[Boatanchors] OT Sweepstakes Help

Sat Nov 21 18:05:49 EST 2009

Granted. But since I can not find the articles in QST among the Ads, 
seriously - try reading each page front and back with a scanner looking for 
a particular article!

Did you ever see the Braille edition of the World Book Encyclopedia? I did. 
The darn thing took up a wall twelve feet across by seven feet high and had 
144 volumes! By the time I found the article I wanted, I would be too old to 
remember why I was interested to start with! (LOL!)

Now to add insult to injury: The Louis Braille 200th anniversary 
commemorative dollar coin? It is the first American coin to have Braille on 
it. Not true! Actually the Alabama state quarter had Braille on it in honor 
of Helen Keller, but it was so tiny that no human finger could even come 
close to reading it! Now this "old" silver dollar size coin, not one of 
these small dollar coins, does have Braille around the rim. It says in 
Braille just what it also says in print. Or so the Library Of Congress and 
U.S. Mint claim.

Just one problem. The Silver proof is $60+, depending where you purchase it. 
It is sealed in plastic to prevent tarnishing and oxidation. No way to read 
the Braille. The Silver Uncirculated non-proof is about $40+. Now it does 
come in a plastic holder that opens and the coin can be removed from.

However, the oil from the human fingertip does bad things to Brass or Silver 
etc.! So touching it to read the Braille causes your investment of forty 
dollars to immediately start to lose value and its "mirror like finish"!

Now since NASA took one proof and one uncirculated Louis Braille 
commemorative coin into space aboard the space shuttle, mission #126 or #127 
I think, then gave both coins to the NFB Inc. - National Federation of the 
Blind Inc., the blind may have to charter a few buses to go "see" the coins! 
Gives one a real sense of cents when you point a finger at them!

Seems to me that the U.S. Mint should have struck a few million in 
Copper/Nickel and put them into circulation. Then the sighted people could 
get them from the bank and charge the blind people only two bucks to Braille 
it instead of having to spend forty bucks for one!

Thanks Pete -

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "manualman" <manualman at juno.com>
To: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2009 5:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] OT Sweepstakes Help

> ARRL Sweepstakes has been a yearly event since almost the beginning of
> radio. In the good old days, the rules would be published in QST.
> Contesting is a voluntary activity so it's probably up to the individual
> to get the rules.
>
> Pete, wa2cwa
>
> On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:23:25 -0500 "Duane Fischer, W8DBF"
> <dfischer at usol.com> writes:
>>
>>
>> Greetings From Still Sunny MI!
>>
>> There is some sort of "Sweepstakes" contest currently in progress on
>> twenty
>> meters. Since I normally do not Contest, I am somewhat puzzled by
>> what these
>> stations are asking for.
>>
>> I gathered that "A" is for low power and "B" for high power? There
>> seems to
>> be a number indicating which contact you are, such as "22". Then
>> there is
>> some sort of symbol, it varies depending on which Ham is saying it,
>> followed
>> by numbers like "67" or "85".
>>
>> Now supposing that I am running 35 watts PEP, on 20M, USB, "you" are
>> contact
>> #11, I am in Michigan, ITU Zone #3 and CQ Zone #4, your signal is
>> 5/8, I was
>> licensed in August of 1998. Your call sign is KH6GRT, Hawaii,
>> running 100
>> watts PEP.  what am I supposed to tell whomever I may contact?
>>
>> It would be nice if the ARRL would send members the rules, do's and
>> do
>> not's, etc. in an E-Mail. Not only would it remind those who Contest
>> on a
>> regular basis that some event was forthcoming, but it would also
>> make the
>> specifics immediately available to Hams. Use it or press 'delete'.
>>
>> Thank you in advance for your assistance -
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO
>> E-Mail: dfischer at usol.com
>> Hallicrafters web site: www.w9wze.net
>> HHRP web site: hhrp.w9wze.net
>>
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>>
>> List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF
>> ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
>>
>>
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>
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