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What coax should I use?

Question:

The repeaters I want to use are all just a bit too far away for me to work with an indoor antenna or a handheld radio. I want to install an outdoor antenna so that I can use several different VHF and UHF repeaters. I already have a dual-band 2m/70cm vertical antenna, but what kind of coax should I use? I am thinking about RG-58 or RG-8X, because they are cheaper and easy to work with than the thicker RG-8 or RG-213. My cable run will be about 100 feet.

Answer:

Since the repeaters you plan to work are probably located in different compass directions, your choice of a vertical antenna is a good one, as long as the repeaters are not so far away that you would need a directional antenna with more gain. The directional antenna usually means an extra investment in a rotator system, a considerable expense and an additional accessory to maintain over the ensuing years.

One thing you will not want to skimp on is your feedline, especially if it is to be used for VHF and UHF work, and when the feedline is going to be run for a considerable distance. A short run of RG-8X, under 25 feet, is probably acceptable for VHF work. The problem with these thin, cheaper feedlines is that they lose quite a significant amount of signal – both on receive and on transmit – and the savings in initial cost for the coax are quickly offset by the poor performance they introduce to your otherwise well-designed system. RG-58 is such thin, fragile coax that it is a poor choice for anything but temporary use or short connecting cables used in test situations. It is very lossy and should not be used over long runs, even for HF operation. Its fragility means that it can easily break.

Let’s take a look at the loss for a typical VHF frequency, 146.52 MHz for three common types of coax, all assuming a 100 foot run.

RG-58: Power in = 100 Watts. Power out = 34 Watts. Total loss is 4.7 dB. Ouch!
RG-8X: Power in = 100 Watts. Power out = 39 Watts. Total loss is 4.1 dB. Ouch!
RG-213: Power in = 100 Watts. Power out = 55 Watts. Total loss is 2.6 dB.

As you can see, the unfortunate truth is that all of these cables have significant loss, but the cheaper cables will end up turning most of your signal into heat. Only the RG-213 comes close to being acceptable for VHF use with a 100 foot run.

Now for something really scary, let’s try a 70cm frequency, 446.0 MHz, with the same cable run.

RG-58: Power in = 100 Watts. Power out = 13 Watts. Total loss is 8.9 dB. Double Ouch!
RG-8X: Power in = 100 Watts. Power out = 15 Watts. Total loss is 8.2 dB. Double Ouch!
RG-213: Power in = 100 Watts. Power out = 32 Watts. Total loss is 5 dB. Ouch!

Discussion:

Even with the best of these three coax types, you are still getting less than one third of your signal to the antenna. Remember that it works the same way on receive. And why would you even bother with RG-58 or RG-8X for UHF work, when 100 Watts turns into only 15 Watts or less? Long runs of cheap, lossy cable might as well just be dummy loads!

As you can see from the results we have listed, the loss per distance unit of feedline goes up when the frequency goes up. Therefore, a cheaper grade of feedline might be acceptable for use on 3.9 MHz, but far too lossy for use at VHF or UHF. Another consideration is that if one intends to use even higher transmit power levels, cheaper coax must not be used because it may arc over and fail. It is generally acceptable only for lower power levels.

The results we listed are for SWR readings that are virtually perfect, 1:1. Since no antenna installation is perfect and minor mismatches occur in even a carefully-designed system, the actual loss will be even higher than what we listed. This makes using good feedline even more important.

To summarize, you will have several important choices to make when you plan your VHF/UHF antenna system. You will want to decide which repeaters you want to work, their compass directions from your station, and whether you will need to choose a directional antenna or a vertical antenna. The supporting structure will add height, which is generally a good thing for effective VHF/UHF work, but also add to the length of a feedline, and longer feedline runs mean more loss. If you want to try weak-signal work on VHF and UHF, you will need a rotator and a horizontally-polarized directional antenna. Unlike repeater operation, weak signal work on SSB and CW absolutely demands good quality feedline for the lowest loss possible. FM repeater operation is less demanding, and will require vertical polarization. You may be able make your horizontally-polarized system work for repeaters, but your vertically-polarized antenna will not be effective for weak signal work on SSB and CW.

