MFJ Factory Tour Today

Well, if you read my previous post, you know that we were in the thick of things when the deadly tornadoes ripped through communities in Mississippi and Alabama earlier this week. Watching the weather forecast for the next few days, more thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday night through Tuesday. That in mind, we decided to roll away from the Natchez Trace Parkway Nat'l Park and head east. Our first stop was Starkville MS. Those of you who've been HAMs very long, most likely have products from Starkville in your Radio Shacks. Those products are MFJ, Ameritron, Cushcraft and Hygain.

Linda and I rolled in to the MFJ plant today and got a dollar tour of the factory by Richard from Cust Service...really simple but cool setup. Before we headed out the door, we were escorted to the office of Martin F. Jue (MFJ), President of MFJ Enterprises where we had time to talk a little about how he got started, design characteristics of circuit boards and designs...was a super visit. Oh, and Linda and I are now the proud owners of "OFFICIAL" MFJ coffee mugs...compliments of MFJ. 

How Lucky We Are!!!

It's been months since I've taken time to update our blog...and it really sucks to have to now....about really CRAPPY Weather.. that killed over 300 a couple days ago.

I'm sure by now you've heard of all the sucky tornadoes we've had here in Mississippi and next door in Alabama in the past few days. Good news, me, Linda, the dogs, our cat....and trailer survived! Closest tornado to us...to the north anyway, was only a couple miles away. Don't have a clue how many came through but devestation is horrible. We lost power for about a day and a half...thankfully our solar panels did what they were supposed to. Tues evening, storms rolled in. Watched TV and Listened to Nat'l WX svc...while tracking on my laptop. About 2:am, it was time to run to the only building in the campground...the men's bathroom on the north east corner of the bldg. Took my handheld Radio, laptop and WIFI phone. Listened to Tornado warnings one after another....right where we were. Luckily, they weren't exactly right where we were...but real damned close...WAY too close for that matter!



Next morn ran the 6 miles up hwy 9 to town ...Eupora MS, for breakfast and shopping. We couldn't believe the destruction from the tornadoes along the way. Mississippi DOT had just cleared and re-opened the road. Trees down...not just down, but twisted from their trunks. Many on houses, in yards and on fences, blocking roads...power lines down and laying across roads. Power is still out in most of the area and some expect at least 2 months before full electrical service and land line phones are restored. Took a bunch of pic's but haven't had time to download them yet...snapped off trees, trees on houses..even the roof of a building in a tree. I mentioned Hwy 9 because it runs South East to North West....and it's out of character for a Tornado to travel NW instead of East or North East...This tornado traveled right along the Hwy for about 5 miles and from the damage, must have been half mile ..or maybe more, wide.


Hit the Piggly Wiggly market in town in time for more Tornado Warnings. Eerie sound! At first, we could hear the warning sirens off in the distance....but, as the tornado got closer to us, sirens got louder and louder. Watched storm chasers flying down the road... We headed to the cooler in the middle of the store with the employees til the storm passed. Once out of the cooler, sirens again..this time we stood by the door and watched a tornado pass a mile or so south of us down US82 on it's way to Starkville (home of MFJ) 20 miles to our east. In town, one died in the Tues night storm and two more in the Wednesday afternoon tornado that we watched pass by. Total, within about 10 miles from the campground we were in, 15 to 20 lost their lives... Reports have been that the tornadoes strength was EF4 with 200mph winds, but experts are thinking the storms were actually EF5...with 250+ mph winds.


Looking at the devestation caused by the storms and our close proximity to touch down, it gives you a completely new perspective on life...


We made phone calls and left voice messages Thursday morning with the ARRLs Alabama Section Manager and the Mississippi Section manager asking of they needed help with communications out of communities that were destroyed by the tornadoes...haven't heard a peep out of them...guess they've got Comm's under control.
 
 

You won't believe what we did!!

As you know, I've spent a good bit of the past year working on and upgrading our trailer. Upgrades and repairs have included new tires, New "Carefree of Colorado" awning last May that hasn't been opened since the day it was installed, new TV antenna back in May, a two month old 7 cu foot refrigerator that replaced our old 6 cu ft, 4 new stabilizer jacks two weeks ago. 

My most recent project was the installation of our new "Solar System" (540 watts) and "Battery Bank" (eight 6v golf cart batteries..860amps at 12vDC). I finally completed the project this past Tuesday. The last thing on our list of upgrades for the trailer was to install a new, more heavy duty suspension system which would have included replacing our 3500# axles with new 6000# axles, from "3 leaf" to "5 leaf" leaf springs, changing from 14" "C" load range 4 ply tires and wheels to 15" "D" load range 8 ply tires and wheels. All these mod's and we still had a trailer we'd outgrown (been living in it since 2003). 

