I am bored

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KC5SAS @ June 09 2004,12:33)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">To heck with HF. You have a Technician ticket.  Have you explored all of the facinating things you can do above 50MHz?  Have you experimented with Amateur Television? As one tag line I saw reads- Hams should be seen as well as heard. You can operate ATV portable either simplex or through a repeater.  
Have you played with packet?  This old mode is being 'rediscovered' by those performing EMCOMM services as a more secure and reliable way of handeling messages compared to voice.
What about APRS/UI-View? Real time tracking coupled with messaging is a useful tool to have on any emergency and is fun to play with in between callouts.
What bands are you operating and which are you missing?  Do you stay on 2 meters?  Maybe 440 or 900Mhz would offer some different opportunities for you. When was the last time you got on IRLP with your HT and talked to a station thousands of miles away? Have you downloaded and installed EchoLink and connected to nodes somewhere besides your home State?
While many see this as a hobby it is also a SERVICE.  Have you contacted your local REACT Team about joining to provide public SERVICE with the modes you can legally operate in? Have you taken the REACT EMCOMM study course or the ARRL EMCOMM courses yet? At last check there are still seats available for the ARRL Level 1 course. Or you can do like I did and order the books from ARRL and self study and then take the test through local examiners when you are ready.  Have you considered many of the FEMA self-study courses available?  I have completed 25 of these courses and found them very informative. Have you contacted the local chapter of the Red Cross and arrainged for training through them?  Several in my REACT Team have completed classes such as Shelter Management, Disaster Assesment, Mass Care, Family Services and more. Is your CPR and First Aid certification up to date? This training will make your Amateur Radio SERVICES even more valuable when called to help. Do you have SKYWARN training?  Earlier this year everyone in my REACT Team attended the SKYWARN Basics spotter class given at the Baton Rouge OEP. Field Day is right around the corner.  Are you working with a local group to make Field Day as successful as it could be?  This is a day when we should be out there putting our best foot forward and showing the public at large the many interesting things our Amateur license allows us to do. Make up banners or poster boards which explain what each mode is and what it offers. These can be displayed in front of each operating position so that visitors, along with a Field Day PIO, can be given a short discription of what they are seeing. Think- 'This is ATV and this is what it does' or 'This is HF voice and this is what it is for' or 'This is an APRS station and this is what it can be used for' or 'This station is used to make contacts with the ISS or satellites'. This lets the public know that Amateur Radio is not CB and visitors from served agencies can see what we can offer them should they need us for an event or emergency.
There's so much to do I can't imagine getting bored unless you just don't want to open your eyes and see everything you already have available to you.
Good luck,[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Now this guy has offered some execellant ideas. He even mentions ATV, a subject that has peeked my interest.

Some other fellas and I are trying to get into this facinating mode. I'm working on building an AM video modulator right now.
Yeah, I know... You can probably buy em cheaper but you don't learn anything in the &quot;plug 'n play&quot; mode.

There is ARES and RACES, and VHF SSB, code, Satelite communications-all kinds of modes and all kinds stuff you can build. There is plenty of opprotunity in this hobby to LEARN!

I am NOT trying to be mean or offensive but you are bored because you want to be. Being a Tech has NEVER been boring to me. I have had LOTS of fun doing this. And I look forward to getting my upgrade to General. (Alread passed the written-working on getting my code).

You hang in there Winston. And always remember:&quot;The reason why some people miss opprotunity when they see it is because it comes bib overalls with it's sleeves rolled up and ready for WORK.&quot;

Don't wait for your ship to come in-swim out and meet it!

 

Hang in there a little longer, kiddo. Something new and fun to do will likely present itself within a year.

 

Cure for a Tech with boredom:
Get an old GE mastr or MVP and build you a repeater.
Cured my boredom.
2nd Suggestion :I will rip my ARRL CD's for code into MP3's and email them to you if you have High speed internet.
I bought a HF rig also. Amazing how much motivation listening but not being able to talk provides for code study.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kd5wpw @ June 11 2004,07:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">There is ARES and RACES, and VHF SSB, code, Satelite communications-all kinds of modes and all kinds stuff you can build. There is plenty of opprotunity in this hobby to LEARN! .......

