Apollo 11 Anniversary in Real Time

Relive the Apollo 11 landing in real time, it's as if you're in Mission Control in Houston:

https://www.firstmenonthemoon.com

Storm chasers ride out EF-4 wedge tornado

It's not everyday you can tell your friends and family you rode out an EF-4 tornado and lived to tell about it. It's even rarer to do it in a vehicle.

But when that vehicle is specifically geared to intercept said tornadoes, it comes with the territory. But even this monster twister would make the bravest of chasers wonder what could possess someone to ride out this big of a tornado.

Sean Casey and TIV2 before (credit Herb Stein)

If you're a fan of the Discovery Channel show "Storm Chasers" you've no doubt heard about Sean Casey and his quest to film an IMAX movie from INSIDE a tornado. His now-infamous "Tornado Intercept Vehicle", or TIV for short, was designed for such a task. And last Monday, it was put to the ultimate test, as an EF-4 tornado came bearing down upon them and passed over their location in Smith County, KS. It was captured on video by his tag-team partner Brandon Ivey.

His 2nd generation vehicle, the 10-wheeled monolithic TIV2, was bigger, tougher, and heavier than its predecessor TIV1, and in my opinion had they been in TIV1, would not have fared as well. TIV2 is over 14,000 lbs, has bulletproof glass composed of polycarbonate sheets combined with tempered glass on the outside, and thick metal shielding around the entire frame that can withstand micro-sized missiles from penetrating the inside of the vehicle. It also has several rods that ram into the ground in order to anchor the TIV2 and prevent the high winds from moving the vehicle. The 1/8th inch-thick metal shielding extends to the ground, to allow air to pass over the TIV, preventing the wind from going underneath the TIV2 and sending it airborne.

The tornado that was captured provided some dramatic images, from a 1000-lb bale of hay passing from the rear, to metallic objects striking the windshield and creating sparks.

You can watch the video here (high-res version here), and note the sound is fluttery during the most intense part of the pass. If you look at the bottom of the polycarbonate windscreen, you'll note the vibrations are in sync with the fluttery sounds coming through the microphone, as the pressure around the vehicle is dropping and fluctuating as the twister passed over the TIV2.

It's currently unknown how fast the winds were, because their anemometer snapped off when sheet metal debris from a farm a half-mile away hit it, registering wind speeds of 150-174 MPH at the time. These winds speeds register as an EF3 to an EF-4 on NOAA's enhanced Fujita Scale.

Fortunately no deaths occurred with this tornado, but a couple of houses were damaged or destroyed and some cattle are reported missing. They didn't fly by the TIV2, however.

The TIV2 did its job but not without some mishaps. A couple of hatch doors blew open during the intercept and debris entered the TIV2 cabin. The IMAX mount also became dislodged and Sean had to take cover while filming. But, any intercept you can walk away from is a good intercept, no? Before and after pics of the TIV2 can be seen at Sean Casey's Facebook page.

You can track various stormchasers as they go after storms during severe weather season with the Discovery Channel's storm tracker page. Unfortunately Discovery Channel cancelled the show despite decent ratings and a lot of great drama footage of the tornadoes in action. I'm almost certain fellow tracker/TIV copycat Reed Timmer is screaming at the top of his lungs for not being the one to encounter the tornado congratulating Sean for his historic intercept. And somewhere in that TIV2, I'm sure Matt Hughes was along for the ride as well, RIP.

Stay safe everyone, and please, please please...DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, OR ANYWHERE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER!

Ham Radio business in...TMNT?

Remember the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? The comic book martial arts quartet hit the big screen at a peak in their popularity and the world was introduced to reptilian combat as the four turtles (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael, named after famous Italian inventors and renaissance artists, not MPLM modules shipped to the ISS!) battled gangs of ninja thieves plaguing New York City led by the Shredder, a heavy metal bad guy who is intent on ending the pizza-craving turtles.

I was watching it Friday night with my kids when I caught a real quick glimpse of a sign in the warehouse where the "Foot" clan resides, just as their summoned to meet Shredder.

The sign is shown briefly (I only saw it for 2 seconds and stopped and went back on my DVR to look it over) but it apparently advertised a CB/Ham Radio business. See the screen captures I made below:

Screen capture of TMNT just before Shredder (the bad guy) makes his screen debut.

