Years ago I had a friend who had an electronics firm. He mentioned something about "Waving his boards".  I asked him what he meant by that and he showed me how he soldered up his run of boards. The solder machine consisted of a very large tank of molten solder and a track above it where the circuit boards were slid across the solder tank. The boards were about an inch above the solder. He turned on a switch  to the air pump and a wave of solder rose up far enough to touch the bottom of the boards.  He just slid them across the wave and the whole board was perfectly soldered in a couple of seconds.  Sounds like something you had at your job.

I built a PTT switch by using a short length of PCV pipe and two PCV end caps.  A switch installed in one end cap and the cord exiting from the other.  You can use a momentary or latching type switch as desired.  Cost is minimal.

i have a jump box similar to this that I carry in my vehicle for emergencies.  I took it apart, drilled a hole in the case and now have a set of PowerPoles coming out of box. It doesn't alter the original but adds another advantage.

Lancaster Amateur Radio Club (near Buffalo, NY) has internet at our clubhouse and purchases it from Time Warner. Our APRS and IRLP is hooked to it also.

Batavia, NY   Hamfest  July 21,  2012

Saturday  -  July 21,  2012
      
Alexander Firemen Grounds   -  $5.00 admission and free tailgating

..Outdoor Flea Market - with the same venue as prior years

VE Session

Web Site-  http://gbhamfest.hamgate.net/

     Hamfest Sponsored by: The Lancaster Amateur Radio Club

Lancaster, NY  Hamfest

Sunday  - September 9, 2012       

Bowen Road Grove     $5.00 admission and free tailgating 

Web Site-  http://gbhamfest.hamgate.net/

     Hamfest Sponsored by: The Lancaster Amateur Radio Club

We have a clubhouse and a club station outside of Buffalo, NY. - Lancaster Amateur Radio Club.  We are lucky to have access to an old municipal building, a former Nike military barracks.  The club helps the municipality out with emergency communications and ARES with their Office of Emergency Management.

The building has a few small rooms- a radio room, a repeater room, meeting/testing room, repair room, bathroom, kitchenette, and storeroom.  Over the years the club has built up a collection of equipment and antennas. There were some SK's whose estates donated some equipment which helped upgrades. We have multiple repeaters, APRS, IRPL, Radio Classes, VE testing, and do Field Day, Lighthouse weekend, etc.

We are not a rich club by any means but have many active members and are always doing something.  Every Thursday evening we have a open house and everyone is welcome and different projects are being worked on or discussed.

Check out the club website for pictures and videos:
http://larc.hamgate.net/Club_Mainpage.htm

A good material to use is 5/4 pine step treads.  Loews or Home Depot have them in 4' lengths, all sanded and the front edge is already rounded bullnose.  That's what I used in my pictures.

You can use a MFJ BATTERY VOLTAGE BOOSTER to turn off the power when the battery get to a predetermined level. It can be set to shut off at 9, 20 or 11 volts.

http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-4416B

I have purchased many items from Universal. Their website is the BEST as it gives excellent descriptions and pictures of the items, even discontinued products. Their prices are good but don't be in a hurry to receive your order.  It may take a while and many times things are back ordered.  They have an excellent selections of misc. parts like connectors, wire, cable, insulators, etc.

I never had a problem with AES.  Shipping was cheap and I got all my orders the very next day, even a GAP Challenger antenna which other companies required personal pickup due to size.

Has anyone ever purchased from palacemuseum on eBay? 

They have pretty good prices on Icom microphones but I am wondering about the final price if you have to pay import duty.  Just checking to see if it is worth the hassle and possible warranty issues.

Sample add:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120608010198&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=MA%252BvSyFqRSy9j4m7W7bgj5ijC6c%253D

My ham club, Lancaster Amateur Radio Club, has been making ham videos from "This Old Ham Shack" and uploading them to You Tube.  This is something new we are doing and the videos are improving as we learn. The fifth one has just been produce.

Check them out at:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=This+Old+Ham+Shack+W2SO&aq=f

This Old Ham Shack W2SO

Chuck  W2EM

Most of my radio equipment has been purchased through Universal.  Some of the items were backordered but they tell you the approximate date it will arrive.  I had one item go bad and they replaced it without problem.  As stated, the website is very informative and helpful. Good honest company.