From: on 5 Apr 2007 15:18:49 -0700

From: on Tues, Apr 3 2007 6:35 pm
On Mar 29, 11:24 pm, Dave Heil wrote:
KH6HZ wrote:
"Dave Heil" wrote:


It doesn't matter whether he's jealous or not, Mike. He can fill up his
years with getting on 75m and telling hams who have been in the game for
decades about his experiences at ADA in the 1950's.

Wow, lots of envy and hostility in that statement...

That's all I expect from the Robust Oberst. :-)

That's good. That's all you'll ever get.

I know. It never fails... :-)

But then, we are speaking of "Mister DeeEcks" of Department of
State (Retired)...who BECAME DX Out Of Africa and Finland under
State's generous "A DX of One" program to help hams worldwide
get a rare one. Hard to beat that...and he got PAID to do it!

He never once did ham radio while at work. Just ask him.

That's like asking Robesin something. :-)


Me, I just did (like you did) what I was told to do and also
be proficient at "destroying the enemy" in my military service.
That I lucked out on my military assignment wasn't any doing
of mine. But, I DID take advantage of learning, observing
all that went on, asking questions to study more...and making
friends with a lot of good people, both military and civilian.

Lots of night school, too.

Not in the Army...in civilian life...to satisfy personnel
departments with "credentials" while I had already done
the responsible design engineering. :-(

Herr Robust made some crack about "how many did I destroy?"

Ya know, He NEVER said anything about His military service
that could be pinned down to something substantial. I think
he's just one of those fakers who IMPLY things and then bluff
out on some (bogus) claims of "post traumatic stress."


I dunno why Mister DeeEcks thinks I should "get on 75m" when
there is already an established net on 20m of ex-RCA employees
who get together every morning. I worked with some of them
in real life (as opposed to the imaginary life spent staring
at front panels while gabbing with relative strangers). :-)

I like talking to strangers, as long as there not as strange as some
on RRAP.

Alas, some strangers ARE most strange indeed.


I don't intend to keep reminding him of his remaining time on the
planet. Any of us could easily go before Len does. All it takes is a
traffic accident (Roger Wiseman's death wish for me: failing brakes,
sharp curves, twisting road) or a sudden illness.

Or Robesin's predictions for "Slashed tires, bricks through windows,
and terrorized wives..."

Robesin is the Public Affairs Officer for his CAP unit in TN.
Some "public affairs" of his must be kinda 'private.' :-)

Wow, if Robesin is typical of CAP Public Affairs, the CAP
is in a HEAP of trouble!

He must be screwing up - they've promoted him.

Two words... background investigation.

Two more words... fails background.


The fact is that I've
already enjoyed 43 years in amateur radio.

Ahem, minus one year during your tour in Vietnam. Remember, no ham
radio for you...

We really don't know how long he was there. [Robesin syndrome?]

Yikes! I hadn't considered that.

He's a smoothie on "convincing" folks. Turns right around
and becomes snarly when someone argues the opposite of what
he's declared. Otherwise, same-o, same-o.


According to a couple websites, he was a rock musician - guitarist
for ten years with several bands. Those aren't "ham bands." :-)
That occupied some of the 22 years between first being licensed
(1963) and being sent to the Finland Embassy (1985). He got his
Vanity call of K8MN in 1977 and there's 8 years between that and
his first Helsinki posting.

Wonder why he selected Minnesota for a suffix?

That's an "in memoriam" Vanity callsign to honor his Elmer.


-- he will be unable to
accumulate 230k+ QSOs that others accumulated here have.

If he gets busy and hones his skills, he could get it done.

I still don't understand this NECESSITY of "logging thousands
of contacts"...just to log thousands of contacts?

Compensation?

Well, it's something. Something like collecting string, stamps,
dolls, paperweights, all sorts of different memorabilia and knick-
knacks.


What does one DO with all those logs? I would suggest just
recycling those logs to save real logs from being turned into
paper pulp to "archive" ham logs. Putting it all into CD R/W
discs for archival would require using Chinese-manufacture
CD blanks whose plastic is made from non-renewable petroleum.

Mine are in my garage. That's where all my "important" papers are.

My REALLY important papers are in my safety deposit box. Since
there's NO necessity to keep logs (except for the "new" modes
like SS) I think some jottings on scratch paper ought to suffice.

Words on the VEC QP say "it's a good idea for resolving inter-
ference complaints." I don't know how that can "resolve" them
since it would be kept by the person allegedly doing the RFI.
Such wouldn't stand up in court. But, lots of hams like to act
like "pros" at broadcast stations, so they keep logs. Last time
I did any broadcasting, the only thing noted in logs was when a
station was OFF the air beyond its normal, announced hours.


