Went with Suzy this morning to the Greater Baltimore Hamboree and Computerfest at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Got a great score on some things that I needed and some things that I "needed." Isn't that how it always works?

Met up with Eric Gasior and got soaked in the jungle-like downpours, but left happy.

Anyway, the final take was: New cell phone battery, 4Ah: $25. 4 NiMH 2100mAh AA cells: $5. FT-50r battery (1aH): $30. 50 foot of RG-8X coax with PL259 connectors on each end: $14.50. Hand-mic for the FT-50r: $15. Nice clip for the FT-50r battery: $5.

I dug up some 8 gauge wire from my boxes and strung it down to the basement through an old hole in the floor that used to have a cable television coax running through it. When I got downstairs to figure out how to link it into something ground-like, I found that there was already a big grounding clamp tied to the main cold water line directly underneath my station. I now have a 10 foot run to a cold water ground and the signals are teriffic.

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