30m was open to the west coast this weekend, and I managed to work several stations out west. One of them was K6XG. We discovered that we had several things in common—he worked for Hewlett-Packard, back when they were in the test equipment business, and I covered HP for Test&Measurement World back then; we both teach General Class license courses; and we both use Begali paddles.
Today, I drove down to the Findlay Hamfest with Zoltan, KD8ABX and George, K8GEO. The weather was really atrocious, but even so, there was a decent turnout, as well as some good deals to be had.
Zoltan, for example, got a double set of fiberglass poles for $80. I purchased another IC-735, this one with an AH-4 antenna tuner for $300. I also got some single-sided PCB stock for $2. I forget which project I was going to use it for, but when I do remember, I’ll be sure to have some on hand.
One amusing thing we came across there was a couple fo vacuum tube-based kits from Glenn, NN8G, whose company is called Pastime Projects. He’s selling a single-tube (6V6) transmitter kit for $64, including the tube, $54 without the tube. Neither kit includes a power supply.
They’re cute, but a little pricey. The one-tube transmitter that I’ve written about would be much cheaper to build, I think.
This evening, I worked Rick, KB1PJO. Rick mentioned that he’d just gotten his license, so I looked him up on QRZ.Com. Sure enough, his license was issued on August 22, 2007, meaning he’s only been a ham for two and a half weeks! He’s the first no-code Tech that I’ve worked on CW, I believe. Let’s keep our ears out for more of them, and when you do work them, please be courteous and patient.
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