Eyeball Picnic

There's an unofficial group called the "North American Simplex Alliance" (N.A.S.A.) that hosts an annual eyeball picnic for hams. The picnic was this afternoon at Ried Park and there was a nice crowd there. I brought the whole family and we enjoyed plenty of good socializing and more food than anyone could possibly eat.

Tucson Hamfest

Yesterday was the annual hamfest, sponsored by Old Pueblo Radio Club. The hamfest was held at Tucson Electric Park and got going bright and early in the morning. I didn't arrive at sunrise but I heard that's when things got started, as usual. There were two rows of seller's tables, with plenty of good deals and stuff that no one can live without (or that no one wants, depending on your perspective). Hamfests certainly support the idea that one man's junk is another man's treasure.

I had planned to sell some junk but changed my mind the night before. I also didn't buy too much, just a few odds and ends like a wire cutter, mobile speaker, and some Anderson Powerpoles. I also got a free Alinco DJ-X10 wideband receiver, but as I expected when I got home and tried to power it up, no luck. I did get a chance to see lots of friends there, and also managed to get a bit of a sunburn.

Another Great Radio Society of Tucson Meeting

Last night was the monthy meeting of the Radio Society of Tucson (RST). The speaker was Steve Franks, KE7BTE, who gave an interesting talk about Radio Mobile software. Radio Mobile is an interesting mapping program capable of modelling radio wave propogation. We also got an update about various ham activities going on around here. It seems like ham radio is really undergoing a rejuvenation lately. The club repeater just got an upgrade and is now on Echolink (node # 7095). The Tucson hamfest is looking to be a strong one (only two weeks away!), and the annual picnic will be the next day and has a lot of interest already. Contests are being planned, possible D-Star system is under consideration, and lots of other stuff happening. It sure is good to see the excitement!

Today is the 10-10 Sprint. So far it appears that the band is going to be very poor, the only contacts I've made so far are with my YL and son. The antenna is still on the roof, but hopefully the package of parts needed to repair it will arrive from Cushcraft today.