Friday, August 28, 2015

Check out old Radio Shack and Allied Catalogs online

 Back a few months ago I posted a brief story about the demise of Radio Shack. Generations of home electronics hobbyists, ham radio enthusiasts and computer geeks spent their growth-spurt years hanging around their local Radio Shack stores. I was one of them. The company's heyday ran from the 1970s through the late 1990s, when it rode the CB radio craze as the largest retailer in the market, and then transformed into a creditable maker of computer gear. Ham Radio and Scanners were also a big part of that heyday.

Well now you can go back and view your favorite old Radio Shack catalogs on line. Thanks to the folks at RadioShackCatalogs.com. At this website you will be able to view these old 1939-2011 Radio Shack and Tandy Electronics' catalogs, sale flyers, brochures, and more...year by year...page by page.

What's unique about this website is that the catalogs are presented as a VIRTUAL catalog, in a "page-flipping" format. This gives you the experience of paging-through an actual Radio Shack catalog. They also have old sales flyers and even TV commercials along with lots of company history.

Check it out here: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/index.html

You can also view old Allied Radio catalogs at this site: http://www.alliedcatalogs.com/

I spent an hour last night looking back at some of the cool stuff I enjoyed in my youth. Take a look for yourself, I think you'll have some fun!

Also check out our previous Radio Shack story: http://www.upstateham.com/2015/04/the-demise-of-radio-shack-and-where-to.html

If you have a Radio Shack story you would like to share with our readers, drop us a line at UpstateHam@gmail.com.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

North American SSB Sprints - 4 hour DX contest! - Sat. 8/29/15

- received this notice in the mail last night!

THE FUNNEST 4 HOURS IN RADIOSPORT!

North American SSB SPRINT - THIS SATURDAY EVENING  
 AUGUST 29, 2015  (UTC 8/30 00z-04z)

==========================================================

AS WAS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE PREVIOUS EVENT,
WE WANT TO HAVE ALL 50 STATES AND ALL CANADIAN AREAS ON THE AIR AND NEED YOUR HELP! 

RULES AND RESULTS at: http://www.ssbsprint.com
QUESTIONS WELCOME via: http://ssbsprint.com/contact-us


Dear Fellow Contester:

This is one final reminder regarding the exciting four hour NA SSB Sprint contest that will be occurring this Saturday evening August 29, 2015.  We know some of you are quite familiar with the SSB Sprint and have already indicated that you will be on, while others are less familiar.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Some local repeater changes and updates

The Drumlins Amateur Radio club in Newark NY reports that on September 1, 2015, PL tones go live on the 146.745 and 146.685 repeaters. Both repeaters will now be using 71.9 Hz.

We were also sent a notice that the 147.300 in Syracuse will add a PL tone of 67.0 Hz on October 1st, 2015.

Please also note that EchoLink is back up and running on the W2QYT 147.00 repeater.


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Lighthouse Weekend at Verona-Sylvan Beach

  Just a polite reminder that this Saturday and Sunday is International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend. I will be setting up an amateur station at the Verona Beach Lighthouse on 4th avenue in Verona-Sylvan Beach. I plan on beginning set up at about 8:00am on Saturday and operating continuously through 5 pm Sunday. (Weather permitting …. My R7 and Thunderstorms do NOT play well together). All are welcome and the event is 100% free! The Verona Beach light has been beautifully restored to its original splendor by the Verona Beach Lighthouse Association! Please come out and see their fine work and maybe work my rig awhile and make some other lighthouse / lightship contact. To date there are over 450 lighthouses and lightships signed up to have amateur stations around the world!! By Saturday it will easily top 500!!

Thanks and hope to see you there or at least make a contact on the air! J

from
Fred Legawiec, W2LGA

Monday, August 3, 2015

Do you have interesting Amateur Radio related news or stories to share?

 At UpstateHam.com we are always looking to publicize your event, NET , or maybe tell a story, or share your review of a radio or antenna. If you, your club or organization would like some help getting the word out on your event, just drop us a line at UpstateHam@gmail.com. If you would like to share an Amateur Radio related experience or story, just send us a note and we can get things started. We can also help you with final edits or adding your pictures to help tell the story.

 Our goal is to pass on interesting Amateur Radio related information to our viewers in Upstate NY and beyond. We try to cover the area from Albany west to Buffalo and from Binghamton north through the 1000 Islands and Adirondacks.

......and we are always looking to be accurate and improve our content. Please send your comments, corrections and suggestions to us at: UpstateHam@gmail.com