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Thought I would add a link to Justrite. I have bought from them in past and they are American-made and solid. https://www.justrite.com I'll also add them to our links directory.
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Speaking of power failures, I am going to admit being pleasantly surprised by the past five or so storms that have passed through Montgomery County (MD). I keep thinking my building is going to have a power surge followed by the same five day failure from about ten years ago, but lo and behold, nada; no power failure. Which brings me to the real point of my post… underground cables. About thirty years ago, France decided to bury all 220V lines, all of them, nationwide. It’s taken them longer than they originally thought, and I don’t know the exact number, but if you drive around most of the country, which I have, you rarely see a power line. I just find that they are an eye sore and, from an amateur radio standpoint, … any impact? @W3TDH, your thoughts on burying all of our 117V lines?
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Good to have you here.
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untilThe 46th WINTERFEST will bring hams and equipment vendors together on Sunday, March 27th for a traditional hamfest (indoors and outdoors/ tailgating) and ARRL VA Section Convention for 2022. WINTERFEST is an ARRL approved hamfest. New Talk-in Frequency: 146.910 MHz (neg offset, 77 Hz CTCSS). Download our Flyer here Location: WINTERFEST 2022 will again be held at the Northern Virginia Community College Annandale Campus. Enter the Campus off Wakefield-Chapel Rd, at the large Parking Lot B. Click here for more detailed directions and a campus map. Attendance Ticket: Tickets are required for entrance to the Market Fair and the Convention Auditorium. $10 attendance tickets may be purchased online here. (with a $0.97 surcharge per ticket and a an additional $.30 charge per order). Be sure to print off your ticket and bring it with you. Tickets may also be purchased at the door for $15. The price of the ticket includes one door prize ticket. Market Fair (hamfest): The list of vendors is here. ARRL VA Section Convention: Download the Convention agenda here Schedule for March 27th: Outdoor/Tailgating Parking Lot B3– Opens at 6:00 am. Indoor hamfest (Gym) — Opens at 8:00 am. ARRL VA Section Convention Forum (Auditorium)– Starts at 9:00 am. License Exams (Bldg CN) — Starts at 10:00 am. Door prize drawings — hourly 9:00 – 2:00 pm All indoor events in Building CE, Ernst Community Cultural Center and Bldg CN (License Exams). Tailgating: WINTERFEST 2022 will feature an outdoor tailgate area with 150 paved tailgate spaces. Tailgate space selection will be available on a first-come first-served basis. We have never run out of tailgate space. Tailgating begins at 6:00 am, Sunday, March 27. The college does not permit overnight parking prior to the event. The first parking space is $20 and any additional spaces are $10 each. One attendance ticket is included. Lodging: You can search Priceline for nearby hotels at this link: Priceline Hotel Search Disclaimer: Vienna Wireless Society has no connection with Priceline or any listed accommodation. This link is provided as a courtesy only. Disclaimers: NVCC does not sponsor or endorse this event; Attendees shall follow all published policies of the College, as published here The College’s current COVID-19 face mask policy is here
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Had never heard of it. Had to actually look it up!!! And respectfully, that's not an island, it's an Ocean Pimple 😇
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until37th Annual Charleston Area HAMFEST and ARRL WV SECTION CONVENTION Saturday, March 19, 2022 9 AM to 2 PM Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center 200 Civic Center Drive Charleston, WV 25301 Easy access off the interstates! Admission: $8 Tables: $12 (electric $10 if you need it) For table reservations, contact Russ Dean ke8dmb@gmail.com 304-362-5888 MAIN PRIZES: First: $500 CASH! Second: Alinco DR135 Two Meter Mobile Third: Jetstream 25 Amp Power Supply Plus—Portable World Band Radios given away and other great prizes! Forums : ARRL 10AM; POTA 10AM; ARES 11AM VE Testing at 12 Noon DXCC, CQDX, WAS, VUCC Card Checkers For more info: w8gk.org or E mail n8tmw@arrl.net
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Mike @WA8AHZ, if you give me a promo banner or image, I'll put it up. Jim
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Curious to know what people's hamfest plans are this year. As I write this, it seems like many events are indeed taking place. In my region there is Vienna Wireless' Winterfest, I know Hamcation just finished, and Hamvention is a mere few weeks away...
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Sidebar... have been hanging around the 147.300 machine a lot lately. What reach! Back on topic: you're right Lind, CW is mostly reserved for us older gents.
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Awwww. Thanks MaryAnn. Now the question is, just for fun, which HRO is that? I really don't know. It actually looked a little like the Delaware one, I thought, but then the plates are white, so no go, DE plates are black. Hmm... Anyway, to any and all, I hope you had a lovely Valentine, we did, and the chocolate cake we had sure proved it the next day when I stepped on the scale.
