[OKDXA] A paper QSO

[k5yaa]

Dear Erik N5WR !

Great to hear back from such a busy man....

Thanks.

With your permission I am going to post our conversation on the OKDXA reflector ( probably even without your permission you "pipsqueak"  There are a number of Old Men on that reflector who like to read stories about kids who want to be a great ham someday and they like reading such stories.  It makes them cry.  When they get done with the paper it gets put to get use wiping tears and drool off their faces.  Also, many of them are in the western part of the state and I always like to let them westerners know where the best talent lies - not on the field of OU south of them but near Muskogee, OK which is of course a suburb of Claremore, OK where that grand master of ham radio lives the honorable or is that dishonest K5YAA....

You go practice some CW and come back to see me when you get above 60 WPM!.....  The 50+ MPH - I mean WPM you run at now ain't gonna get any tickets.... When I was an 18 year old ham ticket holding kid in the Navy 1963-64 every CW op I knew could read up around 60 WPM while drinking coffee and eating donuts in the Military hamshacks of Newfoundland and Iceland.  We would talk to each other in the room at the same time....  The Coast Guard guys could even answer their TTY messages while copying that CW.  So keep practicing your CW stuff in between helping people up... Some day you will be in there with the big boys of contesting instead of just standing around in awe of their great talent....

Now back to sanity --- or insanity take your pick.

I have a number of FB specialists over at SouthCrest looking over me so no need to trouble yourself, at least right now anyway Hi. I might holler at you on an Expedition in years to come - "Hey Erik, can you pick me up over here - I have fallen and can't get up!"  Tulsa seems to have some of the best medical talent in the country - as good or better than Missouri at Columbia, MO. Thanks for the input on what they do to replace pipes on the carbueretor.  I may not need any if it repairs from medications, rest and good eats will return my energy but it nice to know I have a medical dictionary at my disposal.  I don't trust that Internet thing invented by Al Gore.  

Doc Miller ( Heart Surgeon specialist) at SouthCrest says likely only two pipes as that is how many suffer from blockage.  2 out of what I now understand is 6 leaves me some room even if they aren't replaced - at least that is how I look at spare radio equipment !!  Of course I understand I could get more power out if all 6 were perking.

Let's see - very good on your work and it does seem to me that I recall you saying residency - which implies further education to me and when I heard that a ways back I was proud of you for sure.

She is 18 months old now - Time passes indeed - I can see a used Vibroplex Bug in her hands already - I have several so she can have one of mine as a crib toy....

I figured you had something like a K5VT clone in mind when you took up medicine  -  Hi  He too would be proud of you I am sure. And will be your medicine man on any travels you make.

The Tennessee Contest Group may be one of the most enthusiastic in the country.  We have had one or two of them stroll over for our QSO Party and I enjoy working OM Bill K4LTA - the blind guy who runs mobile around the state over there during the TQP.  I have been talking to Mr. Bill for 50+ years now and he is a wonderful fellow.  I ain't figured out yet how he sends and receives CW while driving!!!  I think he has been blind since I met him those many years ago.  More power to folks like him for sure.  There are many Tennesee call signs I can run off from my memory bank but the best one I have ever kown is K4DC ol' Davy Crockett - he was a hero of mine when I learned about the Alamo in Texas elementary and High schools..  Pretty good shot too.  Tough as any Texican just not quite as smelly since he was the first Ham operator any Texan had ever seen.

Finally, I won't stand for just an eyeball if you come home for the OKQP - I shall require you swap seats with me and W5LE Gene in my grand mobiling machine with Power amp in it and Shiny black Tarheel antenna sitting on a piece of Claremore steel plate in my trailer - I have spares of everything including Honda 2000 watt generator and a tire for the trailer.  No spare amp - but it is a Tokyo Solid State fellow which should hold up eben with the abuse Gene and I give it......  It is a grand machine like some of those I saw in the hospital at Claremore and SouthCrest.  I would even entertain you accepting charity from me by letting me know the price of an airline tickets here and back so I can reimburse you for a visit with your folks with your little family and for helping me keep Gene between the lines when he is driving.  He is a maniac on the road just like in a contest and just like me.  "Hey, we got the game on as the General in Kellys Heroes says.  Go get me my Uniform and medals - I'm going to decorate every man in that operation!"  One of the greatest movies ever made IMHO.

73 for now and thanks for taking time to talk to an OM -- Good fortune to you Erik and your FB family.  Come back home every chance you get.

CUL

Jerry Chouinard - K5YAA




-----Original Message-----
From: Erik Martin <erikmartin44 at gmail.com>
To: k5yaa <k5yaa at aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Aug 4, 2010 1:56 pm
Subject: Re: A paper QSO


Hello Jerry,
Nice to hear from you again. I'm sorry to hear about your recent health issues and hope all is going well. I read your 3830 report after field day and wondered how you were doing. Many people live long productive lives after having a heart attack. You are young enough to make some lifestyle modifications that could keep you healthy for a long time - eat better, take your medicines, go for a 30 minute walk every other day. It may be a blessing in disguise to have this happen to you now, while you can still do something about it.
 
I assume you have had a heart cath showing multi-vessel disease, and that is why you need a bypass? I have not heard of using porcine (pig) vein grafts, honestly that sounds a little strange to me. The heart surgeons typically use a vessel from inside the chest or from the leg to make the bypass. I'm not a surgeon, but to my knowledge heart surgeons only use porcine (pig) or bovine (cow) parts when doing valve replacements. So if you like I'll do a little more research on this. Just want to make sure you are getting appropriate care. Is it possible that you also need a valve replacement? There a several cardiologists in Tulsa who have taken care of family members of mine for a long time that I trust and would be happy to refer you to.
 
