Not the best title for a ham radio article...

The Daily O'Collegian of Oklahoma State University has a nice write-up about ham radio in their recent issue.

Not too thrilled about the title, tho...

10-4 Good Buddy

Oklahoma State University’s Amateur Radio Club is making a comeback.

Having been around since the 1920s, Amateur Radio Club is one of the oldest clubs on campus.

But just two years ago, the club’s outlook was bleak.

With only one member, who was a senior and about to graduate, the club was seemingly coming to an end.

But Seth Charles, now ARC president, Patrick Huber and Logan Cabori helped start it back up.

More on this article here.

I would hope someone would have corrected the writer prior to publication, but I guess you can't win them all.

Couple killed by escaped convicts were hams

The burned skeletal remains of Gary Haas, N5VGH, and his wife Linda were found in a charred camper on a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico on the morning of Wednesday, August 4. Authorities believe they were killed by escaped convicts, along with an accomplice, who had escaped from an Arizona prison on July 30. Authorities said that the Haas’ bodies and camper were found by a rancher on his property, not far from Santa Rosa, one of the New Mexico cities that the couple frequented; their truck was found in Albuquerque, 100 miles away.

Read more on the ARRL web site.

Where's the challenge?

The ARRL has an offer for the 75th anniversary of ARES with a commemorative "Challenge Coin".

I first noticed it and thought to myself "What does one have to do in order to earn the coin?".

I figured you would have to check in to x-number of ARES nets, participate in so many events, talk to this many ARES groups, etc.

So what does it take to "earn" a Challenge Coin? $9.95 + shipping.

That's rather funny. When I hear "Challenge" I think of some sort of effort that has to be put in to earn such a prestigious item. Apparently not.

In any case, save yourself the trouble of being challenged and cough up the dough already!

TWIAR comrades: Together at last...

I've been affiliated with TWIAR (This Week in Amateur Radio) for about 15 years now (my God, has it really been that long?) and what started out as a site for posting an audio file or two has turned into a big-time partnership with George Bowen (W2XBS) and a plethora of other folks over the years who have come and gone, or stuck around in some fashion or another.

Last year while visiting Iowa, I took a day and went to the Council Bluffs / Pacific Junction area and hooked up with Dale Sargent for the day. Back around 1998 I think, I met up with a former anchor of TWIAR (who I just found out moved to middle Tennessee this year), and the only other person I had yet to hook up with was George.

That changed last week.

He called up about three months ago to tell me he might be coming to the Chattanooga area to attend a wedding and was passing through town on the way. I decided to take the opportunity to look up some repeaters and send him as much info so that we could hook up on the radio while he was here. We also made plans to get together at least one day while he was in the area.

As luck would have it, he was able to make it down and so we finally met last Monday and it was our first "eyeball QSO" of (hopefully) many.

We spent the day swimming in the pool at their hotel, talking about the past, present, and future of TWIAR, and just shooting the breeze about life, the Universe, and everything.

As I guessed, my elder daughter hooked up with his, my younger one with his younger one, and the wives went off into their own world. One thing about my daughter Amber, she will have never met you before, grab you by the hand, and say "CMON!!" and take you wherever she thinks they need to go...

We were there until 11ish, just lost in time talking about everything possible. We had an enjoyable time at a Cracker Barrel and just enjoyed getting to know each other after all these years. When all was said and done we trekked back to Knoxville, and he headed home on Wednesday.

We've already made plans to hook up again should they make their way down or we make our way to the New York area.

In the meantime, we're talking about a revamp of TWIAR. Not sure what we want to go with or what theme would work best, but we'll basically have to start from scratch for most of the content when it does occur (and time is not always a luxury).

Speaking of the kids, Lauren's trying to get on the radio a bit more but everything else just gets in the way. Hopefully there will be more kids getting on the air that she can talk to.

Speaking of kids...do I have a yarn to spin (making it a separate post) about adults talking to kids on the radio...stay tuned.

German ham detained in Lebanon

Several international news agencies and blogs are reporting that Manfred Haug (OD5/DL6SN) was arrested last Monday and charged with spying by Lebanese authorities who questioned him over his "sophisticated transmitting equipment".

He was later released and no charges were filed after "intense questioning" by counterintelligence officials.

Manfred works at a cheese factory as an engineer and has lived in the country since 1999.

Lebanese officials have ramped up their security efforts in recent months, arresting dozens of individuals and accusing them of spying for Israel.

When in a country with potential security issues and hostilities, stow the radios!