Covid-19
Along with the rest of the world, life at AA6E has changed. Since March 19, 2020, most normal services at Evergreen Woods have been re-engineered to minimize exposure problems and to reduce the risk of infection from the outside world. Because we have assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, this becomes critical even for those of us in the "independent living" category.
The restrictions have tightened over the weeks to the point that no outside visitors are allowed and residents are strongly discouraged from traveling "off campus". Meals and miscellaneous supplies are delivered to your apartment by our wonderful community staff to the point that you really don't have to venture out, except for exercise.
It turns out that ham radio (and other home technology projects) aren't affected by pandemics. There is lots more activity on the radio bands than we might have expected, pre-pandemic. (In the before time.)
We hope to get out of the "lock down" in coming weeks or months, but until then we are coping. Stay well! See you on the bands?
AA6E in transition!
After nearly 20 years at Johnson's Point (Branford, CT), Eva and I are making a big move -- to Evergreen Woods, a "continuing care retirement community" in North Branford. It's only about 8 miles from Johnson's Point, but it should be a lot more in tune with our "senior" lifestyle.
We are looking forward to the new location, but continuing with Amateur Radio will be a challenge. The problems include substantial downsizing (shedding unneeded books, knick-knacks, etc.), apartment-style living (many closer neighbors with RFI possibilities), and limited options for antenna systems. Fortunately, the EW management are interested in supporting Amateur Radio, and there are other hams and former hams who might join in new ham activities. We are now exploring roof-top wire antenna possibilities.
As you see elsewhere in this site (Senior Living for Hams), we've been researching how other hams manage to continue in senior living arrangments, particularly CCRCs. The picture is surprisingly positive. I would welcome any new connections or news items!
AA6E back on the air!
Today (17 Nov 2019), we were able to put AA6E through some preliminary on-air tests. On the 80 meter band, we ran tests that showed our 5 Watt signals were getting at least to Switzerland. See blog article.
Senior Living for Hams
[See our big list of Ham Radio and Senior Friendly Community Links.]
There are some 750,000 FCC licensed radio amateurs ("hams") in the US and over 2 million worldwide. About half of US hams have gone beyond the entry level license to gain access to a wide range of frequencies and techniques to allow them to communicate across the world.