Every Friday many members of the Cascades Amateur Radio Society meet for dinner and fellowship at the Alpha Coney restaurant located at the Jackson Crossings Mall in Jackson, Michigan.
Tonight, August 21 a member brought a UHF adapter set to show and talk about. Any amateur radio operator who is serious about the activity is cutting up coax and transmission line from time to time and every once in a while finds him/herself needing a weird adapter to interface with some unusual equipment or device. These things are so incredibly handy to have around although in an entire lifetime of amateur activities, an amateur is likely to only use 3 or 4 of them. But the thing is that when you need one you really need it. Without a handy-dandy box of adapters you will find yourself ordering an adapter for $16 and paying $18 shipping.
At these amateur radio get togethers we don’t always talk about amateur radio. Somebody asked Dave, W3IGT (our resident geologist, retired) about sandstone formations and what extent to find them in, whether continental, geographic, or local.
Members may also remember a few months ago when Dave explained to us the manner in which rivers meander. There is physical science to explain why they don’t just flow straight. The thing is that currents develop under the surface and travel diagonally so as to hit the opposing side of the river. Over great periods of time this causes the river to meander. The physics of this was not understood until just a hundred years ago.