Richard's Blog

Unemployment

2009-02-25T22:22:00.003-06:00

This sucks. as of yesterday ( 02-24-2009) I found out for sure that the plant I work for is closing. I have spent the last 3 years working for North American Cargo selling enclosed trailers nationwide to about 70 dealers. Most of these dealers I have really gotten to know and I feel just about as bad for them as I do myself. I started with this company to take a break from being burnt out in the car business, never dreaming that the economy would turn like it has. My plan is to file for unemployment and get rid of some payments and maybe we can ride this out. The company had already cut my salary and my insurance and we were barley squeezing by anyway but it is really going to be tough now. My background is in the car business. I started selling new and used cars in 1996 and quickly got into F and I . I am a "Finance Man" I am not sure which way this is going to go but I hope to find something quick. I did go to the bank today and talked with them about skipping a couple of payment on my truck and I was able to get that arranged. Our house is a different story but I am sure all will work out somehow

It has been quite a while since i posted anything here. Hmmm, I probably need to update. Christy is still with 95.5 FM . Ruby Jack is 7 mos old and beautiful. Rhett and Payten are growing and doing great. Rhett is still a picky eater but he is coming around. Payte is very talented with her voice and music. I love to hear her play and sing (almost as much as I like to hear her mother sing) We still have all the cats and my dog , Maco, is very close to 20 years old now. The studio is all but finished and I have a killer Amp Supply LK800-A7 amplifier now which loafs at legal limit on the ham bands. I am looking forward to spring and summer.

I am not much of a blogger as you can see but thanks for reading

Richard

June 16,2008

2008-06-16T23:45:00.002-05:00

Finaly we got the new studio just about done, it is mostly operational be sure to check out my page for some new pics at http://www.paristexasradio.com/ki5dx/page_10769.html .. that page is brand new and still needs some work...christy's studio is in operation as well.. i am really looking forward to field day coming up i think it will be a blast..last year we had at least 40 people come by and it was great.. this weekend is my big 40th birthday party at our house and yes you are invited!!! bring a lawn chair and a cooler. .. our net is still going strong.. the kids are doing good, christy is getting bigger.. the new baby will be here in less than 3 weeks..

i am about to get to work on the website to start updating it and advertising the 4th annual paris hamfest..does anyone have any suggestions?.

we went to hamcom last weekend and that was fun too.. we got to see lots of old friends and brought back a few treasures as well

ive been fooling around with 2 meter side band and so far have worked several states with very modest equipment..

oh the hamfest, this year it will be a two day event with a live band friday night so stay tuned!!!

gas is high, the economy sucks and it seems at times gloom and doom is around the corner

73 for now

just rambling

2008-05-12T22:04:00.001-05:00

ok updated the site tonight with all the new members that were voted in...we now have 41 members of the paris texas radio group
http://www.paristexasradio.com/_mgxroot/page_10768.html
on another note...its still real busy here.. got the shack (studio B) moved and almost done, built a new shack inside that will have two meter all mode and hf capabilities (studio A). ..been ebaying surplus gear, painting , wallpapering, flooring , throwing stuff out, built a closet, mowing, working, ballgames, talent shows, going to the doctor, planning the hamfest, running coax, cables, cat 5, telephone lines through the attic and underground.. getting ready to to some painting, ripping up carpet, and lots of other projects!!! Im ready for a break.
Thanks to all that covered for me when i couldnt do the net..
As some know Pauls house was hit by lightning a month ago but he is just about back to normal now..
the net is still going strong
Christy, the kids and the bay are all doing good..
ETA of the new bay is july 7th
Karmyns birhtday is today 5-12-2008
My old buddy shane Hatcher has colin cancer and will be under going treatment soon, there will be a fundraiser june 22 at the elks lodge
Fielday is coming,
ham com is coming
Please use the yahoo group and the group forum at www.paristexasradio.com
If the forum doesnt get used i am going to cancell it soon because of maintence and time needed to mess with it. With lack of interest there is no reason to have it, it makes our page look stale with no recent entries.
whew............im trying to think of something else...
oh we should know this month if we are going to get any help with funding for the hamfest..if funding doesnt come through i think it would be a good idea to do a yard sale or maybe a virtual yard sale on ebay and raise money to have it this year but that would be up to the group
i am missing hearing from a lot of group members and non group members..it has been a while since i have heard from alot of folks...
bill k5zzp has been undergoing cancer treatment.. toms (w3moi)wife has been undergoing cance trestment..
i paid $3.69 a gallon for gas today
Christy cut her first commercial tonight in the new studio!!
Ive been enjoying hearing the kids check in before the net on weds nights!!
Corona is my friend
73
Richard

2 meter sideband?

2008-03-18T20:54:00.003-05:00

It is raining like crazy here right now. It has rained all day. I bet is has rained 3 or 4 inches. Some of the roads tonight were covered in water on the way home from work.

As some know i bought a kenwood ts 711a. I climbed the tower Saturday and turned my beam horizontal. I have been working stations every night around 150 miles away. They are telling me that when the band is open i should have no problem working 5 or six states at a time... Its pretty cool. It sounds like Paul and Terry will have ssb capability soon on 2 meters as well. I look forward to experimenting with it more. 144.250 seems to be a good frequency after 8:00pm.

