It's still in the 90s here during the day but it's starting to get into the 60s
at night ... I'm hoping that fall will get here sooner than later. Fall is my >avorite season followed by spring.
Mike Powell wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-
Mine also. There are things about Summer that are nice, but 90F heat
and high humidity are not a part of those things.
It's still in the 90s here during the day but it's starting to get into the 60s at night ... I'm hoping that fall will get here sooner than
later. Fall is my favorite season followed by spring.
My birthday is this Friday and I hate it being this time of year since
I usually have to hide inside so I don't melt from the heat. I can
deal with cold much easier though I discovered last winter that my deformed right foot does -not- like cold. In my apartment, I can run
one of my oil-filled radiator heaters for a fairly efficent and radiant heat and be just fine.
Then again, fall does have the "cute girls in sweaters" aspect too. <G>
Then again, fall does have the "cute girls in sweaters" aspect too. <G>
Then again, fall does have the "cute girls in sweaters" aspect too. <G>
And boots and leggings, too. :)
The days are still quite warm here (80F/26.6C) but getting quite cool
at night (65F/18.3C). The trees aren't quite starting to turn yet but
I'm betting in the next few weeks we'll seeing gold, orange, and red colors everywhere.
This is my absolute favorite time of year. I am a big sap for the
holiday season also. :D
For amateur radio operators, it means the beginning of 160 meter season too. <G>
The days are still quite warm here (80F/26.6C) but getting quite cool at night (65F/18.3C). The trees aren't quite starting to turn yet but I'm betting in the next few weeks we'll seeing gold, orange, and red colors everywhere.
This is my absolute favorite time of year. I am a big sap for the
holiday season also. :D
Sean Dennis wrote to All <=-
For amateur radio operators, it means the beginning of 160 meter season too.
Daryl Stout wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
Parts of north and central Arkansas were in the 50s this morning. I
used to think you had to get a frost and freeze to get the leaves to change color, but it's the shortening of daylight hours.
There!! We've gotten all the holidays out of the way in one whack.
Now, if the bands will cooperate.
Zip wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
I like the colors but not the (anticipated) rain. :)
Kurt Weiske wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
With the powerline adapters out of the way, I can listen to shortwave radio again - they put out a lot of RFI and made listening impossible. Tonight I'm planning on running my spooled wire antenna out of my
office door and play with my portable Sony shortwave, see what I can
pick up.
SEAN DENNIS wrote to ALL <=-
The days are still quite warm here (80F/26.6C) but getting quite cool
at night (65F/18.3C). The trees aren't quite starting to turn yet but
This is my absolute favorite time of year. I am a big sap for the
holiday season also. :D
The plants know better than we do.
I actually don't go "all out" for any holiday, really. July 4th I do
like to hang a flag up in my window (not allowed to hang one on my porch!). Thanksgiving and Christmas, I enjoy putting an appropriate
wreath on my front door. I do, when I have one, like putting up a Christmas tree. I have a perfect spot for it in my living room window
for a tree this year if I can afford to get one (I prefer the small
fake trees that fit in a closet for the other 330 days of the year).
My dad brought over my Buddipole and my small MFJ tuner. I'm going to
see if I can get the 706 working. The Buddipole really needs new coils and telescopic arms (around $200 from the manufacturer) to rebuild it
... it's 13 years old and has been through a lot but it still works.
This time, though, instead of getting the standard 6' arms, I'm going
to get the 10' arms for better efficiency and more bandwidth on 40
meters. I -really- miss being on HF.
Of course, there's two 150' tall trees across the parking lot taunting
me about putting up a G5RV Junior in between them. <G>
We normally don't get the rain until much later in winter. Our big
"snow months" are February and March.
Kevin Nunn wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
Still 100+ degree days and high 70s at night here.
Same here, I love the holidays. I love watching holiday shows on TV, especially the old stuff. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, best time
of the year.
Same here, I love the holidays. I love watching holiday shows on TV, especially the old stuff. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, best time
of the year.
