(NOTE:  The author is not an official representative of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) or Montgomery County ARES/RACES (MCAR).  The comments expressed herein are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official positions of either LAF or MCAR.)

"Mr. Livestrong" Puts Out the Challenge

Most of my close friends and family know me as "Mr. Livestrong."  From the first time I volunteered to serve on the 2007 Philly Livestrong Challenge I have been hooked on this event.  It is one of the most professionally run non-profit fundraising events around.  My Toyota Prius still proudly sports the "official car" trunk decal that I surreptitiously spirited away from last year's Livestrong Challenge bike race.

My personal challenge to regular readers of "Pearl's Paradise" is that you, too, should adopt this worthy cause and get personally involved.  If you are a ham radio operator you are desperately needed to help staff on-course communications for this mammoth event.  If you are not a ham radio operator but just want to donate your time to this worthy cause, you are also needed.

(NOTE:  Volunteer sign-up links can be found at the end of this posting.  Please READ ON for more info.)

In the movie “Field of Dreams” Shoeless Joe Jackson lurked just beyond the edge of the cornfield ringing Kevin Costner’s fictional Iowa home.  Until the diamond was complete, the field perfectly striped, manicured, and groomed, Shoeless Joe and his 1919 Black Sox exiles remained out of sight, out of mind.

Such is the state of D-Star implementation in the Ham Radio community.  Commercial-grade equipment from Icom sits on store shelves gathering dust while radios purchased by early-adopters churn their way through eBay, eHam.net, Craig’s list, and a host of other online swap meets.  The hype machine from Icom kicked into high gear with the release of the first commercially available digitally-equipped Ham radios.  Early adopters who had long sought a digital alternative to analog bandwidth-hogging technology jumped on the crazy train.  The rest of the legacy-bound Ham community let go with a collective "yawn!"