Our recommendation is to use good quality feedline for every installation, avoiding higher loss coax except for short connectors and temporary use in sort runs.

Resources:

Are you wondering how we calculated the loss for examples we used in this article? It was easy with the online calculator we found at the KC7HXC website!

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice
[email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

We are definitely in the summer ham radio doldrums. I can tell that we have reached this time of year by some of the comments I hear, usually by word of mouth or by e-mail:

	“What is wrong with the bands?”
	“When will the bands get better? I don’t hear anything on HF.”
	“I never hear anything on the repeater.”
	“My radio club doesn’t meet during the summer.”
	“No one is around to help me with my station/antenna projects.”
	“When I went to check into the net, there was no net control station and no one ran the net.”

Does any of this sound familiar? I hear most of this same kind of discussion every year about this time. As summer arrives here in Minnesota, people start thinking seriously about outdoor activities and taking vacation. Of course we have ARRL Field Day in June each year, but the overall disconnect from many ham radio activities really begins in mid-Spring, generally following Dayton HAMVENTION.

Mother Nature contributes to the problem of HF operation by throwing thunderstorms at us all summer long. The resulting radio interference pretty much makes operation on the lower HF frequencies something that would try any operator’s patience. Then there is the onset of spring and summer jobs waiting for everyone when the snow finally melts here in central North America. I have noticed that radio club attendance usually starts to decline in March. Many radio clubs don’t even meet during the summer because everyone has so much going on that it is difficult to find a quorum for a meeting.

When I hear questions about the HF bands, I know that they are usually coming from newbies who don’t have too much experience and have never learned about the seasonal fluctuations in HF and VHF propagation. Old timers know that the 6 m band comes alive in the late spring and early summer, just as the lower HF bands start to get plagued by thunderstorm static. If these newbies haven’t learned about seasonal fluctuations, they certainly don’t know about or understand solar weather or the sunspot cycle either. Oh, well… I look upon it as a teaching opportunity.

Last week we reminded you to get ready for Field Day. As long as band conditions aren’t too good, now is the time to head out to the backyard for an antenna inspection. Those of you listening to the podcast can hear me as I go through my usual checklist to make sure that my antennas are going to keep working all right. An antenna inspection should be done several times each year, or even more often if you have experienced severe weather in your area.

What to look for:

Are the antennas still up in the air?

Don’t laugh — I have heard from people who didn’t even know half of their antenna was lying on the ground someplace after one of the supports broke. A visual inspection will include making sure that any wire antennas are still in position and that tree branches are not impinging on the radiating element or feedline. Other types of antennas, like vertical or beam antennas, should be visually inspected just to see that all of the elements are in place. If an antenna is designed to rotate, you should look to see that trees have not grown so close to the antenna that they enter the turning radius. So far, all of this can be done by simply walking outside and looking around. If you are blind or have low vision, you will want to get a helper to do this part of the job with your direction.

What about the feedline?

Next, you are going to pay particular attention to the feedline or feedlines, and if the antenna is really high in the air, a pair of binoculars can bring the feed point (center insulator) into focus so that you can see if everything is connected properly. This antenna inspection is a pretty simple one and it does not include any tower climbing. You can follow the feedline down to the point where you can do a close inspection, being sure to include where the feedline enters the building. Since you can actually feel and manipulate the feedline at that point, you can check for any deterioration that might indicate a need for replacement. You will also want to check to make sure that where the line enters through the wall that water or insects cannot get into the building. If coax connectors are covered with a sealant, check to make sure that they are still being protected from the elements. I hope you have some kind of lightning arrestor and grounding system where the feedline enters the house. Check to make sure the connections are solid. If you do any actual work on the antenna or feedline, all of the radios inside should be disconnected from the AC mains to avoid any possibility of electric shock. Remember, at this point we are just doing a visual inspection.

Have animals damaged the coax?