MARK HOFMANN wrote to KEVIN NUNN <=-
Old TV shows are generally far better than anything new. We have been watching Happy Days every night, lately. For anyone that asks why I
have 100+TB of storage on a 36 drive server, that is why. :)
Daryl Stout wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
The days are still quite warm here (80F/26.6C) but getting quite cool
at night (65F/18.3C). The trees aren't quite starting to turn yet but
I'm betting in the next few weeks we'll seeing gold, orange, and red colors everywhere.
Parts of north and central Arkansas were in the 50s this morning. I
used to think you had to get a frost and freeze to get the leaves to change color, but it's the shortening of daylight hours.
This is my absolute favorite time of year. I am a big sap for the
holiday season also. :D
For amateur radio operators, it means the beginning of 160 meter season too. <G>
Now, if the bands will cooperate.
I do have an HT by the bed, but locally 2m/440 is so dead I don't even turn it on most of the time... :-(
Daryl, what do you think about an Echolink net for us Micronet hams?
I heard something on Says You, I think it was, that the Fall colors are the ACTUAL colors of the leaves. They are green during the summer
because they are filled with Chlorophyll. I found that interesting.
I'm also ready for COOL weather, but not cold. :-)
Well, we are having our floors replaced, so my 'base station' has been
put on hold. :-)
I do have an HT by the bed, but locally 2m/440 is so dead I don't even turn it on most of the time... :-(
Not a bad idea. Where and when?? :)
That sounds fun! There is some new series that I will watch but it's
only from streaming services. And I watch a lot of old stuff too. I am currently rewatching Star Trek Discovery for the new season starting in
a month or 2. Besides that I don't keep up with many current shows.
Mark Hofmann wrote to Kevin Nunn <=-
Old TV shows are generally far better than anything new. We have been watching Happy Days every night, lately. For anyone that asks why I
have 100+TB of storage on a 36 drive server, that is why. :)
I thought I was doing OK with my new network (gigabit to my office
instead of powerline ethernet) and a new NAS with 1.1 GB worth of media.
I've only got 5 drives in mine, hate to see your power bill. :)
Mark Hofmann wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-
Many people think my power bill would be really high, but honestly it isn't. If I turned off all tech in the house, I might save $50-$80
month. I'm fine with paying that much for what I do for a living and
also a hobby.
We also have cheap power here at the moment at just 6 cents per kwh.
When I started realitycheckBBS in 1991, I was worried about the power
draw of having an IBM AT clone (!) running 24/7. I was living in a studio apartment in a beautiful old building with steam heat, and being in my
20s, working/going out most of the time.
My PG&E bill went from $12 to $18. Those were the days. :)
Here in Ontario we're on Time of Use rates where electricity costs:
8.2 cents /kWh (7pm - 7am)
11.3 cents /kWh (7am - 11am & 5pm - 7pm)
17.0 cents /kWh (11am - 5pm)
At the current time, I have 5.9 cents/kwh for 6 months and 29 cents per the of natural gas. At the end of December, I'll have to shop around and see w I can find to try and keep them as low as possible.
To add to this convo, along the lines of having a "recipe for boiling water",
my electric/hydro bill is about $120 CDN a month for a tiny 2 bedroom apartment, with that rack system running 24/7, lizards/snakes/fish with heaters and related 24/7 life-support systems, constant stove usage, a
home theatre setup and a wonderful teenage daughter leaving lights on all the time.
a wonderful teenage daughter leaving lights on all the time.
With just myself, wife, and our son, all the tech stuff, and regular
odds and ends we average in the upper $300 range month/US at the
moment.
Nick Andre wrote to Mark Hofmann <=-
constant stove usage, a home theatre setup and a wonderful teenage daughter leaving lights on all the time.
Mark Hofmann wrote to Nick Andre <=-
With just myself, wife, and our son, all the tech stuff,
and regular odds and ends we average in the upper $300
range month/US at the moment.
My electric bill is normally under $70/month for me. I'm paying about 7 cents/kwh. It's just me but the damned wall-mounted heat pump is inefficient; it cools off the living room and kitchen but I need a floor circulating fan to move that cool air into the bedroom and bathroom. All
of my lighting in the apartment is LED and I do have three desktops
running all the time. I'm about to knock it down to two small desktops
... just trying to save money since I am not paying my electric bill
right now (non-profits are helping me).
