Member of the Month
GSARA owes its success to members like you, who have contributed to making it an excellent platform for Amateur Radio enthusiasts. As a club, we seek to showcase your experience in the hobby and encourage other members to learn more about each other. If you're interested in participating, kindly send an email to mom@gsara.org.
MEMBERS SPOTLIGHT
Jeanne Martin (KC1SPX)
I got my technician license in March of 2023. My initial thought was that ham radio might be a useful skill for emergency communication. A friend also inspired me with a ham radio license. She used her radio for medical rescues on horseback in areas without cell phone reception. I thought that was pretty cool. I decided to go for it and give the radio a try. How hard could it be? Since then, I’ve been exploring and learning about different aspects of ham radio. I’ve found that it’s much more than a form of emergency communication.
You do not need a lot of fancy equipment to get on the air. Thanks to the HOA at our Texas house, I started with a very old, used Yaesu radio that I bought off of eBay and a reasonably inexpensive MFJ dipole that I had to hide.
Second, experimentation is key. I lost count of how many antennas and setups I tried while trying to “hide” mine or set up temporarily at a rental after first moving to New England.