Feb. 02, 2003 - 19:48 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

After All

Back when the transistor was new - or at least new to the public and could be bought, radios and televisions used vacuum tubes and most of us had come down out of the trees, I bought a used Hallicrafters shortwave receiver for just a few bucks. The desire to listen to shortwave radio dates back to when I was with Mom and Dad at a card party and the owner of the residence let me listen in to short wave on his radio.

Thus I became an avid shortwave surfer one might say, that is if they wish to. Along with that were the Morse Code transmissions that I couldn't read.

Combined with the fact that I was a Scoutmaster of our local boys when they graduated from Webelos I felt the need to learn Morse Code so as to teach the boys if they so desired, combined with my natural feeling that something was happening that I wasn't in on.

It was snow balling on me and the ambition to become an amateur radio operator grew oh so fast. I found that I could buy a build-it-yourself transmitter fairly cheaply and mulled over getting a good receiver. Which I did, and it was a doozy, a very good model of Hammerlund which I paid for by deductions from my wages through our company. The transmitter was labored over as I memorized Morse Code by trying to turn every sign I read on the way to work into Morse Code.

During that laborious process, I would tune in transmissions in code and practice reading such a thing. Along with that was still short wave listening to do when I wanted a break.

One of the stations that I often tuned to was The Voice Of The Andes. It was a religious station and its format was interesting to me, so it would be listened to at least once on my breaks.

I didn't know too much about it, the why or how, but it was powerful and came in loud and clear.

Many years went by, my amateur license lapsed, I had to sell my gear and many other things took place.

Today at our older son's church his daughter Aimee and her husband and kids were brought forward, I knew they were going to Ecuador, volunteering for two months. He as a doctor and she working in as she could along with watching and taking care of their two boys.

Joe had told me about the organization in a way centered on the work he would be doing down there as a doctor. He had mentioned that the organization had a radio station, which didn't sound strange to me in any way as often there would be power available for lighting purposes but roads very poor.

In the process I heard the call letters of the station mentioned, some how they rang a bell in my empty skull.

At dinner there was much talk about the whole establishment down there, hospital, radio station, church work and many other things such as civil engineering to help out the people there.

I still went home this afternoon in a bit of an ignorant mental state. Until I Googled HCJB and found out it is part of the World Radio Network. And revealed to me then was that HCJB is the "Voice Of The Andes," and now has a 500 kilowatt transmitter, making me say to myself, "Oh, that Radio Station !

My mind which had been rolling around like the little ball on a roulette wheel finally dropped into its slot and voila there is the possiblity of more information on HCJB and photos to come too of their adventures there.

The site of the station is near Quito, Ecuador near a volcano which is active at the present time. About twenty three miles away, it is.

How rapidly something like this takes me back ages ago to when I first got the shortwave bug. Doesn't take a whole lot to make my mind flutter like sheets on the clothes line in a breeze and flitter and flap it did.

Aimee and family will have access to their hotmail account there and we can keep in touch often.

And once again that Disney tune that I can't get out of my mind once it creeps in reminds me that its a small world After All . . . . . . . . .

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