On Air -
November
13, 2001
The
morning of the test I found myself laying in bed, still half asleep muttering
to myself… dah dit dah, dah dah dit. The Morse Code I have been studying
for the past month was finally seeping into my unconscious mind. It was
now time to get the test out of the way. Not only because my incessant beeps
and blips were driving my friends and family batty, but also because we
are departing in just a few days and in order to e-mail from the boat I
need the Ham certification.
E-mail
on the boat seems strangely misplaced in some ways. A large part of what
is appealing to me about cruising is escaping from the TV, the computer,
cells phones and more. Cruising is about being self sufficient. If the
diesel breaks down I can rip it apart and at least attempt to fix it.
If the computer goes out I can open the case and stare at the integrated
circuits, but beyond that I’m useless. But, I have caved on the e-mail
because it is such a cost effective (free) and efficient means of communication.
People
are always impressed that there is a way to e-mail from the middle of
the ocean, as well they should be. It is an imperfect and somewhat slow
system, but the benefits far outweigh the problems. And while my understanding
of it all is still minimal the idea is quite simple. On the boat I have
a ham radio connected to an antenna (the backstay); a laptop running e-mail
software; and a modem (called a TNC) that connects the computer and radio.
When I want to send a message I use the radio to connect to a remote ham
station (there are a number of ham stations located around the world which
have volunteered to serve as conduits between radio messages and the internet).
Once connected the message is sent through the modem to the radio and
through the antenna out into the ether as radio waves. Collected on the
other end by the remote ham station these waves are converted back into
a message and then directed onto the internet, reaching their destination
hopefully in just a few minutes.
So
now that I’ve mastered the art of Morse Code I’m ready to hit
the air…
73
to you all.
Ben
Shaw
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