Cheers to a new HAM - Looking for an Elmer

I just got my FCC Technician license to operate Amateur (HAM) Radio - KB1NIR. I was holding off on saying anything because I applied for a "vanity" callsign - my grandfather Edwin I DeLong Sr's- K3GRN. Partially to surprise my dad, (), and partially because I didn't want people to have to remember both callsigns. However I'm a bit antsy and frustrated and excited so...I couldn't wait the 17 business days until my vanity license was approved.

*sigh* I suppose this is good, I'll learn a hell of a lot about electronics. I just wish I had some "Elmer" to look over my shoulder and help me get this all setup. It would make things so much easier.

The genesis to this goes back to Hurricane Katrina - even before I got involved in the Red Cross. I was in the same news-hungry mode that I was during 9/11when I stumbled across a LiveJournal of a guy right in the thick of things, in NOLA during the storm blogging. As I began to read his LJ, it lead me to a group of folks on IRC who were listening to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas scanner frequencies over the Internet and trying to transcribe what they heard for the general public. It was a crazy, adrenaline ride of 3-4 days until I finally got so burned out and fed up with the lack of organization, I backed off and began to focus on my Red Cross volunteering. However I met some great people during that time - Wohali, (), Pinkish, (), as well as friend Chris Schmidt , was there before I was.

But it was then that I truly learned how important Amateur Radio was/is during times of national disasters and crisis. Just like I learned that the Red Cross responds to nearly every house fire where someone is displaced around the country, I learned that while FEMA's Michael Brown was relying on cell towers working after the storm, it was HAM operators that were already mobilized to manage communications between shelters, government, FEMA, police/fire, you name it. HAMs are the ones who are "up" during storms of all types relaying local data back to NOAA through the Skywarn program. And HAMs manage the communications between stations during various public events like the Boston Marathon.

I was most interested in getting my license so I could supplement the huge amount of Red Cross training I've taken since September. Specifically the ARES and RACES groups as well as the Skywarn program - since I'm also a weather addict. We recently had an "All Hands" meeting of Red Cross volunteers and there I connected with someone who works for MEMA. He informed me that the Framingham Amateur Radio Club (FARA) was holding a "License In A Weekend" class starting Friday night for 2hrs, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. The FCC test was at noon after lunch.

Saturday night, I took the practice exam 8 times at X and passed all 8 times with only 6 wrong at most. (I could get a total of 9 wrong to pass). Sunday I was still surprised to find questions I did not remember on the exam, but passed with only 3 wrong. The rest of the week I nervously twiddled my thumbs while waiting for the license to show up in the database. I waited 5 days and it showed up Saturday morning. That same morning, I went to the FARA Flea Market and met up with Joe Heck, (K1LBG) of the Norwood Amateur Radio Club. He is also the Communications Manager of the Red Cross of Mass Bay (ARCMB), and an Emergency Management Director for the town of Wrentham. Very much involved in the activities I was interested in.

Joe walked me around and helped me find the Radio Shack HTX-202 2 meter handheld for $60. We also found a KDK FM-2016 mobile 2 meter with a STACO RPS-4 13.8VDC/4amp power supply. He also introduced me to several people at the show including Joe Lord, (who sold me the KDK),and Lou Harris, (N1UEC), with his wife Donna, (KB2SYM). Lou did some "Angel Flights" with his plane during Katrina and also volunteers with the Red Cross. He is involved in the New England Spectrum Management Council and is a trustee for my local North Shore Radio Association, (NSRA). Very involved.

After the Flea, I went home and setup my handheld, connecting to the NSRA's Salem Repeater which I've been listening to ever since. Monday night, I went to a NEDXCC meeting - DXers are folks who use their HF radios to seek signals from all over the world from Libya to Russia to Antartica and when they make a contact, they send each other QSL cards as a confirmation almost like a penpal would. (Here's a comprehensive list of other Q codes.)

The average age of HAMs at the NEDXCC meeting as well as the informal NSRA breakfast I went to Tuesday morning is retirement - 60 to 80 years old. I really think it's a damn shame that more young kids aren't getting HAM radio kits, making crystal radios, or getting their HAM licenses to get QSL cards from around the world. There's something different about talking to someone half a world away over the radio - it seems more real than the Internet. with IMs and VOIP. Amateur Radio is also more conducive to seeking out people to talk to than those with open IMs or public VOIPs whose status is "will talk to anyone".

