Radio Shack Store in Valdez. Alaska

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Valdez, Alaska has a fully stocked Radio Shack. Outside are two crank up ham radio towers. Bought a couple of transistors for a project. I've purchased parts at a Radio Shack in Seward, but it is not as fully stocked as the Valdez store. A trip back in time

[Michael Zbrozek]

Hello Group -

Who cares if there is a fully loaded Radio Shack in Valdez Ak. Its 2025 and ships dont carry Radio Officers for

many years. You might have one or two APL ships that carry a Radio Officer/Tech, thats all.....and APL are box ships.

73

Mike K8XF

On Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 05:40:25 AM EST, D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1...@arrl.net> wrote:

Valdez, Alaska has a fully stocked Radio Shack. Outside are two crank up ham radio towers. Bought a couple of transistors for a project. I've purchased parts at a Radio Shack in Seward, but it is not as fully stocked as the Valdez store. A trip back in time

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[John Davies]

There are still some great electronics components shops in Singapore at Sim Lim Tower. Not much has changed in the more than 30 years I've been here. There are stores specialising in capacitors and others in LEDs. There are one or two with trays full of old crystals and RF transistors, a tube shop,  and another selling old oscilloscopes, signal generators and power supplies. I honestly don't know how they survive in this age of online shopping but they do. The question is, for how long?

John 9V1VV 

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Ships do indeed carry radio officers, both in the United States and notably elsewhere like Japan and Philippines. 

Michael, if you wish to unsubscribe, there is a convenient link to do so at the bottom of each message. 

73

David 

List Owner 

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[Michael Zbrozek]

Dave -

Why would I want to unsubscribe? I find it difficult to believe that ships still carry Radio Officers.

Prove it?

Mike K8XF

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[Jeremy Allen]

How loose is your definition of radio officers?  If you mean watchstanding CW operators, you are correct, they are pretty much gone.  If you expand it to mean electro-technical officers who work and service both communications and control electronics, you will find plenty of ships carrying them.

AMO had 3 or 4 ETO postings on the board last week.

73
Jeremy

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

On Sun, Mar 2, 2025 at 9:04 AM, 'Michael Zbrozek' via Radio Officers

<radio-o...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

I'm not going to prove anything to you. If members of this list who are still sailing wish to tell us so, that would be great. 

If anyone wishes to contact Michael directly and educate him, they may do so by writing him directly at Mike Zbrozek <k8...@verizon.net>, I'm sure he would be delighted to hear from 

you. 

We still even have a WWII veteran member with us.

Thank you for all the contributions to this list that you've made over the years, and thank you for staying with this list. You are a vital contributor to our collective history which we are preserving here.

On a sad note, we mention that R/O Richard Singer, K6KSG has passed away.  He was notably Radio Officer on Glomar Explorer and head of the radio officers union for EXXON radio officers.

He was world renowned in radio electronics and joined the Navy with 2 high school buddies. After the Navy, he drove truck in California and then decided to go back to sea, where he was hired by the CIA. He is in 3 books and 2 movies. He was Radio Electronics Officer on Hughes Glomar Explores that recovered the Russian Submarine K-129. He sailed Merchant Marine all over the world and sailed for Exxon until 1995.

https://www.lewisandglenn.com/obituary/Richard-Singer

Rest in peace my friend, he was very active in the Society of Wireless Pioneers and he continued being net control station for many years after Ben Russell, N6SL passed away.

Dick was a very active contributing member of the Society of Wireless Pioneers (SOWP) #662, QCWA #28734, OOTC #3692, Fists #8589, Veteran Wirless Operators Association (VWOA), SKCC #4057.

73

David 

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[Michael Zbrozek]

Hello Group -

I am sorry to hear that Richard Singer has passed away. I met him and he was a great guy.

Concerning proof from Dave Ring to show that Radio Officers still exist in todays world, I would not presume Mr Ring

would go out of way to prove the existence of our noble trade still exists. I recently sent  2 mails to him without receiving

a reply. Dealing with him is difficult. I am sorry to say.

73

to all

Mike K8XF

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[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Michael, 

I am very much behind on non-email list matters.

Here is one of the two emails you sent to me.

