Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Alright I couldn't get away just posting some pictures like I did with the Bell and Siren Dedication, I actually have to "work". Maybe then my former classmates won't think I'm some kind of bum lying around the house all day. It's true the Pascack Valley Class of 1997 had their reunion this past Saturday night. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go originally because I HAD graduated in 1998 (I was on the five year plan), but the class president twisted my arm! Well it was a good thing he did because I had a great time. Not only did I remember my dancing steps, I was great with names as well Once again I was "one of the gang" and it felt like old times. Mom reminded to stay away from bring up Derick, a fellow classmate who had passed away in January, but you could definitely tell he was there in spirit. They mentioned him along with one of our former classmmates serving in Iraq. I was surprised to see our former class advisor, Ms Kosch there and Mr. M...

Ok for those who haven't been reading this blog I actively collect automobile license plates. Now this might seem like a rusted plate to you but it's a 1927 New Jersey County commercial plate used on county vehicles. It was mixed in with a bunch of plates my collect friend Marco picked up I am tossing around the idea of getting it resotred to a more recognizable condition!!

The lastest issue of ScanningUSA came today and thee was an article about a webmaster and his North Carolina frequency site. The interview itself was conducted by the "SUSA Staff" which basically consists of a back and forth dialogue between the staff writers and the interviwee with a little introduction in the beginning. I have seen this format before and usually I shrug my shoulders and say "well ANYONE who can ask a question can write these kinds of articles", all you need to do is come up wit h the questions and let the person do the rest. Now I have done some interviews for papers before and felt this method with a bit beneath my writing talents, but it's better than nothing. I have to give them credit for asking some good questions. I am always interested on what else is out there even if I'll never visit that area of the country. When I went to this website I was disappoint to find stuff copied of Radioreference.com. Usually the webmasters, li...

Alright so I'm a bit late getting this post together but I was too busy stuffing myself with leftover candy!! My friend Nicole (actually Pete's exgirlfriend) talked me into joining her and her two friends into this custome contest!The theme-- Alice in Wonderland the famous children's story. They had an Alice and the Chesire Cat, even a flamigo pocketbook and a tea set. My ensamble is a the King of Hearts of course Nicole had to to be my queen, for the night anyway. We arrived at the Cornerstone to find everything from gangsters to something out of mythical times. It was a fun evening that I will never forget.

This was suppose to be the second part of an entry called "Musical Servers" but I waited until the final settings kicked it!! It all began when the host for Bergenscanner.com crapped out. I have a long history of relying on other people to do the "dirty work" for the radio website. After all my original scanner website was on Tripod, complete with annoying banners. Someone offered to move the site to a "real" server and register a domain name, hence the address bergenscanner.com, it wasn't even my idea. I went along with it not understandingf the dynamics of actually registering a domain. To make a long story short my "friend" (scumbagmaxiumus) fumbled it up and lost the server space and the domain name. I couldn't even renew it because my friend had the password and everything. Long story short some other company picked it up and I had to fight to get it back. Basically stealing the traffic be cause by that I actually did some hefty ...

I read an article today on Mitt Romeny borrowing $3 to buy a coffeee. It ofcourse made light of the fact that the presidental contender for 2008 had a staffer buy him a cup of coffee. While I was reading this "earth-shattering" news it made me wonder if there's more dribble like this during the 2008 campaign season? Of course! This indeed is the me dia that four years ago plastered a stupid picture of John Kerry in a steril suite, complete with hood, all over the internet. There was an AP article on that too, I'm sure you can Google it. They say stories like these provide a humanistic approach to presidential races, after all pressidents SHOULD be everyday people. I wanlt to vote for a presidental canidate who I can see myself talking shop over a beer. However there are limts, something all news mediums, no matter what their poltical prefernce, do not comprehend. There's another problem, unless you're a political- news junkie (I am but I'm going into re...

