A Great Show

Thursday evening past, my wife and I travelled to the city of Kanata, west of Ottawa, to attend the Harlem Globetrotters game against the Global Selects. We had seen them once before, some forty years ago in the old Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.  This time we had excellent seats, – on the floor at the south end, directly under the basket. Being in the second row, we were able to see everything but were unlikely to have a player land in one of our laps.

Needless to say thew show was tremendous. The modern version of the Globetrotters may not be a wizardly as the earlier incarnations, but they still know how to put on a show. To the tune Sweet Georgia Brown they put on a show of precision passing and great shotmaking before the actual game. During the game the fun continued, with the inevitable bucket of water directed at the fans followed by one filled with confetti.

They even encouraged a four-year-old boy to join them on the floor to attempt some of their moves. This kid did an amazing job of it too.

Attached are several pictures I took at the game. They are smallish but I imagine if one were to copy and paste one could enlarge them without much effort. I also shot some video clips which I will try to upload at a later time.

73,

Glenn

Another giant has left us.

From the ARRL Newsline

04/02/2013

J. Kenneth Pulfer, VE3PU, of Ottawa, Ontario, passed away Sunday, March 31 after a long illness. He was 80. In 1994, Pulfer became the Secretary, then Secretary Treasurer for the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), that country’s IARU Member Society. He also served as the RAC’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Vice President for International Affairs. When former ARRL Chief Technology Officer Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, retired in 2009, Pulfer took over as Chairman of the ITU Radiocommunication Sector’s Working Party 5A Working Group 1, the “home” of the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services in the ITU structure. He served as an IARU Technical Representative for 15 years, culminating with the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12).

“Ken Pulfer was a consummate gentlemen and a tireless worker for the IARU,” IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, told the ARRL. “His efforts as Chairman of the ITU Working Group cumulated with our success at WRC-12 in obtaining a secondary allocation at 472-479 kHz. When Ken announced his retirement at the annual dinner of the International Amateur Radio Club during WRC-12, he received accolades from many of those present, including ITU Secretary General Dr Hamadoun Touré, HB9EHT, and from the heads of a number of delegations. He was a well-respected member of the ITU community. We will all miss his keen intellect and support of the Amateur Radio Service.”

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, recalled two of the many highlights of Pulfer’s volunteer career with the IARU: “The first was his extraordinarily patient and dogged effort to secure protections for the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Service at WRC-03, where an allocation for spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) was created at 432-438 MHz. The story is told in Ken’s own words in the September 2003 issue of QST. The constraints placed on SARs include significant protection for amateur satellites — quite an achievement given that the allocation for amateur satellites at 435-438 MHz is on a non-interference basis. The second was his success in persuading the Canadian administration to give its active support to an amateur MF allocation, which contributed greatly to our achieving the new allocation of 472-479 kHz at WRC-12. Once again, it was Ken’s persistence that carried the day.”

“Ken’s chairmanship capped a long professional and volunteer career in engineering and spectrum management, and was marked by the successful effort to obtain a secondary international MF allocation for the Amateur Radio Service at 472-479 kHz,” said ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX. “Ken spent 15 years in his retirement representing the Radio Amateurs of Canada and the IARU at various meetings in Geneva. His professionalism, insight and positive attitude inspired and improved all who worked with him.”

Licensed since he was a high school student in Manitoba, Pulfer received his first call sign, VE4KP, in 1949. Six years later, after coming to Ottawa to work for the Radio and Electrical Division of the National Research Council of Canada, he became VE3PU. In 1984, Pulfer — now the NRC’s Senior Vice President — received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba, his alma mater, in recognition of his contributions as “a very distinguished engineer and Canadian.” In 2012, the Radio Society of Great Britain awarded Pulfer with its annual Calcutta Key Award — given for work associated with international friendship through Amateur Radio — for his work on behalf of the IARU with the ITU.

“Amateur Radio’s strong position in the international telecommunications community has only come about because of the willingness of remarkable people like Ken to contribute their talents and extremely generous portions of their time on our behalf,” Sumner said. “Their effectiveness sometimes requires that they stay out of the limelight, but they should never be forgotten.”

In accordance with Pulfer’s wishes, no services are planned. Cremation has occurred and spreading of his ashes will occur at a later date.

RIP Ken ._  ._.

A Giant Has Left Us

George Hart, W1NJM, the “Father” of the National Traffic System has become a Silent Key. George was 99 years of age. He will be greatly missed by everyone who uses the NTS daily or even occasionally. It was George’s vision which led to the creation of the system which passes hundreds of messages daily across this great continent and to other parts of the world.

R.I.P George

Glenn

“Last Man Standing” to feature amateur radio storyline

The following was copied from the QRZ main page.

73,

Glenn

Ham Radio in Hollywood: Last Man Standing to Feature Amateur Radio Storyline

In an episode tentatively scheduled to air Friday, March 15, the hit ABC comedy Last Man Standing — starring Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, KA0XTT — will feature a secondary ham radio storyline. This is the first time that the show will highlight Amateur Radio in its plot, showing various cast members on the air and communicating via ham radio.