Notice that instead of sending emails directly to the radio-o...@googlegroups.com email address, you send them directly to me.

You know I'm visually impaire, and dealing with chronic sciatica caused by a shipboard injury many years ago. 

I've asked you for a little bit of assistance in moderating this list, it's not a lot of work, but everything helps. You refuse. 

There's a FCC licensed radiotelegraph equipped ship less than an hour away from you, and since the death of Don Berger in  February 2019, KKUI, hasn't been able to participate in the weekly activation of the only regularly scheduled radiotelegraph coast station in the world,  San Francisco Radio KPH.

The late Don Berger operating SS AMERICAN VICTORY KKUI in Tampa, FL.

Michael, you're licensed and qualified to operate that station, you could zip down Interstate 275, go towards the Tampa Aquarium, you will find KKUI docked just south of the Carnaval Cruise ship dock at 705 Channelside Drive, Tampa, 42 miles away from you. 

I bet EVERY member of this list is jealous of the opportunity you have but that you won't do anything to obtain. 

I would be there every Saturday if I lived less than an hour away like you do. I miss hearing the weekly KKUI-KPH traffic usually on 16 MHz.  Sometimes I could only hear KPH but it brought joy to my soul to know that Don Berger/KKUI and either Dick Dillman or Denice Stoops (DA) were actually passing maritime radiograms using the procedures we all knew so well. 

Even remembering listening brings back wonderful joy. 

Regarding the Valdez, Alaska RadioShack, Geoffrey Morse who is permanent Radio Officer on OMI COLUMBIA (tanker with a Valdez, Alaska to Honolulu, HI run) says that he's been there and that it's very well stocked. 

I attach a screenshot of its location, it's near the Totem Hotel where I used to stay when ashore in Valdez.  You can also see how well stocked the store is.

73

DR

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[Dr.Hess]

I've been to that Radio Shack, a bunch of times. I think my wife even went there with me once. That must be one of the last RS' left in the world.

Dr.Hess

[Tj Liddell]

W8IM Dean Sever  A SOWP member operates from KKUI .

He checks in normally on the HBN traffic net.

Look up his call on  QRZ.COM.  

K9TJL/TJ/ZUT

 SOWP   # 5681-M

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[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

Dean is one of the best operators around. 

Jim Pfister, NS1L, who was then assistant manager of SAN FRANCISCO RADIO KFS (the one in Half Moon Bay) told me Dean was working at KFS and the Fredericks RTTY to Morse converter was broken so Dean who just got out of the US Navy and hadn't used a speed key in two years, gets his key and starts sending CQ CQ CQ DE KFS KFS KFS NW NORTH PACIFIC WX QSW 436/HF A  = and proceeded to send the entire long WX report 100% PERFECT WITHOUT EVEN ONE ERROR. He got quite a few ATTABOYS that day. Maybe it was someone else because Dean just mentions WLO Mobile Alabama Radio. Maybe Tim Gorman or Denice Stoops knows, I tried to call Jim Pfister but his phone has "calling restrictions" and rejects my calls.

Maybe someone can confirm this memory of what I was told. 

I've worked Dean Sever, W8IM and he's that good on the key, so it's very believable. 

Both KPH and KFS had excellent operators. Unfortunately on the ship I made my last Westbound Trans-Pacific trip, during the day, KPH could not be heard on 16 or 22 MHz, so I used KFS, which I didn't mind at all because KFS kept watch during their lengthy Traffic List on their B frequencies. So usually before the list had ended, I had contacted KFS on their B frequency on 22 MHz and received my traffic and delivered it to the Captain. 

By the way, every new Morse only ship I was on, I would start sending my traffic to KFS if I was going across the Pacific and TG Tim Gorman would always recognize me and ask: "Is this David Ring?"

He got me EVERY time, I could never fool him.

The other fellow who was uncanny at recognizing Morse operators "fist" or "Morse handwriting" was JE Jan Edwards, W5EV (SK), from Slidell Radio/WNU. His wife Yankee was a telex operator there.  JE died from cancer in 2010 - fifteen years ago. He sailed on tankers after he left WNU.

Photo of JE from WNU.

73

David N1EA 

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