Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9307300049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Among the travelers will be about 50 amateur radio - "ham" - operators, part of the 400-member international Amateur Radio Chapter that is one of the association's interest groups.
John Stockberger, a ham from Batavia, Ill., is membership chairman. Now retired six years from AT&T, Stockberger, in addition to his radio hobby, keeps active doing volunteer construction work with Habitat for Humanity.
He's had his ham license since 1941 and broke into mobile ham radio during the mid-1950s when he drove the Al-Can Highway.
Using shortwave radio frequencies, many Amateur Radio Chapter members throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada get together on the air each day to chat and compare notes on a "net," Stockberger explained. He is the "net control station," a sort of on-air traffic cop who helps keep the proceedings orderly.
He said he expects about 55 motor homes and close to 100 hams at the chapter's pre-convention rally at the Shenandoah Valley KOA in Augusta County. The chapter then will caravan to the New River Valley for the national convention this week.
As opposed to the limited-range citizens' band, amateur radio enjoys a wide range and greater reliability. It also has a variety of modes, from Morse code to voice, various teletype and digital modes, and even television.
Ham radio operators must pass a test on radio theory and Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations. Some license classes also require passing a test in Morse code.
Motor coach ham enthusiasts get to combine both passions by taking their hobby on the road.
"There are sundry kinds of antennas on their coaches," said Stockberger, whose unit carries a horizontal wire antenna plus a vertically mounted unit, called a "Texas Bug Catcher," with a huge wire coil in the middle.
When he's parked, Stockberger said, he can erect a 30-foot antenna pole on the back of his coach.
He said national conventions such as the one at Blacksburg give hams from around the country and beyond a chance to have "eyeball QSOs" (ham shorthand for a face-to-face conversation) in which they can discuss new antenna ideas and other technical developments.
Occasionally, he said, qualified chapter members may even administer amateur radio exams so others can join in. The chapter's membership includes many husband-and-wife ham radio teams.
by CNB