Tuloso-Midway vs San Antonio South Side

1993 Playoff basketball game

Ham Radio / Video

Since high school, I have been into radio scanning. in 1996 I bought a study guide for ham radio. I believe it was the “No-Code” edition from Radio Shack. That is the test change that let non-morse code kids get a ham ticket.

Radio Shack No-Code FCC Test Prep

It took me 21 years and Hurricane Harvey to get serious about getting my FCC license. Thanks to my wife for the surprise birthday gift! My first radio was a Baofeng walkie-talkie radio. Ham radio has been a good learning experience.

The video in this post is a combination of my video production merging with my ham radio hobby. Baofeng was looking for some product videos from youtube and we were happy to put this video together.

73s – (that is ham talk for see you later)

Derrick Perrin KG5YBU (that is ham talk for my license number with the FCC)

1949 Sugamo Prison Football Team

sugamo japan prison camp
Sugamo Prison Tokyo, Japan. Army football team

From the banquet program from 1949, the US Army’s Sugamo Prison Football Team was quite the competitor.

Sugamo Prison Army Football Team Roster
Roster of Squad, 1949 US Army Football Team at Sugamo Prison – Tokyo, Japan
Name Position Number Height Weight Home Town State
Barber, Francis C RH 10 5’8″ 180 Kelso Washington
Young, Harry RH 11 6’0″ 175 Mansfield Ohio
Korgie, Leonard F LH 12 5’9″ 175 Columbus Nebraska
Starnes, Donald L QB 13 5’9″ 155 West Carlton Ohio
Stanton, Raymond B Coach 14 5’9″ 188 Flint Michigan
Frank, Ernes QB 15 5’7″ 175 Enid Oklahoma
Hageny, Kenneth RHB 16 5’8″ 160 Milwaukee Wisconsin
LaFavor, Donald QB 17 5’6″ 160 Saint Paul Minnesota
Carter, Johnny LHB 18 5’9″ 160 Sand Springs Oklahoma
Oliver, William RHB 19 5’8″ 140 Palatka Florida
Costa, Edmund LHB 20 5’10” 160 Honolulu Hawaii
Belback, Arthur FB 21 5’10” 185 Cloverdale Pennsylvania
Bransburg, Richard LHB 22 6’2″ 175 Pottstown Pennsylvania
Rice, Melvin FB 23 5’11” 205 Tulsa Oklahoma
Mannio, Anthony FB 24 6’0″ 201 Staten Island New York
Soto, Lee FB 25 5’10 215 Los Angeles California
Sinda, William C 26 5’11 206 Dong Island New York
Maskevicius, John E 27 6’0″ 165 Baltimore Maryland
Cobb, Clinton Wayne E 28 6’1″ 180 Kilgore Texas
Baxter, Don T 29 6’0″ 194 Wakame Washington
Sherves, Eugene C 30 5’10” 190 Washington D.C.
Farmer, Richard C 31 5’10” 220 Ironton Ohio
Malkiewicz, Robert G 32 5’9″ 180 Milwaukee Wisconsin
Singleton, Eugene E 33 5’9″ 165 Middleton Ohio
Ruddock, Jules B T 34 5’11” 185 New Orleans Louisiana
Huff, Jack G 35 6’0″ 197 Stevens Point Wisconson
Miller, Robert T 36 6’3″ 245 Quincy Illinois
Perry, Robert E 37 6’1″ 172 Clare Michigan
Hopson, Travis E 38 6’1″ 182 Dallas Texas
Stepnick, George T 39 6’0″ 180 New York New York
Compton, Arnold G or T 40 6’0″ 199 Chicago Illinois
Hickey, Joseph E 42 6’1″ 170 Syracuse New York
Lewis, James E 43 5’10” 163 Albany California
Murphy, Robert G 44 5’9″ 205 Minneapolis Minnesota
Puccini, Leslee T 45 6’1″ 250 Fresno California
Phillippa, Teddy T 46 5’9″ 200 Detroit Michigan
Howard, Roberts RH 47 5’10” 140 Charlotte North Carolina
Greiwahn, William G 48 5’10” 170 Adrian Michigan
Coffil, James G 50 5’8″ 175 Beverly Massachusetts
Dearman, Alfred V QB 49 5’11” 150 Elida New Mexico
             
Team Manager            
Sears, Ernest E         Washington D.C.
             
