Lynn Jugel

So I hear that you’re a ham radio operator. Can you tell me about that?

It stands for amateur radio operator. I think when it first started out, it kind of got the nickname of “ham” because they weren’t, like, legit radio operators, they just kind of did it for fun. People get licenses, and they can talk to each other.

When did you first get involved with ham radio operating?

I got started because my father was heavily involved. I just kind of grew up with him constantly doing it. He had a big station in our basement … with the transceivers and the antennas and just all kinds of equipment so that he can talk to people all over the world.

When did you end up getting your certification?

Last year, I found a free class through the Piedmont Neighborhood Emergency Team. So I took my son, and we just did it over the weekend, we studied and read the manual. It was pretty much a two-day cramming session for the test.

What made you want to go back and get your license?

My son took the class with me last year, and he was 13 at the time, so I kind of thought, you know, he’s really interested in electronics, and so that was a big drive. Plus I’ve always kind of considered doing it over the years, and my dad has always sent me these little subliminal messages.

When have you used your radio skills?

My husband and son will go skiing, and they’ll be up on the mountain and we can talk on the radio. It sounds pretty good. We also took the radios camping last year right after my son and I got our licenses. There’s no phone reception up on Mt. Hood where we were camping but he was able to go off with his friend on his bike and still communicate with us.

Is ham radio operating a family activity for you?

I guess it is. I don’t know how else I would have known about or gotten involved in ham radio operating without my dad. My parents actually came in town for Christmas and … we spent two weeks going to the ham radio outlet, which, there’s one in the Beaverton area, and my dad was psyched about that. He helped us pick out an antenna and put it up. So now we have this 10-foot antenna on my garage, and we got a transceiver so that we can talk to people a little further away.

Why is having your certification important to you?

Personally, it’s not so much for the hobby of it or even working with the equipment. I think for me, it’s more of having the communication in case of an emergency.

What kind of an application would ham radio operating have in an emergency?

If there was a major emergency, peoples’ cell phones wouldn’t work because so many calls would jam the cell phone towers. But with the ham radio, you can always communicate. And then Portland Public Schools is trying to get a group together, too. There is a meeting in June for PPS to have a radio team for emergency preparedness. So I’ll be involved in that. They’re working with emergency teams in the city so that if there is any type of disaster, there can be communication between the schools.

What kinds of things have you heard on the radio?

It was sometime in the ‘70s … my dad intercepted a distress call. It was him and another guy who were on the same wavelength talking to each other, and they heard a distress call from a ship in the Gulf of Mexico. My dad contacted emergency services and ended up saving them. It was a small boat, only about six or eight people but was pretty neat. A news team came out and interviewed him.

What are your plans going forward with ham radio operating?

My husband and I are now trying to get the next level license this summer before we go back and visit my parents because then we could get on my dad’s radio and make more contacts. It could be fun. I don’t have the ability from my house to talk to people all over the world, but when I’m at my dad’s … he has a 70-foot antenna in his backyard, and he has this huge generator and backup antenna just in case something happens. So it’s amazing. He talks to people all over

the world.◆