Just a blip on the radar? HAH!!!!

  Yes, I know, it's only a blog if you add things to it on a regular basis. Sue me. I have distractions.

   Facebook (among other things) has taken a lot of my time and my need to speak out seems to be satisfied by spreading memes and articles that catch my fancy. I fear that my new Twitter account will only add to the distraction and lessen my likelihood to keep this up any better than before. But I will try.

   I find it both sad and ironic that my last post here was in reference to my participation in the 2013 IARU HF World Championship, an international ham radio contest geared toward making as many contacts world-wide as possible. In the post, I stated that my “406 points are a mere blip on the radar” as contests go.

   Imagine my shock and dismay when I opened a package from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) that had been sitting in my mailbox overnight and discovered the following certificate inside:

   WOW! 406 points was the high score in all of West Texas for operating voice-only at 6- to 150-watts transmitter power (25-watts, in my case)! AMAZING!!! What isn't shown (nor accounted for) on the certificate is the fact that I was operating ONLY on the 10-meter band, just one of six bands available for use and the one that really doesn't play well when the sun is down.

   Needless to say, this baby is going in a picture frame and getting a prominent place on my brag wall. It may take several days for my feet to make contact with the ground again.

   WOW!!!

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   [No, it is not normal to take over a year for certificates to go out...they have been VERY busy. Yes, I may have been the ONLY ham in West Texas to participate. BUT I WON! :^D]

Competition, radio-style.

   Well, my first official ham radio contest is under my belt, and although my total score is extremely low, I’m happy that I was able to participate and get my feet wet.

   Without going into detail as to why, let’s stipulate that running only the 10-meter band isn’t setting you up to win any accolades during the 24-hour IARU HF World Championship*. My 406 points are a mere blip on the radar compared to the other contestants, most of whom are running big radios with big antennas across all bands. In the 2012 contest, the top operators in my category ranged anywhere from 31,000 to 1,490,000 points. But, those 406 points are MY points and I earned them!

   Some background is in order:  I am currently using a borrowed 10-meter mobile radio (28.0-29.7 MHz). Its 25-watt output power puts me at a disadvantage out of the gate as most operators run 100+ watts (up to 1,500 W, legally). I have set it up in the house and it is connected to my old CB base station antenna that had been gathering dust in storage for the past 10 years. Not a rig expected to instill fear in my fellow contestants, but it works and I am happy to be using it!

   In fact, the setup just described is QUITE usable! Of the 16 two-way contacts I made, one station was in Mexico City, two were in Argentina, two were in Chile, and six were in Brazil! That’s an average contact range of around 5,000 miles! SWEET! South America was “open” most of the day. Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Connecticut rounded out my log. (Although I’m quite sure I heard someone with an Aussie accent late in the afternoon, but they couldn’t hear me…pity.)

   [To those of you with Technician licenses who think a 10-meter radio would be a waste of money, almost ALL of the 10-m action was in the bandwidth available to you:  28.0-28.5 MHz...I only heard one contact outside that range!]

   Anyway, just felt like passing that along. Ham operators have many activities they can engage in; contesting (radiosport) is just one. But I think I’ve caught the bug.

   Take care and thanks for your time.

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*  IARU = International Amateur Radio Union
   HF = High Frequency (1.3 to 30 MHz)

A new interest to add to the old

OK, I'm not doing very well keeping this thing current. Pity. Maybe now that I have a new topic of interest to mix in with the rest, I'll find more inspiration to write. Of course, if I didn't spend so much time and energy on Facebook, things might be different. Anyway, time to let you know about a new hobby/interest I'm now involved with: amateur radio. Or "ham radio," both are acceptable.

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Last spring (May 2012), I suddenly realized that the FCC no longer required Morse code proficiency when testing for amateur radio licenses. The requirement had been dropped in 2007. Why it took me that long to discover the fact is irrelevant; I now had the opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream and get a license without having to learn a foreign language! (I have enough trouble with English.)

Finding the resources on-line and at the local library, I started studying for the entry-level license: Technician Class. As I went through the material, I realized my electronics background -- one semester in an Electronics Engineering course and four years working on aircraft intercept radar and missile launch circuitry -- was going to help me immensely.

As I studied for Technician, I realized I might have enough under my belt to tackle the next level as well. After getting comfortable with Tech, I started studying the General Class materials. My target was to test in June in Lubbock, TX.

Steadily progressing, I began to wonder if the top-level license -- Amateur Extra -- might be a possible target as well. You see, when you test for your amateur license, you pay a session fee of $15. As long as you pass the tests, you can continue to the next level, all for one fee.

The night before I was to travel to Lubbock for the test session, I took the on-line practice tests one last time: Technician Class - 100%; General Class - 100%. Looking at the link for the Extra test, I thought, "Why not?"...I missed passing the Extra practice exam by one question. 

