I GOT IT

What a GREAT amateur outreach event we had at our local (very crowded) Kid’s Zone, smack in the middle of winter!  The weather was spectacular as temperatures stayed in the high 60s all afternoon.  We talked to several kids and parents.  We also talked with about 15 adults that happened to be in the park, and they encouraged us to continue our efforts to work with kids.  Several were impressed to learn that CW (Morse Code) is still a viable means of communications.

How could I resist bringing up the movie Independence Day, with Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Brent Spiner?  When all the normal communications became disrupted by the aliens, there was still one means of communications available, amateur radio. Using the binary language of CW, instructions were passed from amateur to amateur throughout the world.  They all said, “Hey, that’s right”!  Have you noticed a recent commercial using CW, specifically SOS?

Our program has shifted a bit and we now actively engage kids to learn the International Distress Signal.  Three shorts, three longs and three shorts.  Reinforced with various methods to send a distress signal such as a flashlight, car horn, reflective mirror, outside light switch and of course, radio.  We use a Bug Keyer so kids get an immediate tactile response and are able to distinguish the short and long sound, or as Hams refer to those sounds, dits (short) and dahs (long).  Kids need time to learn about the radio and may not be comfortable getting on the air immediately, even though they ask question as was the case with Hannah.

Hannah (above right is being coached by Ron, AF5Q) asked several questions and was initially a reluctant participant.  The truth is she simply needed time to absorb what was presented to her.  Once she was comfortable with the knowledge, she took on the challenge of learning to send SOS and her name.  It’s when she sent “mom” in CW and shouted “I GOT IT!” you knew that she just put it all together in a new learning experience.  Eventually, Hannah had an enjoyable chat with Scotty, KE7NCO located in Sparks, NV.  Hannah proudly told Scotty of her ability to send her name in CW.  Scotty shared that he was working on improving his CW skills too.  They exchanged signal reports and talked about the weather.  Scotty wanted to get more contacts, so Hannah let him move on.  Hannah’s mom told us that Hannah is exceptionally good in both music and math.

Spring (right) is showing her Cousin Autumn (above) how to manipulate the paddles in this peep to peer learning session.  Spring had previously learned to send SOS and her name and was now showing Autumn some of what she learned.  Later they would get on the air and talk with KE5VOF, Gary in Oklahoma City through the local repeater link.  Elijah got a chance to talk with Mike, WD5USA.  We had a great time talking with Sam and his older brother Steven (below) about amateur radio.  Both were fast studies when it came to learning to send SOS and their names in CW.

Bob, KC5EIU was present along with Jaron, KF5DIR who is now a regular at these events.  AF5Q, Ron did some HF digital work using his home made G5RV that did a great job.  We tried to get a long wire antenna up for Jaron’s operation but didn’t have much luck and we eventually put his radio on the local repeater frequencies.  We will try the long wire again next time.  Interestingly, we had three stations operating under the pavilion with room for at least one or maybe two more stations.  We were also visited by Milton, WB5YZB, Clifton, KE5YZB and Mike, WD5USA.  Everyone was enjoying the great weather and the chance to be in the park.

Recent test session results are that we gained 3 new amateur radio operators, including 12 year old Angelee  Harris (above).  Together Angelee and her dad Richard studied the materials to prepare for the test session.  At the time of this summary, both are awaiting their new call signs.  Congratulations to both.  As you can see from the four young faces in this photo, amateur radio continues to interest young girls and boys as a challenging and rewarding hobby.

(Step on soap box)  American kids are smart enough to learn the skills necessary to meet all of our engineering requirements.  Having fun and learning new skill sets that may catapult America’s youth into engineering or other high tech fields is a plus.  As all amateurs know, learning is a journey and it doesn’t stop because of a successful test session.  Amateur radio is just one vehicle to help kids learn necessary basic skill sets in math, science, electronics, geometry and physics, all in the direction of a great career.  It may be cheaper for a company to fly software engineers in from India, but is it right?  What if they only have tourist visas and no green cards?  Would you stop them from working?  After all, who would know?  Why aren’t Americans doing these jobs?  Do you really think this scenario doesn’t happen? (Step off soap box)

Look for your next Amateur Radio Outreach on February 21.  There is some discussion of a Winter Field Day the weekend of January 30-31 with the details still needing to be worked out.  A School Club Round-up will be happening during the week of February 8-12.  Yes, we are busy in amateur radio and there is always something to learn, something to do and someone to talk too.