Posts Tagged ‘misc.’
eBay – gotta love it
May 28th, 2012 | 
Author: if you’re a seller!
Just for the heck of it, I’ve been keeping a watch on the auction for an ATS-3B that ended tonight. I was watching a bidding war right before my very eyes.
The final winning bid was $317.00 – not bad for a kit that originally sold for $160.00. Admittedly, it is assembled and comes with a carrying case. But that is almost double the original price.
I mentioned before that I think that eBay is a very good thing for sellers. You have to wonder how many items end up garnering a bigger selling price than they ever would in a classified ad situation. The “macho” of not allowing yourself to be outbid? A feeding frenzy – like sharks drawn to prey? Or is it just consumer ignorance?
An ATS-3B for over $300, that NorCal Doublet the other week for $60. Admittedly, I’m not in the market for either item, so maybe if I was, those prices would not seem so inflated.
It will be interesting to see what that Palm Mini Paddle and Code Cube end up going for. Right now, they’re at $90.00 with about 40 minutes to go.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
More bad news
From the ARRL:
SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX006
ARLX006 Former ARRL First Vice President Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML (SK)
ZCZC AX06 QST de W1AW Special Bulletin 6 ARLX006:
From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT May 23, 2012
To all radio amateurs
SB SPCL ARL ARLX006 Former ARRL First Vice President Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML (SK)
After a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer, Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML, of Dumont, New Jersey, passed away May 23. He was 67. An ARRL Life Member, Mendelsohn began his time with ARRL in 1983 when he was elected as Vice Director of the Hudson Division. After two terms as Vice Director, he was elected as Hudson Division Director in 1987. In 1996, the ARRL Board of Directors elected Mendelsohn as its First Vice President, where he served until 2000. The next year, he was again elected as the Hudson Division Vice Director, serving through 2004.
Outside of his League activities, Mendelsohn was active both as the Communications Director of the New York City Marathon and, along with his wife Heidi, W2MLW, as the Game Day Frequency Coordinator (GDC) for the New York Jets. The November 2007 issue of QST featured Mendelsohn on its cover along with an article about him and the GDC program. Mendelsohn was inducted into the CQ Hall of Fame last week for his contributions to the ARRL, the New York City Marathon and the National Football League.
Mendelsohn was a 30 year veteran of the US Navy, rising to the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer, with a Cryptologist rating. He received two Navy Achievement Awards for creating an important national security database for personal computers. While stationed in Scotland in the late 1960s, Mendelsohn was GM5AHS. He was a member of the North Jersey DX Association (NJDXA) and was the current President of the Bergen Amateur Radio Association (BARA). At one point, Mendelsohn served as President of both organizations simultaneously.
”Steve’s passing is a great loss in the world of Amateur Radio,” said ARRL Hudson Division Director Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF. ”I will always treasure the times I spent with Steve over the many years I knew him. To me, and to all of Amateur Radio, he was a strong leader, dedicated mentor and most importantly, a true friend to many of us throughout the entire Amateur Radio community. Most recently, as a courageous fighter, Steve battled pancreatic cancer, but still continued to serve the ham community until the end and enjoyed many hours on the air. Our prayers go out to his family and his beloved Heidi. Rest now, my friend, you are at peace. We will miss you.” ‘
‘Steve brought a unique personality and perspective to the ARRL Board,” said ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN. ”Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time of loss.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Further information about Steve’s life may be found on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/news/former-arrl-first-vice-president-steve-mendelsohn-w2ml-sk.
(End)
I knew Steve through my time as President of the Piscataway Amateur Radio Club and oddly enough, through this blog. Some of you may remember that I posted about him early on after his initial diagnosis. We had maintained some e-mail communications from time to time about Amateur Radio and other things.
Above all, he was a boon to the Ham community and a true, true gentleman. He will be sorely missed.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least.
Feeling numb
My Mom’s funeral was today.
