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Every Thursday evening at 8pm the Crew of 146.985 W3GMS/R get together on air to host a weekly informal net with varying hosts and topics
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My name is Ron. My call sign is WA3VE. I'm located in Westchester, Pennsylvania, and I'm delighted to be your host for this edition of the 985 Roundtable.
We meet every Thursday evening at 8 p.m. here on the W3GMS Parksburg Repeater, 146.985 MHz.
The PL tone to access the repeater is 100 Hz. For tone squelch on receive, use 94.8 Hz.
Please take a look at the repeater website, which is located at www.w3gmsrepeater.com.
There's a ton of good information on there.
Besides the Roundtable, this repeater also hosts the 985 Workbench on Monday evenings at 8 p.m.
The Workbench focuses on answering technical questions as well as exploring topics related to setting up and operating your station.
Comers are always very welcome on 985 and especially welcome on the roundtable and the workbench.
They and everyone are both encouraged to check in.
If you can't stay long, still check in.
Feel free to call in during our short-time check-in list at the beginning of the roundtable.
Our discussions here on the roundtable are informal.
We pass the mic around in the order in which stations call in.
So I encourage you to note who checks in right after you so you will be able to turn the mic over to that station when you finish your comments.
We usually begin with a question.
Tonight we've got three short ones.
As a discussion starter, you can answer that if you wish.
Or you can comment about other subjects and topics as well.
If you have any suggestions or questions about the roundtable or questions that we can ask, contact Phil.
KC3CIB or Jim AF3Z.
Both are good on QRZ.
Incidentally, a side note here.
I say to you new hams out there, when we say that someone is good on QRZ, I'm running into more and more new hams out there who do not have any email address on QRZ.
Please consider doing that because it's a way that we can get in touch with you to inform you about things going on on 985 and to engage you in technical discussions or even if there's something we need to contact you about.
So please make sure you get on QRZ and put an email address in there.
And for instance, if it's on Gmail, it doesn't have to be original.
You can make a side another email address.
But I just want to make that point out there.
It's frustrating when we can't get in touch with you, that's for sure.
And we really want to try to include everybody.
Okay, back to the script.
Be aware that on occasion, this repeater experiences intermod interference.
Please run maximum power like I'm doing here tonight or be prepared to check in digitally through Echolink or AllStar.
We want to hear you.
But to be able to use Echolink and AllStar on 985, you need to register with us first.
For doing so, it can be found on the website that I mentioned, W3GMSrepeater.com.
Also, when the intermod is present before starting a transmission, please give a short call out.
Am I getting in okay?
Once the host, being me tonight, confirms that you are, then you can share your longer comments.
Otherwise, we'll be listening to nothing but interference.
Now, don't be too quick to talk.
And this is a good practice to get into all the time.
Pause a couple seconds before hitting the press-to-talk switch.
This is good repeater etiquette, as I mention all the time.
And the pauses are especially helpful to those on Echolink and AllStar.
When you do click the PTT button, wait a second before starting to talk.
We don't want to miss what you have to say.
And it takes a moment for the repeater to process your PL tone.
Okay, a couple more things before we get to the question.
The repeater has a three-minute timer.
It's required by the Federal Communications Commission.
If you talk more than three minutes without letting up on your mic button, the repeater completely shuts down until you release your PTT switch.
So every two to three minutes, release your mic button just for a moment like this.
And then you can continue.
Okay, so now all that stuff is out of the way.
The questions for tonight.
There are three.
When severe weather approaches, what preparations, if any, do you make for yourself, your family, radio, and travel?
Do you go out and clear all the shelves of all the batteries, bread, and toilet paper?
Or what do you do?
How do you prepare?
There's a storm coming.
There's this coming or that coming.
What do you do?
What's your favorite?
Something totally different.
What's your favorite store or vendor?
Whether it be grocery, home improvement, Amazon, a lumberyard, a corner deli, whatever.
And why?
Finally, if all you had to do is show up.
Would you join me at the field day site to operate HF?
Even if you had to use that dreaded WA3 VEE call, have me as a control operator and be able to operate in any portion of any band under my license.
Okay, so let's have some fun with this tonight.
Okay, folks, wonderful.
So, we'll start the check-in process here, and we'll start with short-time check-ins.
Short-time check-ins, we will take digital stations first.
Those using Echo Link or All Star.
This is WA3 VEE.
You're listening to the 985 Roundtable.
Short-time digital stations.
Please call now.
Thank you.
I don't like I'm too popular tonight. That's okay. I won't take it too personally. Okay, let's see. Short-time RF stations. And we'll go back and we'll check for the digital folks again. Short-time RF stations. This is the WA3VEE and this is the 985 Roundtable. Short-time RF stations. Please call now.
KD3ZUV. Short-time RF. That's KB3 Zulu Uniform Victor. Adam in West Bradford. And Ron, I was unable to log into the digital services so I'm over here on RF.
KD3HQZ. KD3BPI. That's Kilo Delta 3. Bravo Papa India. Simon here in Westchester for a short time.
for a short time.
Pretty good.
Beginning to wonder there for a minute.
Okay, KB3ZUV.
Adam, good to hear you.
A little scratchy on the input, but that's okay.
We got you.
Full quieting through the repeater, of course.
Sounding pretty good.
KC3HQZ Gene, excellent.
I was going to give you guys a holler this weekend to find out how things are going.
Good to hear you tonight, and hopefully Leon is there by your side.
I'd like to hear from him as well.
KD3BPI, Simon on the short-term list.
Check your text messages, by the way.
All good to hear.
Okay, one more call for either digital or RF short-time check-ins.
This is WA3VE.
Please call now.
Nothing hurts, so why don't we go to the questions.
When severe weather approaches, what preps do you make?
What's your favorite store or vendor?
And would you join me at the field day site to operate HF if all you had to do is show up?
WA3VE over to KB3ZUV.
Adam, take it away.
All right, Ron, good evening, and good evening to everybody else on the roundtable, KB3ZUV here in West Bradford.
And, yeah, Ron, as far as the lack of digital check-ins tonight, I was not able to connect to the repeater on either Echolink or All Star.
I saw an email from Joe saying that he was looking for someone to climb a tower.
Unfortunately, I'm not at the – I don't have very much experience with that, but it did sound like he said he needed some work done on the link antenna.
Although he didn't actually say that digital services were down.
I'm sure if he's listening here tonight, he'll have a lot more to say about that.
But definitely keep an ear out for if anyone is coming in on digital tonight.
But I'm doing RF, and as we know, my RF signal is not as strong as my digital.
So we'll make the best of it and move right on to the questions.
Emergency preparedness.
No major changes there since the last time this question was asked on the roundtable.
I have a lot of batteries.
I have a lot of canned goods.
I have a lot of gallons of water.
So really no major changes there.
I have not made any major investments like buying a generator or anything or solar panels or anything like that.
Just more batteries.
And we like to keep them charged and periodically discharge them as well to sort of keep them conditioned.
On to the other two questions.
Favorite store currently.
Well, I mean, there's a lot of different stores out there.
I think the store I've been spending the most money at lately has been REI.
I've had to buy all new clothes twice in the last year due to my fitness program and weight loss.
And most of my new clothes have been from REI.
So, I mean, that's where I'm buying most.
I mean, outerwear, outdoor clothes.
But also we get, you know, camping stuff.
You know, we've been doing scout camping trips with the kids.
So if I think about any store I've spent the most money on, it would be the REI.
Usually I go to the one in Christiana, Delaware to save.
Although because there's no sales tax on clothing in Pennsylvania, actually a lot of the clothes I'll also go to the REI in King of Prussia.
They have, like, a lot of outdoorsy clothes there, which is good for, you know, sort of all purpose.
They have a very good return policy.
I actually like to buy in-store rather than order online so that way I can try the stuff on.
I know that's not trendy, but, you know, I guess I'm older now.
I've got to act my age.
And, you know, that means, you know, sometimes I still have to look to go to brick-and-mortar retail.
So, yeah, REI, as far as groceries, I tend to get most of my food at Wegmans, although I think Rachel does most of the grocery shopping here in the house.
Last question, would I operate at the field day site using your call, Ron?
Well, geez, Ron, I've already been doing that the last couple of real days.
Although we were using the DTS call, not the VEE call.
So, yeah, I mean, it was no problem in the past.
And using a different call, whether it's VEE or DTS, it sounds like fun.
You know, I would have to make time for it.
I know that you're doing the event coordinator thing.