My electric bill is normally under $70/month for me. I'm paying about 7 cents/kwh. It's just me but the damned wall-mounted heat pump is inefficient; it cools off the living room and kitchen but I need a floor circulating fan to move that cool air into the bedroom and bathroom. All
of my lighting in the apartment is LED and I do have three desktops
running all the time. I'm about to knock it down to two small desktops
... just trying to save money since I am not paying my electric bill
right now (non-profits are helping me).
Heat pumps are horrible - especially for heat. They cost a fortune to run and don't even warm u
that much. It is a cheap and easy way for builders to get HVAC into some homes.
I would much rather have natural gas, propane, or oil heat. Anything buy a heat pump. Never ha
one in any of the homes I have lived. I have had oil and natural gas.
Mark Hofmann wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
I would much rather have natural gas, propane, or oil heat.
Anything buy a heat pump. Never had one in any of the
homes I have lived. I have had oil and natural gas.
Arelor wrote to Mark Hofmann <=-
Gotta love Engineering, so useful for Micronet conversations :-)
My parents have a pellet stove that is very efficient and
easy to use. If I get a home, I want to get a pellet stove
in it also. Oil and natural gas are available here but
they both are much more expensive.
Hello Sean Dennis!
** On Saturday 02.10.21 - 18:35, Sean Dennis wrote to Mark Hofmann:
My parents have a pellet stove that is very efficient and
easy to use. If I get a home, I want to get a pellet stove
in it also. Oil and natural gas are available here but
they both are much more expensive.
I had considered pellet at one time. But if hydro goes out, the
pellet feeder would be useless. Not sure if you could operate
the stove at optimum efficiency, or even at all, without hydro.
A propane stove would remain the only viable choice to keep a
house warm during an outtage, in my view.
--
../|ug
I had considered pellet at one time. But if [...]
A propane stove would remain the only viable choice to keep
a house warm during an outtage, in my view. [...]
I thought you were more old school than that.
At home we have traditional oil heating, but we also
stockpile a big stash of wood for lighting the chimney out
if need be. Our boiler is a bit old and I'd rather have an
emergency plan if it goes kaput.
If we run out of lumber we can start burnnig horse poop. We
have about 4 tonnes of this fuel in the backyard. The
energy crisis is a myth, I tell you :-)
I consider it an honor to have so many smart people in Micronet.
August Abolins wrote to Arelor <=-
But now.. living on my own, I'm not really interested in
managing a wood stockpile (and the whole mess and chimney-
cleaning it requires).
yet this year. I just fire up the stove long enough to take
out the worst of the chill with scrap wood that I can find
laying around the property.
My plan is to go hop in the car and take a drive to the shop.
Sean Dennis wrote to Mark Hofmann <=-
My parents have a pellet stove that is very efficient and easy to use.
If I get a home, I want to get a pellet stove in it also. Oil and
natural gas are available here but they both are much more expensive.
Sean Dennis wrote to Arelor <=-
I consider it an honor to have so many smart people in Micronet.
August Abolins wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
I had considered pellet at one time. But if hydro goes out, the
pellet feeder would be useless.
One house I rented had a oil / wood combo furnace. I could choose
to use oil or wood. I found it was at least an hour of work every
day dealing with the wood and as soon as I could afford to fill
the oil tank again I made the call. LOL
KURT WEISKE wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-
I'm in Micronet for the monthly "donation" tribute from my downlinks.
Wait, you guys don't...?
We have a small wood stove that requires small rounds, and started using pellets in their place. They are much more efficient, burn cleanly, and I can get a load of pellets to last all night without stoking.
This is up near Lake Tahoe, CA. The key is to buy pellets down here in
the flatlands where they cost 1/3 of the price!
Arelor wrote to Tiny <=-
I mix old with new school and just use a chainsaw.
A friend of mine has a picture of myself holding the chainsaw like a psycho. It is from the time when I didn't take any care of my beard so
I look like a combination of Spanish redneck with Middle-East
terrorist. I am sure he uses the picture to scare children away or something :-P
A propane stove would remain the only viable choice to keep a
house warm during an outtage, in my view.
