Links:

American Association of Poison Control Centers - find your poison control center.

Afghanistan - CIA factbook with map.

Alinco DR-600 Info - text op manual and other stuff.

ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio

Once known as the American Radio Relay League.

I have been a life member of the ARRL since 1974. The ARRL is an official affiliate program of Citizen Corps, an initiative within the Department of Homeland Security to enhance public preparedness and safety.

Astron Power Supply Meter Modifications - analog meters replaced with digital panel meters.

Battery Charger in an XT power supply box - an Ibex charger for lead acid batteries.

Battery Cross Reference - a few common small batteries cross referenced.

Bird 43 Wattmeter - pages from the manual.

Bluebirds - pictures I took in our back yard.

Brandy - Our akita - 12/1993-11/12/2003 - Rest in peace.

Care and Feeding of Power Grid Tubes - Eimac's very informative book all about power grid tubes. The document is available as pdf's. Click on the link to "Care and Feeding" on the left Margin of their page.

Cell Phone Tower Fire! (http://www.bext.com/_CGC/pictures/celltowerfire.jpg) - unbelievable! I heard that this was caused by someone using an Oxygen/Acetylene torch to cut a hole or enlarge a hole in the base of the tower. Insulation on Heliax WILL burn! Slag WILL start a fire! (click here if that link doesn't work).

ANOTHER Cell Tower Fire, caused by welding! http://video.wjla.com/wjla/tower0414.wmv

Chiggers - Chiggers! YIKES! Itch, itch, itch... They're not insects and they're related to ticks!

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html



Chuck's Purple Martin Page - Gourds make good Purple Martin Houses.

Christmas Tree (neighbor friendly tower) - Watch the children's eyes light up.

Coax - Some common coaxial cable data.

Copper pipe dipole antenna construction for 2 Meters - The dipoles I built over ten years ago are still working.

Costa Rica Vacation and DXpedition - Pictures and more

Cuba - CIA factbook with map.

Ricky Culpepper - In memory of my friend, lost at too early an age, on his way to do what he loved.

Delta DC-3 and Travelair ride - Many Pictures from my rides on both.

Diamond F23 Antenna Defect - Defect in workmanship causes repeater down time

Dictation Buddy - A GREAT audio recorder with VOX. See High Criteria below.

Don't Panic - The truth about bios, chems and nukes.

Dremel Drill Press Stand Modification - Modification to make the drill press stand more stabile.

Dummy Load to test 12v Power Supplies - Simple load bank to test power supplies and batteries.

Dummy Load for High Voltage - Simple load bank to test High Voltage power supplies and transformers.

DX cluster - Spot your DX on IRC or Telnet. IRC gives you interactive chat.

Ebay Cheaters - Experiences with cheaters on Ebay.

ExpressPCB - Excellent printed circuit service. They provide FREE schematic drawing and board layout software. Many schematics you will find me post on my site were done with their free tools.

EZ Tuner - Auto Tuner using the Basic Stamp (ARRL web page for members only)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) RULES - All rules in text and .pdf format. For Part 97, Amateur Radio Rules, click on Part 97 and follow the links to the latest rules.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau - Universal Licensing System (ULS) - Renew your license FREE in minutes on line (vanity license renewal does require a fee), do license search, file modifications, address changes and vanity call applications.

FedEx Home Delivery SUCKS! 2/9/2006 - Today I found a package hidden in the pile of scrap metal in front of my garage that FedEx said they had delivered 7 days ago. It's been sitting in the rain all that time. They say their policy is that their drivers place packages where they think it will be most secure. Obviously they have VERY POOR JUDGEMENT. DO NOT USE FEDEX! Resolution: They wouldn't take a claim from me but after talking with their customer service I insisted on something to prove I called them. They gave me a case number. When the shipper called them, they wouldn't take the claim! I gave the shipper the case number and FedEx FINALLY accepted the claim. FedEx picked up the package from me. I had carefully repacked it in another DRY box with extra packing material and the old box in a plastic bag. Then I received a letter in the mail from FedEx telling me that the claim was rejected because of insufficient evidence. The shipper sent me a new component via USPS Priority Mail with no problem. Then FedEx RETURNED the wet package to me, in my packing, NEVER OPENED! They didn't even look at it! Then I received a check in the mail from FedEx for an amount LESS than I paid (this should have gone to the shipper that filed the claim, not me!) I endorsed the check and forwarded it to the shipper. Boy is FedEx screwed up! This isn't the first time they have demonstrated their total lack of common sense. Take the time they said they delivered a lot of 5 packages here when they had delivered NONE. Then after much complaining they delivered 3 of the 5 on the following Saturday. Then they showed the WRONG 3 delivered! They FINALLY did get them all delivered 4 days late. FEDEX SUCKS! If you must ship using FedEx, expect the worst of all customer service! Calling Customer Service does NO GOOD. Only the shipper can file a claim. GOOD LUCK getting any resolution!

