Ham Radio

Three times Donald F. Esslinger has sought permission to erect a satellite dish behind his Northeast Baltimore home. And three times, the city zoning board has turned him down, saying the dish would "endanger the public health, security, general welfare and morals" of the people.It's a 6-year-old dispute in which Mr. Esslinger's neighbors on Bauernwood Avenue have complained that the 8-foot-wide, white aluminum dish was "an eyesore" and "unsightly." "A huge trash can lid," said one resident who likened it, on a sunny day, to the Starship Enterprise.

FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN, Germany -- The U.S. military declared the first humanitarian airdrop into Bosnia-Herzegovina a success, but the intended recipients did not seem to be able to find the supplies parachuted in to them.By late yesterday there was only one report that besieged Bosnians had found any of the 30 pallets.A second airdrop was made last night.Each of three C-130 Hercules dropped nine pallets of Army Meals-Ready-to-Eat food packets and one skid of medical supplies, a cargo of about seven tons.

For about eight minutes yesterday, students from two Baltimore County schools had an out-of-this-world experience with the help of a small ham radio.At 6:16 a.m., students from Ridgely Middle School and Lutherville Laboratory for Science, Mathematics and Communications experienced a lecture on space and space travel from Samuel T. Durrance, a Johns Hopkins University research scientist who is 200 miles above the Earth on the shuttle Endeavour.Dr. Durrance, whose 10-year-old daughter, Susan, attends Lutherville and whose 13-year-old son, Ben, attends Ridgely, helped set up the radio contact with his children's classmates through the Shuttle Radio Experiment (SAREX)

Where did the polka show go? What about all those doo-wop oldies, Irish jigs, folk music, reggae songs and guitar riffs?The most eclectic lineup of music heard on area radio, previously airing Saturdays on WTMD-FM (89.7), moved to Sundays last weekend.Making way for Towson State University football broadcasts and other campus sports events, the listener-supported radio station TSU has retained all its specialty music shows but compressed each from three hours to two.Here's the new Sunday lineup:"The Polka Hop," 9 a.m.-11 a.m.; "Reflections of Ireland," 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; "Echoes of the Past" (doo-wop)

Theater production Archbishop Spalding High School's theater department presents "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starting Friday through March 9 at 8080 New Cut Road in Severn. Shows are at 7 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $10. Refreshments are available during intermission. For more information, call 410-969-9105 or go to archbishopspalding.org. Course in ham radio The Anne Arundel Radio Club offers an entry-level amateur radio technician license course in six sessions from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays starting March 2 at the Davidsonville Recreation Center, 3727 Queen Anne Bridge Road.

John M. PearceEngineering executiveJohn M. Pearce, a retired electronics engineering executive, died Monday of heart failure at the North Oaks Retirement Community in Pikesville.A memorial Mass for Mr. Pearce, 86, was to be offered at 10 a.m. today at St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church, 101 Church Lane, Pikesville.He had moved to the retirement community last year after 10 years in Palm Beach, Fla. He retired in 1966 after four years with the Bendix Radio Division in Towson.A native of Ottawa, Ill., who attended Notre Dame University, he worked from 1926 until 1943 for WGN radio in Chicago, where he started the sound effects department and became chief sound engineer.

Course in ham radio The Anne Arundel Radio Club will hold an entry-level amateur radio technician license course in five sessions from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays starting March 17 at the Davidsonville Recreation Center, 3727 Queen Anne Bridge Road. The course covers all modern aspects of ham radio. Morse code is no longer required. Free hand-held radios will be given (while supplies last) upon successful completion of the course and license exam. To register and more information, call Rick at 301-855-2278.

Sunday, June 17 'Baseball and Dads' The Bowie Baysox host a Father's Day celebration as the team takes on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at 2:05 p.m. A free concert featuring the Los Angeles-based band Everest will take place on the picnic pavilion after the game. Starting at 12:30 p.m., fans will be able to go onto the field to play catch, and the Baysox players and coaches will be available around the concourse to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Tickets: $29.50; $24.50 for ticket-plan holders; $19 for children ages 6-12; $10 for children 3-5; free for children 2 and younger.

Howard W. Snyder, a retired electronics technician and amateur radio operator whose interests ranged from restoring vintage Ford automobiles to helping mechanically inept friends with their projects, died Wednesday of congestive heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Hampton resident was 82. A ham radio operator since 1932 whose call letters were W3LMC -- "W3 London Mary Charlie" -- Mr. Snyder was speaking on Dec. 7, 1941, with a fellow ham in Honolulu who suddenly said, "Something big is going on here.