Last time I "just grabbed something" at the bar, I got a swift kick in the nuts.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
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Last time I "just grabbed something" at the bar, I got a swift kick in the nuts.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
Uh oh, at a bar that can give you beer nuts. Itchy nuts is a symptom so then it must be treated immediately before it goes into the terminal stage, cotton balls.
And then after the neglect, they turn into cheese balls.
Bob...... you were in the running to becoming an honourary Canadian ....... now with that remark......I don't know ....:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by NA4BH
When I was younger, a cheese ball wasn't a food, it was an activity with a dairy farmers daughter.
You're thinking of the cheese log.
Oh Damn, I always get those confused.
You were saying something about cheese balls?
Please welcome Ryan, "Jazz003" to the Island. Ryan is unlicensed, has been studying mobile/portable radio technologies and is somewhat interested in amateur radio. He likes the climate of our forums.
Anyone want to help Elmer a newcomer into the ARS ranks?
Welcome Ryan.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c7...psd1f9f3ae.jpg
Welcome, Ryan! Keep in mind the Island motto:
http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0...=1177361869000
Welcome Ryan. Enjoy the Island.
Jazz? Did someone say Jazz? Hiya Ryan, and welcome!
Hello Ryan, welcome to the Island. Since none of these other one eyed bastids mentioned it, take the umbrella otta the glass before you try to slam the drink down. This was a public service announcement.
Welcome Ryan ;)
I just spent the last three months tilling the garden, planting the vegetables, weeding, mulching, watering, the whole schmear.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
Yesterday afternoon, my wife walks out with a basketfull of broccoli, peppers, and lettuce... first harvest.
She's taking it to work today. To give away. Although she's leaving me one head of broccoli and one bell pepper.
*sigh*
Welcome Ryan.
.
Just noticed this thread. Sorry to keep y'all waiting.
I thought the PROFILE page was for that, but then,
the space there is rather limited.
Not enough information? To conserve bandwidth, for those interested,
there's the bio (& equipment info) at http://www.hamqth.com/w9jef
Here's Church Lady's kind of ham:
http://screen.yahoo.com/cold-opening...000000151.html
Hi JEF. Yeah, I used to live down that way. You ever heard of Pittsburg, KS? I went to school there back in the 70's. Took several trips into Arkansas to see the scenery. Fun times.Quote:
Originally Posted by W9JEF
Pittsburg! (Minus the "h" at the end). Yeah, I was CEQuote:
Originally Posted by X-Rated
at KKOW for a couple months, back in 1997.
The one friend I had there was Ol' Dan Willis (may he rest in peace).
They advertised for an "RF engineer" and first thing I did
was look at the ATU's at each tower base.
At one tower, the bottom of the lighting choke enclosure
had rusted out, and the unit is hanging there by its leads.
The whole infrastructure was badly deteriorated.
You could literally sprout seeds in the XMTR RF compartment dirt.
Second day on the job, it was raining, and I noticed water leaking
into the RF compartment of the Collins 10 kW main XMTR.
Had to fire up the RCA backup (5kW).
When they installed computers, I asked about my work station.
The reply was, "Why would YOU need one?" Left shortly after that.
LOL. You know Pittsburg really well then. When I lived there, the callsign was Kiss Our A$$, Man. I don't think I remember a Dan. Was he a ham? That attitude employers had was pretty similar across Kansas. WTF do you need equipment to work? Do your work without any tools. Kiss Our A$$ Man.
At night, I could receive that station in Austin, TX, but I couldn't hear it in Arma. It seemed pretty directional at night.
In 1997, I lived in Lawrence. Inlaws lived in Neosho, Mo. I was taking that bypass around Pittsburg all the time back then.
Did you belong to the PRO? Pittsburg Repeater Organization? The 146.94 repeater was on the TV tower and the transmit side used the batwing antenna at about 650 feet. It was horizontally polarized. The receiver was on the tall tower at about 800 feet. Those were the good old days.
I kinda had mixed feelings about Pittsburg. The cobblestone streets were neat,
but not the drivers. They were forever cutting you off, and didn't seem to give a rat's patoot
about courtesy. But there was the YMCA swimming pool, with water at 93F. :)
"Ol' Dan joined KKOW in 1964, and his career began at KUOA (1955),
which gave us more in common besides being old farts. I went with him
on all his many remotes. He had a huge fan base, he was much in demand.