Ferrite and Powdered Iron beads, cores and rods for EMI, RFI and resonant coil and transformer use - Amidon Corporation - Sells directly to amateurs

Amidon Powdered Iron Toroid Selection Guide, Ferrites for RFI - Fair-Rite - makes and sells a large selection of ferrite products through distributors

Field Day 2002 - South Fulton ARES Field Day 2002 - KM4O/4

Field Day 2003 - South Fulton ARES Field Day 2003 - W4ZT/4

Field Day 2004 - South Fulton ARES Field Day 2004 - N4LR/4

Field Day 2005 - South Fulton ARES Field Day 2005 - N4MAP/4

Field Strength Meter - Simple relative indications of power output

Firefox - Stop using Internet Explorer and use a less vulnerable, open source browser by Mozilla.org

Forrest Blades - I like and use the Forrest Woodworker 2 blade on my table saw. They do a good job

Franklin Heat and Air - Dean Hodges', K4MDH, business. Heating and Air Conditioning

Frequency List - Amateur, CB, DX Cluster, FRS, Marine, telephone, TV, CTCSS etc.

Fulton County Tax Maps - Tax maps for Fulton County Georgia

Fusiform Rust - The most common disease of pine trees in the South.

GE Mastr II Mods - A few modifications I've made to the GE Mastr II (Master 2)

GeoCaching - An interesting treasure hunt... Use GPS to find them

Georgia Counties Map - A very good counties map of Georgia from http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/histcountymaps/statemap.htm

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry - Search by City, Zip, County or Offender Name (Georgia requires sex offender registration and public disclosure). Know your neighbors.

Georgia Department of Corrections Offender Query - Search for All State Offenders By Name (all offenses) click on the GDC Inmate Query.

Georgia Flag - This flag was adopted on May 8, 2003. It was voted for by a 79% to 21% majority of voters on March 2, 2004. This is now the official state flag.

History - http://www.sos.state.ga.us/museum/html/georgia_flag_history.html

GI-7B Tube Sockets - I build these sockets for the Russian GI-7B.

This is the Cadillac socket that provides excellent electrical connection using finger stock in a true plug in socket with lots of air flow around the base of the tube. Other sockets suffer from inadequate air flow around the base and the possibility of the heater actually un-soldering itself from the center pin.

Gourd Page - grow them, enjoy them.

Gout - known as "the disease of kings and the king of diseases" - What is it? It's positively TERRIBLE! When the uric acid levels rise too high in the body it begins to precipitate out as needle like crystals in the joints. These crystals are responsible for your pain. There is an old but effective treatment for gout and it is a drug called colchicine. The problem with colchicine is the treatment prescribed by most doctors. Most of them tell you to take one tablet an hour until you either get relief or get sick. DO NOT DO THIS! You will get sick as a dog and it's VERY dangerous. An effective cautious treatment is to take one pill, wait 12 hours, take another and repeat this every 12 hours until you begin to get relief. Usually you will begin to get relief within 24 hours and the worst you usually experience is a little diarrhea. My own personal experience has been that I can take one pill every other day or so to lower the uric acid levels to help prevent an onset of gout. I take Allopurinol daily but at times I think you need a little more help. Never take colchicine without discussing this treatment with your doctor. Here is a fact sheet with more information from http://www.rheumatology.org

GS-35B Russian Triode - My Linear Amp Project - This page evolved from a group amp project started in early 2004. There are links to many amp projects by other hams around the world. There is tube data, Frequently Asked Questions, discussion, construction ideas and details and lots of information for the amp builder. GS-35B Tube Sockets - I build sockets and Teflon® chimneys for the Russian GS-35B.

This is the Cadillac socket providing the lowest stray inductance in the grid circuit, best grid and tube base cooling and the first PTFE chimney in the world for the GS-35B.

Guy Anchors - Rohn and AB Chance contend for the screw in anchor of choice.

