After many years with the club, we are proud to present two of our members with honorary lifetime memberships: Farny VE3BHQ and Ralph VE3CRK.
Farny VE3BHQ has been a ham since the 1940s. He was one of North Shore’s founding members – he was present at the second ever NSARC meeting. Since then, Farny has been a past president on 3 different occasions and has volunteered many times with our club. When presented with the award at the meeting, Farny took the time to share the story of how he got involved with ham radio.
I was a student at the University of Guelph. I got a copy of Popular Mechanics magazine and it showed how to build a 2 way radio with a single tube design. With a friend of mine, John, we built and tested our radios to see how far they would work. I stayed at the university and he went across Guelph by bus. It was really just a box with an antenna so when somebody on the bus saw it he wanted to know all about it. The man asked John if he had a license and John said, “No… What’s a license?” The man continued to ask, “Are you an amateur radio operator?” John responded with, “What’s an amateur radio operator?” Well, we both ended up licensed radio amateurs soon after that.
Not long after I was licensed, I met Fred Hammond. He lived quite close to the university and I used to go work his rig in the evenings and on weekends. I built a transmitter with him. Fred told me that the 6L6 oscillator I was using was no good. He opened his desk drawer and brought out an 807 which he told me to use instead, claiming that “it’ll actually work.”
I started off in CW and then eventually expanded to everything else after that. It’s been quite a ride and a very long time. One thing I did near the beginning was get a lifetime membership with the ARRL and I still have them come regularly, but I hardly find time to read them at all.
Ralph VE3CRK has been an extremely active NSARC member since 1959. Ralph became a licensed ham a year later in 1960. The moment he got his license, he became the club’s treasurer! Since then he has helped the club in numerous ways having been past president and vice president of the club several times, treasurer, a repeater committee member, and our repeater chair for numerous years. We thank Ralph for everything he has done for our club – he kept our repeater working for many, many years! When presented with the award at the meeting, Ralph also shared how different it was when he first started as an amateur.
When I got my license, the inspector used to come down and give you the exam at your house or club. It wasn’t like the exams today – you had to draw a transmitter and explain each part.
I joined North Shore when our club only consisted of about 25 members. I remember we passed a jar around to help pay for rent and everyone would put a quarter in. We used to meet at Simcoe Hall as it was the only place we could afford. We had a room there for club meetings, but on the other side of the wall there was the gym with a Judo class. There was a lot of “hi-yahs!” and banging. It always made for an interesting and exciting meeting!
The club has been tremendous all these years. Great friends help anyone with getting their license and there is always someone in our club to explain things. I especially appreciate everything everyone has done with my cancer treatments and giving rides. If I ever need anyone, I know I can call and they’ll answer “Sure, what time can I be there?”
Amateur radio is a good clean hobby. I’d recommend it to anyone!
Both these men have been with NSARC for over 50 years and have done so much for our club. This is our way of saying “thank you” for everything they have done.