Newtonian

Thanks Nick. This is a very nice upgrade, most unexpected. Somebody in Trenton must have caught The Plague and lost their sense of smell to allow this outrage.

Just got notice that the Flatbrook WMA has been upgraded, "up to 30 caliber." I'm assuming this does not include handguns (I don't remember if they allowed rimfire handguns), correct? Also, a Mosin is sort of 30 caliber. Yes? How about an SKS (7.62x39)?

Oh baby that's nice. What kind of coverage does it give you in terms of bands?

I hope and pray you do not have to convince anybody lacking a Y chromosome that you need to put that thing up. My wife gets anxiety attacks when I show her pictures of antennas.

Is anyone planning anything for Field Day this year? The NJ clubs are limited to at-home operating. I'm thinking of going up to Stokes or High Point. Anyone is welcome to join me but be forwarned: I will NOT be social distancing or wearing a mask. I'd also be interested in joining a club that is holding a normal FD without the infection fetish. I hung out with some hams at the Matamoras gun range a few years back, I think it was FD 2016, and it was enjoyable.

I didn't say don't stockpile ammo. After what happened during the Great Ammo Shortage you'd be foolish not to load up. But emergency food, emergency ammo, emergency anything by definition means that you have more than you need. Unless you're in combat you will not shoot more than a couple of hundred zombies during armageddon. Isn't there like a personal rapture that occurs after you've killed the 50th zombie?

The problem with 27 mhz (CB band) is you need a pretty long antenna. I have a handheld CB but I've never spoken to anyone on it. 30cal is right if you use 27 mhz as your base station and UHF/vhf for handheld/portables. Your family and friends will do a lot of eye-rolling if you try to get them into this. Believe me I've tried. Plus unless you and yours belong to a band of nomadic gather-hunters or a professional hiking group the occasions in which any radio beyond WalMart walkie talkies will be of use are almost nonexistent. I understand though that prepping is an end in itself, a hobby, a way of life. How many rounds of ammo do you have? Any chance on God's Green Earth, even if we were in a civil war, that you'd use more than 100 or so before you bit the dust? Like stockpiling ammo for Armageddon ham radio It's fun, it's cozy, it's a fraternity, but in the long run probably not that useful.

Are you still a ham, Dolly?

Yes, but cell phones don't have those cute antennas any more,, or curse in Chinese 4 years ago I was on my way home from the Middletown hamfest, on Rte. 84 heading west, when my serpentine belt blew. It was a beautiful day and I was able to hit three repeaters from where I was, plus 146.520 and 446000, the VHF and UHF calling frequencies. So I called, and called, and called for about 30 minutes. I even tried "SOS" a couple of times. Nada. Luckily my phone was charged. Ten minutes after turning the expensive handheld off I was in a tow truck headed for the nearest open mechanic. Any ham who brags about "emergency" or SHTF operation is presenting a very optimistic picture of the hobby's capabilities. There simply aren't enough people on the air. I used to take my handheld everywhere, but after several years of going to big metro areas without making a single contact, I now leave it home. PS last summer during a 9 day road trip my only QSO (contact) was verbal. A fellow ham at a tourist site saw my callsign hat and said hi. That was it for having my radio on several hours every day.

A repeater merely REPEATS the signal, thereby doubling (approximately) the distance over which you can communicate. No unlicensed radio allows you to talk to anyone more than a few miles away. An exception is during rare "openings" when you can hit stations hundreds of miles away on 2m, 10m, 11m (cb). Counting on your friends and/or family to get licensed is a very, very bad bet. They won't, you'll be disappointed, and they won't invite you over for Ramadan next year. Listening is very easy. They sell scanners but I know nothing about them, other than they're expensive. Hershey park: Use inexpensive GMRS. Your kids, your uncle, will NOT get licensed no matter how much you think you like ham radio. They will not. I believe some GMRS radios have scrambling capability but ham radios do not. Everything you say on the ham bands is public. Anyone anywhere can listen in. Obscuring the meaning of your transmissions is illegal.

