This is another Ham Radio post, so if that bores you, tune out now.
I’ve been spending a lot of time cleaning out my “Shack” as we Hams call the room we keep our radio station in. It has been long overdue for me and I’ve accumulated 20 years and more of junk here alone. When I first moved into this house, I had a lot of Ham equipment. I’ll try to find one particular photo I have of a double layer of old Heathkit gear I had. I have less now, and more modern, but you wouldn’t know it.
My room has accumulated layer after layer of “stuff” – both radio and computer – to the point where I’m afraid someone will turn me into one of those reality TV shows where they do an intervention and force you to clean out your clutter.
My main HF (Shortwave) radio had become inoperative and the symptoms it was exhibiting called for some fairly serious surgery to it. Rather than try to fix it half-a$$ed myself, I looked for an expert and found a guy in Texas, who is supposed to be the best and most affordable Kenwood repairman there is. Better than the factory, in fact. So, I shipped the radio off. Just UPS to send it was $40. But it cost $1800 in 1994 and would cost at least $2000+ to replace it with something comparable today.
Anyway, while it is gone, and a big gaping hole in the middle of the clutter where it used to sit, I decided to clean up and make it feel wanted when it returns. It’s been a four-day job, so far, and I’m far from done. But that’s just background to the story of one piece of radiogram traffic I once received. Continue Reading…