Wednesday February 28th: Topic with KC1SOO: Pets
Embedded Files
Questions:
Have you filed your taxes and already received your rebate or made payment.
Do you usually receive a refund or have to pay.
Do you fill out your returns your self or use a software program to , or a filing service like HR Block.
Friday February 28th: Topic with KC1SOO: Pets
Your First Pet
Your First Pet
Pet ownership in the U.S. has jumped significantly over the past three decades. As of 2024, 66% of U.S. households (86.9 million homes) own a pet. That’s up from 56% in 1988, pet ownership statistics show. From companionship to emotional support, pets are a vital part of their owners’ lives. In fact, 97% of pet owners consider their pets to be a part of their family.
Net Topic Questions:
What was your first pet?
Do you currently have any pets?
Wednesday February 26th: Topic with KC1HHK: Books
What kind of Books do you read?
The Fascinating World of Reading Statistics and Facts
Reading is a universal activity that offers countless benefits and insights into our world. By exploring the realm of reading statistics and facts, Here are 10 surprising reading statistics and facts that you should know.
Top 10 Key Statistics
Only 32% of the US population reads books for pleasure.
The average American reads only 12 books per year.
42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
Reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels by 68%.
Reading can increase empathy and emotional intelligence.
Children who are read to at home have a higher success rate in school.
Reading can improve sleep quality.
Reading can increase vocabulary and improve writing skills.
Reading can improve mental focus and concentration.
Reading can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
How Many Books Do People Read Per Year?
The average number of books read by adults in the US is 12 per year.
In the UK, the average number of books read per year is 10.
On average, women tend to read more books than men.
Adults over the age of 65 tend to read more books than any other age group.
In a survey conducted in 2020, 37% of respondents reported reading between one and five books per year.
Another survey conducted in the same year found that 35% of respondents had read between six and ten books in the past twelve months.
In a survey focused on children's reading habits, it was found that kids aged 6-17 years old reported reading an average of nine books per year.
A study conducted in India found that adults there read an average of just under four books per year.
People who identify as avid readers report reading anywhere from 50 to over 100 books per year.
Finally, research has shown that setting a goal for how many books to read each year can help increase reading frequency and overall enjoyment.
Literacy and Incarceration
90% of high school dropouts are functionally illiterate.
75% of state prison inmates did not complete high school.
85% of juveniles who interact with the court system are functionally illiterate.
60% of America's prison inmates are illiterate.
85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.
70% of inmates in US prisons cannot read above a fourth-grade level.
Conclusion
Reading is a crucial skill that has numerous benefits, from reducing stress levels to increasing empathy and emotional intelligence. However, many Americans are not reading as much as they should be, with only 32% of the population reading books for pleasure. Furthermore, literacy rates in the United States are shockingly low, with 50% of adults unable to read a book written at an eighth-grade level.
More needs to be done to encourage people to read and improve literacy rates across the country. By setting goals for how many books to read each year and making reading a daily habit, we can all take steps towards becoming more knowledgeable, empathetic individuals who are better equipped to succeed in life.
What kind of books do you enjoy most?
Do you have one or two "best ever" books?
What kind of reader would you call yourself? Avid, occasional, reluctant, rabid, "I'd rather see the movie"?
Wednesday February 19th: Topic with KC1HHK: The Phonograph
The Phonograph
Thomas Edison was granted the patent for the phonograph on February 19, 1878. The patent application was filed on December 24, 1877.
The phonograph was the first device that could record and play back sound. Edison's invention was based on his work with the telegraph and telephone. He noticed that the tape of a telegraph machine made a sound like speech when played at high speed. He then experimented with attaching a needle to a telephone receiver's diaphragm.
Edison's phonograph used a tinfoil-wrapped metal cylinder to capture sound. A mouthpiece and needle recorded sound vibrations onto the cylinder. To play back the sound, a needle and diaphragm unit read the vibrations from the cylinder.
Edison's phonograph was originally intended for recording speech in businesses, but it eventually became a popular entertainment device in American households.
By the late 1890s, Edison phonographs began to flood the market. The machines had been costly, approximately $150 a few years earlier. But as prices dropped to $20 for a standard model, the machines became widely available. The early Edison cylinders could only hold about two minutes of music.
How Edison invented the phonograph
Edison was working on improving the telephone for Western Union when he invented the phonograph.