Close-up of the sign

As you can see, the blue part of the sign has a logo (I assume an old Cobra CB Radio logo) and below it the writing states "HAM WORLD" with some indiscernible writing preceding it (I again can only assume it to say "CB & HAM WORLD" but that's just a guess).

If you think I noticed this "right away", I've seen the movie about a dozen times (4 in the last 3 weeks for some reason) and this is the first time I ever noticed it.

If anyone wants to take a guess as to what ham radio/CB store in Manhattan that this belonged to, fire away.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz: Google Doodle for a guy who rode a wave

Google's doodle honoring Hertz

Google put up an animated doodle of their logo honoring the 155th birthday of Heinrich Hertz. The animated logo doodle was posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2012.

Here's more from the LA Times:

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz -- who, like Van Gogh and Mozart, was a rare genius not fully appreciated during his lifetime -- is honored with a Google Doodle today, his 155th birthday. And perhaps the reason the German physicist wasn't valued for his work was that no one at that point was smart enough to do so.

Even Hertz didn't get it.

The German physicist, who was the first to broadcast and receive radio waves, did not realize at the time the broader implications of his work -- which laid the groundwork for the invention of the wireless telegraph, radio and TV.

"I do not think that the wireless waves I have discovered will have any practical application," Hertz once wrote, according to Scotland's University of St. Andrews.

Hertz made his discoveries young -- he began exercising his smarts early and was beginning his groundbreaking work at age 28. But his life was short, likely depriving the world of a host of amazing efforts. 

Contemplating the accomplishments he did make is enough to give those with more average brains a headache.  

He was the first to broadcast and receive radio waves, and he established "beyond any doubt" that light and heat were electromagnetic radiations.

Read more here.

Oklahoma ham loses radio equipment, home to wildfire

Harold Lazear (K5KLM) of Terlton, OK saw the flames coming and hopped on the roof of his home with a hose to try and do whatever he could to fight the inferno from taking his home and its treasure trove of ham equipment he'd collected over the years.

In the end, the fire won the battle.

The flames approached so fast that when Lazear realized he was not going to be able to hold off the fire, he only had time to jump in his pickup and leave without collecting any radio equipment. It all burned to the ground in 10 minutes.

After building up a collection over the years as a storm spotter and Red Cross volunteer, he now finds himself a recipient of aid from the agency he dedicated his volunteer time towards.

People who wish to donate may do so with a credit card at the Red Cross website, tulsaworld.com/okredcross, or by calling 918-831-1170. Checks can be mailed to American Red Cross-Tulsa Area Chapter, Dept. 995, Tulsa, OK 74182. Make checks payable to American Red Cross-Tulsa Area Chapter.

Autopatch...who uses THAT anymore?

Back when I got my license in 1993, cell phones were nowhere near the "state of the art" they are these days. In fact, 7.6 million had them in 1991. Now, 203 million of us in the U.S. alone have them.

They were large, bulky, and heavy (look at the monstrosity to the right), they lasted for all of a few hours on a charge (without talk time), and if you did use them, you were either charged a ridiculous amount of money per minute, or you had limited talk times per month. And don't even get me started on roaming charges...

Because only doctors and celebrities could afford these miracles of modern technology, the "poor man's cell phone" was the autopatch, or a phone patch hooked up to a repeater. Back in 1993, we had 3 repeaters in Knoxville with autopatch capability, and all were open for use. I was fascinated to listen on a scanner to hams using the patch to call home, find out what they needed to pick up from the grocery store or the fast-food joint, or just to see if little Johnny got home from school okay. Every so often a 911 call would roll in and usually it was a car wreck where people were banged up but okay.

There were those who used it daily for the same thing over and over. One in particular would call his mom and ask her what she needed, and every time he called, she said the same thing: "Pick me up some 'see-grets'," or "cigarettes" as we would say.

Some hams would never have a QSO with anyone other than the autopatch. I can recall many hams who would make their patch call then leave, never to be heard from again until the next time an autopatch was needed.

