Welcome to the Amateur Radio page of Jerry Perlman  

Located in South Bryan County, Georgia.  Cape Hardwicke - Grid EM91(iv) - on the Ogeechee River very near Richmond Hill and just south of Savannah, Georgia

This is the archive for a collection of random ramblings presented in a blog-like format since 2007

Click here for Nexrad Radar of USA 

OK, it’s been a long time but I’m in the mood – so it is time for a RANT !!! 

I am sure some of the things I’m going to say here are going to piss some people off.  If I do, I want to hear from you.  I’m also sure some people are going to agree with me.  I want to hear from you too.  Either way, this has been on my mind since I became active again a little over a year ago.  I’ve talked to a lot of people about this and had various levels of feedback and interest.  OK, so let’s get at it. 

Every time I travel I am amazed at how active and innovative clubs and individuals are just outside the footprint of the 146.970 repeater.  There are linked systems, UHF repeaters, Echolink nodes, repeaters with Echolink capabilities, cross-band repeaters, 220, 6-meter repeaters, you name it.  And I wonder – why the hell isn’t any of that being done in the Greater Savannah area?  It eludes me.  

A quick survey on QRZ.com shows no less than 1000 licensed HAM’s within the footprint of the 146.970 repeater.  But when I look at the membership of the 2 local clubs, CARS (The Coastal Amateur Radio Society) and ARCS (The Amateur Radio Club of Savannah) I count less than 100 members.  And the funny thing is with very few exceptions, myself included, most of the members of one club are members of the other. 

We also have no less than 5 VHF repeaters owned and operated by the 2 clubs.  And in reality most of them go unused except for the 146.970 repeater.  And these days it has it’s own set of problems.  Like Savannah needs 5 VHF repeaters?  

It is time for all of us that agree that the Greater Savannah area should unite our efforts and move Amateur radio into the 21^st century to say so and do something about it.  Savannah is a place that deserves to have the most advanced, and fun to use VHF/UHF system we can put together. 

I have been talking to some other HAM’s (that shall remain nameless for now) about a merging of the 2 clubs, or maybe even an association of CARS, ARCS and all the nearby clubs and independent repeater and Echolink Node operators in the area into a coordinated system that we can all be proud of and would be fun to use. 

With over 1000 HAM’s in the area a campaign to recruit people into the effort would be a slam-dunk for anyone familiar with membership development.  We have a ton of resources already, most going unused, and with nominal membership fees we could raise the operating capital to put all this together and make it work.  Chances are we already have everything we need. 

I would even like to propose a structured membership fee that gives seniors and HAM’s with fewer resources a break.  

And finally a name. 

I would like to propose this club or association be named after the 2 most influential people HAM radio has had the honor to have in our area and involved in our hobby – Curtis Lewis and Ed Bigbie.  Without these 2 guys the clubs in Savannah would find out just how much money those places we have repeaters are worth.  And I really think it would be nice to honor Ed Bigbie with something like this while he is still alive to enjoy it. 

Without Curtis and Ed the face of amateur radio in the Savannah area would be a whole lot different. 

The VHF/UHF radio scene in Savannah could be a lot more fun and a hell of a lot different if we all got off our asses (just a little), put differences aside and united to move our hobby forward and keep it alive and attract more new people into it. 

Hey guys, I know you read the stuff on my website.  I count the hits and I know where they are coming from.  So how about digesting some of this and letting me know what you think.  I think we can do a lot that we don’t do now.  Isn’t the hobby about innovation and teaching? 

Let’s start a dialog.  Drop me a note and tell me if you love it or hate it or if you want to kick my ass.  But let’s start talking about this. 

If you would like me to post your replies I’ll be glad to do that.  If you would like me to leave your name/call out and post it as anonymous I’ll be glad to do that also.  Just let me know. 

OK – End of RANT.  You can contact me at W4SGA@Perlman.net. 

73, Jerry Perlman   

Sunday October 21st, 2007 - Echolink, antennas in the attic and 60 meters -  It has been several months since I added anything to my site and a lot has happened since I last wrote.  The biggest change in life in general is after many, many years of working the night shift I have changed to a day timer.  It has been quite a change in my life and one that took a couple of months to get used to.  I still can't go to bed real early (like I should) and my radio fun hours have shifted from late night to early to mid evening.  Funny thing to that never happened on the night shift, I'm tired when I get home.  