I saw that email from Joe about, you know, possibly doing more field or, you know, remote operations there rather than just summer and winter field day.
So, you know, maybe there's some contests or special events or things like that that could be interesting.
So I'll keep an eye on the inbox for those sorts of announcements.
Anyway, let's keep things moving on to the other short timers.
I think we heard Gene in there over in Lancaster County there.
So take it away there, GKC3.
Was it that, oh my goodness, jeez, sorry, I forgot to write the call down.
I think it was HBQ.
Anyway, go ahead, Jean.
KP3Z, UV73, Claire.
Thanks, Adam.
Adam and KC3HQZ.
Yeah, to go to an event and just watch would be okay
because I never went to an event, so that would be an experience in itself.
And that would be okay to do sometime.
I haven't done it yet, but maybe I can get that done.
But I think that would be interesting.
For winter preparations, I put all my summer clothes away,
and again, my winter ones out so I can be dressed warm enough for the cold weather.
We also get our generator ready.
And all spring and fall or summer and fall, I can.
So we have food to eat that electric and stuff would go off.
I have some, too, that we can eat cold.
It, you know, isn't preferable.
But we also have camp stoves so we can cook.
We just have to have gas bottles, which we usually have around anyway,
so I can be okay with that.
And our store that we usually go to is Grocery Outlet because they have cheaper prices.
And they have good stuff, so we shop there, too.
I think that's what I have.
I'm not sure who's next to me, so...
Okay. Give it back to Ron W. A3 VEE KC3H.
Very good.
Gene, before I turn it over to Simon, can you put your stage manager on the line?
A3 LH WA3 VEE.
He's doing a pretty good job coaching in the back.
Get him in front of the microphone.
Leon, get on the air.
You're running, Roger.
Plus, it's cool out there, making sure everything is all right.
Come on, open the door and let me where the heater is, Ron.
Go ahead, A3 LH.
Very good.
I couldn't resist to get you on the air, Leon, that's for sure.
Got you on the log.
Excellent.
All very, very good.
Good to hear you.
I'll see if I can catch up with you guys on the phone this weekend.
All very good.
It goes over to Simon.
KD3 BPI.
WA3 VEE with the 985 round table.
WA3 VEE KD3 BPI.
Am I getting through okay, Ron?
I'm getting through just fine.
There's no interod right now.
Continue.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Thank you.
I'm getting some weird buzz over here.
I don't think it's, but if it's not coming through, no problem.
Good evening, Ron, and thanks for hosting the net tonight.
It's good to be here, even for a short time.
Even for a short time.
Let me cruise through these questions here.
For storm preparation.
Well, our apartment is cinder block.
It's concrete.
It's very stout.
We don't really hear wind.
We don't really hear wind.
And the rain, not too bad.
No leaks.
No musty smell.
We don't have room for a generator or anything.
So really all I'll do if the storm is coming is I'll plug in my phone, make sure it's charged.
Plug in, you know, just make sure the phones are charged.
Radios, of course.
Make sure the radios are charged.
And flashlights as well.
I try to have mostly rechargeable flashlights just to keep it simple.
Plug them all in to USB-C port.
Micro USB.
Some of the older ones still use micro USB.
But I just have a bank of USB ports and just make sure they're all charged.
Good to go.
Really phones, light.
Water, of course.
Though, um, we have never lost water here in the apartment.
So, not too concerned about that, admittedly.
I mean, we're close to, we're right in East Goshen Township.
So, um, if we lost water, it would be pretty bad, I think.
Ha ha ha.
Um, as for stores, there's kind of a hidden gem right here in Westchester.
It's called a Brandywine Auto Parts on Barnard Street.
Um, and they, I have been, uh, a patron of theirs for a few years now, ever since I started working in Westchester.
And, uh, they have some of the best prices that I've found.
And they have, they have a lot of parts in stock.
And they're very good about, they'll make sure that you are going to get, they're going to give you what you're asking for.
Um, they'll look it up in their system.
But they're not, um, they're competent.
Not difficult.
They have good tools.
They sell the good brake cleaner.
There's, um, a, a, a non-chlorinated brake cleaner that floats around.
And it's not as strong.
But, I don't know how they do it.
Brandywine Auto Parts, they, uh, they keep the good stuff on the shelves.
Um, you can't buy it in Delaware.
But you can buy it up here.
And, um, oil, oil filters.
Excellent prices.
Excellent prices.
Um, and then, of course, you know, all the other odds and ends.
They pretty much have it.
You could say that if they don't got it, you don't need it.
Ha, ha, ha.
But, um, and besides that, of course, Home Depot is pretty great.
But, uh, that goes without saying, I suppose.
Um, as for operating with the old Victor Echo Echo call sign, I would be honored.
Um, I did get your text wrong.
Uh, I'm not sure that I could do tomorrow.
We had some, there was a unit we're trying to re-qualify at work that is, well, let's just say that it keeps failing the tests.
And, um, it's getting deeper and deeper and troubleshooting.
And so, we'll see how things go tomorrow.
But, um, might be able to make it up.
I'll let you know for sure.
Um, around, I guess, uh, well, I'll let you know.
I'll let you know for sure.
But, yeah, thanks for the invite.
It'll be great fun.
One of these days, one of these days, it was just, I was leaving work today.
And, uh, and we can talk more off the air.
But, uh, it was just, they came to me and I was working on another project.
And they said, hey, this isn't working.
What's wrong with it?
And I was like, dang it.
Because I figured that it was going to be a problem.
And, but you don't know until you know.
And so, here we are.
I'm sure you understand better than most, Ron.
And I think I was the last of these short times.
So, um, I'll, uh, I'll, uh, well, depending on your level of peace, I'll be the tail gunner.
Or I'll be in the caboose.
Which, honestly, being in the caboose sounds like a lot more relaxing and fun.
So, I'll, I'll just be the caboose.
Or the end of train marker, as they have now.
These little boxes that monitor air pressure and not much else.
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Has a little flashing red light on it.
Ha, ha, ha.
So, um, yeah, with that, I'll send it back to you.
Thanks again, Ron.
And, uh, I hope to listen.
Uh, but, yeah, I won't be able to stay late tonight.
So, sorry about that, but look forward to listening to you all as I can.
And, uh, 7-3 to everyone.
And I'll send it back to you, Ron.
WA3 Victor Echo Echo.
This is KD3BPI.
Great, Simon.
Excellent.
All the way around.
Okay.
Very, very good.
This is WA3VEE over here in Westchester.
And this is the 985 Roundtable.
Okay.
Very good.
Uh, before I, uh, call for more check-ins here on the short-time side,
let me just go through some really quick comments here,
some really quick highlights.
Uh, Adam, boy, it's been a long time since I've been in an REI.
And I don't believe I've ever been in one in Christiana Mall,
although I worked right across the I-95 from it here at the college.
So all very, very good.
And, yeah, point of clarification, uh,
referring to the site and operating with my call sign,
that's for techs and, uh, people who want to work in the extra portion
who do not have the, uh, license class for that.
Obviously, if you've got the license class,
you could use your own call sign.
But, of course, um, this gives people who are contemplating upgrading
and just don't have the nudge, perhaps operating a little bit of HF
in the, uh, general and, um, extra portions of the band with me
as a control operator and using my call sign might be an incentive,
incentive to do that.
And, yes, you'll hear more about, uh, coming up, uh, events coming up as well.
So, um, we've got some more things to do up at the site, uh, for sure.
But, nonetheless, we do have capability right now,
at least on 40 meters and up.
So more to come on that.
Very good, uh, Gene.
Great to hear both you and Leon, for sure.
Having some fun with Leon right there.
That's, uh, great.
And, um, I need to get to a grocery outlet.
I have not done that yet.
I know there's one in Parksburg.
I think that might be the one closest to us.
I don't know that there's one in Westchester here, at least not yet.
And excellent all the way around.
Uh, Simon, very good on Brandywine Auto Parts.
I've been there a long time ago.
Uh, but since I don't work on cars myself,
uh, don't have much of a need.
But, nonetheless, I have to go and see if they have front curb feelers, if you will.
Front curb feelers.
I know I can get them on Amazon.
But I also know that, uh, Advanced Auto Parts does not have them.
So I want to protect the, uh, the bottom, I guess, apron, or whatever it's called, on the van,
uh, from these parking, uh, parking curbs that you have in parking lots and things.
I have a very low clearance on the van.
And very good.
Uh, yeah, if you run out of water and you're on Route 3, uh, there's a lot of people in trouble.
You're right.
Absolutely.
So you're right out of water there.
