Loose Connection

Harmonica Jack And Rat-Man Are ON THE AIR!

by Bill Price, N3AVY chrodoc@earthlink.net

For those of you who don’t know every personal detail about me, I can only tell you you’re probably better off not knowing. Besides being an ex-Coast Guard radio operator and a licensed ham, I have a pet rat and play the chromatic harmonica. While it is possible to send Morse code on a harmonica, it is rare that there’s anyone within earshot who can copy it. Until now, that is.

Friend Jack Hopkins, the enthusiastic leader of the Capitol Harmonica Club of Alexandria, Virginia, has just gotten his ham license. That alone shouldn’t surprise anyone, unless they know that Jack celebrated his 80th birthday a few years ago. Jack participates in as many as seven musical performing groups, leads perhaps four of them, and the rest of his schedule would likely wear me down at my tender age of $#&*+@$$. Hmmm. Must have been a burst of static just then.

I congratulate Jack on his enthusiasm, and to any of you who say you’re too old or you can’t learn anything at your age, etc., I say “hogwash.”
You may recall in last month’s issue that my long-tailed little friend, Rattie, had become proficient at sending Morse code using the “dah” side of my speed key. I honestly don’t expect her to use both sides; after all, when you see her little hands, it’s a wonder that she can send at all.

I read in a book about pets, Your First Mouse (no one seems to carry books on pet rats), that rats are the smartest of the small rodents and can be trained and taught to do many things. The book didn’t say what I might teach her, beyond finding cheese at the end of a maze, but I’ve started teaching her to copy Morse code. She’s not able to hold a pencil very easily, and when she does, she tends to hold it sideways and gnaw on it, so I’m teaching her the way I learned—on a real typewriter.

Return to December 2002 Highlights Page