Monday, April 30, 2007

Announcing: The HamFanz Audio Archives

After MUCH work by a couple of SWL’s (Sawyer & evvy), a new site has been established and is now up and running.

To start, there are just the 3.840 2003 files; but there are more (MANY MORE) to come soon! In fact, look for more .mp3’s this very week!

To get to the HamFanz Audio Archives, go to www.HamFanz.com , click on Audio Archives, and follow the Available links.
Enjoy!

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Heads Up!

A long anticipated, and planned for, BIG (it's gonna be BIG) NEW HAMFANZ PROJECT is about to see completion!

Yes, dear HamFanz readers, there is a NEW project under construction, something that will keep a lot of folks happy and busy! In fact, it will probably be ‘unveiled’ very shortly! Stay tuned...

Friday, April 27, 2007

Mailbag

Seldom does any week go by without some interesting, sometimes amusing, emails, including fan & hate emails, and rumors & hot tips that often need to be pursued, in one way or another. Usually such emails are routine and not worth a mention in The HamFanz Grudge Report.

But this past week, I again heard from ‘Arthur’, who uses a Yahoo.uk addie to email HamFanz – though he never gets a reply.

This time, ‘Arthur’ commented on Ben’s marriage (and Passport status), and the ‘state’ of the on air groups:

“Art Bell's continued absence from the ham bands has caused a definite change in the flavor of the two rival groups. ...the groups are becoming about as interesting as any of the other groups on any of the other amateur frequencies. ie: duscussions about antennas and gall bladder operations. “You might as well shut down the Hamfanz. It serves no pupose anymore.” (sic)

(BTW, it would be interesting to have the original ‘Arthur’ emails examined by ‘experts’, as it is my belief that the misspellings are intentional, to try to disguise the sender. They are just too ‘studied’ and simple. And certainly not consistent in all his communications.)

No purpose anymore? Perhaps HamFanz no longer suits ‘Arthur’s purpose’ but it seems to fill the needs for many others, Hams and SWL’s alike. Is Arthur intimating that Amateur Radio is dependant on Art Bell being there? Is Arthur intimating that mundane discussions are of no interest to ANYONE or just to Arthur? And just how does ‘Arthur’ have all the inside info on Ben Gardner’s kd7bcw, passport status?

(Ohhh Ben, how many of your good buddies have you shared this information with? My guess would be not too many! Perhaps ‘Arthur’ will email us when/if you actually leave for the Philippines to ‘buy’ your ‘wife’?)

I would think that one could take comfort in the fact that apparently, HamFanz, at one time, at least in ‘Arthur’s’ warped mind, DID serve a purpose, but one can’t help but wonder just what that was...

Sunday, April 22, 2007

NEW HamFanz Page

As of yesterday, 4.21.07, you can purchase HamFanz Accessories! To view the selection of caps, aprons and other cool stuff, go to: http://www.hamfanz.com/Accessories/index.html

Monday, April 16, 2007

3840Hams.Net is Sexist

And is once again running what could be termed by some as pornographic pictures. This comes as no surprise, considering the personalities and attitudes of the male Hams that operate and control this site.

On his www.3840hams.net site, for over a week now, Steve Wingate w6txh, has pictures of the female anatomy posted in his picture ‘slot’ (no pun intended). Close up and personal, these anatomically correct offerings to the public, though they pretend to be ‘clinical’ are definitely sexual in nature. It is not difficult to discern this, just read the associated text.

Does Steve think we do not know what human female genitalia looks like? Or is it that he does not know, and has had to look up material on the web? I wonder when Steve is going to post such pictures of male genitalia? Perhaps even his own? But then, I’m sure such a pic would not take up the 4” x 4” picture area, he’d have to Photoshop it to enlarge the prick, uhhh, make that pic!

Add to this that just today, Bill Crowell w6wbj, has added a sexist slide show of his own in his slot, titled ‘Big Bottomed Girls’. Yep, you guessed it, not one male in any of the pics in this ‘slide show’. When is he going to post a slide show of ‘skinny bottomed old male Hams’? He would not have to look far for material.

To add insult to injury, there are pictures on this site that have not been changed for weeks. Not that it matters, except that how many times have we heard this bunch get on 3.840 and bitch about the pictures on www.hamcams.com not being changed or updated?

Worse yet, their ‘token’ female member, Patricia ‘Elaine’ Gibbons (and that is a whole OTHER story) wa6ube, put up a picture after being invited to do so, about two months ago, and has not changed it since! Either she is not interested in the 3840hams.net site, once she realized what they were about, or no one explained the concept to her. Maybe a mixture of both.

If you wish to make a complaint about these explicit pictures not being behind an ‘age wall’, or that they violate a TOS, Suddenlink hosts the site, their TOS may be found at: http://www.suddenlink.com/About-Suddenlink/Terms-and-Policy/Acceptable-Use-Policy.html (note #5).

