When we returned from the library on Saturday, Christian and I decided to work on our ham radio project. We hauled one of our rectangular plastic tables up to the bonus room so we could spread out all the materials. We have two rectangular tables, a big circular one, and two small circular ones that we got at CostCo in Albany. We use them for projects, get-togethers and that sort of stuff. We actually got them for a potluck we had at our house. We thought they were too expensive at the time, but we are surely glad we got them because we have used them a lot. At any rate, we hauled the table upstairs along with a couple of chairs and organized all the capacitors, resistors, switches, and other radio parts into some little plastic bins we had sitting around. It was pretty amazing, because I think we have all the parts, even after the radio kit sat in the garage for several months. There might be one or two that we will have to order, but that is it.
After everthing was organized, we realized we had neither the right kind of solder nor the right kind of soldering iron. Christian and I hopped into the pickup and ran down to the Radio Shack in Fuquay-Varina where we picked them up. We followed the instructions and inserted all the resistors into the circuit board. We then realized that we did not have wire snips, so we decided to wait to start soldering until we pick them up. I hope Lorena has a chance to do that today. When we could not go any further, I got out the the study book I had purchased to go along with the project. It is titled The Electronics of Radio. It was written as a college freshman level introduction to radio electronics specifically for use with the NorCal 40A radio kit we are assembling. We have decided we will start the book as soon as we finish Explore Evolution in the next couple of days. After that, all of us want to try to get our General Class Radio License. I think it would be fun to learn Morse Code, too, even though that is not required.
Update: When I got in to work today, one of my buddies, David, told me he cooked up a lamb crown roast for Christmas dinner. He said it was absolutely excellent. He said the thing to do is talk to the butcher at the grocery store and get him to order one for the day you want to cook it. He said he would forward me the recipe he used, too. I think that would be an excellent thing for the kids to do for New Years Day dinner. What do you think kids?
Update II: Make sure you do not embarrass yourself by yelling “Happy New Year” too soon. Check this out.