It was Really Fun to Be Introduced to The Ham Radio Culture... a World I Had No Contact With...
Dot Dot Dot DASH DASH DASH Dot Dot Dot (SOS - Save Our Ship)
One Man Had a "Mobile Command Center" Built into an Old School Bus. His Plan was that When All Communication Failed During an Earthquake, He and His Ham Radio Friends Could Help Firemen, Policemen and the National Guard... A Pretty Likely Occurrence in San Jose, CA... There Have Been Major Earthquakes in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Gatos... or... Maybe this Old Hippie Just wanted a Valid Excuse for Living in a BUS... With a Sure Fire Way to Avoid Police Harassment was to BE Part of the Law Enforcement TEAM...
We DID Sell Amateur Radios that Require a Licence from the FCC to Operate. We DID NOT Check to see if the Customer HAD a License... or Planned to Have a License... However we Did Inform Every Customer of the NEED for Them to GET a License to Operate the Radio Legally... But anything that Happens OUTSIDE The Store Was NOT Our Responsibility...
Many Ham Radio Operators Who DO Have a License Say That They HUNT DOWN ILLEGAL OPERATORS as a Fun Hobby... Using Triangulation to Locate the Bogus Radio Operator... and Reporting Then to "Friendly Cousin Charlie." Maybe this is a False Story but... Who Knows!
I do know that Getting a License is Difficult. They require that you understand Electrical Engineering and The Basic Physics of How RADIO WORKS... and They also Test Your Speed and Accuracy in Morse Code... I knew a Ham Radio Operator who said the Morse Code Training Helped Him with his Piano Playing... a Deep Understanding of Rhythm...
A Bigger Problem was Citizens Band Radios with an Illegal Linear Amplifier. CB Radios May Operate without any License BUT there is a Maximum Power Output for legal Radios... Well, People DO Sell Illegal BOOSTERS that allow a CB Radio to Work over VAST Distances... One Customer said he could talk to Guatemala on his CB... It Saved him a LOT of Money on his Telephone Bill... BUT... That much Power Interferes With... TV Reception, AM and FM Radio Reception, Police Band Reception and Fire Truck Communications... THAT'S WHY There is a Limit to the Power Output... FCC Laws... So Everyone Can Play Nice and Share the Airwaves... Those FCC Laws are also the Reason That WOLFMAN JACK Had His Radio Station in Mexico... No Laws to Limit His Broadcast Range.
One Blessing of Working at Radio Shack was the Requirement That I Learn Electronics Theory... and How things Work. The Corporation Found out that More Products GET SOLD and STAY SOLD if the Clerks Understand Electronics. Selling Someone the Wrong Part Does NOT Make a Profit... It only wastes the Customer's Time and Patience... SO... We Were Required to Study and Pass Tests in 14 Different Subjects... I Learned the Physics of Antenna Design... How A VCR Works... How a TV Works... Etc Etc Etc... FREE COLLEGE ON THE TIMECLOCK...
Amateur Radio Operators Collect Cards from Each Other Proving that they were able to Contact People Far Away. When they are Chatting, they ask for a Name and Street Address and then Mail a Postcard with the Other Person's Call Sign on it. Then they POST those Cards on the Wall of Their SHACK...
My Friend Had a card from a Man named Fletcher on Pitcarin Island... a Descendant of the Mutiny on the Bounty... I guess if You Live on an Island in the Middle of the Ocean a Radio would be handy for Contacting People On Different Islands or The Mainland...
Two Way Radios Either TALK or LISTEN. But Not Both at The Same Time, Like a Telephone. That's Why People say "Over" when they have finished Talking... and they release the BUTTON... People say "10-4" to tell the other person they Heard What their Friend Had to Say and Understood the Words...
We sold a Lot of Personal Communicators that had a Short Range but 49 MHz FM Quality... They Were Small and Trendy... People Bought them for Communication While Skiing... or Going to The Mall... or Organizing a Stage Show... You Could Wear the Microphone and Speaker on Your Head, and have the Radio Clipped to Your Belt... a Really Trendy High Tech LOOK...
I remember the Watergate Burglars Used Radio Shack CB Radios to Orchestrate Their Crime... Those Radios DO NOT WORK WELL INSIDE BUILDINGS... In G Gordon Liddy's Book "Will" he complained about the Quality of the Radios... HOWEVER... He Simply Did Not Buy The Right Product... a 49 MHz FM Radio would Have been Wonderful For Their Job... BUT... I Bet Liddy Did Not Explain His Intended USE to The Clerk... Being all HUSH HUSH and Clandestine... Dumbf*ck! His EGO caused His Failure...