But more importantly is the need for HAMs in times of natural and man-made disasters. HAM radios can easily be run on a 12V battery from a car or even solar power. You'd be hard-pressed to get a cell system or even far-reaching commercial radio that could be setup with such low overhead. Besides, in addition to voice and data, you can even send pictures and video over Amateur radio. Now that they dropped learning the 5 words per minute of Morse Code from the Technician License, everyone should be able to get theirs in short order.

Another thing I really am liking about the local repeaters is the community. I've been listening to and talking with folks in my down, just down the street and a few towns over. That's tough to do with the Internet unless you're good at stalking. Traffic reports are passed back and forth and people check-in on each other to see how things are going.

Of course....once you get your license, you still need someone to help. These mentors are called "Elmers" in Amateur Radio speak.

As many of you know, I am a complete hardware-o-phobe. I hate opening computers and cringe even when I have to move around harddrive cables or pull out some RAM. I'm always terrified of breaking something and losing access to the Net, (that's another story itself), or burning something down etc. Heck, I have a brother who is much better with computers and a wife with 2 masters degrees in Engineering. Why bother?

I also have the same reluctance around the house. My father-in-law has generously stocked our basement with a fairly large workshop that my wife makes a lot of use of. I, however, am essentially banned from it. Not because I've done anything wrong. I think because of my reflexive resistance to play with tools, my Kirky, () finally decided I didn't deserve to be down there. This brings me to my current problem.

So I have this handheld with nothing more than a "rubber duck" antenna and a 12V battery charger. The battery lasts me about 3/4 of the day before I have to turn it off and transmitting is a pain in the rear. One second I'm in a conversation, and in another I drop out in what appears to be a rude manner much to my chagrin. Most of the other HAMs on the local 2 meter are generous and patient. I certainly am not.

I've been heads-down on a rather large Web development project for work, taking time out to walk the dog. I've been taking my HT everywhere as if I was attatched via umbilical cord. However everytime I try to participate in a conversation, the battery power is either too low, I'm not reaching the repeater, or I come in for one cycle and drop out. ARGH.

Fine. So it's time for me to get a power adapter for the car, a 5/8 wave 2m magnetic mount antenna for the car, and a power supply for it for the house. From what I can tell, my 13.8VDC/4amps power supply is too much and the HT calls for only 2.5. Up pops my hardware-anxiety. The problem with taking the "License in a Weekend" is thats about the time the knowledge stays in your head. I got by with mnemonics and not learning the material. Electronics in their raw state freak me out so I can't remember much beyond the fact that Direct Current is measured in Volts and Amps are Alternating Current. Ohms is resistance, Henry is inductance, etc. I just can't remember the various correspondences.

Not to mention the fact that this STACO RPS has an old two-prong plug sticking out of the back of it in addition to both a capacitor and resister soldered to connectors on the outside of the box. Good grief! With my luck I'll electrocute myself! My hesitance comes from recently purchasing an external case for a 2.5" HD. I am very hard on laptops and every 6-9mo I go through another drive. I was hunting for a power supply to connect to the case and found one that fit. Plugged it in and ZAP, CRACKLE, POP. Bye, bye case.

The smell of electricity - the acrid burning of plastic and a short circuit will be something I will never forget. When I was a kid, (and my Dad, or Mom, can confirm the date), lightning struck our house. Well, actually, it struck a Poplar tree and hit the ground right at a lamp on the driveway, travelling down the electrical, cable, and telephone wires, blowing out the switch for the lamp, popping lightbulbs and causing various other smokiness. Between the sound, the smoke and the dumb luck by which my parents weren't hurt, (they were working on the first floor stairs in front of the front door, just a few feet from the driveway lamp switch.), the only reason they escaped injury was because they had the door open, blocking the exploding switch.

So anyway, you can see my fear. However that fear is quickly being overridden by my complete lack of patience and I'm very close to following the recent advice of Joe - buying a Radio Shack 274-1567 power connector and soldering it to a 270-1559 car power adapter plug. Of course, there's the one little thing that a) I've never used a soldering iron and b) I'm not sure I have one in the basement, though I probably do somewhere. There's also the fact that when I setup the KDK in my office, I should really have an SWR meter to check the antenna and make sure it balances out.

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