W6VAH - Jerry L. Pettis VA Amateur Radio Club
This morning, from Dallas, TX, I exchanged a brief signal and weather report with the Jerry L. Pettis VAMC Amateur Radio Club in Loma Linda, CA, on 14.255 MHz USB.
They were 5-9 and I was 5-7; running 100W on a 53 ft end fed long wire about 8 ft off the deck with a manual antenna tuner.
Talk about joy.
You see, I just passed my general level amateur radio exam a few days ago (which expands HF privileges) and while this information was long published online, the fact they exist was essentially obscure information. It’s not until you get on the air and listen are you able to confirm nets in progress. Alas, I didnt know how to find it. I’ve been on only local nets for the last decade.
Like many of us here, I deal with depression. And finding its non-chemical remedy is difficult. Overbearing at times. And I prefer solutions which bridge my military and civilian identities. So, I play with radios in my living room “shack” where my little kids spin the VFO, toy with an antique Navy Morse code key, and occasionally say my callsign on the air.
Finding this little net was like talking to an old friend. Even if just a little, it smoothed over memories of stressful times on the radio. It made me genuinely happy. I’ll continue to seek out these veteran centric nets.
There is also the SVARA - Submariner Veterans Amateur Radio Association on 14.343. I’ll be checking in there too and since I was a Marine, there’s got to be some joke in there about them being beneath me.
Anyways, I hope you all find something similar
73