Traffic Mis-handled

This is another Ham Radio post, so if that bores you, tune out now.

WB2KJT6I’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…

Mc Lamé??

What’s with McDonalds, trying to be some kind of trendy coffee house, instead of what they are, a burger joint? Who do they think they are, anyway? And what is up with this adding “é” to everything in sight? It sounds, well, stupid.

Besides, haven’t they noticed, even Starbucks is closing shops around here. The coffee fad has peaked and the winner is, not Mickey D’s, not Starbucks, not even Spot Coffee, it’s good old Tim Hortons.

So this commercial is all the more hilarious and pointless, pathetic and lame. L – A – M – E. Continue Reading…

My Yearly Ham Radio Activity

An 85 ft manlift does wonders for antenna supportMany of you that know me, know I am a Ham Radio operator. You probably remember me being very active in it and doing lots of weird things that probably made little sense to you, but were very interesting to me. You’ve seen big antennas at my home and lots of radio equipment. You think I do this stuff all the time.

Well, truth be told, I haven’t done much with it lately. It’s still there to be done, in fact there are new challenges in Ham Radio that I haven’t even scratched the surface of. But it’s taken a back seat to other things, other hobbies, for the past few years.

I do enjoy one thing every year and try to, once a year, take advantage of an event in Amateur Radio I’ve always enjoyed: Field Day. This year (and last) I went to Webster NY and joined with a bunch of friends in a county park where we set up and operated radio equipment for 24 hours in the exercise called Field Day. Continue Reading…

Bird Wars

Kamikaze Chicken lies next to a fragment of my vehicle's mirrorScott Leffler has had a running topic on his radio talk shows on WECK and WLVL about the “Bird Wars.” They consisted of a lot of collected anecdotes to support the theory that birds, as a species, are at war with the species of man.

Conspiracy theory? Wacko talk? You might think so. I was unconvinced. Until today, when the birds turned their fury my way and made it personal.

On the way home from dropping my daughter off to school in Sanborn, and listening to Scott’s Dialog show on the radio (Coincidence? I think not.) one of them attacked my vehicle. Continue Reading…