It was like a story book......working with N5ROB John

[WB4KMA]

Once upon a time there was HAM in the land of sunny beaches in Florida .
This HAM came to Florida from Austin, Texas and moved to Fl in 1977.

This FL HAM operator was one of few HAMS who was around in the late 70's as a novice but got bored with radios and went to computers with MIRC.

Now, the Florida HAM got back into the hobby of amateur radio in 2006. He would buy older boat anchors and work his way up to newer radios.

This Florida HAM bought a Yaesu 2800 and an RF concepts amplifier. Plus he had a cushcraft 11 element beam that WAS going to go ...........but it never did go in the air. The beam was replaced with a Cushcraft 13 element beam.

When the 2008 HAM fest came to Orlando, this FL HAM bought a One owner barely used Icom 746 pro from Jerry in Ft. Meyers.

When the old timer got home, he realized he could sell his 2 meter equipment and he did so on QTH. The ICOM 746 did everything the Yaessu 2800 could do plus more. There was great rejoicing in the FL HAMS shack.

In spite of all the strange news about people out there, this man found a person right outside of Austin Texas to buy his radio equipment for the asking price. Imagine that,, no haggling, just a fair price and shipping that was a bargain.

When the Fl HAM got his money order, he sent the Texas HAM two seperate packages first. One was the radio. The second was the amplifier.

The problem here is that the Fl HAM was fom Texas and he remembered his Austin zip code of 78723. This is not good when you are filling out a shipping address lable You see, the Texas HAM was in the 77836 zp code.

So, When the Fl HAM sent the first part of 4 packages, he made a BIG mistake. He put the correct address in Caldwell Texas, BUT, he goofed on the start of the ZIP code. The shipping went out to 787 instead of 778.

Days went buy and these two HAMS stayed in touch through phone calls and e-mail. The Fl HAM was upset because he use priority mail and could not understand why the Texas HAM did not have his package.

This Florida HAM was smart enough to use a tracking and confirmation number though.

While the first two packages were waiting to be delivered or re-routed, the Fl HAM made a shipping crate out of PVC pipe for the two meter beam. Then he glued the end caps to the pvc and shiped the beam in the PVC tube and the hardware in another box.

Guess What?????????? This FL HAM use the same ZIP code as before ......oh NO.....This was not good.

When the Fl HAM got home, he sent the Texas HAM all four copies of the tracking receipts.........then they put their heads together and realized the zip code was transposed.

Good thing the FL HAM was also a private investigator too........he helped track the packages to Austin / Bee Caves Post Office and the Texas HAM went to his post office. See, now John in Texas had a copy of the receipts courtesy of e-mail and could show where the pacakges were.

Wouldn't you know it..........these two HAMS were both named John and had a love for Harley Davidsons. They also had a special pride in taking care of business.

Now, Today, Fl John called Texas John and realized Texas John N5ROB has his packages......er almost all of them. Somehow the antenna hardware was taking a neat detour but should be there tomorrow.

When the Texas HAM agreed to the Fl HAMS terms..........well the Fl HAM threw in a lot of stainless steel hardware and nuts and bolts. But those did not fit in the pvc pipe so they were shipped seperately.

In closing, the Fl HAM was able to work with a Texas HAM not far from his hometown and they both worked together to resolve a sticky issue of improper zip codes.

Laughter was heard over the phone lines between these two HAMS
I am sure they lived happily ever after.

John Hayes WB4KMA formerly KI4WMI Orlando Florida.