News from KF4SDK
4/9/00
I participated in the Chapel Hill Multiple Sclerosis Walk again this year. The start/finish line was at the Boston Market and there was a rest stop at the Morehead Planetarium. I worked at the rest stop where there was lots of food, water, sport drinks, free grocery store coupons, pens, pencils, and hats. There was a raffle ticket drawing at the end. People won paintings, pictures, movies on videotape, stuffed animals, and gift certificates to many places such as a tanning salon, restaurants, a pool hall, hair cut places, an oil change center, and other places. I won a free hair cut and one hour of free pool and an appetizer at a local restaurant and pool hall.
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4/2/00
I participated in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro CROP Walk again this year. The route was changed a little and it caused the walkers to have to stop for a while at points and wait for cars to pass.
I rode around in the supply/help van. It had drinks, ice, first aid supplies, and we offered to take tired people back to the start/finish line.
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3/6/00
I participated in the amateur radio communications for the 2000 Odyssey of the Mind Tournament that took place again this year at McDougle Elementary and Middle School. Things went smoother this year compared to last year. And this year I was able to watch the presentations of the groups of kids from different schools in the eastern region. I got to see the Pest-aside performances. This problem area is described in the program booklet:
"Pesky animals are a constant annoyance to human life and getting them out of our way is a constant challenge to human creativity. In this technical/performance problem, teams will devise contraptions that perform events to ultimately catch or scare away a team-created pest. As can be expected, the pest strikes back. In an 8-minute performance, teams will present their version of the pest's revenge, which includes an unusual twist where the revenge is foiled and the humans prevail in the end."
For more information on the Odyssey of the Mind Tournament, check out the official web site: http://www.odysseyofthemind.org
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2/26/00
I got a copper wire 80 meter dipole antenna up not too long ago in my backyard. I was pleased to get it up so high in the air. I needed to borrow an SWR analyzer so I could test out the antenna. Not too long after the antenna was put up, a storm with lots of wind broke the antenna. Then rain came, then snow, then ice, then more snow! The weather has improved a lot recently and the conditions are right to try again with this 80 meter dipole. Recently the temperature highs have been in the upper 70's and it's still winter!
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2/26/00
It took a long time to get this discone antenna up. I received it as a gift for Christmas and it just sat around for the longest time. When we finally got around to it, we put it up one weekend and then the next weekend we wired it into the house.
It has been a great improvement over what I used before (a roll-up J-pole and a rubber duck antenna.) I can now hear repeaters I have never been able to hear before. I can even hear far away repeaters on the local repeater frequencies. I used to not be able to communicate on simplex very easily, but now I can hear people very well and they can hear me very well, too, even when I am using low power.
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9/7/99
Some text about my antenna is soon to come. In the mean time, look at some of the pictures I took of it.
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I recently upgraded my radio license from Tech. Plus to General! I went to the Cary Swapfest (7/17/1999) early in the morning and then at about 11 o'clock the Volunteer Examiners (VE's) started testing. I was very nervous even though I knew the code pretty well.
I had been practicing with my ARRL code tapes up to 15 word per minute. The hardest part of the tapes was the random code groups with prosigns, punctuation, numbers, and difficult letters (or the ones most people have trouble with).
My plan was to pass the 13-WPM code test. I decided to listen and try to copy as much as I could of the 20-WPM. I was able to get much of the information, but then there were some I had no clue on. Looking at the expressions on the VEs' faces I thought I failed. To my surprise I passed! I missed failing by one question and another question had an error on it so it didn't count. I had a big grin on my face while taking my papers to the front desk to get my Certificate of Successful Completion-- I couldn't believe it! I waited a while to get everything signed and then that's when I became a General Class. Not only that, I passed more than I expected to and all I have to do now is pass the Advanced and Extra written tests. A nice man who just passed his Extra written test gave me his Extra book.
My day at the Cary Swapfest was a successful and happy one!
Last updated Friday, December 29, 2000 12:21 AM