Subj : Re: Eggs! To : NANCY BACKUS From : Daryl Stout Date : Sat Feb 08 2020 23:26:00 Nancy, NB> DS> The thing is, many of the smaller hamfests are "shutting down" NB> DS> because they can't get attendees, vendors, or workers. Most folks order NB> DS> the stuff online, and have it shipped to them. There isn't even a ham NB> DS> radio store in Arkansas anymore. NB>That's a shame... the camraderie is such a big part of the hobby, just NB>as with others.... It is...but it seems that only the "really big hamfests" are the ones where the vendors are going...including: 1) Hamvention, Xenia, Ohio (mid-May) -- originally in Dayton. 2) Hamcation, Orlando, Florida (early February). 3) Huntsville Hamfest, Huntsville, Alabama (mid-August). NB> DS> You'd be surprised how many want to try to get something via NB> DS> nefarious means. NB>No, I'm not surprised, really.... sad, though.... Many kids nowadays think they're entitled to everything. Now, while I lived at home when I went to college 40 years ago, it was a commuter campus (no dorms back then), but I worked 40 hours a week, and put myself through school. That was when tuition was $400 a semester, $100 a semester for books, and a $20 parking permit for a year. Now, it's in the tens of thousands of dollars, if not more. NB>Some people think they are above the law, or that it doesn't apply to NB>them.... and sadly, quite a few seem to get away with it.... I have wondered so many times "Where's a cop when you need him?". Around here, I don't know why they have speed limit signs...no one seems to obey them. NB> DS> In emergency communications, it is. When all other regular modes NB> DS> fail, we can still get out. NB>Indeed, that is a critical function you perform.... :) I remember one year, we were providing communications for the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure for breast cancer research. They were kidding me as Net Control, that I was going down there to oogle at all the good looking women...and admittedly, there were a lot of good looking women. But, any "fun" stopped, when we got a report of a woman "being trampled". I thought "How are we going to get her out of there??". Then, a follow-up report noted "she was suffering from claustrophobia"...to which I asked "What in the world is a claustrophobe doing in the midst of 40,000+ people??!!" We had a heck of a time getting paramedics to her, and she had to be hospitalized for a few days (she was in a bad way). NB>Higher standards before... :) But I understand that there's less of a NB>need for ham operators to be quite so technically proficient now... Well, for one, the technology has changed. One letter noted in the current issue of QST, published by the American Radio Relay League, the National Association for Amateur Radio in the United States, that "the 7 last words of a ham radio group are 'we never did it that way before'". For that matter, you can apply that to churches, and other organizations. NB>Guess they'd need to have some people just dedicated to upgrading the NB>exam questions.... :) There are 5 classes of US Amateur Radio License, but only 3 written exams now. The licenses are Novice, Technician, General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra. Originally, you had to pass a 5 words per minute Morse Code test for a Novice license (it was the same speed for Technician)...a 13 words per minute Morse Code exam for a General license (it was the same speed for Advanced), and a 20 words per minute Morse Code exam for Extra. The FCC dropped the Novice and Advanced licenses in 2000, but holders of those could renew their licenses at the appropriate time. The FCC also eliminated the 13 and 20 words per minute Morse Code test in 2000 as well. The remaining 5 words per minute Morse Code test was eliminated in 2007. But, people are learning Morse Code now, because they WANT to, and NOT because they HAVE to...and are discovering "it's fun"...but it can get you in trouble. Years ago, four old boys were sitting around a restaurant table in Annapolis, Maryland, telling each other dirty jokes in CW (Continuous Wave, another name for Morse Code). This drop dead gorgeous, curvaceous, voluptuous female walked up to them, and sternly admonished them "You boys need to watch your language. I teach CW at the Naval Academy across the street", and walked out. They were as red as tomatoes!! General class licensees can create questions for the Technician exam. Advanced class licensees can create questions for the Technician or General exam. And, Extra Class licensees can create questions for the Extra exam. There is a pool for each, updated every 4 years, maintained by the National Council Of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC), and released into the public domain about 5 months before the pools take effect for the exams. So, unless a question has been withdrawn by the NCVEC (FCC rules state that the pools must have at least 10 times the number of questions on the exam), there's a chance that question will appear on the exam. NB>So, for Amateur Extra, it's a peer-to-peer setup... :) Basically. My examiner team gave one ham the Extra exam, right after the pool had changed, and had been heavily modernized for "the digital modes". He aced the darn thing, and one of my examiners growled "I want to take him outside and beat the [daylights] out of him". NB> DS> It gets a rest during thunderstorms, which are forecast here Monday NB> DS> night into Wednesday, with a threat of severe weather as well NB> DS> (unfortunately). NB>Hopefully it wasn't too bad... We are forecast to get at least 4 inches of rain here by the end of next week, and it the heavy rain axis shifts northwest, it could be 8 inches or more. The severe weather threat, for now, appears low, but the flash flood threat is increasing. Daryl * OLX 1.53 * Chopped Cabbage: Not just a good idea; it's the SLAW! --- SBBSecho 3.10-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (454:1/33) .