Since one of my antennas is a ground mounted Butternut vertical, I will need to do a close up inspection of the feed point to make sure that the coaxial cable is connected at the base, both the center conductor to the vertical radiating element and the coax braid to the grounding system and radial field. Since this particular antenna model has several capacitors that I can reach from the ground, I can also check to make sure that they have not come loose or broken over the winter. My antenna has a small fence around it to protect the base, and even the fence deserves a quick look over to make sure that it is still structurally sound. The vertical is fed underground, so I will need to inspect the parts that are visible in the feedline system, looking for signs of deterioration or damage caused by rodents or rabbits. (I once looked out the back window and saw a squirrel happily eating away at a plastic lawn chair. Animals can cause similar damage to coaxial cable.)

Towers need special attention.

If you are lucky enough to have a tower, you should also include it in your periodic inspection to make sure that it is structurally sound, and that includes a close-up inspection of at least some of the hardware that holds the tower together and the tower base to make sure that corrosion has not compromised its integrity. Naturally you want to inspect as much of the feedline as you can easily reach around the base of the tower and take a look at the grounding system as well.

A checklist can help. Pilots use them before takeoff – you can use checklists, too.

Every antenna installation is different, so I can’t get overly specific about a check list. However, I can say that it is my responsibility to know and understand the design and layout of my own antenna system so that I can make sure that it remains safe and effective. You have that same responsibility for your station, whether you have a disability or not. Perhaps you cannot easily get outside or see the antenna system yourself, but you should still have a complete understanding of where things are and how they work and how they should be inspected so that you can direct your helper or helpers during a routine inspection. Of course it helps to have amateur radio operators — hopefully friends from your local radio club — to help you with your antenna inspections. But if you don’t, you may have to call on friends who know very little if anything about amateur radio and antennas. In that case, you really have to be able to take charge of the inspection and give good directions so that the inspection can be done properly and your helpers can be safe as they are following your directions. You may want to make a checklist of basic items so that you don’t forget anything.

Yes, summer may be the ham radio doldrums, but it is a lot easier to do an antenna inspection on a nice summer day than it is in the middle of winter. So if you can’t hear anything on the bands it might be time to think about an antenna inspection followed by iced tea on the veranda.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice
[email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

We are definitely in the summer ham radio doldrums. I can tell that we have reached this time of year by some of the comments I hear, usually by word of mouth or by e-mail:

	“What is wrong with the bands?”
	“When will the bands get better? I don’t hear anything on HF.”
	“I never hear anything on the repeater.”
	“My radio club doesn’t meet during the summer.”
	“No one is around to help me with my station/antenna projects.”
	“When I went to check into the net, there was no net control station and no one ran the net.”

Does any of this sound familiar? I hear most of this same kind of discussion every year about this time. As summer arrives here in Minnesota, people start thinking seriously about outdoor activities and taking vacation. Of course we have ARRL Field Day in June each year, but the overall disconnect from many ham radio activities really begins in mid-Spring, generally following Dayton HAMVENTION.

Mother Nature contributes to the problem of HF operation by throwing thunderstorms at us all summer long. The resulting radio interference pretty much makes operation on the lower HF frequencies something that would try any operator’s patience. Then there is the onset of spring and summer jobs waiting for everyone when the snow finally melts here in central North America. I have noticed that radio club attendance usually starts to decline in March. Many radio clubs don’t even meet during the summer because everyone has so much going on that it is difficult to find a quorum for a meeting.

When I hear questions about the HF bands, I know that they are usually coming from newbies who don’t have too much experience and have never learned about the seasonal fluctuations in HF and VHF propagation. Old timers know that the 6 m band comes alive in the late spring and early summer, just as the lower HF bands start to get plagued by thunderstorm static. If these newbies haven’t learned about seasonal fluctuations, they certainly don’t know about or understand solar weather or the sunspot cycle either. Oh, well… I look upon it as a teaching opportunity.