Of Course, all this is Ancient History because Cellphones are What People Use Now...
3. The EPA=Enable Polluters Agency. Let's FLIP The Mission to Protecting the Environment; 4. Legalize Marijuana Nationwide, Tax It and Free All Cannabis Prisoners; 5. Legalize Medicinal Psychedelics; 6. End The Electoral College; 7. Overturn Citizens United; 8.Cut Pentagon Spending in Half; 9. Build Solar Powered Desalination Plants - We Need Fresh Drinking Water!
In the 1960s I made tie dyed shirts using rubber bands and boiling the dye... one color... RIT brand named dye... Mom sewed a shirt with bell sleeves and a Nehru collar... I wore it with a bell around my neck. Like, totally "mod" like the fashion that was popular with the teenagers in England...
Dot Dot Dot DASH DASH DASH Dot Dot Dot (SOS - Save Our Ship)
One Man Had a "Mobile Command Center" Built into an Old School Bus. His Plan was that When All Communication Failed During an Earthquake, He and His Ham Radio Friends Could Help Firemen, Policemen and the National Guard... A Pretty Likely Occurrence in San Jose, CA... There Have Been Major Earthquakes in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Gatos... or... Maybe this Old Hippie Just wanted a Valid Excuse for Living in a BUS... With a Sure Fire Way to Avoid Police Harassment was to BE Part of the Law Enforcement TEAM...
We DID Sell Amateur Radios that Require a Licence from the FCC to Operate. We DID NOT Check to see if the Customer HAD a License... or Planned to Have a License... However we Did Inform Every Customer of the NEED for Them to GET a License to Operate the Radio Legally... But anything that Happens OUTSIDE The Store Was NOT Our Responsibility...
Many Ham Radio Operators Who DO Have a License Say That They HUNT DOWN ILLEGAL OPERATORS as a Fun Hobby... Using Triangulation to Locate the Bogus Radio Operator... and Reporting Then to "Friendly Cousin Charlie." Maybe this is a False Story but... Who Knows!
I do know that Getting a License is Difficult. They require that you understand Electrical Engineering and The Basic Physics of How RADIO WORKS... and They also Test Your Speed and Accuracy in Morse Code... I knew a Ham Radio Operator who said the Morse Code Training Helped Him with his Piano Playing... a Deep Understanding of Rhythm...
A Bigger Problem was Citizens Band Radios with an Illegal Linear Amplifier. CB Radios May Operate without any License BUT there is a Maximum Power Output for legal Radios... Well, People DO Sell Illegal BOOSTERS that allow a CB Radio to Work over VAST Distances... One Customer said he could talk to Guatemala on his CB... It Saved him a LOT of Money on his Telephone Bill... BUT... That much Power Interferes With... TV Reception, AM and FM Radio Reception, Police Band Reception and Fire Truck Communications... THAT'S WHY There is a Limit to the Power Output... FCC Laws... So Everyone Can Play Nice and Share the Airwaves... Those FCC Laws are also the Reason That WOLFMAN JACK Had His Radio Station in Mexico... No Laws to Limit His Broadcast Range.
One Blessing of Working at Radio Shack was the Requirement That I Learn Electronics Theory... and How things Work. The Corporation Found out that More Products GET SOLD and STAY SOLD if the Clerks Understand Electronics. Selling Someone the Wrong Part Does NOT Make a Profit... It only wastes the Customer's Time and Patience... SO... We Were Required to Study and Pass Tests in 14 Different Subjects... I Learned the Physics of Antenna Design... How A VCR Works... How a TV Works... Etc Etc Etc... FREE COLLEGE ON THE TIMECLOCK...
Amateur Radio Operators Collect Cards from Each Other Proving that they were able to Contact People Far Away. When they are Chatting, they ask for a Name and Street Address and then Mail a Postcard with the Other Person's Call Sign on it. Then they POST those Cards on the Wall of Their SHACK...
My Friend Had a card from a Man named Fletcher on Pitcarin Island... a Descendant of the Mutiny on the Bounty... I guess if You Live on an Island in the Middle of the Ocean a Radio would be handy for Contacting People On Different Islands or The Mainland...
