W0KCS - Introduction

[W0KCS]

Hello, all. I wanted to stop lurking for a moment and say how much I've enjoyed reading all the posts the past few days (from good, stinky cheese to Sarah Palin's antics). I've been a frequenter of the Hamsexy site for many years and a sometime visitor to Da Zed and eHam. Well, you may already know what I think of Da Zed, and Hamsexy seems to be drying up a bit.

I've been licensed since around '03 and have a very modest setup. Pirate radio piques my interest, and I love to listen to 6925. CB's also a guilty pleasure, although I only monitor the antics, which are plentiful. For those who care, yes, I did pass the Element 1!

Nice to find The Island...

Keith
W0KCS
Colorado Springs

[NQ6U]

Welcome to the Island, Keith! Hope you find it worth your while. There's a great bunch of people here and a level of mutual respect that's rare to find on the Internet. Sometimes we even get off our computers long enough to talk to each other on our radios...

[W3MIV]

Welcome Keith. You may think you have found Shangri-La; we shall show you otherwise.

[suddenseer]

Keith, allow me to buy your welcome drink with the little umbrellas. The Island Bartender should arrive shortly.

73 Tim

[W0KCS]

Keith, allow me to buy your welcome drink with the little umbrellas. The Island Bartender should arrive shortly.

73 Tim

Herb Tarlek: "Do you have those drinks with the little umbrellas in them?"
Bartender: "Yeah, for women."
Herb Tarlek: "Right. My thinking exactly."

But hey, if you're buyin', I'm drinkin'.

[N2CHX]

Welcome to the Island.

[WØTKX]

Oh hai down 'dere'past da Palmer Divide. You be careful on the Academy Boulevard Racetrack, mmMMMk? :lol:


Welcome Keith. You may think you have found Shangri-La; we shall show you otherwise.

Uhhh, it's more like Pee-Wee's Playhouse. :lol:

http://www.simplyaboutg.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/000q5a4t.jpg

[W2NAP]

welcome

[N8YX]

Welcome, wilkommen!

6925 has been dry around here (NE OH) for the past several days. Surprising given that it's a holiday weekend - perhaps everyone is out shopping? You hearing anything else anywhere else...perhaps in the 12 or 15MHz regions?

[W0KCS]

Oh hai down 'dere'past da Palmer Divide. You be careful on the Academy Boulevard Racetrack, mmMMMk? :lol:

I avoid Academy Speedway whenever possible, especially during The Season. Have a lunch date on S. Academy around noon, so traffic should be interesting. Gotta love it (not).

[kf0rt]

Welcome aboard Keith.

Whoda ever thunk CO would be well represented on a place called the Island?

[suddenseer]

Oh hai down 'dere'past da Palmer Divide. You be careful on the Academy Boulevard Racetrack, mmMMMk? :lol:



Uhhh, it's more like Pee-Wee's Playhouse. :lol:

This is Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UT-uXtiAJJk/SquPWzHiIaI/AAAAAAAAAxg/_h47170XlL8/s400/hand_body_lotion250.jpg

[ki4itv]

Welcome to IOMH Keith!
Where a box of salt placed next to the monitor is more than just a convenience.;)

[W0KCS]

Haven't been on the rig for a spell, but want to get on tonight or Sunday. You'd think some of the regulars would've been out Wednesday or Thursday evening. I think the closer you live to the East Coast, the better your chances of bagging a pirate.

IMHO.

BTW, do you frequent hfunderground or FRN? If something's in the air, someone usually reports it. Helps out when you're trying to make sense of some warbling noise deep in the hash.


Welcome, wilkommen!

6925 has been dry around here (NE OH) for the past several days. Surprising given that it's a holiday weekend - perhaps everyone is out shopping? You hearing anything else anywhere else...perhaps in the 12 or 15MHz regions?