Here in Quartzsite, deals on RV's are everywhere. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I put the last bolt in our solar panels Tuesday...well, this past Wednesday, this is what we bought:
 

That's right..it's ours! Our travel trailer is 30' long and has one slide...the fifth wheel (fiver) is 39' 8" inches long and has 3 slides..and is much taller, much more roomy..and much more than we ever imagined owning. To give a little better perspective of how much 

more room we have now..take a look at the two rigs together. The fiver dwarfs our old trailer.

Needless to say, we've canceled the order for our axle and suspension job,  wheels and tires and so far have received our deposit's back on all but the tires..still waiting on that.

You're probably wondering why in the world we brought both trailers to Quartzfest* with us?? That answer is threefold:

One is..we now own them both. If you know anyone in the market for a RV Trailer, we're asking only $6500..and that includes our California Room (screen room)..but not the solar and power system.

Two is..we're spending our spare time before Quartzfest kicks off moving our belongings from the travel trailer to the fiver.

Three is the most important...our solar panels and batteries are on the travel trailer..as is our 3kw pure sine wave inverter. We've run the power cord from the fiver inside the travel trailer and plugged it in to the inverter..and now have power in the fiver. By switching on or off our AC circuit breakers, we are able to charge the fiver battery and plug our laptops, TV etc in to AC wall outlets. We're also able to keep the high current draw AC breakers for the water heater, refrigerator, etc turned off. 

Once Quartzfest is over, we'll take the travel trailer back to the dealer we bought the fiver from and leave it there on consignment..and they'll sell it (along with our camper shell) for us (we hope). 

What's the inside of the fiver look like? I haven't taken a bunch of pictures yet, but, here are a few. The thing even came with a Whirlpool Washer and  Dryer.

 

Now the tedious task of figuring out where everything goes...including antennas!

Quartzfest* kicks off just one week from today..and we're already on site along with a number of other early arrivals.

Will post more updates and pic's soon. Here is just one of the spectacular nightly sunsets from Quartzsite. 

Until next time.......

Where to begin??

Hope you like the new large print..I do, this is the only way I can read it.

Linda and I had plans of leaving South Dakota for the winter..back in mid August so we could be in San Diego for the ARRL Convention in mid September. Those plans changed after I had MRI's done of my knees. Doc recommended I have them taken care of before heading out.

Back in early August, Linda and I made a quick trip to El Cajon CA for  Amateur Radio Club of El Cajon business. A week later, we were back home in South Dakota. Although we didn't get immediate results, the trip was worthwhile. As a result, a multitude of Club members came out of the woodwork and have stepped up to the plate to, once again, become involved in the Club's leadership.

On the last weekend in  August, we made a trip to Sundance WY to  visit our friends Jerry "WY7JB" and Pat Boone..before Jerry and Pat headed south for the winter to "Work Camp" at the Amazon.com warehouse in Fernley Nevada.

While in Sundance, we dropped in on the "Sundance Kid" museum. Lot's of history here..on how the Sundance Kid started his career as a criminal.

You may remember our blog post back in June when I mentioned that we spent the night in Beaver Utah which is the hometown to Butch Cassidy.

A few miles from Sundance WY is "Devils Tower Nat'l Monument". We loaded up the car and off to the tower it was. Nice hiking path around the tower..thankfully there were benches every couple hundred yards where we were able to rest our feet and backs. You may remember Devils Tower from the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

Back home in Hot Springs, we were visited by our friends Gary "W6GRK" and Carol Kuske..and their dog "Rocky".  

During their visit we hit the lake,

did some off roading,  

   

 Geocaching and Sightseeing...

     

 

Viewing Wildlife....This guy walked down the sidewalk in a parking area just a few feet from Gary and Carols Jeep.

...

The worst part of a visit from friends is when the time comes for them to hit the road and we must sadly say "So Long" (for now).  

 

This catches up to mid September...more to come..

Where has the year gone?

Geez, where did the past year go? I know, some of you will say...not to updating our blog! I'd have to agree..but, we do have something to show for our time.


The big thing for us right now is coming up in just two weeks...and it's called Quartzfest*. For those of you who don't know what Quartzfest* is, it's a week long HAM Radio Operators RV Boondocking event in the desert just south of Quartzfest* AZ and will be held from January 23rd thru 29th, 2011. Last January, Linda and I accepted the responsibilities as Organizers for Quartzfest* 2011. Along with all the other HAM stuff we've been involved in, we've come up with a slate of close to 30 Seminars and a number of events during the week for those attending Quartzfest^ to enjoy.

