A Little Test

     I got plenty of time to play radio in my mobile shack today!  I had about a 7 hour drive (that took closer to 8, with a couple bathroom breaks and a lunch stop).  I started off the drive talking to a local ham, Roy, on one of the repeaters near my house.  It was nice to catch up with him because we hadn't chatted in a while.  We made our first contact a while back, because I heard him mention some things that made me realize that during part of his working career, he worked for the same company I work for now.  Consequently, it is also the same company my father worked at before he retired.  As it turns out, Roy actually worked with my father and knew him pretty well.  I heard Roy on one of the local repeaters during my drive and figured I'd say hello, and let him know I was headed to the buildings that both he and father knew as "HQ", which we now refer to with that loving title of “Corporate."  
     A little further in the drive, I made a couple HF, contacts; one with a ham from Chicago named Dennis.  As it turned out, Dennis was operating portable in a park close to where he lives - conditions must have been decent because we were both running "barefoot" on compromised antenna's - I on my mobile whip and he on a wire he had slung over a tree in the park.  That’s what ham radio is all about!
     After a couple other contacts I jumped onto a local repeater near the end of trip, and was told about a great restaurant by one of the local guys - it was just the thing after the long drive.  If anyone happens to ever be in the Westminster, MA area, I can strongly recommend The Old Mill.
     I'll have more project updates soon, so stay tuned!