I just don’t feel like saying “Happy Holidays”…. Its not a holiday…. Its Christmas… I was raised to believe in the miracle of Christmas and to be honest after 55 years I’m not about to change now…
I am not forcing my beliefs on anyone else… and I don’t mean to offend… and if you don’t believe… then please accept my best wishes anyway….
I wrote the following for a column I used to write for the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club Newsletter called the Rambler…(My column was called “Ramblings”) way back in December 2005. I was club president that year. It describes an event that occurred around the mid 1990s (I can’t find my old log books) but still holds true today….
“Try and find the time on Christmas Day to check into a couple of the HF nets on 20m. One of my best Christmas’s ever (as an amateur radio operator) was while waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven I managed to sneak into the shack and spin the dial. On the Maritime Mobile Service Net (14.300 USB) I heard a call for a Canadian Station. I jumped in and was able to make a contact with a VE0 (Marine Mobile) who asked me to contact his home and wish his family a “Merry Christmas” as he was not able to be home and had no Telephone Capabilities at sea.
Although I had no actual Phone Patch to use, a bit of improvising with a speakerphone did the trick and he was able to have an actual conversation with his loved ones.
Hearing the joy in their voices, as they were able to communicate made my Christmas.”
Back then SAT Phones were rare and expensive…
If you check out their website at http://www.ovmrc.on.ca and follow the links to their newsletter and go back from August 2005 to June 2006 you will see that even back then I was an opinioned SOB but that’s another story…
Last year VE3GNA Glenn sent me this URL which I think is just fantastic and last year I asked you to visit it. I checked and its still there up and running and so I ask again that you turn on your speakers or put on your headsets then click the url because its well worth visiting. It brought a smile to my face and warm memories back to me so if it works on me… it should work on you…
Anyway before you click on the url…
I also hope that Santa brings you a new radio toy because I know all of you have been good…
The URL I would like you to click on is here
Merry Christmas and best for the New Year
73bob
Tags: amateur radio, Merry Christmas
December 24, 2009 at 8:47 pm |
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Many thanks for your excellent efforts on the blog in using good common sense to maintain the traditional use and procedures and recognized proficiency we have maintained on HF radio for the last 100 years. Job well done sir. The established protocols must be retained to attract high quality new hams and prove to our country that we are a very viable and dependable emergency service.
73 de Nick ” OSS ” team lead.
December 24, 2009 at 9:24 pm |
Thanks for the kind words Nick… Coming from anyone connected with the “OSS” it means a lot…
It was good meeting you in person at Kingston this year and hope we can meet up again both on the air and in person in the New Year.
All the best to you and the family for the holidays and may Santa bring us all FT9000′s
73bob