Election Continues

The election continues through October and early November, so I encourage you to dig that ballot out of the pile of junk mail and get it sent back to the ARRL. It needs to arrive by November 16th.

We have had some interesting conversations on the local repeater about the election and the candidates. Personally, I think its a great thing that we have people interested in running for office and need to have an election. And I would like to see a good percentage of the ballots completed and returned.

But I try to keep my wonkishness under control. Most hams are probably more interested in the upcoming contest season, band conditions, getting their winter homebrew projects started, etc. And that's a good thing. If we spent all of our time agonizing over every decision and direction of the hobby then we wouldn't have time to operate. That is what directors and vice directors are for!

My big project for this fall is to get my ham shack built. Our new residence in Fort Collins did not have space for my collection of boatanchors and Junque, so I'm building a small outbuilding in the back yard. I hope to have the concrete pad/foundation poured by the end of this week and then start right in on getting the walls and roof up. I have to tell you, I'm suffering from r390a withdrawl. I listen to the local AMers on my little bedside DX-440 and it just isn't the same. I miss being able to fire up my big AM transmitter. Yes, for the same cost as my new construction I could have gone down to HRO in Denver and bought a very nice modern compact radio and set up a station in a hutch in the living room or whatever. And no offense to people who do that. But I need some bench space where I can fry transistors (and maybe even fix that Kenwood TS-820 that I was working on before the move).

Dig out that ballot and 'X' the boxes and get it sent in! 41 cents is a small price to express some interest in the ARRL organization. I'd like you to vote for me. Even if you vote for the "wrong" guy, the act of voting will give the Rocky Mtn Division more clout and send a signal that hams in this division are passionate about antenna restrictions, BPL, spectrum threats, growing new hams, etc. the whole list of issues.