His folksy voice reminded me of the Motel 6 guy whose spot ended with,
"We'll leave the light on."
http://www.kkowradio.com/upload/image/dan.jpg
Dan "Ol Dan" Willis
http://www.kkowradio.com/page.php?page_id=86
Was mostly on the DC bands, and didn't get to know any of the local hams;
renovating the station kept me quite busy. Since I own our home here in NW Ark.,
the commute was a bit long, so I rented an apartment in Pittsburg. Some neighbors
had a dog who, at daybreak, would emit a single "yip" once per minute until he got fed.
Not very conducive for sleep after an all-nighter of maintenance.
Jack Lawrence (W0TTF) was the engineer at KOAM-TV for many years. He was just a really great guy. He passed away just a few weeks ago. He was one of a few hams I knew who were very proud of their Advanced class licenses and refused to upgrade even thought they could easily. They were making a statement about the incentive license band planning that took away their band privileges and gave those to Extras only.Quote:
Originally Posted by W9JEF
The pool water at the University was always hot as well. I lived on the cobblestone street of S. Elm not far from campus. I was able to buy the house for $4000 in 1977. We had royalty on campus as well. King Saud's grandson and I tooled around town in his new V-12 Jag. Maybe it is just me, but when I go back there, it seems like a very depressed place. I get depressed just looking at it. It is not the place it was nearly 40 years ago. Way downhill, kinda like the depressed condition you speak about of the KKOW equipment.
.
Forgot to mention KRPS (89.9, "Radio Pittsburg State").
Our FM antenna was on their tower, xmtrs in same room.
I particularly like their early evening jazz programs.
As I understand it, KRPS studios is in Shirk Hall. It is the same room I had when I was there my freshman year in 1976, the year before I got my house. I built an 80M antenna in that room and made CW contacts in 1976. Since that room already had radio background, I assume they felt it was best to use as a broadcast room and to commemorate me in some small way. KA0BNR says he was in the studios and that they are specifically in my old room 301 Shirk Hall. I was the floor rep. there. When someone had issues with something on the floor, they came to me. I was the liaison to the administration. I also served on the dorm committee and we scheduled keg parties and such. Back then, Kansas has a law to where an 18 year old could buy and consume 3.2% beer. The guy who lived in the room next door to me was a ~33 year old diabetic. He stayed in another dorm over the winter holidays. He apparently went into a diabetic fit during the holiday and died. That is where I met the Saudi prince as well. His room was decked out like a palace with a very fancy bed and draperies. He was in the dorm for one semester and then he bought a house. That southside third floor is rich in history that will never be properly recorded.Quote:
Originally Posted by W9JEF
Attachment 11778
Here is a view I found on the internet. I circled where my room was at Shirk (Shirar/KRPS Shirk). The cemetery was there as well.
Did you stay at the Bess hotel? I installed antennas on the Bess. I remember getting to go inside the Hotel Stillwell when I first got to town in 1976. The Democratic Party had offices there for the 1976 elections. The Hotel looked a lot like the old picture back then. I thought they would demolish it. Fly a model airplane into it and watch it collapse.
My college job was working at Dick's Lectronics. I wanted them to use the slogan "Chicks like Dick's...Dick's Lectronics, 119 W 5th St, Pittsburg, KS." but they weren't too fond of that idea. Dick Parrish owned and ran the place. I worked on the bench in the back repairing 8-track tape players and other home and auto entertainment systems.
In the summer of '79, I worked at Chambers' Electronics. It was in Lowell, KS, right between Galena and Baxter Springs. Can't miss it. Built many UHF repeater systems for farmers wanting communications to family and workers. WA0UPB Rex Chambers was my boss there.
I have a vague memory of visiting the KRPS studios.
(Something to do with our xmtrs' co-location.)
The strange thing is, as a Pizza Hut delivery driver,
had I not accepted the CE position at KKOW,
I'd still be working for this Gene Becknell, who
bought a series of Pizza Huts shortly after I was hired.
Quote:
By the early 2000s, Pizza Hut entrepreneur Gene Bicknell
owned American Media Investments along with KOAM-TV
(reversing the 1981 split between KOAM TV and radio),
and AMI acquired a number of radio stations in the Joplin
-Pittsburg market with the newly relaxed ownership rules.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKOW_(AM)
I didn't know Gene Becknell, but I remember the name. Another big name in the area was Papa Joe Saia. I think the eastern bypass viaduct was named after him. When I moved to town, Papa Joe had a batch brewing in the basement that exploded and he was injured somewhat. Frontenac was huge back in the prohibition days and most people who lived there had surnames ending in "i" or "a", if you know what I mean. I bought my house from a Frontenac resident V. Macelli. Her husband used the house in Pittsburg as a getaway. He had passed on and she wanted rid of that hideous "miner's shack".Quote:
Originally Posted by W9JEF
I have no idea about the studio. Wikipedia says that the KRPS studios is in Shirk.
