I found out that one of my Elmers died
As all hams know Rod, W9BRD coined the term "Elmer" for an experienced ham who helps someone who is interested to get into ham radio.
http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/65513 march 1971 QST How's DX
The Elmer in this case was William Dobbratz:
The Dobbratz family lived in a small town west of Milwaukee called Pewaukee. My Mom was friends with Mrs. Dobbratz and we'd go out to visit them several times a year. The Dobbratz's worked at Delco Electronics in Oak Creek. Mr. Dobbratz was a whiz with electronics and radio. I remember that they had a Hallicrafters television built into a cabinet in the kitchen. I believe he was a ham at some point however by the time I knew him he was a CBer who used the handle: "the Carp from Rhinelander". Rhinelander is roughly 200 miles north of Pewaukee. He also had an amplifier in the car for his CB rig.
So why count a CBer as my Ham Radio Elmer ? For one big reason: in the basement Mr. Dobbratz had his electronics bench and also all kinds of stuff related to electronics. I believe that one day some of his other hobbies (like fishing and model trains) laid claim to that basement space. For whatever reason he was kind enough to give a lot of the electronics stuff to me because he knew I was interested. And I still use some of that stuff today on a daily basis:
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| a power supply I built into an old kit from Mr. Dobbratz |
Just the act of gifting me his old stuff made a big difference in my pursuit of science/engineering in high school and college. Reading theory from a book is extremely important but for me the chance to wind coils and solder, build my own projects made the theory more real. In other words, when reading from a book my mind tends to wander and start skipping over stuff. But while building something (especially if it doesn't work) you really need to pay attention and think things through. Getting a bunch of parts and old equipment was really my springboard into the hobby and profession.
I did send him some emails thanking him but I'll say it again here: Thank you Mr. Dobbratz, you made a big difference in my life with your gifts and thoughtfulness.
Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm
