Reality Check

Rick Donaldson’s “Reality Check” Blog and Podcast.

Thu, 31 August 2006 / 1627

Back to the Moon in 2014

Filed under: Sci-Tech, Astronomy

NASA announced today the award of a contract for the building of a manned space flight craft to go back to the moon.  The first Orion launch with humans on board is slated for 2014 with a lunar landing expected by no later than 2020, which will mark the first visit to the moon in 35 years.

As a long time follower of the Space Program, I’m glad we’re doing this.  It’s about time. I had hoped we’d go back to the Moon in my lifetime.  Hopefully , I’ll still be here in 2014, but that’s only a handfull of years away now. 

I will note that I haven’t gone to check Richard Hoagland’s site yet, and he probably already has some conspiracy theory up there about some hyperdimensional relationship to the word ORION, the year 2014 and the number of years between visiting the moon (35 years).

But, I’m betting if it isn’t there, it will be soon as he can collect his thoughts and  wangle some kind of religious connection to the ancient Egyptians, the Masons, Illuminati, NASA and President Bush (Senior as well as Junior). 

I’ll await that with bated breath…

Aside from the general conspiracy theory ramifications that Hoagland and others like him will come up with, this is a good day for Lockheed Martin and the rerst of the government contractrs that will be working on the new space program.

Good on NASA and good on America. More jobs, more education and more time in space for us.  Good luck to Lockheed, and good luck to NASA and good luck to those lucky enough to be chosen to go back to the Moon.

 

 

Me!

Filed under: Amateur Radio

 Rick Donaldson

Rick Donaldson somewhere in Ireland, October 2004.  I posted this because I had a couple of emails wanting to know WHICH Rick Donaldson I happen to be.  Since there are several of us blogging on the internet, and at least one is a musician — a claim I can’t and wouldn’t make (though, I can sing a bit!) I want folks to know which one of us they are talking too.

Now that you’ve seen me, don’t run away screaming, and don’t be shy. Register and comment on the articles.

RickD

Israel

Filed under: TransAsian Axis

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel’s part, (which I personally DO NOT) the following two sentences really say it all:

If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence.

If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.

I simply do not understand this idea that "Israel is at fault" for the war they are involved in today.  If Canadians kidnapped some of our soldiers, I daresay we might be pissed and try diplomatic means with a country that is generally on friendly terms.  But, if the Canadians were all, say "Evil Protestants" and America was "All Good Catholics" (like Northern Ireland, say….) and we were constantly bickering about who actually owns some area of North America, fighting had been going on two hundred-plus years, then I would say that diplomatic means would be out the window quickly.  Fighting would start and the Kanuks would be lobbing French made rockets at Detroit and other cities, and we would decimate, say, Quebec.

I suppose, if that happened, there wouldn’t be much of a fight, what with French made weapons that surrender in-flight…. ah well, good thing the Canadians are on our side, huh?  It would be pretty horrible for them.

Katrina; A year later.

Filed under: US Military

Hey, did you hear that Katrina was all President Bush’s fault?  I heard someone actually say those words.  I thought that they were being stupid, but, the individual that said it was actually put on television at one point and he repeated the statement.  Several bloggers on the Internet have said so as well.

Good old Howard Dean even said:

"The Bush administration just went back to turning [FEMA] into a dumping ground for people who evidently didn’t have anything else to do," Dean told the Fox News Channel’s Alan Colmes on Tuesday.

"And it’s really too bad because now people have paid for that with their lives," he added.

This was last year and still, people are complaining how a natural disaster is one man’s fault. You know, over the years I’ve heard some idiotic statements from the Left, but personally I think this one is a winner.

Then we have Cindy Sheehan, a mom who lost her son in Iraq.  I’m sorry for her loss but then for her to turn around and take that grief and turn it into a one-woman President Bush Hateshow is simply beyond the pale.  In one statement she made in 2005, she said:

"Well, George and I are leaving Crawford today. George is finished playing golf and telling his fables in San Diego , so he will be heading to Louisiana to see the devastation that his environmental policies and his killing policies have caused."

Ah HA!  President Bush caused this with "environmental policies"?  Lame, lady.  And I use the term "lady" very loosely in this case.  Cindy Sheehan is no "Lady".  She is a Leftist Looney, who like so many others on the left believe that one man is responsible for all of the worlds ills.