Hopefully it will only be in, uh, a complex issue, uh, right there in your complex and not a major,
a major problem, uh, with water delivery for sure.
All right.
Very, very good.
I give one last call here for any, and I'm not sure if digital is working or not.
I think if Joe's around, he'll comment on that.
But, uh, digital or RF, short time check-ins, final call.
This is WA3VE.
We'll move to regular check-ins now.
Those who have more time to stick around.
Again, our questions tonight.
When severe weather approaches, what preps, if any, do you make for yourself, your family, uh, radio, travel, whatever?
Also, your favorite store or vendor.
Whether it's home improvement, Amazon, lumberyard, corner deli, whatever it is.
And, um, would you join me at the field day site to operate?
And if you're a tech or general, you can operate using my call sign as me with the control operator.
And you can operate anywhere in the bands.
So, your opportunity to get me a pink slip, that's for sure.
Okay.
So, we're going to call for digital stations first.
Regular check-in list.
Those using Echolink or All-Star.
This is WA3VE.
Please call now.
Whiskey 8.
Charlie Romeo Whiskey.
Okay.
Additional digital check-ins or now RF check-ins also.
So, RF and digital check-ins for the regular check-in list for the 985 round table.
Please call now.
KC3.
KC3.
Mike Foxtrot.
Bravo.
Analog.
This is KC3.
KCY, Kilo Charlie 3, Sierra Charlie Yankee.
Kilo Charlie 3, Oscar Oscar Kilo.
KC3, SQI, Kilo Charlie 3, Sierra Quebec India.
NA3CW.
This is Alpha Foxtrot 3 Zulu and my echo link won't connect here either.
AF3Z.
3 GLI.
AF3Z.
Vector 3 in Juliet, Golf, Bravo.
There, we'll call for more check-ins in a moment, but let's go down the list as I have it.
I've got WHCRW, W3MFB, Mike good to hear ya, KC3SCY, Luke, yes I did get your email, I'm going
to respond, KC3OOK, KC3SQI, NA3CW, AF3Z, Jim thanks for telling me about echo link, KA3GLI,
Dave, good to hear ya, Dave.
And KV3JGB, Matt, great to hear you Matt tonight.
So, final call for the first round for regular check-ins, digital or RF, this is WA3VEE, please
call now.
Alpha 3 Lima Hotel.
Alpha 3 Lima Hotel.
Thanks for on the bus, try to get inside, words warm.
Open that door, the wind has a roar, AA3OH.
AA3OH.
Very good Matt.
JGB, you'll turn it over to Leon, AA3OH.
And Leon, you'll turn it back to me.
You are sitting in the caboose right now.
In the back of the bus.
There you go.
Okay, very good.
The questions for tonight again folks.
When severe weather approaches, what preps, if any, do you make for yourself, your family,
radio and travel?
What provoked this question was, I got a couple of alerts last night about severe storm coming.
It never happened, but then I'm thinking, gee, you know, what do I do?
I mean, I'm not doing anything different, but if you've got a snowstorm coming or a series
of bad weather, you know, you're sitting in the cabos right now, you're sitting in the cabos, you're sitting in the cabos right now.
And I'm sitting in the cabos right now.
I'm sitting in the cabos right now.
In the back of the bus.
There you go.
Okay, very good.
The questions for tonight again folks.
When severe weather approaches, what preps, if any, do you make for yourself, your family,
radio and travel?
What provoked this question was, I got a couple of alerts last night about severe storm coming.
A series of bad thunderstorms, hail, whatever.
Do you do anything different?
What preps do you make?
That's kind of the gist of the question.
Also, what's your favorite store or vendor?
Had everything from grocery outlet to Brandywine Auto Parts so far.
So that's what I'm looking for.
And especially variety like that for sure.
I've got several myself.
We'll comment on that later on.
My comments are not nearly as important as yours.
So we'll save mine until later for sure.
And finally, would you join me at the field day site to operate HF if all you had to do is show up?
Using my call, if you're not in the license class you want to operate, or your own call for that matter.
WA3VEE.
WA3VEE.
This is the 985 round table.
CR, your turn.
WHCRW.
WA3VEE.
Very good, Ron.
Thanks for taking the chair tonight.
And yes, there is an issue with Echolink.
I'm using repeater phones, not Echolink.
Normally I use Echolink, but Echolink is not connecting.
So let's see.
Severe weather preparation.
I've been pretty set.
I've had all kinds of preparations in the past.
Last year I put up a battery bank for my water issue in case the power went out.
And this year I've replaced my bad generator with a new whole house unit.
So I shouldn't have to worry about either way.
But the battery bank is still there just in case the generator does fail.
Favorite store?
I don't have a favorite store.
It all depends on what I'm looking for.
I'll mention a couple.
If I'm looking for metal, I go down to the shop metal place down at Olde,
Airport Road in Delaware.
That's my go-to place for metal.
And then there's Home Depot and Lowe's for a hard to find fastener.
There's the community hardware down in Pike Creek.
So those are the shopping things.
Let's see.
What else?
Favorite store?
Meeting you up at the field day site for getting on the air?
Well, I'll just let that pass for right now.
So with that, let's go to Mike.
W3MFB, WHCRW.
WHCRW, W3MFB.
And everybody on the round table.
Howdy, howdy.
Good to hear you, Ron.
Good to hear everybody.
Let's see here.
Weather prep.
No.
I, uh, not, not as, uh, no.
No.
I guess I don't really do much.
Uh, winter storm.
Yeah.
I might, uh, pre-salt the, uh, the sidewalks and the, uh, or throughout the night if it's
going to be, uh, you know, pre-salt the, the, the, the walkways and things like that.
Uh, or freezing rain, stuff like that.
Um, yeah, I don't really do too much, uh, haven't in the past.
Uh, we've had our power go out for a few days and I did have a mini fridge running on, uh,
battery with an inverter one time.
I do have some batteries and some solar panels if I need them, but they're not going to run,
uh, the, the main fridge.
But if it's the winter time, I could care less because you just throw it out in the snow, uh,
with some coolers and rocks on top, you know, for overnight or pack, just shovel it with snow.
Who cares?
Uh, in the summertime, that's a different story, of course.
Uh, you cook it all, invite the neighbors if you can, if you're fortunate enough.
Um, but yeah, I mean, we had Ida down here, so luckily we didn't flood.
Didn't have any water in the basement, thank God.
My neighbor's backyard got a little pondy, but it didn't come, uh, it didn't come our way.
So that was the extreme rain, uh, from Ida.
Uh, the eight inches we got here down in the borough of Downingtown.
Uh, which was traumatic for everybody, especially in town.
Um, but we were, we were, we were pretty blessed in that respect.
I'm surprised.
Um, favorite store?
Uh, you know, I don't really go out buying stuff.
Mostly needs.
So I guess crops, and I feel bad.
I feel bad, and Barry's also pissed off, uh, Katie Drex, that next door to crops in the farm there, they're putting a giant in.
Uh, after all these years of back and forth, I guess, with the, uh, municipality, they're finally, uh, putting the giant in.
Which we're mad because we're, they're monopolizing, obviously, and, uh, and, uh, we don't know what's gonna happen to crops, but we'll still be shopping there, I guess.
Uh, they've, family owned business, they've been around for a long time.
A very long time.
But, uh, I'm not sure if there was another question or not, but that's what I remember.
So I'll pass it over to Mr. Luke, KC3SCYW3MFB.
Hi, Mike.
This is KC3SCY.
Ron, thanks for hosting the NET tonight.
Um, severe weather preparedness.
I don't really have, um, too much planned for that.
And, favorite store place, I don't really go shopping too much, so either Home Depot and, I guess the stores where you buy something.
So I'd go, I guess Shady Maple, 'cause you can go over, have lunch, and then they got the store down in the bottom with some, some good stuff down there.
So, anyways, I'll keep it moving.
We'll only be in for this round tonight.
And it's over to Bill, KC3OOK.
This is KC3SCY.
KC3SCY.
KC3OOK.
Thank you, Luke.
It's good to hear you tonight.
And I've heard you're making great progress on your riser project.
And, Ron, thanks for taking the chair tonight.
Well, as far as winter prep, my first inclination was to say that we are pretty well prepared, but nobody's really prepared, depending on the duration of an event.
But for the normal storms where, you know, power out a week or so, we're pretty much able to handle it.
The only prep I generally do is I do make sure the batteries are all charged up.
And I generally get the generator out.
I'll run it for a good hour and put some load on it, just make sure it's going to continue to run for long periods.