As for me, I am doing well, my medical training keeps me busy, my wife has a decent job, and we have an 18 month old daughter who is doing very well. Probably we will have another 'harmonic' sometime in the near future. I will be in residency for 2 more years and then I am free to find a job wherever I like and I hope to return to Oklahoma. My specialty is Emergency Medicine which is very flexible and should allow me to do some of the things that K5VT was able to do and that my old man has always dreamed of doing. I was home just a couple of weeks ago to attend a funeral for my grandfather. It was a sad occasion but at the same time nice to be home again to visit my family.
 
There are some very active contesters here in TN and the Tennessee Contest Group is well organized and promotes a lot of activity. I've gotten to know some of the local guys and have operated with them a few times. Nobody really has a big gun station in the state, but there are several good modest stations around that I can get on and contest from. TCG does a few things which I think really help promote contesting in the state. We have a Google Group where everyone posts their scores, and every month one of the guys compiles a 'radio-active report' of how many contest QSOs everyone has made for the year. This encourages activity as everyone can see where they stand on the overall list. We have eyeball meetings occasionally and have organized a couple of multi-op events as well. It would be great to see something similar to this in Oklahoma to help promote contesting, maybe within OKDXA as that is already a respected established group. I just turned 33 and have now been a ham over 20 years, so I'm starting to think more about giving back to the hobby. Still a couple of years away from 'freedom', but whenever I finally can I hope to come back and build a decent station and try to get involved locally to promote the hobby and contesting. Would be great fun to build a nice station that could host multi-op events and guest ops and try to get more people involved in contesting. The future of ham radio and contesting depends on us children of the baby boomers starting to build our own stations. So I may not be there yet but that is my long term goal.
 
I've been thinking about making a trip home to do OKQP in the spring. My schedule gets a little more flexible as I progress in residency, so I might be able to do it. I'll keep you posted. Maybe we could have an eyeball QSO then.
 
Good luck with the autobiography, it is a worthy endeavor and something your family will cherish.
 
Take care and all the best to you Jerry.
 
73, Erik N5WR
 

 
On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 10:04 PM, k5yaa <k5yaa at aol.com> wrote:

Eric:
 
I hope you have a little time to listen to an OM that has enjoyed making Qs with you for a number of years now.
Thanks for chasing me around in Florida and Kansas in the near past.  I love to work Tennesee because ther are many
quite capable contesters there and CW is not strange to them Hi.
 
When are you coming back home buddy?  I know you are off performing good works of ntership or maybe even fixin folks already.  So I know your work is important to you and your family.
 
In June I became very tired after a FD jaunt to Texas my home state.  I ran 1C High Powered from my Dodge van and had a ball but at times realized I sure was getting tired easily.  In January I turned 65 and since have had the only ills of my life come down on me - a Blessed life indeed.   I went to Claremore hospital afdter I got home and was told after 3 days in ICU and 3 days over at Southcrest that I had suffered a heart attack.  I said "Really I never felt a Thing".  Anyway - I am being seen by and treated by a lung specialists who is working to get the pumps better performing before a heart specialists performs his magic on me by possibly doing a two "pipe" bypass on my heart.  Wow I say I might get to get me a piece of bacon hide as pipe replacements on my carbueretor.  I am guessing they no longer will rip out a couple of arteries from the lower parts of my body.  I will intertain your knowledge as to what you guys use nowadays to repair an old mans rusty heart?  Hi.
 
I am not writing for medical advice ( other than telling me what is used as a artery replacement in a human heart nowadays ) I write mainly to let you know I think of you quite often and admire your Ham Radio skill level.  One day I shall get the pleasure of meeting you in person.  I also know of your Dad K5WE - he must be a fine gentleman because first he is a Ham Radio guy and second he has obviously ( along with your mom ) raised another fine gentleman.
 
A doctor with a ham license and one that can copy my beloved Morse like you do is a true gem in this world and will see great travels in support of his HOBBY - who could ask for more.  Our radio friend K5VT Vince Thompson recently went to the big radio shack in the sky and for years traveled the world on DX peditions where I hope he had fun and no work to do other than toting around a radio etc Hi.   He was well known not only in the world of medicine but also the world of Ham Radio.  I never got to meet him but know he was a friend.
 
You should be able to take grand trips to far away places at little cost because you will not only contribute to the QSO level of an expedition but be able to help an OM off the ground if he stumbles.  A real FB opportunity for you and the guy you pick up plus it will be a bit cheaaper since you will be "On Call".  I imagine you already are aware of that xso I ain't tellin ya anythong you don't already know.
 
Let me hear from you when you get an opportuniy to sit down and talk with a friend.  I would like to be reminded of the specialty you might be shooting for in medicine and maybe even the timeframes of when you think you might get back home to help some of the best people in the world - Oklahomans.
 
FYI, I have my Butt in the chair writing my auto-biography not because I expect to die soon nor because I want too but I feel putting such a Blessed life on paper for my children my grand children and all the children of the world to read will be of benefit to them.  I will have roughly 600 pages of my life and another 500 pages or more of amateur radio experiences and friend descriptions so my wife will have to have a couple of books published for me while I run a few more QSOs on the bands! My radfio exploits will be anoted as a large footnote ( bold 20 point fonts ) in my lifes book and it will a very large footnote indeed! 
 
The writings I am doing are more important to me than even the hobby right now which I am sure you understand.
 
73 es get on every chance you get.  All of us OMs enjoy the enegy and spirit shown by you young folks in our hobby.
 
Jerry Chouinard - K5YAA
The ( used to be ) Young American Amateur - an older young American Amateur now!
W5 QSL ARRL Bureau Mgr.
OKDXA President
 
P.S. I looked up your email adr on QRZ and now recall your work expertise - keep it up son.....