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.

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...

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!