Today’s Whimsy
There was a Technician named Stu
Who grew weary of gabbing on 2.
A license upgrade
Made his mournfulness fade
And opened a new world to his view.
Once In A Lifetime: Being DX
At Heath, part of my job was keeping the computer and test equipment product lines filled with items people needed. And that required numerous trips to the Far East, mostly to Taiwan, amounting to 1-2 months in country per year.
Wayne Wilson, WB8TSO, had the same responsibility for the amateur radio equipment line. His travels were fewer, mostly to Japan, with Yaesu being a major contact for him.
During one of my trips to Taiwan, I spotted what was clearly a three element triband beam on a tower on top of a building. I asked my host what he knew about it, and he knew that it had something to do with our Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA. I shot off a note to Barry and got a reply from his staff indicating that the beam was associated with Tim Chen, BV2A, along with Tim’s contact information.
Tim was the “father” of Taiwanese amateur radio. He’s the one who worked with their government to get the hobby opened up. And he indicated that he would be happy to host us at the club station. Neat.
Now all I had to do was persuade Wayne. Wayne disliked going to Japan, and wasn’t any happier about the prospect of going to Taiwan with me. But I knew that Wayne liked his beer and didn’t like Japanese beer. I also had been told that in the early days, the Taiwanese had brought in a real German brewmaster who taught them how to make German beer. So after explaining that the hotel rooms in Taiwan were much more comfortable than those in Japan, that the food was delicious, and the beer was German, he was persuaded.
In the fall of 1988, we packed up an SB1400 transceiver (repackage of the FT747), an SB1000 kilowatt amplifier, a PK232 digital modes interface, and what passed for a portable computer in those days, and off we went to the major electronics show in Taipei. Back then, my call was K7OWJ. Tim Chen and Shane Tang, BV2FA, met us at the airport, and inquired about whether we had any trouble getting through customs. I reported that customs was very puzzled and didn’t know how to handle our radio equipment. They had put a tag in my passport that said that I either had to pay $135 when I left, or take the equipment with me. Tim was a little concerned, because in Taiwan, possession of even a receiver that tuned outside the broadcast bands was highly illegal, and we had missed getting permission. We made a detour to the club station, where we deposited the equipment, lest we be found with contraband.
The next day, after work, our task was setting up the equipment. The 240 volt socket in the shack was nothing like the plug on the SB1000, so there was nothing for me to do but take a hammer to the plug, break it apart, wrap the key parts in electrical tape, and gingerly plug the connectors in one by one, using insulated pliers. Yeah, that’s me on the tower.
Of course, we packed the 3-500 tube for the SB-1000 amplifier separately. But somewhere in transit, it took a pretty hard bump. The plate, which is attached only to the top of the tube, was obviously tilted. So I wrapped it in my jacket, took a deep breath, and thumped it on the table top until it appeared to be straight. We put it in the amplifier, fired it up, and it worked just fine. Apparently, sometimes percussive maintenance is the answer. With everything working, I fired up on 20 meters. The only station I could hear was a YL in the US with a 4 call. She was just signing with another station, so I hit her with, “(her call) Taiwan calling, K7OWJ/BV2.” She was obviously quite surprised to hear us. We had a short conversation, and closed down for the night. Wayne said, “I’ll bet we made her day.” And I think he was right.
We had special permission to operate HF packet, and that was Wayne’s department. Here’s a screen capture of the first packet contact from Taiwan, DU1JMG in the Philippines.
Working SSB was my department. Conditions were good, and early in the day and toward evening we had 10 meter openings into the US. So we set up shop near the top of the Technician 10 meter SSB allocation, and had great fun providing DX. We came very close to Worked All States in the few precious hours we had on the air, and did better than one contact per minute while still allowing some time for social chat.
Our QSL instructions were to send cards to Annie at Heathkit, Benton Harbor, MI. Annie was the most reliable QSL manager ever. I still have the cards from that adventure. And I think I still have the shirt I was wearing when the photo of me operating SSB was taken. My wife says I am slow to throw away old clothes. Pish tosh. Has she no respect for history and tradition?
And the $135 tag on my passport? Tim paid that, and we left the SB1000 and SB1400 with him for the benefit of their club.
73 for now,
Denton
W7DB