W2LJ's Blog - QRP - Do More With Less.

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A Christmas Rescue - Part Two

Posted: 24 Dec 2015 02:20 PM PST
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The days leading up to Christmas were busy. Dave busied himself by working
with the Technical Committee of the Twin Counties Amateur Radio Club to try
and solve a problem with the club's repeater. It seems the members would be
bothered by an intermittent hash or raspy static at times. Dave, with the
help of the other members of the Technical Committee basically took apart
and rebuilt the entire repeater, component by component. The checked every
connection on the receiver, transmitter, duplexer and just about everywhere
else, looking for something obvious. Unfortunately, it seems like it's
never anything obvious in cases like these. They changed connectors,
jumper cables and even replaced a few suspect capacitors in the power
supply. They hoped it would be enough to alleviate the situation. The only
other areas left for troubleshooting were the antenna, tower and feed-line
itself. Looking at those during the current were weather pattern were not
an option.


It had been snowing everyday since Dave had arrived home from school. Some
days more, some days less, but it was still beginning to pile up, even by
Springdale standards. This winter was shaping up to be one of the snowiest
in Dave's young memory. It made for hazardous driving, but if you took your
time and were careful, it wasn't a problem.

Dave was finishing up work on the repeater when he looked at his watch. It
was 1:00 PM on Christmas Eve.

“Holy Smokes, Bob, I lost track of the time! I have to get out of here!�

Dave had been working with Bob, KB2VMG. “You're right, Dave, it's getting
late. Time files when you're having fun, don't it?� Bob jokingly answered
with a wry smile on his face. He was glad they were nearly done, too.
Troubleshooting these kind of problems was always a challenge, and
sometimes a headache.

“You're headed over to George N2EBA's QTH for dinner tonight, right?�

“That's right Bob. My family and AA2AJ's will all be there.�

“Well, you have a great time. Get going. You and Jimmy are all George ever
talks about. He's so proud of the both of you and all. Tell him I said
“Hello and Merry Christmas.�

Dave blushed a little and said, “Thanks, Bob. You're all right finishing
things up here by yourself? Dinner's not for a while, but I still have a
few presents to buy.�

“Don't trouble yourself, Dave. I just need to put the tools away and wash
up. Everything is done here. Between you and me, I think we got the problem
licked. Thanks for all your help – I don't think I would have noticed that
iffy filter capacitor on the power supply if it weren't for your second set
of eyes.�

“Merry Christmas, Bob – to you and your family. I'll see you next week at
the regular club meeting.�

Dave set off for his Mother's car and went into town. He needed to buy
gifts for his mom and sister, and it was still a new experience for him.
Being alone with just his Dad for so many years, he still drew a blank at
times when it came to buying gifts for females. But in this case, he was
lucky as he knew exactly what he wanted. A down vest for Maria to wear when
she went skiing and some scented candles and soaps for Donna. They were
both pretty easy to buy for. Within an hour or two, he had made his
purchases.

As he was driving home, the HT in his pocket came to life.

“AA2AM this is KD2JMJ. You on the air Davey?�

He pulled over to the side of the road. “Don't need to get a ticket for
distracted driving on Christmas Eve.� he thought to himself. “KD2JMJ, this
is AA2AM – what's up Dad?�

“His Dad answered, “Davey, I just wanted to give you a heads up. I'm going
to have to pick up the beagle late this afternoon. The lady from the
shelter in Pleasanton is closing the place early, but she gave me her home
address. She's bringing Barney home with her and I'll pick him up from her
house. I'll have to leave dinner from the Mason's early though.�

“Isn't that going to be kind of obvious, Dad? Mom's going to know
something's up.�

“Got that all worked out, Davey. Fred from work is going to call me on my
cell phone at 6:00 PM. By then we should have finished dinner. A “work
emergency� that needs my presence will be the pretense. I'll just head out,
pick up Barney and head back home. I should be home by 9:00 PM at the
latest.�

“OK, Dad. I'll cover for you, later when the “work emergency� rears its
ugly head. I'm just on my way home now. I'll see you in a bit. I think we
worked out that problem with the repeater. I think it was either a bad
ground or a bad jumper cable. Possibly even a bad filter capacitor in the
power supply. The repeater hasn't hashed while we've been on.�

“Very good, Davey! Hey, I guess this EE education I'm paying for is working
out!� His Dad loved teasing his son, even though he was practically a full
grown adult now. “See you in a bit, son. AA2AM, this KD2JMJ, clear. 73,
Dave.�

“73, Dad, see you in a few. KD2JMJ, this is AA2AM, clear.�

Dinner at the Mason's was as spectacular as everyone thought it would be.
There was enough food to feed the 8th Infantry Division with leftovers to
spare. And it was all exceedingly delicious. The Boltons, the Masons and
the Stapletons thoroughly enjoyed each others company and the evening.