My first autopatch call was to my mom, if I remember correct. She wasn't too thrilled. She didn't like the "one-way" aspect of it where I couldn't hear her unless I un-keyed the mic. Still, it was great to have the ability of calling home while on the from work to see if I needed to stop and get something along the way, or call my then-girlfriend (now the wife) to check on things.

Knoxville must be the exception to the rule, because just about any other city I've been to, from Des Moines to Destin, not one phone patch outside of Knoxville was "open". They were off the air, toned with an unpublished tone, or a code was needed to be entered that the repeater owner needed to provide (and who were they to do such a thing?). I can recall one repeater trustee in Florida who said flat out he wouldn't give out the patch code to "foreigners" like myself. That ended the otherwise pleasant QSO immediately and swearing off of "his" machine.

One repeater here in Knoxville had its user base centered around the autopatch, and it was not unusual to see 50-60 patch calls made per day. Along with funny IDs, weather info, and an occasional TWIAR or Newsline airing, it was a happening repeater.

Then came the modern era of telecommunications. Phones got smaller, smarter, and most importantly, cheaper. My first cell phone was circa 1996. I got a whopping 60 minutes per month to use, at $49.99/month. My first cell phone was the popular Nokia phones with that "Snake" cell phone game that was so addictive. Text messaging? Wasn't that what beepers were for?

Over the years, as cell phones gained popularity, autopatch use was inversely proportional, and nowadays one autopatch call a day is above average. I myself have not used an autopatch for several years. Until today.

Today is my younger daughter's birthday. So one of her requests was to have a sleepover with her friends. And my other daughter's friends. And their sisters. 9 kids (including my two) camped out in the living room overnight last night. All girls. Then there's my wife, and our two dogs and a cat, all girls. I was drowning in an Ocean of estrogen.

This morning I get (rudely) awakened to the sounds of kids hollering about how hungry they were (similar to birds when the mom brings a worm to the nest) and my wife dispatched me on a mission to get doughnuts from the nearby Krispy Kreme. The task was simple: One dozen plain glazed and one dozen with rainbow sprinkles. I arrive at the doughnut shop and discover the rainbow sprinkles have been substituted with brown and orange Halloween Sprinkles since it's October. To make sure I don't scar my daughter for life I decide to call my wife to ensure I can get these sprinkles. Alas, I discover I have left my cell phone back at home, because I was still in a stupor heading out the door and forgot to take it with me.

So I go back to the Trailblazer and get on my ham radio, trying to remember how to use the autopatch. Back "in the day" one repeater had the simple "* up, # down" method, where you keyed the mic, announced your call, punched in the * key followed by the 7-digit number, then listened for the repeater to acknowledge the connection and read back the phone number. Another repeater (Tim Berry's WB4GBI on 147.075) was slightly different. You had to key the mic and push *, listen for the dial tone, then key up again and punch in the phone number. An extra step, but nothing like the one used by the local radio club. I can't even remember the sequence, but it was like a 3-digit code to get the patch up, then the 7 digits.

It had been so long since I needed the autopatch, things changed a bit. One repeater's autopatch I couldn't access, so it may be offline (the repeater trustee sold the machine when the club running the repeater dissolved) and the other machine (147.075) changed its format to *up, # down without the need for listening for the dialtone.

Attempt #1 succeeded, but no one answered the phone and I left a message begging for someone, anyone to pick up. Strange, since there's 9 kids and my wife, someone SHOULD have heard it. I call again, and again, I get the answering machine. Since the machine is working, I know my house hasn't burned to the ground, so I try my wife's cell phone. For some reason, it didn't want to connect all 7 digits on that attempt. I try again and this time it connects, but I get her voicemail.

I then decide to make the executive decision to get the doughnuts with sprinkles. In the end, I made the right choice. My wife claims she was not near the phone and it was in the bedroom out of earshot (apparently the 100 decibel level of kids drowns out a phone/answering machine) and the cell phone was on vibrate and she didn't have it on her.

It never ceases to amaze me how the best technology built into a cell phone is useless when you don't take it with you. But it's nice to know that the autopatch is still there "when all else fails".

My "QSO" with Wayne Green, W2NSD

September 5 marks an anniversary of sorts.

Recently I was cleaning out the shack and came across a bunch of old magazines (Monitoring Times, QST, CQ, SERA Repeater Journal) and found one issue of a magazine I regretted buying; the August 1998 edition of 73 magazine.

