Greetings from the Ozark's!

[Bradrock]

My name is Brad. I'm 62 & have been tinkering with electronics & many other hobbies since the mid sixties.I still have my Lafayette, Knight , Heath, Dynaco. Allied , etc. Catalogs from back then.Man I wanted that Heathkit color TV kit!
I can follow directions or copy things. I know the components & what they do. But still can't quite grasp what all is going on in entire systems/ circuits.
Anyhow my hobbies take wide circles & now I'm back to DIY audio. I've been a member at a couple other well known forums for years, but the elitist snob engineers were getting a bit tiresome.
I found this site watching a Youtube guy named Mark Comer doing White Oak mods. What a cool kat! Wish I had a friend like him with similar interests.
I grew up near Detroit & moved to South West fla. in 1986 the day after getting married. My wife has been a quad since a 1974 diving accident near Traverse City. She still got her teaching degree & we went south for a better wheelchair climate.
Then we got wiped out by Hurricane Charley in 2004.
Now in VERY rural Mo. starting over.
I have the same stereo stuff I bought in 1974 & 76.
Sony 7065 receiver, B&O Beogram 3000 turntable, Bose 901's on pedastals & in 76 got the Infinity Qb's.
By the time you guy's kick me to the curb, I hope to have something a bit more advanced.

 

[Fishoz]

You're gonna like it here Brad. BTW...I can guarantee Mark C. Will be flattered by your remarks. He does a good job. Almost got me to bite and try it on my own but chickened out. Lee built my WOPL. These guys know their stuff. We really do consider everyone here friends, glad ya joined.

 

[Fast Forward]

Welcome to Phoenix I think you'll fit right in here

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Yup, welcome aboard Brad, glad you got away from hurricane alley. Settle in and have some fun.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Brad, glad to see you're here. I used to live in West Plains, where I met a couple who then lived in Alton for awhile, moved to Texas for several years, and now they're back in West Plains. I live in Independence, MO, but miss the Ozarks. I hope you like it here, and I think your gear looks more than respectable! BTW, I'm an oddball here, being a non-owner of Phase Linear gear, but still pushing nearly 300 wpc in my main system.

 

[Bradrock]

Thanks all! I love it here. From the crazy traffic & insane county codes of Florida to a town of 700 people with NO permits / inspections at all is amazing! In Fl. I could not even work on my own house. Licensed contractors only! Here I went to the courthouse for a permit when I put up my 30 x 40 shop & they looked at me like WHUT? Even when I set up 3 phase, just do it!
Only issue is both being crippled & my cancer with the docs 45 miles away at West Plains. That's a long roller coaster ride! Heh..Heh

The pic is from my LazyBoy 'Command center'

 

[Bradrock]

You're gonna like it here Brad. BTW...I can guarantee Mark C. Will be flattered by your remarks. He does a good job. Almost got me to bite and try it on my own but chickened out. Lee built my WOPL. These guys know their stuff. We really do consider everyone here friends, glad ya joined.

You know; I've had most of the same interest's since I was a kid, but of all my friends I've never had one who really worked on anything except maybe cars.
When I watch Marks videos I think damn how fun it would be to have a buddy to compare notes with.
I guess now I'm thankful for the world wide web. It's amazing to a guy who used to spend time at the library every week!

That's my dad with the cig. He passed four years ago. Taught me that regardless of your income, you can make it go farther if you don't have to pay someone to fix your stuff.

 

[stuwee]

Wow Brad! You Sir are a REAL MAN! In every sense of the words , most impressive intro, no one would dare kick ya to the curb buddy!!

You're wife is lovely , I spent most of my summers on Torch Lake at my Grandparents estate in the '60's and 70's, 3 houses up from Walter P Chrysler Jrs pad, Torch is just east of Grand Traverse Bay, I hope your wife's horrible accident didn't put ya's off of that magical part of the country!

Plus you have a TT and watch racing on TV!! My kinda guy!! And what a lovely pup you have! You like guns and love our country !! I'll stop gushing now, welcome to another magical place on the planet...PACF!! Craig

 

[NavLinear]

Hey Brad - welcome to our small world. It's good to see new members that articulate a nice synopsis of their electronic life and a vision of their version of the audio world. I see that you have a beautiful wife but I'm committed to welcome new members with a Nav babe - so here she is:

 

[Lazarus Short]

Thanks all! I love it here. From the crazy traffic & insane county codes of Florida to a town of 700 people with NO permits / inspections at all is amazing! In Fl. I could not even work on my own house. Licensed contractors only! Here I went to the courthouse for a permit when I put up my 30 x 40 shop & they looked at me like WHUT? Even when I set up 3 phase, just do it!
Only issue is both being crippled & my cancer with the docs 45 miles away at West Plains. That's a long roller coaster ride! Heh..Heh

The pic is from my LazyBoy 'Command center'

I remember the sense of freedom I had down there - when I got a parking ticket in West Plains, I went to the courthouse, expecting to pay Kansas City rates, but was surprised to pay ONE DOLLAR! A coworker of mine told me she would drive from WP to Alton at speeds that qualified as Felony Speeding - don't remember the number she told me, but she said she got airborne on the hilltops...

