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A big family that always stays in touch
By Lu Xiaofeng and Pan Zheng |
March 30, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN Jiading there are some young people who, wherever they are, keep their radios on and stay close with each other.
They're just like a family and have a name ?? hams. According to Longman's Dictionary, a ham is a person who receives and sends radio messages using his own apparatus.
Hams in Jiading share a public frequency: 433.800.
Born in 1971, Chen Wei is an ordinary worker at the Shanghai Dazhong Factory. After he became a ham, though, he found his life richer than before, and full of surprises.
On the evening of March 17, when he was being interviewed, Chen kept adjusting his radio and microphone and looking at his watch.
"Eight o'clock every Tuesday night is the time we hams have a meeting. Some of the experienced hams will provide the fresh hams with help and suggestions," he says.
Chen became a ham partly because of another hobby, touring by car. Since he has his own car, he often joins his friends to travel. But on their trips they found communication was a big problem.
Using mobile phones was not a good option. Calling mobile phones in other provinces is very expensive, and there is no signal in mountainous areas. Later they bought walkie-talkies. But ordinary walkie-talkies only work within a limited distance. Finally, they found that radios could solve the problem. They installed antennas on their cars and bought some receivers.
Once they tried them out, they discovered the fun of ham radio. They not only use the radios as a tool of communication, but have established their own radio stations. After studying for a while, Chen and his friends took the qualification examination to enable them to operate an amateur radio station.
After they receive the certificates, they can call each other with their own call signs. For example, Chen's call sign is "BG4EWO." After getting his certificate, Chen became keen on amateur radio. Since the antenna is vital in radio communication and the radio transmitters and receivers they use are usually of the same power, how far they can transmit depends on the height of the antenna.
Chen's home is on the top floor of a high-rise building, which he took full advantage of and installed a more than 10-meter-high antenna on the roof. The high-rise building and the antenna make him the "Top 1" among Jiading's radio hams. Of course, the power of this "Top 1" fits its name.
"Once when I was talking to someone on the radio and what he told me gave me a great surprise - he was in Qingdao (Shandong Province). I was very excited because that was my furthest communication ever," Chen recalls.
"Top 1" not only refers to that antenna, but to Chen himself, because he's very active among the hams.
"Chen is very warm-hearted. He has many friends among Jiading's hams. He's always ready to help others," says Zhang Ronghua, another ham in Jiading.
In Jiading there are more than 50 hams and they form an invisible net in the air. If anyone is in trouble, Chen is always the first one to give a hand.
Once a ham from downtown area drove to Jiading Central Hospital to see someone, but his GPS navigation system led him to a dead end and his car became stuck in mud. At that bleak moment, the ham took out his radio and called for help. Fortunately, Chen heard it. He not only told the ham the correct way, but contacted some friends who went to find the ham and helped him pull the car out.
"Showing the way to others is my daily job," Chen jokes. The close friendship among hams means they are always ready to help each other.
Last summer, when the typhoon hit Shanghai, the Central Ring Road in the city was affected by heavy rain, just when Chen happened to be near the city center. When he opened his radio and called in on the public channel, the advice came very quickly.
"Don't go down such and such road, it is flooded." "Use the Outer Ring, then down to such and such road." The advice flooded out, saving him a lot of time and out of trouble.
"Early this year, my friends and I drove to Guizhou Province. When we could not find the place, we turned on our radio and called for help. A local ham responded and became our tour guide. He even didn't have lunch until we had reached our destination," Chen says. "We hams are a family."
They're just like a family and have a name ?? hams. According to Longman's Dictionary, a ham is a person who receives and sends radio messages using his own apparatus.
Hams in Jiading share a public frequency: 433.800.
Born in 1971, Chen Wei is an ordinary worker at the Shanghai Dazhong Factory. After he became a ham, though, he found his life richer than before, and full of surprises.
On the evening of March 17, when he was being interviewed, Chen kept adjusting his radio and microphone and looking at his watch.
"Eight o'clock every Tuesday night is the time we hams have a meeting. Some of the experienced hams will provide the fresh hams with help and suggestions," he says.
Chen became a ham partly because of another hobby, touring by car. Since he has his own car, he often joins his friends to travel. But on their trips they found communication was a big problem.
Using mobile phones was not a good option. Calling mobile phones in other provinces is very expensive, and there is no signal in mountainous areas. Later they bought walkie-talkies. But ordinary walkie-talkies only work within a limited distance. Finally, they found that radios could solve the problem. They installed antennas on their cars and bought some receivers.
Once they tried them out, they discovered the fun of ham radio. They not only use the radios as a tool of communication, but have established their own radio stations. After studying for a while, Chen and his friends took the qualification examination to enable them to operate an amateur radio station.
After they receive the certificates, they can call each other with their own call signs. For example, Chen's call sign is "BG4EWO." After getting his certificate, Chen became keen on amateur radio. Since the antenna is vital in radio communication and the radio transmitters and receivers they use are usually of the same power, how far they can transmit depends on the height of the antenna.
Chen's home is on the top floor of a high-rise building, which he took full advantage of and installed a more than 10-meter-high antenna on the roof. The high-rise building and the antenna make him the "Top 1" among Jiading's radio hams. Of course, the power of this "Top 1" fits its name.
"Once when I was talking to someone on the radio and what he told me gave me a great surprise - he was in Qingdao (Shandong Province). I was very excited because that was my furthest communication ever," Chen recalls.
"Top 1" not only refers to that antenna, but to Chen himself, because he's very active among the hams.
"Chen is very warm-hearted. He has many friends among Jiading's hams. He's always ready to help others," says Zhang Ronghua, another ham in Jiading.
In Jiading there are more than 50 hams and they form an invisible net in the air. If anyone is in trouble, Chen is always the first one to give a hand.
Once a ham from downtown area drove to Jiading Central Hospital to see someone, but his GPS navigation system led him to a dead end and his car became stuck in mud. At that bleak moment, the ham took out his radio and called for help. Fortunately, Chen heard it. He not only told the ham the correct way, but contacted some friends who went to find the ham and helped him pull the car out.
"Showing the way to others is my daily job," Chen jokes. The close friendship among hams means they are always ready to help each other.
Last summer, when the typhoon hit Shanghai, the Central Ring Road in the city was affected by heavy rain, just when Chen happened to be near the city center. When he opened his radio and called in on the public channel, the advice came very quickly.
"Don't go down such and such road, it is flooded." "Use the Outer Ring, then down to such and such road." The advice flooded out, saving him a lot of time and out of trouble.
"Early this year, my friends and I drove to Guizhou Province. When we could not find the place, we turned on our radio and called for help. A local ham responded and became our tour guide. He even didn't have lunch until we had reached our destination," Chen says. "We hams are a family."
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