BARB Kingery AE7AQ
She wanted to sail around the world, but their 16-foot sailboat was best suited for Canyon Ferry. After research, she concluded that ham radio would be important for their wandering adventures. So they studied the ARRL manuals and took and passed all three amateur radio license exams in a little over a month, receiving their Extra licenses in May 2009. Then when Rob got interested in Summits on the Air (SOTA), Barb realized that hiking with ham radio is her true travel mode and has more possibilities than a sailboat ever could.
She is not at all interested in accumulating points or checking summits off a list, but ham radio has provided a great format for exploration. For Barb the joy of mountain climbing is being in the world of nature. Seeing the first bluebird of spring or finding the rare native Montana plant Kelseya Uniflora makes each hike better than the one before. Her other finds include the beautiful mountain orchid, a pileated woodpecker, and a Harlequin duck. A Canada lynx crossed their path on the fifteen-day trek described in their article “A Long Walk to Waterton,” as well as grizzly bear and deer. (Be sure to look up that piece in QST magazine.*) Barb is a hiker with seemingly endless stamina and is always ready for another long walk. Barb likes to be helpful, and her favorite activity in ham radio is the ARES net. She enjoys the community service aspect of ham radio and wants to expand her usefulness by learning Morse code. Barb and Rob agree that the great thing about amateur radio is that there are so many niches within it, and so many ways to find individual fulfillment. They bring unique perspectives to the world of ham radio and enrich all of us. March 2018 *Kingery, Rob AE7AP and Barb Kingery AE7AQ, “A Long Walk to Waterton.” QST, 15 Aug. 2015, pp. 65–66.
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