I recently sent a message to all of our Life Members asking them to check/verify the contact information we have for them. In addition to the confirmation, I received the following lovely note from Ellen:
————————————————————————————————————————————–Ham Radio is not a hobby to me; it’s a Lifeline.
I appreciate all I learned from my early years in Ham Radio with the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club. My first call sign in 1980 was KL7OR. I remember operating from a large control room in the Alascom HQ Bldg on top of Government Hill during the 1980-82 early years of the Iditarod Race, handling traffic from (and to) AARC Hams stationed at the race checkpoints.
Back then, everyone relied on Ham Radio volunteers to relay the racers checkpoint times and send emergency or priority traffic for veterinary care, supplies, and overdue race teams. Anchorage Amateur Radio Club members traveled out to the Bush and camped out with their HF stations set up at the Iditarod Checkpoints until the last race team came through their checkpoint. They stayed in tents, local homes or school gyms for 2-3 weeks, or more.
In 2008, I became KL2LN and relied on Ham Radio while sailing a 49-ft sailboat with my husband across the Pacific from New Zealand to North America, and then throughout 7 years of coastal sailing in Mexico and the Sea of Cortez.
I continue to be active in Ham Radio from my home in Southern Oregon. I am a Net Control for two weekly VHF Ham Nets, I participate in the Oregon District 5 ARES HF Net each week, and I volunteer with our County Emergency Communications group weekly in support of VHF and HF emergency communications equipment and procedures. Communications technology has advanced, but Ham Radio can still get through when power grids & satellites go dark and hi-tech fails.
