Back home where it belongs.

When I was first licensed in the late 90s I saw this radio and thought it was very cool so for some time I set out to buy one. I had an opportunity in 2004; to buy one brand-new in the box. But about a year and a half later; sadly I sacrificed it to buy another radio and it's been bugging me ever sense. I'm thrilled to report now; after sometime I now have one back in the shack. In fact I did not mind that it took almost three hours yesterday to set it up and get it running again.

To finalize the installation this morning another ham came by to assist in programming the radio; via computer. Happily this process only took mere seconds. As many of us known setting up a radio by hand takes hours or days. You got to love technology when it works.

I know for some time now this radio has been receiving bad reviews due to bad display issues but this is now the second radio; of this particular model and still no display problems. Oh I should mention I also have the remote head kit; the DFK-4C and I have no intention of letting that go. The remote idea comes in so handy. I can now say that radio speaking my check is complete.

Good things come to those who wait.

Lets see cents about 2003 my back and my backside have sampled about five different chairs; while sitting at the computer and/or the ham shack. And for about a year now I have been very selective about the kind of chair the two body parts mentioned above most satisfied and about three weeks ago I found just what I wanted. And to sweeten the deal it was $100 off, so timing was good and I just couldn't resist. And to emphasize again my back and my backside are thrilled.

My feet, legs, and knees however weren't very happy last night for a few hours because it took three hours; yesterday afternoon to put the thing together by myself. Here's a picture of it, personally I would like a more detailed picture because this one does not do it justice it looks very so damn comfortable. I now have a real motivator to play wow again; ha ha!

Can't be all bad.

Even though I don't have all my antennas in full operation, I'm not doing so bad on the HF bands. In fact in the last few days I have been doing quite well on 24 MHz with an 18 foot vertical antenna 28 feet in the air. I logged my first contact to northern Spain on that band. I think I'll be pretty proud of that for awhile, don't you?

With all this fun I've been having on 21 MHz, 24 MHz, and 28 MHz I've managed to send out a total of 18 QSL cards this week to a few states and further abroad. I'm still not complaining, yet I sure would love a break in the weather for the rise of one more antenna.

It sure does feel good to be back on the HF bands again with frequency and the reliability of good equipment; it's been a long time.

New tool to use!

every man needs one of these on him at all times; this is a great tool and not a toy the Leatherman Charge TTI. I've had this a little over a month now and I already wish I had one as a child. I was never a Boy Scout I am not a diehard outdoorsy guy; I can tell you that this will probably improve the odds of that happening.

Yes I would admit that it's a little spending, but since when does a man have enough tools. For the short time that I've had it and used it around the house it is well worth the money. Oh yeah this is another great thing I found on Amazon.com. Of all the things to get addicted to that one could hurt a man's retirement plan ha ha!

Antenna plan.

As I mentioned previously I plan on having fairly big antenna plans and for most part everything went well; except for one antenna. It turns out while putting up to the antennas it was discovered that the third was slightly damaged just enough to make it unusable, but it was not a tragic defect. Meaning with a little help from someone better than myself; money spent is not a loss.

I can tell you the two that made it up are doing very well so far. Time will only tell of course. All and all I can not complain the slightest little bit because of the tremendous help I received yesterday from four guys. I suspect that the weather will soon take a turn for the worse, so I patiently await for a whether opportunity to raise the final antenna. Stay tuned antenna updates to come.

Great band conditions today.

As most you know I have been involved with amateur radio for many years now and I have been known to get rather excited when the HF bands open wide. And lucky for me today they did just that for about four hours. I worked all over the Midwest and South West US the whole time. And now I am chopping at the bit to finish the additions to my mini antenna form.

Tomorrow morning or early afternoon my antenna project will be complete after several months of gathering materials; not to mention changing my mind several times over the plan of where and how the antennas go u. I think by now I get it down and all is ready to go. The plan is to change out one antenna, put another one below that one, and add one to the roof. For a total of four antennas to be done. For more details see my website; I will have updates shortly

Happy birthday to me!

I think it's been about three years now since my parents have enjoyed the new technology in flat-panel TVs. And apparently my mother's guilt got to her because she and dad bought me one for my birthday. So far I've had it for a few hours and already love it. I have future plans to buy a DVD player and/or DVR; I haven't made up my mind yet. I do however plan on doing some looking around for a decent 5.1 speakers. Also at some point before the year is out I would enjoy having the Apple TV device.

It is the Sony-BRAVIA KDL-26M3000 26"