I Married a Ham...

By Margarita Quarles, K5MSQ

When I first met him, he said he spent a lot of time in his shack. Shack? What shack? I could only picture some little run down hovel out in the woods. Later I learned that a shack was in fact a room of the house dedicated to ham radio. Boy was I relieved! He said he spent a lot of time, sometimes all night, on the radio. What could a person do all night on a radio and whom could he possibly be talking to? They speak a different language you know. QTH, QRZ, QRQ and so on. Some even drive cars with really ugly antennas.

We all have expectations of what a marriage should be, but little did I know! In each marriage there is a little `his-hers-yours-mine' but they can all be shared. Some men have Monday night football or Thursday night poker. Owen has Ham Radio. It is not just a hobby but it becomes a part of your life. There are lots of operating events. Owen is very competitive and likes to operate in contests. There are lots of different contests in both CW and Phone. During the winter months, there is even a Fox Hunt. It is nothing like getting on a horse and hunting for a bushy tailed fox as they do in England.

While riding in the car with Owen, one of the first things I noticed about Ham Radio was the names, voices, and stories told by some of the local Hams. There was the `Old Timer', affectionately called because he has been a ham longer than most can remember. When I first heard someone called `Captain Kirk', I thought of the TV program Star Trek. But as it turns out his name really is Jim Kirk! Uncle Zed was another name I later found out referred to a call sign once held by Bill's father.

A couple years ago I took a novice class given by the Northwest Amateur Radio Society. There were several other wives in the class. We never discussed very much why we were really taking the course. One of the ladies, Stella, was there because her husband made her an offer to retire one year early if she got her license. The class was interesting because we learned the language that our husbands were speaking. There were a great many aspects of ham radio which related to my profession in radiology. There were also some very technical aspects of ham radio dealing with antennas. The wives kidded that if the need ever came along to put up an antenna or install a radio, we would have to lend out a husband.

A couple years ago, my husband and a couple other hams, drove all over the state in a contest called the Texas QSO Party. They had a blast and I said next year I'm going to drive you around to the different counties and you could operate the contest. I don't mind driving and I thought about seeing parts of Texas I had not seen. The main thing was that I would be spending some time with my husband doing the things he enjoyed. As it turned out, I was quickly hooked on this contest plus I learned a little more about my husband. I have since driven for him in this contest a few times. The most recent time I too had my license. I have become most competitive in this contest and each time I want to get through more and more counties. This year more wives joined in and drove for their husbands. We all had a great time. After the contest was completed, everyone got together for dinner and to exchange stories of the adventure. The more the stories are told, the bigger they get!

Wherever you may work for a living, everyone shares the same profession. But with Ham Radio, there is a whole world of engineers, doctors, lawyers, husbands and wives that share one common hobby. Someone said you had to be an extravert to be a Ham. That is not true. This is a hobby of warm, friendly, wonderful people to meet, talk with, and help you. I am certainly glad I got involved with Ham Radio and I think most women would also enjoy the hobby and sharing hobby time with their husbands.

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