And other than that, we're pretty well set.
We keep water stocked.
As I said, the radios between the batteries from the vehicles and the 45-amp-hour lithium battery were good for short periods of time, a week or so.
As far as favorite store at Ron, I can't give you one favorite store.
That'd be like asking, "What's your favorite kid or grandkid?"
This was something that ruined my life.
Cameron's and Oxford Pete and Lumber, I am there almost every day.
And Cameron's has a huge selection for a hardware store more than most hardware stores would because they're also a HVAC and electrical contractor,
and they stock, you know, everything that they would use for that business.
And Oxford Pete and Lumber is just a gem.
It's a small yard, but they have really, really good quality material.
And of course, there would be woodcraft.
And I could go on and on, but that's about it for there.
And as far as operating, probably in the summer I would be interested in doing it.
In the winter I'm not so sure.
And I think as you know, Ron, I can sit for a little while, but not for long periods of time.
So it'd be kind of nice if you just drive up, operate, and leave, selfish to say, without a whole lot of work or effort.
That does sound kind of interesting. Selfishly I say that.
So I appreciate you doing it.
So with that, I'll turn it over to Wayne KC3SQI, KC3OOK.
Thank you, Bill. KC3SQI.
This is KC3SQI. And I also want to thank you for taking the chair tonight, Ron.
Okay, let me see. Severe weather. Well, that depends on whether it's summer or fall with the hurricanes, summer with the tornadoes, or whatever.
About the only one that I really do much extra for is in the winter, if it's really supposed to be bad.
I will make sure that the snowblower is out of the garage, or out of the shed and in the garage, and make sure that it's up and running and got gas.
But other than that, we have a whole house generator now, so that's taken care of. And, you know, wintertime, I have to check the propane every once in a while for the furnace anyway, so that's usually up.
And then, favorite store. Well, I have too many to think of, but, you know, if it's fishing, then it's Cabela's.
If it's stuff around the house or antennas or whatever, it's Homeless Depot. And if it's radios, it's HRO. And, you know, the list continues.
But anymore, I do a lot of online shopping, so it's not as bad as it used to be. So with that, and yes, I would meet you up at the site and do whatever was necessary, and we could get going from there.
So with that, I'll turn it over to Chuck, NA3CW. This is KC3SQI.
This is NA3CW. Well, yeah, prep for storms. Depends on the nature of the storm, of course. And what we've got coming up is, of course, winter and ice storms or snow.
So I wait until there's somewhat of a threat of snow before I do the transfer of my summer equipment off my tractor and put the winter equipment on, because it's a several-hour project to do that.
When I prepare my little tractor, I put on wheel weights and chains, put on the 36-inch snowblower, put on the cab. And in the middle, of course, I end up changing the oil and checking all the battery connections and things like that.
So it would be ready to go. I would spray my snow shovels and the blower with anti-stick stuff. I don't know what it is. It might be PAM spray, as far as that goes. But I spray all that so it'll dry on there.
The big thing, I guess, if a big storm is coming is I fill all my gas cans. I've got 20 gallons of gas cans. And I would tune on over to GAP and get the non-ethanol stuff. And I fill up my gas cans.
I've been working them down. So I'm probably close to doing that anyway. Because I would need them for my tractor and I would also need them for my generator in the unlikely event that we lose power.
We've been in this house going on 18 years. I think we just passed 18 years, actually. And we have been, we've lost power long enough to make it worth dragging the generator out probably twice, maybe three times. But that's it. We have very reliable power. It wasn't when we first came. Parksburg, if somebody sneezed in the wrong direction, Parksburg would go out. But they've done a lot of work.
So if we lose power, it's usually at most for an hour or two. And it's back up. We have city water and we have natural gas. So if we lose power, I have a relatively small generator. It's a 4.4 generator. But it's enough to run my heater. Because I have no other auxiliary heat sources.
I can run my heater. I can run my heater. I can run my heater. I can run my heater. I can run my heater. I can run my heater. I can run my heater. I can run some lights. No 220 loads. No 220 loads. We also have a butane countertop cooking burner that we got years ago while we were on Guam. That works very nicely.
We have a small microwave purposely purchased so it can run on the generator.
So, you know, if you get hit by a tornado, all bets are off.
But for the things that we've gotten around here, tail ends of hurricanes and snowstorms and whatnot,
we can usually make out pretty good.
We charge everything that's chargeable.
The house itself is not going to withstand a typhoon, but it's just wood frame OSB and siding.
So when the other night, well actually last night, when the wind hit it, it kind of went whoop.
And you can hear the vinyl siding rattling, but we haven't lost any of that either.
So we're not too worried about it.
We always try to have water in.
We always have food in.
We have canned goods.
So I guess at a prep level, if it's snow, prepare the machinery and shovels.
If it's getting gasoline, it also fill up the cars.
Because we have had occasions in our past life where gasoline became unavailable.
No power, no gas.
Favorite store?
Favorite store?
Probably by volume.
I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.
Just because it's easy.
I buy my jeans and bolts.
Nuts and bolts.
At Tractor Supply.
General stuff from Amazon.
My hardware is generally Home Depot because they're the closest one.
Otherwise, I'll go over to Shady Maple hardware.
Gas is always top tier.
Not high test, but top tier.
All the oil companies and a few others joined a consortium to put higher levels of cleaning chemicals into standard gas at all grades.
So around here, that means Sunoco or the grungy truck stopover at Conoco.
We don't have much by way of oil company gas stations in this region.
Wawa pretty much owns everything.
Field day site operation.
Eh.
I've never been that much of an operator, and I think I've demonstrated that.
I can do it.
But just to operate to operate, I can do that at home.
Especially, as Bill says, especially not if it's cold.
I might be tempted to do it if it's warm.
But just operating to operate is pretty well.
It's not usually my thing.
But I can be coaxed into some things.
So, enough of me.
And over to Jim.
AF3Z, NA3CW.
Alright, very good.
Thank you, Chuck.
NA3CW, AF3Z.
Good evening, everybody.
Good to hear you all.
All y'all.
Yeah, I'm terrible on these kind of questions.
This also probably means I'm not very well prepared.
Severe weather stuff around here.
The one thing I do on a semi-frequent basis is when they're talking bad storms.
And boy, the wind really whipped up here last night, too.
But I was already about ready to go to bed, so I didn't do anything.
And I survived all right.
But anyway, I'll go outside and lawn furniture and stuff that can blow around.
I'll either bring it in or at least do something with it to keep it more staying put where it is.
That kind of thing.
I've got some water available.
Drinking water in the garage.
And a bunch of other water for flushing and that sort of stuff.
One thing I realized just thinking about it now, now that I'm on my own and I have a very simple kind of diet and everything.
And I tend to buy it when I need it.
So I don't have much stacked up available.
I ought to get some stuff for a little while anyway.
But otherwise, I don't have a lot of preparations made.
It would depend, again, the time of year and stuff.
I might do a little more to get ready.
If I hear there's really bad hail possible, I might stick one of the two cars in the garage.
Keep one of them out of the hail.
Favorite store.
I'm not a big store goer either.
But the one I go to most often is, and you may know this place, Ron, the country store outside of Mount Joy.
I think it's a Mennonite-run store.
It's a small store.
They have a lot of bulk kinds of stuff.
And I go there for a lot of things and a little bit from a giant store nearby.
But I guess that's my main store.
It's the country store in Mount Joy.
And the field day site, obviously, I have a call sign.
They don't need that.
And my biggest holdback on stopping by the site is how far away it is for me.
It's about an hour, I guess, drive, something like that.
So anyway, and sort of like Chuck was saying, to just operate, I can do that easily.
And also the Cornwall Ranger Station Club I'm a part of.
There's another station I can get to.
So it's not a big thing for me.
But at times I can see myself coming and showing up.
But it has to fit the schedule and all that sort of stuff.
So I think that was the questions.
So Dave, over to you.
KA3GLI AF3Z.
KA3GLI AF3Z.
KA3GLI.
Yeah, let's see.
We had an interesting severe weather incident at the end of this past July.
We were in Hawaii, specifically on Oahu, when the tsunami warning hit.
And that was from an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia.
And that was unexpected, to say the least.
We were in a second floor Airbnb right on the coast.
And did not want to be there just in case much of anything happened.
So we got in communication with our Airbnb host.
And they let us know we could go to a place called the Asia Pacific International School.
Which was only, yeah, they were not currently in session.
But they opened up their property for people to park on in the event of these occurrences.