Back in 1976-80, the transmitter was KSEK/KMRJ out there east of town. I am assuming that is where the KRPS transmitter is. They had a studio at the AM/FM transmitter. I guess I don't know where the KKOW studios were. I wasn't into country.
This was in 1997...Quote:
Originally Posted by X-Rated
The KRPS transmitter (along with KKOW-FM)
was southwest of town, on 103, near Weir.
KKOW studios were collocated at the antenna farm
on 126, east--about half-way to the MO border.
I see. I brought up Google Maps and see that the tower out east on Quincy was the KSEK/KMRJ complete station. However now there is no studio there. We had studios at the KOAM TV tower back in the day. One day they were doing their midday show when a massive chunk of ice came crashing through the roof from the tower. I see they have their studios in Joplin now.
When I worked for Chambers, we had responsibility for the 102.5 in Joplin as well. Somebody went out with a .22 and shot holes through the heliax near the transmitter. Amazingly, the station continued to operate without issue. Rex saw the damage when he went out there and took electrical tape to tape it all up. That worked until it rained and sparks flew. He ordered a section of heliax when he noticed the damage so it was on its way at the time. In the meantime, a friend of mine and I got permission to go out and hook up an FM receiver to the thing. We were receiving some St. Louis station quite well. Couldn't get anything on the low end of the band since KSYN and KOBC were blowing out the front end on the receiver down there.
So what is the tower on east Quincy now? Is that an AM station at all anymore?
Don't remember Quincy Street anymore, let alone the tower.
I do recall another station in town, but not the call.
Your Heliax story reminds me of when I was CE at Tulsa University's KWGS.
The off-air audio had a "gurgling" sound to it. On inspection, there was water
inside the coax which was actually boiling. Fortunately, there was more coax
than needed in the run, so the short leaky section was removed.
We had the thing basically charred carbon all through the heliax. So the engineer climbed to the top of the tower and dumped trichlor down the hose to clean out the carbon from the heliax. Yeah. We had trichlor.
even tho I've been here since 2012, I never introduced myself formally...like anyone cares..
and yeah, I'm a refugee from the cesspool....like quite a few others here...
some know me here as "Dish Boy" from my former avatar....quite the honor I think...
retired after 46+ years doing electronics stuff...mostly for da Gov't in various capacities...
if ya really want to know about me, you can always visit my personal website in my sig line
tommy
It sure is. They hang a nickname on you here, and you're good to go! It's not unlike the butt-sniffing thing dogs do to a new member of their pack. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by NM5TF
JAGE - Just Another Government Employee like a lot of us :) Welcome to the Island. Gotta ask, did you get to meet Jody Foster?Quote:
Originally Posted by NM5TF
actually, I did meet Jody Foster & James Woods at the lunch tent on site....they had a 50 foot semi that was a rollingQuote:
Originally Posted by KK4AMI
commisary....they cooked almost anything to order that you could think of....the lunch tent was the size of a large
circus tent....they had almost 150 people on site...no wonder movies cost so much to make
Warner Bros was kind enuff to let us eat in the lunch tent with them...I was sitting with a couple of co-workers having
some Crab Salad...yeah fresh Crab flown in from the coast that morning.....
Jody saw us sitting there in our coveralls & asked if she could join us to get a feel for what it was like to work at the VLA
of course we said yes...while we were conversing with her James Woods walked up & also joined in the conversation...
we all thought she was very nice & genuinely interested in what we did there.....Woods is as wacky off screen as the
characters as he plays on screen....
Tom Berenger is a real man's man....he spent his off screen time playing poker with the crew...just one of the guys...
I always liked JF. She seems very down to earth. And welcome, 253 posts and over a year ago. Next time we go by there when we take the scenic route to Austin, we'll have to try to meet up for an eyeball. I try to go different ways since I-10 is such a boring drag.
Well, I suppose I should introduce myself.
I am Billy, AE5CP.
I also live in Northwest Arkansas, and work for the big one that is homed there.
I have spent my fair share of time in southeast Kansas, Pittsburg, Fredonia, Parsons, Coffeyville, Iola for work in the past (just because I recognize some of the names and places mentioned).
I am a half-assed homebrew radio operator who gave up and bought a kenwood ts-590.
I actually participate in my local club, and chair the field day committee. I am also an ARRL member, but mostly for QST.
I can't stand anything Gordon West does, that dude is a douche.
I also drink Miller Lite, and TONS of it.
You're gonna fit in here just fine. Welcome to the Island, Billy. Order up whatever you like and put it on the Vatican's tab.Quote:
Originally Posted by AE5CP
—Pope Carlo l
Welcome to the madness Billy.