Mark Hofmann wrote to Kurt Weiske <=-
were cheap (as they should be). They are just pressed
wood. I had bought an entire pallot of them for around
$100 back then. That same amount would probably be $1000
now. It is insane. Cheaper to burn tires.
I'm in Micronet for the monthly "donation" tribute from my downlinks.
Wait, you guys don't...?
Out here it's about $250 for a pallet; my parents use their pellet stove
as their primary source of heat during the winter. A pallet will usually last them an entire season (about four months of constant use). Much,
much cheaper than using the heat pump for heat.
In my apartment, I have a wall-mounted heat pump for climate control but during the winter, I'll hide in the bedroom with an oil-filled electric radiator heater. Quite efficent and no need to heat the rest of the apartment when my computer is in the bedroom.
Sean Dennis wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
I do have an HT by the bed, but locally 2m/440 is so dead I don't even turn it on most of the time... :-(
Same here. I'm a HF guy myself. SSB is my main mode but I love some digital modes like Feld Hell, PSK Feld 105, SSTV, THOR 8, OLIVIA 8/250
& 8/500 ... I love a good ragchew no matter the mode.
Daryl, what do you think about an Echolink net for us Micronet hams?
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
I'm also ready for COOL weather, but not cold. :-)
A strong cold front moved through Arkansas earlier today...with some severe thunderstorm warnings southeast of Little Rock for 60 mph winds, and half dollar sized hail. We won't get out of the 70's again until Friday. Has anyone heard what the wooly worms are predicting for the winter?? I need to go buy the new Farmers Almanac for its winter
outlook, although I tend to go with what the National Weather Service says.
Well, we are having our floors replaced, so my 'base station' has been
put on hold. :-)
I spent the last 10 days off the air, because the registry for the Lenovo Windows 10 laptop had gotten severly corrupted...and I couldn't
do D-Star. The only modes I could do were Echolink, Packet Via Telnet, D-Rats, and Winlink 2000. But, I've got to reinstall those programs to
get them working again. At least I can do D-Star again with the BlueDV program.
I do have an HT by the bed, but locally 2m/440 is so dead I don't even turn it on most of the time... :-(
Sadly, except for nets, repeaters are dead as a doornail.
Preacher said something the other day about the Farmers Almanac
mentioned a bad winter, but I don't know the details.
Well, we are having our floors replaced, so my 'base station' has been
put on hold. :-)
One of these days I'll get back to it...
I do have an HT by the bed, but locally 2m/440 is so dead I don't even turn it on most of the time... :-(
Sadly, except for nets, repeaters are dead as a doornail.
Yep.
Daryl, what do you think about an Echolink net for us Micronet hams?
Oooh! That might be cool!!!
Heat pumps are great but they are only great withing a tight range of temperatures.
If it is too cold outside (when you need the heating the most) then their efficency plummets down
like a falling brick. Under 3 C or so you risk developing frost in the evaporator, which kills
any chance of it working well. There are manufacturers who say they can
push their units bellow -1'
C but I don't buy that.
Yes, once the heat pumps are on "auxilary heat", which around here is pretty m
h half of the winter, that is like running your stove and 50 hair dryers. It u
s tons of power to keep things even modestly warm.
For the climate around here, I would rather use pretty much anything other tha
a heat pump.
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
Well, we are having our floors replaced, so my 'base station' has been
put on hold. :-)
Something always gets in the way of our hobbies.
Sadly, except for nets, repeaters are dead as a doornail.
Yep.
Then, when we lose them for lack of usage, is when folks will
complain vociferously.
True! Life is what happens while we're making plans, or something like that. :-)
I have been able to play some games, though, so that's good! That's a prime hobby of mine as well.
Then, when we lose them for lack of usage, is when folks will
complain vociferously.
TRUE!
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
I have been able to play some games, though, so that's good! That's a prime hobby of mine as well.
Right now, I'm just doing QWK Mail, and playing 2 of the "Casino
Doors" on the BBS, and that's it. Thunderstorms will be in here later today, so I'm up early to do my BBS work...and having an IBS attack overnight didn't help matters.
It used to be where you had to log a minimum number of hours in ham radio to keep your license...as well as keeping a log. Both of those requirements went away long ago.
