MSGID: 1:229/426.36 c01a0b0b   
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   TZUTC: 0300   
   REPLY: 3.fidonet-ham@1:2320/33 25963192   
   Daryl,   
      
   Thank you for sharing.   
      
   Alan   
      
    DS> Alan,   
      
    AB>> Anyone here into internet radio?   
      
    DS>   I am...because my neighborhood seemingly attracts lightning strikes   
    DS> during thunderstorms. I'm a 2 time lightning strike survivor myself   
    DS> (although I carry no electrical charge, and can be handled safely (hi   
    DS> hi)), but I've also been under 2 tornadic funnel clouds, within a mile of   
    DS> 2 rain wrapped tornadoes, and nearly drowned in a flash flood over 40   
    DS> years ago.   
      
    DS>   The QTH is what once was my parents home...my Dad died in February,   
    DS> 2007,  with my wife dying 2 1/2 months later...and my Mom died in August,   
    DS> 2019.  My wife and I never had children, and my brother was almost killed   
    DS> in a  freak motorcycle wreck not 3 months after my wife died. Basically,   
    DS> we're  the last of our line.   
      
    DS>   Except for gender, he and I are as different as night and day, in   
    DS> regards to hobbies, interests, etc. My late Mom's late brother was the   
    DS> only other ham radio operator in the family. He knew I was licensed, but   
    DS> he became a Silent Key nearly 20 years ago now. While I have the hobbies   
    DS> of ham radio, the BBS, and square dancing, my brother has none.   
      
    DS>   While the "purists" vehemently declare that "any form of internet radio   
    DS> is NOT ham radio", they fail to realize or accept that:   
      
    DS> 1) None of us is getting any younger. 2) One's health can change in the   
    DS> blink of an eye.   
      
    DS>   These are so true with me...in the last 6 weeks, I've had 2 attacks of   
    DS> atrial flutter, and have been hospitalized twice. While I've never smoked   
    DS> or chewed tobacco, or drank alcoholic beverages in my life, I am wearing   
    DS> a heart monitor right now...and am leery about RFI.   
      
    DS>   An FCC official several years ago noted that "we are communicators   
    DS> first, and ham radio operators second".    
      
    DS>   Recently, I was on one of these "internet modes" (i.e. CQ100, D-Star   
    DS> with a ThumbDV, Packet Via Telnet, Echolink, D-Rats, and Winlink via   
    DS> Winlink Express...which is what I operate), when I ran into an elderly   
    DS> ham, who was in tears. He had been in the hobby all of his life, and his   
    DS> health had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, where he'd have to go to   
    DS> an assisted living center, where RF gear was a no-no, due to the RFI that   
    DS> could cause medical devices to malfunction, resulting in someone's death.   
      
    DS>   The old man was just devastated...and I told him that "you don't have   
    DS> to give up the hobby...just how you operate". So, I told him about those   
    DS> modes I noted above, and his tears of despair became tears  of joy. He   
    DS> asked "How can I ever thank you??", and I said to him "Think  nothing of   
    DS> it". I was doing a forum at a hamfest in Russellville, Arkansas 2 years   
    DS> ago (before COVID-19 shut everything down), and when I noted "Even   
    DS> though I operate 'internet radio', I'm still on the air, and my license   
    DS> is  not just a sheet of paper"...I got an ovation of applause from the   
    DS> group.   
      
    DS>   Also, in central Arkansas, what D-Star and DMR repeaters are here, are   
    DS> NOT on the gateway...you have to have a rig to use it. Yet, with all the   
    DS> clubs around here bickering about which club is better (including   
    DS> handling severe weather), and no one wants to combine forces to work   
    DS> together for a central Arkansas hamfest (the last one in Little Rock was   
    DS> 2016), I've concentrated my on air work outside of central Arkansas.   
      
    DS>   A couple of years ago, I went to a central Arkansas area high school,   
    DS> to speak with their ham radio club, and to do a demo of internet radio.   
    DS> Most kids are not rolling in money (have you seen the prices of some of   
    DS> the rigs lately??), and some of these rigs could cost as much as either a   
    DS> semester's college tuition, or the required textbooks!! The kids were   
    DS> thrilled that they could still get on the air (once they got their ham   
    DS> radio license), and not have to worry about things like rigs, antennas,   
    DS> towers, coaxial cable, power supplies, SWR meters, etc.   
      