Last week we reminded you to get ready for Field Day. As long as band conditions aren’t too good, now is the time to head out to the backyard for an antenna inspection. Those of you listening to the podcast can hear me as I go through my usual checklist to make sure that my antennas are going to keep working all right. An antenna inspection should be done several times each year, or even more often if you have experienced severe weather in your area.

What to look for:

Are the antennas still up in the air?

Don’t laugh — I have heard from people who didn’t even know half of their antenna was lying on the ground someplace after one of the supports broke. A visual inspection will include making sure that any wire antennas are still in position and that tree branches are not impinging on the radiating element or feedline. Other types of antennas, like vertical or beam antennas, should be visually inspected just to see that all of the elements are in place. If an antenna is designed to rotate, you should look to see that trees have not grown so close to the antenna that they enter the turning radius. So far, all of this can be done by simply walking outside and looking around. If you are blind or have low vision, you will want to get a helper to do this part of the job with your direction.

What about the feedline?

Next, you are going to pay particular attention to the feedline or feedlines, and if the antenna is really high in the air, a pair of binoculars can bring the feed point (center insulator) into focus so that you can see if everything is connected properly. This antenna inspection is a pretty simple one and it does not include any tower climbing. You can follow the feedline down to the point where you can do a close inspection, being sure to include where the feedline enters the building. Since you can actually feel and manipulate the feedline at that point, you can check for any deterioration that might indicate a need for replacement. You will also want to check to make sure that where the line enters through the wall that water or insects cannot get into the building. If coax connectors are covered with a sealant, check to make sure that they are still being protected from the elements. I hope you have some kind of lightning arrestor and grounding system where the feedline enters the house. Check to make sure the connections are solid. If you do any actual work on the antenna or feedline, all of the radios inside should be disconnected from the AC mains to avoid any possibility of electric shock. Remember, at this point we are just doing a visual inspection.

Have animals damaged the coax?

Since one of my antennas is a ground mounted Butternut vertical, I will need to do a close up inspection of the feed point to make sure that the coaxial cable is connected at the base, both the center conductor to the vertical radiating element and the coax braid to the grounding system and radial field. Since this particular antenna model has several capacitors that I can reach from the ground, I can also check to make sure that they have not come loose or broken over the winter. My antenna has a small fence around it to protect the base, and even the fence deserves a quick look over to make sure that it is still structurally sound. The vertical is fed underground, so I will need to inspect the parts that are visible in the feedline system, looking for signs of deterioration or damage caused by rodents or rabbits. (I once looked out the back window and saw a squirrel happily eating away at a plastic lawn chair. Animals can cause similar damage to coaxial cable.)

Towers need special attention.

If you are lucky enough to have a tower, you should also include it in your periodic inspection to make sure that it is structurally sound, and that includes a close-up inspection of at least some of the hardware that holds the tower together and the tower base to make sure that corrosion has not compromised its integrity. Naturally you want to inspect as much of the feedline as you can easily reach around the base of the tower and take a look at the grounding system as well.

A checklist can help. Pilots use them before takeoff – you can use checklists, too.

Every antenna installation is different, so I can’t get overly specific about a check list. However, I can say that it is my responsibility to know and understand the design and layout of my own antenna system so that I can make sure that it remains safe and effective. You have that same responsibility for your station, whether you have a disability or not. Perhaps you cannot easily get outside or see the antenna system yourself, but you should still have a complete understanding of where things are and how they work and how they should be inspected so that you can direct your helper or helpers during a routine inspection. Of course it helps to have amateur radio operators — hopefully friends from your local radio club — to help you with your antenna inspections. But if you don’t, you may have to call on friends who know very little if anything about amateur radio and antennas. In that case, you really have to be able to take charge of the inspection and give good directions so that the inspection can be done properly and your helpers can be safe as they are following your directions. You may want to make a checklist of basic items so that you don’t forget anything.

Yes, summer may be the ham radio doldrums, but it is a lot easier to do an antenna inspection on a nice summer day than it is in the middle of winter. So if you can’t hear anything on the bands it might be time to think about an antenna inspection followed by iced tea on the veranda.