I'd seen it at the newsstands and caught an issue or two as I was perusing the magazine racks at Books-A-Million. I'd see them at a radio club gathering sometimes, but otherwise paid it no mind.

I bought this magazine and had it on the kitchen table for a few days, until I finally had some free time and cracked open the magazine that would expose me to the ever-infamous (if not shameless) Wayne Green.

The articles were not that interesting, to be quite honest. How to build a FET probe, updating old linears, and a review of the Kachina 505DSP computer transceiver (on the 133 Mhz Pentium processor) were the big stories. Then, as I was finishing up the magazine I caught the "Never Say Die" editorial (and I use that term lightly) that started on pages 4-5, continued on page 37, then to page 71, and then from pages 80 to 86.

A full 11 pages of commentary. How much of it was about ham radio? The first four paragraphs where he eulogized the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, and he couldn't even complete that section without going into some diatribe about preventing strokes and how Barry would have kicked ass as President (one thing Wayne and I actually agree on).

He then went on to discussing about a "performance" (why can't he just call it a speech?) he was giving in Peoria and how he wanted to talk about a variety of topics. And then he started hocking his literature.

Page after page after page was spent on some of the most unreal subjects one could possibly imagine being in a ham radio magazine. I can understand if someone wanted to put this kind of stuff in After Dark magazine, but in a ham radio publication??? I ended up referring to the magazine as "Seventy-turds".

Here is a copy of that "editorial". He and I had an exchange on that archaic form of communication called snail mail. Even though I was on the internet in 1998, apparently he wasn't. Yahoo, Infoseek and AOL Webcrawler (how's that for old school) yielded no results for pages he might have, and Google? What was that?!?!?!

Even though the internet was relatively young, a lot of businesses were already getting online. 73 wasn't one of them. So I hunkered down and wrote him a letter, which is below. He responded to me in a letter dated 8 days later. It's below my letter.

Just as an FYI: I had only been in ham radio for 5 years that year (callsign KE4HSM before I dropped the "E" through the vanity call system), and Wayne Green was not someone I was familiar with. I brought him up one night soon after on a net and the reaction from the locals was one of "you mean you've never heard of him?" While I was not familiar with him, I had heard of him and knew he was a publisher. That was all I gathered from him. Little did I know...

This would be the only time he and I corresponded. There was no need for anything more after those letters and you'll see why. Basically we spoke our peace and moved on with our lives. You can read the letters here or continue below.

First, my letter to Wayne, dated September 5, 1998:

Dear Mr. Green:

Recently I went into a bookstore to pick up some publications and decided to "test drive" some of the Amateur Radio magazines on the newsstand. I came across the August issue of 73 magazine and bought it along with a couple of others.

I began to read your magazine and found the articles inside somewhat mediocre. I then came across your editorial. Is is of your editorial that I write to you today.

The first think I noted was that your editorial took up a large chunk of the magazine, seeing as to how it was 10 pages long and spread out over 80 plus pages of your magazine. I figured you must have either had a lot on your mind or it was a slow news month.

It started out with a brief remark about the late Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA, then a minor blurb about the Dayton Hamvention. Then the rest of the editorial I found to be absolutely ludicrous a total waste of my time reading it [sic].

Mr. Green, your journalistic integrity (or lack thereof) makes me wonder how you maintain any subscribers other than those who use it for a good laugh. What in hell does your "conspiracy theories" about the moon landings, Mozart's music, the educational system, capitalism vs. socialism, refined sugar, Russia's nuclear missiles, and smoking causing impotence (among a host of other ridiculous topics), have to do with the Amateur Radio community or HAM radio in general?

What makes me even more outraged is the fact that you shamelessly promote your "fine line of products" and hock others' as well throughout your "editorial". What do I care about your wife's $15 video of how NASA could have faked the moon landings, and your subsequent $5 booklet on the same asinine topic? What does your $5 book on El Niño and volcanoes have to do with HAM radio? Where does HAM radio play into this load of BS? I found that this indeed was not an editorial, but rather a long-winded infomercial in print form.

