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 Previous: Comment Deadlines Set for Proposed BPL Rules |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
 Andrew Huddleston, OZ1XJ (left), and Jan Thøgersen, OZ1ADL (right) logged more than 3 million points as OZ5E during the 2003 CQ World Wide SSB event. René Bigum, OZ0KY, looks on. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 19, 2004--Here's something new to pull in prospective amateurs at your next public ham radio demonstration, entertain your next club meeting or even get the multiop group geared up before the big contest. From a musical couple in Denmark comes what might be the first Amateur Radio music video. The professionally produced video features Andrew Huddleston, OZ1XJ--in top hat and tails, no less--his wife Lissa Ladefoged and a couple of backup singers on a 100-foot Amateur Radio tower. They invite viewers to "Come and join us on the airwaves, surf the sky and find new friends." Huddleston says that while The Ham Band's "Seek You" CD has been around for a few years, the video, adapted from one of the album's songs, is a very recent twist.
"Lissa is not licensed but is very tolerant of my interest in ham radio," Huddleston says. "She claimed to be afraid of heights but actually looks much more relaxed than I do." Huddleston says he's not at all uneasy about climbing the tower, but during the filming of the video, he was wearing several other hats besides his top hat. "I was technician, producer, director and lead singer," he says, "and it was a bit too much for me!"
Of course, there's more to the story. Huddleston said he and his wife have been recording artists since 1976 and have released about 10 LPs and CDs. "We were in Nashville in the mid 1990s and had some extra time, so we recorded The Ham Band CD." Huddleston and his wife wrote all the songs. Ladefoged sings the ones that depict ham radio from the non-ham female's point of view (one of the tracks is called "The Radio Widow"), and Huddleston does lead vocal for the rest. "The booklet has the lyrics to the songs and also some great pictures--among other things from the DXpedition I organized to Rotuma Island," Huddleston adds. He operated as 3D2AH.
Despite glowing mentions in QST
(see QST,
January 1995, p 105) and other ham radio publications, distributing the CD
proved difficult. So, Huddleston says, the couple simply set up a toll-free
number, sold a few CDs and "got on with our real life."
 Some of the OZ1ADL antennas: In the foreground are two of the supports for a Beverage aimed at the US. In the background on the right is the Fritzel 5-element tribander at 40 feet and in the center is a 100-foot tower with stacked Sommer log-periodics at 65 and 100 feet. Not visible are verticals for 40 and 80 meters and a 160-meter sloping wire. |
But then, he says, Dave Bell, W6AQ--the primary producer for the Amateur Radio Today CD--contacted the couple to ask if they would let him use some of their music in his World Radiosport Team Championship 2002 documentary.
"Of course we agreed, and he later invited us to attend the events following WRTC in Finland, where we discussed making a music video with the idea of attracting new people to the Amateur Radio hobby," Huddleston said. The couple also performed at the WRTC-02 banquet, "and they loved the show!"
"When we got back home to Denmark, we shot this video, and we only finished editing last Friday (March 12), and I put it on the Web site." Huddleston says the video attracted several hundred viewers in the first few days.
"The song is called 'Join Us on the Airwaves,' and it is exactly the same tune as the first song on the CD--'On the Monday Evening Greyline,' but Dave Bell suggested that we write new words so that nonhams could understand them," he explained.
"Our plan is to make a DVD of this video, and then anyone who wants the video can buy it." He points out, however, that with a fast Internet connection, viewers now can see it for free. Huddleston says he expects that Bell will be involved in any future development of the new video.
The video was shot at the QTH (and on the tower of) Jan Thøgersen, OZ1ADL, near Aarhus, where Huddleston has built a contesting station that he and Thøgersen use. "We are filmed from a 120-foot high crane," he notes. "The antennas are Sommer XP707s."
While not obvious from viewing the video,
Huddleston says all of the performers were wearing rock-climbing harnesses
under their fancy clothes. He says that if you look carefully you can see them.
 Lissa Ladefoged performs some of the songs from "Seek You" at the 2002 Nordic VUSHF Meeting 2002 in Sweden. |
Backing up Huddleston and Ladefoged and the others on the musical tracks were what he calls "the greatest of the legendary Nashville session musicians." They include Buddy Emmons on pedal steel guitar and Pig Robbins on piano.
The "Come and Join Us on the Airwaves" video likely would delight any ham, as would any of the tracks on the "Seek You" CD. Some of the other titles include "It's Great to QSO in Morse Again," and "Rotuma Bound." Samples of each cut also are available via The Ham Band Web site.
The booklet accompanying the "Seek You" CD
explains the mystery of contesting, DXpeditions, antennas and more.
Huddleston--who's also G3WZZ and OZ5E--and Ladefoged have not given up their
day jobs. They're medical translators, and Ladefoged also has a talent for
making Danish pottery.
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