Co-Captains            
Ernest, Frank         Enid Oklahoma
Eugene Shreves         Washington D.C.
Roster of Football Squad
Army #8 Football – Sugamo Prison – Tokyo Japan
Sugamo Football
Program from Sugamo Prison Football November 1949

Just look at those big numbers on the board. Undefeated in the year 1949. Did Yokohama Area Enginers show up to the game?

Found a video from the WWII museum on one of the guys listed on the roster: Dearman, Alfred V QB #49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H7dDTpZIEA
Football field from the air at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo, Japan

Ham Radio Field Day 2021

My first Crack At Field Day

After a hurricane his south Texas in 2017, a lot of folks broke out their books and studied up to be an armature radio operator. I was one of those folks. After acquiring a few pieces of gear and mounting an antenna on the house I was all set. Time went on, we moved away from Corpus Christi, but I still kept tinkering with my ham gear. Field Day (ARRL Field Day) has been on the ham radio to-do list for a while and since I’m working at the Communication Center at a hospital I figured it would be a good year to start.

METEOR SHOWER CALENDAR 2020

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Ham Radio On The Trail

Who can use a ham radio?

The simple answer is licensed amateur radio operators.

A few years back I rode in the AZT300. It is a self-supported bike race in southern remote bits of Arizona. After 8 days on the Arizona Trail, I came home with questions about emergency communications. What would happen if my spot GPS and I became separated? At the time I was not an amateur radio operator and sat there wondering what all the antennas in the distance were for.
Some were for radio and tv, but some are for the department of transportation, amateur radio, and GMRS repeaters.

How could people on the trail use these in an emergency situation?
Can you reach them with a HAM radio? Who can use a ham radio?

The real answer to the question, “Who can use a ham radio?” comes from the FCC test bank for the technician level ham radio license.

Derrick Perrin's bike on Mr Lemmon
Derrick Perrin’s Mountain Bike on Mt Lemmon, Arizona


FCC Question T2C09 – 12. Are amateur station control operators ever permitted to operate outside the frequency privileges of their license class?

  • A. Yes, but only when part of a RACES emergency plan
  • B. Yes, but only if necessary in situations involving the immediate safety of human life or protection of property
  • C. Yes, but only when part of a FEMA emergency plan
  • D. No

So if you are studying for your technician license you do not have a license at all. So this question is for everyone. The answer is “B”.

The key to the answer is that if all other communications have been tried then you ‘yes you, as in anyone without a license’ can use a radio to make emergence communication calls. Any radio, any frequency, any way how.
§ 97.403 Safety of life and protection of property. No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station of any means of radiocommunication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not available.

We cant stress how important it is to have your license . Its really easy to study and test for your tech. Just do a search for the local amateur club in your area and there will be an old man there who would love to help you get setup.

How does this help on the trail?

Mountain Bike and a Ham Radio
Ham radio on a mountain bike

A good cheep radio like the BTECH UV-5X3 has 128 programmable channels that can be setup for everything from ham radio repeaters to Motorola Blister-pack family radio channels to a mix of other municipal frequencies.

2 way radio repeaters and how they work

Family – FRS & General Mobile Radio Service GMRS Bands

Just like the ham radio bands there are repeaters for the blister-pack radios. You can Google search you area for local GMRS repeater networks. Here is a video showing how to program these bands into your hand held radio.

Programming your HT for FRS and GMRS radio bands.

Do Your Homework – Read and find out what might save your ass on the trail.

So the main concept here is getting your hands on a radio and prepare by learning how it works and how you program it. I use chirp to program my handheld 2-way walkie talkies. The frequencies you put into the radio will be important. You can also program channels for scanning only. If you want to listen to the national weather service, you can do that.

Radio Frequencies I would use for the Arizona Trail.

The NOAA weather radio channels for the area

Santa Cruz County 155.71500 – County Emergency Services – EMS Dispatch 155.02500 – SCRUZ-ROADS – Public Works 155.23500 – Santa Cruz Valley USD – Schools

Nogales

154.40000 – Fire Department – F1 – Dispatch 154.43000 – Suburban Nogales FD F2 – Dispatch

Patagonia

154.41500 – Fire Department – Dispatch

Sonoita Pima County

155.22000 Sheriff- Search & Rescue volunteers 154.17500 – Fire Department – Dispatch

Mt Lemmon

146.96000 – K7UAZ Ham Repeater 224.06000 – KA7LFX Ham Repeater 151.04750 – Air Evac Medical Helicopters 155.32500 – Air Eval Tuscon All FRS and GMRS including the popular repeater pairs. Any Municipal fire or EMS that operates on FM.