As for myself, I'm on the air for several nets during the week, including:
1) QCWA Digital Net on Sunday afternoon
2) Hotspot Raspberry Pi SBC ZumSpot Net Monday evening
3) Arklatex D-Star Net Tuesday evening
4) QCWA CQ100 Net Friday morning
5) Trains Net Friday evening
6) Food Net the 3rd Saturday afternoon.
Well, when I say games, I mean board games. :-) I ordered and recieved
the expansion for Stone Age. :-)
Only two nets close by that I could join... So not a big deal for me.
:-)
I have access to a Pi, but never did anything with it...
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
Jimmy,
Well, when I say games, I mean board games. :-) I ordered and recieved
the expansion for Stone Age. :-)
I had started downloading a route with Auran Trainz, but had to abort it, as the system locked up. I never did go back to finish it.
Only two nets close by that I could join... So not a big deal for me.
:-)
I just run everything from the house.
I have access to a Pi, but never did anything with it...
I don't know much about a Raspberry Pi (even though I'm one of the
net controls for the HotSpot Raspberry Pi SBC and ZumSpot Net on Monday nights on the QuadNet Array), but a pineapple upside down cheesecake sounds awfully good right now. <G>
The thing is, they needed a net control station to help out. However,
I will admit that most of the items discussed I have not much interest
in.
But, without either a net control or checkins, there'd be no need for
a net.
I had started downloading a route with Auran Trainz, but had to abort it, as the system locked up. I never did go back to finish it.
A route? Is that a game?
I have access to a Pi, but never did anything with it...
But, without either a net control or checkins, there'd be no need for
a net.
Understood! :-)
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
Jimmy,
I had started downloading a route with Auran Trainz, but had to abort it, as the system locked up. I never did go back to finish it.
A route? Is that a game?
It's a simulator. Microsoft originally had their own Train Simulator, and a Flight Simulator, but I don't think either is being updated.
Auran Trainz has one, and it also has apps for Android.
I have access to a Pi, but never did anything with it...
There was discussion of 2 items on the Hotspot Raspberry Pi SBC
ZumSpot Net last night...
1) Apparently with several of the new Macs, the batteries are running
HOT, and expanding...which is a multi-hazard.
2) The new version of DroidStar (a D-Star app for Android) does NOT
have a VoCoder, so the device is basically worthless.
Hmm... Will have to look into that...
My work assigned me a MacBook Air with the M1 chip, but so far no problems...
Wow... I wonder if I can do D-Star on iOS?
I did try to raise someone on two repeaters on the way to work this morning... Was in Indy all last week, but wife's new(ish) car doesn't
have a radio, so I missed out on the VERY active traffic there...
Most areas now are quiet except during nets. Drive time has even gotten quiet. And in some parts of the country, if you're from outside the call district, they won't even talk to you.
It's been like that around here for years. Tons of 2 meter repeaters
and a bunch of 440 repeaters ... all silent. It's difficult for me to
set up a radio in this apartment. The next apartment I get I'd like to have a little patio out back where I can put up an antenna on a tripod
or something.
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
Jimmy,
Hmm... Will have to look into that...
Do a search for Auran Trainz -- I want to say it's at auran.com
Wow... I wonder if I can do D-Star on iOS?
That I don't know. I have an Android phone, but do all my ham radio communications via the laptop.
I did try to raise someone on two repeaters on the way to work this morning... Was in Indy all last week, but wife's new(ish) car doesn't
have a radio, so I missed out on the VERY active traffic there...
Most areas now are quiet except during nets. Drive time has even
gotten quiet. And in some parts of the country, if you're from outside
the call district, they won't even talk to you.
Sean Dennis wrote to Daryl Stout <=-
Most areas now are quiet except during nets. Drive time has even gotten quiet. And in some parts of the country, if you're from outside the call district, they won't even talk to you.
It's been like that around here for years. Tons of 2 meter repeaters
and a bunch of 440 repeaters ... all silent. It's difficult for me to
set up a radio in this apartment. The next apartment I get I'd like to have a little patio out back where I can put up an antenna on a tripod
or something.
Daryl Stout wrote to Sean Dennis <=-
and a bunch of 440 repeaters ... all silent. It's difficult for me to
set up a radio in this apartment. The next apartment I get I'd like to have a little patio out back where I can put up an antenna on a tripod
or something.