The 60 Meter Band

Sometimes, when I can get home before sunset or just about sunset I immediately turn on the radio set and get on the 60 meter band. At these hours there is a lot of activity on the band, heard here usually on channels 2 and 4, (what the heck is that digital stuff on channel 3 and where is it coming from) and lately the band is hot.  There is a lot of mobile activity.  I am talking to many really nice fellas pretty regularly from out as far as Arizona and Missouri down to Florida and up to West Virginia and all points in between.  I've even made some Caribbean contacts and one HAM in the UK I've talked to twice in the middle of the night. 

This is really a fun band and one I consider a "gentlemen's" band (not that bad behavior is a real problem these days, it seems to me).  Everyone is on equal footing and that foothold is within reach of every HAM at a modest investment.  Since maximum ERP is 50 watts no one is trying to blow the other guy away with more power and massive beam antennas.  QRP is common.  Everyone is courteous and abides by the rules, as far as I have observed.   Since this band is shared with government users and essentially on loan to Amateurs, and everyone using it knows it, we're setting an example so perhaps we can be granted more spectrum in the band at some time in the future.  There is an official push going on right now to do that.  Sometimes this band is real quite.  Good microphones, audio processing and antennas are the focus of the people using and experimenting in this band.  Wire antennas seem to be most common but I have encountered few users of verticals.  

Sidebar - I am very interested in building a vertical antenna for this band so if anyone has some ideas please send them to me.  Since I am located on the bank of a salt water river and have the room for a ground field I think I am in the perfect location for doing that.  But for now I'm just tuning up my 102 foot inverted "V" and it seems to do just fine.    

This is a channelized band unlike all the other HF bands and most older radios, although you can receive on your general coverage receiver, they can't transmit on it.  The process for making my FT-857 operate on this band was not intuitive at all.  I had to get the book out to use it the first time.  Tuning up is challenge without and auto tuner.

But it has been a lot of fun.  I've sent and received a lot of QSL cards with folks and send cards to most people I make contact with on this band.   

So now after a little over a year of settling back into the hobby after many years off I'm finding 60 meters as a nitch I like.  Of course I'm still operating on the other bands but this is my favorite.

ECHOLINK

I recently discovered Echolink.  A few months ago I downloaded the software but was never able to make it work.  Router/DSL modem problems became a time consuming brick wall and I wasn't able to lick 'em.  So I forgot about it for a some time.  My curiosity was peaked a bit by my friend Mark, KA4CID because he had been doing mobile Echolink using a Verizon Air Card, and having big fun.  Then one of the guys I was talking to on 60 meters told me to download the newest version of the software and try the proxy servers.  I did that and it worked great!!  I spent almost the entire weekend on the computer talking to over 50 fellow HAMs.  I couldn't quit.  It was one of those amazing days of discovery.  I worked countries I have never even heard on the air before.  With a little more problem solving and some help from the nice tech support folks at Coastal Communications, my local phone company and DSL provider, we got ports 5198 and 5199 on my DSL modem opened and it worked direct !!  Now I find myself using Echolink more and more.  The communications are crystal clear and there are so many ways of talking to people, through links, conferences and the one thing I enjoy most, Echolink-ed repeaters.  I have regular QSO's with HAMs in Israel, Long Island and Staten Island NY, Alaska, Australia and some fellas out in New Mexico.  This past weekend for the Boy Scouts JOTA event I worked Echolink for 10 hours on Saturday and talked to kids and adult group leaders in Switzerland, Oman, the UK, Thailand, India, Japan and a bunch of stations all over the USA.  I made over 50 JOTA contacts in all and many of those stations had 10-15 kids I talked to.  I was a thrill.  

So now a regular part of playing on the radios is making sure my computer is signed on to Echolink.  Look for me there anytime you are playing radio too.  The next step is an Echolink Link Node here on Cape Hardwicke. Mark, KA4CID and I have been taking through all the logistics.  Equipment is being collected now and my goal is to have a UHF link operational here soon.  I am looking to get a coverage area of about 4-5 miles radius of my house, which is located very near Fort McAllister.  Thought I would use the UHF band since everyone has it and there isn't one single repeater in the area to talk on.