I made over
that number in my nearly sixteen years overseas though it wasn't really
that long since I was typically in the U.S. for two to three months
between assignments and usually burned a month or so of leave in the
U.S. or elsewhere each year. I've submitted nearly 30,000 QSOs to LOTW
but I still have years of contest logs from the paper logging days which
have yet to be entered into the computer logging database.

1985 to 2000 is just FIFTEEN years. Wow, all that FREE TIME
(paid for?) between "assignments." Not a bad gig, 11 months
of "work" a year. Very "European."

Europeans work far less than 11 months a year. That's why they have
so many trade restrictions with the USA... to level the playing field.

heh heh heh. That's one way to look at it.


Get off the branch water and it might be possible for you to get it
done... unless you're taking time out to run for Director of the
Roanoke Division.

He ought to lay off the Marlboros, too...not to mention the
brannvin. Of course, another storm might come up and the
OTHER tower fall over...thus taking more time away from all
that "logging."

Heil had a tower failure?

Yah. 2004. He's got TWO towers. One buckled somewhere in its
middle and it came down, elements of one beam punching a hole
in his roof. He has pictures of it on some personal web site.
Not a pretty sight.

On the same web site he's got a picture of a small bottle of
Finnish vodka. Swedes label the "hard" spirits 'brannvin,'
literally translates as 'burn wine.'

From the same pictures Heil appears to be a lefty, in one of
them twiddling a bug's paddles with the left, a package of
Marlboros at the ready by his right hand.


It'd be nice
to have a half million or so QSOs logged before departure time.

Better find a DXpedition.

This time he gonna have to PAY for it out of his own pocket
(and pension check). :-)

Mr. Roarke might help him out on an expedition to Fantasy
Island? :-) "de blane! de blane!"

American Samoa might be a good gig.

I think that might have been done. :-)

If Len Anderson wants to pretend that he is part of some revolution, let
him play. He'll unbox his JA transceiver, hook it to a vertical antenna
and have all the fun he is capable of having.

No different than you unboxing your TN transceiver...

My IC-746Pro is made in Japan. The companion SP-23 filter-speaker
is made in China. I haven't looked to see where the PS-125 (free)
12 VDC supply is made. My MFJ dry dummy load is made in
Starkville, MS. My Heil Sound ProSetPlus is made (somewhat) in a
suburb of Chicago, IL.

I don't know about that.

Heh heh heh...I was testing Heil again to see if he was paying
attention. :-)

Fairview Heights, IL, is just a few miles east of the Big Muddy
and East Saint Louis, IL. A few miles farther east and one cuts
north to go to Springfield. BTW, I heartily recommend going to
the Abraham Lincoln Museum in downtown Springfield...new, only
been open for a few years and is a GREAT experience for anyone
wanting to relive the times of his life and the American Civil
War era. Good parking a block away and minimal charge to enter.
Fabulous exhibits. You can take your own picture standing with
the Lincoln family in the rotunda (only place where they allow
photography...life-size mannikins with authentic clothing).

Note that I did NOT say where the LDG autotuner was made. Tsk,
I should have been given a "reminder" by know-it-all morsemen
on that! :-)

Bob used to have his shop in Marissa,
Illinois, just south of my old address in the shadow of St Louis.
Later he opened small shop in Fairview Heights, where the sales tax is
7% because they have a shopping mall. He had mostly high-definition
TV at that location, so I don't know where he's manufacturing the
microphone line, or if he's "outsourced" it.

Hi-Def TV? That must be a continuing thing then since
HDTV is just beginning to catch on in consumer electronics.

Heil Sound uses SOME off-shore made components, certainly
in accessories. The color, feel, shape of some of the bags
for mikes are the SAME as what H-P had for some of their
calculators 25 years ago (such as my olf HP-67). Adapters
for various mikes, headphones, headsets have distinctive
machining, plating, and plastic encapsulation of Asian
manufacture. Those are good, but the prices (allowing for
mark-up that is double their cost, easily) add the final
touch to be off-shore made.



No sweat...whatever I have, Davey Heil will PUT IT DOWN! :-)
He always does...

I'm partial to ICOM gear. But I've got a little bit of everything -
even radio shack.

My (now) ancient Icom R-70 is still doing just fine, gets to
sit in the line-up of my station...all 3 feet wide, foot and a
half high by foot and a quarter deep with room for other
goodies, no strain. New stuff is much more compact than old.

Whatever works for you and is reliable. But, Davey will PUT IT
DOWN, whatever it is. His are "better," whatever he's got. :-(

73, Len AF6AY