HamFanz is 4 Years Old!!!

http://www.hamfanz.com/ is four years old today! And you said it would never last!

Actually, HamFanz has gone through several name changes during the years, but the 'mission' of the site, to bring Hams & SWL together is still its function. And the final nom de plume fits perfectly...

HamFanz REALLY began with the Yahoo Group, 3840 on April 20th 2003. The HamFanz Grudge Report made its debut as a blog on 8.6.05. But the .com site formally went up on 4.1.04, (April Fool's Day, of course!) so that is the 'date' formally celebrated!

Just for the fun of it, here is one of the first messages in 3840YahooGroups.com:

"Good Job Evvy, I just added a few things to it... This might be the place to go to if the "Main Site" in Utah has problems. I guess we can do a Conference Chat in here ???"

"W6ASA/Karen"

HamFanz was initially 'born' when Karen Larrimore w6asa (now w6zx), Patricia Ray (now k4ze), and I spent night after night in the MidnightHams Chat room. After being 'admonished' and 'kicked' several times, then banned, we started our own Yahoo Group, which at that time, had a chat also.

Now Trish has her ticket (and her music) and you don't hear her on air much anymore (she started as a SWL also). Karen has moved on to Charles, and is seldom on air (or at least on the frequencies Karen used to hang out on). And I am left doing HamFanz by myself.

And a BIG THANKS to all who have taken part, making the 'hobby' so MUCH more fun for all!!!

(A Special Thanks to Carl Richardson kb5fjx for desiging the HamFanz Logos!)

Oh My! What a ride it has been!

The Grinch w6obb, Strikes Again

And I use the term ‘strike’ in all it’s connotations!

Does Art Bell w6obb, have any idea of how mean, nasty, cruel, callous, niggardly, and yes, even malicious he appears when he does this kind of thing? Does he care? I think not.

Of course, I am speaking of artie getting angry because those that VOLUNTEERED to do the LateNiteHams site, (for the Elites) the chat posters, the call in phone patch, the hams on air, the callers themselves, etc did not do EXACTLY as artie wanted, so he shut everything down, again.

What a dichotomy! He wants fans, he wants an audience, he wants worshipers, and he wants everyone else to do the work for him.

Then when it does not turn out exactly as he perceives it should be, he figuratively busts everyone’s chops, takes his toys, and goes home…

Does he give a whit of thought to all the people who may be trying to log into the Pahrump Receiver? Or the Chat Room? Or the folks (many of them his so called ‘fans’) that may be trying to call into the ‘phone patch’? And after he has spent so much time ‘promoting’ it? Of course not!

If he cared at all about his ‘fans’, he would not pull this kind of sh**. If he cared about his Ham buddies that have worked so hard to put together what he wants; he would not pull this kind of sh**. Over and over and over…

Speaking of his Ham Buddies (Lord of the Loop Worshipers all, or those that are left), when are THEY going to tell him to take a hike, turn blue? Hopefully, the very next time artie wants them to ‘do’ something for him.

I have always respected Art Bell’s ‘performance’ ability in all its various ‘conceptions’; but he is sure making an ass of himself in his elderly years on Amateur Radio.

The IDEA of streaming audio, web site, chat room, and a phone patch for listeners to ‘interact’ with those transmitting is a great idea. An idea I wish other groups of hams would pick up on. Just look at the sheer number of participants!

As I have said repeatedly in this blog - specifically in reference to dxtuner and n7js online tuner - once you have an ‘audience’ i.e. folks depending on your ‘services’, you MUST bear some responsibility on not only how it is run, but give grave consideration to those USING the service, (giving them decent notice and options, if possible) before shutting it down.

I do not think a ‘temper tantrum’ as artie routinely has, and acts on, qualifies.

However, these artie ‘tantrums’ do qualify him to be called the Grinch, mean, nasty, cruel, callous, niggardly, egomaniacal, extremely vindictive, malicious and yes, even worse.

Artie, if you want to ‘fix’ this, PAY an experienced webmaster, buy Chat software, & PAY someone else to run it. Write up job descriptions for these jobs, then hand it over and LEAVE IT ALONE. Find a Ham that is qualified, needs some extra money, get him/her the necessary equipment, train them, and pay them to do the phone patch!

Or, if you really want it done ‘right’, DO IT YOURSELF.

I am just sorry that the Elites are the only ‘full featured’ group on Amateur Radio, as I am sure another group could do it better, and with less grief!

The Little Peeps

I am so glad that I listened to a couple of hours of sanity (often boring but usually sane) before the Elite's meltdown last Friday night. Actually I listen to The Peeps fairly often.

For the past few months, I've been calling the group of Hams that gather now on 3.688, 'The Little Peeps'. I have even been naming their recordings peeps1, peeps2, etc.

I've always disliked their name 'Little People' forced on them by another Ham in a derogatory manner. And for some reason, to me, it also seemed associated with real 'Little People', those of short statue. And therefore, NOT theirs to use...

I was always surprised that they 'took' it as their own, have suggested on several occasions that they choose a more appropriate name. They have not.

So, I have found the perfect name for them! 'The Little Peeps'.

Why you may ask? Well in past years 'peeps' has come to mean people, friends, close pals ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=peeps ).

But also because of the ORIGINAL PEEPS ( http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/ ). The candy! The common, soft, sweet, pliable. many shaped, many colored, sugar coated, marshmallow concoction that almost everyone loves.