And it was only just a couple minutes from where we were staying.
So we went up their driveway climbing a hill as we went.
And up at the top, we met a lot of locals from the area.
So that was interesting.
And I had an altitude app on my phone.
I don't know how accurate this thing was, of course.
But it said we were at 112 feet.
So I felt a little bit better than being right down on the beach, of course.
And so other than that, we have water downstairs.
We have a camp stove with propane cylinders.
And we have, I guess, a decent amount of canned goods.
And we can also cook over the fire pit.
There's a grill that I swing over the fire pit from time to time and do some cooking out there.
So that's a possibility.
And then we have a stack of firewood for the pit and as well as the fireplace in the living room.
And another thing is, I always like to roast extra coffee.
I'm a big coffee guy.
I order my coffee beans green and roast them myself in a half-pound roaster.
So I've always got fresh coffee.
And I always like to roast a bunch of extra coffee if I think there's a danger of losing power.
And let's see, going on to the favorite stores and whatnot.
I glimmed on to Grocery Outlet a few years ago when I found out they had whole filet mignons on sale for $5.99 a pound.
So we bought several of those, popped them in the freezer.
And then until recently, they seem to have the filets most of the time for $8 a pound.
So we bought a good number of those from them over the years.
And most recently, I can't find them.
And that was on the New Holland Grocery Outlet.
Also, I like eBay for picking up odds and ends that I happen to need.
I just find an easy website to locate what I need.
And it's always a painless process to check out with the cart and whatnot.
And I have a favorite coffee vendor.
He's one of my Facebook friends.
His name is Rogelio from El Salvador.
And he's a coffee grower down there.
And I actually get, I'd say, 90% of my coffee direct from him.
So he's a great source for that.
And as far as field day goes, I've never really been one of the field day guys for whatever reason.
It's just not my thing, I guess.
I prefer either fixed or mobile stations.
So let's see.
I think I turn over to Matt here.
I believe your suffix is JTB.
Sorry for not getting the rest of your call there.
This is KA3GLI.
This is KV3JGB, Matt from Valley.
Yes, you got the suffix right.
So it's good.
Good enough on who you were talking to.
First question is storm, storm preparations.
Yeah, we got to do a couple of things.
We have a Gatorade container here.
We have a well.
So we have a couple of Gatorade containers that we will fill.
Only if we feel like it's really actually might be something.
Most of the time we fill it.
And I'm just not going to do that anyway.
We do.
I just got in April.
We've had a generator.
And a couple of years ago, we had a tree fall on some wires.
And our power was out for two days.
So that saved our life.
Well, not that bad.
It saved our refrigerator.
This was like in May.
So and all the food in the refrigerator.
We had lights and stuff.
But we had wires running everywhere.
So I finally got a generator hooked up to the house.
Our generator connection for my 9K generator.
So, you know, when the power goes out like it did last Monday.
I think it was last Monday.
It might have been actually last Friday, I think.
I went outside, moved the generator over, you know, started it up.
Plugged it in.
Big 50 amp cable.
It's a 220, which is what our well pump requires.
So we had water there for a couple hours until the power came back on.
So first time I actually used it in an emergency kind of situation.
So that was really good.
Just like Chopped, you can run our HVAC.
It runs our fridge.
It can run our microwave.
It can run some entertainment and some lights in the house.
Like I said, it runs the well pump.
That's the biggest thing.
That's good enough to get us through whatever may come.
You know, we don't typically run out and get stuff unless we're low on something.
If something's coming, you know, we'll be ready otherwise for that.
So favorite store?
Probably, I'd say probably Hershey's Market, which is over in Parksburg.
They have amazing meats, amazing veggies, amazing desserts, which I probably shouldn't be eating,
but really good.
A lot of good stuff there.
It's very small, but they just have so much good stuff there.
You know, it's kind of expensive, so that's one of those treat places I go to,
but probably my favorite store, at least off the top of my head.
And then Field Day site, that's a maybe.
I'd like to get back up there on an off-field daytime.
That's the way life is.
It's kind of difficult, so that's a maybe there for me.
All right, I think that's it.
I will hand it over to Leon, A3LH, KV3JGB.
All right, thank you, thank you kindly.
This is A3LH.
Well, from under the bus, it's down about a quarter to low the engine, but don't worry about it.
It can be down a little bit before we have to worry about it.
And the exhaust pipe is wired fast with bail wire and some old clothes hangers that we have.
So the exhaust will ride on, and the brakes are adjusted.
The one back tire is a little low, but don't worry about it.
It's a cold ride.
Water over here.
It can go flat.
Now, now, run.
Come on, run.
Wake up, run.
Turn on the light.
You'd hate to see me out in the cold fighting a cool air fight.
So wake up, run.
Let me in.
Let me in where it's warm.
And make sure the heat is turning on the back of the caboose.
Man, I hate being out in the cold.
Remember, run.
I'm trying to hang on to warm weather, so I still want to wear short-sleeved shirts and just can't do that.
And I don't want to go ahead and yield and get my winter clothes yet.
So hang on, run.
Just let me in.
Let me in.
All right.
What do we do for emergency preparedness?
We have a generator.
And like Mike said, MFB Mighty Fine Brisket said, or Mighty Fine Coffee, whatever.
You know, we have ice chest to put food in if we have to do that.
We have a kerosene heater.
We have kerosene.
We can run in a heater and we can be warm.
We have a propane camp stove.
We have a kerosene cook stove, I guess you would call it.
And we have one of them.
So we're good for cooking.
And we should be good for heat.
At least for a little while, anyway.
And my favorite store, it seems that I go to the most often, is Ralph's Radio Shack in New Holland.
It seems that's where I just somehow or another go in there.
If I don't buy anything, talk to somebody, see who's in.
Do stuff like cows.
That would be my favorite store.
And when I go up to the field day, man, I'll tell you what.
I have to get my winter clothes out to go up there.
But, yeah, we'll go up there and operate.
Go up there come winter time.
End of January when it's blistering cold.
And there's no heat turned on, you know.
No, it's cold.
We will go up there.
We will probably be making some food for you guys again this coming winter.
So we'll be up there.
And so we'll be there.
We'll be there operating.
Maybe I can operate and run.
V-E-E.
It's a DX10 that I ran last field day.
It was kind of nice.
But anyway...
Your battery die, A-A3-L-H-W-A3-Z-E-E.
We'll come back to Leon.
I think it's battery die.
It sure sounds like it anyway.
But we'll come back to Leon.
That's for sure.
This is W-A-3-V-E-E.
You're listening to the 985 Roundtable.
All very good comments, folks.
They put out another call for check-ins of any kind.
Digital, RF, whatever.
This is W-A-3-V-E-E.
Check-ins for the 985 Roundtable.
Please call now.
Helo Delta 3, Alpha, India, Sierra.
Tim, great to have you on board tonight.
We have UKD-3AIS.
Any additional check-ins?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks, Ron. I thought I would pick up and check in because over the next couple of months, I am on a Thursday night general class studying for my general exam.
But tonight got done early and I saw there were still people on, so I figured I would check in.
I think the most popular store that I go to is Home Depot for various and sundry things for our house,
the original part of which is built in 1880.
So there's a lot of reasons to go to Home Depot and also because it's our dog's favorite store.
So she comes with me whenever she can.
As far as preparations, I don't do anything in particular, but we have prepared over time.
So I'm fortunate and grateful to have a whole house generator and canned many, many cans of homemade tomato sauce in the basement
and freezer full of pig and cow that we buy direct from a farmer.
We're well stocked in the event of challenging weather.
And then I guess I would certainly be willing to go and operate under your call sign.
And I saw that you, Ron, put out some email about maybe other opportunities to operate.
So I'm open to all of those as long as I'm free, given my other activities.
So I'm not always free, but when I am, I would definitely make it.
So I will leave it there.
Back to you, Ron.
WA3VE.
This is KD3AIS.
Very good, Tim.
Excellent.
All the way around.
Well, thanks for your comments.
I'm going to go through my comments and then just a couple very quick selected comments on some of these,
some of the notable things I've noticed here.
And then I'm going to give a call for a second or check-ins before we start our second comment round.
So very good.
This is WA3VE, and you're on 146-985, the W3GMS repeater.
And this is a roundtable on Thursday night.
Every Thursday night at 8 o'clock.
Workbench on Monday night at 8 p.m. also.
Okay, very good.
Over here on this side, we don't do anything special for weather.
I do have to get the snowblowers going.
We happen to end up inheriting my neighbors when he moved.