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I'm guessing that few of us use the ISO 8601 duration format. For those who might find use for it, here is some info. ISO 8601 Durations are expressed using the following format, where (n) is replaced by the value for each of the date and time elements that follow the (n): Where: P is the duration designator (referred to as "period"), and is always placed at the beginning of the duration. Y is the year designator that follows the value for the number of years. M is the month designator that follows the value for the number of months. W is the week designator that follows the value for the number of weeks. D is the day designator that follows the value for the number of days. T is the time designator that precedes the time components. H is the hour designator that follows the value for the number of hours. M is the minute designator that follows the value for the number of minutes. S is the second designator that follows the value for the number of seconds. For example: Represents a duration of three years, six months, four days, twelve hours, thirty minutes, and five seconds. If you'd like to check out the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601
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Welcome aboard Barry. We're a quiet but friendly community 😉
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Hi Larry, if you do a search on the Internet, you are going to come up with dozens of companies offering testing as a service, and for good reason, it can be a delicate operation. This said, I had kept a link when I was thinking of testing mine a little while back: https://www.timesmicrowave.com/DataSheets/Literature/On Site Testing with TMS LP-SPT Surge Protection Tester -TechDoc-.pdf The problem is that this requires the purchase of their tester and it's not cheap (just under $1,000). https://www.tessco.com/product/surge-protection-tester-515265 Traditional continuity testing is useless because if that had failed, you'd have known it... I think this is the kind of tool that a Club should buy and make available. Sorry for a not-very-useful answer. Jim
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Welcome Steve. Great to have a new member from the UK.
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Thanks for that MaryAnn. What an absolutely lovely story. As for the voluntary appearance, my ignorance is confirmed. I did not know that’s how it worked. How fascinating. You know, I’ve been around amateur radio since I was born but now realize that other than the major milestones, I don’t really know the rich history that takes the hobby from the earliest days, through wars, disasters, and moments of joy and arrival. I say this because the first place my dad turned to for the announcement of my birth to his friends was on air. I was born at 11:45 PM and, according to my mom, the first thing he told her at the hospital was that he had to rush home to tell his friends… read fellow hams. Not sure if she ever forgave him!? Anyway, my point is that some history is in my agenda for coming months. Last point, I think the ARRL, Hamvention, Hamcation, and any other hamfests with conferences should include a few old timers to tell their story; I’m sure we will discover some amazing nuggets!
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Two things Jerry. First, you had me at my wife is a touring rock violinist!! Will message you about my cousin. Curious if they crossed paths. As for the student license. I AGREE. I've been a proponent of a student license for years. There are many variations as to the best formula for said license, but if we could get the ARRL & FCC to start discussions, that would be a great step forward.
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Hi Jerry. Apologies if I misunderstood, but is this what you're looking for: https://xiegu.eu/product/modmic-x5105-dx-adapter/ The link you provided above wasn't working, which is why I just wanted to make sure. As for the RCA vs. ¼" jack, a simple adapter should do it. I think, maybe I'm wrong, that you would need no further construction. Thoughts? Jim
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I keep thinking about how old I'll live to and, more importantly, if I'll be able to operate right to the end. Will I make it to 100? Of course not, but if I did, would I still be operating? Which begs the question, which I'll ask in a poll: how old is the oldest operator you've known and what stood out about his or her journey and the tales they had to tell of magical QSOs?
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Welcome Don. We are a rather small community but we try to engage in constructive, friendly dialogue. And hey, little by little we grow... On a personal note, about forty years ago, I was riding my Harley through Huntsville and lost my gloves in a Diner parking lot. About three years later, I was driving back through and stopped at the diner have a meal. I had forgotten about the gloves... the waitress had not!! She remembered my bike (because it was purple) and told me that she had found them and given them to her nephew after a few months of me not coming back for them. She asked me if I wanted them back it would be no problem, that she would reach out and get them back. Of course not, I said. I was happy they were being used, but her kindness made my day. To boot, she offered me breakfast on the house!!! Good memories.
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I agree with MaryAnn, great post Jerry. One thing I'd like to jump on, the comparison to cell phones. Yup, that's the one I keep hearing too. My simpleton come-back to that is that my daughters cannot just pick up their cell phone and reach out to randomly speak to someone in Ghana. We, on the other hand, get on 20m, call CQ, and make a new acquaintance in... Ghana. I've actually converted a few to Amateur Radio with that one-liner, what's more, I actually believe it. I don't think that there is another way to meet people from around the world the way we can with Amateur Radio. And so, thinking out loud, while I fully, totally, 100% agree with the STEM + HAM paradigm, I do think there is value in reminding ourselves, and those we are trying to seduce into the hobby, that the rewards are substantial and go beyond either the technicity of it all, or the contesting, which keeps so many hams busy. In short, in order, STEM, outreach, contesting. I think that's how I see the pitch. And welcome aboard Jerry. We are not a very active community, just a few of us are regulars despite quite a nice membership, but we are steadfast in our defense of decorum, good mentoring, and civility.
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Welcome @KG5BMR and like @NS7X said, it does seem like some clubs have gone into a cocoon of sorts. I was expecting the opposite but no, many have. Fortunately, many have not, quite the opposite. In my region (the DC area) clubs are actually split 50/50. Some have quasi-disappeared, others have flourished with a new found cure to the loneliness... they get on the air! I also second MaryAnn's encouragement to up your ticket. You'll find that there is, contrary to FM, a lot of traffic on HF now that the bands are opening up again (thank you Sun).
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I had no idea where this post was going... Love it!!! A so, lidly funny one 😆
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My poor vegan eyes are tearing 😭
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Insanely cool but still wondering: why? Having two accelerators in the car... not sure! Having two forks, why? Hmm...
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All I can say is: weird!
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