W2MC

Yup - just looked - January 1991 I purchased it from him. Shame I didn't know you were heading there....could have told you to tell him 'hi', and I still have that model 19

Raven Rock.....I have to check my books. I *THINK* I bought my S&W Model 19 2 1/2 inch barrel from him back in the late 1980's He had a bunch of them back then that he bought from Immigration, or the border patrol, or something like that when they went to semi-autos. Nice guy.

It depends. I've been deer hunting for 30 years, and I climbed an existing tree-stand once, and I've never used a climber. I've been an amateur radio op for about 18 years...I've climbed many towers, and worked as ground crew for about 3x more.

And what's your reaction time and stopping distance when driving at XX miles per hour.

I think you're missing it...they have questions about tower climbing because hams DO fall from towers. its the same reason the Hunter Safety test has questions about tree stands; statistically, your highest risk when hunting is taking a snooze and falling out of your stand.

Exactly -- the goal of the testing is to ensure you have a basic level of understanding of what you're doing and don't hurt yourself or others, or make yourself an annoyance to everyone else. The Ham License testing is really just like learning to drive a car - the drivers license test is to ensure you understand the rules of the road - it doesn't mean you're ready for NASCAR.

I'm Impressed.....From what I've seen, most use whatever the summer camp has, and Rifle/Shotgun Merit Badge is considered "Summer-Camp-Only"...very few troops that I know of have their own rifles.

There's also someone in Bethlehem PA selling a Yaesu FT-450D for $500: http://allentown.craigslist.org/ele/4935063354.html And this guy is selling an Icom IC-730 in Valley Forge, which is getting a little old, but it looks great and includes the power supply (which can drive any radio, not just this one) asking $355: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ele/4884099985.html

The TS-430's were good radios. I used to have one. For someone looking for a cheap 10 meter only radio....this is a radio shack HTX-10. They are decent radios for what they are (25 watts, 10-meter only), and they go relatively cheap because they cannot be used on the CB bands. this one is $85. http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/4925471758.html

As Bhunted pointed out, modern transceivers "do it" automatically. You CAN set a split frequency, where you are transmiting on one freq, but listening on another, but unless you purposely set it otherwise, a modern HF transceiver will transmit at the same point where its receiving. There are a bunch of good reasons for setting your transmit freq differently from your receive, be it for net operation (where you should stay on freq, and sharpen-up the other participants with your RIT (receiver incremental tuning), working "split" - a DX station, for example, transmitting on one frequency, but receiving 5-20 kHz higher in order to manage the pile-up), or, particularly on 40 meters, hams in other countries transmitting on one freq (where you cannot transmit in the USA, but they can) and listening on another frequency where they cannot transmit, but you in the USA can.) In the deep mists of time (i.e., before my time), where receivers and transmitters were completely separate units, hams would transmit a "CQ", then announce where they were listening (where their receiver was set). You could also synchronize the receiver and transmitter, so that they were transmitting and receiving at the same place. With little QRP kits like Newtonian is talking about, the answer is "it depends"...some of the kits will be transmitting on the same frequency that you are listening to, with others you have to synchronize the receiver and the transmitter in order to be transmitting and receiving at the same freq. If they don't have a frequency read-out (just a knob), you just have to know the slice of a band where they are transmitting and understand where they are tuning, so you don't go out of band. Most of the altoids-box rigs are single-band transceivers and most guys running them know generally where they are, frequency-wise, and just tune themselves to the station they're communicating with.... Yes, the kits can be fun...but for a "first radio", I would strongly recommend a good used 50-100 watt transceiver in the "10-15 years or newer" range, with transistors (NOT TUBES) for the final output stage (you don't need to add the complexity of dealing with tubes when you're trying to learn how everything else works). There's plenty of good, solid transceivers in that range to be had anywhere from $200 to $500 which will serve your needs well. Another possibility are new low-end transceivers...for just a few dollars more, you can find a good low-end transceiver to start your HF ham career (like an icom IC-718, Yaesu FT-450, etc). You don't need a top-of-the-line rig with rows of buttons and dials that you don't understand...and by the time that you do understand what they do and can appreciate and control them, you won't need me to explain what each of the dials does. From my viewpoint, I would generally stick to something made by Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood...yes, each of them made a few clunkers, and other names made some outstanding radios, but generally you will find there's a ton of good radios made by the 'big 3' that will serve your needs for now and into the future. Others, such as Ten Tec, JRC, SGC, Elecraft, Patcomm, and older names such as Halicrafters, Collins, or Drake all have made good radios, but they tend to be a little more on the 'niche' market, and not what you need for a good first radio. (Note that I did NOT mention Alinco....while they have made a few good radios, they've also made a bunch of clunkers, too. You can do better, elsewhere.) The problem with QRP operation (5-10 watts and under is considered "QRP" on HF) is that you are severely limiting your ability to make contacts. I've run QRP quite a bit (I've owned several QRP rigs), but with such a low power level, it's easy to find yourself frustrated with ham radio...because at these power levels, you're trying to make contacts with both hands tied behind your back. If you want to try QRP, you can turn down the 100 watt transceiver to QRP levels easily enough.

