Back on the Air!

Yesterday I got my new handheld out of the box, expecting that it would be at least a day before I could use it as that the last time I bought a handheld (1986), the battery needed some sixteen hours of charging.

Well, I installed the battery pack, and to my surprise it was ready to go!  I spent a few hours going thru the owner's manual to learn how to operate the thing.  It's got more bells and whistles than I'm used to, but so far it's been fairly easy to grasp the concepts.  Tone squelch selection is a great deal easier than it was on the old handheld, and I've already stored a repeater in one of the memory banks.  I've also had fun scanning the business and aviation bands, which is great as that the ham repeaters aren't as active while most users are at work.  In the evening repeater activity picks up, and after listening last night I finally decided to get my feet in the water.

For those of you unfamiliar with ham radio, repeater operation is a lot different than the HF bands.  On the HF bands, if you want to talk to someone, you call CQ (calling any station) or you find someone who's calling CQ and you answer him.  On repeaters, it's a different ballgame.  You say "(your callsign) monitoring".  If someone is so inclined to answer you, he calls you.

Now repeaters are a different breed of bird for an HF guy like me.  I didn't spend a lot of time on them in the 1986 timeframe.  I did use repeaters when I was in El Paso on a road trip, and again in both British Columbia and Alberta when I was there in 1990 (my license is honored by Canada, and I wanted to be able to say I operated there).  I used repeaters again in Santa Cruz when I was a member of a local club, and even used it once or twice to use a phone patch.  Aside from that, I didn't really use them, and that was mainly because I didn't consider myself an enthusiast of that kind of operation.  Yes, I might have looked down on that considering it to be some glorified kind of CB.

Last night I returned a call on a repeater from a local gentleman named Wendell.  He answered back, and before too long we were joined by Ruth and Jim, and another gentleman who I now cannot recall his name.  It was a great roundtable discussion.  Ruth has already placed into the snail mail, plans for an antenna construction project.  I have to admit that I'm impressed by the friendliness of the local ham community here, and the way in which they welcomed me.

Later on this evening, my intention is to be back on this repeater, this time using a whip antenna.  I don't know if any of these hams are members of that one club that I'm thinking of joining, but hey, I can pick their brains.  That club has a UHF repeater that I can hit (sometimes) using the rubber duck antenna ,and I'll have to try again with the whip.

My hope is to be active on the HF bands within two weeks.  I might start out with a jury-rigged dipole that will at least get me on the air, and I don't see myself as ever losing my love for the HF bands.

However, the realm of VHF and UHF is lure, and I feel the need to learn more about this and to do more things there.

Soon on the Air......I Hope............!

Shortly after my last post I did something I hadn't done in a long time.  I attended a meeting of a local ham radio club.  I was immediately recognized as a newcomer and welcomed.  My intention was to to check out some other clubs in the area, and I still want to do that, but I think this club I found will be the "home" club.  Several hams in the club have vintage transmitters and receivers like I do, and having some local hams who share this interest will be a great resource if I end up undertaking restoration projects.

Additionally, I tried getting my Yaesu FT-209RH handheld back into commission.  I found out that the batteries will no longer hold a charge (likely due to age), and when I had it in an adapter the audio section died within twenty minutes.  Regrettably it has to be retired, but in one way this is a good thing.

It will be an excuse to make one more trip to Ham Radio Outlet in Phoenix.  I have identified a new Yaesu model handheld that I would like to get, and not only is it more affordable than I thought, it's gotten a lot of rave reviews posted online by other hams who own it.  Yaesu put it on the market in 2004, and it is still in production though it may be "obsoleted" later this year.  That doesn't bother me, as that the thing is built like a tank and will survive being dropped several times if it's out with me on a hunting trip.

What's nice about that new model, the FT-60R, is that not only will it work on 2 meters, it will also work on the UHF band (420 to 450 MHz).  It also can function as a handheld scanner, though it will not accommodate the newer digital technologies that the local police and fire have switched over to.  That's not an issue as that I could still listen to aircraft and weather, and weather would be of interest if I'm out on a road trip.

I've also identified a Yaesu model that I could use in my truck, or as a base station if I decide to get a 12 volt power supply (I don't think the 12 volt power supply I built some years back will provide enough current for the expected load).  I don't operate "mobile", mainly because I've been driving a stick since 1983.  However, we are thinking of a new vehicle next year, and that might end up being an automatic transmission.  In that event a higher powered mobile unit would be nice to have on a road trip.  We would have to take it inside the motel with us if staying overnight, but that's no issue.

Now I'm going to digress for a moment as that there are some other things on my mind re ham radio and repeaters.