Antennas in the attic   

The final thing a wanted to mention was I took down all my outside scanner, UHF and VHF antennas and put them in my attic.  Ken Griffin, W4JKG gave me the idea.  He has a bunch of antennas in his attic and performance is great.  I was put over the top after talking for some time to Bob Harmon, W4WTO when I found out he has an antenna farm in his attic too.  I read as much as I could find on the subject and found this is very popular particularly in antenna restricted areas, which, fortunately is not the case here.  I was only worried about attenuation from the roof materials.  I have a 4 story house with a full sized, walk up, unfinished attic that made this a very easy project.  A hell of a lot easier than erecting and taking down push up poles outside that were never as tall as my house.  And getting up on the roof was just out of the question.  On a one story house when you are up on a roof you can always rationalize you might just get hurt badly if you fall.  From the roof of a 4 story house with a steep pitch I believe certain death is probably going to be outcome of any fall.  So the roof was not an attractive option.  Ken loaned me his MFJ antenna analyzer and I was able to decrease my db loss considerably with shorter feed lines and I will also decrease my chances of lightning hits and weathering of connections.  Adjustments are as easy as walking up the stairs.  This was a great idea that has increased my transmitting and receiving ability by several fold.  I have also increased antenna height by no less than 10 feet.  The fact that the antennas are in the attic seem to be transparent so far.  I am hearing things on my scanners I never heard before, and hitting repeaters 80-125 miles out solidly and regularly.  If you've been thinking about doing this don't delay, just do it.  It's a great idea and a simple solution.  Be sure to stay as far away from wiring and if there are walls or areas with foil backing this could present a problem.  But otherwise a far better idea than risking falling from a roof. 

Friday August 18th, 2007 - Devine intervention?   I received another e-mail from Ed Bigbie (W4MMQ) about the 146.97 repeater that is good news for ARCS. See below. I was hoping for divine intervention and it looks like these prayers were answered. Thanks Ed, without your help none of this would be happening and the 97 repeater would more than likely go off the air. If you are a member of ARCS you owe thanks to Ed and should tell him. Not playing on 2 meters much these days but I am listening to the 97 and 70 repeaters from time to time. Too bad the 147.330 repeater doesn't seem to get any use. It's a nice machine and is never used. Most of my activity these days is on 60 meters in the mornings and evening just before sunset. 60 is quickly becoming my favorite band. Even worked some DX to the UK.  By the way - QSL cards are going out and many are coming back. Thank you to everyone that has sent one. Shelby Hamfest coming up and I hope to go this year. Will post pictures when I return.  73 for now.

Here is an excerpt from a follow up on what was done at the ARCS 146.97 repeater site as a result of  the e-mail above.  Ed was instrumental in making happen.  We all owe him thanks for keeping this asset to the amateur community on the air.

The tower crew from Ogeechee Wireless performed the

Following work on the WJCL-TV tower, Friday and Saturday

October 12 & 13^th, 2007.

1-Removed the old Civil Defense 20ft antenna and tower mounting bracket from the 550ft level

and 550 ft of 7/8” coax cable.

2- Remove 350ft of old 7/8” coax that was not connected to anything.

3- Removed an old VHF antenna from the platform.

4-Removed Amateur Radio Club 550ft 1 ¼” coax cable from the tower.

5- Move the Amateur Radio Club vhf antenna from the 550ft

level to the platform and connected it to an existing 300ft coax cable using a 25ft ½” jumper.

As you know I measured the ground system on the TV building and the FM

Building on Thursday.

The readings were:  TV building measured 0.5 ohms.

The readings on the FM buildings measured 0.57 ohms

This is a very good ground, the two buildings are connected together

through the tower ground. Anything below 5.00 ohms is excellent.

Getting the antennas and coax lines off the tower should be a big help

below 500 ft, plus it helps clean up the tower. 

If I can be of any help at anytime, please do not hesitate to call me.

Ed Bigbie, PE  W4MMQ

CQ  the HAM KITTY calls the shack home

Thursday May 17th, 2007 - 146.97 - It's been a nice ride   I received the e-mail below tonight.  It sounds like barring divine intervention the ARCS 146.970 repeater is going silent.  It's been a nice ride thanks to the generosity of Curtis Lewis (W4LHS) and the unconditional support and help of Ed Bigbie (W4MMQ) over the years.  Guess we have to find another home, which won't be hard because the CARS club has a lot of nice repeaters on the air.  Guess you'll be hearing me on 146.70 or 147.330 in the weeks to come. 73  

A few thoughts on a great product, and it's free - Ham Radio Deluxe Software

Setup and connection was super easy and the first time I used my radio I had it connected to the computer using HRD software.  I cannot imagine using this tiny (but great) radio any other way.  About the only controls I ever touch on the radio are the on/off button, the button to activate the 60 meter band and the tuning knob.  I still like to spin the knob, which instantly reads out on the screen via Ham Radio Deluxe.  Every other control; band changes, recalling from memory, or any operating control other than the few I mentioned I control from the interface screen.  HRD allows customization of the GUI so you can really make it look any way you want.  I change mine constantly, making little tweaks here and there now that I have settled on a basic layout.

