EDMONDS — From the comfort of his home on a hill overlooking Browns Bay, John Owens listens to the chatter coming from Asia, Africa, the tip of Chile and an island the size of a recliner, all linked by amateur (ham) radio operators.
As he eavesdrops, the world is made smaller as the operators trade knowledge of the different kinds of ham radio licenses and privileges each can attain and strike up friendships. Luis, of Mexico City, has been connecting with Owens since 1995 over the air waves. “I have friends all over the world,” said Owens.
For his tenacious communication skills Owens, N7TK as he is known across the globe, has achieved a distinction of No. 1 DX Century Club Honor Roll. The honor was bestowed last fall by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Simply put, Owens attained this pinnacle of ham operator achievement by confirming contact with all 338 entities on the ARRL list. Some of these entities are countries, other areas are determined by political or geographical distinction. Some are easy to reach. Others, including North Korea which was silent for 50 years, are next to impossible.
Confirming a contact involves an exchange of call signs, signal reports and the eventual exchange of postcards summarizing the contact. Some of the cards depicting remote tropical beaches and ice covered islands, emblazon the walls of Owens’ ham den.
Reaching the No. 1 achievement took Owens 18 years to attain. He attributes his success to “a very good radio station, modern computer assisted resources, determination and a lot of luck.” Many hams never reach the No. 1 distinction in their lifetime. Only 1,400 exist out of a total pool of 3 million licensed hams worldwide.
Owens’ pursuit has put 9,500 contacts into his log book dating back to 1961. The crowning contact was with the Island of Glrioso, a French possession northwest of Madagascar. Owens contact slipped in following a 15 year gap in radio contact when a group of French hams activated the country on a DXpedition – a group of operators that traveled to the location, set up radios, antennas and portable power to provide radio communications.
Owens’ introduction to the radio world began as a child in California tuning his parents’ short wave radio. When he spotted a neighbor’s antenna he learned more about ham operators and became hooked on the international game of “tag.” He credits his passion for amateur radio for launching him into his career as an electrical engineer.
“The world of ham radio is so much more than most people realize,” said Owens. “Its most important contribution is through volunteer support of emergency communications needs that arise during a major emergency. You wouldn’t think that necessary in this day of cell phones and computers, but major disasters can take out electrical power and infrastructure in large regions rendering these resources useless.”
Owens pointed to the tsunami that devastated Indonesia and Thailand. A major ham radio DXpedition was on the Island of Andaman near India. Following the tsunami, they shifted operations from purely social to develop an emergency communications center.
This international hobby is experiencing growth, says Owens. “There is still a lot of interest in this technology,” he said. “Getting a license is fairly simple and straightforward, having been simplified in recent years by elimination of the Morse Code testing requirement.”
73’s es hpe 2 CUAGN — “Good bye and I hope to see you again” — Owens says as he signs off.
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