The week was busy with running here, running there – taking care of this and taking care of that. Now all the busy-ness has come to an abrupt end and I am feeling numb.
Normally, I’d be keeping my eyeballs peeled for news out of Dayton. Still doing that somewhat, as K4SWL has been posting some neat photos (check ’em out) on his blog – The QRP’er. But it sure hasn’t enticed me like it has in past years.
I was hoping against hope, to come home and find “that e-mail” from Elecraft in my In Box as there was indication earlier in the week on the KX3 reflector that a bunch of kits would be shipped today. Nothing there.
The good news is that Marianne may be off from work tomorrow, which is an extremely rare thing as she always works on Saturdays. If that’s the case (and I am praying that it is) then I will immerse myself in spending quality family time with her and the kids. We were kicking the idea around of going down to Camden, NJ to visit the State Aquarium that is located there, as well as the Battleship New Jersey which is berthed there.
If we go to the USS New Jersey and I can get some photos of the radio room, which is now filled with Amateur Radio gear, I will post them here.
Be well, my friends!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Godspeed !
To all my friends headed to Dayton Hamvention and to all my friends headed out to FDIM, I wish you Godspeed – safe journeys there and back home.
Enjoy the friendship and camaraderie and please fill up the e-mail reflectors with bits of news, please!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Thank you so much!
Thanks to all of you out there, who have so kindly shared your thoughts, prayers, kind comments here and elsewhere as well as e-mails that I have received during this difficult time. I am so blessed to have so many friends because of Amateur Radio, and this blog. Even if we’ve never formally met, I consider you all to be truly great friends. Please know you have my utmost appreciation and gratitude and that I will, in turn, be remembering you all in my prayers.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Memories
I was reading my good friend Kelly K4UPG’s blog; and my memory was quite neatly jogged by the video he posted for the old REMCO game, “Fascination”. I remember the commercial like it was yesterday. My cousins had the game and I used to love to play it.
I was so taken by the video, that I went on over to YouTube and did a search on REMCO, looking for other commercials for toys of my youth. I found this one, which I only vaguely, vaguely remember in the very recesses of my memory – but maybe it had something to do with becoming an Amateur Op in my later years?
On the same page, I saw a link to this video – and got a kick out of it as well.
If you were around for the 50s and 60s, you probably ran around with one of those in your pocket or school bag. I remember sneaking a radio like that into school in 1969 so I could listen to the Mets beat the Orioles in the World Series. Ah, yes – back when they actually played World Series games in daylight hours!
And all the nights spent spinning the dial, either listening to Jean Shepherd K2ORS on WWOR or looking for DX stations like KDKA out of Pittsburgh or KMOX out of St. Louis. Good times!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Wow!
I saw this on eBay today:
Someone in Spain is auctioning off NorCal Doublets. This particular one has 12 bids on it with about 2 1/2 days to go. High bid is $31.00 US.
Holy Shamoley! I have to start getting busy building NorCal Doublets and posting them to eBay !! I have built several of these from ribbon cable as well as light gauge speaker wire. They do work decently well, and they are cheap to make. For what I paid in materials, $31.00 would be a serious return on investment.
The handing out of Skeeter numbers is going well. If you hit the extreme right tab above, entitled “NJQRP Skeeter Hunt“, you’ll get the rules and you’ll be able to see the roster as it currently stands. I am going to update it as often as I can. As of this very second, 39 Skeeter numbers have been handed out.
Ward Silver of the ARRL has been notified, so The Hunt will appear in the August “Contest Corral”. I will send an e-mail to CQ this weekend, also.
Ahhh! My birthday present arrived in the mail today – the DCP paddles from American Morse. Tiny little package for a tiny little key. I hope to start the build this weekend and will post some photos.
The kids (including yours truly) want to see “The Avengers Assemble” this weekend. Hope I can get tickets – all local shows around here for tonight are already sold out.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