For most of my ham "career", I have almost exclusively operated on the HF (high frequency) bands, or shortwave if you will, as that I got into this to talk to other hams around the country and around the world.  My operations on VHF haven't been extensive, mainly because those frequencies are line of sight, though the repeaters are a great help in expanding area coverage.  Some hams might think of the repeaters as some sort of gentleman's CB, but when you think about it it's much more than that.  Local nets may meet on the repeaters per a weekly schedule, and it's a way for clubs that have repeaters (almost all clubs have them) to pass along news.  My favorite part of these nets were the "swap meet" portion of the "meeting" as that it's a great way to acquire parts and/or equipment, or to sell.

But there's something else about the VHF realm which can and is fascinating.  There are lots of hams who have VHF/UHF rigs that cover all modes, and not just narrow band FM.  As stated above, propagation is line of sight........but not always!   Tropospheric ducting and sporadic skip come into play, affording you the opportunity to work stations that are a thousand miles away or so.  Some hams use these frequencies for "moonbounce", which is something I'd like to try sometime as that bouncing signals off the moon in order to talk to a ham also doing that is a real challenge.  There's also meteor scatter propagation, which is as much of a test of operating skill as is using Morse code to talk to someone in Russia (and the Russians are very good operators!)  Heck, I think meteor scatter would be a great deal more difficult than working Russia.

Anyway, some time down the road, I want to give the six meter band a try, and all mode two meters.  Two would be a good way to use a satellite as a repeater, though there are other bands where satellite operation is possible.

Again, I'm wondering why I allowed this hobby to lapse like I did.

Hopefully life will allow me to resume this soon.

The Road Back to Amateur Radio, and a Detour

I've spent some more time going thru boxes in the garage, some of which may have been packed back in Santa Cruz, moved to my townhouse here in Tucson, then on to the house here in Tucson that I'm at now, because I'm seeing some items that I haven't seen in several years.  That's both a good thing and a bad thing.  It's a good thing in that I'm now getting these things organized and a bad thing in that I waited so long to do this.

I have located some more accessories for ham radio and there are still some items I am trying to locate.  My itch to get back on the air is a great deal more than it was last week, and I am chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle.  I'm clearing a space where I can operate, I'm doing some reading to learn what has changed since I was last on the air, and I've already got an antenna project in mind.  But before I take that step, I've got to finish getting things organized and there are a few other things to do too.

I was talking about this to Sheila yesterday.  I told her that I've been asking myself, why did I leave this hobby lapse?  And as soon as I asked that question, I knew the answers.

There were some adverse circumstances that emerged in October 1998, in the form of two very dramatic life changing events.  I had to get some things in order and then I had to relocate to Arizona.  Before relocating, I did attend one last meeting at the club I was active in at Santa Cruz (I may have made one more meeting in March 1999 when I had to return to San Jose to wrap up some loose ends) and I always meant to return to the air once I was settled down here.

What happened instead was the following.

I got involved in a work project that meant working long hours and weekends.

I got involved with a local singles group, feeling the need to develop social skills and to learn what the "rule" changes were in dating.

I got involved with country & western dance classes at the Maverick.

I went to a lot of gun shows and I spent a lot of time in target shooting, hiking, day trips, and exploring southern Arizona.

I started dating Pam regularly.

I changed jobs at work, but wasn't seeing Pam, but I still did a lot of dating.

I took up hunting, and went out for deer at least three seasons, and out again for rabbits.....and several scouting runs in between.

There were two more ladies.

Then I met Sheila.

Then I had a year-plus exile in Las Vegas, getting married, and a coming home.  And since then, lots of yardwork, organizing, down time, reading, and discovering that handheld that I forgot that I owned.

Well, I'd like to think I'll be back on the ham bands again, but now there's been one more detour, and this one's a fun one.

I discovered a bagful of wheat cents that I forgot that I owned!  These were purchased at a coin shop in Santa Cruz around 1995 or so.  At the time of purchase, I figured I would sort through them, and maybe sell these online.  Right now I'm going thru them when I'm not catching up on my reading (which is including some ham radio magazines) and I've found some goodies.  I have a hoard of wheat cents in a cigar box upstairs and I'm now adding to them.  Some in the bag have some mint luster in them so I'm placing these in 2 x 2 holders and I've still got more than half the bag to go thru.

Oh, and I've got another hoard that was given to me by Birdman some years back.....a whole coffee can full........though 2/3 of those are Memorial cents, with several from the mid 60s having full red mint luster.

In the meantime, a trip to Phoenix for some personal business is on the docket this week, and hopefully the available time will permit a visit to Ham Radio Outlet.  And on Tuesday, a local club is meeting, and I very much want to crawl out of the cave and get involved again with ham radio.

Teach Kids to Smoke!

