Jimmy,

JA> DS>   Go to www.w2blc.net/cq100nets.htm for a list. I didn't see a Bible
JA> DS> Study net, per se...but 2 possible Christian related nets.

JA>Got it - thx for the link!

  Glad to help. I was chatting on D-Rats last night with KC5FZG (he
apparently doesn't have a mic at his computer, so that's how he checks
into nets), and I told him about the BBS. He has snagged a lot of files
out of my D-Rats Shared Folder...which is fine with me. I even have one
in there as an information file on the BBS. Nothing like a shameless
plug for your BBS...especially when ham radio and weather are the main
themes. 

JA> DS>   SDR: Software Defined Radio -- but if your XYL won't let you buy or
JA> DS> use it, it's "Spousally Declined Radio" (hi hi).

JA>LOL - the one I found for Windows appears to actually be the 'real thing'
JA>where you can talk HF using the Internet. Is there something like that
JA>that's NOT D-Star that you know of? For MAC I mean?

  Not offhand. The only thing I know about an apple is that it's hard to
eat with dentures, unless you use an apple coring device, where you can
eat it in slivers. <G>

  Here I go...talking about food again...but, as I note on the D-Star
Food Net that I run, "H.A.M. stands for H)ave A)nother M)eal"...and "You
don't call us 'Late For Dinner'" (hi hi). Besides, with Field Day just
over 2 months away, and getting into the heart of hamfest season, you
have to keep the visitors and the operators well fed. And, yes, if you
eat ham, you are cannibalistic (hi hi).

JA>Yeah, probably, just like Pokemon Go or something like that that runs
JA>all the time.

  I don't have any games on my smartphone. I use it to check email and
weather data. I switched my main browser from Google Chrome to Mozilla
Firefox. I've been pleasantly surprised with it, and wondered why I
waited so long to do it. But, I've done that in the past, including:

1) Buying a TNC at the Memphis, Tennessee hamfest 20 years ago, when it
was at the fairgrounds...to use on packet. But, it sat in my closet for
2 years.

2) Upgrading from Windows 98 to XP -- then finally from Windows 7. With
Windows 7 security updates and support ending in January, 2020,
Microsoft is trying to get the holdouts to upgrade to Windows 10. Right
now, I can't afford to do so...even off of Amazon. $200 per copy, and
needing 1 for each computer, makes a rather steep proposition...I could
buy a nice rig for that.

3) Not getting into D-Star and D-Rats when I first had the chance to do
so. The latter allows you to chat, exchange messages, and transfer
files, in real time. Some nets meet in "chat rooms" (you can also set up
a "private chat" with another ham), and the conversation gets busy.

4) Changing from Google Chrome to Mozilla Firefox. Google has taken
forever and a day to load, and Firefox works much faster.

  I used to use Facebook and Messenger on my phone, but don't anymore.
I've gotten so where I use an add-on called "Fluff Busting Purity". It
filters out all the ads, group suggestions, and other "garbage" that you
may not want to see, as you browse Facebook. Right now, I only get on
there to:

A) Upload the "Net Menu" of D-Star, D-Rats, and Echolink Nets (with
links to CQ100, D-Star HF, and DMR Nets) to the D-Star Users, D-Star
Nets, and DMR Nets groups.

B) Take checkins for the Arklatex D-Star Net in its respective
group...I'll soon do the same with the QCWA group and its D-Star Net,
once it moves to the QuadNet array on May 5.

C) Post the link to the "Rail Passengers Association" News Hotline to
the D-Star Trains Net, and the Railfans R Us groups.

  I was spending too much time on there, although I did obtain a bunch
of graphical files for areas on the BBS.

JA> DS>   Do you mean Echolink??

JA>Yeah, like that I guess...

  Not sure. The only times I get on Echolink are to check into The
Millennium Net, the Handi-Hams Midday Net, and the Skywarn Hurricane
Prep Net. There was a utility called EchoAnswer, but it doesn't work
right under Windows 7...it was a Virtual Answering Machine for Echolink.
I also had EchoTime, a shareware product, basically the forerunner of
the freeware program EchoProducer. Neither of those are registerable
anymore.

  The Millennium Net originally start on both 6 meters and on Echolink.
But, after the passing of one of the nets founders 2 years ago, the net
went to Echolink only. We still get a nice group of folks chatting in a
roundtable format each week (the only time the node for it is up), and
they gave me the idea for an Echolink Nets Page 12 years ago. I've
expanded that to include D-Star and D-Rats Nets...but also provide links
to a "Nets Menu" with this information, plus links to CQ100, D-Star,
DMR, and D-Star HF Nets. I've done very little with DMR, and spend most
of my time with D-Star and D-Rats.

JA>Yeah - that link that goes to QSO net - that's the one I found on my own.
JA>So it is still not actual HF. Hmm...

  No, but for some new hams, "mic fright" is a very real threat. Also,
for those hams who've had to move to an assisted living center,
nursing home, or into an HOA, with CC&R's, it still lets one enjoy the
ham radio hobby, without all the gear. Unlike regular HF, where you have
to have a Technician Class license, to use "a sliver" of 80, 40, 15, and
10 meters" for CW only...and another sliver of 10 meters for SSB...but
have to be a General or higher to get far more...CQ100 allows Novice
Class hams and up to use it. I've even done PSK31 with it.

  There is a yearly fee (currently $39), but paid subscribers can use
the service for free on Sunday, and they get an add-on called QSO-TV --
sort of like a VoIP version of Amateur Television. While I've seen some
"wild pictures" on there, one ham in Canada just constructed band pass
filters for 2 meters and 6 meters, and he sent an image of the circuit
board, as well as the box it was in. Folks also "checkin to the net" via
that addon.

  I do the QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Association) CQ100 Net on
Friday mornings at 10am Central Time, and it's on the same frequency as
their 20 meter HF net, which is at 2000 UTC on Sunday. But, lately, HF
propagation has been in the toilet, as it were. I also do the QCWA
D-Star Net at 4pm Central Time on Sunday, on Reflector 26A...but
starting May 5, it'll move to the QuadNet Array (I'll be on X-Reflector
757A), where we can also pick up DMR, WIRES, and System Fusion users. Go
to www.openquad.net for details.

  As for QCWA itself, if one has been licensed at least 25 years (for
2019, it's ANY TIME in 1994 or earlier), and is currently licensed, they
can join the organization. Details are at www.qcwa.org -- I'm a member
of the national organization, and the Arklatex Chapter.

Daryl, WX4QZ

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