Two Way Radios Either TALK or LISTEN. But Not Both at The Same Time, Like a Telephone. That's Why People say "Over" when they have finished Talking... and they release the BUTTON... People say "10-4" to tell the other person they Heard What their Friend Had to Say and Understood the Words...
We sold a Lot of Personal Communicators that had a Short Range but 49 MHz FM Quality... They Were Small and Trendy... People Bought them for Communication While Skiing... or Going to The Mall... or Organizing a Stage Show... You Could Wear the Microphone and Speaker on Your Head, and have the Radio Clipped to Your Belt... a Really Trendy High Tech LOOK...
I remember the Watergate Burglars Used Radio Shack CB Radios to Orchestrate Their Crime... Those Radios DO NOT WORK WELL INSIDE BUILDINGS... In G Gordon Liddy's Book "Will" he complained about the Quality of the Radios... HOWEVER... He Simply Did Not Buy The Right Product... a 49 MHz FM Radio would Have been Wonderful For Their Job... BUT... I Bet Liddy Did Not Explain His Intended USE to The Clerk... Being all HUSH HUSH and Clandestine... Dumbf*ck! His EGO caused His Failure...
Of Course, all this is Ancient History because Cellphones are What People Use Now...
"The Path Forward" - 20 Simple Suggestions for Making the World a Better Place to Live... #1. Tax the Rich, Cut Taxes for the 99%. All that Extra Money in People's Paychecks Will Bubble UP Thru The Entire Economy;
2. OUTLAW GERRYMANDERING: That way We Could Have Majority Rule in the USA. In Fact, Most People Prefer Majority Rule... We Tried Corporate Rule and That Was a Disaster!
If YOU Have Any Ideas, Tell Me and I'll Include them in this eBook. gregvan[at]yahoo[dot]com
FREE Chart of Where the Notes Are on the Guitar and Piano. Print As Many Copies as You Like and Give 'em to Friends... or Strangers That Are About to Become Friends!
My AutoBiography: Growing Up in Los Gatos, California in the 1960s by Gregory Vanderlaan - and Living in Chico, Washington DC, Eureka and Orangevale.
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html
Here's a Sample Paragraph or Two...
One peak experience in Los Gatos while I was in High school was attending "The Tower of Power" concert outdoors at the Chateau Liberte... In the Redwoods near Summit Road... I remember going with my friend Rich Field ( a trumpet player) to the Concert. We saw how "The Tower" achieved the flute to trumpet blending on the song "Diamonds Sparkling in the Sand". One man walked towards his microphone while the other walked away... both were playing the same note... This amazed Rich as he was a jazz band member at school and this effect was a mystery to him until we saw it done... I also remember that the Hell's Angels and The Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle clubs both arrived at the concert at the same time and I was concerned that there would be violence... so I walked to the other side of the concert as far as possible away from them.... Years later I learned that they OFTEN partied together at the Chateau and my fears were unjustified... and then I rode down the mountain in a convertible sports car... all while I was high on LSD, so every emotion had amplified significance... what a wonderful trip.
~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~
I remember playing my harmonica at a school play with Barry Hill. It was called "Sneaky Fitch is Dead" and I had a great time performing... Every new scene had a song to listen to while the actors and stagehands got ready for the next scene... A segue...
We also performed "Hippie from Olema" by the Youngbloods at a talent show in the high school gym. Barry Hill, Rich Field and Nancy King and Rachael Ludlum were also in the band. Washtub Bass, Jug, Guitars. harmonica and Washboard...
We used to play "Keep Away" with a volleyball in the LGHS Pool. Swim Team vs Football Team. We, The Swim Team Always Won because all I Had to do was Hold a Football Player's Head under the water and they Panicked and Released the Volleyball. WIMPS!
Many of the LGHS students performed as "Spearchuckers" and Slaves in the Opera "AIDA" at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. There was a touring opera company and they filled the stage with locals from high school drama departments... They instructed us to move our mouths BUT DO NOT SING... They had a choir that did the singing and we would have just been annoying and off key. Since the big scene we were in was when the hero came back from the Africa with the spoils of war (an elephant and a tiger). We had to cover our bodies with dark brown stage paint... We were supposed to be playing the part of black people but there were no Actual black students at LGHS... I had long blond hair but they just tucked that up under a hat... Big Fun... My girlfriend Liz Dunbar was in the Opera also... and when we got home we took a shower together to wash off the Makeup...