When I was growing up, cigarette usage was a lot more common among the adult population than it is today.  My parents smoked, my aunts and uncles smoked, and it's possible that my grandparents also smoked though I have no memory of them ever lighting up.  Smoking was the cool thing back then.  I noticed in my first year of junior high school that some of my classmates had taken up smoking.  They couldn't smoke on school grounds, so the new seventh graders would join their friends and upper level classmates outside the perimeter of the campus and light up before the morning classes started.  It was a rite of passage for them; it was the cool thing to be hip, and even though Florida state law did not allow for minors to have possession of cigarettes they somehow got them and used them on a regular basis.

Warning labels, were of course, on cigarette packages in those days.  This appears to have started in the 1960s when the Surgeon General went after tobacco.  I remember health warnings on the cigarette packages back then that said something like "Smoking may be hazardous to your health".  The warnings got more direct as time went on, and while that was going on the faculty of the junior high school started "educating" the students on the dangers of tobacco.  They wanted its use to end and were discouraging it whenever they felt the need.

Smoking of course went on, and it wasn't until the late 70s that the anti-tobacco crusaders decided to amp up their fight against cigarettes.  They pushed for a ballot initiative in California in 1978 which ended up being defeated, but the crusaders weren't going to give up.  Smoking was banned in grocery stores, then in other public places, tobacco taxes were increased, and eventually they succeeded in getting smoking banned in bars (as if people visit the bar on a regular basis for their health).  This spread to other states, and if that wasn't enough, tobacco taxes were hiked by several states and eventually the federal government in an effort to discourage smoking.  Tax increases were sold to the public on premise that revenues collected would go to treat lung cancer and provide health care for poor children.  There was also a multibillion dollar extortion from Big Tobacco, and Joe Camel, who was said to be more recognizable than Mickey Mouse was virtually banned.

Now growing up I was very much anti-cigarette smoking, and in my adulthood I too wanted the smokers punished.  I wanted them banished into the functional equivalent of leper colonies.  I wanted taxes on cigarettes hiked.  Yes, I wanted them to pay.

Well, like how President Obama's position on same sex marriage has evolved, so has my position on cigarette smoking evolved too.  I think collecting tobacco taxes to pay for health care of poor children is a very noble thing to do, but my concern is that if everyone quits smoking then there won't be any more taxes collected for this.  The parents of poor children obviously can't pay for doctor visits or trips to the E.R., and if tobacco taxes aren't collected then the health of poor children is at risk.  Some of them may die.  I think this is wrong, and if you're a level-headed person then you'll be agreeing with me on this one.

Now we can't really expect the adult ex-smokers to resume the habit.  Many of them have spent hundreds of dollars in trying to kick the habit by getting medication or hiring hypnotists or even subjecting themselves to electro-shock therapy to kick that habit.  I don't think it's fair to them to tell them that their money and efforts were wasted on that.  They've already spent several years paying their fair share of tobacco taxes, and I think they've done enough.

So if we can't approach the ex-smokers to start smoking again, then what do we do?  The poor children need their health care.  We could start taxing fast food, but we need fast food taxes to pay for the health care costs of the obese who got that way by eating fast food, so that's off the table.  We could tax alcohol, but alcohol taxes have been earmarked for treating alcoholism and rehabilitation of drunk drivers, and it wouldn't be fair to divert those funds to provide health care for poor children.

The obvious answer here is to somehow keep the revenue stream from tobacco taxes flowing.  We do that by recruiting new smokers, and the younger we recruit them then that's more years of them paying tobacco taxes, and thus they are able to better bear the burden of providing this much-needed health care for the economically disadvantaged.   In other words, this problem is solved by teaching our kids to smoke.

Now before anyone flippantly dismisses this idea, we must stop and think about this some.  If parents start teaching their children to smoke, the children will start thinking that their parents are cool and in tune with their generation.  Imagine the family out on the back patio smoking cigarettes after Dad has finished with the barbecue and Mom has done the dishes.  Dad and Junior can light up their Marlboros, and commiserate about what Justin Bieber is up to.  Mom and Sis light up their Virginia Slims, with Mom giving Sis instructions on how to twerk better than Miley Cyrus.  This would be a family bonding experience. 

This would even be better if extended family comes by.  Grandpa lights up his corncob pipe.  Uncle Joe brings his chaw.  Aunt Jane brings a cigar and lights up, showing Sis what a liberated woman can do in this day and age.  Grandma joins Uncle Joe in the chawing, and shows off her skills in projecting used Skoal into the spittoon that's on the corner of the patio.

I think it is time to end the war on tobacco.

I hereby call on school districts nationwide to stop discouraging tobacco use.  Instead, junior high schools and high schools nationwide should have smoking areas set aside, and the teachers should join the students in lighting up during the cigarette breaks so that they can better relate to their students.

It's time.  It's time.  It's time to start teaching kids to smoke.

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