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)