Hamfest - Atlanta, GA - Pictures from 2007

Hamfest - Dallas, NC (this used to be the Shelby Hamfest) 2008 - pictures from the 2008 hamfest at the new location in Dallas, NC located in Gaston County. Better and bigger than before!

Hamfest - Shelby, NC - my pictures from 2002 and 2007.

High Criteria - http://highcriteria.com - High Criteria has a broad line of recorder software including Total Recorder but for radio use the best by far is Dictation Buddy. Dictation Buddy has a voice actuated (VOX) option. It can generate time and date stamped files and can create files directly in MP3 format. You can use this to monitor radio activity, telephone activity, or any other audio source. I highly recommend this fine piece of software for your audio logging needs. It is not free but it IS reasonably priced at $32.95.

Ibex Manufacturing - Great Battery chargers for lead acid batteries I use their chargers.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - the original chat on the internet.

Invar - What is INVAR and why is it so important to us? Invar is a steel alloy containing about 36% nickle (it's considered a stainless steel) and exhibits a very low coefficient of thermal expansion over the normal range of temperatures experienced by humans. That makes invar ideal for use as the threaded tuning rods in a duplexer! It has been used in precision clocks and was also used in surveyer measuring tapes prior to electronic ranging instruments.

Iran - CIA factbook with map.

Iraq - CIA factbook with map.

J-pole Antenna - My take on the infamous J-pole. I hate them.

J-B Weld - Not only is J-B Weld a great product, they have customer service, real customer service! I had occasion to contact them about something and they were very responsive. They get an A+ in my book.

Jimmy Carter - Do you think he is a good man bound by his Christian beliefs and acting in the best interest of the United States and our allies? Maybe you should check this link for a different view of the peanut man.

John Deere LT-155 Mods - Modifications I've made to my mower include a hitch and deck inprovement.

K4DPK - Phil Chambley http://k4dpk.com - Phil produces a fine VFO stabilizer for your old radio and a PEP wattmeter adapter which will turn almost any wattmeter into a peak reading wattmeter. Check this one out!

K4POZ - Ron Wilson - Screwdriver Antenna http://k4poz.com - Ron builds these antennas. It is a great performing Mobile screwdriver antenna covering 3 through 30 MHz. It is well built, well supported and affordable.

K4POZ - Amp projects including a beautiful legal limit pair of GI-7B Russian triodes.

K4ZC/KA4FHW - Frank's nice amp using the YC-156 triode.

KC4BMX - Odis' two tube GS-35B amp.

K5TYP - Some of my pictures etc.

K7RDX - Jim's beautiful YC-156 amp.

Korea, North - CIA factbook with map.

Kwanzaa - It is NOT what folks would have you believe!

LC Meter - This is an absolutely great piece of test equipment from Almost All Digital Electronics. Use it for determining the inductance of coils and capacitance of capacitors. You can measure very low values which is ideal for your RF projects.

Lebanon - CIA factbook with map.

LED Portable Lamp - This small clamp on light uses a 9 volt battery to provide portable light.

LEDs Replace Bulbs for LCD Back Light - My Kenwood TR-7950 looks new in blue...

Levitron Top - Way cool scientific toy... spinning top floats in the air.

Liberia - CIA factbook with map.

Lightning - Porcupine Static Discharger, Fulgurites and other tidbits - Reduce Lightning strikes. Build yourself the home made static discharge brush for the top of your tower. Tried and true design that does work and that you CAN build.

Lightning Detector Display - WD4CGT uses a Boltek detector and displays it on the web.

Machine Tools - An introduction to machine tools at MIT. Nice basics!

Mars Rover - Raw pictures downloaded from the Mars Rover.

Max - Gain Systems, Inc. - Allen Bond - WB4GNT - Allen is a great source for surplus parts, fiberglass, vacuum variable capacitors, roller inductors and many, many other items.

Metal Info - Melting temperatures and gauges.

Miller Welds dot com - Miller makes the best. They have great on line training too.

Milling Machine - My Enco Knee Mill, links and experiences.

Mini Ring Core Calculator by DL5SWB - This is a great tool for winding your coils on cores or air.

Monitor Gamma - Adjust your monitor to display pictures better.

