I figured out why the rally car was all over the road. The front left wheel bearing was toast and the front right control arm was bent and had a good crack in the top of it. This damage was apparently left over from Laughlin. This has me kicking myself for not going over the car 100% afterwards. It took me most of the weekend, but the front end is back together and tracking straight. On the first alignment ‘test drive’ I noticed that there was still a heavy vibration from the front left. I popped it off and threw it onto the wheel balancer. Not only was it 3.5oz off – the rim was warped. Wobbling side to side more then 1/2″ on the balancer… Time to remount that tire.

The next big project was the dash wiring. It was about time for me to add a reverse light switch – since the switch on the tranny only cuts out when in tech, and Christine has been asking for her map light to be moved to the B pillar. This along with our new ham radio rig would require me to spend about 4 hours dealing with wiring.

Last Thursday night Christine and I drove over to Newport Beach and took the Amateur Radio Exam for our Technician Class ham licenses. It was a pretty busy event with about 20+ people taking tests. After filling out all the forms we got handed our tests and got started.

It was a little harder then expected. Maybe it was the mixed up answers or the fact that the pressure was on. I got socked with two questions on the 6 meter band. The first was something like – “Identify the 6 meter band frequency.” and the second was – “Which of these frequencies could you use to transmit if you wanted to use 6 meter.” I had spaced what the range was and if I got it wrong, I would get 2 wrong and dip into my passing safely margin.

I remembered that the longer the distance the lower the frequency (also another test question) and I used that to narrow down the answer to “50 – 54Mhz”. I was 80% sure – but still in a daze when I handed over my test for grading. Christine had also reported that it was a lot harder then expected and asked me a couple of the questions after she handed her test in. She had guessed correctly on what a grid locater was and what to transmit to a call of CQ. I checked on my 6 meter question and was relieved to find I was in the clear. Then someone said out loud – “Oh, didn’t she fail?” With only 3 women in the room, the odds were high that it could have been Christine.

We both passed! We’re still waiting for our call signs, but they should be in the FCC database soon. I had been watching ebay for a deal on a used rig, and decided to stop by the local Ham Radio Outlet. For what I would payed + shipping and $20 extra on a used 2100H – I picked up a brand new Icom 2200H. So far it’s real easy to use and program.

We’re all ready to head out on Thursday morning. We’re ready to have some fun at the Desert Storm rally! Watch for the pictures and video to follow.