Next morning at the test session (one year ago today!), I took the Technician test (35 questions). When the examiner told me I'd passed, he asked me it I wanted to test for General. I said, "Yes, please."

After scoring my General test (also 35 questions), the examiner said, "Congratulations! All we need to do is fill out the rest of the paperwork and..."

"May I take the Amateur Extra test?"

He hesitated for a second, ripped up the form in his hands and said, "Absolutely!"

By the time I finished the 50-question Amateur Extra exam, I was the only applicant left in the room. The first two tests had been relatively easy, but I wasn't so sure about Extra. I sat waiting as the examiners (six at this particular session) hovered around my score sheet to see how I had done. Suddenly I realized they were ALL looking at me. They all then grinned and held a thumb up to let me know I'd done it -- walked into a test session with no license to my name and ended up with the top level license! Sweet!

Less than two weeks later, I had my freshly printed FCC license in my hands and a call sign I will keep for the duration: AF5FJ.

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More to come later. Cheers.

“Legitimate” guns…what a crock!

[Yeah...big time gap between posts...we'll get into that later....]

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Ya know, it just drives me nuts whenever I hear some gun-control Nazi say they are not going after guns with "legitimate hunting and sporting purposes." WHO ARE THEY TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T HUNT OR PLAY WITH!?!?!?!

AR-15s and semi-auto AKs are used all the time for hunting and target shooting and busting milk jugs full of water and disposing of watermelons and cantaloupes too nasty to eat...and they make some of the BEST self-defense weapons on the market. [Never forget: a handgun is there to buy you time until you can get to your long-gun!]

It's all smokescreen, people! They want to numb you to the fact they are trying to take away legitimate guns used for legitimate purposes so that they can say they "did something" and feel better about themselves...and severely restrict our ability to defend ourselves against out-right tyranny. [Don't fool yourselves...another argument for another time.]

Where do they think "legitimate" hunting rifles and their AMMUNITION came from? They are based on military weapon designs!!!! Most bolt-action hunting rifles used in the first half of the 20th century were rifles the hunters had brought home after using them in World War I! Why should they be surprised when military veterans today feel more comfortable with the style of weapon they used while serving?

The whole "hunting and sporting" nonsense is meant to appease hunters and target shooters into not speaking up..."Hey, they’re not after MY guns...what do I care?" But if they succeed with "ugly" guns, YOURS ARE NEXT; you and I both know that hunting rifles are just as deadly and (usually) MORE ACCURATE than the "assault weapons" being targeted.

It's just a matter of time before they come for your "sniper rifle."

Take care and thanks for your time.

That "Pitiful .22 Short Revolver" -- A Video Entry

At Long Last...

 In my time on Planet Earth, I have had many experiences – failures, successes, surprises, “here it comes” moments, “Why did I think THAT was a good idea?” moments. I’ve learned much, forgotten more, and done things I would never have believed possible when I was growing up. But in all my 53 years, I’ve never really known “what I want to be when I grow up.” I think I may have the answer to that question at long last – I want to be a gunsmith.
 !?!?!?! Yeah, I know, I never really owned any guns worth mentioning until 2008 and I never went hunting more than a dozen times in my entire life. But I think that had more to do with opportunity than desire.
 For the first 20 years of my adult life, I was a member of the U.S. Air Force. For 17 of those years, my wife and I thought it best that we live in military housing. There are so many restrictions on when and where you are allowed to possess firearms on a military installation, it just didn’t seem to be worth the hassle. For example, all guns have to remain unloaded at all times, even in your house. And God help you if you get caught with one in your car if you aren’t headed directly to or from the gate, the range or the armory. Combine that with the chronic shortage of money during those years; I did not see the point in owning guns. [SIDE NOTE: These restrictions and the mindset that created them explain why a lone jihadist in an auditorium full of skilled soldiers was able to kill 13 and wound 29 at Ft. Hood. The military doesn’t trust the adults they have spent years training to be disciplined to actually discipline themselves when it comes to private gun ownership. All that the Ft. Hood victims had available to try and defend themselves with when Hasan opened fire were chairs and tables. Outrageous.]
 Upon retirement in 1997, I spent $125 and bought a 12-gauge pump shotgun for home defense/varmint control and a pitiful .22 Short revolver (which has been retired indefinitely until I can figure out how to get more flame out of the muzzle than at the cylinder gap…quite the light show with dusk coming on). It was another 11 years before I bought any more guns and became comfortable calling myself a gun owner. Thank you, President Obama.
 Over the last few years of owning and using both rifles and handguns, I’ve revived the fascination I felt for them as I was growing up. One of the most vivid memories I have of my childhood was Christmas 1963. I was five-years-old and my parents gave me the most awesome toy any boy growing up in pre-politically correct America could want: a Mattel Shootin’ Shell Winchester lever-action cap gun – a cap gun that actually shot bullets! When you pulled the trigger, the cap popped and shook the spring-loaded “case” it was attached to, which launched a plastic bullet out of the barrel and across the room! SWEET!!! All you had to do was find the bullet (not always easy), mash it back into the case, stick on another cap and it was ready to go again! I’ll never forget that gun. (Want to see it in action? Check out this TV ad from 1962!)
 Anyway, now that I have guns readily available, I’ve realized I want to be able to work on them when the need arises. It was a short step from there to realizing I would enjoy working on other people’s guns as well. My first four years in the Air Force were spent maintaining the intercept radar and missile launch circuitry of the F-4E Phantom II (still my favorite aircraft), so I know I have the aptitude and skills for intricate work and troubleshooting malfunctions. The next step is to learn how different guns are designed and how they function. That means getting training. And while I have decided which training I want to take, getting the funds to do so is going to take a little time – it’s not cheap and I wouldn’t trust it if it were.
 In the meantime, I intend to go on leaning about my own guns. I may even go so far as to video my efforts and post them here…at least the successes. Wish me luck. This doesn't feel like a passing fad.