He thought of the telephone as a type of telegraph, so he experimented with recording and reproducing telephone messages.
He used a diaphragm that moved against paraffin paper to capture sound vibrations.
The vibrations made indentations in the paper, which could be played back.
Edison's phonograph
Edison's first phonographs used tin-foil wrapped around a cylinder.
He improved the phonograph over the years and eventually used records instead of tin-foil.
Edison called the phonograph his "baby" and loved it so much.
The Edison Speaking Phonograph Company was established on January 24, 1878, to exploit the new machine by exhibiting it. Edison received $10,000 for the manufacturing and sales rights and 20% of the profits.
Edison was one of the most prolific inventors of all time, also inventing the light bulb and the motion picture camera.
-misc sources
Net Discussion
Back in the day what kind of phonograph did you or your family own?
Phonographs became record players which evolved into turntables. Today, they have seen a resurgence alone with new vinyl recordings
Do you still have a turntable, and do you use it?
Friday February 14th: Topic with KC1SOO: Matt Groening
Matt Groening is another year older
Matt Groening is another year older
Happy Valentine's Day!
Tomorrow Matt Groening will be 71 years old.
Matt Groening (born February 15, 1954, Portland, Oregon, U.S.) is an American cartoonist and animator who created the comic strip Life in Hell (1980–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989– ) and Futurama (1999–2003, 2010–13).
Groening began drawing cartoons at an early age, but he focused on journalism while attending Evergreen State College (B.A., 1977) in Olympia, Washington. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles. While struggling to find stable employment, Groening began drawing cartoons featuring a pathetic oppressed rabbit named Binky, which he sent to his friends back home as a commentary on his dismal life in Los Angeles. After securing a job as circulation director at the Los Angeles Reader, he convinced the weekly paper to publish his cartoon, which he titled Life in Hell. He then expanded the strip to include other characters—Binky’s wife, Sheba; their one-eared son, Bongo; and the odd, cranky identical roommates Akbar and Jeff. Within three years of its debut in 1980, the strip was carried by alternative newspapers nationwide. In 1984 Groening released his first collection of strips, Love Is Hell; it was followed by Work Is Hell (1985), School Is Hell (1987), Childhood Is Hell (1988), and Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life (1989). After more than 30 years, Groening ended Life in Hell in June 2012, when the last strip appeared.
In 1987 James L. Brooks, then the executive producer of the television variety program The Tracey Ullman Show, asked Groening to create a series of short animated cartoons based on Life in Hell. Instead, Groening developed a new set of characters for the show—the Simpsons. An expanded half-hour program featuring the Simpson family—hapless father Homer; his blue-haired wife, Marge; and their three children, rambunctious Bart, precocious Lisa, and infant Maggie—premiered in late 1989 and became a weekly series in 1990. The Simpsons was widely considered to be one of the smartest programs on television because of Groening’s satirical humour and the complexity of his characters, and the show helped establish the fledgling Fox network as a prime-time presence. In 1990 The Simpsons won the first of its more than 20 Emmy Awards, and in 2009 it became the longest-running prime-time series in American television history. A feature-length Simpsons movie was released in 2007.
Net topic Question: If you had to choose, what is your go to Cartoon? Do you Like, The Simpsons or Futurama?
Mine would be The Simpsons!
C. Britannica
Wednesday February 12th: Topic with KC1HHK: Martin Jue- Ham Pioneer
Martin Jue
MFJ Enterprises was an American manufacturer specializing in a wide range of products for the amateur radio market. The company focused on station accessories, including antenna tuners and antenna switching equipment. MFJ was founded in 1972 by Martin F. Jue. As of 2014, the company was recognized as the largest producer of amateur radio products worldwide.
Representative products have been described in QST Magazine and CQ Amateur Radio.
The initials "MFJ" in the company name are those of the founder, Martin F. Jue
(ham radio callsign K5FLU).
On April 26th, 2024, Martin F. Jue announced that as of May 17, 2024, the company will cease on-site production at their Starkville, Mississippi, facility.
Ameritron, Hy-Gain, Cushcraft, Mirage, and Vectronics brand products will be affected by the shutdown.
Subsidiaries
MFJ owned five subsidiary companies:
Ameritron HF Amplifiers
Hy-Gain Antennas and Rotators
Mirage VHF/UHF Amplifiers
Vectronics
Cushcraft Amateur Antennas, an antenna manufacturer that has expanded outside amateur radio into RFID technology.
