This article was submitted by Jeryl Matlock, KQ4EDV. She collaborates with TARS, the Tallahassee Amateur Radio Society, accessible via k4tlh.org, is a community hub for amateur radio enthusiasts. They host monthly meetings on the first Thursday of each month at 7 PM at the American Red Cross in Tallahassee, FL, fostering a sense of community and shared interest. For those looking to get involved in amateur radio, TARS facilitates license testing on odd-numbered months. Beyond formal gatherings, the group also organizes casual "TARS Lunch Bunch" meetups every Thursday, providing an informal setting for members to connect and discuss their shared passion.
Keying up for the first time, I hear someone on the radio. I speak to this person, telling him that I’m a new ham. “Well you need to get off this repeater because I’m getting ready to run a net!” he says. I do as I have been instructed, not having any idea what a net is. Little did I know that running a net would become one of my goals….
In November of 2022, I became a ham radio operator. I found it to be a source of excitement, friendship, an unending choice of activities in which to participate and the opportunity to learn new information for the first time in a very long time. Despite my mildly unfortunate beginning, I rejoiced in my new hobby. For a while, I used the word “new” to explain away my mistakes, but of course knew that couldn’t last forever.
My interest in joining the hobby did not occur in a linear fashion but waxed and waned over the years. One evening several years ago, my son, who is in law enforcement, brought his radio into the house so that I could listen to it. I fell in love with radio that night. Several years would pass before I took the technician exam and it was not easy for me. I learned that the exam was part of a hierarchy of exams that allowed one to enter the examination room to take the technician exam and depending on his or her success, allowed the possibility of exiting the room with three licenses! That was not to be my destiny but I hope pursuing the General license is in the cards for me.
I have discovered that ham radio teaches you much about yourself. I find myself pushing hard to learn something new because the rewards are so great. My confidence has grown. Although I am still a technician, I’m comfortable talking during nets, tackling HF and attending Thursday lunches with our senior hams.
After becoming licensed, I began to explore the options that were available to me as a new ham. In general, it seemed that hams were primarily interested in in making friends, and in emergency and regular communications. Now in the hobby for eight months, I am finally able to peer out from under the radios and antennas, and pursue specific areas of interest. I have joined ARES, attend four nets per week and have become fascinated by the language of the radiogram. My Elmer, who is a ham of 65 years, is very talented at building antennas and has worked with me often. I am learning the phonetic alphabet and the vocabulary of the hobby. (I still haven’t mastered propagation!) From another ham, I am learning how to use my 10 and 6m radio. Thanks to one of our advanced DXers, I have worked several states in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Spain. I hope for further success in this area . And of course, talking to our local hams on the radio is at the top of my list.
I have always been made to feel welcome by our club members. Attending meetings is important. It’s where one finds Elmers and makes connections with other members. Our Thursday lunches are a wonderful place to share stories and devote time to small projects. It is hard for me to imagine it being otherwise and I am grateful for their kindness and patience. Some of my favorite calls have been those during which I received help and feedback from a group of hams as we moved from frequency to frequency, additional hams joining us along the way.
I believe that there is beauty in ham radio that is not obvious to us at first glance. It arrives through friendship and in the form of the simplicity of the radio and the antenna, the rhythm and cadence of the language of the net and elegant expressions such as “Please come now.” and “End no More.” We have the numerals 73 and 88 to provide us with a way to send “best wishes” and “hugs and kisses.” It has been wonderful to watch my Elmers share their knowledge. And finally, there is additional beauty in the words of ham radio… reactance, chassis, thermistor, ampere, capacitor…
Now, as a sort-of-new ham, I am proud of my accomplishments thus far and look forward to learning more, and to continuing to enjoy my new ham (and hammette) friends and this wonderful hobby!
Jeryl received her degrees from Florida State University, and is a retired university professor, a musician, a collector, a writer and a ham radio operator! She has one son, Logan, 29, who is a detective and a member of the SWAT team at the Leon County Sherriff’s Office.
