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I started
out as a "user" when the station was just a couple of comm boxes, a tarp,
and a few picnic tables. I began repairing some of the gear (Drake TR-4
for in-country nets) and the Collins S Line for CONUS. The more that I
hung out at the station, the more time I got to operate. I was able to
call my folks, grandparents, and of course, my Girlfriend, now my XYL
(KF6KQA). I found that even though some of the copy was poor, I was able
to talk with my folks. My father (KC6UHR SK) and I are civilian pilots
and have had much experience making sense out of the hash, so when
everyone else was "down" I still was able to make calls. Norval and
Connie (ed. N0HFO) used to
call me the Tired Ol’ Man, since most of our QSOs were very early in the
morning Hotel Time, and we got pretty punchy that late in the morning. I
remember that one of the operators had an affinity for Celery Phosphate
(Dr. Brown's, I believe). We drank copious quantities of the stuff. When
the "New" station was built with a real air conditioned waiting room it
made my two years in Viet Nam more tolerable.
We used to
trade airtime with the USAF Mars Station AI8AM on top of Monkey Mountain (Tien
Sha). When they couldn't get out on their freqs, and we could, and vice
versa. We would be able to make calls to our families via landlines and
phone patches within DaNang. We also got to know the drivers from NSA
Taxi, and whenever we needed something from elsewhere in DaNang, they were
able to find it for us by driving through the dark streets of the city at
breakneck speeds.
Tom Cagan |