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice
[email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

June is here, and that means Field Day planning

As you know, we have been at Handiham radio camp last week, and because the camp session ended just as the long Memorial Day holiday weekend began, today is our first day back for routine office duties. We hope you had a pleasant and thoughtful Memorial Day weekend and were able to set some time aside to remember those who have gone before us, serving to protect our freedom.

Memorial Day seems to be the unofficial start to the summer season here in North America. Yes, I know that the official beginning of the season begins later this month at the summer solstice on June 21. In fact, in the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice begins on Jun 21 2010 at 7:28 AM EDT. Nonetheless, nothing flips the switch to summer quite as well as a long holiday weekend, and once people get into the mood of summer, they tend to forget about spending time with indoor activities and look to the great outdoors for fun in the sun.

That doesn’t mean that ham radio will not be an important part of the summer. To the contrary, June is an excellent month for ham radio. Amateur Radio Field Day is coming up on the first full weekend in June, as it always does. ARRL Field Day is June 26-27, 2010. If you have never operated during a Field Day, you are in for a pleasant surprise: Field Day is the largest on-the-air operating event in Amateur Radio. Combining elements of a contest with setting up portable stations is a brilliant strategy. Field Day provides an opportunity to practice setting up for emergency situations, learning new and better operating skills, participating in a competitive event as a group or as an individual operator, really learning how your equipment works, and — in the case of a radio club Field Day event — being able to socialize with your friends and just have a lot of fun sharing this operating event. Some radio clubs have a family picnic to make sure that spouses and children can share in the fun. Others are in it for the contest and run stations day and night, focusing on that all-important point count.

If you are a person with a disability, you can participate in Field Day, but you may have to do just a little advance planning to make sure that you are able to operate effectively and safely, either as an individual or in a group. Here are some things to consider:

Field Day has many different options. You can operate from your home station without setting up any portable antennas and portable radios. You do not need to operate using power from a generator or batteries. In fact, you can operate your existing station just as you always do and still participate and have a great deal of fun on Field Day. The object of the exercise is to work as many stations as possible on any amateur radio band except 60, 30, 17, and 12 m. If your disability requires that you stick close to home, you may want to simply participate using your own station.

You don’t have to operate during the entire Field Day exercise. Even if you participate for a couple of hours, you can have fun and gain experience. So, even if your disability makes it inconvenient to be away from home for long periods of time, you will be welcome at most radio club Field Day sites during the time it is practical for you to be part of the group effort.

Check out the Field Day site in advance for accessibility, especially if you are using a wheelchair or electric scooter to get around. Some sites are truly rugged and not accessible. Others may be the ultimate in accessibility, with wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms. Since several radio clubs in your area may be participating in Field Day, now is the time to start shopping around for an accessible site. Don’t be afraid to call the contact person listed on the club website and discuss accessibility. It is better to find out in advance what is and what is not available.

Sometimes special needs can be accommodated at the operating positions of a club Field Day site. For example, if it is known in advance that a blind operator will be participating, a radio or radios equipped with voice frequency output might be made available. Again, this is something that needs to be planned in advance, so now is the time to speak up.

If you are a ham radio operator with a disability, I certainly hope that you are part of a local radio club already. But if you aren’t, a club Field Day is sometimes the perfect opportunity to meet club members and find out if a particular club will meet your needs. Don’t forget that as a club member you will be expected to participate and take on some club duties as well.

Sometimes we concentrate on accessible radios and wheelchair ramps when we think about Field Day, forgetting that it will be necessary to take care of life’s normal requirements. Since the contest goes on for at least 24 hours, if you expect to stay at the Field Day site for long periods of time or even for the entire length of the contest, you will have to consider whether the restrooms are accessible, if the food and beverages meet your dietary needs, whether it will be possible for you to stay on your medication schedule if you must take medicine on a daily basis, and what kind of shelter is available on site in the event of inclement weather.