My Candidates

 OK, it’s time to make a commitment. I have already decided who my candidate is for U.S. Senate from Texas — Ted Cruz, the only proven conservative in the race. Time to take a stand for President in 2012.
 As a conservative, it is a foregone conclusion that I will NOT be voting for a Democrat…the last Democrat that I might have voted for was Harry Truman…MAYBE. Of course, that race was 10 years before I was born. Having voted for Debra Medina in the Republican Gubernatorial Primary, I’m not prepared to put Rick Perry in the Oval Office. Mitt Romney? Well, let’s just say I’m not going to vote for someone who lost a primary to John McCain. Ditto for Huckabee, Giuliani, and the rest from 2008. (The sole exception to this would be Fred Thompson…if he ever finds the fire-in-the-belly again, I’d vote for him.)
 Of all the remaining candidates currently declared, I have seen three that I could happily call “Commander-In-Chief.” And while there is no perfect candidate available (and probably never will be), there is one that has the fewest negatives and the best positives based on what I want from a candidate: Herman Cain.
 I can already hear the groans from some (and cheers from others). I reiterate: there is no perfect candidate! While there may be some nuts-and-bolts stances I don’t completely agree with, Herman Cain is focused on the correct issues—economy, invasion (AKA illegal immigration), overspending, over regulation—and has viable solutions for them.
 How do I know he is on the right track? What makes me think he has a chance to win? Simple: liberals don’t waste time and effort trashing candidates that they aren’t afraid of. They are petrified by the thought of a Cain candidacy. [For those of you new here, I use “liberal,” “progressive,” “Marxist,” and “utopian” interchangeably.]
 Most of it has to do with the fact that, by liberal definition, he is an oxymoron—a black conservative. As far as liberals are concerned, they “own” the black vote…and you thought slavery was dead! Any black who dares cross the line and consider himself conservative challenges the left’s claim as the sole voice for minorities in America…and instantly becomes an “Uncle Tom,” or worse. And heaven forbid that conservatives could ever vote for a black man because of his policies! Think I’m joking? Listen to what MSNBC contributor Karen Finney has to say about the Cain candidacy:


 Notice the assumptions here: 1) all white Republicans are racist, 2) all white Republicans are racist, and 3) all white Republicans are racist.
 Worse yet, Herman Cain has the support of the Tea Party. This makes Cain the ultimate “Uncle Tom”; to liberal minds, there’s no way a group of “racists” could ever support an “authentic” black candidate…he must be shuckin’ and jivin’ for the masters.
 Uncomfortable with that last sentence? GOOD! It means you understand how disgusting this whole line of reasoning is. That it is coming from the LEFT should tell you a little about how they really think about life in general.
 Liberals are colorblind…as long as you’re talking about liberal blacks, or liberal Hispanics, or liberal Asians. But as soon as a “minority” candidate speaks out for conservatism or against liberalism (not necessarily the same thing), which voices are the first to question the authenticity of that person’s racial credentials? If you want to win that bet, put your money on the liberals.
 [The last five paragraphs were a bit of a rabbit trail, but it needed to be said.]
 Anyway, unless new valid information comes along that trumps all of the positives in Cain’s column, I am supporting him for President of the United States in 2012. The stakes are too high and the task ahead too immense for us to put our trust in a traditional politician.
 Herman Cain and Ted Cruz have the skills to bring us back from the brink of catastrophe. I ask that you give them each a serious look as you make up your minds about who can best reverse four years of disastrous policies.