I'm drinking coffee, trying to pour some consciousness into my brain after sleeping in later than usual. This afternoon, a group of guys my age are having a reunion for our old Maple Hill neighborhood, so I'll probably go visit that awhile.
While I was a kid, Maple Hill was packed with young families and kids. Danny Hicks and one of the Puckett brothers are leading the reunion effort. I'm not looking forward to the heat index outside, but I'm willing to go for a while. My brother and sister both say they're going, so I can't be shown up by those two, hi!
HAM STUFF. I learned a few days ago that the vice president of our local radio club is being transferred to a new post. He's a military recruiter, and he only has a couple of years left before he can retire. He and his wife just bought a home in Edgewood — they've not been in it much more than a month yet — and I'm sure he's as shocked as I was to hear it.
His plan was to finish his military career and stay here, but the Army has other plans. I've not heard this directly from him, but a contact of mine outside ham radio told me Thursday what was going on.
It's a loss to the club too because he is a new ham, and his enthusiasm about radio was good for the club. While I didn't always agree with how he viewed things in the club, having input from someone with a new and fresh perspective is always valuable, even if. Sometimes you have to challenge why you do things the way you do. “Because that's how we've always done it” isn't always a good reason.
AES AD FLAP. The August issue of QST featured three pages of advertising from national ham retailer Amateur Electronic Supply (AES). The ads were expertly done and as a set of three were themed, highlighting the location of three of their stores.
The ads appeared on consecutive righhand pages, with photo illustrations on about half the page.
The first ad highlighted the Las Vegas AES story, with a photo of a James Bond-type gentlemen at a game table with a respectable pile of chips, and a respectable woman (or two) surrounding him.
The message? When gambling in Vegas, stop in at AES while you're there.
Another one of the ads highlighted the AES store in Cleveland. As home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the ad featured a scene from a rock concert.
The ad that's prompted outrage among some members of the Amateur Radio community is the one for AES's Orlando location. It features an overhead shot of a woman in a beach lounger on the beach. She's wearing a bikini (appropriate for both a family audience and the beach).
When I was reading this issue, I noticed the themed advertising, and thought it was a neat way of reminding people who might be traveling to look up the AES store in those destinations.
I first heard of the complaints by some about the bikini-clad model when Bill Pasternak posted a comment on the ARRL PR listserv. I went back and looked at the ad again, figuring I must have missed something really pornorgraphic; was there a Janet Jackson-like wardrobe malfunction I missed? Subliminal messages airbrushed in the waves?
I found nothing objectionable in the ad. In fact, after reading through some of the women's magazines my wife has subscribed to, I would much rather let my 12-year-old son read QST than a national magazine like Redbook.
Personally, I've had more complaints from people regarding QST's use of editorial space about weight and health in recent issues. I've received a number of firey comments and complaints. The general consensus is that hams don't read QST (and don't want to read QST) for the healthy lifestyle articles. I would recommend Redbook; not only do they have montly weight-loss and fashion articles, you'll also get an article or two and an advice column about sex to boot, hi!
FILTER? I HARDLY EVEN KNEW HER! In the late-night excavations of the dark recesses of my shack, I found (again) the Datong FL-3 audio filter I bought long ago on eBay. I own two Datong filters, the FL-2 and the FL-3. The FL-3 is the same as the FL-2, but with an automatic notch filter.
Both are hard to find on the used market, and both will typically fetch a decent price.
The FL-2 has been in use for years with my Heathkit HW-16. The built-in filtering on the HW-16 leaves a lot to be desired, so the FL-2 makes the rig nearly as versatile as the DSP in my IC-746PRO. Not quite, but darned close.
The FL-3 had been repainted a bright Wildcat Blue by a previous owner. The original finish was brushed aluminum, which looked much better. I could scrape the paint off the case with a fingernail, but I didn't want to scratch or damage the original finish if I could help it. So yesterday I ran a sinkfull of hot, hot water with some soap, and let the case soak for about 5 minutes.
The paint film softened enough so it was easy to scrape off with a plastic putty knife. The original finish looks great, too. Much better than the bright blue.
I was considering selling the FL-3, but opted instead to switch out the FL-2 and put the FL-3 in its place.
The automatic notch is an interesting feature and works like a charm. And even if you have the auto notch “on,” it won't silence CW signals, apparently because the switch off and on too quickly for the auto notch to get a good “lock” on the frequency.
But tune a steady carrier and its amazing how well it works.
But will I sell the FL-2? Not sure. It may come in handy with these boat anchor receivers, and I would rather keep it around than have to buy it back later, hi.
Time to get ready for the reunion. I didn't have my ham ticket when I was a kid, so at least one story I won't hear is how I Worked All Neighborhood Appliances (unless my Hallicrafters CB-3A CB transceiver was responsible .. hmmm).
73 … dit dit ………