Huntsville Hamfest 2016

Linda and I attended the Huntsville Hamfest and met up with our friends John W8JER and Micky KE8ASK. They drove down from Sturgis, Michigan and we drove up from Panama City, Florida. I gave a presentation for the National Parks On The Air Forum at Noon on Saturday. It went well. I had a mixture of slides and videos. One video, about the Naval Live Oaks Biodiversity Festival, was made and narrated by Bob KK4DIV. There were some activators in the audience that chimed in. I would not have made it through without my buddy John K4KQZ from Tennessee who helped kickoff the videos at the laptop.

The four of us attended the gathering on Monte Sano on Saturday night hosted by Craig NM4T. There was delicious BBQ and lots of conversation. The show and tell included fldigi running on a Raspberry Pi 3 and the new LNR magnetic loop. I showed my Elecraft KX2.

At the show, I picked up another Jardillier French Made Special Forces Key. Those are hard to find. I think Neil the vendor there is the only one that has them for sale. I also got a MFJ 40 meter loaded whip for the KX2 and mini-banana plugs that fit the counterpoise connection. Linda out spent me on jewelry. Well that's OK.

I had some drama with my Chevy Avalanche. It had a terrible squeak. Fortunately I visited Russell Brothers Repair Shop before leaving town. The mechanic there narrowed it down to a lifter. His advice was to add Marvel's Mystery Oil. This eliminated the problem by the time I was halfway back to Panama City.

Linda and I enjoyed the fellowship with John and Micky and look forward to their stay in Panama City this winter. John has a new Subaru that practically drives itself. My only photo from the hamfest was this one that Micky took.