the Wednesday
evening session, so check in early if you want to take a guess. The
answer to the trivia question is generally given shortly after the
half-hour mark. A big THANK YOU to all of our net control stations and to
our Handiham Club Net Manager, James, KD0AES.
------------------------------
*Membership*
-
*You can pay your Handiham dues and certain other program fees on line.
Simply follow the link to our secure payment site, then enter your
information and submit the payment. It's easy and secure!*
-
Handiham annual membership dues are $12.00. The lifetime membership
rate is $120.00.
MEMBERSHIP DUES PAYMENT LINK
<https://pay.usbank.com/default.aspx?id=COURAGE_KENNY_HANDIHAMS>
-
If you want to donate to the Handiham Program, please use our
donation website. The instructions are at the following link:
DONATION LINK <http://www.handiham.org/drupal2/node/8>
How to contact us
There are several ways to contact us.
*Postal Mail: *
*Courage Kenny Handiham Program 3915 Golden Valley Road MR#78446 Golden
Valley, MN 55422*
*E-Mail: **Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx* <Nancy.Meydell@xxxxxxxxxx>
*Preferred telephone: 1-612-775-2291 Toll-Free telephone: 1-866-HANDIHAM
(1-866-426-3442)*
Note: Mondays through Thursdays between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM United States
Central Time are the best times to contact us.
You may also call Handiham Program Coordinator Lucinda Moody, AB8WF, at:
612-775-2290.
73, and I hope to hear you on the air soon!
For Handiham World, this is Lucinda Moody, AB8WF
The weekly e-letter is a compilation of software tips, operating
information, and Handiham news. It is published on Wednesdays, and is
available to everyone free of charge. Please email Lucinda.Moody@xxxxxxxxxx
for changes of address, unsubscribes, etc. Include your old email address
and your new address.