I read it through in case there was a grander scheme that you might be leading as to how some or all of the aforementioned topics related to HAM radio, but I could not find any. Would someone pick up a copy of an outdoors magazine to find out how to attract aliens from faraway worlds? Would someone read a computer magazine to find out how to clean a gun? I think not, and just as well I would not expect to pick up a HAM radio magazine to read how I could feel better drinking ozone-ated water.

This was not journalism, but rather cheap self-promotion and shameless selling out. I cannot believe I wasted my $4 on this "magazine". You can bet it will not happen again.

Regretfully

Gregory S. Williams

KE4HSM

Now granted, I was a tad coarse in my delivery, but I was honestly pissed off. I didn't regret writing it. I wondered if it would appear in a future edition of his magazine (I never found out). Yes I did capitalize HAM back then, only because I believed the story of "station HAM" which looks to be an urban legend. And yes, those topics were all covered in the editorial.

His reply was September 13. It was a Sunday, so I suspect I received it the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Just the letterhead of his reply was practically a letter in and of itself.

Here now, is his reply:

Dr. Wayne Green W2NSD/1, Ph.D., Editor-Publisher

Assoc. Professor of Energy, Institute of Basic Research

And a bunch of other even more impressive credentials which my legendary modesty prohibits me from listing

Gregory .........

My editorials must be an acquired taste. I've been writing long editorials like that about anything I have found interesting for 47 years so far - and in all of the 25 successful magazines I've published. Clearly, I've failed to get you to think, which I regret.

Oh, we tried not running my editorials in 73 for a while - and watched in horror as the circulation dropped in half. The reader feedback cards almost invariably rate my editorials as the best part of the magazine. Are they all out of step, or you? You do come across as a negative person - which, if true, ell substantially shorten your life, plus make life a lot less fun for those around you. You didn't say what business you are in, but I recommend you don't get into publishing.

With amateur radio rapidly dying as a hobby I'm hoping to at least keep what hams we have alive for 30-60 years more than they would if they continued to live as they have. I'm also doing my best to show them how they can make all the money they want by getting off the treadmill.

Most hams seem to have an interest in new ideas, though there are, of course, some who are monomaniacal. QST probably fits their mind-set better.

Oh yes, if you were actually interested in news ideas, what magazine would you buy to find them? Since John Campbell, W2ZGU, the editor of Analog died (he smoked), I don't know of any other than 73 and Nexus (an Australian magazine).

73...

Wayne

And there you have it. I never got an answer to any of the questions I asked, but instead got a dressing down for being so "close-minded". If I was so negative, who was the one claiming ham radio was a "dying hobby"?

Maybe he should have taken my correspondence a bit more seriously, for 73 abruptly ceased publication 5 years later in October of 2003.

One would think that someone with all those credentials too numerous to mention would have a little money stashed for those times when his multitudes of subscribers and fans don't pay for their subscriptions...

I don't have a problem with his opinions, but his method of ramming those opinions down our throat and taking $4 in the process left a lot to be desired.

Happy Anniversary, Wayne. 73 for now.

What I've done so far...

I've been a ham since 1993. In these last 15+ years:

I've talked on many repeaters, mostly 2 meters. Sometimes on 220. A bunch on 440, once on 10 meters, QSO's made a-plenty.

I've tried many modes, some IRLP nodes, a few on EchoLink. Mainly voice and some APRS, on CW I doth stink.

[enough poetry]

I've sent balloons to near-space, talked to astronauts in space, talked to a couple of hams using repeaters in space, and been told I take up too much airspace.

I've been a VP in one club, President of another, activities director in the club where I eventually became VP, and my public service has been serendipitous. I've done bike races, track races, car races, walk-a-thons, dance-a-thons, marathons, and telethons.

I've been kicked out of more clubs and groups than I can count.

I've called nets on repeaters and HF of all sorts. Tech nets, emergency prep nets, swap nets, ragchew nets, and even a trivia net. SKYWARN nets were the ones I excelled at, until a couple of powermongering ingrates decided I was in their way...

I've done foxhunts, field days, and QSO parties time and again. I've talked to all 7 continents, all 50 states, several dozen countries, and many more remain. [Okay, so I wasn't done with limericks].