Today we got the confirmation back from the ARRL that the 4th annual Paris Texas Hamfest will be sanctioned by them again..Yes, it's time to get that going again. We have also got the funding packet together and submitted to the city so we might get some help on funding this year. I hope we get the help this year. I just don't think it is right for a few hams to go into their own pockets to put the event on but if that is what we have to i am sure the same ones will be glad to step up and help, at least i hope so. It takes a minimum of $1500 to put the event on every year. Tables seem to be the biggest expense other than the buildings.

The new backyard studio is coming along pretty good, The sheetrock is going up and the whole project is really coming along. i cant wait to get it finished..

Christy is doing well, she lost her voice for a few days and in her line of work that is not a good thing but she made it. We got a new sonogram pic the other day. You can see the baby really good, its amazing..
well that's it for now.. 73 for now

Richard

BUSY

2008-03-09T23:05:00.003-05:00

Wow, its been a busy weekend. About 6 Hams showed up Saturday and we got the Cable TV, CAT 5 for Internet, And several runs of four conductor pulled out to the new backyard studio. Jimmy and Les worked on the inside Saturday and put boxes on the wall and pulled in lots of romex wiring. I will have 3 220 volt outlets for the amplifiers and tons or 110 volt outlets, NO MORE POWER STRIPS!!!! I did find out during all of this that copper really has gotten expensive. Today was Sunday and i got back out there and got the internet cables where they need to go along with the phone, intercom and various other stuff. I even wired in an ON THE AIR light for Christy's studio. Its going to be pretty slick.

Wait til you see the lighting.. I will be using an old piece of rohn 20g tower as a support inside the studio. It will be mounted high on the vaulted ceiling and i have ordered stage lights that will be mounted to the the tower section. I am also going to do the same thing with Christy's Room as well.

Christy is back from Nashville now.. I am glad she is back. She got to meet allot of famous people while she was there, maybe next time i can go. She is really starting to show now, she is about 5 months along. It is real funny but I must admit kinda scary too. This will be my first. So the pressure is on trying to get the shack moved and the rooms in the house remodeled

OK back on the studio. We will be done with it soon as long as the money holds out and even if it doesn't, theres always credit cards.... It is going to be on heck of a ham shack/studio. Christy is wanting me to run all the feed lines from the towers underground. That is really going to be an ordeal but i do agree it will look alot better than a bundle of coax drooped over to the building.

OK there is still the grounding to do, sheet rock, flooring, sound proofing, and lots more but maybe in the next few weekend it will be done..I also need to figure out what to do about furniture such as desks, consoles and all of that.. if you have any ideas let me know.

Amongst all of this i did open an envelope from the ARRL this week end .. Inside i found a certificate That say i am now a member of the A-1 operators CLub . I have heard of it before but never thought anything about it til i got it.. Do some checking and google search it and see what it is .. Its kind of cool and an honer.

As far as radio time , i haven't had any but hopefully soon i will get some time to get on HF.. I miss it Bad!!. I cant wait to get moved in to the new shack, that's for sure. I am also planning on putting a vintage station on the air among lots of other projects

Oh we are still working on the funding packet for the hamfest, i really think the city is going to get behind it this year but only time will tell..

OK 73 for now Ya ll ...

KI5DX Richard

The New Studio and other stuff

2008-03-02T20:20:00.002-06:00

Hello Everyone. This weekend I finaly got the electricity out to the new Backyard studio. I also ran some extra conduit to run TV cable, phone line and cat5 for the internet in. Maybe next weekend I can get that done. While i had the trench open i also laid down lots of ground cables to tie in with the new ground system. I think i will try to run Most of the antenna feedlines underground as well.

As most of you know i am moving the entire "hamshack" outside to make room for the Lenoir that will be born in july. I am not looking forward to moving but i am looking forward to it all being set up... It should be a world class city lot hamshack/studio. After the move we are going to rip up the carpet and paint and fix this room up for Rhett. The new one will take Rhetts old room and i am sure we will have to do something in there as well.

Christy is going to Nashville next week so i will be taking care of the kids and all while she is gone, i am sure everything will be fine.

We've been working on some hamfest stuff too getting ready for October.. It will be here before you know it!!

It is starting to storm here so i guess i will close for now, I really dont like being back here with all the lightning going on.

73

Richard

Check out the new Blog

2008-02-10T21:26:00.000-06:00

Ok , I am not much of a blogger but I was using a different service that really got spammed up. I am going to give this a try.

As usual thing are pretty busy around here. we been trying to get the new studio put together and everything moved out of the house to make room for the new baby due in July. It coming along pretty good, all the interior framing is done, the insulation is in and the electrician should be here next week. We are really anxious to get it all fixed up and the equipment moved in. We are hoping at some point Christy can do her live radio show from there as well. If any know of a good quiet way to heat and cool a 10 x 16 building on a budget let me know.

Work is going pretty good althought it seems to be slowing down a little. I think with all the media talking about all the gloom and doom about the economy is the main reason things are slowning down.

As some of you know the Paris Texas Radio Group is really moving forward. We now have our own VE test team and we had our first test session at North Lamar High School here in Paris. there are now 3 new hams in the area. There were also a couple of upgrades.. congrats to all of them !!!

This last weekend a bunch of us got together and went to the Ada Ok Hamfest. It was smaller than it has been in years past. This year thye weather was really good but there was not much there as far as HF radio Gear. We still had a great time.

As far a radio i havent been on much lately. Ive kind of been discouraged i guess. Probably due to the fact my kenwood 870 has been in the shop for over a month now.. I am sure ready to get it back.

Yall be sure and check out Christy's new site as well. It's all brand new and under construction.

ok, that about it fo now. 73 everyone