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Another one rides the bus

Or will it be: another one bites the dust? A couple of months ago I got the idea to try to fill a bus to get a few dozens of Belgian radio amateurs to the big ham fair in Friedrichshafen. Another one of my “let’s  try to get something moving” ideas. Some of the other things I tried over the last couple of years didn’t really move things. Maybe I was expecting too much or maybe I am addressing a tough crowd? Or both, which is a recipe for disillusion. Anyway, I digress.

Two months ago I launched this basic idea on a local ham radio reflector (also one of my ideas  HI). Fill a bus, drive to FH Friday overnight, spend a day in FH on Saturday, drive home and arrive there Sunday morning. Crazy, I know, but I like wild ideas. I only got two (2!) reactions on that posting. One was a ham owning a business that prints promotional fabrics, like logos on T-shirts. He proposed to design and make a T-shirt the FH gang could wear. Thanks for the idea but so far not many people to wear the shirts. Another reaction –hams are everywhere!– was an ON8 owning a touring car company. He made a commercial price quote so we could settle for a fixed price per person. Provided we can get 35 persons on the coach which seats about 45 in total. 35 seems like a number that could easily be reached but the Belgian amateur (yours truly included) suffers from severe inertia. The Homo Amateuricus Belgica does not leave his cave easily.

So I launched the idea once again this week. This time with the price quote and the list of stops the bus will would make if the deal is sealed. I set the deadline to March 1st. If by that date I cannot get 35 people to sign in, I bail out and have yet another idea to file in the ‘It Was Worth A Shot’ folder. So will we ride the bus or bite the dust?

Other than that, nothing to report. I lowered the antenna tower yesterday and took down the low band wires. The forecast predicted strong winds and a lot of snow for today. I didn’t want to risk damage. If the wires and antennas are loaded with ice and they start swinging in the wind… And January traditionally is my sabbatical month off. The first QSO’s will hopefully be made in the UBA DX SSB contest later this month.

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