HRD contains the best logging software I have ever seen.  It opens as a tab on the operating screen.  It interfaces with QRZ to fill in information and it records time, frequency, virtually everything from the radio as you log to call.  It contains extensive data handling capabilities such as tracking status of QSL's etc.  There is a satellite tracking program as part of the program that works great and it handles all the digital modes, but I have yet to use them.

Oh, and I forgot to mention you can run your radio from a remote location, like in another room on a laptop or desktop computer.  This is a really great feature I seldom take advantage of but it is there and works great.  I have not tried it over the internet outside my home network but I understand it works that way too.

And best of all, it's free !!

You've got to check it out.  Go to http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/

Wednesday May 16th, 2007 - After several months of operating on HF and listening around a lot I have found several areas that I am interested in and having fun playing with.  For one thing, my interest in weak signal work on 2 meter SSB and 6 meters has been renewed by making several new radio friends and quite a few new contacts.  Band openings on 2 and 6 happen much more often than I thought, but the small number of people operating on these bands and the fact that most of those people do not keep the same schedule as me gives the perception/reality that the bands are dead.  So late night band openings and middle of the day opportunities go largely unused.  I can hear beacons on both bands, but there is no one there when I am calling to answer my CQ’s.  Fortunately some of these band openings have happened on the weekends, and that is when I have made almost all my new contacts. 

But I am still listening and calling CQ late at night.  If you are interested in giving any of the modes/bands I am able to operate on a try and if you are a night owl, whether you are near or far, maybe we can catch a band opening in the middle of the night and make contact. 

I am having a lot of fun with the 60 meter band.  I have made a lot of new friends on 60 in the region and even made contacts from as far away at the UK (in the middle of the night).  60 meters for me is a lot of fun primarily because of the power and antenna limitations which put everyone on equal footing.  No one has massive antenna arrays or big amps, everyone is running modest rigs, antennas and a maximum of 50 watts ERP.  Good signals depend on luck and conditions.  And some of the signals I have heard are great.  The conversations I have had on 60 have been very interesting and I have met a lot of really nice fellas.  I'm going to continue to play around and experiment on 60 as often as I can.

10 meters has opened up recently on a pretty regular basis and I have done my best to take advantage of it.  My buddy Lyndy (ND4XE) and I have been hitting some 10 meter FM repeaters up in New York State.  He has hit them pretty regularly.  For some reason I have had a hard time tuning up my antennas in that part of the band.  I am considering a vertical antenna now just for 10 so I can tune across the entire band and have better success working it.   

I am getting on the air each Saturday morning now and checking into the Georgia Crackers net on 80 meters.  I’m also spending at least a little time most nights listening around and talking when I can around 3800, listening for European DX and on 40 meters when it is active.  If I can get on the air mid-afternoon I like to try 20, 17 and 15 meters and I’ll always give a quick check of 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters.

More updates for follow as time and conditions allow.

Sunday March 1st, 2007 - I've been on the air for a little over a week and just last night my upgrade appeared on the FCC website, so I can drop the stroke AG.  And what a great week of getting my feet wet on HF.  I've made numerous contact on just about every band except 160 meters.  I've talked to folks in European and South American countries as well as the Caribbean and already quite a few states in the USA.  The work I put into planning and building my antennas using the advice of many of my HAM friends paid off.  Everything works great and very little tweaking has been necessary.  I'm making a lot of new friends on the amateur bands.  If I talked to you and you're reading my website know that I enjoyed making your contact and if we haven't talked yet, I hope we cross paths on the future.    

Sunday Feb. 18th, 2007 - With only a week to go before new rules take effect and I can have my ticket for HF punched, I am looking forward to getting on the air.  I have been working on my antenna systems and look forward to trying them out and tweaking them. 

I have been trying to work 6 meters with a new antenna I built as well and a little 2 meter and 70cm SSB.  At least for now I have decided they are a wasteland.  Aside from 5 contacts total on 2 meters and 70cm those bands have been hours of wasted calling and listening. 

Although I have only heard a lot of guys with kilowatt amplifiers and multi-element beams there also seem to be  plenty of operators only running 100 watts into wire antennas like me from Canada to the Caribbean and out to California.

