I totally forgot to mention yesterday’s thirty-fifth anniversary of the first man on the moon.
NASA was always bigger than life to me as a kid. Who didn’t want to be an astronaut when they grew up? The great thing is that Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites might actually let everyday people get to space.
I found a UHF repeater up for bid from the state. It’s ancient, but might still be useful. I’m hoping it can be modified for amateur radio use (most radios can – we amateurs are crafty!) My plans for it have it either going up on the Wake County tower near my home for purely selfish reasons. Or, better yet, being set up on a tower in Garner.
Now you may wonder why I want a repeater in Garner, since I don’t live there anymore. The reason is that I decided it would be neat for the area’s growing Hispanic community to have their own repeater. I’d love to have a repeater in the area that’s primarily Spanish-speaking. It would provide another tool to help this community connect with others. It could help English-speakers learn some Spanish, and vice versa. And it might spur these new residents to become hams.
I might get out to see the repeater this week. If it’s a piece of junk, all plans are off. But if it isn’t, it could turn into a wonderful experiment in community-building.