I've owned Kenwoods, Yaesus, Radio Shack, and Alinco. I've also had an Icom or two, but boy did they stink-o... [sorry]

I've used MFJ, for TNCs, antenna tuners and a mic. I've used dipoles, J-poles, beams, and the like.

I've dabbled with PSK31, APRS, ATV, SSTV, RTTY, and CW. I've used tube-radios and solid state. I've talked portable, mobile, and from home. In a hotel, camp site, even a church pew...to another ham on the same pew...

I've see the best in ham radio, and experienced the worst ham ops. I've been at odds with friends and foe alike. I've been cursed at by them all. I've been praised more often than that. Politics in ham radio are more vicious than in DC at times.

I've talked from dusk to dawn, dawn to dusk, and all times in between. I've talked on 80 meters, 60, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 2, 23cm, and 70cm.

I've been to hamfests in Dayton (Ohio), Dayton (Tennessee), Shelby NC, St. Petersburg FL, and Huntsville AL, along with all the local ones in TN.

I've learned a lot in these 15 years, from standing waves, to forward power, cross mod, propogation, solar cycles, wavelength, modulation, intermod, interference (harmful and unintentional). I've learned a lot about weather, ballooning, physics, chemistry, and even electronics, can you believe?

I've been a Tech, Tech Plus, General, Advanced, and Extra. I've posted in newsletters, recorded for ham news programs, done ham radio web sites, and been featured on TV.

[one final rhyme]

I've been a ham this long and plan to be one for many more. I suppose I'll keep going til I say "nevermore". I may call it quits when it starts becoming a chore. But that may be awhile, because I'm just...about to be 39.

SO what have YOU done?

The latest news is that there is no news...sorta

Things have been so hectic that I haven't had time to get on the air. I've not pressured my daughter to studying for her ham ticket further, but with school, it's hard to take time out for that. We talked about it the other day, so I think we'll be back to the books soon.

On the media front, it looks like the New Jersey Hall of Fame is going to honor Guglielmo Marconi, which I didn't realize that 1) he hadn't been honored considering his contribution to radio and the radio art, and 2) that there was a New Jersey Hall of Fame.

It looks like Marconi will finally get this accolade he deserves. It's like Babe Ruth not being honored in the Baseball HOF, for those baseball fans out there.

For those who are not familiar with Marconi, first off you should be ashamed of yourself. Are there hockey fans who don't know Wayne Gretzky?

Radio was not "radio" until Marconi came along. He studied the so-called "hertzian waves" around the time of Heinrich Hertz's death. He built upon Hertz's studies of electromagnetic radiation. Through these studies, he transmitted the first wireless signal in 1895, and radio was born.

Although previous work by others had been performed, they could only get a signal to go a few feet. Roughly the same as if your electric mixer interfered with the TV is what it amounted to. When Marconi first transmitted his device, it went about 1.5 miles. He eventually sent signals across open sea and then, in 1901 the first trans-Atlantic signals were sent.

He proved that radio was not just "line-of-sight" and thus the era of "amateur radio" was underway.

Well time to get back to the other things that take precedence. I may let loose on a nagging issue I have, but will hold off. We'll see how things go with that. In the meantime, I hope to get back on the air soon.

Remember when Radio Shack was a radio store?

I can remember years ago walking in to a Radio Shack store in the mall and being constantly amazed at the gadgets and gizmos that lines the walls with the latest in technological wonders.

Remember when they sold crystal radio kits that you pieced together to pick up an AM radio station?

I can remember begging to get one of those 150-in-one kits for various electronic experiments. I wanted to build the lie detector to see if my brother was telling the truth about what he did with my action figures.

Alas it was not meant to be. Mom couldn't justify the spending of it and I was deprived of becoming a ham operator earlier in life or an Electronics Engineer in the making because of this depravity.

But life moves on. And Radio Shack is now just a place for electronic toys that you can buy practically anywhere (often at a better price) rather than a place where you can find electronic toys to learn with.

That was Radio Shack's niche. You learned about electronics and you learned how things worked while having fun at the same time.

Now, it's just "buy this cell phone" or "buy this satellite dish" or "buy this MP3 player".

