The “fair” subject line was the best I could come up with in short notice, given that my comments here now are fair-related.
As I wrote earlier in this space, the local fair board decided to shake things up in the ol' fair competition, particularly the “Antiques” category. They deleted dozens of longtime categories and replaced them with a handful of mostly new ones. The new categories included some that were specific to Nelson County, bourbon and Kentucky. Interesting changes, indeed.
But the loss of the “standard” antique categories that the fair has always had delt a serious blow to the entire Antique corner of the hall where the judging takes place. The antiques corner — which is usually bustling with activity and packed full of antiques (exhibitors and exhibitees included) — resembled a ghost town.
When my daughter and I got there to drop off our entries, I was shocked at the lack of entrants in any of the antique categories. The folks who were checking in the entries were sitting around waiting for entries — something they've never done before (typically they're swamped with entries and you have to stand in line 30 minutes to get your entry checked in).
There was still 45 minutes to go before the end of the entry period, so I figured more entrants would appear in the antique category.
It appears entrants stayed away in droves, at least in the antiques category.
Judging from the rest of the entries in the exhibit hall, the rest of the categories were well populated. The 4-H stuff is always a huge area, and its always good to see kids enthused about something.
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MUCH ADO ABOUT A YAESU. My new/old FT-890 is still performing well, though I had a glitch a couple of days ago that threw me for a loop.
After checking in on the section CW net, I was going to move up to 75 meter phone. As I was checking my headset audio, I found that the output was darn near nil. Huh?
A little investigation showed that with the processor enabled, output was zip. With the processor “off,” the audio was fine. Hmm….
The problem turned out to be a dirty pot on the processor level control on the rear of the rig. I shot it with some contact spray and worked the control to fix it. Good output now, both with and without the processor.
BUG SAFETY. While I haven't done much eBay shopping, I did snipe a classic 1923 Vibroplex Original on eBay the other night.
This key is in very good original condition. The paint on the base is excellent with just a few minor chips. The gold pinstriping is worn but visible. The key looks very good. The only problem is the bakelite paddle (thumb piece) is broken. I can replace that.
In addition to being in great shape, the price was right. In fact, it sold for substantially less than a 1971 Vibroplex Original DeLuxe. The chrome is nice, but its tough to beat these early Original keys.
I haven't listed anything yet for sale on eBay due to network issues with my computer. I renewed my Norton's Antivirus software subscription, and now I can't get my computer on the network. Grr! I've not found the right setting that changed in the upgrade. I probably should be working on that now rather than blathering here.
I'll take my own hint and pull the plug for now.
73 … dit dit