In Episode 217 — called “The Fight” — Mike’s daughter Mandy (played by Molly Ephraim), gets her cell phone taken away as punishment. She discovers Mike’s home shack in the basement and uses ham radio to make faraway friends. According to Last Man Standing Producer John Amodeo, NN6JA, the home shack is a brand new set built just for this episode. The ARRL provided many of the awards and certificates — including 5 Band DXCC, 5 Band Worked All States, 5 Band Worked All Continents, VUCC (for 50 MHz), the Diamond DXCC Challenge and the Morse Code Proficiency Certificate — seen on Mike Baxter’s home shack wall.

Two other regular cast members — Mike’s boss Ed Alzate (played by Hector Elizondo) and Mike’s co-worker Kyle Anderson (played by Christoph Sanders) — will also have Amateur Radio call signs and be shown on the radio.

“As a ham, I am very excited to be able to have an episode that presents our hobby in an upbeat and positive way,” Amodeo told the ARRL. “As a television producer, I am pleased to present a very funny episode for our more than 7 million viewers. This episode will feature more ham gear than seen in mainstream movies such as Frequency, Contact and Super 8 — all great films that had Amateur Radio in them. It’s worth noting that although hams will enjoy the episode, it was written with our 7 million non-ham viewers in mind. Please be prepared for some inconsistencies related to Amateur Radio, but enjoy the show nevertheless.”

Last Man Standing is produced by 20th Century Fox for the ABC Television Network and airs on Friday nights at 8 PM Eastern and Pacific and 7 PM Central.

http://www.arrl.org/news/em-ham-radi…adio-storyline

This is a scan of the QSL card I received from the show in response to a radiogram message sent last fall.

End of an Era (Sort of)

Well we knew it would happen one day. We just didn’t think it would be this soon. In September of 2005 my wife and I purchased a 1996 Ford Crown Victoria with 145,000 km on the clock. This was to replace our aging 1985 Grand Marquis which had seen 500k. With little maintenance other than regular oil changes, brake work and new plugs and wires, this car served us well until quite recently. It passed every E-test with flying colours as well. On Monday (yesterday) I took it to my neighbourhood mechanic to have a pre-E-test checkup done. When it went up on the hoist we noticed that the brake lines were rotting and needed replacing. Later he noticed that I was leaking fuel from the tank, which would also need to be replaced before he could use the torch. Then he discovered that the ABS controller was rotting and found out that there were no new ones available for that vintage of car.

At this point I decided that it might be better to retire the old girl and find something newer. Luckily we have a 2006 Montana as a backup, so I hurriedly called my insurance agent and had the liability insurance put back on it so I could drive it. I park it in the winter to avoid road salt. Now I guess I had better get it rustproofed.

My mechanic also agreed to do a little looking around for me to see if he could find another Crown Vic for me. This afternoon he told me he had found a couple, and pending a pre-safety check they sounded OK. One is a 1997 and the other is 1999. He also located a 2007 ex police interceptor which was available in my price range. The ’07 has a few more miles on it, but was also well maintained until it was sold to the current owner. The other two vehicles are western cars, which means a drier climate and no road salt. We are waiting to hear back from all three vendors and maybe I will have another Crown in the driveway soon.

The sad part of the whole scenario is that Ford made the mistake of making the Crown Vic too well. They simply won’t quit. The 4.6 L V-8 just goes on like the Energizer bunny. My old one had recently passed 400,000 km without any signs of slowing down. Sure, it needed a little body work, but that is to be expected after 17 years of highway driving. Other than that everything worked, so discovering all the problems was, to say the least, disturbing.

My wife prefers a car; I like a van. She smokes in the car; I don’t want her to do it in the van. I quit 18 years ago, cold turkey. I wish she would, but that is another story. She says she will – “when she is ready”. In my book that means never.

Glenn

A Real Gentleman Retires

Folks: I learned yesterday that Roy “Hoppie” Hopkins W3TWV of Clarks Summit PA is retiring from NTS. Hoppie is 87 years old and has decided to slow down somewhat from his previous undertakings. Hoppie has been a mainstay on NTS circuits in Cycle 2 for a great many years and I doubt there are very many of you who have not had at least one message from him with either ARL Sixty Seven – No Outlet or ARL Forty Seven in the text.
Hoppie picked up his last message Monday, ironically from me destined for KB3BAA and then informed the net that he would be relinquishing the reins. Hoppie was also a regular on the 3RN.
My suggestion is for each and everyone of us to either draft an NTS message and/or send a card to this gentleman. He has been a tremendous asset to NTS for a long time and will be sorely missed. His unique voice on SSB was instantly recognizable.
As an aside, when I passed the message to him today, it was obvious to me that he was very emotional. he required 3 repeats of the text of an 8-word message, which normally would be gotten on the first try. It goes without saying that it is difficult to write when your glasses are fogged up.
Talk it up among your friends and acquaintances as well, and let the entire amateur NTS community tell Mr Hopkins how valuable he has been to the system.
73,
Glenn

February QNI Newsletter

The February issue of QNI, the monthly newsletter published by traffic handlers for traffic handlers is now available. A copy (I hope) is attached below.

73,

GlennQNI February 2013 Comp