If you stay overnight, you will need to determine where you will sleep and how you will stay warm since it can get quite cool in the night and early morning. Generally speaking, if you are comfortable with camping and already do so on a regular basis, you will have no problem managing a Field Day where the crew is “roughing it”. On the other hand, if you would rather fill out 100 tax forms than go camping, you should look for a club that has its Field Day indoors with lots of amenities. Either one will be a great experience, but you have to be sure you pick the right one for you!

Field Day rules change a bit from year to year as new ideas take shape and technology changes. If you have never been to a Field Day or if you have been away from Field Day for a number of years, take some time to check out the ARRL website and find out more about this excellent operating event.

My radio club, the Handiham-affiliated Stillwater Amateur Radio Association, is holding its Field Day indoors in a completely accessible modern city park building. SARA goes the extra mile to serve Handiham members and is an ARRL Special Service Club.

I hope to hear you on the air during Field Day 2010.

Patrick Tice, Handiham Manager
[email protected]

Dear Family & Friends,

Here I am at Handiham Radio Camp, and I’ve been having a great time. It’s hard to believe that we are already leaving camp tomorrow morning. The week has gone by so fast!

Several of us arrived a day early to begin setup of antennas and stations. The photo I’ve included here shows Phil, K9HI, Matt, KA0PQW, and Don, N0BVE, posing midway between antenna projects and smiling for the camera. The volunteers who help us through the week are really the experts at making things happen – whether it is setting up computer networks, running coax, stringing up Field Day antennas, setting up and testing station gear, teaching licensing classes, teaching operating skills, getting campers out onto the lake to operate marine mobile, and all of the other things that happen during the week.

Nancy, our Handiham Secretary, met the campers for the first time this week. She had never been at a radio camp session before and was quite a celebrity, since everyone knew her voice from talking with her on the phone. When the radio camp was at Courage North, it was too far for Nancy to drive. Now that we are at Camp Courage, we are close enough to Minneapolis to make the drive practical.

This morning we met the V.E. team for breakfast, then the campers who were taking exams gave it their best shot. Those who got the good news were really happy, and those who didn’t quite make it – well, they were happy to have an excuse to come back to camp next year. After lunch, we started taking down the antennas, at least the temporary ones, and packing up the station gear. It seemed as if we had just gotten that stuff out of the boxes and set it up, but that’s the way it goes: Time really does go fast when you are having fun.

The afternoon weather is perfect today, and we are having a pool party. The campers and staff are enjoying our swimming pool while I am packing boxes. Poor me. Oh, heck, I really didn’t want to go swimming anyway. While I was packing, I was listening to Jerry, N0VOE, conducting a mini-net connecting a group of our campers with an elementary school class studying geography. Arlene, KE7KNM, teaches school in Salt Lake City, UT, and invited us to speak with her students, who would locate our home QTHs on a map.

Joe, N3AIN, agreed to share a few thoughts about radio camp week with you, so keep listening, and have a great Memorial Day weekend.

The Handiham office will be closed through Tuesday, opening again on June 2.

73,

Patrick Tice, Handiham Manager
[email protected]

Welcome to Handiham World!

Getting ready for Radio Camp: Sniffing out problems in the station equipment

Handiham Radio Camp begins on Friday, May 21. We have to make sure that our radio gear is ready to go so that it can be deployed when we do camp setup later this week – and that means doing a few preliminary checks that include connecting the transceivers to a power supply and testing the receive and transmit functions, making sure that there is modulation, and checking to make sure that the speech modules are speaking the frequency for our blind users.

George LaValle, N0SBU, and his dog PJ pose for the camera as they sniff out any potential problems, while Avery, K0HLA, looks on approvingly. Every project needs a supervisor, a sniffer, and a guy who pushes the transmit button!

If you listen for us on the bands during camp week, which is Friday, May 21 through Friday, May 28, 2010, give us a shout and you may earn a QSL card, providing that you send us one. We do plan to be on the Handiham Echolink net every day, including Sunday during camp week, but remember that because Fridays are camper travel days, those days are not going to be the best for making contact with the camp. You may be able to contact campers or volunteers on the road as they travel.

We are often asked, “What frequencies will you be on?” and “Can we make a scheduled contact with the camp?”