What about Katrina, a year later, you ask? Isn’t that the title of this entry?  Yes, but you know what I will leave that coverage to the Main Stream Media, with their idiotic remarks, their continual Blame-Game, their coverage of people like Cindy Sheehan and Howard Dean, both of whom speak VOLUMES more on the subject than I ever could of just how Looney the Liberal Leftist really are.

I’ll let them continue to speak for themselves, since they really do such a decent job to themselves.

:)

 

 

  

Wed, 30 August 2006 / 0701

Terrorism? Or not?

Filed under: Terrorism

Terrorism, according to various entities:

    * is defined by the US Department of Defense as "the unlawful use of — or threatened use of — force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives."

    * Defined by the US Department of Defense, International terrorism is terrorism conducted with the support of a foreign government or organization and / or directed against foreign nationals, institutions or governments.

    * The FBI defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

    * Webster’s University Dictionary defines terrorism as the systematic use of violence, terror, and intimidation to achieve an end.

No matter how you define terrorism, who defines it, or how they define it it comes down to simple murder of innocent people.  I’ve heard terrorists themselves try to define the U.S. military and our actions in Afghanastan as acts of terrorism.  However, there is a difference.

When you are the bully and you punch the kid with glasses on the playground, you throw the first punch.  When the kid with the glasses picks up a stick and pounds the hell out of your head, he is defending himself.  When you’re the kid who was picked on first and you defend yourself in this day and age, in American schools, you wind up getting in as much trouble, sometimes more, than the kid who started the bullying.

Therein lies the problem with American politics, and the American Psyche.  I grew up in a time, in Detroit, when my father would say to me, "If someone picks on you, let them. If they hit you, defend yourself.  They might hurt you, or beat you up, but you need to leave them more injured than yourself."  In those times, if someone kicked me in the lunch line, I usually kicked back.  But since I left High School many years ago, and have personally had to deal with these sorts of issues watching my children grow up, I saw a change.

This change has permeated society.  It’s a kind of thinking that really bugs me.  Schools have adopted this ridiculous "Zero Tolerance" concept that if a child defends himself against another child who starts a fight, then he is just as wrong as the bully.  This is carrying over into society.  

Now we hear that defending ourselves against terrorism is wrong.  In fact, in the past few weeks several incidents have occurred throughout the United States, including an attack on the Jewish Center in Seattle, Washington.  The media, the local authorities and even people in the area all appeared to conspire to say, "This was not terrorism, nothing to see here, move along!"

Last evening, in San Francisco, California a man named Omeed Aziz Popal driving an SUV or a truck, crashed into some people and then deliberately drove away.  At least fourteen were injured, including at least one child. Some are in critical condition.   Authorities said they believe Popal was the same driver who ran over and killed a 55-year-old man walking in a bicycle lane in Fremont, at Fremont Boulevard near Ferry Lane, just after noon. That crash scene is just blocks from Popal’s Fremont address, where he had most recently been living.

When I first saw the story, I quickly wrote it off as an accident. Upon further reading, it becomes crystal clear that this is a terrorist attack.  Here’s some more information:

In San Francisco, the attacks began around 1 p.m., but it was unclear in what order:

• Two people, one of them a child, were critically injured around by a sport-utility vehicle on the 3500 block of California Street in Laurel Heights.

• Three people were hit at California and Fillmore streets. Witnesses said they included a man with a broken hip and a woman with a gashed head.

• Two people were seriously hurt at Bush and Pierce streets and one person was seriously injured at Bush and Buchanan streets, police said. One person suffered minor injuries in an incident at 1850 Fillmore Street.

• Two other people suffered minor injuries when they were hit at Pine and Divisadero streets, and another two were hit and suffered minor injuries at Divisadero and Bush Street.

• One man was walking north on Fremont Boulevard in the bicycle lane when he was struck from behind and knocked several feet into a field. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man has a name that appears to come from the Middle East. He is a young male, around 25 years old.  We do not know much more about him yet, but I’m sure the authorities will work on finding out what they can.  However, I believe they will not rule this as a "terrorist" attack because they do not want to panic the population.  It’s time, in my opinion to stop coddling Americans.  

Tell it like it is. If this fella has ANY dealings with the Muslim Community then I think they need to step up to the plate and say so.  Tell the truth.  If he has been out of this country, then thrown the book at him.  He’s going to stand trial for murder most likely, but are there extenuating circumstance? Has he been to Afghanastan? Is he FROM Afghanastan?  As I write this, Fox news is reporting that his family "has an excuse".  More to come.