Great observations, Cecil. It's difficult to gauge sentiment of 120-130 local hams on this but from a recent poop-storm initiated by me on one of their mailing lists, it's obvious that most are still uncomfortable with lifting restrictions. Your demographic profile was spot on: men in their mid-late 70s with multiple health issues, retired. I was originally surprised (again, still operating in the Left-Right paradigm) but now I'm understanding the dynamics of opening a bit better. Fear is more powerful a motivator than sex, and I have been as guilty as anyone. Two months ago I was cleaning off every blueberry with concentrated sulfuric acid to remove viruses. CR is my range as well. If you'd ever like to swap viruses -- I mean implements of death -- I mean shoot my Ultimate Revolver Collection while CW'ing with Vlad from Romania -- let me know.

In SHTF situations local communications are all that will be needed. You'll be hard pressed to get food or water from the guy in Albania you talk to on your "big" radio. CB is ideal for local communications, as are 2m, 70cm. The 70cm band includes the FRS and GMRS frequencies. EESEE, look into CB radio! One other point: ham radio is practically dead. The local clubs don't do much related to radio. They try but the membership is old and ailing. Many of these fine people have served amateur radio for 50 years, and they are tired. Can't blame them really as getting newbies to study and learn is an uphill battle. Takes 2 to tango. I discovered something very interesting this past week about hams. I used to say that politically, hams were further to the right than 2A groups. On the matter of reopening, though, many old hams appear to be still quite fearful. Individuals who normally say "all the right things" politically, who usually operate on facts and numbers, are being extra cautious, even deferential, to the forces that would incarcerate us for going to the barber but not for burninig down the barber shop. I originally bristled at this inconsistency but my position is now, "let him who is without irrational fear cast the first stone." I hate crowded elevators and once took a cab from downtown Manhattan to Hoboken because the crowded Path train gave me an anxiety attack. I have not been in an airplane in 20 years. I will no longer visit New York City. On and on. What are you afraid of?

Eesee, It sounds like GMRS or FRS is the way you should go. These radios provide pretty good range, probably more than you'll ever need. I once stood on a ridge in Stillwater (Sussex county) and was able to reach stations in Long Island on UHF, which is the frequency range for GMRS, FRS, and some ham activity. I would not bother getting a ham licence, however. The technician class license is relatively easy to get but the only privileges it grants is repeaters, which are dead as doornails. You also have limited privileges in another band that is also quite dead. My advice is to get a name brand walkie talkie, specifically designated for GMRS, which allows higher power than FRS. Buy at least two and experiment in your preferred locations, see what it does for you. I believe you will be able to modify these radios for higher performance but I'm not sure about that. Now, if you want a taste of ham radio you can program the OUTPUT frequencies ONLY for local repeaters into your Baofeng. Repeaters are stations that receive on one frequency and transmit on a different one. The reasons are unimportant, but you'll be able to listen in on repeater chatter. The only problem is that NOBODY is on the repeaters. You could wait a very long time before you hear humans. Maybe a better way for you to get your feet wet is to buy a used "shortwave" receiver and listen in on the amateur bands. You could also buy an inexpensive amateur radio for this but you will NOT be authorized to transmit on that radio. If you have any more questions we are happy to help. P.S. I do not believe the store you mentioned will be able to help. Get your help from hams here first. If you are serious we will provide additional resources as your knowledge and interest grow. They may or may not!!

I must have received a dozen notifications of range reopenings, which I welcome as heartily as I do emails from Oroho informing me that there's a coronavirus flying around, and from Allstate that "no action is required." I'm sure there'll also be so much patting on the back, both genuine and self-inflicted. Just like the announcement that retail was reopening. If by reopening they mean we can still order online but now we have to wait in a 40 minute line to pick up our CUOMO for PRESIDENT boxer shorts. Guys, the ranges are not open until we can enter the premises as free people taking whatever precautions we ourselves have decided are appropriate, up to and including staying home. Until then we are beholden and (willingly) subservient to the various connivers operating behind the scenes to grant us a tiny sliver of our rights in return for shutting up. Somebody please show some testosterone.

Does anyone care to predict how this plays out if the doomsday outcomes (1) never happen (2) partially or sortof happen (3) happen? My predictions: (1) move on to the next predict-the-future scenario, which may or may not include guns but will certainly be targeted at our demographic (2) The media will say "told you so" but when the counter-arguments come in (only 2 people get sick and nobody dies), then go to (1) above (3) demand re-closing everything -- we probably won't, but this will increase the length, thickness, and turgidity of the hard-on our governor has for guns not used directly for his protection, and for gun owners in general.

