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Ham and CB Radio Communication – A Great Family Hobby
An opportunity to spend quality time with family members is at hand. I was surely blessed when my father chose to encourage my interest in electronics by directing me towards two-way radio communications. There are few things that we can choose as hobbies that provide a useful and lasting opportunity to learn. The personal interrelationship with our children creates a strong family bond and emotional attachment that lasts forever.
I was the kind of kid who brought home whatever electronics he could find on the sidewalks on trash days. The neighbor saw my interest and donated unwanted electronics for me to learn. I had televisions, radios, record player/radio combos, etc., in my bedroom and on the kitchen table. I was fascinated by how all these electronic devices worked. Dad saw this and promoted my education by getting me involved in “Heath Kit” products, and later getting a Ham Radio base station and license for our home. My world has expanded tremendously and I have become wholeheartedly involved in learning about it.
There was a time when we had a radio mast which included mounting a shortwave Ham antenna, CB radio antenna and our TV antenna together. It was quite the sight in our neighborhood when dad’s friends; Jocko and Claude, one Saturday morning, brought this mast in a company truck. Dad had built it himself and wanted it as a surprise for all of us kids. He had made the decision to involve us in radio communications as a shared hobby. The mast was triangular, constructed of 1.5-inch thin-walled square aluminum, and was 35 feet tall.
The base of the mast matched the slope of the roof of the house: it was easily removed from the truck bed on the roof, stood upright and fixed on our roof, then climbed in order to securely fix each antenna. It seemed like everyone in the neighborhood had their eyes wide open and were mesmerized that day, just like me and my siblings. We were really proud of how our house looked that day; we had the only sci-fi-looking house in the neighborhood and we knew that all the other kids in our neighborhood were the envy of us.
About a week after raising the antenna, Dad brought in a Ham Radio base station consisting of receiver, transmitter, and amplifier components. All complements of ‘Jocko’ who was a communications technician in the Phillipeans during WWII, with dad and dad’s war buddy. Additionally, he purchased a “Johnson Messenger” CB radio base unit and a corresponding “Johnson Messenger” mobile radio which he installed in the family car. Both CBs were identical “White Face” models, the only exception being that the mobile version had a “vibrator tube” fitted allowing it to run on converted direct current (direct current), as the radio had an operating power of 110 VAC (alternating current) This made the CB radio mobile, and later allowed me to have a good time using the base station and radioing my dad wherever he was. The real fun started after all of this was installed.
Over time it became clear that our radios were not getting good receive/transmit distance. This was clear to both the Ham base unit and the CB radio base. The problem with our grounding system. We had simply driven a copper ground rod into the ground outside Dad’s bedroom window. We had attached a ground wire from the base of the mast to this 8 foot long copper rod and used it as the antenna-base transmitter/receiver ground circuit. We determined it was not adequate and installed a new grounding system. Dad bought two bags of “rock salt” (sodium chloride), then pulled out our old ground rod. I then dug a four foot hole, drove our copper rod down the center of it, where it would be 4 or 5 inches above the ground when the hole was filled. After that, we poured a bag of salt; added water, then filled the hole halfway up, added the last bag of salt and more water, then filled the hole to ground level.
A test became necessary, so I held a 100W bulb (ground side) against the stem, while holding the ground wire from the mast to the positive tip of the bulb. Dad “touched” the CB microphone and my bulb flashed brightly. The “Radio Messenger” had been “bridged” to the final output amplifier giving us 100W of SSB power. Wow, that was really amazing to me. The next test was the “Ham Radio” base transmitter test. Using the same light bulb, dad “touched” the mic and the light bulb in my hand went on too bright and burned out. This basic transmitter put out about 1.5 KW (1500) watts of transmit power), which was marginally legal with our current license. Well, we used it anyway. Our new ground tested less than 24 ohms from antenna mast to ground. We had a lightning rod situation that we were unaware of at the time.
To cut a long story short, over a period of time our antenna has attracted a lot of attention. We had the privilege of talking all over the world, Ham and CB were well connected and I learned a lot about electronics. Using the “Continuous Wave Mode” (CW), I also transmitted in “Morse Code” all over the world. Everyone during the 1960s still boasted that they were proficient in its use. Everything is fine, but a problem seemed to visit us during the first fall/winter season, again in the spring. Our grounding system was so good that it drew severe thunderstorms around our house. We didn’t realize it until the city inspectors arrived. It seems that some of our neighbors had complained that six children lived in a house that was always struck by lightning.
The rock salt created an acid soil ensuring good contact of the copper with the soil. The height of our antenna mast was approximately 47′ from the ground, plus the 8′ length of the tallest antenna. It was a total height of 55 feet, which was higher than anything else around our house. It was well anchored and safe, but the town spoiled us on the overall height exceeding local codes. We had to bring the antenna mast to a concrete slab on the ground. This eventually proved effective, but the fun of thunderstorms was badly missed, although there was still some serious electrical activity around our house on some days. We really enjoyed the storms, and a lot of neighborhood kids and parents were impressed with them as well.
I must say that this hobby has changed my life. My sister Larae and my brother Steven also developed an interest in communications. Larae works as a TV and radio station manager in Oregon, and my brother Steven works for the sheriffs department as a communications engineer. I have personally worked as an industrial electrician and instrumentation electrician for over eight years. This hobby is both educational and exciting. The bonds you build with your children will last a lifetime. I can honestly say that the time and money spent developing this hobby with family and friends will be well spent.
Have fun and good luck in your new hobby if you decide to get involved.
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