Mozilla.org - home of the best browser and email engine - Make the move away from the vulnerabilities of the Microsoft products and start using the best browser and email engine. Firefox is the browser which offers you a totally FREE better option that blocks popups, is not vulnerable to the code written to infect the Microsoft products and which is open source and supported around the world. Thunderbird is Mozilla's email engine. It looks like Outlook but has none of the vulnerabilities of the Microsoft products. Download both for free and break the chain!

Multimode - programs for running Packet, PSK31, SSTV, RTTY and others.

N4DA - Milton Lord - The Radio Doctor - See Milton for professional Amateur Radio equipment service. Lots of experience and good work. Milton has some nice pictures of his handywork too. You've got to see his amp!

News and Weather Links - a few links I use.

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology - Time - Update your computer clock automatically.

NPR National Public Radio - subsidized left wingers - they don't deserve links at all!

NRA - I support the National Rifle Association.

OHMs Law PIE Chart - Makes it easy to work with OHMs Law.

Oliver's Music Store.com - A friend's local music store for all your musical needs.

OMAR KHAYYAM

("OMAR THE TENT-MAKER")

Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer

(c.1048 - 1131) The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,

Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,

Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

- The Rubaiyat (st. 71), (FitzGerald's translation)

Paul Harvey on Ham Radio - March 19, 2003 noon news and comment.

Phuzzy Fysics - Everything doesn't go by the book. fuzzy physi cs

Pine Mountain DX Rangers - DX fun by a small group of Georgia guys

Portable wire antenna - simple, light, easy to build.

PowerPole - The STANDARD 12 volt connector - Recommended by ARES and used here for everything.

Repeater - W4ZT/R Union City, GA - 146.625 MHZ (-600 KHz, 162.2Hz), 442.125 MHz (+5 MHz, 162.2 Hz)

Repeater Builders Technical Information Page - by W3KKC and chock full of tips from repeater builders. http://www.repeater-builder.com/rbtip/

Repeater tips from Mark, N1LO - large text file with lots of repeater information. If you can't reach his site, click here for the text file (archived with permission).

RF safety calculator - know your exposure to RF.

Repeater Updates - Latest changes at W4ZT/R started April 8, 2002

Rotator Brake Delay and Protection Circuit - Protect your rotator from stripping out the brake and make it easier to operate.

Rotator Cable Connector - Add a connector to your rotor cable.

Rotator Connector Replacement - Get rid of those rusty screws and refurbish!

Satellite Dish Polar Mount Setup - Complete setup including the pointing azmuth, elevation, dish elevation and polarization elevation for a polar mount dish antenna (big dish for DTV.)

Scanner Recorder - Another vox recorder. You can stop and start it and it generates a log file but the audio quality is lacking and the audio gets clipped.

Screwdriver Antenna by K4POZ - Ron Wilson builds these antennas. Mobile screwdriver antenna covering 3 through 30 MHz is a great performing, well built and affordable antenna.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) - Wash your hands. Wear an N95 mask if needed. Stay home if you are sick. Get medical attention ASAP. Read this link to the CDC. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands!

Snow in Atlanta - unusual amounts of the white stuff!

Spammers, please add these addresses to your list as they need all the email they can get (they are known to send spam email themselves: - dbirdsley@tds.net info@hamthreads.com

StarCalc - this is a GREAT freeware star chart calculator! http://www.relex.ru/~zalex/main.htm

Superflex Heliax terminated with PL-259 connectors - Using Andrew FSJ1-50A Superflex Heliax makes GREAT jumpers for a duplexer!

Syria - CIA factbook with map.

TDR - Time Domain Reflectometer - A few pictures from feedline at W4ZT.

ABC's of TDR's From Riser Bond - Select the library tab and pick Cable Test, Application Notes. Select the document from the list.

Technology Systems - A great source for Heathkit parts and information. Also a great source for some fine free data books and manuals. Check out the Navy Electronic Training Course and the Navy Grounding manual.

Thunderbird - Stop using the vulnerable email engines Outlook and Outlook Express. Make the move to the FREE open source email engine from Mozilla.org. Stop popups and viruses dead in their tracks!

TI8M - The Costa Rica CQWW expedition. Look up TI8M on QRZ.com for QSL info.

Time - NISTime - Internet Time Service - set your PC clock by the National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) - the free software does a good job syncronizing your clock.

Tomato or Tomato - A fruit or a vegetable? It's a fruit!

But the Supreme Court declared it a vegetable in 1893 along with cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas!