~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~
I remember playing my harmonica at a school play with Barry Hill. It was called "Sneaky Fitch is Dead" and I had a great time performing... Every new scene had a song to listen to while the actors and stagehands got ready for the next scene... A segue...
We also performed "Hippie from Olema" by the Youngbloods at a talent show in the high school gym. Barry Hill, Rich Field and Nancy King and Rachael Ludlum were also in the band. Washtub Bass, Jug, Guitars. harmonica and Washboard...
We used to play "Keep Away" with a volleyball in the LGHS Pool. Swim Team vs Football Team. We, The Swim Team Always Won because all I Had to do was Hold a Football Player's Head under the water and they Panicked and Released the Volleyball. WIMPS!
Many of the LGHS students performed as "Spearchuckers" and Slaves in the Opera "AIDA" at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. There was a touring opera company and they filled the stage with locals from high school drama departments... They instructed us to move our mouths BUT DO NOT SING... They had a choir that did the singing and we would have just been annoying and off key. Since the big scene we were in was when the hero came back from the Africa with the spoils of war (an elephant and a tiger). We had to cover our bodies with dark brown stage paint... We were supposed to be playing the part of black people but there were no Actual black students at LGHS... I had long blond hair but they just tucked that up under a hat... Big Fun... My girlfriend Liz Dunbar was in the Opera also... and when we got home we took a shower together to wash off the Makeup...
In 1971, a friend of mine went to San Francisco and went to the Fillmore West and came back to our high school and said... LET"S BUILD OUR OWN using the old mill in the center of town. We formed an organization called "Youth Unlimited" and got the Town to Sponsor Us with $1 per year rent for Forbes Mill.
That was the beginning of The Forbes Mill Teen Club in Los Gatos California... We had a light show and electric rock music every weekend... On Wednesday nights we performed folk music. I was the head of security and did advertising posters. I used the mimeograph machine at the High School to print the posters for upcoming shows...
"Youth Unlimited" first held a concert in the Rec Room of the Presbyterian Church next to Old Town on University Ave. There was a live rock band that featured a saxophone player with an electric sax. We also formed a drum circle outside with me playing harmonica and a couple of guitar players.
"Youth Unlimited" first held a concert in the Rec Room of the Presbyterian Church next to Old Town on University Ave. There was a live rock band that featured a saxophone player with an electric sax. We also formed a drum circle outside with me playing harmonica and a couple of guitar players.
Since we had Town sponsorship of our "Teen Club" thru the organization Youth Unlimited, we had to make sure no laws were being broken at Forbes Mill or the police would shut us down. Certainly no drinking or illegal drug use or housing of runaways. My take on law enforcement was to direct potential lawbreakers to the nearby hole in the fence that lead to the wooded area next to the freeway. I admit that a lot of laws were broken on State of California property, but that was NOT MY CONCERN. I was responsible for making sure that OUR property was crime free.
The light show was created by using four slide projectors and two spinning wheels with variable speed motors that blocked the light from reaching the white wall behind the bandstand. Each cardboard wheel had holes cut into it so that the slides would be projected in a stroboscopic manner. Some slides were abstract art created by "crystal craze" paint and others were photographs.
We also owned a strobe light and I learned to not point it at the electric organ player because the blinking light made it impossible to see which keys were black and which were white...
"Youth Unlimited" also built a crisis center called Fre-Ba-ZAK House.
It was in an old wooden home on North Santa Cruz Ave. The idea was to have a place for runaways to have a safe location to negotiate with their parents. Kids that had nowhere else to go could go there ... My friend Richard Bergholdt worked there as a counselor. I used to go there because it was a fun place to go talk with other classmates... I remember drinking coffee and discussing weighty subjects late at night. One time I went there because I couldn't go home. I had gone to the Ike and Tina Turner concert at the San Jose Convention Center and took a Large Dose of LSD. I had to wait until my parents went to sleep before going home. It was a great concert and I remember that MANY of the students at LGHS went. I also remember listening to the FM radio there. Talks by Alan Watts about Buddhism... and the story "The Cave" by Plato. There were some totally free radio stations then. They had the freedom of selecting what to play and when to play it. I heard "Space Hymn" by Lothar and the Hand People at Fre-Ba-ZAK House.
In the 1960s I made tie dyed shirts using rubber bands and boiling the dye... one color... RIT brand named dye... Mom sewed a shirt with bell sleeves and a Nehru collar... I wore it with a bell around my neck. Like, totally "mod" like the fashion that was popular with the teenagers in England...
READ MORE:
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