Then, all the frequency pairs for repeaters are taken...yet, what repeaters that exist are "dead as doornails". :P
I use a ThumbDV with the BlueDV program, mainly for D-Star Nets...as that's when I'm mainly "on the air". Otherwise, other things in my life outside of my hobbies (the BBS, ham radio, and square dancing) take priority (especially my health). But, I was interfered with so much on
the local repeaters, that the only thing I do locally is being the VE
Team Liaison for the University Of Arkansas At Little Rock (UALR) Ham Radio Club. Otherwise, all my ham radio work is done outside of
Arkansas.
If you think about it, ask when you're on your next net and let me
know...
I've tried to raise people as I've passed through areans. Sometimes
I'll get someone, but most of the time not. I wonder if that's why... Cause they don't know me...
Interfered with?
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
If you think about it, ask when you're on your next net and let me
know...
I just saw this after I finished the traffic net. I'm supposed to do
a Trains Net on Friday night, but thunderstorms may mess things up.
I've tried to raise people as I've passed through areans. Sometimes
I'll get someone, but most of the time not. I wonder if that's why... Cause they don't know me...
Sometimes, I wonder if they're just snobs.
Daryl Stout wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-
Jimmy,
Interfered with?
Yep. Whenever I went to pass traffic on a test session or something else, I'd get walked on, and they had far more power than I did. With analog, you have no clue as to who is doing it. At least with the
digital modes, your callsign shows up. From what I understand, locally...none of the repeaters are on the gateway...per the wishes of
the trustees.
One Thursday night, we had several supercell thunderstorms moving
into Arkansas ahead of a cold front, and the Storm Prediction Center
had just issued a Tornado Watch for the region. Well, the head of
Arkansas Skywarn had been notified by the National Weather Service that they wanted to activate it, but he wanted me to do "The Weather Watch
Net" (a precursor to Arkansas Skywarn) while they got some hams to head out to the National Weather Service. The weather net was to start at
the same time this clubs regular traffic net was to run, but with
Skywarn as "priority and emergency traffic", that net took priority,
and pre-empted the traffic net.
I keyed up, and announced that The Weather Watch Net was now on the
air, and this old older ham (who went bad senile after his wife died)
went ballistic. He demanded "Who the hell made the decision for
such??". I tried to explain to him what was going on, but he would have none of it. Thankfully, the club president was on the repeater, and I
told him to "Tell him"...and even though he did, this guy felt that a regular traffic net was far more important. After that, every time I
keyed up on that repeater, I was interfered with, and likely by this individual...who is a Silent Key now.
Another ham, now a Silent Key, nearly drove me out of ham radio
nearly 6 years after I got licensed. I was Net Control and a member of
two local clubs, and as it turned out, they had their hamfests in
April, 3 weeks apart. My philosophy was "I may have to work both Saturdays, but I'd like information on both...in case I can sweet talk
the boss into letting me have Saturday off, and I'd work on Sunday instead. I saw nothing wrong with that. Besides, without work (a nasty
4 letter word (hi hi)), you do not have money for going to hamfests,
and buying new ham radio toys.
Well, that infuriated this individual, who called me on the phone,
and cussed me to the point of tears. I called a fellow ham who lived
about 2 miles away, and bawling like a baby with a soiled diaper...I
told him "I'm quitting the hobby, and bringing you my gear to tell". He said "WTH??", and I said "I'll tell you when I get there", and promptly hung up on him.
I drove over to his apartment, walked in, still in tears, threw my
gear on his couch, pulled my license out of my wallet, and threw it and the big copy I had, on the couch, and headed for the door to leave. He said "Wait A Minute!! You are NOT leaving here without telling me what
is going on!!". I admit I thought about saying "Screw It!! I've had
enough of ham radio!!". When I told him what happened, he exploded in rage, cussing as bad as I had been cussed out not 15 minutes earlier.