My dad called me from downstairs just now saying I had mail. I wasn't excepting a license plate, all my magazines for the month had arrived, so what could this possibly be? As soon as he handed me the envelope my eyes widened. It was a long lost QSL card from W7YES from Oregon!!! This was truly a rare contact that lasted all of thirty seconds, just enough time to exchange the correct QSL information and fade away into the airwaves. I was so exciting when I bagged the contact, I raced to get the QSL -out in the mail. After quickly typing and p rinting out one of my trademark cards, it was more than a pleasant surpri0se to finally get the card six months after I sent one out. I have commented on a few contacts I have made on PSK, but this one definite is one of the more rewarding QSOS since making my first contact a little over a year ago!!

By now you have heard Steve Fossett, the great aviator Steve Fossett is missing somewhere in the mountians of Nevada. What was suppose to be a simple scouting expedition for his next daredevil stunt has turned into another famous person gone missing mediafest. Fossett's air achievments have been extrodinary, I especially liked the last one he did, flying around the world nonstop in 76 hours. Maybe it's because the native Aussie has choosen the good o-ld USA as his launchpad for these achievments or maybe like countless other people I have a genuine interest in general aeronautics. Although there is a small part of me that is amazed people are horrified that his missing. I am concerned for his safety and hope he is found, although thre's a small part of me that scratches my head when I hear that people really are upset before we know what really happened in those mountians . Fossett was known for his attention to detail when breaking all these records. From an outsider...

I have been practicing my photography a little more. Here is the Woodcliff Lake Fire Department Chuef's truck parked where else but outside Fusco's Market. The Fire Chief is busy in his store watching the Yankees get killed. He's making sandwhiches too, but the TV is always going in the background. That and a scanner to keep an ear on what's going on around town no wonder why I'm there so often!! It takes about any hour round trip however I usually chat for awhile before going on my merry way back home. I usally stop in a few times a week for a root beer and to catch up on the news around town. I also get a behind the scenes story about the lastest fire call. My goal has always been to photographer every fire chief's vehicle in the county. I shot the truck during the Memorial Day Parade but because it was moving, it didn't come out right. The difference on this shot was I had all the time in the world. My photography is getting better and at times I fi...

A few days ago I was listening on the national simple frequency, 146.5200 and heard a mobile station going over the Tappan Zee Bridge. I was intrigued because the c'allsign was from "3land" meaning the station was from either Pennslyvania, Delaware or Maryland. He said he was on his way to Vermont with his friend who was also a ham. The conversation was the usually chit chat which I have had before. However this time, as a person who is starting to acquire QSL card I was excited these two gentlemen were willing to chew the fat for a few rounds. It's also nice to see my radio can work simplex from that distance Although it hasn't been the first time I have worked far away on this Kenwood has gotten into the city and even down to to Manahawkin in Monmouth County on simplex. Then there's a guy in the city who has linked simplexes on different bands. Pretty neat talking through a linked system. I was talking to a guy on 440 via a 2 meter link. The RACES net I...

Seriously I know I should have written this before the Huntsville entry because this was the weekend before Huntsville, but I needed to think about compose my thoughts. Since Isaac went back to Germany, Howie picked me up this year to make the trek up to Capmgaw Ski Lodge in Mahwah. I spent the night before packing up my radios and trying to figure out if I forgot anything. Howie pulled in the drive at 9:30 am Saturday morning to find me still half asleep and woofing down some crumb cake. He actually left with out me, but a quick call on the W2PQG repeater brought him back. I threw my stuff in the back of his car and we were on the mountain a little after 10. Rocky greeted us with a laptop, note to self next year bring the USB driver. This year I truly flew solo and got my prime spot in the lodge right behind the registration desk, which housed the ATV station last year. I also brought my old 2m/440 radio, so I ran the Field Day talk-in station as well. People usually have their ...

