Just picked up a Radio Shack 10 HTX-10 HF Transceiver on EBay. No I just have to get a few things to hook it up... power supply, antenna, microphone, etc. Should be on 10 meters by New Years.

Checking In On The Net

No new bike rides until November.  But I did start checking in with the Central Carolina ARES net on Thursday.  Since I've had my preliminary FEMA courses done since February, I figured I'd better get in gear.  I've got a training session this weekend.

Long Day, Long Drive

This weekend is the Ride Without Limits bike tour.  Yesterday was the first day of the two day event, locally held up near Pittsboro.  I participated as a SAG, although truthfully, I spend most of the time as a pathfinder (checking the route to verify that signage was OK, and that rest stops were open).  The bike routes took the riders on courses from 35 to 112 miles.  Of course, this wasn't straight line... the courses circled around and doubled back quite a bit.  Unfortunately, I only had a turn sheet... maps were not provided, so to get from say... Start/Finish to Rest Stop 4, I had to drive ~40 miles... instead of about 8, which the shortest path would allow.  

Tried to find a map last night...  no luck.  Hopefully today will be better, as I get more familiar with the area.

One good thing about this event.  I drive somewhere close to 300 miles.  Of course I filled the tank afterwards.  My MPG was over 25.  Normally, I'm lucky get 22.  Love it!

Installed the new rig in the truck over the weekend.  Mounted the radio body on the back bulkhead of the truck cabin... centered, about 12" above the floor.  The control head is of course mounted on the dashboard below the AM/FM radio.  Its a little tight when you're shifting the truck into and out of park, but it works.  Still have to get my hands on a few zip ties to wrap up the extra control wire.

This weekend, I'll be volunteering in the Ride Without Limits as a SAG.  These rides will probably go 5 - 7 hours, since the longest routes are 100 miles or more.

Radio Installed, Sort Of

Sort of installed my new radio in the truck today...  I say sort of, because I've used it to talk to a few folks after we hooked it up.  But we didn't mount it behind the seat and on the dashbord as I was expecting because Jack forgot to bring his power tools.  He said we could do that pretty quick another time.

After hooking up the radio, I did take some time to manually program in a few channels.  Specifically the freqs for the RARS repeater (164.640), the JARS repeater (147.270), the S Wake repeater (145.210), the Hillsborough repeater (147.225), and the SIMPLEX channel (146.520).  I talked on RARS and SIMPLEX earlier today, and hope to join nets on some of the others this evening.

New Rig

Thursday morning is the time each week when a number of HAMs meet over at one of the local mall food courts.  For the last few months, I've been joining them for a little talk and BS, as I learn more about the Amateur Radio community.  Today, some of the talk was about Hurricane Isaac.  One of our members, Jack Foster (NCUYB), received a call near the end of our meeting warning him that he might be activated in support of Isaac activities.  Jack participates in the Emergency Responders part of HAM radio.  Jack is also one of the local gurus on HAM equipment (he installed my truck tri-band antenna and power connection).

This afternoon, UPS delivered my new truck rig...  a Yaesu FT-7900R.  I ordered it from HAM City last Friday, and knew it was coming (Happy Birthday Mike!).  I've already talked to Jack, and plan to meet him in the morning to install it.  Then, I'll be spending a good part of the weekend programming in the various frequencies that I expect to use in the near future.  Admittedly, there is no way I expect to use all of the features of this toy any time soon, but it was the least expensive unit that had all the features that I did want.

Yes yes, yell at me.  I haven't been posting on this blog with any regularity.  It's been a stressful 6 months while I was looking for work.  Well, that is coming to an end, since it look's like I'll be getting the contract with GeoMagic up in RTP/Durham.  Tentative start date is the day after labor day.

So... what is going on in my world of Ham Radio.  The big news is that, since I'll have an income source, I went ahead and ordered my 2M mobile rig...  the YAESU
FT-7900R.  I spent the extra $20 on 3-day shipping to make sure I got it before next Friday, so I can get Jack (N6UYB) to help me install it.  He did my tri-band antenna and power lead last month, and rigged it so installing the radio should be a snap.  

Upcoming events include the Ride Without Limits out of Moncure, NC, 9/15 - 9/16.

73's