I know from years of experience trying to figure out frequencies and schedules that it is best not to promise anything. However, I can say that we will make a good effort to be on the air at Echolink net time, and if you want, you can ask the folks at camp if they are willing to get on the HF bands for a schedule. Be sure to route any requests through the net control station, whoever that might be.

Thanks to Don Rice, N0BVE, we will have Echolink repeater access at Radio Camp. Our repeater will be connected to the HANDIHAM Conference Server, node 494492. This high capacity node, sponsored by N0VZC, can accept 200 connections. The camp repeater will be on all the time, so you can always try a call even outside regular net times. You never know when someone will be listening.

The best times to contact us are:

Early morning before 08:00 CDT (Before breakfast)
Between 13:00 and 15:00 CDT (Camper recreation time)
After 18:30 (Following dinner)

As I said, you can try calling anytime and the call will go out all over camp on the camp repeater system. We do have people listening most of the time, especially those who are in Operating Skills or Extra Seminar.

We hope to hear you on the air soon!

Patrick Tice
[email protected]
Handiham Manager

Welcome to Handiham World!

Courage Center Development Officer Walt Seibert Passes Ham Radio Exam

Photo: Walt Seibert, left, gets congrats from Pat, WA0TDA.

Another New Ham

Congratulations to Walt Seibert, who passed his Technician licensing exam at the Handiham-affiliated Stillwater Amateur Radio Association VE session last Thursday. Walt works with me at Courage Center, and we have known each other for many years. As one of his duties in the Courage Center Development Department, Walt traveled with me one year to Dayton HAMVENTION and with the help of our colleague Tom Olson put on a “meet and greet” development event in support of the Handiham program.

So Walt is no stranger to ham radio, and when he decided to pursue his Technician Class amateur radio license, we were thrilled. There is nothing like being able to “walk the walk and talk the talk”, and if you are going to ask potential donors to support an amateur radio education program for people with disabilities, it certainly helps to have an amateur radio license yourself. I know that Walt was amazed at the size and scope of Dayton HAMVENTION. The amazing technology, the friendly folks who visited the Handiham booth, the fun and fellowship — I guess it isn’t surprising that amateur radio looked pretty good.

Of course Walt is always busy at work, helping Courage Center to earn the trust and support of those who believe in our mission to help people with disabilities. For a time he was interested in amateur radio but couldn’t take the time to pursue it because of his other professional development studies and the demands of work. However, the stars finally aligned for Walt, and he decided to earn his Technician. We helped with study materials and links to amateur radio practice exam websites. Soon Walt was reporting back to us that he was passing practice exams on a regular basis, and then every time he tried. We set up Walt with an upcoming VE session and crossed our fingers.

I am a member of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association VE Team, so I was pleased to see that Walt showed up at our Thursday evening testing session, which meant that I would be able to personally give him the good news when he passed the test. As expected, Walt did a great job on the examination and I was able to perform one of my favorite duties as a volunteer examiner: giving a successful candidate the good news!

Congratulations to Walt, who is now waiting for his callsign to appear in the database.

Guide Dog Trawler passes away quietly

Folks, it is with much sadness that I report the passing of guide Trawler. He gave no indication of any health issues. He guided at church last Sunday, and we went to the Plymouth Senior Center yesterday, where he worked well as usual, steps and all. All was normal the rest of Monday. This morning, Tuesday, Pam found him on his sleeping mat next to our computer. He was in his normal sleep position, no sign of any trauma. Pam feels it was his heart. Trawler would have been ten years old July 4 of this year.

I would like to have my ham radio friends on the net and camp staff know of this, so could you forward the information?

Jerry Kloss, N0VOE

Editor’s note: Trawler guided Jerry, Handiham Volunteer & Student Coordinator, through years of Radio Camps and Handiham activities. A true team, they worked so well together that it was fun to watch them travel with confidence and poise. Our hearts go out to Jerry and his wife Pam in their time of loss, for losing a treasured animal and guide leaves a hole in your heart.