Martin F. Jue is an American business personality, inventor and founder/owner of several companies, including MFJ Enterprises, Hy-Gain, Cushcraft, Ameritron, Vectronics and others, all of which manufacture products for the amateur radio industry. He holds numerous patents on specialized technology, especially in the area of T network field tuners.
Early life
Martin F. Jue was born in Vicksburg to a Chinese American family and whose own great-grandfather helped build the transcontinental railroad across America in the late 1860s. He grew up in the small Mississippi delta town of Hollandale, Mississippi.
Career
Jue is a 1966 graduate of Mississippi State University's Bagley College of Engineering, which in 2014 honored him as a Distinguished Fellow. After graduating from MSU in 1966 and GIT in 1971, Jue worked for a year at Magnavox. In October, 1972, Jue began manufacturing a CW filter kit (CW-F2) in a room of the now-defunct Stark Hotel in Starkville, Mississippi. Over the next forty years, MFJ would grow to become the largest manufacturer of amateur radio products in the world and would garner numerous honors.
In 2012, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) awarded Jue the ARRL Special Achievement Award, honoring him for innovation in the field of amateur radio. Jue also serves on the board of On2Locate and Magnolia Intertie Inc.
Jue lives in Starkville with his wife Betty Quong Jue, where he is a member of the Starkville Rotary Club, board president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Golden Triangle, and board member of the Mississippi Children’s Museum. He has been inducted into the CQ Hall of Fame (2001) and the QRP (2009) Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was awarded the Ham Radio Outlet Certificate of Honor. He is a member of the Alabama Historical Radio Society in Birmingham, Alabama.
Net Discussion Questions:
How much MFJ equipment do you own?
What is your favorite item/gear from MFJ?
Will the closure of the company affect you?
How about repairs, support or service?
Were you aware of Mr. Jue’s contributions to the hobby of ham radio?
Friday February 7th: Topic with KC1SOO: Super Bowl 2025
Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the Philadelphia Eagles facing the two-time reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs. This is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, after the 2022 season, in which the Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35.
Kansas City is looking to make history by becoming the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowls. The last time the Eagles won the Super Bowl was after the 2017 season in Super Bowl LII. The Chiefs entered the playoffs as the AFC's No. 1 seed, while the Eagles were the NFC's No. 2 seed.
Wednesday February 5th: Topic with KC1HHK: Joe Taylor & Digital Modes
Joe Taylor K1JT – Father of the Digital Modes
Joe Taylor (K1JT) is a name that every radio amateur should know. Not only is he an accomplished physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993, but he is also one of the most influential figures in modern ham radio. His groundbreaking work in digital communication has transformed how radio operators make contacts, especially over long distances and in weak signal conditions.
Revolutionizing Ham Radio with Digital Modes
Taylor developed a series of digital communication modes, including WSJT, JT65, and FT8. These modes use advanced signal processing techniques to extract weak signals buried in noise, allowing hams to make contacts that would have been impossible using traditional voice or Morse code transmissions.
WSJT (Weak Signal Joe Taylor) – A suite of digital modes designed for weak-signal communications.
JT65 – Originally developed for Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communication, but later widely adopted for HF bands due to its ability to decode extremely weak signals.
FT8 – The most popular mode today, offering fast and reliable contacts even with low power and simple antennas.
Making Ham Radio More Accessible
Before the rise of digital modes, long-distance contacts often required high power and large antennas. Taylor’s innovations changed that. Today, even operators with minimal setups—like low-power transceivers and small antennas—can make DX contacts worldwide. This has brought new life to ham radio, attracting more people to the hobby and keeping it relevant in the digital age.
A Legacy
Joe Taylor’s contributions have not only modernized amateur radio but have also expanded the limits of what’s possible. Whether bouncing signals off the moon or making low-power contacts across continents, his work continues to inspire and empower radio amateurs around the world.
For anyone looking to explore the cutting edge of ham radio, FT8 and other WSJT modes are must-try innovations—thanks to K1JT!
Did you know the name Joe Taylor associated with Ham Radio?
Have you operated a digital mode or do you hope to? Which?
Monday February 3rd: Monday Night With Fred, WA1ESU
Tune In at 6:00 For An Informal Net
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