 

30 August 2006 1230 - Colorado time  — I just got this from NEIN regarding the story above.

Top Stories: US : Islamic Rampage in San Francisco - 13 Seiorusly Hurt, 1 Dead
Posted by admin on 2006/8/29 20:15:47 ( )
 
A Necessary Dose of Perspective: Omeed Aziz POPAL is responsible for as many deaths in a 12 square block area as "Hurricane" Ernesto was for the entire state of Florida. Where’s the media?

–Exclusive: Suspect has at least two Arabic aliases and recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan.

–Exclusive: "…there is a suspicion that Omeed could have received some type of orthodox indoctrination while in Afghanistan…the bride’s family did not want Omeed to return to the US, and attempted to exert pressure and influence against him to abandon his ‘westernized ways.’”- Federal agent, speaking on condition of anonymity

–The driver struck two people in front of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on California Street, just blocks from where the rampage ended. IDENTIFIES HIMSELF TO POLICE AS TERRORIST.

– A very special "Thank you" is extended to the highly respected Internet Blogger Hugh Hewitt for his rapid exposure and coverage of this incident.

Investigative Report by Douglas J. Hagmann, Director
director@homelandsecurityus.com

 

Tue, 29 August 2006 / 1208

Hugo Chavez… America’s next inconvenience ?

Filed under: TransAsian Axis

Hugo Chavez Concludes Visit to China and Arrives in Malaysia

Havana, Aug 28 (ACN) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wound up a visit to China and arrived in Malaysia over the weekend where he was expected to discuss ways to boost trade an energy cooperation agreements.

In China, President Chavez signed important agreements to increase oil exports to the Asian nation, international agencies reported.

During his stay in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, the Venezuelan Head of State is expected to explore opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the fields of gas and the oil industry, as well as in the production of palm oil, a major commodity of Malaysia, Granma newspaper reported

Chavez is scheduled to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after attending a welcoming ceremony at the parliament and being received by King Sirajuddin Jamalullail.

 

—As you can see we’re adding good old Mr. Chavez to our list in the "Trans-Asian Axis".  

Amateur Radio Primer #1

Filed under: Amateur Radio

What is Amateur Radio?

Amateur Radio, also known as Ham Radio and has been around for a very long time, since the early 1900s.  Throughout the years, Amateurs have contributed greatly to the science of radio helping even today with satellite systems, methods of digital transmission, as well as facsimile, teletype and even with the internet.  The modern internet is directly related to Amateur Radio in many, many ways.

To become a ham in the US (and most other countries) you need simply to understand some basic technical information, be able to receive Morse Code at five words per minute and demonstrate these abilities through taking some simple tests.

http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html - Start here.

In the US there are currently three classes of licenses now. According to the material I pulled from the site URL I gave you above, it says that technician classes do not require a code test, but I seem to recall that all three license classes had a code 5 words-per-minute code requirement. Perhaps they eliminated it and I missed it.

Why do you need a license?

The radio frequency spectrum is a natural resource.  Even though you can’t really "use it up" like you can coal or oil, you can fill it up easily with signals, and if these signals are not regulated as to who can use what, and when, then the entire spectrum would be filled with a lot of noise that no one could decipher.  Thus the "Amateur radio service" was born.  There was another reason behind it, back in the day… the Federal Communications Commission also wanted to make sure there were some trained radio operators to backfill positions in case of a national emergency.

Amateurs have done this, and more throughout the years.  Many of us have spent time behind a microphone passing message traffic, or using morse code to get a health and welfare message across the country to someone’s family who might have been affected by a natural disaster.  Amateurs were active during every major hurricane of this century that has hit the US Mainland. They were active during the 9/11 attacks, wild fires throughout the country and during blizzards and floods in the recent past as well as the distant past. 

If the frequencies we use weren’t protected by the FCC and other countries’ equavalents then we as hams would have not been able to pass such message traffic, or direct authories to locations where they were needed.

Types of Licenses:

Technician:

Hams enter the hobby as Technicians by passing a 35-question multiple-choice examination. No Morse code test is required. The exam covers basic regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory, with a focus on VHF and UHF applications.

Technician Class operators are authorized to use all amateur VHF and UHF frequencies (all frequencies above 50 MHz). Technicians who pass a 5 WPM Morse code examination are entitled to limited power outputs on certain HF frequencies. "Technicians with HF" may operate on the 80, 40, and 15 meter bands using CW, and on the 10 meter band using CW, voice, and digital modes.

General:
The General Class is a giant step up in operating privileges. The high-power HF privileges granted to General licensees allow for cross-country and worldwide communication. Some people prefer to earn the General Class license as their first ticket, so they may operate on HF right away.

