Questions and conversation started as soon as folks began putting out their gadgets and books prior to the start of the meeting. Jeff KA1DBE, who always has a question with the introductions, asked each of us to tell the number of years we have had a ham license. After going around the room, he tallied 461 years of experience! Among the notable announcements were that Barbara KC1SSY has agreed to coordinate the EAWA communications involvement in the MDI Marathon on October 20. Thanks to both Evie KA1BRA for your many years of coordinating this, and to Barbara KC1SSY for accepting this important position. Another notable announcement was that Dick W1KRP is working to set up the Weekend Sessions for the fall/winter season. Dates will be posted once they are available.
Jeff KA1DBE started the program off by telling stories of his poor man’s bug, a Vibroplex champion, the desk callsign plate he made in high school (with accompanying photo), a handy way to use magnets to hold your CW key on a clipboard, and his first crystal.
From Zoom, Joe WA4OVO shared one of his favorite gadgets, an MFJ 269 antenna analyzer. Next up was Phil N1EP who brought several books for lend and give away, along with the tiniest handy talkies as a prank gift for Jeff KA1DBE and Bernie KI4VCR. Stan K3PW showed off a tiny midi controller, the CTR2-MIDI, that he uses as a CW interface and to move across frequencies on the pan adapter via SDR software. Also in the photo collage below, John KQ1P, showed the value of using a capacitance/inductance meter to test capacitors you might find in bulk at a hamfest.
The next group started with Barbara KC1SSY who brought many books to loan as well as a kit to build an AM/FM superset radio. Ian KC1SCB shared a clever set of 2 BaoFeng radios in a box. The radios were placed so that the output from one speaker would be taken in by the other microphone, thus producing a cross band repeater. He also demonstrated a directional antenna that would be great for radio fox hunting and determining the source of radio interference. Jack W1IU shared a 70cm version of a home-brew antenna based on one found in the 2010 version of the ARRL Antenna Designer’s Notebook. He also brought some old Russian radio maps for anyone to take.
Just as the conversations and questions started prior to the meeting, many stayed around afterwards for more demonstrations. It was clear from the 461 years of experience and the diversity of gadgets and books, the EAWA members bring many varied areas of experience and expertise to the table. Ham radio is often called ‘a hobby of a thousand hobbies’. This meeting highlighted that we are all experts and novices, experienced and beginners, depending on the radio topic. It also reminded us of how much we can learn from each other.
Written by Marion W1GRL
W1TU 