Here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope that 2009 turns out to be a great year for you.
And as of yesterday (Jan 2) I have turned 45. Another year older and I actually feel it this time.
I'm really looking forward to making this year special for me. I plan to do a lot in ham radio and weather if I possibly can. I've said before what I wish to do and I plan to make it happen this year. Nothing more need be said.
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
I just want to wish everyone who reads this blog regularly or just visits on occasion a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2009. May your coming days, weeks and years be merry and bright.
WR1TX
WR1TX
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
2008 In Retrospect
Well, Christmas is almost here and 2008 is almost history. It's been a wild and crazy year for me, but I have hung in there. There's still a lot of things hanging in the air for me personally, and I'm sure a lot of them will get resolved early next year. Time will tell where I wind up in my heart, mind and soul...but I will persevere. Somehow, I always manage. But it's been really tough in 2008. Maybe 2009 will provide better happenings.
I plan to try to do different things next year. This is especially true in my two true hobbies, ham radio and stamp collecting. Experimentation is the key here; you'll see what happens beginning early in '09.
My web site will get ramped up more next year. Yes, I know...I promised that I would get certain things up and going on the site, but way too much has been happening for me personally that has kept me from getting it all done. Progress has been made, but it's not complete. Perhaps the one significant thing I've managed to get done on the site is to add the Skywarn training schedule for 2009; I know a lot of people have appreciated that already. And of course, this blog. I haven't quite been on here like I would have liked, but again things have been happening.
But I plan to make 2009 a special year, both for my hobbies and for me personally. Watch out for me next year; it's going to be fun!
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
I plan to try to do different things next year. This is especially true in my two true hobbies, ham radio and stamp collecting. Experimentation is the key here; you'll see what happens beginning early in '09.
My web site will get ramped up more next year. Yes, I know...I promised that I would get certain things up and going on the site, but way too much has been happening for me personally that has kept me from getting it all done. Progress has been made, but it's not complete. Perhaps the one significant thing I've managed to get done on the site is to add the Skywarn training schedule for 2009; I know a lot of people have appreciated that already. And of course, this blog. I haven't quite been on here like I would have liked, but again things have been happening.
But I plan to make 2009 a special year, both for my hobbies and for me personally. Watch out for me next year; it's going to be fun!
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
Friday, November 21, 2008
2009 Skywarn Training Schedule; New Roundtable Net Starting
The 2009 SKYWARN training class schedule is out, thanks to several NWS offices throughout the state. This listing is by no means complete and will be updated as often as possible. You can take a look at the early schedule at http://www.wr1tx.net/ and click the 2009 SKYWARN Training Schedule link on the left under Vital Pages.
I plan to be at the Meridian session as well as the Waco advanced class session, and I just might show up at one or two others as well but my personal schedule will determine that.
*****************************************************
Plans are slowly coming together as far as my ham radio activity is concerned. I hope to be set up mobile before too much longer at least on VHF/UHF; HF is a bit down the road. Antennas are being planned, and I am looking at getting into a few contests in 2009 if all goes well. Jenny wants me to get on the air and be active and I plan to do just that!
*****************************************************
There will be a new net coming to Central Texas, more like a resurrection really. The Roundtable Net will be held beginning Tuesday nights at around 7 pm on 147.180 MHz in Clifton with a PL tone of 123.0. This repeater has good coverage and should be accessible fairly easily. The first net should be this coming Tuesday night (11/25) . I will act as net control with help from Tracy, KD5IMM, and maybe others. Check in and join in the fun!
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
I plan to be at the Meridian session as well as the Waco advanced class session, and I just might show up at one or two others as well but my personal schedule will determine that.
*****************************************************
Plans are slowly coming together as far as my ham radio activity is concerned. I hope to be set up mobile before too much longer at least on VHF/UHF; HF is a bit down the road. Antennas are being planned, and I am looking at getting into a few contests in 2009 if all goes well. Jenny wants me to get on the air and be active and I plan to do just that!