We sent a schedule update to our webmaster this evening..in what we hope to be the last update we'll need to make this year. The schedule can be found on our website at Quartzfest* 2011 Schedule

Future updates are coming...not sure how soon though..imagine that!

Life is good in the Black Hills....

We made it from El Cajon to Hot Springs South Dakota in 4 days with NO mechanical difficulties…and our fuel mileage was better on the trip up here than it’s ever been while pulling the trailer.

Downtown Hot Springs, South Dakota

On our way, we cut north out of Rawlins Wyoming across the Oregon Trail to Casper Wyoming. Along the Oregon Trail, we stopped at a roadside rest area that was packed with buses, trucks with horse trailers, cars and lot’s of people dressed in “Pioneer” attire. From speaking with some of the people at the rest area, we found out that the people dressed as “Pioneer’s” were members of the LDS (Mormon) Church on their Annual Pilgrimage…walking in the footsteps of the early Pioneers and Settlers. The guys and gals on horseback we later found out were re-enacting the ride of the “Pony Express”.

When we hit Casper Wyoming, we rolled in to a WalMart Super Center. Before we could park, our 2 meter radio came alive with a guy calling Linda’s call sign. She gave me a puzzled looked said “I don’t know anybody here!” She picked up the mic and responded. Turns out it was Tate KA7O who was behind us in the parking lot and saw both of our call signs as well as “146.520” on the back of our trailer. Was it coincidence? It just happened that the Casper Amateur Radio Club had a meeting that evening and invited us to attend. Their meeting was at the Casper EOC, so about 6:00pm, and hour early, Linda and I rolled in to the EOC parking lot. Their Meeting was casual with about 10 or 12 members in attendance and was (thru some “cuttin’ up”) very informative. At the meeting, they discussed the communications they provided for a Marathon last month, Field Plans, and the communications they were still providing for the “Pony Express” Ride that day. They would have had a larger turnout at the meeting, but, some of their members were on the “Pony Express” trail. After the meeting, we left Casper and traveled to Lusk Wyoming...just a little over an hour from Hot Springs. We found a place to park in a truck stop…and boy was it HOT and a little humid! After we went to bed, Linda opened the bedroom window and while watching the lightning in the distance and she commented that there was no breeze at all…and that she wished the wind would pick up a little. I had no idea that Linda has powers, but less than 30 seconds after she made that statement, the wind picked up from zero, to about 60mph. Thankfully, we were nose to the wind rather than catching the wind broad side. The lightning and thunder were so intense; she said she’d never seen a storm like that before…she has now! Speaking of severe storms, take a look at the Hail in Linda's hand…we went to Rapid City for the day and on the way home, we stopped to watch and wait out the storm while it passed in front of us. We got home about 45 minutes after the storm passed. The hail must have been huge not to be melted in that amount of time with an outside temperature of 75 degrees. Nat'l Weather Service was warning of golf ball sized hail...I think they probably under estimated the size. Now that I mention the National Weather Service, the ability to monitor their Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado “WATCHES” (when conditions for severe weather are favorable) and “WARNINGS” (eminent storm danger exists or a tornado is on the ground) is a requirement. Afternoon Thunderstorms (quite a few are severe with quarter sized or larger hail), and the Tornado Watches are something we’ve gotten used to already.

Storm and Hail

The day after arrived in Hot Springs, we went to the courthouse and changed title and registration for the trailer and registration to the truck to South Dakota (no DMV in town...gotta do all that stuff at the court house). I had to take the pic of Linda installing our temporary South Dakota plate...our total cost was $44..and every year from now on, they'll be $50 for the truck and $26 for the trailer. We have already changed our drivers licenses. Get this, the state License bureau rep is only in town to give exams and issue Driver licenses on Friday mornings from 8: - noon at the Bowling Alley. South Dakota Driver licenses only cost $17. to renew and don't expire for 10 years.

A few days after we arrived here, we ran about 10 miles south of town to the "Wild Horse" sanctuary and took some pic's of the horses. It was really cool to watch a herd of horses running across the prairie. From what we understand, this “Wild Horse” sanctuary holds the largest herd of Wild Horses in North America. This is a picture of just a few of the hundreds of horses at the Sanctuary.