I said it works great.
It actually has a leaky carburetor.
So, hmm.
I don't do work on that stuff.
So I'll take it over to a place called Daly's over on 322 Downingtown.
They do a phenomenal job over there.
So I think my lawnmower they worked on, working all season.
The blade almost seems like it's sharper than when I got it out of the store.
And it just runs.
So a wonderful job that they do over there.
And one of our field day chair people, George WA3LVR, endorses that place as well.
We know some of the operators and the owners in there.
So that's one of my favorite stores to go to to get stuff done also, as far as maintenance is concerned.
One of my favorite places to get lumber is Hearn Hardwood's down in Oxford, very close to where Bill, KC3OK actually is.
And I've been in Cameron's only once, but I need to make it a lot more because that store is phenomenal.
So no doubt about it.
And, of course, use Amazon profusely.
And, of course, Hopeless Depot.
And, Tim, you're probably talking about the Fraser Home Depot.
I think that's the one closest to you, just down the hill there and to the left on Business 30.
I was just in Fraser this morning.
That's my favorite Home Depot.
I like it because it's smaller.
And also, they very graciously have two veteran slots, parking slots, right up front.
So I thanked them many times for that in there.
That's kind of very nice.
Nice touch, definitely.
And a nice tribute to veterans.
So that's very good.
And, of course, what I mean by operating up there, we are going to be doing some contest weekend stuff and all that.
More it's for education and for exposure.
Hey, this is what HF is all about.
I normally, I'm not a contester as a rule, but this is a good opportunity to, when a lot of stations are on, and it's not absolutely, it's a good opportunity for those who are not familiar with HF or those who have very restrictive homeowners association rules that they're living under, that they can't put anything up.
They can actually come to the field day site and operate.
Of course, I understand that for some people it's far out.
And for those people who it's far out from, for instance, those in the southwestern corner of the county, and you know who you are, not beyond me to bring a pulley and a rope, a 40-meter dipole, and hoist it up on some scaffolding somewhere.
And in 20 minutes, we're on the air, definitely.
That would be fun to do, definitely.
No doubt about it.
You don't have to travel very far.
So, that's all the fun stuff there.
So, very quickly, let's see, some real highlights here.
Let's see.
Yeah, I also like the community hardware store in Pike Creek.
They really have unique stuff down there.
All very good.
Yep, familiar with the Giants going in next to crops.
And so, not sure that that'll be the end of crops.
But hopefully, crops is unique enough to where it'll have stuff that Giant doesn't have.
Woodcraft, one of my favorite stores.
I use the professional finishes over there in my novice, advanced novice woodworking that I do.
And all very good.
Let's see, a couple other things really quick here.
Chuck, some really good suggestions here that you've got.
I've captured a couple of them here for sure.
And particularly, a small microwave, something I don't have but want to get.
And, of course, you heard me talk about getting some generators.
Some portable enough to be able to use the field day site, but at the same time, hefty enough to use around here for sure.
So, that's good.
Interesting on the gas as well.
And, Shady Maple Hardware, I was not aware of them.
A place up in Whitehorse also.
I still need to visit.
And, Dave, to A3GLI, interesting on your own beans.
I think that is really unique.
And I can only imagine, only imagine the taste of that coffee.
No doubt about it.
And very, very good.
So, a couple other really quick comments here before we go to our second round.
I'll call for another bunch of check-ins.
Very good, Leon, on the field day site.
I will let you know.
By the way, incidentally, the trailer up there, the StarCraft trailer, for those of you who have been up to the website, to the field day site,
the trailer in the back corner on the left, that normally has a very good temperature inside, even if it's not too brutal outside.
Once we're in there, you know, if you have a good coat on, it gets to probably 55.
It could be as high as 60 degrees inside a trailer with a good sunny day.
So, it might be a little chilly outside.
Wind is another issue.
But if it's just relatively still and maybe in the upper 30s, low 40s, that's a very bearable place to be for sure.
And finally, Tim, if you have any questions on the general material, certainly, you know where I'm at, definitely.
And Dave, GLI, one other note.
I will see if I can send you an MP3 file of what you sound like over here on the input.
I can copy you all the way up from gap over here.
So, you're doing a very fine job.
So, you'll get through the input on 385 and also, of course, through the repeat of your dead full quieting, which you would be.
Okay.
One last call for check-ins before we go to round two.
This is WA3VEE.
And this is a 985 round table.
Please call now.
Okay.
Just heard a ker-chunk there, but no one else.
Okay.
So, so far, this is the list as we have it.
We don't have any defectors yet.
W-H-C-R-W.
W-3MFB.
KC-3SCY.
KC-3OOK.
KC-3SQI.
NA3CW.
AF3Z.
KA3GLI.
KV3JGB.
AA3LH.
And KD3AIS.
So, that's the list as I have it.
Any additions, corrections, or anything for the good of the net?
KC-3C-3.
Okay.
KC-3R.
Final comments.
W-H-C-R-W.
W-A-3.
V-E-E.
Very good, Ron.
And don't have a whole lot more.
Excuse me.
You know, the one benefit of using my battery at night if the power is out instead of the generator is that it's quiet.
And we could still have water and things like that.
So, that's one of the reasons I'm keeping my battery bank for the sump pump and well pump.
And this will be my 73.
I'll be listening out.
Mike, pick it up.
W-3-M-F-B.
W-8-C-R-W.
W-8-C-R-W in the group.
W-3-M-F-B.
Yeah, not too much else going on here.
Just busy, busy.
Been busy with the wife with Dying Town Vintage.
And work.
And haven't really been on the radio much.
But I definitely wanted to check in tonight.
And say hello.
And hear everybody's voices and whatnot.
But, yeah.
You know, I'm so busy.
You know, that's the time when you're not prepared.
So, thanks for bringing this topic up.
And I'll definitely have to scramble.
Not scramble, but, you know, think of something.
Just in case.
Just in case.
I mean, I'm on public pretty much everything here.
So, you know, electric and gas.
But we do, like in the winter, like I've said before, we do.
As long as, you know, the gas companies and the water company can keep pumping it, we'll be okay.
But if that doesn't happen.
But if that doesn't happen, then all our preparations are really just apparent world with electric and gas problems, you know.
But imagine that, not being there.
What would you do?
What would anybody do, really?
So, that would be a chaotic disorder that I'm sure none of us are prepared for.
But, anyway, I'm going off topic here and going down a rabbit hole.
But, yeah.
I just wanted to say hey and hope everybody is well.
And keep fighting the good fight.
And I'll say 73.
So, over to Luke, if he's still there.
If not, Bill.
KC3SCYWA3MFP.
Still with us?
KC3SCYWA3VE.
You might have gone off to bed.
Let's just see.
Luke, you still there?
Like he's off dreaming about his 1929 transmitter, which I really do want to see sometime.
That's got to be a real hoot and a real tribute to him for putting that together.
Okay, Bill, over to you.
KC3OOKWA3VE.
Thanks, Ron.
WA3VE.
KC3OOK.
Yeah, interesting listening to the comments.
It gives me a few ideas of things I probably should do.
As far as stores, I have a lot of stores that I really like.
The second round of the list would be Cabela's, especially the one up in Hamburg.
And I go up there sometimes just for the tribute when I don't need anything.
Orvis, which may be closing.
They had a store in Downingtown.
Another good one.
But I'll also turn the question around a little, Ron, and name a couple stores that I just personally, for me, don't like.
And that's the big box stores.
I don't like going to Walmart.
I especially dislike Home Depot and Lowe's.
I know they have a lot of stuff.
But for me, the wood, unless you're building a boat, it's just you really have to pick through it to find anything that's really of good quality.
And as far as, like, with electrical supplies, I tried buying there when I wired the shop.
I went with a long list.
And I came home with 80% of what was on the list.
And it's not that they didn't sell it.
They just didn't have it in stock.
You know, they'd have the conduit, but they wouldn't have the connectors for that size.
So I just started going to electric supply for things like that.
And quite honestly, it wasn't that much different.
Sometimes I'll buy the conduit there, but nothing else when it comes to electrical.
So that's just my little pet peeve.
I'd rather keep the money in the local community.
You know, when I go to Oxford Hay and Grain, the owner of that lives, you know, I can see his house from here.
You know, so the money stays in the community.
But that's about it for me tonight.
But they're good questions, Ron.
And I'll turn it over to Wayne, KC3SQI, KC3OOK.
Okay, thank you, Bill.
KC3OOK, this is KC3SQI.