Monday, April 09, 2007

Jim’s Tuner n7js, two weeks and counting!

It has been over two weeks now since Jim’s tuner went down. There is no ‘update’ on his site http://www.jimandleah.com/ about the status of the Icom R-75’s repairs, or an approximate date when the site will again be functional.

Jim has not even posted to his private blog http://jimandleah.blogspot.com/ since Jan. 2007! Not a word on it about the Icom.

And what’s with Trish k4ze? On her blog http://patriciaray.blogspot.com/ she’s quoting the bible and talking about death! She is no longer streaming audio on her site http://patriciaray.net/index.html. Her latest interest seems to be videos. Jeeze...

But I digress, some SWL’s have been reduced to listening to artie’s w6obb, Pahrump Receiver; and about all that can be said about that is, it is better than nothing, and it may be better than Coast to Coast AM.

Others have actually ‘fallen back’ to the poorly edited, old ‘clips’ on SWL (or Ham stalker?) Sawyer’s audio page at: http://3840aa.com/index.php, or to the better collection of recordings to be found at http://www.archive.org/details/3840_HOM_Radio . Since Jim’s Tuner is ‘down’ neither of these sites has any recent recording posted.

For those who are flush, I would like to remind you of http://www.dxtuners.com/ , way back when it was free, and I am talking YEARS ago, I listened there almost every night. If you are really going nutso, it is a viable, if expensive, option.

Something that has surprised me is the lack of ‘streamers’. I would have thought that the egos that like to ‘perform’ for an audience most would have jumped in with temporary (or permanent?) streams, if not actual tuners. In fact, with the ‘squabbling’ going on amongst the ‘groups’ now, I would have thought that each group would have their own web sites with dedicated streams, hit counters, forums, and chats, to see who got the largest share of the audience.
Then again, perhaps this is just part of the death of amateur radio, and you all have just fallen apart (in many ways) since the departure of artie from the air, just as he suggested you would.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

HamFanz Birthday!






It is April - which means that HamFanz is now four years old; the HamFanz Yahoogroup was started in April of 2003, and www.HamFanz.com was put online in April of 2004.


It's been tremendously interesting, frustrating, and rewarding. This was mainly because I did not know what I was doing, how to do it, what folks wanted (often I was privy to wildly divergent 'wants'), or even what I wanted! Indeed, HamFanz remains a day-by-day 'thing'.


When I started HamFanz, I had no direction, no road map, no money (HamFanz was started on ONE $20 donation! You KNOW who you are!), no business plan, no idea how many hours I'd have to put in, no 'advisory' committee, and a poorly functioning computer!


What I did have was an idea. And that idea was (and remains) to make the SW hobby more fun for everyone, Hams and SWL's alike. Often that entails seeing then stating when the Emperor is Naked, because not many seemed to be doing that!


Being an experienced freelance writer, I did have an ability to 'report' what I saw and heard. Plus I think I was born with a great BS meter! I was also blessed with a 'trustworthy' character, and folks told me things KNOWING I would not reveal their source unless we had agreed to do so. I could 'take the heat' and most knew it.


Then there were more than a few folks that wanted HamFanz to 'succeed' (whatever THAT means), and felt it DID enrich their hobby be it Ham or SWL. These people gave me suggestions (not all of which worked out, I might add), ideas, financial support, moral support, and encouragement without which HamFanz would fold.


So, Happy Birthday to HamFanz (and all its' varied endeavors!). And a BIG thanks to everyone that continues to make it all possible...

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Tim Sheen n6mza, SK

It was reported that Tim Sheen n6mza, died in December of 2006 at the age of 45, of a sudden and massive heart attack.

Tim’s personality, on air presence, and reputation was so strong, that there was considerable doubt as to the ‘validity’ of these reports of his death. In fact, the first email I received about it on the day after his death, the sender claimed to have actually phoned the Coroner’s office in Sacramento, California, to confirm the event. Yes, dear readers, many thought that Tim was playing a ‘prank’!

The email ‘documentation’ of Tim’s passing kept arriving for months, here are copies of just two:














Today, just over 3 months after his passing, if you do a Google Search of n6mza, you will get 1,170 hits, many of the recent web pages being ‘memorials’ of sorts. Here are two:

http://www.geocities.com/matchbaux/n6mza
http://www.royhooper.com/mza.html

Finally, being assured that Timmie is indeed dead; here is a final HamFanz Grudge Report. Tim Sheen n6mza, is a Silent Key. Please do add your ‘remembrances’ of Tim Sheen n6mza, to The HamFanz Grudge Report as our 'own', forever accessable, memorial.

It seemed only fitting to add our own last good-bye on this April Fools Day!

 

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