I am NOT trying to be mean or offensive but you are bored because you want to be. .....
Don't wait for your ship to come in-swim out and meet it![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
And just as there is much to Learn there is also much to TEACH.
Just yesterday my REACT Team president and I drove an hour to visit a club in another part of the State during their club meeting. This was a homecoming for me since I had been a member of this club for the first 3 years I had my license before moving closer to a new job.
We talked about the linked repeater system that our REACT Team was setting up. We discussed the merits of Echolink and IRLP. We pitched APRS to this very public service oriented club. We told them of how APRS could enhance the many services they provide to several charity events such as walk-a-thons and bike tours. After the meeting we met in the parking lot where I had my laptop computer on the roof of my car displaying APRS operations through my Kenwood TM-D700 using Ui-View and Precision Mapping. While most had heard of APRS only one person in the club had ever seen it used at an event. The two of us spent an hour in the parking lot answering questions and discussing the pros and cons of APRS as well as other modes such as IRLP and ATV. Before returning home we were invited to one members home to see his 8 acre field where we may place a 160 foot tower so that hams in that area will have an APRS digipeater to packet into should they want to experiment with this mode. (If you build it they will come. ) We left that night after hearing several members say that we had stired their interest and they wanted to learn more. We exchanged email addresses and phone numbers and promised to keep in touch.
This is a very 'repeater active' club with 1 UHF and 2 VHF machines. But they have done little besides FM voice simply because no one had taken the time to set up a demonstration and explain the ease of getting on other modes.
Don't be afraid to ask someone to teach you something which you may have heard or read about but never tried. And if there is something you know, such as SSTV or PSK-31 for example, find a club or group and set up a demo so that they can see how fun those things you enjoy really are.
Talk up HAM RADIO.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (K6UEY @ June 11 2004,06:30)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Del are you by chance a democrat? Just the way you grab a quote out of context,then expound on it as it were some anti-social remark would lead one to that suspicion.

It is true I do not know what conditions you are under but if climbing into an alcoholic bottle is your remedy to solve dismal conditions I would seriously seek professional help.
 [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Ha, that's pretty funny Orville.

So by that logic I guess you're a Republican, by the way you display no sense of humor and quickly go on the defensive?

I actually thought that your quote was entertaining and I didn't realize you would take seriously my comment about taking to the bottle. Lighten up a bit, no harm no foul.

 

WF7I,
OK Del,no harm intended, no harm taken.
These are some what sensitive times and Yes I am a Regestered Republician,their platform comes the closest to what I think this country stands for and should be.
With the upcoming election and so much at stake for the betterment of the world,I well know how successful at spreading lies the democrats can be and how gullible the voters can be.I made the mistake of betting that the voters were not stupid enough to re-elect Clinton,but as you know they proved they were.
Yes the post was meant to be tongue in cheek but at the same time it revisted some of the feelings us OF's have experienced through the decades of time.
Take care and we might cross air waves some time,I look forward to it.....   73,  ORV

 

Ahhh...compromise...I love this land.
Carry on.
w4rot

 

Orv,

Not that it's anyone's affair, but I don't put myself in either the Republican or Democrat camps. Yes, I did register Democrat at one time, but after Clinton I changed my mind.

I don't like labels in general because they limit ideas. I see big problems with both parties. I was ashamed at what Clinton did with his personal affairs and also disappointed in his backing of &quot;free&quot; trade. But I'm also disturbed by the Iraq situation and many of the policies of this administration. I think there's too much cow-towing to special interests and big corps on both sides of the aisle and I just wish there was another Perot or someone else out there (besides Nader) as a viable 3rd or even 3rd and 4th party candidate. Liberatarian, Green, Purple, I don't care what party, I just want an alternative and some fresh perspectives from those outside the establishment. That's where I'm coming from. 73

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KC5SAS @ June 11 2004,16<!--emo&amp;)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Don't be afraid to ask someone to teach you something which you may have heard or read about but never tried.  And if there is something you know, such as SSTV or PSK-31 for example, find a club or group and set up a demo so that they can see how fun those things you enjoy really are.
Talk up HAM RADIO.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
When I taught, as an instructor in the Navy, I would ALWAYS tell my students that the only stupid question is the one that is never asked. This is one way of getting knowledge. Another way is to experiment with different things on your own. But Never be afraid to seek advice and counsel from those who more experianced than you in this hobby. They can &quot;point&quot; you in the right direction.

SAS Clinton,

I saw that you were in SE Louisanna, so I took the liberty of looking you up in the qrz data base. I have been through Baton Rouge  (I know you live south of the area) a LOT of times on my way home on leave. Hint: I was stationed at NAS New Orleans at Belle Chasse LA. This was back in '84 when N'awlins was hosting the Worlds Fair.

I miss the people, and the food I guarontee!

Sigh...If I could only talk my XYL into moving back...