Recent remodeling of my shop space has given me a lot more room for my radio hobby. The area that has doubled as a wood shop for about 3 years needed to change to handle a larger collection of radio and computer stuff.  So the wood shop has grown wheels and will move outside in nicer weather when needed.

January 20th, 2006 - UPDATE - I took the General test, element 3, Saturday January 20th in Brunswick and Passed.

It's a happy day !! New no-code Amateur rules to take effect February 23rd, 2007

SB QST ARL ARLB004 ARLB004 Codeless Amateur Radio testing tentatively begins February 23

The ARRL has learned that the FCC's Report and Order (R&O) in the ''Morse code proceeding,'' WT Docket 05-235,
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-178A1.pdf, is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register Wednesday, January 24. Assuming that occurs, the new Part 97 rules deleting any Morse code examination requirement for Amateur Radio license applicants would go into effect Friday, February 23, 2007. The League cautions that this date is tentative, pending official confirmation and publication.

''This change eliminates an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current Amateur Radio operators from advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of Amateur Radio,'' the FCC remarked in the Morse code R&O.

Deletion of the Morse requirement is a landmark in Amateur Radio history. Until 1991, when a code examination was dropped from the requirements to obtain a Technician ticket, all prospective radio amateurs had to pass a Morse test.

Tuesday Jan. 16th, 2007 - First entry - The code had always been a showstopper for me.  Like sleeping through a French class, it was always that exciting.  I know, some people love it and many of my HAM buddies think it is a right of passage for any serious Amateur Operator.  (and dammit they had to learn it) But it kept me back in the hobby for a long time and I'm glad to see it go from the test.  Good riddance to it as a filter to keep out the undesirable from HAM radio.    

My initial interest in radio dates back to 1962.  My dad got us a Hallicrafters S53-A receiver and strung a wire antenna up between some trees.  I listened to stations from around the world and covered the walls of my room with QSL cards. I listened to the HAM bands a lot.  I also remember listening to police, taxis and some old radio telephones back then but I have no idea what radio that was on.  So I became a listener, an SWL enthusiast, and was satisfied with that as a kid until I discovered girls, photography, rock and roll music and then broadcasting.

I earned my no code tech ticket at the first testing session under the new rules I could find.  My buddy Lyndy Brannen (now ND4XE) and I went to the Charleston, SC Hamfest in 1991 and took and passed the test.  My given call at that time was KC4YEC.

I was very active for about 5 years on VHF and UHF from my QTH on Tybee Island Georgia.  It was an ideal location for working stations up and down the eastern seaboard.

When the Internet came along in the mid 1990’s and computers starting to really become the tools of choice in my business, broadcast television, my attention was diverted from HAM radio to computers.  I also moved from my original QTH on Tybee to another place and lost my antenna farm.

I was off the air until October of 2006.  That’s when my friend Mark Eversoll (KQ4WT) gave me some old radio gear of his and I set it up and got back on the air on the 146.970 repeater in Savannah. 

Lyndy told me about the vanity call program that had come about while I was inactive so I checked that out.

While I was exploring the database of unused calls I discovered that W4SGA was available.  Everyone that is about my age or older that grew up around Savannah Georgia in the 60's - early 80's knew the "Rocking 140 WSGA".  It was a 1000 watt day/250 watt night AM station on 1400 that was the local rocker and  EVERYONE listened to it.  

It was also the first radio station were I was exposed to world of broadcasting.

So I was simply stunned !!  I couldn't believe that call sign was up for grabs.  So I paid for it and got it.  

So in tribute to all the guys that were "Goodtimers" on WSGA AM in Savannah, I honor them by keeping their call alive and on the air.  And I sure love saying it.

OK, I had the bug again.  And I now have the ideal spot for transmitting here at my new house on the Ogeechee River in South Bryan County, EM91, near Richmond Hill, Georgia.  I have ample real estate for any kind of antenna I might want to put up and a large area for a radio shack in my shop.  

This is my QTH on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County Georgia.  The wooded area on the right side of the house in this picture is where all my antennas are discreetly located.

I just got a new Yaesu FT-857d radio that I am controlling using Ham Radio Deluxe software via a CAT interface.  I highly recommend that as a compliment to this radio if you haven't tried it.  It puts all the functions of the radio on your computer screen and I mean all of them.  It is very intuitive to use and allows full customization of GUI.  Not only will it operate this and many other Yaesu radios, it will operate most CAT controllable radios.  It also has one of the best satellite tracking programs I've used.  And I love the log book that allows QRZ lookups and easy transfer of information to the log file.

