SDlineman

I went by in July, and they had heavy equipment moving dirt like mad, but from what I've heard, they've quit construction completely. it is on federal land, and they had approval to build it, but something has changed and nobody is talking.

Anybody know anything about the track that's supposed to open up by the Pala Casino? Their website still says it's planning to open late summer 2008, but from what I've heard it's still a long ways from opening. I guess the environmentalists have been giving them a hard time.

Yep, plan on picking up that Gordon West book to "study up" and take the exam.....at some point.....so now I'll be wired up for LA-B-V (I was feeling some "Geek Heat" to wire up since Roger and Doug already snagged radios) and I'll also be wired up to ride point on the X-Plane ride in Jan. Hey Crawdaddy, I am done with my book if you want to borrow it. I'll PM you my # & meet in town somewhere

But if anyone wants my call sign, PM me and I will give it to you.

Thanks guys, and thanks Joliet for the advice- post has been edited.

It was a big Ham radio day for me today. I took my test on Sat., and got my call sign today and I got my handheld back from Yaesu with a new on/off switch at no charge. I like that kind of customer service. I was expecting to pay to have it fixed, it was pretty clear that it broke from abuse (my daughter grabbed the charging cord and pulled it off the counter onto the tile) but they didn't even charge for shipping and got it back to me in less than a week.

Without a separate intercom system, I don't think you can do that. I had a portable intercom I bought when I was flying small planes for fun. It was stereo and so were my headphones. I used to plug a CD player (this was before IPods) and listen while flying. If a call came over the radio, it would mute (or lower the volume) the music. You could always leave the IPod music low and turn up the volume on the radio so it would drown out the music.... http://www.mixitproducts.com/ I was just thinking about a manual switch, but I like it. Something for the christmas wish list.

I'm still not sure if my bro-in-law is coming, but if he does he'll be on a quad. I'm going to bring my son's 50cc chinese quad, but we'll prolly go off on our own, because the rest of the group won't be able to keep up with him on it.

Ok, so I'm planning to head to OW on Sunday with everyone, and I just remembered a question I had. The headset I bought has a port that I can plug an Ipod in, but the RacerX guy said the music plays even when receiving, is there a way to change that? Or maybe an inline switch on the Ipod wire so I can turn the sound off manually?

I just got my kitchen pass to go, I will have my son and possibly my Brother-in-law with me, so we will probably ride on our own most of the day. I do have 2 new radios that I would like to get programmed, so if you don't mind bringing the stuff to do it, I would appreciate it. Let me know the fee ( beer? cigars?) and I will bring it also. I will try to be at the ranger at 8 to meet up with everyone. I'll be coming from Ramona and have room for at least 2 more people if anyone wants a ride also.

Did you remember to pick up the Yaesu adapter cable? or was it necessary with the Avcomm stuff? I got the adapters, but they weren't on the invoice. He must have forgotten to charge me for them. SDlineman... welcome to the radio world!!! Thanks, hopefully we will be chatting on the trail sometime soon.

Yeah, I'm not sure how some wires and connectors can be more expensive than the actual radio either, but I would be more pissed if I spent $200 on some cheap stuff, then had to turn around and buy the good stuff also because the cheap stuff didn't work.

Here's the breakdown for what I got: 2 vx-170 radios 139.99 ea 2 17" antennas 27.95 ea 1 tech class book 18.95 ham radio outlet total 362.33 2 motorcycle harnesses 82.05 ea 2 helmet speaker sets 101.39 ea 2 hand held radio interface cables 19.20 ea 2 high gain mic upgrade 13.23 ea racer x total 552.61 I got a call from racer x saying he overcharged me for something by $18 for one of the pieces, so it will actually be $36 less, but I didn't know which part, so I gave you the invoice prices. He also said that those were sale prices, and full price was about $300 per set, so if you are thinking about getting a set, do it soon. I started reading the book, it's got all the questions and answers, so if you can read you should be able to pass the test.

Okay, so I ran out and bought 2 sets today. VX-170 from the Ham Radio outlet, and the Avcomm headset setup from Racer X. It was more expensive than what was mentioned earlier, (~$900), but now at least I can hear fn sing on the next ride.

Hey slut, my plans for tomorrow just changed, but I gotta get up way too early to make it at 6 so I'm gonna come down for the newb friendly ride at 8. See y'all in the morning.

How is his ankle doing? He didn't complain nearly as much as my son would have. Both of your kids rode really well, I was impressed. I had a good time riding with both Pauls too, and thanks BikeSlut and FakeName(Paul 1?) for the free lessons. Shock and Awe, how are the repairs coming?Amago is open until 5 on the weekdays if you are still interested.

Alpine 5:15 am then. Damn thats early, maybe I'll just stay up tonight so I don't have to get up.

Hey BikeSlut, cool if I tag along? Tomorrow just opened up for me. I have room in my truck too if anyone still needs transportation ( coming from Ramona)

Thanks Fake Name, I think. That was a great ride. I'm not sure when i can make the next one, but hopefully soon.