The next week, when this individual got on the air, and said to me
"You always do good", it was all I could do to keep from cussing him
out on the air. I would've lost my license, and they would've lost a member and Net Control (I wonder if it would have been worth it). But,
as it was, I went QRT for 6 months. No packet, no meetings, no
hamfests, no nets, no public service events, NOTHING. I was still considering turning in my license, with a very nasty letter to the FCC, telling them what they could do with it and the hobby.
This individual had turned so many people away from ham radio, that there were many against him, who noted that at his funeral, "they
wouldn't be able to close the coffin for all the spit", and there'd be
a line of folks waiting to relieve themselves (from both ends) on his grave.
Two and a half years ago, another OM had written some software for
his XYL to get callsigns when on D-Star. But, every time she did the
nets, she was missing callsigns like mad. If I was a station with emergency traffic, I definitely would not be happy. He got angry
because I (and from what I understand, several others) described the software as "klunky". To me, if you wrote a program that is NOT doing
its job of copying callsigns as it should, then it is "klunky"...and it
is up to the author to fix things. It also took him forever and a day
to update net listings for D-Star Nets on his website...and that's why
I started my own list of D-Star Nets... originally in PDF format, but recently converted to Excel Spreadsheets. The spreadsheets are so much easier to work with than PDF files.
So, I quit being involved with the net that this was on, and nearly
quit ham radio. I also switched my emphasis from weather, to trains and railroads; as well as changing my callsign.
This net was a weather related net, but it NEVER did activate for a
real Skywarn Event, like the VoIP Hurricane Prep Net does (I know
they're glad hurricane season is now over for the year). But, then
several of the net controls moved to other areas, and their internet
was so erratic where they could not get into the reflector. With that,
and continual declining net participation, it's causing that net to go
QRT after the net this Sunday night.
Very few folks knew the real reason why I left, and I could have been
a real butthole, and aired the dirty laundry on the air or in the Yahoo Group...but I didn't.
Just like with the other hams noted, while I forgave them, I never forgot what they did...and it has left a bad taste in my mouth
regarding amateur radio.
Net Control is not for the faint hearted. I've been doing nets for
over 30 years, so I know how they should be run. In fact, when I do the Arklatex D-Star Net on Tuesday evenings, I have multiple monitors, with taking net checkins on Reflector 48 B, plus via Netlogger, D-Rats, Facebook, and email; all simultaneously. The email, Facebook, and
D-Rats checkins are noted as a bean for the count, and aren't asked for comments. To me, if a ham as a Net Control station isn't willing to do
the work before, during, and after the net (and it is WORK), then they have no business being Net Control.
Some nights, I'm in the computer chair for nearly 3 hours...and have
the walker next to me, as I start cramping up from sitting so
long...and nearly fall when I get up to move around. I start early checkins 45 to 60 minutes before the net, but depending on the net and
its format, it be done in as little as 30 minutes, or as long as 90 minutes. Yet, when checkins dry up, I go into "auctioneer mode". Where they go "going once, going twice, sold" (just like the song by John Michael Montgomery...the music video on that is cool...and the female
in the video is a cute blonde, who can really clog!!), I do a next to
last call, then a final call for rechecks, late net checkins, or
anything else to come before the net. If I get some, I keep the net going...but if not, I terminate the net.
For logging, I started using Netlogger in August, 2020...and
absolutely LOVE it. I even prepared a PDF tutorial file on setting it
up, and using it for nets. I didn't get into the part for using it for contesting, as that part of ham radio never appealed to me.
Most areas now are quiet except during nets. Drive time has even gotten quiet. And in some parts of the country, if you're from outside the call district, they won't even talk to you.
Most areas now are quiet except during nets. Drive time has even gotten
quiet. And in some parts of the country, if you're from outside the call district, they won't even talk to you.
It's been like that around here for years. Tons of 2 meter repeaters and
a bunch of 440 repeaters ... all silent. It's difficult for me to set up
a radio in this apartment. The next apartment I get I'd like to have a little patio out back where I can put up an antenna on a tripod or something.
| Sysop: | deepend |
|---|---|
| Location: | Calgary, Alberta |
| Users: | 239 |
| Nodes: | 10 (0 / 10) |
| Uptime: | 67:19:57 |
| Calls: | 1,442 |
| Calls today: | 1 |
| Files: | 3,337 |
| Messages: | 357,647 |