I have a 35-foot push up pole with a vertical for 2 meters FM as well as a rotatable Cushcraft A270-6S yagi for 2 meter and 70 cm SSB.  I have made a number of contacts now on 2 meter SSB but only one on 70 cm.  I’m still trying.

I am experimenting with some satellite work, particularly AO-51 and building various antennas for 6 meters.  I have another 35 foot push up pole and a Cushcraft A50-3S beam for 6 meters that I plan to erect soon.

I have set up a all-band doublet wire antenna also, configured as an inverted V that I have been using to work 6 meters, but so far with limited success, outside of local contacts.  But I believe it is due more to poor band conditions.  It is running balanced line into an MFJ-969 Deluxe Versa Tuner 2. 

I am also spending a lot of time listening to HF using this antenna and the Yaesu FT-857.

The recent Report and Order from the FCC and its decision to drop the code requirement for all classes of licenses has rekindled my interest in the hobby and I plan to upgrade in the next couple of weeks to General.

So I hope to talk to you all on HF very soon.  Until then I’ll be listening.

I can frequently be contacted on the 146.970 repeater in Savannah and I am almost always monitoring 144.200 Mhz USB when I am in my radio shack.  My most active times on the air are late nights as well as weekends. 

Drop me a note if you want to try a contact on any band I can work.  73 - Jerry Perlman - W4SGA

Random Notes and Ramblings

The Earth is fine, save yourself.

From my backyard looking to the west. A clear shot for DX.

Contact me e-mail information on my QRZ page. Too much spam from posting a link on my page 

QSL Information - Jerry Perlman - W4SGA    205 Warnell Drive     Richmond Hill, GA 31324 

I reciprocate all QSL cards sent to me.

Coming soon !!  (taking a lot more time than I expected, but getting closer) Live Davis Vantage Pro weather instruments monitoring conditions on the Ogeechee River @ Cape Hardwicke.

My Davis weather station consists of a wireless solar powered ISS on my dock at an elevation of 15 feet above sea level.  It is over the water about 20 feet from the river bank.  A Davis wireless repeater sends the signal to one of 2 Vantage Pro consoles, one in my study upstairs and one in my radio room.  One of them is connected to a computer using the data logger and the computer is running weatherlink software.  My station has been in constant operation for almost 3 years and works perfectly.  Downtime so far has been zero.  I love endorsing Davis.  I owned several other brands of "toy" weather instruments before assembling this system because I got tired of looking out and seeing the wind blowing and getting no readings.  It is because almost all other systems update data at intervals of up to 90 seconds.  The Davis is near real time.  Davis is the real deal.  If you are looking for serious weather instruments don't look any where else.  The company support is great and ebay is full of the stuff.

Some of my other Web stuff and links to some of my favorite sites.

But first a word from my sponsor - my employer - WSAV-TV/DT - standard boilerplate corporate website with annoying pop-up ads, but a good source for news in the savannah area

In the late 1970's me and my partner Bill Blad hijacked a radio station for over a year and did wild and crazy things on the air.  Read about AOR on WTOC here.  It's a long story but kinda fun.

Lyndy Brannen's Ham Radio Page - ND4XE

Pictures from the Great Ogeechee Raft Race of 1976 sponsored by WSGA Radio 1400 AM (from ND4XE's goodtimer.com website)

For a number of years my wife Elizabeth and I lived next to the Tybee Island Lighthouse and made trips to as many Lighthouses as we could as often as we could.  Read about all those Lighthouses and trips here.

This is the story of our Lighthouse trip of 1999 to the Outer Banks up through the Chesapeake Bay.

A photo page I made for my Uncle, Alan Cotler, a WWII aviator/navigator in the Pacific theatre and a real American hero.

In Memory of my Dad, Jack Perlman.  Obituary page we had posted on perlman.net for about a year.

ARLHS.com  -  The Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society - I've had a lot of fun with these guys. 

Capt. Nemo's frequency list for boaters.  A really big list of mostly HF stuff HAM and otherwise.

K9EID - Bob Heil - check out his amateur picture page here. He shows up on the bands from time to time talking to his buddies on 3.875.

Austin Amateur Radio Supply. Best place for buying HAM stuff on the internet. Or so that has been my experience for almost 15 years.

The FCC - ULS

The big as hell list of repeaters - updated daily

My favorite talker on the radio, regardless of band, mode or time of day - Neal Boortz