W8JI,
 I can certainly relate to your frustration over the loss of manufacturing, and farming. For those who don't know Jacksonville Texas was once the tomato capital, we also used to have many manufacturers Nichols Kusan if your not familiar with nichols kusan you might want to do a search on it they made some of the best cap pistols ever. We also used to have Old Jacksonville Ceiling Fans, and many others. Unfortunately I have seen most of these large manufacturer vanish. We still have some plastic, and mold injection type manufacturers, but nowhere near the scale that we once had. I personally don't know that we will ever see those days again either, I would hope we would but I just don't know. Sorry for the off topic post just had to relate.

really enjoying the comments,

William K5WCF

Well, I wish I had a really awe inspiring story, concerning my road to being an amateur radio operator, but all in all it's pretty basic. I started working for Radio Shack back in 1991, and one of the things they told us as salemen was that it was beneficial to get your ticket. keep in mind this was when hams still shopped RS on a regular basis. Well I started reading Now Your Talking, and some of the other books we had at the time, but just never got around to taking the exam. Then almost 15 years later, I was listening to a local repeater, and I heard a guy talking about someone he had ran into that asked him about his HT and during the conversation he asked the guy since he was so knowledgeable, if he too was a ham, and the guy said in 20 years he had never made the time. So i decided then and there I was not going to be that guy. So within 2 mths after that I had passed my Tech 100% and then 1 month after that passed my General and missed 1 question, it's been 3 years now as a ham, and I am hoping to get my Extra done this year. I really wish I had done it sooner, but in my case better late than never.


William K5WCF

This is what I was hoping for, loving the responses here. This might even sway some newer, or even younger hams to take an interest in some of the older rigs and in some cases HF all together. Keep in mind my opinions are from a first generation ham. I was not brought up around ham radio, I discovered it at the age of 20 when I started working for Radio Shack, back when saying that was a good thing. So myself like some of the newer younger hams might not have any memories of glowing tubes, and homebuilt boat anchors.

So please continue to share with other the fascination, thanks

William K5WCF

Thanks Rick,

 I guess I really already knew the answer, I guess I am really interested in hearing individuals explain their take on having all these rigs. I find it kind of funny that some hams have their own personal museums, but I also find it very interesting, especially if they have a history or a great story to go along with the equipment.

Thanks again for the input, and I look forward to more stories,

William

I was looking through some pictures of various shacks, and a question came to mind. How did the idea of a shack full of radios come about? I mean I understand the need for a back up rig, or maybe an old seperate TX and RX rig, but I see 5 or 6 or more. I by no means am complaining, but really just wondering how and about when this mentality came in to being?

I look forward to reading some of the opinions on this phenomenom thanks,

William K5WCF

Went on Friday the 10th, first time to go. I enjoyed the tailgate sales inside and out. I enjoyed the main vendors, however felt like there could have been more of them. My hats off to the Yaesu booth, mostly because they gave out hats. I enjoyed the lectures that were available, and I enjoyed the many booths provided by the ARRL. I know I might catch some flak for this one but I was really suprised to not see Radioshack, I know this isn't exactly their cup of tea anymore, but this was right in their back yard. I would have liked to see something more in the way of free trinkets and such. I mean it makes me proud to be a Yaesu customer knowing they atleast were giving out hats more than I can say for Icom, or Kenwood.

I will admit I have not been to Dayton, but what I am trying to say is why not try to work toward other large hamfests elsewhere in the country. My reason for not going to Dayton is of course distance. I agree Dayton is legendary, both good and bad, but I will more than likely never go. I spend enough mileage running around the state of Texas going from one hamfest to another, and this is why I wish someone would consider something on the scale of Dayton for the central part of the U.S.. Be it Texas or Oklahoma, just something that grand a little closer to home, and thus saving me having to go to mutiple hamfest. As big of a state as Texas is it would be beneficial to us to have more quality and less quantity in my opinion.

I guess my question is why does everyone act like Dayton is the only Ham convention each year. I just went to Hamcom then there's Belton, and Lufkin's having one. I could probably spend most of my time going from ham convention to hamfest, so pick the one you like and go with it.

I'm sure you will get alot of opinions on this question, and this is just mine. I am running an FT-897d (almost always set to 5 watts) thru an MFJ 949E tuner out to a twinlead doublet hanging in a pecan tree about 15ft up. I have had this set up for around 6 mths or so, and have yet to ground anything. I have installed an external connection to the feed line outside the house, and make a point to disconnect when needed. I have made contacts up to 1200 miles thus far(on 5 watts). Just wanted to give my 2 cents worth.

William K5WCF

April 30th-May 1st. The Cherokee County, Tx. Amateur Radio Club (K5JVL) is announcing the 7th Annual Drakes On The Lake Special Event Station Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 1500 Z until Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 0500 Z near Jacksonville, Texas. Tentative frequencies will be on or about 21.375, 14.275, 7.275, 3.875. The club will be operating from the RV Campgrounds located at Lake Jacksonville. The CCARC will be exclusively operating Drake Equipment utilizing SSB and CW during the event. A certificate will be available with a 9 x 12 SASE to William Foreman (CCARC Certificate Manager), P. O. Box 8285, Jacksonville, TX. 75766.  Talk-in will be on 146.800 (136.5 Hz). We also plan to have an AMSAT demo during the morning of the 30th as well as examples of newer amateur radio technology. So if you find yourself in East Texas or already live in the area please fell free to come by and say hi, swap some stories, maybe even get on the air.

The GPS coordinates to the gate at the Lake Jacksonville RV campground are:
N 31º 55.269'
W 095º 17.404'
William Foreman
     K5WCF
CCARC Secretary/Treasurer