DELARANEWS
Joe
Joe Papworth, K8MP Howdy from Joe’s Place!Every club needs a Grant
He has been called Our Ambassador. That’s quite appropriate because everywhere Grant goes, he talks up our club and Ham Radio in general. I know, because I’ve seen him in action. He is the perfect guy for the job because he loves to talk to people, especially about our hobby. He seems to know everyone in town, many on a first name basis. He is proof that you don’t have to know everything about a topic to be excited about it and tell people about it. Recently, I assisted Grant with his Ham Radio demos at the art center in Delaware. Dr. Bob (every club needs one of those too) supplied the props we used, in the form of brochures, banners, and pictures. I must say though, that Grant’s exuberance made the day. I wasn’t too confident that he would be able to coax questions from the participants. The ladies running the place weren’t too sure that any of them would even want to sit in on the demo. We were all wrong. After making sure that Grant was able to get into the 145.17 repeater, I headed out to be one of the gang that would be communicating with him on the radio. I think there were three of us on the repeater to answer the audience’s questions about the hobby. They asked good, thought provoking questions. His demos there continued for another week or two. Meanwhile, he had been talking to the First Friday organizers about setting up on Sandusky St. They gave him permission to do so for the September event which fell on the 3rd. It was supposed to be him and me but I had to cancel at the last minute because I was feeling sick. (My Covid test was negative, in case you’re wondering) Fortunately, Paul, KB8PTL came to the rescue and though I haven’t spoken to either one, I’m betting it came off without a hitch. Though Grant’s poor eyesight hinders him, he doesn’t let it deter him from getting most things done. If he runs into something he can’t do, he has to ask for help and then wait for someone to help him. How frustrating would that be for you and me? Yet I’ve never seen him get angry or frustrated. Think about this: He has difficulty reading the LCD displays on most rigs. He can’t see the buttons on his rigs well enough to be able to change repeaters, much less be able to add a new repeater freq into one of them. He can’t read printed material unless it’s a very large font. He can’t see well enough to solder. Those are things we all take for granted. (No pun intended) Well, that’s it for September. Can summer really be over already? That’s not all bad though because we have football and Contest Season is coming. Starting next month, it seems like there’s a Biggie almost every weekend. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I hope to see you all at the meeting. If not, then at Joe’s Place in October.
Better Late than Never…
I have received QSL cards for QSOs that happened
more than 10 years previously a few times but this
must be a record!
This one showed up in a stack of QSL Bureau cards for
Bob. He handles the cards which have a prefix
starting with the letter “E”. (A Thankless job, if there
ever was one)
KB8ENW is my son Brian and this contact occurred
when he was a new Ham at the ripe age of 11.
DELARANews
Joe
Joe Papworth, K8MP Howdy from Joe’s Place!Every club needs a Grant
He has been called Our Ambassador. That’s quite appropriate because everywhere Grant goes, he talks up our club and Ham Radio in general. I know, because I’ve seen him in action. He is the perfect guy for the job because he loves to talk to people, especially about our hobby. He seems to know everyone in town, many on a first name basis. He is proof that you don’t have to know everything about a topic to be excited about it and tell people about it. Recently, I assisted Grant with his Ham Radio demos at the art center in Delaware. Dr. Bob (every club needs one of those too) supplied the props we used, in the form of brochures, banners, and pictures. I must say though, that Grant’s exuberance made the day. I wasn’t too confident that he would be able to coax questions from the participants. The ladies running the place weren’t too sure that any of them would even want to sit in on the demo. We were all wrong. After making sure that Grant was able to get into the 145.17 repeater, I headed out to be one of the gang that would be communicating with him on the radio. I think there were three of us on the repeater to answer the audience’s questions about the hobby. They asked good, thought provoking questions. His demos there continued for another week or two. Meanwhile, he had been talking to the First Friday organizers about setting up on Sandusky St. They gave him permission to do so for the September event which fell on the 3rd. It was supposed to be him and me but I had to cancel at the last minute because I was feeling sick. (My Covid test was negative, in case you’re wondering) Fortunately, Paul, KB8PTL came to the rescue and though I haven’t spoken to either one, I’m betting it came off without a hitch. Though Grant’s poor eyesight hinders him, he doesn’t let it deter him from getting most things done. If he runs into something he can’t do, he has to ask for help and then wait for someone to help him. How frustrating would that be for you and me? Yet I’ve never seen him get angry or frustrated. Think about this: He has difficulty reading the LCD displays on most rigs. He can’t see the buttons on his rigs well enough to be able to change repeaters, much less be able to add a new repeater freq into one of them. He can’t read printed material unless it’s a very large font. He can’t see well enough to solder. Those are things we all take for granted. (No pun intended) Well, that’s it for September. Can summer really be over already? That’s not all bad though because we have football and Contest Season is coming. Starting next month, it seems like there’s a Biggie almost every weekend. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I hope to see you all at the meeting. If not, then at Joe’s Place in October.