*****************************************************
There will be a new net coming to Central Texas, more like a resurrection really. The Roundtable Net will be held beginning Tuesday nights at around 7 pm on 147.180 MHz in Clifton with a PL tone of 123.0. This repeater has good coverage and should be accessible fairly easily. The first net should be this coming Tuesday night (11/25) . I will act as net control with help from Tracy, KD5IMM, and maybe others. Check in and join in the fun!
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Planning for My Operating Future
Well, as I had stated just recently I am no longer a resident of Bell County, Texas. I now belong to Bosque County and the city of Valley Mills, Texas...and I have begun to realize that I have made the right decision in making such a move. The people here are very warm and friendly and are very consistent in that; I cannot remember a time when I was ever made more welcome. Now I can be myself and do what I have always wanted to do, and Jenny definitely supports me in all of it (within reason, of course).
Here's what I will eventually do:
(1) Expand my equipment. I plan to add antennas and radios that will allow me to explore the VHF/UHF bands from 6 meters up through 70 cm. I plan to use Yagis and quads as the antennas of choice. Topography may limit some possibilities since I do live in a river valley but I can still even take advantage of that. Tropospheric ducting and other conditions that can occur in areas where valleys are located can allow for some interesting contacts. I plan to see what could be in store!
(2) Expand the number of operating modes I use. Right now it's just SSB and CW, but as I have said that I always wanted to do I plan to move into the digital modes for all bands that I will have operating capabilities for.
(3) Portable operating. All that I have mentioned in (1) and (2) I will also attempt to do in a portable setting. Of course there will be limitations but you never know what they are unless you try.
(4) Mobile operating. Right now the immediate plan is to get on 2 m and 70 cm in the car; all I really need is an antenna mount for the trunk of the car or a magnet mount for the roof of it. I should then be just fine. HF may not come until another vehicle is acquired; this may be a truck for which I will install whatever I want and however I want to install it.
(5) Backup power. This is something I have always wanted to do: keep my station off the power grid. This could become more important for me now since in Bosque County there is more of a tendency for the area to lose power for any number of reasons. Of course I could always hook up to a car battery and run that but I would rather have my own set of batteries running my station in the house or portable and not have to worry about anything. This will take some more research but I plan to seriously move forward on this.
Got any ideas as to how I handle the above topics? Drop me a line and let's discuss them...I will be all ears.
Stay tuned; there's more to come!
WR1TX
Here's what I will eventually do:
(1) Expand my equipment. I plan to add antennas and radios that will allow me to explore the VHF/UHF bands from 6 meters up through 70 cm. I plan to use Yagis and quads as the antennas of choice. Topography may limit some possibilities since I do live in a river valley but I can still even take advantage of that. Tropospheric ducting and other conditions that can occur in areas where valleys are located can allow for some interesting contacts. I plan to see what could be in store!
(2) Expand the number of operating modes I use. Right now it's just SSB and CW, but as I have said that I always wanted to do I plan to move into the digital modes for all bands that I will have operating capabilities for.
(3) Portable operating. All that I have mentioned in (1) and (2) I will also attempt to do in a portable setting. Of course there will be limitations but you never know what they are unless you try.
(4) Mobile operating. Right now the immediate plan is to get on 2 m and 70 cm in the car; all I really need is an antenna mount for the trunk of the car or a magnet mount for the roof of it. I should then be just fine. HF may not come until another vehicle is acquired; this may be a truck for which I will install whatever I want and however I want to install it.
(5) Backup power. This is something I have always wanted to do: keep my station off the power grid. This could become more important for me now since in Bosque County there is more of a tendency for the area to lose power for any number of reasons. Of course I could always hook up to a car battery and run that but I would rather have my own set of batteries running my station in the house or portable and not have to worry about anything. This will take some more research but I plan to seriously move forward on this.
Got any ideas as to how I handle the above topics? Drop me a line and let's discuss them...I will be all ears.
Stay tuned; there's more to come!
WR1TX
Saturday, November 8, 2008
No Longer in Bell County
Here's the first of several announcements that I had promised to throw out there for all who read this. As of today I do not reside in Bell County any longer. I am now a resident of Valley Mills, Texas, which is located in Bosque County and very close to the McLennan County line.
