Moving the Shack Again...But I Like THIS Move!

I received a surprise from the XYL today...and it was a very good one, too. It was a very unexpected one, I'll admit.

She said I could move my ham gear into the living room of the apartment. She said it with a straight face, too.

Naturally I was a bit skeptical, knowing how she liked her living room set up a certain way. I asked, "Say what?"

She repeated it: "Dear, I want you to move your gear into the living room so you can operate in comfort of the air conditioning." I almost passed out from surprise.

Well, I couldn't believe my ears, but I was very happy. She told me to set it all up by the window facing east and as long as it was fairly neat she didn't care what I did with that part of the living room. She just didn't want me to burn up in the heat and humidity while I operated as well as freeze in the cold during the winter. I agreed with her; that wasn't a good proposition, but I set everything up in the balcony closet so I wouldn't have my stuff in the XYL's way.

But I also saw this as an opportunity to expose her to some different things as well as a chance for me to try something new and different. If you didn't know, Mary has her own call: KD5OGD. She just doesn't get on the air due to the issues that the local ham radio community has had over the years, and I didn't blame her. I still don't to this day, even though I'm a little disappointed about it.

Well, I got everything in and set up, and the area I've got by the east window really looks nice and neat! Mary had a smile on her face and was actually impressed with how I set all the gear and shelving up. The only thing I had to do that didn't look all that great was run 2 sets of coax through the window screens and slip them underneath the windows themselves. I got it all looking decent, and if you keep the shades down enough you can't really tell what was done. On the outside though, you can tell where the coax was run. I'm not going to worry about it though, because Mary said that we'll just pay to replace or repair the screen when we move out next year. Cool!

After I got cooled off and turned on the Yaesu FT-857D and started tuning around, Mary asked me what my future plans were with ham radio. I told her about eventually getting into the digital modes and playing more with weak-signal 2m and 70cm. I'll also do 6m when we get moved into a house somewhere. I told her about how I was saving toward the digital stuff but also the necessary antennas for 6, 2, and 440. The explanation was simple: I wanted to play and experiment, to try different things and have fun doing it. I think Mary's noticed that I have begun to have fun again with Amateur Radio. It took my leaving the Temple ARC to do it, but I am actually enjoying the hobby again and enjoying it with others who feel the same way I do.

Tomorrow's Memorial Day, and I don't have any real plans other than sleeping in some. But I will likely get on the air and see what I can do, 30 meters being the most likely at this point, but I may do 20 and above also.

I'm even experimenting on 2 meters, and Mary watched me try this: I actually got on 144.075 and called CQ using CW. I got no takers but I did hear someone tuning up while I was calling CQ. OK, so now I know someone actually monitors the CW subband on 2; I just wish he would have answered! I'll keep trying; I am going to enjoy the experimentation, and I'm not messing up anyone's electronics in the adjacent apartments either, thanks to the filters I've installed. I don't interfere with anything at all on 2 meters and up, and nothing at all on HF either; I haven't tried 6 yet. Thank goodness for that Drake low-pass filter I bought for a song at Ham Expo in Belton. $10 and I saved everyone a lot of grief, even for myself.

Now I'm really ready to play and experiment. Anyone else want to play and have fun???

WR1TX