OK, all you guys who know about that song--I'm old and it was a long time 
ago and I'm getting forgetful in my old age--especially since I played the 
song in a band about 25 or 30 years ago. <laugh>!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 9:57 PM
Subject: Re: Sighted Hams In Sacramento Not Really Helpful


That was hank JR. I'm in a very populated area and help isn't hard to come
by here usually.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Canazzi" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: Sighted Hams In Sacramento Not Really Helpful


> Hi List,
>
> I'm seeing a pattern here that is not limited to ham radio.  The people
> responding to the initial start of this thread that have positive results
> with assistance seem to live in rural or small town America, while the
> ones
> having troubles are in urban areas.  It's just a sign of the times.
> In other words: 'A Country Boy Can Survive.' was that Hank Jr or Charley
> Daniels?
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 8:17 PM
> Subject: Re: Sighted Hams In Sacramento Not Really Helpful
>
>
> Eric,
>
> I've found the hobby, over the last 47 years of being a ham, to have
> become
> much as you described.  I'm in Denver.  Three years ago, I literally had 5
> different hams offer to help me with towers and antennas when I got on the
> air with my Icom 7000 and not one of them, although I contacted them via
> email after their offers of help, or talked with them on 2 meters, never
> showed up and never made any appointments to come over.  I have a ham
> friend
> in a wheelchair with a short tower and a quad who needs minimal
> assistance,
> is a member of more than one ham club in Denver, and he calls me to try
> and
> scare up some limited help because he faces the same problem.  I can't
> climb
> any longer since my spinal surgery three years ago but my 29 year old son
> and his cousin help do tower climbing and assembling of antennas.  When I
> was 14 years old and living in Omaha, Nebraska, hams bent over backwards
> to
> help out and I never had a problem getting help.  We have over 700,000
> hams
> in this country now and getting help is worse than I've ever seen it.  As
> a
> kid, we only had 150,000 American hams and help was abundant.
>
> Phil.
> K0NX
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Eric Clegg" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 4:46 PM
> Subject: Sighted Hams In Sacramento Not Really Helpful
>
>
>> Hello listers,
>>
>> Here is my rant for the year.
>>
>> I find sighted ham radio operators here in the Sacramento area totally
>> unhelpful.
>>
>> I have four portable antennas that I'd like help assembling. The smaller
>> and
>> larger Alexloop magnetic loop antennas. The Buddistick antenna and the
>> Ventenna, HFP antenna.
>>
>> I'd love to get a Kenwood TMV-71A but I have no sighted help hooking up
>> the
>> power supply to the rig. I have a 50% chance of hooking it up backwards
>> and
>> blowing up the rig as I did with an Astron 2 meter rig many years ago.
>>
>> The same goes for my Icom IC703 Plus. When I was on a trip recently to
>> Harrisburg, PA the stupid people from the TSA at the airport closed my
>> power
>> cord that goes to the Astron power supply in the suitcase cutting
>> completely
>> one side of the fused power cord. I bought a new cord from Universal
>> Radio
>> but the same as above in the Kenwood applies. No sighted help to hook the
>> cord to the Astron power supply.
>>
>> Since the Pacigficon convention my Yaesu FT817ND has gone nuts.
>>
>> It will not take some frequencies that I send it with the Radio Mate
>> keypad.
>>
>> I don't know if the radio needs a complete reset or there is some sort of
>> fault in the keypad itself.
>>
>> I'd also like some help ssetting up the menus on the Icom IC703 Plus. For
>> instance I can't speed up the speech board or set it to a higher volume.
>>
>> I'm tempted to try the millennium qsyer on the Yaesu but am reluctant to
>> do
>> so because I might not be able to set it up to operate with the IC703
>> Plus
>> again .
>>
>> So I have all this qrp junk that's barely operable.
>>
>> The only rig I have with some hope is a Kenwood TS480SAT. I have two high
>> power shortened dipoles for 20 meters on my balcony which have high swr.
>>
>> Again no help with anyone with an antenna analyzer.
>>
>> I have yet to make a contact with this rig on any band.
>>
>> In summary, I'm disappointed in general with the Sacramento ham
>> community.
>> It would probably gtake an hour of someone's time to come over and fix my
>> problems adjust radio menus and get me properly on the air.
>>
>> The ARRL is nothing but a stupid self-serving non-helpful organization.
>> Why
>> did I join as a life member?
>>
>> I hope this is not the case for all parts of the country for general ham
>> radio helpfulness.
>>
>> If it is, our hobby is truly in trouble.
>>
>> I would welcome suggestions.
>>
>> Merry Crhistmas from a browned off ham radio operator.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Eric
>>
>> KU3I
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>