This is a short list of the frequencies you should be looking for. The little handheld radios are not that powerful. The best way to operate at long range is to have a clear line of site. Make sure nothing is between you and the receiver you are trying to hit.

There are ways to upgrade the radio by installing a better antenna, or a larger battery pack. As a bikepacker, or hiker you will have to weigh in on what is important to you.

I hope this helps stir up some ideas and other ways to stay safe on your next outdoor adventure.

Perrin Family Christmas Fun from 2015.

Camping – Dinosaur Valley State Park – Texas

4 Days. and 3 Nights Camping at Dinosaur Valley State Park - Texas

I would like to start off this travel log with an apology to the people in hike-in site 1. Don’t know who you are, but I know we caused more havoc after 9:45 than you deserved.  The little folding camp chairs sitting next to your fire ring were a cute reminder that your crew would be paying us back around 6:30 am.
Camping - Dinosaur Valley

And so we ran back to the parking lot twice trying to be as quiet as possible.
We set camp and were down by 11:30. Must have been 2 am when we had our first visitor, a raccoon. They would come to visit each morning between 1 and 2. They do throw a bit of a fit when you tie down the trashcan lid.

Day 2 at Dinosaur Valley State Park

I needed to go to the car and grab a few things to get breakfast going but wasn’t willing to do the walk of shame past campsite 1. So we waited till they packed up before we showed our face. We ate a big camp scramble using out turkey fryer and big castiron skillet.
Recent rain had brought the river level up a bit and provided the day’s entertainment.
River fun at Dinosaur Valley State Park
We could not keep people from walking through our camp. This was really annoying. By day 3 we blocked off the makeshift trail from the river to our site. That night I had to be in Stephenville, Texas to shoot video for work.

Day 3 at Dinosaur Valley State Park

After a big breakfast, we packed up and hiked while it was cool. The first half of the hike was pleasant. Most of the hiking trails at the park are located on the other side of the river. So coming or going you have a chance to cool off. We hiked up a way and had lunch on the trail.

Once back at the tent we found a baby squirrel inside.

The afternoon was a repeat of the previous day.
Kids in water, then napping, then I head off to work on a video production.
I made it back to cook tacos for dinner and then hang out by the campfire till bedtime.
Once again the raccoons made a visit, but this time it was while Kendra and I were sitting by the fire.

This trip provided some of the best camping sleep I have ever had. It does help that we used the big camp cots. Grason chooses to be tough and sleep on the floor of the tent.

As people passed by the tracks close to our campsite we would overhear discussions. The best quote all week was,

“There is no way these are millions of years old, they would be washed away long before now.”

Camping at Dinosaur Valley State Park is Awesome.

This is not meant to be the worlds best travel log but a reminder to me and the family about the fun few days we spent on the bank of the Paluxy River in Glen Rose, Texas. The State Park was great and we will be back again to play in the dino tracks, hike and bike the trails.

Thanks for reading,

Derrick Perrin

Paluxy River

Arizona Trail – Day 8 on a Mountain Bike

Table of Contents

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April 15 – Finish

12:00 am Tortilla Mountain 3249 Feet above sea-level climbing switchbacks.

2:15 flat out near Kelvin Florence Highway Trailhead – Not like I was pushing it flat out, but my back tire had a flat bad enough to break out a tube. A sidewall gash is a perfect reason to stop drop and sleep. But before sleep, I needed to do some work. After a new tube was dropped into the rear tire it was time to cook.

Oats, apple, cinnamon, quinoa was on the menu. This was the last camp meal I had with me. I heated up my water, mixed it in the bag and placed it between my ribcage and my right elbow. The alarm clock was set for 2 sleep cycles. I fluffed my hydration pack, placed my head on it as the warmth of camp meal bag added comfort as I nodded off.