Technicians may upgrade to General Class by passing a 5 WPM Morse code test and a 35-question multiple-choice examination. The written exam covers intermediate regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory, with a focus on HF applications.

In addition to the Technician privileges, General Class operators are authorized to operate on any frequency in the 160, 30, 17, 12, and 10 meter bands. They may also use significant segments of the 80, 40, 20, and 15 meter bands.

Amateur Extra:
The HF bands can be awfully crowded, particularly at the top of the solar cycle. Once one earns HF privileges, one may quickly yearn for more room. The Extra Class license is the answer.

General licensees may upgrade to Extra Class by passing a 50-question multiple-choice examination. No further Morse code test is required. In addition to some of the more obscure regulations, the test covers specialized operating practices, advanced electronics theory, and radio equipment design. Frankly, the test is very difficult, but others have passed it, and you can too.

Extra Class licensees are authorized to operate on all frequencies allocated to the Amateur Service.

I’m going to give you some more links here.

Go to this one for books:
http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/

This is set up in "three steps" to take you through each license class, learn code, etc. These are the manuals from the ARRL, American Radio Relay League (I’m a member) and I can highly recommend the last one for Extra class if you plan to get that far (stick to getting your tech license first though, because once you get your feet wet and you’re licensed there are thouands of Hams most likely close by you that can assist you with upgrading your licenses).

Alright. That said…

Here’s a "practice test" you can try. Go to this site: http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl

Chose "Technician" and begin answering questions. If you can get through the test and answer them all, you’re going to be able to do this no problem. If you aren’t sure, or don’t pass the test, no biggy, get yourself a Q&A book from the links provided above and begin reading them.

If you run into any problems, ask the questions you have right here, and I’ll do my best to get you some data to assist you in learning the material.

In other words, I’m more than happy to answer questions RIGHT here to help you out. [Smile]

So, get started, and if necessary, I can set you up to be able to chat with me live on the internet (VOIP) to make it a bit easier.

Rick

PS ANYONE that is interested in getting their ham license, please use this thread to get started, and lets get going. We’ll get you licensed in no time.

Links for CW or Morse Code.

(CW stands for Continuous Wave, meaning, that morse code is an unmodulated carrier wave. There is no sound, and if you don’t have the proper type of receiveer, say an AM only receiver, all you will hear is a puff puff sound. If you have a receiver that has a SSB/CW setting you will be able to reinsert a carrier, which is then "beat" against the incoming signal. That slight offset by several hertz is what gives the distinctive morse code sounds).

These are things on learning, and some programs.

http://www.hello-radio.org/clublist.html
http://www.learnmorsecode.com/
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/learncw/
http://www.cvil.wustl.edu/~gary/Ham/morse_learn.html
http://www.ac6v.com/morseprograms.htm
http://primera.tamu.edu/people/TAES/…aux/code1.html
http://www.mrx.com.au/
http://www.murrah.com/sm/
http://www.morsecodeonweb.homestead.com/MorseMail2.html
http://c2.com/~ward/morse/morse.html

Mon, 28 August 2006 / 1323

TAA back online!

Filed under: TransAsian Axis

The Trans-Asian Axis site is back online now as well.  Thanks Olav, thanks Ryan!

 

Trans-Asian Axis 

My Web Site is back Online

Filed under: Survival

My web site is back online, thanks to Olav Phillips!  Thanks Olav.  You’re the best Administrator I know!

Woot

Third Millennium Survival Web 

Personal Security

Filed under: Survival

Last Friday evening I did a presentation on "Personal Security in the Real World; Or Survivalism for the rest of us" at the Pubelo campus of Colorado Technical University for a professor friend of mine.

I thought the class went alright.  I suspect some of the students, all of whom are obtaining either "Homeland Security" type degrees or are involved in criminal justice degrees, probably got an earfull of my "survival banter".

Basically, I do this one-evening talk once per quarter for Dr. West when he is teaching this Homeland security class.  The course covers terrorism, international and local, as well as other things.  Dr. West is an intersting person all by himself, and I think some of his students come away with the idea that even folks with Phds can be a bit on the "kooky" side.  Honestly though, he’s not paranoid, he’s very AWARE.

