Here's Some Irony for Ya!

Getting ready for my trip to Oshkosh, WI (Biggest airshow in the country). I'm planning on buying materials or a kit to build my own plane. I've been doing a lot of research and have it narrowed down to about 5-6 companys for a 4 seat plane (finances and wanting to get it in the air quickly - but with safety being the number one priority - may dictate a 2 seat plane).

I've started gathering tools. Being that purchasing all the required tools would cost $3k-$4k, and really wanting to spend the money where it counts (on materials), I decided to check out Harbor Freight to see what could be purchased there.

I'm generally of the mindset of "buy the right tool, buy the best, buy it once, and take care of it"... I've been burned way too many times by cheap tools. Now, if y'all know anything at all about Harbor Freight, you know that their stuff is dirt cheap.. in no small part due to the Chinese slave labor used to make the tools.

Here's the irony. every single customer in there except for me, as well as 2 of the four employees were african-american.

Now you would think that since they are still throwing the whole damn slavery thing in our face 100-200 years later like it's MY fault... they would be the last ones to support something like this.

I guess slavery and forced labor is only bad if affects your own people?.. or all they all just full of shit about the importance of their rights, and buying a hammer for $3 instead of $8 is a higher priority.

Either way, whatever the reason, it's fucked up.

Morse Code and personality types

With the new truck comes the desire to get back into CB, which ain't what it used to be. I've already installed the old radio into the minivan.

I've got a couple of 102" whips for the pickup, and have ordered a peaked, tuned, aligned Galaxy DX959 (Possibly the best non-export (that is, 10 meter converted) radio you can buy).

I could pass the no-code Technician license off the top of my head (I went to school for 1.5 years for electronics. I know enough about electronics to get the General class license with a night or two of studying... I wouldn't even attempt the extra class. It's just too damn geeky to begin with, and all the freqs I want to work are available to general class anyway.

There is no way I'd get the no-code Technician, I'll get the Technician + code instead, and if I'm going to do that, since the code test is the same, I might as well get the General class (General class requires code - there is not a "no-code General Class" license).

All that is required is 5 wpm (words per minute).

Now, here's the problem - I don't know morse code (and I've already found links to dozens of study methods and software programs) Being the Type A(+) personality I am, there is NO way I'm going to satisfied with 5 wpm. That's just lame. Most people that have been around for a few years are doing 10-15 wpm and I don't want to look like no newbie. I want to talk with the big boys. That means I need to know 15-20 wpm. Not just copy, but transmit. To do this accurately, I need to study at about 25 wpm. According to most of the info I've read, it is much better to start off at this speed than to try to gain speed later - if you learn to slow, you create a sort of "look-up table" in your head.. you translate everything. By learning it at higher speeds, "..." and "S" become the same in your head, no need to translate.

So, now I've spent three nights trying to get clean copy on 4 letters: E,I,S, and H. That's ".", "..", "...", and "....". Sounds easy, doesn't it?

Here, give it a try http://www.aa9pw.com/morse/sound/13173.au

If that link doesn't work, go here, , set it to generate 1 group of code sent at 25 wpm using character speed of 25 wpm farnsworth, select letters (a-z) and select the "eish" letter group, then click "create morse code" and download the uncompresssed AU file".

Keep in mind, you need 90% or better the *first time* you listen to it. You can get the answers (no cheating!) by clicking the link in step 2.

Not so easy, eh?

I *SO* need to come back in the next life as a Type B personality. It's maddening having someone tell you that you can't start a fire with water and trying to engineer a new type of water just because they told you it can't be done. Argh!