Skipp, Please - they are BRATs, not "braut"s... The term comes from the German word "bratwurst", for "fried sausage" (brat = fried, wurst = sausage). OK - deep breath... <sigh>
Sorry it seems I missed most everyone at Dayton - I was parading around Saturday with a big "Harrah's Casino" 15th anniversary t-shirt on, in case you happened to see me. I stopped by at the Bades' booth location - SEVERAL times. Great conversations every time I stopped there. Good to meet you both!! (Doug - sorry I mistook your dad for you - all I could read on his nametag the first day was the last name, and I "assumed"... ARRGH! Please know - I am now on a *QUEST*!!! Hehehehe I'll let you know what develops!) I bought one of those 900 Decibel antennas for $75. When carrying it out to the truck to load up, all I could think of was hollering out "Me-Hoh! Me-Hoh!" HAHAHAHA I only wish people would look around more - I don't know HOW many times I almost harpooned someone with that tube before I got it off property. I saw one set of 2m duplexers being practically given away - the guy was pressing me to buy them on Friday (a 6-jug set) for $75. Shame I didn't need a 2m duplexer!! One vendor inside was selling a MTX1000 (I think?) mobile on 900.. Wanted $450, with NO accessories. I asked whether the mic on the rig was included; I was told no, it was a demo. When I asked what I was supposed to do for a mic, the answer was "eBay". I walked away. It was still sitting there on his table Saturday afternoon, so I assume he brought it home. That's OK - I really wanted an MCS2000 II or III, anyway... The MSF's there were a tad high for my liking. (So I'm a cheapskate - I admit it! Hehehe) I was trying to find a UHF machine for a friend to use on GMRS - saw a 40W MSF station but the guy wanted $500 and wouldn't come down. Maybe he made a deal later on, but by then I had spent some of my "budget" on other items... Was thinking of grabbing up one of the Mastr-II machines I saw, but they were on 411 and I was pretty certain they wouldn't move up far enough for use on GMRS. Same guy had a lot of Taits, but again, I wasn't sure whether they move up far enough for my needs... nor am I familiar enough with them to know what model I'd need. All in all, I had a great time. This was my first time, but definitely won't be my last! Next year, we need to coordinate a "dinner meeting" or something - if only a specific day/time in front of the BRAT vendor. ;-p Mark - N9WYS