Essentially, the class I give is simply a way to get the word out to everyday people to pay more attention to their surroundings, to pay attention to things and to think through various survival scenarios.   I think it is a very important aspect of life and probably has saved a lot of lives — not that I have saved anyone with my course information that I’m aware, but, I know that by myself thinking through "What would I do in this situation".  I’m not into the "What would Jesus do" stuff, I’m more a believer in "God helps those who help themselves" and I’m not going to stand around in a situation and let some Higher Being assist me, when I can damned well do it myself most of the time and why the heck bother Him anyway?

Hopefully soon, I’ll cover pretty much that course in one of my Podcasts (Reality Check).  

Why did you retire from Anomalies?

Filed under: TransAsian Axis, Anomalies

I have been asked this several times over the past year.  Here’s the answer, politically correct, or not.

Olav Phillips is a good friend (The Anomalies Network). He hosts my personal web page, for free for me, and has for many years.

He asked me to help him host the Forums many moons ago — almost ten years ago now — when Richard C. Hoagland (The Mar’s Face fella!  The Enterprise Mission) came upon some hard times.  Richard was having some issues with an ISP and not able to handle his site, they apparently shut it down or limited his bandwidth after a couple of interesting shows on Art Bell’s "Coast to Coast" show.

Around the very same time, Art Bell’s web site, run at the time by Keith and Mary Rowland went offline, right in the middle of the "John Titor — Time traveler" discussion.

I told Olav we needed to help, Olav already had in mind to get me on the site and run the forums. So, that’s pretty much how it started.

Over the years, we had our share of trolls, but conservative and liberal, skeptic and believer.  I have no problem with either group, and I prefer discussions that are, we will call them "somewhat heated" at times, and we wound up setting up rules for posting. Those rules were continually being ignored or the trolls would find ways to get around them very carefully avoiding the moderators.

Eventually, we got to the point where things were pretty settled.  Then Hoagland changed his idea of the way things ought to be.  He started telling me to ban people whom he previously wanted on the site, he wanted to close downt he detractors and I refused.  This caused a huge blowup on the site. Finally, Olav gave Hoagland the boot. He gave him 30 days to seek a new host, and haul his ass off of the Anomalies Network (and this was after we separated the Hoagland forums from everything else on the site).

We all went to great lengths to accomdate everyone, both sides of an arguement, ourselves, Hoagland and even to a degree the trolls causing the issues.

Finally after Hoagland found a new home and Olav transferred everything on the site, things settled.  Except for the trolls.  The staff had their issues with them and one day, I resigned.  Olav and I had a disagreement about things and I was being stressed to the max.  Olav asked me back, and I agreed.

However, there was an agreement made regarding the running of the site. By gentleman’s agreement, Olav made me "full partner" (hell, no pay involved and money coming out of HIS pocket all the time so it wasn’t that big of a deal to either of us).  He agreed that HE would be the network/hardward geek/guru as well as handle the amazing database, UFO pictures and the like, and I would be the sole person in charge of the Anomalies Forums.

I agreed, he agreed.

Over the course of a few years, this worked well, until the trolls decided to play mind games and Olav being overseas bought into it.  They created multiple accounts on the site, and started writing letters to Olav.  One day, after some personal issues had managed to keep me in total stress, someone started in on the "No plane hit the Pentagon" crap again.  I blew a gasket, locked a thread after spending time trying to get them to actually POST their evidence.

Olav countermanded me, reopened the thread and made sure to slam me publically about closing threads.  It wasn’t his field, it wasn’t his place to do it, and I quit… outright.  Then I found out about the trolls in the background pulling their crap.   I found out a lot of things.  It was too late, I’d resigned already.

Since the day I stopped being the administrator for the site, it has pretty much died.  Most of the major posters moved to the Trans-Asian Axis which has moved pretty much the entire political material to that site, including the terrorism forum, news, World at War forums and many other things.  The TROLLS are still there, on and off, and they post elsewhere on other sites about how "Evil" I was, but you know and THEY know that their own actions caused most of the problems.

The truth is, I’ve been working with BBSes, since the Dialup Days; since 1977.  I ran my own bulletin board service way, way back then, called AppleVenture ][.  It started on an Apple ][+ computer and ran little games people could play at the grand speed of 300 baud.  Eventually we advanced to an Apple //e, with lower case (ooh!) and a 9600 baud modem, a 20 megabyte HD and political forums, gaming forums and such things. We even had an email system capable of sending email as we know it today through various systems and into the real "internet" as it was begining to grow.  (We could send email to anyone with an email address in those days through Joey Schober’s "StarPort BBS" system).

