Subj : Amateur Radio Resources To : Mike Dippel From : Daryl Stout Date : Sat Aug 14 2021 22:45:00 Mike, MD> You do a great job of passing on information about your passion. Just MD> wanted to know if you have seen this resource site at: MD> https://www.theweatherwonder.com/hamradio.htm I resemble that site...and authored it. MD> Keep up the great work! Thanks. I get to talk to folks all over the world with it, and I've been involved with it for 30 years now. While there have been some bad apples (all hobbies have them), I've had some funny moments: 1) Before I had cataract surgery, I was legally blind, with a visual acuity of 20/2000 -- severe nearsightedness (I had been that way for over 40 years), and thick glasses. After the surgery, it improved to 20/20, with a small bit of astigmatism. But, before the surgery, I was in charge of 2 things at a local ham radio event, known as a Hamfest. The first was the "packet" station, a digital mode, that uses a terminal node controller (TNC)...sort of a modem for ham radio. The second was more important -- "Talk-In"...where we gave directions to folks coming in from out of town, who didn't know the area. Well, I was "legally blind", and I recruited 3 other completely blind ham radio operators to assist at Talk-In. Now, while I had to lead them to and from the restroom (they were all males), and get their food from the concession area...their being at the table made it where I could walk around, and explore the hamfest. But, the joke was "Talk-In is being run by 4 hams who can't see a darn thing...and, they're giving us directions on how to get there!!". The kicker, though...was it was a Friday night, and Saturday day event. They had sealed off the exits on the west side of the complex...the overhead lighting wasn't working (the parking lot was dark), and they had just blacktopped the parking lot, but hadn't striped it yet. I groaned "I'm lost. I can't find my way out of this parking lot!!" One of the blind hams, asked for the microphone, keyed up the wide area coverage repeater, and announced "This is a Talk-Out Net for the Talk-In Station, who can't find his way out of the hamfest parking lot!!". I grabbed the mic, and said "I want to use your seeing eye dog", and he replied "He's tied to the front bumper right now!!" Needless to say, the last 2 comments, were dripping with sarcasm!! Then, when my Mom was hospitalized 3 years ago, before I put her in a nursing home, I got lost in a hospital parking deck. When those hams found out about that, they said "We've got to get a radio in your car, so you can call for help!!". Five years ago, at the last hamfest in Little Rock (I doubt another one will be held here, as no one wants to do the work, and the clubs still bicker between each other), after I finished conducting the license exam session, I walked over to the table, where the blind hams were, and (trying to disguise my voice), said "Excuse me, sir?? Can you help me out of this hamfest parking lot??!!". They yelled "DARYL!! YOU RASCAL!!" -- and everyone busted out laughing. That is my LEGACY in the hobby -- NOT running traffic nets, or doing the license exam sessions, but getting LOST in parking lots and parking decks!! :P 2) At a license exam session, a father, a mother, and their two sons, came to take the exam for the Technician Class ham radio license (that is now the entry level of license). While the father and the two boys had the right change for the exam fee, all Momma had was a $100 bill. When she said "All I have is a $100 bill", the ham in charge of the session (the liaison) quipped "I think you just passed!!" . All of us roared with laughter, but we had several others testing that day, so we were able to help her. All four passed their test, and it was a JOY to sign the documents saying they passed the exam...we joked that "they're going to have to fight over the radio". The liaison had noted he had wanted to "retire", and when I asked him if he'd like me to take over, he said "PLEASE!!". Sadly, he died of pancreatic cancer several years ago...the same thing that killed my Dad and his sister. I was first accredited nearly 14 years ago, and have done nearly 210 exam sessions since. Only a husband and wife examiner team in Arkansas have more sessions than me. 3) At a club meeting shortly after I got licensed, the Warnings Coordination Meteorologist from the local area National Weather Service office was doing a Skywarn Spotter Training session at the meeting. Severe weather coverage was what got me into ham radio 30 years ago...but I got burned out on that part of it in 2019. Anyway, back then, they used a slide projector for a lot of the pictures and material...but nowadays, they create it as a PowerPoint Presentation. Well, the guy from the National Weather Service was having a hard time getting the slide projector to work. He grumbled "This thing takes awhile to warm up". In the room was a ham radio couple (husband and wife), and the wife quipped "Sounds like my husband!!" -- it brought the house down in raucous laughter!! All of these prove "with friends like us, you don't need any enemies". :) As a side note, I prepared a PowerPoint Presentation that I did at a hamfest 2 1/2 years ago, called "You're Licensed, Now What??". It's a brief, yet comprehensive overview of the hobby, for prospective, new, or long time ham radio operators. You can download that file at https://www.theweatherwonder.com/elk.htm -- just scroll down the page for the appropriate file -- a PDF viewer is required. Daryl, WX4QZ .... I CQ. Therefore, I HAM. -- DE WX4QZ === MultiMail/Win v0.52 --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7) .