Had the usual great bunch of checkins and filled up our time slot with a bunch of great sounding old radios and operators.
K5LYN:
Lynn, from near Austin TX and alternate net control, checked in and told
us that he is going on a dx-pedition to South America. He will be on a
boat called the Amazon Queen. Neat name. Wish I could go too Lynn.
K4CCF:
Jim, from Pollock Pines Cal., joined in with his Drake TR 4 and Raytrac
amp, a Drake Clone. Great signal Jim and good to hear from you.
N2YVF:
Jeff from Philadelphia joined in just as the band changed and he
disappeared. Better luck next time Jeff.
K7TNJ:
Bob, from Miles City, Mt., stopped by with his Heathkit SB 104 which he
seems to be growing very partial to. Sounds good like a Heathkit should
Bob.
W7MS:
Mike, from Reno, checked in with a KWM 1. It was one of the early
models and represented Collins and Mike very well.
AL0F:
Tim checked in with a very nice sounding S Line including the 30L-1.
Nice signal and good to hear you Tim.
K5HPJ:
John, from near El Paso, used to check in regularly but his work
schedule has been interfering with it for the last couple of years but
that's changed and now he can join the group more often. Good to hear
the news John.
KE6MS:
Gary has a load of top of the line radio gear. He was using a KWS 1, 75
A4 and a beam at about 110' Very deluxe Gary.
W4FMS:
Frank, near Ft. Lauderdale, is battling a drifty VFO on his HT 32B. The
npo's on the vfo have evidently crapped out but he has found some new
ones at Surplus Sales of Nebr.
Let us know how it works out.
KC5RR:
Gary, resident Drake fan, checked in with another of his Drake treasure
trove. Gary has a load of repair information on the Drake gear.
NK5T:
Mack, from El Paso and one of the earliest members of the net showed up
with his great sounding Heathkit twins. Good to hear you Mack and good
luck to the Cowboys.
W8UT:
Al, from North Carolina, is the new owner of an SX 115. Al also repairs
a lot of gear and turns it over and so keeps a lot of this old stuff
operational. Great work Al.
W5TWC:
Benton checked in with a dandy sounding Drake B-Line. He is working on
a C-Line restoration. Good luck Benton.
K4FMX:
Gary checked in with one of his fine sounding old radios. He is
repairing some vintage hi fi gear right now.
KG7TR:
Mike checked in with his restored Eldico SSB 100 that sounds better than
a new one. His ears were an 75 S3.
N8IXW:
Bill joined in with his HT 32B and is working on his TS 520 which is
ailing. Bill always puts in a great signal.
W6LRG:
Don, who calls the Heathkit net is still portable in Kingman AZ and put
in a whale of a signal from his camper-vertical affair. You sounded
just as good as at home.
WB3DDJ:
Mike is new to the net so welcome aboard. Mike was using a FPM 300 and
has a SX 117 and HTR 44 waiting in the wings. Come back again Mike.
WT9R:
Mike is a fan of American made gear. In addition to his vintage stuff,
including a Swan 700CX he is a big fan of Ten Tec also. Way to go Mike.
K0TNP:
Don, from southern Texas, is a very long running member of the net
also. He has been checking in from about day one and occasionally
makes some calls as well. Thanks Don.
That about sums it up for today and thanks to all who checked in, helped out and in general made the net a success.
New years here in rural Nebraska. isn't exactly an eye-popping big time and anymore it usually eludes the wife and I completely.
However, as we were out anyway we decided to stop at one of the local pubs on the way home and partake of a couple of examples of new years cheer. We pulled into Shorty's bar, which is six miles from home, at about 8:30 and gleefully joined in the fray.
The first thing you notice about Shorty's is that the door faces a very busy U.S. highway 30 which is exactly eleven feet away so you must be very careful when leaving for obvious reasons. Having done some traveling as a young fella I've seen some pretty odd clientele but the group in Shorty's, new years eve, were definitely twigs on the evolutionary tree. One guy had on a trench that was so long that it drug on the ground and it looked like he really had found it in a trench.
There was a D. J. playing vintage country music and the most popular girl at the party was a blow up doll that all the guys were dancing with as well as various other odd things. No one seemed to mind, or possibly notice, that the doll was a male. I knew the group of people at one of the nearer tables and jokingly asked them if they had a designated driver--they obviously needed one--and amazingly they said they did. However, after talking to them for a few minutes they told me that the designated driver had lost her licence a few weeks ago for DUI.
A little later my wife suggested that we get out of here before one of these perverts wanted a new years eve kiss. I enthusiastically agreed because I was starting to have some of the same concerns myself.
73 and Happy 2000, de Andy WB0SNF
Net Activity Reports
Vintage Sideband Net
