HamGadgets News

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Did you know you don’t have to check this page to see when something new is posted?  Most modern web browsers can take advantage of RSS feeds.  In Firefox, for example, you can get “Live bookmarks”, or a button along the top of your browser window that automatically tracks changes to a web page.  You can click the button and see a list of new and old articles, and if you want to see one just click it — you’ll be there!  This news blog has a feed available, as does ARRL, and many other web sites.

I know everyone is waiting for ID-O-Matic IIs, but not yet.  However, I do have UKA-2 boards available, assembled and tested.  Just pick that option (there’s a drop-down box at the bottom of the item page) when ordering.

Of course I also have PicoKeyer-Plus kits available assembled and tested.  Oh, and I fixed a problem with the comments so you can post comments again, sorry for the broken link.

If you tried to view the site over the past day or so, you probably ran into errors or a page telling you the site was “down for maintenance”.

Yesterday morning, I accidentally deleted the entire content of the web site.  All of it.  It was a simple mistake; much simpler than it should have been, in fact.  I guess I shouldn’t be making updates before I’ve finished my second cup of coffee.  I didn’t panic too badly, knowing that the irreplaceable data — the databases — were intact and backed up at least daily.  I also thought I had all of the web content backed up.  That turned out not to be the case… Continue reading A minor web disaster…

Things have been crazy busy around here for a few weeks now. I’m trying to keep caught up on shipping orders, but to be honest I am frequently falling a couple of days behind – so if your order doesn’t ship immediately, I apologize in advance.

I will soon be shipping Rev B of the ID-O-Matic II. No big changes, just a couple of component values are different and a couple of minor PCB errors corrected. I’ve also started introducing pre-assembled kits, beginning with the PicoKeyer-Plus. I plan to add the UKA-2 and ID-O-Matic II in the near future.

And lastly, one of the reasons we’ve been so busy: Say hello to Burke Thomas Wissman, our first grandchild!  He was born this afternoon.  Mom and baby are doing fine, but everyone involved (including grandparents) are exhausted.  Now, I’m going to grab a quick nap and finish a couple of furniture refinishing projects so the nursery can be ready!

Ain't he cute?

Well, it was a very good trip to Dayton this year.  Our new booth location was much better than last year, and attendance (especially Saturday) was very good.  Our products were well received and we were happy to be able to meet and talk with so many new and existing customers.  All in all, we’re tired, worn out and in need of some good coffee but it was a good trip.

I should have PicoKeyer-Plus kits back in stock within a week or so at most, and I’ll be spending the next day or two catching up on the web orders that came in while we were away.  Happy hamming!

What a day!  I would have to say that after last year, the Hamvention is definitely looking healthier.  We’re certainly busier, due in part to a much better booth location.  And hams seem to be in a buying mood; conversations are more upbeat and attitudes are more positive.  All in all it feels like it’s a good sign for ham radio and the economy in general.

We sold out of PicoKeyer-Plus kits a little after lunch time today, but still have plenty of UKA-2 and ID-O-Matic II kits left.  We’ve got a few MasterKeyers that I hope to sell before we pack up tomorrow.

I’ve now met both the present and former owners of Vibroplex, as well as a few other people I had hoped to see here.  I still haven’t seen most of the Hamvention, though, and haven’t even been out to the flea market once during either trip!  Some day I’ll have to do that…

Lisa and I arrived very late Wednesday night after a 12 hour drive.  We spent yesterday unpacking and setting up the booth.  This morning the gates opened at 9 AM sharp, and it was pretty apparent within a short time that the crowd was a little bigger than last year, and the outlook was a lot brighter.  There are more vendors and more hams in Dayton this year, and things are definitely looking up.

Piero Begali is, as always, very generous in loaning us a couple of his wonderful pieces of functional Morse artwork, a Stealth and a gold-on-gold Pearl.  I also had a chance to visit with the new owner of Vibroplex, Scott Robbins W4PA, as well as several other new and old friends.

I swear, if one more person asks me about a voice keyer or a CW reader… 

Friday is pretty much behind us now.  Some great Donato’s pizza, a little relaxation and TV at the hotel, and I may even indulge in a little reward for a hard day’s work before we’re back at it in the morning.

I did some work on the web site over the weekend.  You can now place an order without creating an account, which should make some folks happier.  This means one less password to remember, of course.  it also means no email updates, newsletters or order history, but that is an acceptable tradeoff for a lot of people.

I’m doing a little more cleanup and some minor changes from time to tiem, so if you get our “Out to Lunch” page, check back again in a couple of hours.

We will once again be at Dayton in May 2010.  We’re in booth BA0482, right down the aisle a bit from ARRL and not far from Begali, Marconi and QCWA.  Be sure to stop by and say hello!  Of course we’ll have plenty of kits and MasterKeyers on hand, as well as some yet-to-be-determined Dayton specials.

After a 17-hour day on Saturday and another 8 hours on Sunday, I now have all of the ID-O-Matic II backorders filled and shipped.  I also have all orders placed while I was gone last week on their way.  As of this morning I’m current on all shipping, just waiting on the MasterKeyer boards so I can start shipping those.  With any luck I’ll have all of those cleared out by the end of the week as well.

So…  as of now, we’re back to normal.  If you place an order for anything other than a MasterKeyer it will be shipped within a day or so as usual.  MK-1 orders will ship in the order they were received, starting later this week.