this post suggested by winterwind 4 hours ago,
and it's a super idea since hams have a major
advantage in a situation differing from the every-
day communications world.

here's to Elmers everywhere::: Thank You! . when
I rode my bicycle to a friend's house on a saturday
morning, when I was about 14, he had his dad's
monster ham radio working.

Elmer::: ham radio mentor::: http://www.na0tc.org/Tech_Elmer.html

my friend's dad, a ham "general," had built a
thousand-watt transmitter to accompany his
Hammarlund receiver ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/wb5kcm/370... ).
the antenna hovered about 35 feet above the
tiny house, a horizontal double-sided rake-looking
thing made of water pipe, pointed southwest/northeast.

Steve, my friend, dialed up a friend of his ... in
australia. . he grabbed the Astatic D-104 and
the thousand-watt transmitter, built into a 19 inch
rack in the corner of the tiny bedroom ... the
transmitter rang like a bell, the tubes brightened
and the radio went quiet. . he called out to
australia, where it was fall while we were
loving springtime. . I got to talk with the guy
down under. . it was just great!

my real Elmer helped me after I retired in 08;;
he's been a ham since the 60s. . after studying
and his coaching, I got my license (ticket) in 2012,
so I'm a newbie. . but he's living with us right now,
so I can get Elmer answers readily.

my amateur call sign (no kidding, folks) is kk4fuu.
that's what they gave me, and I kept it since it's
very hard to forget.

here's to you, winterwind!!! -- j