TEXT IS FROM OCTOBER 2001 QST PAGES 53, 111 and 112  ‰ QST DE W1AW  ƒ

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NEW LIFE FOR OLD LAPTOPS ILL NEVER FORGET MY FIRST EPISODE OF LAPTOP ENVY.
ID ALWAYS WANTED A LAPTOP COMPUTER, OF COURSE, BUT IN THE LATE 1980S, WHEN
I WAS A JUNIOR EDITOR AT ARRL HQ, SEVERAL OF THE SENIOR EDITORS WHO
OBVIOUSLY HAD MORE DISPOSABLE INCOME THAN I DID BEGAN BRINGING THEIR NEW
386 LAPTOPS TO WORK.  BY TODAYS STANDARDS THE MACHINES WERE PRETTY CLUNKY,
BUT AT THE TIME THEY WERE NOTHING SHORT OF FABULOUS.  MICROSOFT WINDOWS WAS
A FUTURE DREAM IN BILL GATES EYE, AND DOS RULED THE DAY.  BUT THESE
LIMITATIONS DIDNT STOP THE LUCKY OWNERS FROM TAKING THEIR SHINY NEW LAPTOPS
ON DXPEDITIONS, CONTEST JUNKETS AND FIELD DAY OUTINGS.  WHO CARED IF THE
COMPUTERS WEIGHED 10 POUNDS EACH AND HAD ONLY FOUR MEGABYTES OF MEMORY?
THEY HAD SEDUCTIVE LCD SCREENS MONOCHROME, THEY LOOKED SEXY AND THEY WERE
PORTABLE.  THEY ALSO MADE CONTEST LOGGING, RTTY, PACKET, SATELLITE TRACKING
AND A BUNCH OF OTHER ENGAGING HAM PURSUITS POSSIBLE JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE.  I
MUST ADMIT THAT, BEFORE I HAD A LAPTOP OF MY OWN, I USED TO TAKE SECRET
PLEASURE IN HEARING ABOUT OTHER LAPTOP OWNERS DXPEDITION MISFORTUNES.
WHATS THAT?  YOUR LAPTOP BURNED UP IN THE HOT SUN, DUMPING YOUR 10,000 QSO
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IT9BLB 181,482 1043 58 C 15 IR4D 153,642 883 58 C 10 IQ3X 100,650 610 55 C
10 II2K 100,548 588 57 C 10 IK1QBT 81,345 493 55 C 10 IO7C I7PXV, op 43,428
308 47 B 10 Sardinia IS0OMH 483,912 858 188 B IS0HQJ 448,533 817 183 B
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CONTEST LOG FROM TAHITI?  TOO BAD FOR YOU.  HEY IF I CANT HAVE ONE, YOU
CANT ENJOY YOURS.  AFTER SUFFERING THROUGH A FEW MISHAPS OF MY OWN, I
TEMPERED MY JEALOUS HOSTILITY.  THAT ERA OF EMERGING PORTABLE COMPUTING
POWER HAD ITS PRICE, HOWEVER, AND IN THE LATE 80S AND EARLY 90S, LAPTOPS
COST A KILOBUCK OR FOUR AND WERE VIRTUALLY ONE OF A KIND DEVICES.  THE
MINIMAL DEGREE OF STANDARDIZATION WE ENJOY TODAY WOULD COME MUCH LATER.  AS
COMPUTERS EVOLVED, HOWEVER, PERFORMANCE INCREASED AND PRICE, SIZE AND
WEIGHT TUMBLED EVER DOWNWARD.  AS WELL DETAIL ELSEWHERE IN THIS ARTICLE, IF
YOU KNOW WHERE TO SHOP, YOU CAN BUY A NICE NEW LAPTOP PC FOR 1000 AND A
FABULOUS LAPTOP FOR 2000.  STILL, THATS A FAIR AMOUNT OF CASH, AND IF YOU
CANT WRITE IT OFF AT TAX TIME IT MAY CONSTITUTE AN UNREASONABLE EXPENDITURE
ESPECIALLY IN THE EYES OF YOUR SPOUSE.  SO, WHATS AN ENTERPRISING HAM TO
DO?  PICK UP AN OLDER LAPTOP OR TWO AND TWEAK THEM INTO SUBMISSION.
ALTHOUGH SOME DO EVERYTHING LOGGING PACKAGES AND GRAPHICAL PROPAGATION
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IS0IGV 122,760 310 132 B IS0UWX 29,580 170 58 B IS0SEA 3,444 41 28 B IS0SDX
11,712 122 32 B 40 Norway LA9HFA 816,816 1309 208 B LA3BO 102,384 316 108 B
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LESSONS LEARNED FOR NEXT TIME I DID NOT EXPECT TO HAVE MUCH TIME FOR
AMATEUR RADIO OPERATIONS SO GAVE LITTLE FORETHOUGHT TO A NUMBER OF THINGS.
IT APPEARS I WILL HAVE A LONGER DEPLOYMENT THIS YEAR FROM EARLY NOVEMBER TO
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PERHAPS AS LATE AS MID FEBRUARY.  BASED ON MY EXPERIENCES, HERE ARE SOME
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HHU 12,558 91 46 C JA8TEZ 858 26 11 C JA0
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