 

[Bradrock]

Wow Brad! You Sir are a REAL MAN! In every sense of the words , most impressive intro, no one would dare kick ya to the curb buddy!!

You're wife is lovely , I spent most of my summers on Torch Lake at my Grandparents estate in the '60's and 70's, 3 houses up from Walter P Chrysler Jrs pad, Torch is just east of Grand Traverse Bay, I hope your wife's horrible accident didn't put ya's off of that magical part of the country!

Plus you have a TT and watch racing on TV!! My kinda guy!! And what a lovely pup you have! You like guns and love our country !! I'll stop gushing now, welcome to another magical place on the planet...PACF!! Craig

Heh...Heh.., My folks cabin was ' On the Bay' near Torch Lake Village. My dad bought a 100' frontage lot around 1960 for $800.00 !!! They made out pretty well when they sold it to move near us in Florida! The cabin was nice, but by then it was surrounded by multi million dollar shacks. I spent a lot of time shooting pool up at Eastport, & what was it ? Brownwood? I still like Elk Rapids......, Kewadin... Ahhhh Gods country ( And medical herbs too) But just sucks in a wheelchair for about nine months a year.
Interlochen was my last home up there.
Now day's when I hear 'Torch Lake' I just think of Michael Moore ..................
BTW; Born & raised at Belleville
Oh..Oh.. I was the first freshman in history to be the captain of the debate team there & was planning to be the first Governor of the U.P. ! After I led the succession!
Must have had some good shit back then.....................

 

[laatsch55]

Brad,you are what we value around here and that is being a :character", god knows we need less clones and more characters...welcome to Phoenix bud!!

 

[jbeckva]

Welcome to Phoenix, Brad! Yeah I remember Charley too... and Frances.. and Wilma LOL. That was right around the time we bit the bullet and moved to Sarasota due to HQ's moving, but I tell ya... somebody was trying to tell us something when Charley cut our house hunting leave short. A year was enough, and we moved back here to VA.

Yep, you'll fit right in here... We're small, but tight..

 

[Bradrock]

" I hope your wife's horrible accident didn't put ya's off of that magical part of the country"

Not at all! Marla broke her neck in 74 . I moved 'North' in 75. One of her older sisters was my favorite 'herbist'. So we knew each other for awhile before getting married in 86 right after she got her degree ( Magna cum laude I'll add). Id been crapped on by enough women by then that I thought HEY this could work for both of us. Get her out of her parents house & have a wife with little worry of her cattin around. And it's been wonderful................
She taught grades 9 - 12, EMH students until her spinal fracture started to deteriorate ( along with my back). So we were already retired when the Hurricane wiped us out both physically & financially. That's why we are here VERY low cost of living. We sold our small house in a small sub for enough to buy our 20 acre farm with house, 3 barns and a couple ponds. Total taxes around $300.00 a year !!
All 8 of my vehicles are also paid off. so.....pretty sweet deal.







​

 

[Bradrock]

Welcome to Phoenix, Brad! Yeah I remember Charley too... and Frances.. and Wilma LOL. That was right around the time we bit the bullet and moved to Sarasota due to HQ's moving, but I tell ya... somebody was trying to tell us something when Charley cut our house hunting leave short. A year was enough, and we moved back here to VA.

Yep, you'll fit right in here... We're small, but tight..

We were at Punta Gorda. Ground zero. 15 minutes to prepare. ( Was supposed to go up coast to Tampa & took hard right at Boca Grande). Then Ivan, Gene, Francis over next six weeks.....................We had about the only house still standing in our sub. We were stuck in house for two weeks before crews found us..........UGHHHHHH.....
Wife could not leave Florida fast enough!! Her words were something like " Fuck this shit"!!

 

[Bradrock]

Hey Brad - welcome to our small world. It's good to see new members that articulate a nice synopsis of their electronic life and a vision of their version of the audio world. I see that you have a beautiful wife but I'm committed to welcome new members with a Nav babe - so here she is:

Eh...Nice doorstop, If you want my attention: Tiny butt, tiny tit's & long hard nips..

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[stuwee]

Yep Brownwood! Spent many times there, how about Schuss Mountain/Shanty Creek, remember them? For those who don't know, Torch is one of the most beautiful lakes on planet Earth...Period! 19 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and up to 350 feet deep of crystal clear, spring fed water that changes colors as you look at it...the Carribean of the north Gramps had a 1962 21' Century Resorter powered by a '62 460cid Ford NASCAR engine smuggled out of Dearborn by some of his croonies fastest boat on the lake for many years. I have pics somewhere, here's one from the net of a CC on Torch, the water really looks like that...

 

[Fishoz]

Schuss Mountain...takes me back Craig. 1st wife's father was an original investor. Spent many weekends up there (when times were good) '76-'80. Loved the place. Maybe we ran into each other and didn't even know it!