3:30 am ate a few bites of my camp meal and then was on the bike Rolling to the trailhead. I had a hope of something magical being in the lock boxes at the trailhead. It was full of empty bottles of water, empty bags of chips, empty this empty that. It wasn’t that I needed anything at that point in time. I knew from now until the end of the race there was one faucet and one dirty river water opportunity and no food. I closed the boxes and moved out. Next destination, water at the public works fence faucet.

The morning was crisp and chilly. I looked for a way to cherish it the best way I could. You want to cuss the cold while being thankful it is not blazing hot like it will be in a few hours. By 7:15 the sun had broken over the mountains and it was time to bask in the sunlight and brew a cup of Coffee. I mad soup out of what was left in my camp meal packet. That was the best Quinoa colored water a boy could ask for.

I inventoried and here is what I had

  • A few baby food packets
  • Some bee pollen,
  • Chia seeds
  • Dark chocolate.
  • I was saving my nun tablets and my beat elite powder for the muddy water of the Gila River.

It looked like I might have a thousand calories for today’s efforts. My food every 15 minutes was not going to happen today. For the math folks out there I’m 6’4 and require a base of 3200 calories a day if I’m sitting at a desk resting. Today is not going to be one of those resting days.

Coffee on the Arizona Trail
The Gila section was a big surprise. I’m not sure why more people are not riding out here. It hugged the side of the hill curving back and forth.

9:30 am – Last waterhole on the Gila – Mud river fill up.
I used the cleanest shirt I had and filtered the water going into my bottles. At a few spots, there were families playing on the other side of the river. It looked like a great spot to play all day. My day was looking up…. up 2,000 feet and then down to picket post.

Gila River - muddy

Gila River

4 pm Passed on Tally Tank – Biggest mistake I made in the race. By this point I was out of food.

With 10 miles to go, I flatted out and had to put a tube in. This left one last tube in my kit.

A few miles down the trail, the replacement tube went out with a bang and left me down in the dirt where my Coast flashlight jumped off my bike and dedicated itself to the AZT.  After 2 tubes I ran out of options and just started to push a flat bike to the end. I was running low on water but thought I could get to the end of the race ok.

The last water on the mountain bike trail

I picked up a 1/2 jug of water from a very suspect pool. The thinking was to have it if I need it. A wee bit longer and I treated it and started to drink it. Even though I was taking small sips, in time the water ran out.

Along the trail, I would pray and thank God for the opportunity I had to be where I was. Three short years before I was flushing chemotherapy out of my system and growing a new head of hair. This year I was hacking at completing the goal of making it to the end of the Arizona Trail 300 mile mountain bike race. There were people God had blessed me with that helped me get to that very spot. I gave him thanks daily for them.

He was looking out for me at the end of the race. I had a small nap before jumping into the Gila section. With little rest came slow reactions. I wasn’t sure why I sliced a tire and then proceeded to run out of extra tubes, but when I came walking around a corner to see a rattlesnake across the trail I knew exactly why I needed to be pushing and not riding a bike.

Rattlesnake - AZT

6:56 – Done

Gila River - muddy
Derrick Perrin Completing the AZT 300

DONE

There is no band, no cheerleaders, and no trophy for completing the AZT. In fact, if you get there before the 750 folks get there I would imagine they might heckle you for not riding “A real distance” I wouldn’t blame them. Ahead lies more miles for them than they have just ridden and you are on your way to Waffle House while they keep trucking.

In the end, I did get a trophy.
AZT 300 Trophy
My mother had picked up rocks along the way. She had all members of my family glue them up and now I have a trophy for my efforts.
Thanks Mom!

I owe a huge thank you to my wife, Kendra, for staying back and taking it in the face. Litteral puke in the face. Our 3 little ones were very unhealthy while I was on the trail. She is a rock-star mom and wife. I don’t expect for her to understand why anyone would want to get on a bike and ride off into the wilderness, but she gives me support to do it.
From fighting cancer to raising children, to working a business together there is no one I would rather have at my side. She is amazing day in, day out.

My final thank you goes out to the Ragan Family. They have been there for me and my family for years. Their son James opened doors for me that I never thought I would need to walk through.

2018 follow-up

I just saw my aunt Tish a few days ago. She is still recovering from her illness in Arizona.  Her Texas doctor was truly surprised to see her walk into his clinic. As he put it to her, “By reading your bloodwork I just knew you were going to die in Arizona”
Well my crazy aunt is still with us and we are happy.

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