This is a good question and answer site for other things including the tomato:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/answers.html

Tonne Software - A great resource for technically-oriented software for designing filters, meter faces, diplexers and other neat stuff.

TopoZone - Topo maps. This is good!

Towers KC4HYM - Rick's tower goes up August 1 and 4, 2002

N4LR - Gordon's tower goes up August 17, 2002

N4OME - Darryl's tower comes crashing down in the storm of May 7, 2003

W4HK - Henry's tower goes up beginning October 21, 2001 and was taken down August 10, 2002

Tower - Parts - Sources for tower parts

Tower Leg Split Repair - Ice damaged tower leg repaired using TIG welding.

Tower - Rohn Tower data - Links to PDF data sheets

Tower - Tips from Mark, N1LO - large text file with lots of tower information. If you can't reach his site, click here for part one and here for part 2 (archived with permission). These text files may not be the latest version.

Tube Data Sheets - Electron tube data sheets.

Vanity Call Signs - I've had a bit of success getting the vanity calls folks wanted.

Venezuela - CIA factbook with map.

Vietnam - CIA factbook with map.

VIS Flash Cards from http://visradio.com - Follow the instructions and you'll have no problems passing your test to get an Amateur Radio License.

VK3ZL - Bob's beautiful GS-35B amp.

WA4DSY - My friend Dale has many interests including a 56k RF modem he designed and ROBOTS.

W4EMF - Lawson Summerrow - Good friend, craftsman, machinist. Great builder and retrofitter of amps. See pictures of many of his retrofits and construction projects. See GI-7B retrofits, 8877 retrofits, 813, 3-500, 4-400, 3-1000, 4-1000 and GS-35B construction. Clipperton L, Clipperton QRO, Drake L4B, GLA-1000, MLA-1200 and MLA-2500 retrofits.

WA4KCY - Andy Howard - AM Forever - Check out Andy's collection of vintage gear, beautiful homebrew equipment and the Southeast AM Radio Club (SAMRC)

W4HK (KM4O, WB4GKV) - Henry C. Kelley, Jr. May 17, 1934 - June 17, 2005. Rest in peace old friend.

W4IW - George's BIG M2 40 meter beam installation.

W4TH - Tom Hix (SK) ran Tom's Tubes... Used to be a good source to buy tubes for your amplifer, sockets, triode boards etc.

Waterfalls - Get your feet wet - Pictures of waterfalls we've visited.

Weather station from http://www.davisnet.com/home_static.asp - Davis makes one of the most popular weather stations on the market.

Weather station from http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/ - Rick, KC4HYM, has one of the WS-2310TWC units and likes it a lot. List price at $299 but sells for $179 at BJ's. He replaced a Peet Bros unit with this one.

Weather station from http://www.peetbros.com/index.html - Rick, KC4HYM, had one of these units and had problems with temperature and humidity sensor failure. The sensor's are extremely expensive to replace making it cheaper to just buy another unit... which is what he did... see above.

Web Cams - Some are Web Controllable (caution - streaming video is better with a high speed connection) Fairburn, GA - Live downtown cam - streaming video

Georgia DOT Traffic Cams - not streaming video, images updated about every 6 minutes

Georgia State University - streaming video

Web safe Colors - Challenged to create a graphic that looks good? Use the right colors and make it better.

Welding - A few pictures and other things.

Z-Match or Zmatch - Scanned schematic, parts layout, parts list, photographs of both UHF and VHF units and tune up instructions.

Atlanta, GA Hartford, CT Hendersonville, NC Toronto, ON

Interested in becoming a ham?

What is Amateur Radio? Think it's tough taking the test? It's easier now days. You can get a code free Technician class license and talk to all your ham buddies on VHF and UHF. The code requirement has been reduced to 5 words per minute for higher class licenses as well. New changes at the World Radio Conference may eliminate the code requirement entirely.



Make taking the test easy by getting the

VIS Flash Cards from http://visradio.com.

Follow the instructions and you'll have no problems.

The sunrise photograph at the top of this page was taken on November 13, 2000 by my wife, Patty, with our Olympus D460 digital camera. The time was approximately 0620 EST and the location was on Roosevelt Highway (Highway 29) North bound just South of the South Fulton Parkway / Spur 14 access ramp. She took the picture from the window of my pickup truck while I was driving. The top and bottom of the picture were cropped to improve the aspect ratio for better viewing. She loves telling how I FORCED her to take the picture but she's still proud of it.