N8RJ ’s Vacation at the Beach with Ham Radio

In October, I was at the beach at Topsail Island NC, with the family. We did the usual beach stuff: Walking & running on the beach, Trips to town on bicycles, Chasing crabs with flashlights, Shucking oysters, etc. I also set up my Ft-991A and a VHF/UHF antenna. I checked-in to some local nets. I could reach 20 repeaters in the Wilmington - Topsail - Jacksonville area.

The antenna is a Slim-Jim flexible twin-lead attached to scrap lumber I found in the basement. Then that is tied to the railing of the sound-side deck. The red, green, and blue objects are children’s beach toys used as spacers and insulators, in case the wood gets wet.

I rode by bike up to the apex of the new high-rise bridge. I can reach 17 repeaters with my Baofeng UV-5R.

One day I turned on the radio and discovered that the local hams were doing an ARES Simulated Emergency Test. The simulated emergency was a forest fire, like the one they actually had in 1986. I recorded part of the event. Click the links below to hear the recordings.

Recording #1 Recording #2 Recording #3

Click this link for a description of the event by the Onslow Amateur Radio Club: Simulated Emergency Test (SET)