[CW] Hypothermia Cross-Mode SOS

Tue Jan 26 13:11:31 EST 2021

I for one over reacted to this post. In fact in looking at the picture I found it amusing. We are living in some divisive times, no one can seem to agree on anything today.
Bruce, you need not apologize as you meant no harm to anyone. 

73 John

> On Jan 25, 2021, at 10:42 PM, Hans Brakob <kzerohb at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Couple of points.
>  
> The cartoon was funny as hell.
> It needs no defense
> The former president encourages disrespect, thrives on it, and deserves it.
> This is a hobby, and like your message reinforces, it can also be something much more than that.
> We all need to lighten the hell up.
>  
>  
> 73, de Hans, K0HB
>  
>  
>  
> From: Bruce Prior <mailto:n7rr at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 25, 2021 02:57
> To: CW QTH reflector <mailto:cw at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: [CW] Hypothermia Cross-Mode SOS
>  
> Sometimes ordinary people perform extraordinary deeds. One such person was Jean Ness, a grocery clerk in Calgary, Alberta, who had learned Morse code and became a radio amateur in preparation for her dream Pacific Ocean sailboat cruise with her husband. 
> I was on a solo snowshoeing trip to the Five Fingers Range west of Pitt Lake, British Columbia, not far from Vancouver. Pitt Lake is one of the very few tidal freshwater lakes in the world. At high tide the Fraser River level rises and pushes water through the short channel of the Pitt River, becoming an inlet into the large glacier-carved Pitt Lake fjord, and at low tide the Fraser River level goes down so that the current in Pitt River reverses. 
> I chartered a floatplane to take me near the northern end of Pitt Lake and I made arrangements for a pick-up five days later. I had my Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 transceiver[1] <x-msg://31/#_ftn1>[1] along, but it was too heavy to carry into the mountains, so I left it at the lakeside in a garbage bag. While snowshoeing, my only radio was an Icom IC-2AT handheld transceiver,[2] <x-msg://31/#_ftn2>[2] which would only be useable when I got high into the mountains. Snow began to fall during my first night camping on a mountain side. By morning the snow accumulation was substantial and I became concerned about avalanche hazard, so I retreated as the snowstorm continued.  
> By the time I reached lake level, the temperature was just above freezing, and the heavy snow had become heavy rain. I was completely soaked. I spent a miserable night in my tent on the shore of Pitt Lake. My only decent insulation was a pile inner sleeping bag. My main sleeping bag, although made of artificial fiber insulation, was too wet to be effective. I don't know why I didn't have the presence of mind to build a fire. Even in the wet forest, I could have done so, since I still had white gas in my backpacking stove. I think my hypothermia was affecting my judgement.  
> When the morning light finally arrived, I considered my options. I had a tiny dinghy stashed on the lake shore, and I thought of using it to paddle a short distance to a dock at a cabin across a large creek. I thought I might be able to break in and later compensate the owner. If the dinghy capsized, I would surely die, so I abandoned that idea. The rainclouds were pretty low, but it looked like the ceiling was high enough for a floatplane to fly above the lake.  
> I decided to set up my Argonaut 509. I had a 20 m wire dipole antenna and a thin RG-174 coaxial cable feedline. I could only manage to toss the dipole over some low tree branches. I heard Jean Ness VE6BLJ. She was engaged in a single sideband conversation with a Vancouver station which I could barely hear on 14.140 MHz, the Canadian 20 m SSB calling frequency. I didn't have a microphone along, just a momentary switch which I used as a crude Morse code key. 
> I quickly scribbled out a message in standard radiogram format addressed to the floatplane company; then I interrupted Jean Ness with a Morse code SOS. She asked me to repeat my transmission. When I sent SOS again, she asked for details. I transmitted my message in what must have been very shaky Morse code. It was hard to send in my cold state. I heard her relay the message to the Vancouver operator, who then telephoned the floatplane company.  
> After about 90 minutes I could hear the floatplane. During the mad scramble of packing up my gear, I actually warmed up a bit. When the floatplane came into view, I fired a flare, since I was not at the exact spot where the pilot had dropped me off. I was soon inside a warm cockpit, headed home.  
> Nowadays I always carry a low-power shortwave transceiver whenever I go into the wilderness. At the moment, that would be a nine-band featherweight Elecraft KX2[3] <x-msg://31/#_ftn3>[3] with a Begali Adventure Dual[4] <x-msg://31/#_ftn4>[4]paddle attached. I believe that the ability to connect with CW traffic nets is important. The KX2 can do the same job that the heavier Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 did with about five times the output power. 
> I now realize that I made a mistake by forwarding a doctored photograph of a CW operator with a picture of President Donald Trump pasted over the operator’s head. I intended no disrespect for our former President. What bothered me was that the image implied that Morse code is old hat. In fact, Morse code can still be used to communicate important information in critical situations. Morse code skills like those demonstrated by Jean Ness, now VE0MEN, should be honored, not lampooned. I apologize for not making that clear in my posting. 
> 73, Bruce Prior N7RR                 
>  
> <2A3CBB0BFE9E4401979E8E13345EECFA.png>
> [5] <x-msg://31/#_ftn5>[1] Ten-Tec Argonaut (509), Desktop Shortwave Transceiver | RigReference.com <https://rigreference.com/rigs/4156-ten-tec-argonaut-509> 
> [6] <x-msg://31/#_ftn6>[2] RigPix Database - Icom - IC-2AT (qsl.net) <https://www.qsl.net/kb8qeu/ham/ic2at.htm> 
> [7] <x-msg://31/#_ftn7>[3] http://www.elecraft.com/KX2/kx2.htm <http://www.elecraft.com/KX2/kx2.htm> 
> [8] <x-msg://31/#_ftn8>[4] Adventure dual - Begali's Web site (i2rtf.com) <http://www.i2rtf.com/adventure-dual.html> 
>  
>  
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