| My DX location in the South Pacific as 3D2AR |
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| All this and a modern apartment for $125 a month! |
During a lifelime of amateur radio, I have taken part in several emergency communication networks, including the Fraser Valley floods in 1948, the Mexican earthquake and the tornado that devistated parts of Edmonton. Most satisfying was help to the Canadian yacht "Klenna Kleene 11", off the tip of West Irian in the South Pacific. Bill and Frances Stocks were on a two-year cruise, heading for Flores Island at 8 knots, with Frances very much pregnant. They contacted Roy Parrett, in Victoria, at a distance of 11,803 kilometres, who patched them through to the Health Dept staff, but they made land, just in time for locals to refer them to the witch doctor. But baby Brandy managed to be born with the help of the village womem.
| VE7TG is capable of 2,000-watts on Single Sideband |
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| The 40-foot tower mounts a directional antenna |
The locals were amazed at Brandy, they followed the Stocks everywhere. "They didn't realize that babies came in white," Bill said. More difficulties arose when the couple headed for Singapore in the Kleena Kleene 11. The breast feeding didn't go well. Again the Stocks contacted Roy Parrett, VE7TG in Victoria, who unhelpfully suggested Pablem in the midle of the ocean.But who alerted Dr. Mel Mair, also a radio amateur in Victoria. Dr. Mair had a good "bedside manner" on the radio, with helpful advice, and soon baby Stocks was thriving. The newspapers carried a headline "LITTLE BRANDY GOES A LONG WAY!" |