Hmmm....but that's not a "gun in the house"......that's a highly accurate, refined target pistol

Thanks for talking me out of going today.....

That's a shame, too...the CQ WPX contest is this weekend. Everybody works everybody, the exchange is a qso serial number, and multipliers are call sign prefixes.

What was going on (with my shotgun) was the rim of the shell was getting caught on some tool chatter marks on what was supposed to be a smooth surface (where the rim of the shell slides while its being extracted from the chamber). Sadly, my newer 870 did not exhibit the smooth surface shown above, but had several tool marks close-in to the chamber opening. The 870, being a single extractor shotgun, pulls the shell out of the chamber with an asymmetric force - essentially it's trying to put a spin on the shell, flinging it out; not pulling it out straight back. What was happening is instead of sliding along a smooth surface, the rim of the shell would get hung up on the tool marks. Meanwhile, the extractor kept pulling on the shell from the other side, pushing it more firmly into the tool mark while at the same time trying to turn the shell while the plastic hull is still in the chamber, jamming the gun. What was interesting, and made it more maddening to figure out, is the extraction problem only occurred with low brass...never with high brass. It seems the extra length of the high brass shell was supported inside the chamber longer and allowed the rim to step-over the tool marks, while the low brass dropped the rim right into the tool marks and got caught.

Take a look at this video....he explains the problem (and the fix) well. I had similar issues, and used an old bore brush wrapped with steel wool to remove the roughness on the feed/extraction ramp.

If its parkerized....I can think of no way, other than a re-finish. And I think we all object to the mark being called an 'idiot' scratch....who's the idiot who came up with THAT name?

Not only do I have an "idiot scratch" on my Springfield; the back strap finish is wearing thin, other areas have worn bright, a couple of dings and mars here and there, and there are lines on the hammer from passing too close to the slide and frame. That's what comes from 25 years of USE.

I've posted this here and on other sites several times.....my thoughts on sheet metal cabinets versus gun safes: Its all about threat levels, and what is your goal in protection. If your goal is to keep the kids (and the teenage "opportunistic" thieves) out of the guns, one of those sheet metal cabinets is more than sufficient - they aren't going to even try to open the door. If you are trying to protect from the typical 'smash and grab' thief, a cabinet is also more than sufficient - it will slow them down considerably, and they want to get "in and out" as fast as possible. If you are trying to protect against an organized bunch that is bent on getting into your stuff; well, it depends. Is the typical thief going to have enough time to cut thru the lock/door without interruption, or enough time, ability and cover to rip it off the wall and carry it to a waiting pickup truck? If so, then you need a bigger/heavier safe. If not, then one of the metal cabinets will suffice. Having said all that.....I've used the Homak version of your Stack-On 8-rifle with the Pistol Cabinet bolted on top for years....if you take the foam barrel rest out and replace it with a piece of felt or something else that's soft, and put some of your rifles/shotguns muzzle down, you can get a LOT more than 8 in there.

How about the coyote ugly discount? What's that worth?

A question for the Mac-o-philes here... I have never run a mac, but I am now kicking the thought around of giving one a try....but, the price of entry for a new one is VERY steep. Recently I saw a few of the older iMacs popping up; for example refurbished imac 17" duo core systems running "snow leopard" in the $250-275 range. Yes, I know its not going to be a speed demon, but for internet, email, and light typing/printing AND seeing what it looks like over in the other side of the world...would it be worth it? For example..... http://stn2.headgap.com/resale/FMPro?-db=OrdersC.fp3&-format=products.htm&-new Comments?

And if you don't like the bobbed hammer....here's another hammer (and a bunch of extra parts) http://www.ebay.com/itm/RUGER-SECURITY-SIX-357-MAGNUM-HAMMER-PARTS-LOT-/381167204108?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58bf55f70c Or better yet....you really don't want this one.... Just tell me where it is...I'll give it a good home...

Yes....the ARRL international DX contest (phone) is this weekend. Anyone in the continental US/Canada sends state/province, while the DX sends their power level (you'll hear a lot of 'k' - means kilowatt). The DX works stateside; stateside works DX - so no one from, say, Tennessee wants to work you in NJ....but ALL the DX wants YOU! If you're lucky, you can make DXCC in a weekend. Contest runs to (I think) 00:00 Zulu tonight. more info at -- http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx jon - W2MC

Call around, but beware; there's a few snakes in the glass business. At various times I've been told that "Oh, that price was for the 2 door model...you have the four door...(there's no difference, just trying to bump-up the estimate), or "That estimate was for the cheap imported glass" (there's no difference, and when I told them the imported glass was fine, it turned out to be PPG; not imported).

I've got one of these....put a 9mm carbide sizing die in it, and while you're watchin tv or the computer etc...you can be decapping all that brass http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/410804/lee-hand-press

We beat him senseless for prolonging this thread.............