KDØETE Back On The Air

As some of you know I'm an amateur radio operator. My callsign is KDØETE. I got into ham radio because of my grandfather Oscar (KØVOC). Including myself there are 4 total in this new generation of hams in our family. Myself, my wife Kim (KDØHDQ), my brother Cedric (KDØFVE) and my brother Haans (KF7KIZ). We've had a lot of enjoyment in this hobby. In fact, recently my brother Haans took first place in the Low Power, Mixed Mode division of the ARRL's 2010 International 10 Meter contest. We even have a family radio club called the Halvard Amateur Radio Club (KF7PVF).

If you've been keep up the the Faith Family Life blog, you know I've been having to work from home due to the way things have been progressing with our pregnancy. Yesterday afternoon (when I was almost on the verge of insanity) I stumble into my gloomy basement office in its state of direpair and neglect. Ever since I was gone to Warrenton, MO for training this past January through April, I've barely spent any time at all down there.

I looked at my radios, remembering the excitment of listening to the airwaves and checking into the North Dakota DATA net while the snow has been flying outside. Now, oddly enough, I've spent more time on HF portable with my Yaesu FT-857D from bible camp, picknic shelters and second floor hotel rooms than I've have from my base station in my basement office. If there was a time to turn on my neglected Kenwood TS-130SE fed into my homebrew 80 Meter halfwave dipole, it was now.

I turned on my remote antenna switch and then turn on the radio. There was activity on 3.937 MHz, the frequency for the North Dakota net. I quickly tuned up and waited. The net was already in progress. I waited till the end of it when Net Control said "Are there any late checkins? Stations Alpha through Zulu, please come now."

I keyed up my mic and said my callsign phonetically. "Kilowatt Delta Zero Echo Tango Echo" I must have partially doubled with someone because the NC only caught the tail end of my callsign. After sending it again he was able to copy it completely. I waited again until the NC said "KDØETE, please come now with your comments." Then I keyed up the mic again and said hi to everyone checked in, gave them a brief update as well as current weather information for Eastern Montana.

When the net was done I got to talk to Lynn (WØND) the previous president of the Souris Valley Amateur Radio club in Minot, ND, that I'm still a member of, and is the Section Manager of North Dakota. I also got to talk to Bernie (WDØGMD) Bernie is a retired music teacher and used to work for my grandfather back in the 70's. It was great to talk to my ham friends again. They both cheerfully welcomed me back to the airwaves and caught up on what had been going on with my "missionary work" in Eastern Montana.

I plan on heading down to my office again daily and checking into the net. Some of those guys are close friends. My daughters even recognize their voices. It's one of the groovy things about Amateur radio: you make some good friends, and even when you've been gone a long time, they say how they've missed hearing you on the air welcome you back with open arms.

Though not a direct parallel, it's similar to the relationship we have with the Father through his Son. Many times we seem to walk away from Him, distance ourselves from Him, even forget about Him as we delve into our own wants in this life. The thing is, if God has saved you, He has done so completely. Though we may have wandered away from God, He has never wandered away from us.

Jesu Juva,
Soli Deo Gloria