New Directions Radio

Copthorne Macdonald is the inventor of slow-scan television... a method of amateur radio transmission that allows ham operators to both hear and see each other during shortwave broadcasts.

Last year, more than 20 West Coast NDR members spent an August weekend at Cambiamos—the country home of Bill Sturgeon and Judy Turnbull—in Petrolia, California.

That get-together marked the second gathering of NDR West. Although I wasn't there, the gang was kind enough to share some reactions with me in the form of a "group letter". Several of the comments deserve a wider audience, and I'd like to pass them along to you.

Bill Goodart (K6CSP): "Wish you were here. This meeting is an example of New Directions Radio at its best. Being able to communicate in person helps keep NDR vital and meaningful."

Thacher Robinson (WB7PRV): "Lots of lovely things happened in Petrolla, but perhaps most significant was the Integration of technical and spiritual communication, two means of relating that are often divorced in our civilization."

Bill Sturgeon (KB6PC): "When I first read your column in THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS® years ago, little did I know that it would lead to this rewarding experience. The word that best describes this assemblage of fine brothers and sisters is ... caring."

Bill Kibler (W6SAZ): "Amateur radio is only a medium. It's people that make NDR West prosper and grow, that make meetings like this possible. Politics, lifestyles, radio, nuclear energy, and philosophy are only a few of the topics of discussion that have begun to fill many radio bands over the past few years. Making connections and sharing resources will continue to be the cornerstone of NDR. Let's get the rest of the U.S. on the wagon, Cop!"

GETTING ON THE WAGON

I've decided to devote more time—over the course of what will probably be an otherwise cold and isolating winter—to strengthening my own connections with other NDR people here on the East Coast. For one thing, I plan to spend as many extra hours on the air as I can afford, getting a bit closer to as many of you as I can reach. I want to determine, too, the very best times to hold our on-air meetings. The population density of hams Is higher In the East than in the West, so we do have more Interference to contend with than do our Pacific shore colleagues.

At any rate, if you're a ham in the eastern part of the continent, and are bent on forging stronger links with like-minded folks, just drop me a line. We'll get ac quainted via radio and see what we can do to get "on the wagon", as Bill put it.