Everyone agreed to meet at the Bolton's house the next morning for
Christmas brunch after Mass. As everyone was sitting down to dessert and
coffee in the living room, Jason Bolton's cell phone rang, as on cue.

“Jason Bolton, speaking. May I help you?� Of course, Fred was on the other
end, allowing Jason the opportunity to play the charade out.

“The router and switch are totally down? I'm not sure what I can do at this
hour on Christmas Eve. All the techs have probably left the data center for
the holiday. Looks like I'll have to come in and reset them.�

“What's the matter honey?� Donna asked, “Something wrong at work?�

“Yes, dear� Jason answered in feigned exasperation. “One of our client's
routers and switches went down at the data center. None of their office
door card readers are working and their Security department wants them
reset right away. Looks like I'll have to go in.�

“Oh, no – not on Christmas Eve! And the roads – how long do you think it
will be?�

Jason looked at his watch. “Well, it's 6 O'clock now. By the time I get
there, reset the equipment and then babysit them out for a bit – I should
be home by 9 O'clock at the latest, I would think.�

“Well, just be careful, Honey�, Donna said. “I don't like the idea of you
out on these roads so late on Christmas Eve.�

“Everything will be fine, Donna. I'll see you in a while. Davey, you
monitor the repeater, OK? If I run into any trouble, I'll give you a call.
Merry Christmas, everyone! See you at our house tomorrow morning.�

With that, Jason Bolton took off for Pleasanton. The drive went quietly and
uneventful. The roads were not all that busy, as everyone was already home
for Christmas already. He found the address easily enough and knocked on
the door.

“Mrs. Buckley? Hi! I'm Jason Bolton. I'm here for Barney.�

“Mr. Bolton! I'm so happy to see you and so is Barney.� Barney came
bounding up and jumped up onto Jason when he saw him come in the door. His
tail was wagging ferociously and he was practically doing somersaults.

“He looks happy to see me.� Jason said.


“Oh yes, Mr. Bolton. Barney is such a good boy. I think he's going to love
his new forever home. Let me get you his papers and the carrier.�

Mrs. Buckley was gone for a few minutes and Jason bent down to play with
Barney. Barney was alternately licking his face, and then laying down on
his back so Jason could give him a tummy rub.

He was laughing softly to himself, thinking “You, my little friend, are
going to melt Donna's heart!�

“Here you go, Mr. Bolton! Here are Barney's vaccination and neutering
records, as well as the paper about the microchip under his skin. You'll
have to call or e-mail the company to let them know your family is now
Barney's forever family.�

Jason handed Mrs. Buckley the adoption donation, signed a few papers and
then the two of them put Barney into his carrier. That was no chore at all,
as Barney was used to being toted around to local pet stores on adoption
days.

“Mr. Bolton, you may want to invest in a new carrier for Barney. The latch
on that door is kind of cranky. Sometimes, if Barney pushes hard enough, he
can open the door.�

“Thanks for the warning. Mrs. Buckley, I'll look into that after Christmas.
Thanks so much for everything. My wife is going to love Barney! She always
had dogs as a child and Barney is going to be a perfect fit in our home.�

“It's not trouble at all, Mr. Bolton. I'm always glad when a lab beagle
finds a forever home. Barney is such a joy, I'm sure he'll fit right in
your family. A lot of our adoptive parents re-name their dogs. Do you
think you'll give Barney a new name?�

“No, Mrs. Buckley, somehow Barney seems a perfect fit for him. Thanks so
much, again. A very Merry Christmas to you and your family�

With that, Jason put Barney's carrier in the back of the Jeep and headed
off for home. As he was headed towards the state highway, he had heard on
the AM news station that he was listening to of some major construction
delays. “Who does road work on Christmas Eve?� he thought to himself. At
that he decided to take one of the parallel running back roads. He thought
it would probably save him a half hour or so in delays.

He turned on the VHF radio and put it on scan. Maybe he'd hear an
interesting conversation or two to pass the time on the way home. The
drive home was going smoothly when all of a sudden, he noticed a car, off
in the distance, coming in his direction, and driving erratically. The
driver was weaving in and out of the lane. “The guy's probably drunk from
some office Christmas party.�, Jason disgustedly thought to himself. Jason
flicked on his high beams and sounded the horn to warn the oncoming driver
that he was now in Jason's lane. Coming straight at him, and dangerously
fast, it was all Jason could do to jerk the wheel to get out of the way. He
had avoided a head-on collision, but in doing so, had hit an icy patch and
skidded off the road into a culvert. He banged his head pretty badly
against the side window in the process. All he could see was the world
somehow weirdly upside down, and the air bags deploying, as he blacked out.


To be continued ...........

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!