[N8YX]

BTW, do you frequent hfunderground or FRN? If something's in the air, someone usually reports it. Helps out when you're trying to make sense of some warbling noise deep in the hash.
I'll occasionally trek over to The Vines but it's gotten to the point that I'm getting sick and tired of reading about tire-pressure readings and Smilkshakes in every other thread. That, and they nuked their "Ute" area. There is a sh!t-ton of off-the-wall/out-of-the-way, interesting commo to be found in the swath of spectrum between 25-30MHz and not all of it involves some idiot playing Garth Brooks on CH19 or the 10-10 Gang on 10M. Thus, a place for readers to log the stuff would have been handy. One supposes we could set an SWL/Ute sub-forum up on here for those purposes if enough people want one.

I got my start in radio doing the AMBCB-DX/SWL/Ute thing while in grade school, became involved with CB during the boom years (junior high and high school)...became a licensed amateur shortly thereafter and discovered the joys of scanning via a modded Pro-2004 in the late 80s. What clinched the ute/scanning deal, so to say, was the acquisition of a one-owner Icom R7000 (courtesy of a SK's son and a chance encounter at a hamfest years ago). Another R7000 fell into my lap 15 years later; this one from the same group of hams (talk about your coincidences...). It needed repair, and after I replaced all the capacitors in the DC-DC converter/display-drive circuitry I had a second working unit.

At the moment there are 10 general-coverage receivers/transceivers in my operating position and 4 wide-band scanners, one of which decodes APCO25 communications. I spent the majority of my shack time prowling the often-overlooked areas of the spectrum, searching for interesting things. Occasionally I'll work DX or chew the fat on one of the local 10M/VHF/UHF nets but that time comprises a very small slice of the overall pie.

[PA5COR]

Welcome Keith.
Started out as 12 year old kid building AM/FM transmitters, building tube amps, etc, not much using the (illegal) transmitters, just sold them off to pay for the rest of the hobby.

Have the AOR 8000 left, not used for 5 years now, good working order, all mode scanner, but not used anymore.
I like to listen around on H.F., as well other frequencies, but most of the time when I'm active I'm on 160 meters playing around with antenna's.

have fun here now ;)

[W0KCS]

(reply to N8YX)

I have an old AOR scanner, Palstar receiver and 2m rig in the linen closet, waiting for the day I "rethink" my shack in the back corner of the guest bedroom. The Icom's hooked up directly to a trap vertical in the back yard, and I pull in enough to keep myself entertained. The gaps of time between my radio activities can be long, though (sometimes I have to wipe the equipment off with a dustcloth).

Yeah, the rabbit invasion/tire pressure thing eludes me. As for Jay Smilkstein, I'm guessing he's a real-deal freako, but can't be sure. Again, I'm just interested in the logs and tech info. Found hfunderground recently and am starting to visit that more.

[KG4CGC]

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/drinks/a5b3d952.jpg
Welcome to The Island.
Imagine if this drink had an umbrella in it.
Like this one.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/drinks/medium_BlueHawaii.jpg

[W0KCS]

Yes, around age 7 or 8, I actually started "monitoring" AM broadcast (instead of merely listening), and started SWL-ing around age 12. SW opened up a new, alien world of cool stuff. Upgraded shortwave rigs over the years (from a Sears multiband to a Radio Shack DX-200 in high school to a Sony SWF2010 about 10 years ago) and finally got my ticket in '03. Of course, there's a couple of low-end Hallicrafters on the bookshelf, an old National 200 w/Heathkit power supply and an Astatic mic in the hall closet, and the Crosley console in the living room awaiting restoration. It has a habit of piling up.


Welcome Keith.
Started out as 12 year old kid building AM/FM transmitters, building tube amps, etc, not much using the (illegal) transmitters, just sold them off to pay for the rest of the hobby.

Have the AOR 8000 left, not used for 5 years now, good working order, all mode scanner, but not used anymore.
I like to listen around on H.F., as well other frequencies, but most of the time when I'm active I'm on 160 meters playing around with antenna's.

have fun here now ;)

[kc7jty]

Bienvenido a la isla muchacho.