In 2022, Missoula, Montana based filmmaker and artist, Grace Wolcott directed and produced a 30-minute documentary simply titled, “Ham”. Wolcott gives viewers a look inside of amateur radio (often called ham radio) culture in her home state of Montana, introducing us to a number of amateur radio operators in the area, including, Lance Collister, W7GJ (formerly WA1JXN). Lance has accomplished a lot in the amateur radio hobby over the years including a host of exotic activations around the world (DXpeditions) and his exploration of earth-moon-earth (EME) or moonbounce communications. Lance may be most widely remembered for the historic moment on December 1,1983 when he became the first amateur radio operator on earth to make contact with another amateur radio operator in space, NASA Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL (silent key), a member of STS-09 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Astronaut Garriot became the first amateur radio operator to operate an amateur station from space that day using a Motorola MX-340 handheld, 5-watt, 2-meter radio.
After launching viewers into the world of amateur radio with that historic moment, Wolcott paints a portrait of a hobby that is viewed by many as esoteric and according to some, declining in popularity through the stories of people who love it. She does a good job of exploring why the hobby is important to the amateur operators included in the film and shines a light on a form of human connection through technology that has, in some ways been lost in the noise of the Internet age. Like any good documentarian, she facilitates the story her subjects have to tell honestly while stoking the curiosity of the audience.
Ham aired on Montana PBS on November 24, 2022, and can currently be viewed on YouTube. Learn more about Grace Wolcott, her films, and her other creative works at www.grace-wolcott.com.
Thank you to Grace and her crew for telling the story of these Montana Hams and introducing the hobby to people who may not have otherwise learned about it.
K7ZWB 