OMISS Nets

In September, 2009, shortly after I got my General License, I was roaming around the hf bands, not really having a lot of success in talking to faraway places when I stumbled across a net where people got on a list and, when their turn came, they could call one or two other people on the list.

The net was called the OMISS Net, short for Old Man International Sideband Society. My first day on the net, I made six contacts including people in Georgia, New York, and the Isle of Man! I was really impressed. By March, 2010, I had received my Worked All States Award without even really trying hard. Two years later, I have over 1400 contacts on OMISS in every state and several foreign countries.

Some people question why you would want to participate in a net where all you do is exchange signal reports, and it does sound a bit odd, I admit. However, after two years, many of the people on this net have become like family and it is very reassuring to turn on the radio and hear their voices. I've had the good fortune to meet many of them at Dayton and other places and I even run an occasional net when we are in town.

If you are a ham radio operator and get a chance, check out our website at www.omiss.net and find out more about us. We are nearing 8000 members and growing rapidly.

Wierd Object

Does anyone have a clue what this device is? It is labelled Heathkit Heat Sniffer, ne-2112. The knob goes from off on the left to on and says "Set for Zero Beat". The little LED at the top is labelled "beat indicator".

Tower Moving

Yesterday I helped a friend, W5GGW, move a tower he had acquired. The tower was a three section crankup model about 70' tall. Fully retracted, it was 25' in length which was why Gregg needed me with my long trailer. The biggest problem was that it was in the back yard of a house with the only access through a 3' gate.

Letting it down was kind of a "controlled fall" but the tower survived the crash with no damage and we were able to get it moved to his house. I need to help Gregg bone up on his physics a bit so that he can rig it better next time. Putting it up at Gregg's house will be a snap since he has no fences in close proximity to where the tower is going.

The only other exciting thing that happened yesterday was the Pokes beating the Sooners! Go, Pokes! This was the first time in eight years that this has happened. If we hadn't gone to sleep when we played Iowa State, we would be heading for the BCS Championship game now! Oh, well!

73 All

160 Meter (Skywire) Antenna

After listening to several people who had loops, I decided that I had to have one. I got it up about a year ago and it has been a wonderful antenna, so good that I took down my modified G5RV.

A short description: it is 536 feet long and is about 25 feet high.It has five sides and one of the corners is attached to my tower. The feedline from it to the house is 450 ohm ladderline, which is very similar to the old television flat wire we used when I was a kid. It runs through a 4:1 balun which is mounted just outside the window and then uses coax to connect to the tuner.

There is only one problem with this antenna: it is very difficult to tune on 160 meters. It works great on 80, 40, and 20 but the band it is designed to work best on is a flop! I'm not smart enough to figure out what is going on but I'm gonna start changing parts till it gets better. This is also the way I work on cars, by the way.

Here is a copy of the antenna performance from 0.5 to 8.0 mHz. You can see that there are "lobes" at about 3.8, 5.5, and 7.2mHz, but none in the 1.8 to 2.0mHz range (160 meters). I gotta learn more about antenna design and performance.

Dog Followup

Looking at some of the old blogs, I noticed a story about Herb, the dog who stayed with us for a week or so. He was a neat dog and we would have loved to keep him but, unfortunately, we found his owners.

Because of him, we did decide to get a dog so now we have J.J. He is about two years old and came from the Small Paws Rescue group. He is a lot of fun and makes me wonder why we waited 14 years after our last dog died to get another. Oh, well.

J.J. loves to go for rides in the Jeep and goes with me every day to the post office. My son, Dan, and I joke about our lack of masculinity driving around with a little white poodle looking dog but, at age 65, I don't really care.

Infrequent Blogs

I'm beginning to discover how hard it is to make regular notes. It's a good thing that I don't have a column to write in a local newspaper! I would never get it done.

Speaking of the title of this blog, I am reminded of a joke going around down here in South Texas (appropriately). It is a little off color so don't read on if you are easily offended.

An older man and older woman had each lost their spouse but they came to South Texas for the winter anyway. They met each other and began to date.

After a few weeks, they began to talk marriage. One day the woman told the man, "We need to sit down and talk about some aspects of being married before our relationship goes any farther". He agreed and they went out to dinner. After dinner, they began to talk and the old man said, "I've got to ask about sex. How do you feel about it?"

She replied, "I like it infrequently". The old man thought for a minute and then asked, "Is that one word or two?".

For some reason, jokes don't seem as funny in writing as when they are told orally. Oh, well!

Winter in South Texas

We got down here on Monday and the weather really is much nicer than at home. The high yesterday was about 70 degrees, compared to about 20 at home. Today, however, a cold front is coming through and the lows here are expected to drop to the upper 20's.

We went to Progreso, Mexico yesterday and ate and drank too much but we had a good time. I need to get the wire antenna up today so that I can talk on 20 and 40 meters. Maybe I'll get that done. I'm already adopting the "manana" attitude. I'll get done some day.