Thank You
73 Donald
W5DWH

Thanks. We just became an affiliated club but don't know if the liability insurance that they offer covers this kind of situation. From what I see it covers the club from liability as we participate in bike rides, etc but it doesn't specifically mention about one or two hams working on a tower project.

I sent them an email for clarification.

73 Donald

Does your club have equipment such as gin poles, tower jacks, etc that it loans to it's members? If so, how do you handle the liability issue if some one borrows the gin pole, falls off the tower or drops it on someone. Then the club and it's members may get sued.

73 Donald W5DWH

If so how much are they as compared to regular annual dues?

73 Donald W5DWH

 I have only been a ham for 4 years so I don't know how it was years ago.

Some of the smaller ones may be declining but the larger ones are going strong.

These seem to be doing fine:
Ham-com in Plano Texas,
Belton Hamfest in Belton, Texas
Ardmore OK Hamarama, is actually growing. This year they have rented more space in the Ardmore Convention Center.

My only complaint about hamfests is that they shouldn't let vendor sell stuff that's not ham related - except for food of course. 

A hamfest is not just about the flea market, it's meeting up with your old friends and making new ones.

I will however admit that if I had any newer gear to sell I would put it on Ebay as I have a  larger audience.

I use cross band repeat quite often, a Kenwood TMV-71A and Yaesu HT. I have the Kenwood set up to ID it'self with my callsign in code. I use this setup for bike rallys, etc. That way I am not stuck setting in the truck, I can get out, move around and meet people. I have also used it for communications from hospital to hospital. The HT's wouldn't reach the repeater because of the hospital's construction but would reach our trucks in the parking lots. So we crossbanded through the radios in our trucks.
Cross band repeat has many uses.
It also allows me to turn the power down on the HT to its lowest setting so the battery will last all day.

I just bought two from Newegg.com.

Rosewill RCW-617 for $7.99 each. I needed an interface from my computer to the EZ-Rotor control in my Ham IV rotor. They have Windows drivers up to Windows Vista.

I taught in the community colleges in Texas for 12 years (TV repair, computer maintenance and EET). Rest assured that TSTC is a great school. They have a great reputation with industry. I would not however go into TV repair. I started out in that field in 85 and it's nearly dead. TV's and other consumer electronics are throw-away

I have had my 746 Pro for about 1.5 years. I have had no issues with the pa's or display.

My only comment would be is that it is sensitive to SWR. It starts reducing power at about 1.8:1 depending on the band.

I am happy with it and will keep it for many years.

Ameritron specs call for up to 100W of drive.

I bought 3 Icom's last year and received my rebate on all three. I have also received rebates on cell phones and Shell Rotella oil to  name a few. No problems with any. If you don't want the rebate, don't apply for it- it's that simple!

Remember "mickey-mikes"?

73 Donald

In the old days caps were rated +80%/-20%.

In over 25 years in electronics I have never seen a cap increase in value by that amount. As a cap gets older and starts to dry out it decreases in value, until it finally reaches open (infinity)

According to the latest issue of CQ, Kenwood says stand by for some new products....

I replace all electrolytic caps in old equipment. When I take a "new" one out of my parts bin, I always put it on my Sencore Z meter first. If it needs reforming the Sencore will do it without it blowing up in your face (like powering up a piece of equipment at full power might do). Some NOS caps may be 10 years old or older themselves and need reforming or at least checking for excessive leakage and ESR. Nothing like putting a supposedly good cap in a piece of equipment and it being bad.

73 W5DWH Donald