And I'm off the antenna mast modification for the weekend.
I think I have to siphon all of the gas out of the gas tank in my boat.
I'm having all kinds of problems keeping the motor running after I get it started.
So I don't know whether that would have anything to do with the fact that some of the gas in the gas tank is 10 years old
and is probably more of the winterizer and stabilizer than it is gas.
So I think it's probably time to siphon the gas out, get everything out of the tank, put in new fuel filters, and then put some new gas in next spring.
So other than that, not much happening at this end.
I'm going to turn it over to Chuck, NA3CW.
This is KC3SQI.
What you're talking about is actually one reason that I don't use my generator very often, unless I really have to,
because I use it so seldom that I really have to drain it, drain it dry every time I use it, because it may be months or years before I use it again.
So I don't store it with gas in it, because it just turns to jello.
And then you've got a mess to clean out.
So, and it's a chore to drain it all out.
It's very slow and smelly and all that sort of thing.
So it's like I really have to be driven to it in order to pull my generator out, fuel it up, and run it.
It's got a super engine.
One of those Japanese manufacturers, not a Honda, I think it may be a Subaru engine.
And it always starts right away.
If it doesn't start right away, I forgot something.
Like I didn't turn on the ignition or I didn't open the fuel valve or something like that.
So it works very well, but yeah, it's just not good to store the stuff with fuel in it.
To continue my list of favorites, I'm a bit of a strawberry snob.
So I get my strawberries exclusively from a local family.
They're a family in our church, actually, and they're about a mile away.
And it's called Glen Valley View Farm.
They're just better than everybody else's.
They're hands sorted.
Only the beauties get sold.
They do have seconds, and their seconds are better than most people's firsts.
They're red to the core.
They're just better.
And it kind of spoils you for the stuff they go in the grocery store or any other place where they're white and crunchy and just not satisfying.
So we freeze a lot of those.
We make jam.
Our corn comes from the field at the end of our block.
The kings.
They know how to charge.
They really do.
But when it's in the middle of the growing season, that corn is really good.
And so, again, we can some of that.
And we get our apples from AB Orchards over on White Oak Road.
It's an Amish-run operation.
And they're reasonably priced.
And we just get bushels of them and can them because we like applesauce.
So I guess it depends.
Bill, if I had the Oxford feed and grain a little closer, I'd probably go over there more often.
Now that I've got the trailer rehabbed, I may go down there for lumber.
But that's a pretty good haul from Parksburg down to there with a little trailer with lumber flapping in the back.
I have bought long lumber from them.
As a matter of fact, sometimes they're the only ones that would have it.
Yeah, so enough on that.
But I guess we all have our favorites.
For laptops, for computers in general, I get them from eBay because there's just tons and tons of off-weave stuff.
I get the officially refurmed ones, and they're, like, indistinguishable from new.
And they run for years and years and years, generally speaking.
And so when people want me to help them with a computer, I just, what's your budget?
And I get on eBay, and I get it.
For hamgear, QTH.com.
Because hamgear on eBay is generally way, way overpriced.
Let's see, other favorites.
Special hardware.
Nuts and bolts.
The stuff you just can't find in local stores.
McMaster and car.
Again, not cheap, but if you need it, they got it.
I get my parts, my car parts, mostly from Rock Auto if I've got time.
Otherwise, I just have to look around in local places.
So I wish I didn't have to rely on Home Depot as much.
But I do.
So that's that on that.
On my trailer rehab program, the trailer is now back outside.
And it's all painted and shiny and weather resistant.
That was the main purpose of the exercise.
And the tailgate, I put together with the help of Bill's biscuit cutter and his biscuits.
And so I put that together.
And I just finished one coat of paint on it tonight.
And then tomorrow I'll do another coat of paint.
And put the hardware on.
And then that will be ready to go.
So I just don't have time to operate, Ron.
So over to Jim, AF3Z and A3CW.
All right, AF3Z.
Yeah, you're making me tired here, Chuck.
Very good.
The wind last night, it was right around when I was going to bed.
Boy, well, somebody else described it as a freight train.
It didn't quite sound that bad, but it was significant.
But I went to bed anyway.
And this morning I got up, you know, checked the antennas.
And they were still up there.
And the trees, for the most part, were still up in the air.
So that was good.
But I had a doctor's appointment.
And they gave me a few more days to live anyway, I think.
And so I came home from that and got a little lunch.
And went out and picked up the sticks that had come blown down.
But the wind also really helped empty a couple trees that were still holding on to a fair number of leaves.
And as much as possible, I don't rake leaves.
I mow them and mulch them with the mower.
So I ran around and did that today.
So I basically have one tree.
Well, no, there's one out front, too.
But in the back, there's one tree still holding on to leaves.
So that'll take a while yet.
But the other two out of the three main ones back there are already done.
So that's good.
So that was my excitement today.
And I've done a little bit of CW now and again.
But I've been kind of busy here as well.
Something else across my mind.
Oh, I don't know if you were thinking of Honda, Chuck, as far as Japanese mowers and engines and stuff.
But that's what I have with the Honda.
A little 21-inch walk-behind Honda mower.
So that's about it from here.
Good to hear, everybody.
Thank you, Ron.
And Dave, over to you once again.
K-A-3-G-L-I-A-F-3-Z.
All right, Jim.
Thanks.
K-A-3-G-L-I here.
That reminds me.
I have a mess of leaves out back that I have to get to.
I do pretty much the same thing as you.
I mulch them up first with the mower.
Then I tend to attach my tube between the mower deck and the bagger.
And then I bag the bits.
And the back part of our property is wooded.
So I just...
I tend to dump all the bags in the same spot every year.
So it seems to work pretty well.
And I was thinking since Ron liked my coffee comment earlier, I might make a couple more comments related to that.
I really think anyone who really loves coffee should consider getting into roasting their own beans.
Just because when you think about the fact that the coffee flavor starts degrading immediately after the beans are roasted,
combined with the fact that you don't know how long it's been since coffee on the shelf in stores has been roasted.
You know, it's been sitting in the store a certain amount of time.
Prior to that, it was sitting in a warehouse somewhere for some time and maybe even a previous warehouse.
And so who knows how old the coffee actually is by the time you get it.
And there's...
They're very small roasters that'll do a quarter pound.
And...
Those of course are the cheapest ones...
To get.
Uh...
The one I have...
The last...
Price I saw on it was about...
$6.50.
It's actually my second roaster.
Um...
My initial roaster...
Eventually gave out after about 10 years.
And, uh...
I actually paid for my first roaster by selling some coffee.
So that was kind of neat.
Uh...
How that worked out.
And, uh...
Also, the...
The green beans are 20% water.
So that, of course, gets driven off during roasting.
So you'll have an 80% yield.
And you have to take that into account.
If you're planning on selling coffee, of course.
You can figure out what your true cost actually is.
and I also need to say that the beans put off a lot of smoke and it does not smell pleasant at all.
Do not try to do this in your home.
The closest thing it comes to, I think, is it smells like burning grass.
And so you won't truly smell the characteristic coffee smell until you dump the beans out of the roaster once they cool down.
Anyway, so there's a few more tidbits for anyone who might be interested.
I'll turn it over to Matt here.
KB3JTBKA3GLI.
KB3JTBKA3GLI.com.
Folks on the net, Matt may be putting his children to bed, so let's go on.
We'll come back here in a moment.
Leon, AA3LH, your closing comments.
WA3VE with the round table.
Alright, this is AA3LH.
Yeah, as far as sampling some of that special coffee, man, I tell you what, we got to get together sometime, field day,
and sample some of this special coffee and see what it tastes like.
But anyway, yeah, I like going to Ralph's Radio Shack.
If I don't buy it often, so what?
We like to go hang out with the guys there and just kind of like hanging around, looking at his radios that he has, wishing, you know, and saying, I don't need that.
I have radios.
I don't need that new stuff.
But maybe I do.
Someday I might walk off with a new radio there because he has some real nice ones there.
We have a water in store here.
We have usually a couple cases of water.
And we have some three-gallon water jugs that we, you know, for non-drinking water utilities, such as flushing a toilet, we keep around for that.
When they start calling for cold weather and real ugly weather, snow and stuff, that we kind of fill them up.
And that we hardly ever use them, which is great.
Because I don't care if I have storms or have that much.
I tend to deal with it the easy way.
But, you know, prepare that way.
It's how we do them.
And that's a favorite.
That's a favorite.
I store what we do for winter.
And when I come up there, sure, I come up there field day and operate up there.