Alright this SHOULD be an easy fix.....but it's not!! My aunt got me a subscription to ScanningUSA for Christmas. She gave them my address but they sent the magazine to her house, no big deal I thought I would just e-mail them my address . That was back in Janaury, I have e-mailed them every month since NO REPLY AND THEY STILL SEND IT T O HER HOUSE!! The e-mails DO NOT BOUNCE, I just don't get a reply I called, she has called, NO ANSWER I have to go to her house every month to pick up the magazine. Can someone give me the magic trick to contact the subscription department over there? Also th e magazine is ripped EVERY month?? I don't know what's up because when I buy it in the store it comes in one of those annoying plastic bags.! When they mail it out they don't use the plastic bags!!! Bottom line I like their magazine but their customer service STINKS!! I will continue to be a loyal reader, but maybe I won't renew my subscription because I really don't see...

Yes I made it there and back in one piece thanks to Tim Stentiford, I can't begin explain how happy I was to get there. Tim, his son Kurt (one of the kids running around the auction floor and won a junior award for his display) and I had an incredible journey there and back. We got delayed in Memphis Saturday night, but otherwise the flights were smooth and we couldn't ask for better assistance at the airports. Although the folks at La Gaurdia seem to forget the phrase "handle with care". Like on family vacation my scooter became a luggage cart and Tim had so much trade stock, it actually slowed me down, my dad is going to have to remember that! For the record it was heavier on the way down than on the way up!! As for Kurt he gave me a hand a couple of times, if he is an reflection of the next generation of plate collectors, our hobby will continue to grow. I saw something I never paid attention to before, such a young man taking such pride in something....

Last July I composed a single entry mentioning I couldn't attend the ALPCA Convention in Ontario California. Between my granfather passing away in Feburary and my brother getting married, it was too much to ask my parents to take a four day trip out to the west coast. That trip was supposed to be my third Convention because I knew they wouldn't go down to Huntsville Alabama this year. Who would? The biggest obstacle this year was there isn't a direct flight to Huntsville from any of the three major NYC airports. Second the hotels aren't cheap, so collectors usually split a room, which the agreement usually is renewed every year. A collector from North Carolina said last year that he was driving to Huntsville and would give me a ride and share a room with me. I presented this to my parents and they still felt there were too many unknowns. First of all we never met the guy and the prospect of going on the road with him was going over like a fart in church. So I was half...

Every year Tri-boro (Montvale, Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake) has a parade that altenates routes, this year they started in Woodcliff Lake and ended in Montvale. So I decided to ride down to the Montvale firehouse, on Memorial Drive to catch some shots from another angle. Well I kind of accidently shot their antique firetruck while it was passing the street sign for Memorial Drive. It's a pretty decent shot even though I cut the back of the truck off a little!! (Side note: This picture got published in the June 4th edition of the Pascack Press)

Back in Feburary I had picked up on fellow ALPCA member Jon Upton's ramblings about how it seemed the last couple issues of Plates Magazine seemed to have a heavy dose of the Editor's articles. He wasn't the only only because te April edition of Plates Magazine arrived over the weekend and it seems another member, Mitchell Magursey, is disappointed there aren't more articles about United States license plates, which isn't true because in the last few years I have represented my home state of New Jersey pretty well with a plate article on NJ ham radio license plates and the NJ Meadowlands license plate, respectively. I also have another article in the works as you read this entry. None of the seventy two other members who live in the Garden State have written anything about plates in our state. As a matter of fact the entire issue is moot, because Tim has said on more than one occasion that he is always looking for material. I pointed out Tim has been a writer...

Alright I know this isn't the best picture to try this out but I just took the digital camera outside the other day for the spring thaw. Hopefully this will lead to other phot essays but for now this is as simple as it gets. Yes I live on Carnot Ave and after passing this sign almost everyday for twenty nine years, it was time to aknowledge the sign. So here it is the sign. I could have used a better subject however this is an unconventional blog so you folks get a street sign. Don['t worry I'll post more pictures in the future and they'll be a lot more interesting than a street sign. However I wanted to test it out before I get into more serious subjects!! With the weather getting nicer I plan to do a little experimenting. Maybe this is yet another direction I'm taking this blog.........Stay tuned!