    DS>   While I'm still webmaster for The Cabot Nightflyers Net, we can't get a   
    DS> node to host it, and no one wants to be Net Control (the original one had   
    DS> to quit due to work schedule, and burn out). I am the VE Team Liaison for   
    DS> the University Of Arkansas At Little Rock (UALR) Ham Radio Club... they   
    DS> have a license server that mirrors the FCC ULS.   
      
    DS>   I have a PDF file in my D-Rats shared folder, and in a link off of a   
    DS> hyperlink on my QRZ bio, to things like "Operating Internet Radio",   
    DS> "Setting Up Netlogger", and "Ham Radio Humor", among several other   
    DS> topics.    
      
    DS>   Also at that hyperlink, are Excel Spreadsheets of selected D-Star,   
    DS> Echolink, and D-Rats Nets, in the 4 main US time zones (Eastern, Central,   
    DS> Mountain, and Pacific), with at least 200 monthly nets (truly, too many   
    DS> nets, and too little time). I started that because what was at the nets   
    DS> page on dstarinfo.com was WOEFULLY OUT OF DATE (and I understand, STILL   
    DS> IS). I originally began the page as a page for Echolink Nets, but then   
    DS> added D-Star and D-Rats. There are some other pages for DMR, CQ100,   
    DS> HamSphere, and Christian Related Nets, but I do NOT maintain them.   
      
    DS>   I started the net listing with a PDF file, but then with the help of   
    DS> Gary, VA3GDZ, converted it to Excel Spreadsheets. You need Microsoft   
    DS> Office, LibreOffice, or OpenOffice for the spreadsheets...and a program   
    DS> such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, Fox-It, etc. to view the PDF files.   
      
    DS>   Now, I realize that if my power or internet are off, I am QRT. But, I   
    DS> have far too many health issues now to worry about doing emergency   
    DS> communications. Never mind the fact that not even $1200 a month on   
    DS> disability for me doesn't go very far. Besides, if you look in a ham   
    DS> radio product catalog, and it says CALL/WEB, then that rig is WAY TOO   
    DS> EXPENSIVE for you.   
      
    DS>   You will find tons of people ready, willing, and able, to check into a   
    DS> traffic net, especially as "a bean for the count". But, don't even think   
    DS> about asking them to be Net Control, a club officer, etc. --  because if   
    DS> looks could kill, you'd fall over dead!! I'm doing the nets that I do (a   
    DS> file of such is at the hyperlink noted earlier), because I enjoy it, and   
    DS> no one else wants to do the job as Net Control.   
      
    DS>   Many of these hams are what I refer to as "Hi, Bye, and QSY"...where   
    DS> it's "Net Control, Please Checkin [Callsign], [Name], [Location], Short   
    DS> Time, No Traffic"...and not a minute later, they're doing the exact same   
    DS> thing on another net...sometimes several times in an evening. Rick,   
    DS> KA2BSM, who works with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in   
    DS> the Memphis, Tennessee area (he helped me get registered on the gateway),   
    DS> wonders "Do these folks have a life outside of ham radio??".   
      
    DS>   There is NO PRIZE, BONUS, AWARD, CERTIFICATE, etc. for seeing how many   
    DS> nets you can check into in an evening. To me, folks who are doing such   
    DS> are  in the hobby strictly for their ego. And, this is a HOBBY -- it   
    DS> should  NEVER take priority over things like church, family, health, job,   
    DS> or  especially honey-do's -- in the latter case, that rig you have your   
    DS> eye  on for your birthday or Christmas, is going back to the candy store   
    DS> (hi hi).   
      
    DS>   It has gotten to be such "a mad rush pileup" with other nets, that I   
    DS> either wait toward the end of the net to checkin, or I don't even bother.   
    DS> The main time I am on the air is for nets that I am running, to take a   
    DS> net for another Net Control (as I had to do last night), or for a sked   
    DS> request. I have other things in my life right now, that are far more   
    DS> important than my hobbies ham radio, my BBS, or square dancing. Without   
    DS> one's health, you have nothing.   
      
    DS>   Again, I agree with the what the FCC official said years ago:   
      
    DS>   "We're communicators first, and hams second".   
      
    DS>   More info on me is in my bio at the hyperlink noted above.   
      
    DS> Daryl, WX4QZ   
      
    DS> ... Ham Radio QRP: When you care the most to send the very least. ===   
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    DS>  @ ORIGINAL: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)   
      
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