I kind of, you know, like Ron Alaker, DX10, as I said earlier.
Or whoever's DX10 that is that was there.
It was nice to have that.
And maybe I would convince me to go and buy one at Ralph's store.
All right.
Now it goes over to Tim.
KB3AIS.
This is A3LH.
This is KB3AIS.
Thank you, Leon.
And for hearing all about what you've got going on there.
It was great seeing you the other day and giving you those trains.
I look forward to seeing when you get them set up at the church.
For my favorite store, now that I have a little more time to think about it, is a hole-in-the-wall
deli in Berwyn near where I live called the Neapolitan Deli, where when I ask for a roast beef sandwich, it is made by an old guy with a gray ponytail and a very weathered ACDC shirt.
And it is much, much better than the roast beef sandwiches made at various other delis in the area that are fancier.
For preparation, two things.
One is that when I bought the whole house generator that we have over 10 years ago, I was told that during Katrina, if you were above the water line, the gas service never went out.
That's the positive.
The negative is that the engine inside of that thing is a Generac, and it looks like it shakes so much I don't think it would last more than two weeks if it had to run straight, and that's being generous.
So it's of limited use other than for short-term power outages, which is mostly what we have.
And then the last thing is that I live on a small lot in the suburbs here in Malvern, but I managed to have a well drilled and convert our house to it and come off of aqua.
So that may be a little bit of an egregious prep work type thing to do, but I read all the laws and the setbacks from the future septic field and the current septic field and your neighbor's septic field and all of it.
And I figured out that I could get a well on my property.
And then I asked the well guy how I could do that, and he gave me the inside scoop, which was we drilled the well and called it an agricultural well to water the garden.
And then it didn't need as many approvals when it was put in at the health department.
And then after a year, I said, hey, this water's really great.
Let me convert it to the house.
And it was just a quick sign-off at the health department, so it was not that big of a deal to come off of aqua by doing that.
And then one more thing about the well prep.
So the well guy told me that there's all kinds of backup hand pumps that end up not working when you need them because they sit out in the weather all the time.
So I got this thing called the flow jack, which is a temporary pump that you can install in the well.
And it's a hand pump like a bicycle pump.
But that's my backup if things went to hell in a handbasket, which hopefully they won't, but who knows.
And so we have a bicycle style that we can put on our power one.
So I'll leave it there and send it back to Ron, WA3VEE.
This is KD3AIS.
Tim, before I turn it back to the main net, what was the name of that deli again?
Where is it located?
It's called the Neapolitan Deli, Ron.
It's on a strip of old stores in Berwyn.
And you wouldn't really notice it.
You could easily miss it.
But it's there.
It's run by a guy named Henry, who's been there for a long, long time.
And it's well-made deli food in a world of lack of quality.
Is that on Business 30?
Yes, it is on Business 30.
Very, very good.
Thanks for the indulgence of the net to get that data down there.
All very, very good.
Well, excellent additional comments.
I won't comment on much here, but basically thanks for the info and the flow jack, definitely.
And thanks, Dave, particularly for the information on the roaster.
I was going to go out and actually look at and see, investigate a little bit until you told me that it doesn't smell very good, at least in the process.
So that's very interesting, no doubt about it.
So always, always an opportunity to learn something new here on 985.
So that's all very, very good.
So, before we close the net down here tonight, the round table, just wanted to check to see if there's anyone else out there who perhaps has been lurking, or who is a late check-in, or wants a check-in as a late check-in.
We'll just put the call out there.
Any additional final check-ins for the 985 round table, please call now.
Hello, Bravo 3, Hotel Yankee Juliet.
Hello, Bravo 3, H-Y-J. Name here is Ron, WA3-V-E-E. And you're on a 985 round table tonight. What's the name there, and where are you located?
Good evening, Ron. The name here is Marco, and I'm located in Meierstown, Pennsylvania, just east of Lebanon.
Marco, I think I, I, do I know you from the welfare net over on Red Rose?
Roger.
Very good. Well, welcome to 985 for sure. I think you've checked in here before.
But, welcome, glad to have you aboard.
Did you want to make any comments on our questions tonight?
I know it's late, but still give you a chance here to comment.
I'm wondering what preparations you do in case, for yourself, your family, your homestead, if there's bad weather coming.
And what's your favorite store?
And our, probably for you, it's probably too far away, but nonetheless, we have a field day site, and I'm going to give the non-extras and the non-generals an opportunity to operate over there.
If you're ever interested, we'd love to have you come and operate.
But the first two questions, weather prep, and also, favorite store.
So, some quick comments, over to you.
KB3HYJWA3VEE with the 985 round table.
Oh, yeah, thank you for the opportunity. I won't say much. I know you're closing down here, but I do have a house generator. I do have a supply of fresh water. Of course, I have plenty of ham radio equipment and batteries. And that's about it. Favorite store. Oh, boy. I have a list too long to mention. But, yeah, thanks for the offer on the get-together.
But, just happened to be freezing by the frequency here. But I checked in once again. Yes, I had checked in before. And I'll close with that. 7-3s to everybody, and thanks again. This is KB3HYJ.
Marco, well, thank you so much. And don't forget to try to join us on Monday night, right after you check into the welfare net with Ralph and those folks over in Lancaster. Flip over to frequency here at 8 o'clock and join us Monday night on the workbench. So, very, very good.
I want to say thank you to all the stations tonight for checking into the 985 round table. A big thank you to Joe W3GMS for 49 years now making the 985 repeater available for the 985.
You are invited to use the repeater often. It's a great way to show that you appreciate the gift of 985 to the amateur radio community all on Joe's behalf here. Finally, we hope to hear you again on Monday evening at 8:00 p.m.
for the workbench when W3DIB, Greg will be the host. This concludes the 985 round table for tonight. However, feel free to stick around. Keep the conversation going. Have a good night. Great weekend. This is WA3VEE. I will say 7-3 and I'll be clear. Have a good night.
WA3VEE. I will say 8-3-LH with a comment.
WA3VEE. I will say 8-3-LH with a comment.
WA3VEE. I will say 8-3-LH with a comment. Or without a comment. Good to hear you, Leon. How you doing? WA3VEE.
It's slowly getting better, Rob, but it wasn't real fast like yours was. I don't know, this didn't turn out that good for me. I want to say the owner, the original owner of that New Holland Radio Shack, Steve Lillwyn, has passed on.
Radio Shack will continue to keep going on because Ralph has to go up the store and as we know him as Ralphie's K3KMT owns the store now. So the store will keep on going. That's what I wanted to say, A3LH.
Just a reminder on Steve Lillwyn, I did get the note through the W3RR news line there. And so for those of you who are not familiar, Radio Shack in New Holland was one of the last surviving Radio Shacks anywhere.
If you never had a chance to get there, I definitely would recommend doing that. I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Lillwyn several times on my visits to the store.
And Steve and Ralph, KC3KMT, president of the Red Rose Repeater Association. They operate a couple repeaters in Lancaster and surrounding areas.
Ralph and Steve both co-owned the store over there. So good guy. He will be sadly missed for sure.
And we'll certainly keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers. So thanks for bringing that up, Leon. I totally forgot at my demise there.
A-A-3-L-H-W-A-3-V-E-E.
I have to say something. A few of us sometime this coming week, they're going to have what I understand.
I wanted to pass it on to the guys at the Radio Shack. We'll continue. When Steve got real sick, as I understand, he signed it over. I guess Ralph called him out or whatever. So Ralph will continue to run that. It will continue to go. And he has lots of new and used hand equipment in there. That's all. And he's really back to net control.
That's good news. That's really good news, Leon. Thanks for passing that along. I'll still see if I can give you guys, you and Gene, a call this weekend.
And also, highly recommend anyone who wants to visit that store to do so. It is, as Leon says, very ham radio oriented. It's not your regular radio.
Sure. And what Ralph does is he encourages, strongly encourages all of his staff to get their amateur radio license. So all very, very good.
Thanks, Leon. I'm going to sign and go horizontally polarized. And I'll say 7-3. And definitely good to hear both you and Gene tonight.
And thanks to you and everyone for checking in tonight on the roundtable here.
WA3 VEE.
I was on the pole. I was at 160 meters. Okay, we'll talk to you later. 7-3 at 8-3-0-8.
Have a good one. One of these mornings, if I can't sleep and come down here to the shack on 75 meters, I'm expecting to hear you at 4 in the morning on 75.
Take care, Leon. Great to hear you. 7-3. And blessings, of course. WA3 VEE.
Thank you.