Checking for Dupes
© 2010, Brooke Allen

I am checking my log for duplicates. What? I hear your reaction.

Last weekend, 14,000 amateur radio operators from all corners turned on their shortwave radio transmitters, hooked them to antennas, and began speaking to each other. As each “contact” is made, we write the pertinent information in a log sheet: time, frequency, and call letters. Amateur radio operators are just normal people like you or me… except that the difference between you and me is that I have learned the Morse code, passed a test of electronic theory, and was assigned the call letters, N2BA – unique in all the world. Also, I have a 114 foot tower in my front yard.

Last weekend, my buddy, Jack, and I borrowed a friend’s station in Kingston, Jamaica and we spoke to 6,314 people in 142 countries. We did not sleep.

Now, back in New York, I must remove duplicate listings from my log because you only get credit once for each person contacted. This is a chore – each call must be checked against all 6,213 others. The work is mindless, so my mind wanders. I think of the people I’ve talked to; Zedan in Jordan, Vlad in Siberia, Mario in Haiti, Peter in Malta, Naranbaatar in Mongolia, Paula in Colombia, Bob in Chicago… thousands of people contacted in only 48 hours.

I think back to the seventh grade. I would listen on my shortwave receiver to 9N1MM in Nepal, and PJ1CC in Curacao until I fell asleep. I would dream of building a transmitter and talking to them some day; and that day came within a year. I never dreamt that I would eventually meet those two in Nepal and Curacao, and hundreds of others - in person – and in their native lands.

As I “dupe” my log, I feel a connection that spans time and space… a sense of fraternity that few frat brothers can fathom.

Last weekend, my friends watched football on TV, and got drunk. They do not understand what Jack and I did, or why, and I will not bother explaining it to them.

Connect with others.