I had finished my move just this morning. Special thanks to Jenny Ross (my girlfriend) and Lynn Tharp, KB5TDZ for helping me out with the move. I'm still in the process of updating all my information, but the updates should show up on QRZ and elsewhere soon and the ARRL has been informed as well.
My XYL Mary and I have decided to call our marriage quits and move on with our separate lives. It's the best for both of us and I admit it is bittersweet for me personally. But the people I have met in Bosque County and western McLennan County have been very friendly and hospitable, and have accepted me with open arms...especially many members of Jenny's family. So now, I have a whole new frontier for me to explore personally and I am really looking forward to it!
Now that I have made this move I plan to get back into ham radio the way I want to, and that includes regular operating and storm spotting. There may be another announcement as to how I will do this in the near future; more discussions will be occurring with a group or two that I have been involved with in the past, especially one major group that I founded back in 2003. I will tell more when I have future information.
I will be traveling the main and back roads of Bosque and McLennan counties to get to know them better, and I plan to do the same with Coryell, Hamilton, Hill, Somervell, Johnson, Erath and Limestone counties also. My goal is to be able to know where I am at at any given time in the areas I have just mentioned; this will be extremely important when I get out to do a little storm spotting from time to time.
This will be a different atmosphere than I am used to, but will be well worth it when it's all said and done. Wish me luck on this new adventure!
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
I had finished my move just this morning. Special thanks to Jenny Ross (my girlfriend) and Lynn Tharp, KB5TDZ for helping me out with the move. I'm still in the process of updating all my information, but the updates should show up on QRZ and elsewhere soon and the ARRL has been informed as well.
My XYL Mary and I have decided to call our marriage quits and move on with our separate lives. It's the best for both of us and I admit it is bittersweet for me personally. But the people I have met in Bosque County and western McLennan County have been very friendly and hospitable, and have accepted me with open arms...especially many members of Jenny's family. So now, I have a whole new frontier for me to explore personally and I am really looking forward to it!
Now that I have made this move I plan to get back into ham radio the way I want to, and that includes regular operating and storm spotting. There may be another announcement as to how I will do this in the near future; more discussions will be occurring with a group or two that I have been involved with in the past, especially one major group that I founded back in 2003. I will tell more when I have future information.
I will be traveling the main and back roads of Bosque and McLennan counties to get to know them better, and I plan to do the same with Coryell, Hamilton, Hill, Somervell, Johnson, Erath and Limestone counties also. My goal is to be able to know where I am at at any given time in the areas I have just mentioned; this will be extremely important when I get out to do a little storm spotting from time to time.
This will be a different atmosphere than I am used to, but will be well worth it when it's all said and done. Wish me luck on this new adventure!
Stay tuned...
WR1TX
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I'm Back...Sorry!
God, it took so long to get back into my website and stuff! Work blocks everything and I can't get into another computer while mine is still down. Too many things have happened lately and I can't get it all together it seems. Oh, well...
I do plan to make some major announcements in the near future. I can't even drop a hint as to what these will be right now, but I will benefit greatly from them as a person and my life will be a whole lot better for it. When I'm ready to spill it all I will let everyone know.
But for now I'm here and I'm going to try to get caught up where I can, here on the blog as well as my website which has suffered from my absence. I like to keep everything updated, so it's been hard on me that I haven't been able to do that. Please be patient, for once certain things happen it will all be a lot better.
Stay tuned (patiently, please)...
WR1TX
I do plan to make some major announcements in the near future. I can't even drop a hint as to what these will be right now, but I will benefit greatly from them as a person and my life will be a whole lot better for it. When I'm ready to spill it all I will let everyone know.
But for now I'm here and I'm going to try to get caught up where I can, here on the blog as well as my website which has suffered from my absence. I like to keep everything updated, so it's been hard on me that I haven't been able to do that. Please be patient, for once certain things happen it will all be a lot better.
Stay tuned (patiently, please)...
WR1TX
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