NEAR-Fest VI: Six Days on the Road...

[K5UJ]

Just a quick note to say tnx to John k4ozy for the ht18 and ht20 and to Todd for transportation from NC to Nearfest. Both rigs are safely in my basement, boy is that ht20 heavy!!!

Now to do the ht20 justice and get it on the air with the sx73 which was also from k4ozy.

73  Jack

Jack I hope I hear you on the air with yours.  I drove over to Hyde Park (Chi south side) to get mine and the ham I bought it from helped me put it in the trunk.  I told him the obvious, that getting it out at the other end was my problem.  My feeling at the time of course was that it was a nice problem to have. 

It sat in the trunk for two days before I told myself I had to get it out somehow and at least get it into the garage temporarily.   I've had surgery for two hernias so I was pretty nervous.  Back in the spring I stupidly lifted a B+ transformer for my new hb plate supply the wrong way, and was in bed for an hour with ice packs.   This time I got a furniture dolly and thought maybe if I pulled the rig out on the lip of the trunk I could quickly lower it down to the dolly and roll it.  That I managed to do, thank God for the handles, but I could feel the pull in my abs.  A few days later, a friend helped me move it into the basement.  When we got done he said, "Dang how much does that thing weigh?"  As much as two Ten Tec Centurions!   I told all this to W3HM and he said You got yourself a real boatanchor now. 

[KM1H]

Does it weigh more than a HT-9? Ive hauled 2 of those from car trunk, up stairs and down to the basement. I was doing serious swearing in Bill Halligans memory They certainly are dimensionally larger than the HT-20.

Carl
KM1H

[K5UJ]

Does it weigh more than a HT-9? Ive hauled 2 of those from car trunk, up stairs and down to the basement. I was doing serious swearing in Bill Halligans memory They certainly are dimensionally larger than the HT-20.

Carl
KM1H

HT-9 supposed to weigh 165 lbs Carl; if you can heave one around you a big guy--I'd have to take something like that half-way apart to move it 

Rob
K5UJ

[W1AEX]

Rob [UJ],

Curiously, I have found that most stuff that I could move around easily 25 years ago is now far more difficult for me to move. It must have something to do with global warming or gravity fluctuations through time.

Steve [HUZ],

It was great to work you and Todd [KAQ] on 40 meters last Monday. The conditions were exceptional and you guys were thundering in up here in CT. I still think Todd would make a great announcer at the A.A.R.A. "eternally transmitting" studios in Belgrade, Maine. Thanks for the audio clip!

Rob W1AEX

[Carl WA1KPD]

Does it weigh more than a HT-9? Ive hauled 2 of those from car trunk, up stairs and down to the basement. I was doing serious swearing in Bill Halligans memory They certainly are dimensionally larger than the HT-20.

Carl
KM1H

HT-9 supposed to weigh 165 lbs Carl; if you can heave one around you a big guy--I'd have to take something like that half-way apart to move it 

Rob
K5UJ

Having owned 3 of them they are ONLY 125 lbs 

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Having owned 3 of them they are ONLY 125 lbs 

Yeah, never realized how lucky I was or what a favor you did me, Carl.

Rob, your HT-20 is the first case of the distorted pot metal bezel I've seen, though I've heard of more than a few on the SX-88s. Makes you wonder why they'd build some of the highest quality gear Hallicrafters ever made, then go cheap on the bezel. There had to have been ample examples of failed mixes even back then.

BTW, of the original 3 founders of NEAR-Fest, 2 are AMers and the third certainly a fan if not active participant. And of the 9-10 team members now, three are solid AMers, so the 'AM Feel' is no coincidence. There are even a couple of YCCC contesters on the team, but they're not the rabid type you hear on the air, basically decent guys who also enjoy radio and old time hamfests. The AM crowd have always been a hands-on lot, which translates well into making the gears mesh in an event like this.

It'd be easier with a slice of Ma Bigelow's berry pieee.....

Everything is easier with Ma B's pie. No idea why, but you made me think of you and HUZ sitting out on the front steps last October peeling taters for the last party. Still wish I'd gotten at least *one* shot of that! 

It's as though I was there.

Uh....that's because....you....were? At least for most of it. And even though you missed dinner in VT, you still managed to score some pie. Mom must like you better.   

My biggest regret is that I didn't break out the camera at PJP's place and get some shots of his big tower and all the beautiful radio in his shack. Bonehead move on my part.

Same here. Left mine sitting in your car, later my spare batteries got buried up in one of the many boxes of schtuff. Between his tower site and radio room at home, the 'PJP visit is something you really gotta see to believe.

I'd like to add for Jack and others, that it was Steve's cruiser that made the delivery of the HT-20 and other goodies. I just helped out with the pre-planning/organizing/loading on this end. Steve had handled the arrangements for Slab's plate iron in advance, making the AM Pony Express work smoothly. Quite honestly, if we don't need it 'yesterday', we're foolish not to use these events as well as each other to move heavy gear around. It negates the FedEx/USPS/UPS crunch effect.