At a recent Westerville Amateur Radio Club meeting, members asked Mark what he’d be bringing to their field day event, and he quickly stated that he wouldn’t be joining. “I have my own plans” he snapped back. When pressed, Mark said, “I’ll be setting up a crank-up tower with a tri-bander, an off-center fed dipole, and two multi-band verticals at Federal Hill up on highway 165… just like last year!”

Club member Randy Burns immediately became suspicious. “Hey Mark… I was setup on Federal Hill last year, and I sure didn’t see you…”

Mark, visibly shaken, broke down and spilled the beans. “Dangit, Randy… you’re right man,” said Mark with a sullen face.

“Heck, I haven’t done a real field day at all the past few years.” Mark continued, “It’s just the only good excuse I had to take some time for myself. Things have been so busy since Janet started working on her Etsy friendship bracelet business from the house, and my work has been insane with the new waste management account we picked up… I just needed a break.

Mark then shared his breakthrough. “I realized when I talk to the family or coworkers about radio stuff, they immediately tune me out and never ask any follow-up questions. It’s like a free pass!”

“When I told Janet I wanted to do a guys weekend back in March, she grilled me about time away from the newborn,” said Mark. “When I said I was doing a ‘ham radio thing’ at the end of June, she just softly grunted, roller her eyes, and ignored me for the rest of the conversation. It was amazing!”

The amateur radio club meeting notes indicated that Mark rented a nice Airbnb with a lovely pool, just outside of town, and that four other club members—and no radio gear– were now planning to join him.

By K5PO, on the scene

The post Field Day Plans Really About Relaxation for Area Ham appeared first on Ham Hijinks.

“We just wanted the bonus points, not visitors,” said Nathan Binn.

“I sent an email to our small-town weekly newspaper expecting them to ignore it like they do every year. Instead, they published the date and time of our event, our hotel room number, my cell phone and my email address,” he said. 

Binn became concerned after receiving a phone call from the proprietor of the Best Western Inn. 

The hotel manager, Louis Downington, told Ham Hijinks, “When the room was booked I was under the impression that it was just five guys fooling around with ham radio. But then I read in the newspaper it was an ‘event’ at my hotel and wasn’t happy at all.”

“This year, we decided to set up at the hotel with our gear and portable antennas to enjoy indoor amenities like air conditioning and a vending machine while operating,” said Binn.

But the radio club actually doesn’t want visitors. “We’re not very sociable people,” said Binn. “And our food plans do not include enough rations for more than our group.”

“We are grateful for the bonus points, but I don’t know what we’ll do if someone shows up,” he said.

By K5KVN, on the scene

The post Local Club Accidentally Invites People To Field Day appeared first on Ham Hijinks.

“I couldn’t explain the $1.25. My wife started asking questions about where the money was coming from,” said Payton Henning.

“Ultimately, I linked it back to some amateur radio software I’d made in 2003. A ham had actually bought a license key for my API,” he said.

Henning doesn’t have a ham radio license but knows a lot about hams.

“These guys are so cheap, I’d just never seen it happen before. The payment included the guy’s callsign so I looked him up and reached out to him via email. He thanked me for the message and said that he accidentally clicked “purchase” when viewing the page. He then asked if I wouldn’t mind refunding the $1.25,” Henning said.

After the PayPal fee, Henning actually lost .15 cents in the deal.

By K5PO, on the scene.

The post Programmer Shocked That Someone Bought API Key appeared first on Ham Hijinks.

“We’ve got to capture the imaginations of these young people – who have grown up with technology like smartphones and tablets – and get’em hooked on ham radio,” says NRRL interim CEO Larry Kelley.*

Thanks to a large donation from the Edison Electric Lamp and Amberola Company, the NRRL will begin selling mimeograph machines to colleges, libraries, private schools and literally any other organization that wants to purchase one.

At a lunch hour press event with finger sandwiches and melon slices, NRRL President Bill Gilligan emphasized, “Our hope is that organizations purchasing these mimeographs will make copies of amateur radio periodicals – observing applicable copyrights, of course – and make them available to interested young folk. Perhaps they’ll read them at the drive-in or sock-hop.”

Reporters at the event remarked that organizations would need to make time-consuming mimeograph stencils of all documents prior to printing and copying. NRRL leadership encouraged each other to Google this for discussion at future Board of Directors meeting.

Dubbed “Campaign 2020 – Plant Yesterday’s Technology For the Future Today, the machines will be available through NRRL at a cost of $475 each. Interested parties may act now and get 10 gallons of lovely smelling mimeograph ink for 50% off.

“Crank phonographs for Morse practice and NRRL branded telegraph card stock are also available!” exclaimed Gilligan.**

Hotlines are open to take your phone call and explain what a mimeograph machine is.

*Editorial Note: Kelley recently took over for the former CEO, Bob Michaels, who simply disappeared one day.

**Editorial Note: Despite two years of restructure, turnover and general confusion at the NRRL, Gilligan remains president of the organization, though even the Board of Directors was unaware that he was still on the payroll.

Photo courtesy Queensland Museum – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15367715

The post NRRL Launches New Program To Convince Libraries to Purchase Mimeograph Machines appeared first on Ham Hijinks.

“Ever since the day we met, we’ve spent almost every waking hour together,” Mike Brown said of his girlfriend. “We’re at that point in our relationship; it’s time for her to meet my radios.”

He says he’s confident his girlfriend will “really like” his radios. He plans to grill some burgers and have his girlfriend over to his shack this weekend.

By K5KVN, on the scene

The post Nervous Ham Ready to Introduce Girlfriend to His Radios appeared first on Ham Hijinks.