For the past month or so I have been in the radio doldrums, A doldrum is a period of stagnation or slump, often doldrum is associated with an area of the ocean near the equator that has little or no wind. Ships were be-calmed.
Radio-wise, I was radio be-calmed starting at the end of August. My wife and I were asked to assist in setting up a command center in Valdosta, GA to organize clean-up efforts after Hurricane Idalia. Valdosta and the surrounding area received significant damage. The command center was a relief effort by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where a large body of manpower along with material to help mitigate the damage was going to arrive in Valdosta, the same weekend I was supposed to to go camping. Instead, I canceled my reservation and assisted at the command center, organizing the relief effort. We set up at one of the church buildings and over the weekend over 300 work orders were completed in and around Valdosta. This could not have been accomplished without a high level of organization.
While be-calmed, an opportunity came up to attend the Georgia Beekeepers Association Fall Conference. As I get closer to retirement, thoughts of having more time to do the things I want abound. Beekeeping has been on the radar and with 6 acres of rural land, this should be very doable. I prefaced the conference by reading Beekeeping for Dummies. I was glad I did. while it didn’t make me an all-knowing, all-seeing bee pro, it did give me enough knowledge to understand many of the topics at the conference as well as giving me the capability to ask questions and understand the answers. I walked away with a lot of information — my brain was tired. I am hoping to have bees by next spring.
Some good news was I got my K3/10 back. I had damaged a filter slightly and the radio came with a few other minor issues. Elecraft fixed and updated the radio as well as tuned it up to meet or exceed factory specs. The repairs cost $310 dollars. Elecraft has a $250 minimum so my blunder cost me $60. Since I bought it used and it was homebuilt, I was going to send it in for a check-up anyhow. I got it home and set it up the way I like it.
I had a campsite reserved for the weekend of the 10/06. However, I was once again double booked, this time to help a couple of families with preparedness. The times they are a changing. Sometimes EmComm, sometimes FunComm. Taking care of friends and family always supersedes FunComm. Instead of canceling the reservation, I moved it to February. I have campsites reserved each month until then. While I missed two camping trips in a row, it is looking like I may be able to get out one or two days this week for a local activation. I’ll keep you posted. Life’s an adventure 72 de Scott
KK4Z 