Amateur Radio/Scanner & Linux blog

It is that time of year again. The gang from Skyview Radio Society is making a sojourn to Amateur Electronic Supply in Cleveland. This has become a twice a year event and the next one will be on Saturday September 16th 2006. The game plan is this. We meet at Kings Restaurant in Harmarville near the Turnpike entrance, located behind the McDonald's, between 07:00 and 07:30 for breakfast. After fueling ourselves for the trip we will head west taking a little under two hours to arrive at AES where we all be giddy kids again at the plethora of radios with buttons and knobs that can be pushed and turned.

For those of you old enough to remember there used to be at least three such stores here in Pittsburgh but they have been gone for years now. I remember hiking down to Cam Radio in East Liberty or taking a PAT buss to get down town to visit Tydings where I would stand in awe of row after row of equipment with names like Hallicrafters, Collins and Hammarlund. At Tydings friends and I would listen intently at the seat of wisdom to Ed Lips, whose call sign I can't remember right now, the only person I knew at the time who had managed WAS (Worked All States) on six meters. Seems hard to believe now days that at one time Pittsburgh had several amateur radio stores.

A trip to AES brings back memories of those days though at least it does for me. So if you are interested show up at Kings even if you don't plan to have breakfast there and join in on the fun. If you read the blog for scanner information and you are not licensed fear not! You will be welcome on the journey same as everyone else. Speaking of eating, we usually stop for lunch after we have spent a hard morning of pushing buttons and twisting knobs. The we head back to Pittsburgh some with newly bought goodies in hand and other with only fond memories of what was on the shelves. The ONLY requirement to be part of the trip is that you are willing to attest, in court if necessary, that no one spent any more than twenty five dollars while in the store if questioned by waiting spouses on return. I think we can all live with that! Hope to see some of you there.