Driving along the road to the Sanctuary was an old original "homestead"...the sign in the pic says it all

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in South Dakota a month and a half already. We love it here so much that we started searching for a house just 3 days after we arrived and after only a 3 day search, we found a house to rent...on top of a hill, 3 bedrooms with an unfinished basement (storm shelter), surrounded by Ponderosa Pines and meadows...on well over an acre of land...and comes with a huge cleared antenna field, an outhouse (we do have indoor plumin’), and a space (with water and 115vAC power hookups) to park the trailer…all for only $585.00 per month. At that price, we can afford to keep the house and travel too...and have a place to hang our hat’s when we tire (temporarily) of traveling.

On the down side, if we’re going to spend any time here during the winter, we’ll need new winter jackets, scarves and gloves. I don't think our southern California jackets will do us much good here in the winter.

Our house, side yard, back yard and outhouse…don’t worry, we gots us indoor plumin too!

Is there wildlife in the area? Yup…we have wild turkey and deer in the yard daily

We took this pic of the wild turkeys through our living room window. These guys drop in on us 2 - 3 times a day

Fawn with Huge Ears

We took the pic of this 8 point Buck last night just a block or two from Downtown

"Jackalope"

Our “Shack” is now set up in the house. The soil here is really shallow. I tried to pound a post in the ground to mount my 5-BTV HF vertical antenna, but nothing doing, so, I stuck it back on the mount on the rear bumper of our trailer. The radio, antenna and amplifier are working so well, my first contact was with Norberto CO6NC in Cuba on 20 meters (on my very first “key up”), the second with David W7WW in Yuma AZ, also on 20 meters who was working a contest and told me I had the strongest signal he’d heard all day. I later talked to Brooke VE4PF in Winnipeg Canada on 40 meters with my amp on (500watts). He told me that at “60 over”, I was overdriving the receiver on his TS-940. I had to turn off the amp so we could hold a QSO. Since then (other than Field Day), I’ve talked to San Diego 3 times…Paul KC6QLS, Tom N6JOJ and Tom KE6YNH (about a mile east of Mission Bay).

Field Day with the Hot Springs, So Dakota ARC “K0HS” – KzeroHotSprings

Dinner on site Saturday afternoon of Field Day weekend was similar to ARCEC Picnics. The Club provided the Burgers and Brats, buns, etc., and the rest was pot luck. Set up and tear down were well attended and I think, 6 of us who got on the air over the weekend. CW contacts totaled 525 and phone 152. We were set up at the “Mammoth” site in Hot Springs.

What’s a Mammoth site? http://www.mammothsite.com/default.htm

Paleontologists have been digging and removing 26,000 year old fossils of 55+ Woolly and Columbian Mammoths, Giant Short Faced Bear, Prairie Dogs, Wolf, Camels, Llama, fish, etc…since 1974 when fossils were uncovered during excavation for a housing project.

We have so much more to tell you…how well the Veterans Medical Center is treating us, the corner fireworks stands, 4th of July fireworks, fishing, and much, much more. I hope to have another update posted in the next couple days.

73 and Happy Trails,

Steve and Linda

875 Miles so Far and Still have the Same Tires we Started With!!

Another uneventful day mechanically...the trailer's really pulling nice..even the couple times I got it up to 75mph (I normally keep it between 60-65 mph while pulling the trailer). Speaking of speed, would you believe that Utah is testing areas of the state where drivers can legally run 80mph? Well, believe it! Here's a picture I took today on I-15 south of Nephi UT. Once I saw the speed limit sign, I thought everybody would be flying down the road past us, but, amazingly, most of them were traveling around 70-75mph.

Our morning didn't start out on the freeway. Before we hit the road today, we ran into town in Beaver UT and visited the "Dairy Farmers of America" Cheese Outlet. It was kinda like walking through Costco, only all of their samples were in the same place. It didn't take us long to decide on our favorites..mine, Jalapeno Cheddar and Linda's was Gouda. We each bought a package of cheese and it was back on the road.

An interesting bit of trivia about Beaver UT...it's the hometown of Butch Cassidy....of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We thought this was interesting because our friends Jerry WY6JB and his wife Pat are from Sundance WY...named after the "Sundance Kid"..and we'll be in Sundance WY visiting Jerry and Pat next week. Also of fame from Beaver UT was Philo T. Farnsworth who was the inventor of several electronic devices including the CRT or Cathode Ray Tube which came with his invention of the television in the '50's.

We ran I-15 to Salt Lake City, then hung a right and took I-80 into Wyoming and stopped at Little America WY for the night. Tomorrow's travels will take us off the interstate. We'll cut north from Rawlins WY on the Oregon Trail and enjoy the scenic bearty of Wyomings back country. Our travels tomorrow will end in Casper WY. We should be in Casper fairly early and will have time to fire up the grill and enjoy a relaxing evening.

 

Until next time..73, and happy trails....