Amateur Radio

Dad was a licensed amateur radio operator with a call sign during the 1930s and ‘40s until amateurs were suspended from broadcasting during the duration of WII. I was in the third grade when Dad began building his station in one of the upstairs bedrooms of the house on Bliss Blvd in Iowa Falls, Ia. He was able to indulge his hobby during the depression years although Mom often complained that he was spending too much money on radio tubes.

The corner of the room was gradually filled with unpainted shelves of soldered wires and radio tubes. The room was always kept locked unless dad was in the room but he allowed us children to come in and watch as he soldered or tuned his transmitter. At that time he sent and received messages in Morse code. He received cards in the mail from his contacts with their call sign and in turn he mailed them his card. His accumulation included cards from around the world.

When we moved from Bliss Blvd to the house on Woodland Ave Dad set up his station in a corner of the dining room which allowed the family to be part of Dad’s activity. If Mom was in the kitchen she could see Dad as he tapped out the dots and dashes on the transmitting key, and if any of us children wanted to sit next to Dad and read the messages as they came in, we could. Dad also added a microphone and occasionally he allowed us children to say hello to the other operator when it was Dad’s turn to speak. I have a memory of talking to a Dr from Japan and was impressed that Dad was able to talk to someone so far away. Some years later when the war started, I often thought of that chat.

One night when Mom and Dad were out for the evening, Uncle H.O. was left in charge. H.O. was only a few years older than I was and we loved it when he came to visit. On this particular night we had a storm with heavy rain, thunder and lightening. Suddenly a lightening strike hit the radio station and jagged streaks of electricity bounced around the room. We all knew how dangerous it was, but didn’t know what to do except scream at each other not to touch anything!!!!! We had been taught never to touch the radio, but something had to be done or the house might catch on fire. H.O. finally got his wits about him and pulled some plugs from the wall which turned off switches and stopped the electrical show. H.O. became our hero, and I think Dad’s too.

When my sister Esther’s husband Vern retired, they moved to Toledo Bend Lake. La. Vern had his fishing hole and Esther became a licensed amateur radio operator and enjoyed being a member of a ladies radio league. She upgraded her radio station equipment after passing the FCC exam for Extra, (the highest an amateur can achieve).

When I moved to Texas, I was influenced by Esther to take the Code exam. As children, Adeline and I had learned Morse code as girl scouts, but I had forgotten most of it and had to study it again. I got my FCC Novice license, then upgraded to Technician, but did not set up a station. Esther told me that she would give me her old radio if I would study and pass the exam for General. I ignored the challenge until the year 2000 when I finally decided to try. I studied day and night for 6 weeks. The members of the Orange Radio club were encouraging and extremely helpful. I took the exam and passed with 100 percent. Esther did give me her old radio and members of the radio club strung the antennae for me, but I rarely chatted on the radio, preferring the contact with other amateurs on the computer thru EchoLink, a program that only licensed radio amateurs from countries around the globe are allowed to use.