In the old days of police scanners, you would have a set number of channels in a set number of banks, a 200 channel scanner would have 20 channels in 10 banks. This required s ome planning because you couldn't possible fit everything you wanted in one bank. Some channels in some banks where left empty because some counties or towns have more frequencies thaqn others. There where time you didn't want to scan the entire county at once. The days of banks and channels are over, which is a good thing, if you know how to use it! Uniden's new line of police scanners, the BC246T, the SC200 and now the new 996T has a feature called DYNAMIC MEMORY which enables the scanner to hold more information because not is wasted. It doesn't have the traditional channels but rather groups that allow memmory to be adjusted. It's like having multiple scanners in one unit! Now I have to admit at first I didn't know about this new way of programming a radio, but after I got used ...

Alright even though I have written mostly about my ham radi hobby, I have been into scanning longer. I bought my first scanner, the Uniden BC55XLT, when I was fifteen with the money I earned from my first job doing data entry. It was bottom of the line, even back in those days, but it was $100 which was the cheapest scanner at the time. The BC55XLT on has 10 channels and it can't do anythingv like trunktracking, alpha tags, recieve all the transmissions my other scanners can do today, but at the time I bought it I was happy to hear my local police and fire departments. A few years after I realized I needed more than 10 channels to even hear all the local departments in the county. So I asked for another scanner for Christmas and the 55XLT was giving to my brother which hhe lost on Cabbage Night, but that didn't matter. I have since owned and sold scanners to help fund upgrade to my radio shack. Over the weekend Isaac and I went to a hamfest. While I was looking for and I foun...

It took me a bit longer than usual to write this post but I have been busy with other "projects" so I have a good excuse, a few weeks ago, which became a little over a month, a group of hams got together at the Woodcliff Lake EOC for the January VHF contest. It wasn't the best setup, b ut when had a 2 meter, 6 meter and 440 setup, both CW and phone. The 10-70 hadn't participated i n this contest before and since I had access to the EOC, it turned out to be a windy day which was made even worse by the artic bitter cold. We setup inside the senior center which is actually a huge room, it was perfect! I helped log, snagged a few contacts myself. I even managed to make some good use out of the digital camera I got for Christmas. Below is a link to a photo gallery we set up on the 10-70 website as well as the ARRL VHF Contest Soapbox! Links: 10-70 January Contest Photo Gallery ARRL VHF Contest Soapbox

Ok you have heard it by now, these two nutcases planted "fake bombs" around Boston to promote a show on the Cartoon Network. The devices obviously caused a scare and they were arrested for causing a public scare, and a few other c harges which I don't remember or care to lookup. The question is what kind of reactions do these idiots excpect out of the public? Trufully only druggies and other idiots would think of this is funny or a joke. I think they planned the entire thing. They knew they would get caught. They knew this would be on every major network around. The court case will be broadcasted on every nework. So if I'm so against giving these guys the publicity why am I writing about them? Well there are a lot of issues that I never write about because I don't feel they are important. However I never pass up calling people complete idiots! Although now that they got their five minutes of fame, some idiots are actually going to tune into because of this stunt....

Alright for those who have been following this blog for awhile, you have known I write about my hobbies, namely license plates and radios. The editor of t he Plates Magazine has come under fire for prioritizing his articles over other contributors . He had the two major articles this time while people who had submitted material to the magazine had seemed to be overlooked. To be fair when complaints surfaced I was first to pipe in that most articles for a bi-monthly publication take a little be longer to appear. I think the people who are complaining write for a hobby and lack the knowledge of the writing business, meaning they just write whatever their heart desires. They have no real idea about why a word count is important or why one article seems to get laid out better than the next. I am not discouraging them from submitting articles to the magazines. However I don't think they read like a writer. I mean they read the articles, extract information and come away learning s...