I have been planning for awhile now to announce this name change (a 'vanity' group name, if you will) during this very Easter Season. So despite Glen Thurman kn6z, being on vacation, and the antics of the Elites, (Which the HamFanz Grudge Report also named), here is the BIG announcement....The Little People are now 'The Little Peeps'. (Could there be a better, more descriptive name? I think not!)

Elites: Let the Bitch Slapping Begin!

The Elites proclaimed attitude of 'live and let live', forgive but don't forget, warm fuzzy stuff didn't last long. In fact, it did not even last ONE month! And it turned out that the reason they were recently all off air for almost two weeks, was this big combination rift/row (as I alluded to in an earlier article).

Last night, Greg Sousa w6ezv, (apparently now a former Elite), dropped in on artie Bell w60bb, Jim Watkins ki6gu, Scott Barris k7mix, Ben Gardner kd7bcw, and other Bell hanger-on's, like a bomb.

It didn't take two minutes for the bitch slapping to begin.

Rage, vengeance, threats of bodily harm, justification, prior bad acts, hurt feelings, blame, snitching, denial, unfettered testosterone, ohhh, the PSYCHOdrama of it all!

For those of us awaiting this welterweight event, there was the sense of "I told you so” while listening to the disintegration of adult males into a bickering (but much more violent) bunch of biddies.

The Elites have been small in numbers since artie recently put them together, as many former ‘cult of the loop’ worshipers no longer wish to have anything to do with him. (I wonder why?).

Though recently, there has been an influx of ‘newbies’ (who know not of what they’re getting involved in), due in large part to artie’s on air solicitations that include the ‘bait’ of speaking with him via a phone patch, and a chat room.

Now the Elites are going to be one less, unless ki6gu and w6ezv are able to set aside their MAJOR differences, which they actually might do for artie’s sake, as artie has threatened (again) last night to leave Ham radio and/or move to the Philippines as “it just isn’t fun anymore.” Since ki6gu and w6ezv have burned their bridges on so many other frequencies and with so many other Hams, without artie, WHO would they talk too now?


Here is a 'taste' of last night’s happening. The full recordings are now up on the HamFanz Secret Page!

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/22/1450734/2008.03.22_Elites%20w6ezv%20WhatsGoingOn.mp3

The Elites are Back

Last night, after almost two weeks of ‘group’ silence, the Elites, Ben Gardner kd7bcw, Art Bell w6obb, Scott Barris k7mix, Jim Watkins ki6gu, (sans Greg Sousa w6ezv) returned to the air.

After ‘leaking’ to the chat boards where they would be, sure enough, the Elites appeared on 3.807 after midnight.

Though both kd7bcw, and w6ezv have been heard, not together, on different frequencies in the last couple of weeks, and artie was on briefly with the Little Peeps a couple of nights ago, mainly, they have been quiet. This uncharacteristic ‘silence’, which spilled over to the Ham sites and chat rooms, promoted wild conjecture and supposition among Hams & SWL’s.

When in reality it was probably just another ‘split’, or a clash of egos. Rumor has it that there was a big blow up, with Sousa w6ezv being the instigator.

The Elites tried to pick up where they left off, rather unsuccessfully, their return boring and anticlimactic.

While they were off air, life went on; there was some terrific listening on The Short Attention Span Network, and even Glen Thurman’s kn6z, description of his upcoming vacation on the Little Peeps was more interesting than the secretive antics of the Elites!

By eliminating anyone interesting from their ranks, the Elites have reduced themselves to a little clique of predictable ‘worshipers of the loop’ (artie).

This audio clip is from the first on air minutes of 3.807 last night. The full audios will be uploaded to The HamFanz Secret Page.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/22/1450734/2008.03.19_3708%20GuOffAir.mp3

Just the Facts, Bill Crowell w6wbj and the FCC

There has been nothing less than stupid conjecture on the ‘chat’ boards (especially the newest one, artie's www.LateNightHams.com !) regarding w6wbj and his latest communication with the FCC.

Yes, the Enforcement Bureau is trying to refuse to answer any of w6wbj’s interrogatories, but there IS a difference between the Enforcement Bureau and the Administrative Law Judge.

The Bureau's refusal is not provided for by the FCC Rules for ALJ hearings. Those Rules contain nothing permitting the Bureau to file such a blanket objection.

Instead, the Bureau is supposed to answer the interrogatories to which they do not object, and state their precise reasons for objecting to each interrogatory they feel is objectionable. They did neither.

W6wbj has now filed a motion with the ALJ to compel them to answer on the ground that, in effect, by filing their blanket refusal, they failed to object at all, and that therefore they have waived the right to object.

As of this date, there has been no ruling on w6wbj’s motion from the ALJ.

This 'situation' just keeps getting more and more interesting!

Some interesting links about this subject:
http://users.innercite.com/bcrowell/other_files/interrogs.doc
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?p=1148223#post1148223

Art Bell w6obb, Caught Slamming HamFanz Site

Sunday afternoon, March 9, 2008, artie slammed the HamFanz Poll page. He voted for himself as ‘most pompous’ a total of 96 times over a time period of 25 minutes.

(Talk about having too much time on your hands! Or perhaps Airyn Bell isn’t keeping him busy enough?)

At any rate, artie has been BANNED from the Polls Page of www.HamFanz.com! At least until I remember to unban him, or till he apologizes! (I’d bet being banned is something artie is NOT used too!)