Back in the day, a Radio Shack employee had to know the stuff they sold. They knew Ohm's law, how a computer worked, and what component needed to be replaced if you had a problem with you radio-controlled car. Now anymore you get the kind of look a dog has when it hears a high-pitched sound when you ask them if they have solder.

Case in point, I was looking to install a mobile in my car last week and went in to a Radio Shack store, won't say where. My request was simple: "Do you have any molex connectors?". His response, "Huh?" echoes through the empty store (save the blaring of Robocop 2 on the TVs being displayed).

I try to explain what I need and he responds "We used to" and went back to his daydreaming and watching Robocop 2. Such a shame, really. Why should he bother with someone who knows more about electronics that he does? You'd think I'd go to an electronics store or something...

My experience in this misery was momentarily uplifted when I spotted a roll of RG-213 for cutting by the foot, and figured this wasn't as bad a place as I might give it credit, since I normally don't see this kind of cable at a regular Radio Shack, and I asked a question (given I wasn't able to look online at that moment) about the attenuation on this versus RG-8. Again, "Huh?". I restated my question: "How much better is RG-213 versus RG-8 on the different radio bands?".

His reaction can be summed up as follows:


Now, I know I should know better about Radio Shack and the lack of tech it's become, but one thing I've always been taught is that a store's employees should at least know SOMETHING about what they're selling, and if not, point you in the right direction to get the answer.

I'm sure he could tell me about the great deals on the cell phones his store carries, or that he could make me a sweet offer to get satellite TV, but when it comes to real technical questions, this guy was not going to have a clue what I was talking about.

I don't want to belittle Radio Shack employees in general, because there are those that know a little bit more than the average Joe, and I try not to let one apple spoil the bunch, but this is not the first time I've encountered clueless Radio Shack "answer guys". Over the last 15 years I've been a ham, I've watched the dumbing down of employees and it's sad to see that the company has basically taken the tech out of the picture and put in the sales, sales, sales part of it.

Now, to their credit, they still are the place to go for scanners and weather radios (I got one of the first generation SAME weather radios when they became available) and they have a good selection of shortwave radios, so they still have some niche markets to cater towards.

I still shop there for connectors, couplers, and adaptors, and every now and again I will peruse the overpriced knickknacks that line their stores, but when the employee concept has gone from being tech geeks to pushy salespeople who know little about what they're selling, it's not a good sign of things to come.

So for now I'll yearn for the days of the HTX-202 and the 5/8 wave mag-mount antenna that were the staple of my early days in ham radio. But I gotta stop by there and pick up another coupler for my home station before they close. I hope they don't try to sell me on satellite radios, however.

A simple matter of dots and dashes

This day in history: Samuel Morse patents the Morse Code.

Samuel F.B. Morse receives a U.S. patent for his dot-dash telegraphy signals, known to the world as Morse code.

The code Morse devised in partnership with Alfred Vail uses a system of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. It went into practical use in 1844, after he and Vail produced a working electromagnetic telegraph transmitter. Vail worked on various refinements to the transmitter before leaving the business altogether in 1848, feeling that he was being low-balled on his salary.

I'm getting nostalgic

TWIAR contributor Philip Neidlinger got put on the ARRL site this week, and they talk about his forte, discussing Dead Electrical Dudes. He's been getting more popular with his segments, and it seems like historical discussion of ham radio (namely Bill Continelli's Ancient Amateur Archives) is gaining popularity. I myself was very captivated at Bill's discussion of the "very first broadcast" on what was considered broadcast radio in the 1920s during TWIAR International 176. You need to check it out if you haven't already.

I find that Bill is a great storyteller. One of my personal favorites is his personalized recount of using scanners and a portable radio to navigate out of New York City during 9/11. He was in another building south of WTC Tower 2 and heard the plane fly over as it slammed into the tower.

What is striking was that he only mentions the actual events he saw of the World Trade Center in one sentence, noting them as "horrifying", then proceeds to discuss how he evacuated Manhattan on the trains that were initially thought to have been shut down for longer than expected. It was somewhat refreshing, considering how desensitized most everyone is regarding 9/11. We know people jumped. We know the towers fell. We know that so many died that day. It was nice to know that this personal recollection didn't repeat the same story we've all seen replayed over and over time and again.

I highly recommend you give it a listen. It can be found here.