Making Happy Waves

Thought for the day:  Excitement has no age limit.

[THEME: Amateur radio]

I was honored to serve four terms as the ARRL Section Manager for the state of Georgia. In essence, I was our state's elected volunteer (how's that for an oxymoron?) and representative with  the American Radio Relay League, our national organization for amateur radio. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, it was a ton of work, but also a ton of fun.

One of the things I did was travel the state to give speeches to various organizations, and do presentations at numerous amateur radio club meetings. My favorite presentation, I called Amateur Radio and the WOW FACTOR.

                                                         So, what's that mean? Stuff like this:

• The world's amazement over the first successful trans-Atlantic wireless communication.
• The sense of pride and excitement experienced by early amateurs when they built their own equipment and made that first contact.
• Excitement over the remarkable innovations and technological advancements within the radio art.
• It's the feeling that, even after more than forty years as an amateur, had my husband ya-hoo-ing through the house the day he made his first slow-scan TV contact.
• It's the feeling that drove an 80+ year old man to get an amateur radio license, something he'd always wanted to do.
• It's what drove a long-limbed ballerina teenager to leap through the air and into my husband's arms after she passed her first amateur radio test. (She later became a communications expert in the Marine Corps.)
• It's the sense of community and brotherhood that, much like the barn-raisings of pioneer days, still brings amateurs together to help each other with antenna and tower-raising activities.
• It's the never-ending sense of connection that kept a Texas ham on the air daily until he passed away at the age of 105.
• And on, and on, and on.

Like this:

This is a picture of my hubby and me working inside the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) communications vehicle during the G-8 summit. A truly, truly, truly exciting week of working with some amazing people from all over the country.

Say, who is that fellow?

It sure looks like ....

By George, it IS! It's W!

Yes, indeedy, we actually met the president of the United States while we were serving during the G-8. Shook his hand. And ... he told ME thank you! Definitely a WOW moment. If you'd like to see a little more about the experience, here ya go: meeting the president

And for every amateur radio operator, no matter how young or how old, how long or short he's been licensed, the hobby/service can ... and does ... provide a whole lifetime of WOW.

Talk about appropriate. Guess what the call sign was for the amateur radio station at Atlanta's Sci Trek Museum? W4WOW! I kid you not! And trust me, it was really FUN to get on the air with that call sign, too.


















It was really hard picking this topic for W. Not that I don't think it's a good one, but because I have such a totally cool picture for  WAVES.  

                                                           Oh well. Maybe next time, huh?