Radio City Road Trip

Went to see Jim and visit Radio City in the Cities today. What a great day weather-wise too. It must have been in the 30s most of the day. Very nice.

I arrived at Jim's shortly after noon, and spent some time helping him try to hook up a DVD player to his TV. It didn't work out though, the video ended up coming out in black-and-white with both the s-video and component cables. Apparently he had just moved it from another room, so it's possible something happened during the move. In the end, Jim decided that he would buy a new DVD player.

Once all that was taken care off we got in my car (his van was out of service) and started heading for Radio City. On the way, Jim got a call from Devlin who wanted to come along. Well, Jim didn't know the best way to get to his place from where we were when he called, so we ended up spending a good amount of time zig-zagging through the city trying to get to his place.

Now with the three of us in my car, we made our way to Radio City. Devlin had suggested that we go to Axe Man Surplus instead, but I really wanted to go to a real HAM radio store. I figured that once I had seen the prices for new equipment, I would be better able to know if some surplus equipment was over priced. The trip to the store went very smoothly and we arrived in good time.

I could tell that neither Devlin or Jim were very interested, but what should care. I was going there for me and they were the ones tagging along for a change. I just wish Jim could have masked his indifference instead of acting like an ass. I guess I shouldn't have expected a miracle with his anti-depression treatments in that respect, but it shows that that part of his personality isn't a result of his depression, but just a character trait. As for some of the comments he made, they were more steeped in ignorance than apathy towards Amateur Radio.

Regardless, I was in awe of all the radios and gear at Radio City. I could really get myself in debt if I were to buy all the equipment I saw. I knew that HAMing wasn't going to be cheap, but holy spit! Better start saving and planning out what I need versus what I want.

I did buy a few things that still ended up costing me over a hundred dollars. An azimuth map, a few insulators, 100' of 450 ohm ladder line, two BNC connectors, a two antenna switch, a mini station log, and a General Class License Manual to help me prep for the General Class test this spring. I had to pass on the power supply as I had seen some 20 amp Kenwoods on eBay for around $50-$75, which is a bit cheaper than the $99.95 power supplies they have for new. I do think I will start saving for a mobile all-band rig for my car though.

Well, after I finished at Radio City, Jim and I were very hungry and needed to seek out sustenance. The first place we stopped at was a place called the Mermaid because it had a sign out front for Fish and Chips. Once we inside though, both Devlin and Jim started to gripe because the service was to slow despite the fact that the place wasn't busy. There was crap on the floor, and tables hadn't been cleaned off. Then we found out that the Fish-n-Chips sign was from another day. That was the last straw and we left after Devlin gave the manager a tongue lashing.

Next stop was Bakers Square where the service was better, but not perfect, for food and pie! After that we went to Wal-Mart so Jim could get his new DVD player and I picked up a Best of Credence Clearwater Revival CD.

On the road again we were ready to call it quits, but we still had to drive by the house Jim and Devlin had decided to purchase. It didn't look to bad, but it was large. I'm sure that once Devlin--based on what I've been told about him--is done with the place, it will look like a palace.

After that we dropped Devlin off at his place and then drove back to Jim's to watch some Torchwood. The show is looking Fantastic! Jim lent me episodes 3 & 4 and the original cut of Bladerunner (something I haven't seen since I was a kid and it aired on ABC).

I hit the road back to Austin around 9:30 and got home around 11p tired and ready to hit the sack.