(Continued from previous message)   
      
     While Roy was "on vacation" for the time off, he came back after a few   
   seconds of silence with "I had a feeling someone would find out about   
   that sooner or later". :) Sadly, Bill had a massive heart attack days   
   later, and became a Silent Key.   
      
   2) On a packet net (where all the stations are typing at their   
   keyboards), the stations were talking about my new callsign (WX1DER).   
   One ham, Ed, KI0HQ, noted he wanted "K0ED"...but lamented that "another   
   ham in California had it". He added that "I'm married, and E.D. is not   
   an issue".   
      
     A brief side note...the packet BBS (which has RF and telnet access),   
   and the net itself are run by a sweet elderly couple out of Branson,   
   Missouri...K.O. (N0KFQ, the Sysop), and his wife, Billie, KB0WSA (Net   
   Control). I got to meet them a few years ago, when I went up there for   
   the OzarkCon QRP weekend. If you like QRP (operating at 5 watts or   
   less), that's a weekend you need to go to.   
      
     Anyway, back to the net. Billie passed it to Roger, KB0SON, an elderly   
   ham in Minnesota. He thought E.D. stood for "electronic doofus". Now, I   
   can relate to that, as electronics was NEVER my forte'. Well, Roger got   
   done with his spiel, and it came around to K.O. -- who typed "I'm   
   curious to see how Ed is going to explain E.D. to Roger".   
      
     When it got back to Ed, he typed "Billie, do you know Morse Code??".   
   She typed "Yes, and I know a lot of other things as well". I thought I   
   was going to die laughing!! :) (For the record, he typed what E.D. stood   
   for in Morse Code).   
      
     While some may consider that "a bit racy", I've heard of far more   
   raunchy stuff on portions of 75 meters. I would refer to the "E.D.   
   incident" as "tame by comparison", to what I've seen in the FCC   
   Enforcement reports. And, I've heard some women who had such filthy   
   mouths that they'd make a sailor blush!! :P   
      
   EV>As is I don't know where I'd find the time.   
      
     Well, all of us have 1440 minutes of time in a day, and we make time   
   for what we want to do with it...and I'm as guilty as the next person on   
   that. Unfortunately, health concerns have made a greater impingement on   
   that schedule of late.   
      
   EV>Is a Air Card used with a Mac Computer?   
      
     Actually, this is a Verizon Mi-Fi card with a Compaq Laptop, with   
   Windows Vista Home Basic on it, that I bought at a hamfest at Monroe,   
   Louisiana a few years ago. The guy selling it noted that "it used to   
   belong to his granddaughter, but she didn't want it any more"...I guess   
   she got one she liked better.   
      
     Anyway, he was asking $150 for it, and I said I only had $100 to   
   spare. He must've wanted to get rid of it (and/or needed the money), so   
   he sold it to me for $100 cash!! Hams are some of the most cheapskate   
   (err, frugal) individuals you'll find...especially for all of the   
   wheeling and dealing at hamfest flea markets. :)   
      
   EV>Or if they decided to revoke license of folks like me who haven't keyed   
   EV>a Mike or touched a Telegraph Key or used their PC on RTTY since their   
   EV>last License renewal.   
      
     It used to be that you had to log everything, and have a certain   
   amount of time with a CW keyer, or other mode, to keep your license. The   
   only time logs are used now, are for stations who want to...and for the   
   contesters...that part of the hobby never appealed to me. But, there's   
   something in the hobby for everybody.   
      
     I understand that there are 2 big RTTY contests each year, and I did   
   do some PSK31 while on CQ100. That (along with HamSphere) are "virtual   
   ionospheres for ham radio", where NO RF OCCURS...but both have a yearly   
   fee (around $40, last time I checked). But, what it does, is that it   
   lets you practice as if it WAS actual RF...and working with various   
   programs. So, if and when one COULD set up an RF station, and get on the   
   air, you would look and sound like a real pro, like you had been doing   
   such for years.   
      
     If renewal meant retesting, ham radio would've died out long ago.   
      
   Daryl, WX1DER   
      
   (Continued to next message)   
   ---   
    þ OLX 1.53 þ Chocolate lovers 12 step plan: < 12 steps from chocolate.   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
                                                                                     
   --- Virtual Advanced Ver 2 for DOS    
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