A private range probably wouldn't. ANJRPC already has my money. Their finances are probably ok. They'd only need a weekday staff at 1/4 capacity. I hope they're paying those guys anyway. Point is very few businesses are profitable at 10% capacity.

If they withdraw the lawsuit we should withdraw our membership dues. Simple as that. I'm not waiting in the car for 3 hours so ANJRPC can make sure all of Governor Gopher's wildest fantasies are realized. I'm not wearing a mask outdoors any longer, PERIOD. I'd love to see how they're going to remove Lung Flu Sicken from wooden benches. Oops, someone forgot to disinfect the switch for turning the range cold. Someone sneezed! Let's ask our superiors if we should close down for a few more months. I wonder what Murphy would say? I'll drive to PA to shoot, or go to a friend's, shoot my pellet gun in my basement, or do what I've been doing for the last three months (including pre-COVID time off). By now there should be NO restrictions on ANY outdoor activities ANYWHERE but in New York City, and even that should be voluntary. If you are afraid I don't blame you one bit. I wouldn't bring my mother to a CORONA protest, and if I had a health issue I'd be maniacal about this, FOR ME. So if you need to stay home STAY HOME! Wear anything you like, don't touch your face, don't breathe my air, don't walk by anybody, but please LEAVE ME ALONE.

What does that mean? CR has about 35 stands at the pistol range. Are they going to limit participation to six or fewer shooters at any one time? Are they going to paint chalk lanes to keep the flies from flying from my lane to my neighbor's, 40 feet away? How about the small cal range? There are only 5-6 benches there. Will they only allow one pea-shooter at a time? 50-yard rifle range...300-yard rifle range? If so there's some $$$ to be made providing virus-free drinks and snacks from the range entrance, down Cannistear Rd. to Route 23. And...curious if Murphy will be attending the ribbon cutting with Colandro and Bach. I heard they'll be officially re-opening the 300 yard range from down in the cement tunnel. I'd like to stand at the firing line to thank them, personally, with a 21-round salute from the bottom of my heart, for providing the service I pay them for every year, and for their indefatigable heroism in this unprecedented time of unimaginable crisis.

Wow. It looks closed. Was it closed?

I assume one can shoot at the PA wildlife venues (with a Pennsy hunting license)? The NJ state ranges were closed as of about 10 days ago. Is it legal to target shoot on state land if you have a small game/rifle license? When I hunted birds, before I was really into guns, I used to stalk my prey 5 minutes from my house, at Wittingham, but we shot clays at Flatbrook. The Flatbrook .22 range was closed last week but Wittingham is open.

I understand. Everybody has a comfort level. We all do things to stay out of trouble. That's about the best you can say about 'em. "They Stayed Out Of Trouble" and waited for a sign from heaven.

"I've got 70 employees that I'm responsible for. I'm state inspected & can't operate without the state license. If I violate the E.O. and get closed down, I risk not getting that license renewed. Which then puts my FFL in jeopardy. If they deny me renewal, I'll be in court well after everything opens back up. Which means I screwed myself in the long run. If that happens my staff will have to find other work (unemployment might run-out) while I battle it out in court for who knows how long. In the end I'd probably win, but at what cost? Every lawyer I pay money to has advised me to NOT open without "permission". Yes, our proud and Shirtless 2nd Amendment Advocate, Exalted VP of the National Rifle Institute, podcast host, Author, and all-round Great Guy, the man who stood on Sweeney's lawn, his bare hairy chest glistening in the sun while the acid rain melted away his skin (or who watched the video 30 times and laughed harder each time), has employees. OK I'll cut him a break for a moment: Why hasn't CR opened? I know I know, we're waiting for the writ of certiori, the amalgamated cloture, the phantasmagoric and most excellent exculpatory recusal to take effect. As soon as the mumbo jump ends we'll be fine. In other words, they're waiting for someone ELSE to challenge unconstitutional and irrational proclamations. They're WAITING FOR PERMISSION. What is the word for someone who must ask permission before doing things he has every right to do? S _ _ _ E.

If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve. If I win I will demand a recount.

I'm aware of that.

If you had enough self-awareness to realize how badly your posts reflect on you I'm sure you'd stop.