Anyway, since those days, I’ve dealt with trolls, pirates, hackers, phreakers and just plain, old ordinary folks, and some famous ones as well.  Trolls have been there since the beginning and unforntunately, they won’t leave.  They will be around forever I’m sure since they seem to believe they have a "right to exist" to give others crap. I have no problem with freedom of speech, but I have a serious problem with trolls who think that they have a right to lie, say what they want and make things difficult on the folks that run web sites, and forums.

Anyway — I’m retired now from Anomalies though I still post in the Moderator’s Forum on occasion, interjecting my opinion on some subject or another.  Olav and I have, I suppose "buried the hatchet", though our relationship is somewhat "stressed" and we do not speak as often as I would like.  All I can say for certain is, Olav has been a very good friend to me in the past, and I consider him a friend now. 

TransAsian Axis Web Site

Filed under: TransAsian Axis

Our web site, the TransAsian Axis website is currently offline due to a server move.  Apparently some settings have been changed for the DNS and not yet updated.  Our guys are working on it, I have to assume, since I’ve not heard from anyone saying anything different.  The last note we received said something about changing the DNS information.

I do not have access at the moment to make the necessary changes to the server, so the site is down until someone else can get it running.

This means my personal web site, The Third Millennium Survival Web is offline as well for the time being. /shrug  Not much I can do about it at the moment.  This means, ultimately, I can’t upload podcasts, and you can’t download them.

 

Fri, 25 August 2006 / 1252

Amateur Radio

Filed under: Amateur Radio

First of all, let me introduce myself.

My name is Rick Donaldson.  I’m a ham radio operator, also known as an Amateur Radio Operator.  I belong to an organization called the American Radio Relay League which has been in existence since 1914.  Originally it was organized as simply a ham radio club.  Eventually, it came to be the largest radio related organization in the world related to Ham Radio. 

Today, the organization works closely with the Federal Communications Commission to assist in keeping our radio bands open, and the ARRL helps us to keep folks active.

I’ve been an Amateur since about 1990 and hold an Amateur Extra Class license, call sign N0NJY.  Locally I am a technical specialist under the Colorado group helping Bob Witte, K0NR and many others to assist ham radio operators in the area with technical issues.  I just received this appointment last month, and I thank Bob Witte for getting me on the team.  So far, in an official capacity I’ve not yet been able to assist anyone — but soon.

Today, I’d like to invite folks to spend some time learning about Amateur Radio.  I’ll give you a couple of links to examine.  I understand it isn’t for everyone, but, I think if you get the chance to try talking on the radio with someone across the country or around the world in person, rather than through email on the internet, you might get a kick out of it. 

Ham radio is a very old hobby — starting when radio was invented in the late 1890s.  It is a rewarding and fun hobby, and can be expensive, like any hobby, but it can also be accomplished without a vast investment.  You will learn about radios, morse code and how to communicate. 

Communications, especially radio communication comes in handy in emergencies, and you don’t pay "minutes" like you do on your cell phone.  You’ll make new friends, and perhaps convince others to join you in the hobby.

So, I’d like to ask you each to spend just a few minutes in the next few days looking into Amateur Radio. If you have questions, you can write me directly at my email address and I’ll do my best to answer your questions or point you in the right direction.

http://www.k0nr.com/  Bob Witte’s site
http://www.arrl.org  The American Radio Relay League

So, check out the second site especially and see what you might do in Ham radio and what Ham radio can do for you.

Good luck, and

73

Rick Donaldson

Reality Check Contact Information

Filed under: Podcast
Default Reality Check Contact information
Contact information for the Podcast Show, "Reality Check":

Host: Rick Donaldson


Email: TAARealityCheck@Gmail.com - Show comments, suggestions, gripes
SKYPE:taa_reality_check (Generally an answering Machine if online — You too can be on the show!)
Alt. Email address: rickd@anomalies.net
 
Website: http://www.transasianaxis.com You can send Private Messages there (Rick Donaldson)
Site Admin: Ryan Ruck — Send him PMs on the above link.
 
 
 

Reality Check - Podcast Show Listing

Filed under: Podcast

This message will be updated with a link to each new show as they come available.

 

Go here for all the shows:  Reality Check - Podcasts

 Show # Link
=====================================================

#1 - Reality Check #1  Podcast feed: Audio RSS (MP3)

#2 - Reality Check #2   Podcast feed: Audio RSS (MP3)

#3 - Reality Check #3   Podcast feed: Audio RSS (MP3)

#4 - Reality Check #4   Podcast feed: Audio RSS (MP3)

#5 - Reality Check #5 Podcast feed: Audio RSS (MP3)

 






















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