97 HAM and Lobster

Lets start with the lobster.

We got to Abbott's at about 11:45, and there were already people in the parking lot and at the window waiting to order. As I come here only once a year, it's ok with me, and it was a beautiful, albeit a bit on the warm side kind of day. In the picture at right, we sat out on the dock overlooking the water.

All four of us (me, my son, my brother and my friend Mike) had 2.5 to 3 pound lobsters. They were a bit more than last year, but I'll refer you to the "once a year" part, and I save my money for this day.

The picture at left, is the four lobsters. All waiting for us to devour them (it didn't take long). My son is at left putting on his plastic lobster bib. (yes, it's the only time it's ok for a man to wear a bit.. when having an enormous lobster)

The meal comes with drawn butter, a small side of cole slaw and a bag of potato chips.

 

 

The picture at right is my friend Mike, and my brother just finishing their lobsters.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, watching the boats go by and the lobsters were perfect.

 

On to the HAM part:

Now, to answer Mark's question from Friday "Is there a certain range you can reliably communicate within pretty much all day long?"

Actually, the answer to that question isn't quite as simple as it sounds. It all has to do with something called "propagation". In HAM Radio we use terms like ""Sporadic E", "Aurora", "field-aligned irregularities", and Ducting". What it all boils down to, is conditions in the atmosphere decide which way your radio transmission will bounce off of the atmosphere and make it's way back to earth. It mainly has to do with the levels in the atmosphere that are charged and bouncing back your radio waves. A lot of it has to do with sunspot cycles too.

Here's a good explanation of how propagation works.

For me, the basic rule of thumb was, get on the air, send out a CQ, and listen to who answers! My first antenna, made by me and my late friend Kevin (N1EPU), was an 18 foot long piece of wire. That's IT! Just a piece of wire, dangling in my yard. With that I made contacts all over the world.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!