In 2009 Billy Bob Braithwaite was an unemployed West Virginia coal miner trying to escape his troubles, using crystal meth, and suffering through the downward spiral that is addiction.  In the Summer of 2009 an old friend came upon him in his misery and took Brathwaite under his wing, nursing him back into the mainstream of society.

During this time Billy Bob came to notice that his friend was an Amateur Radio Operator who was constantly whipped by his wife (XYL) and not allowed to put up visible antennas on his home, have more then one antenna on his car or be allowed to operate while she was in the vehicle with him.  At that moment Brathwaite had an inspiration in which he hoped  he could help payback his kind hearted friend in some small way.  Billy Bob Brathwaite became the World's first known Amateur Radio Life Coach.

​An now in 2021 for a very reasonable fee Brathwaite will meet with you in a counseling session to get the root of your limitations and then pay your wife a visit.  He can point to several examples of his success stories such as VY3OMG who was not allowed anything larger then a 2M 1/4 wave whip hidden just outside a side yard window and now boasts one of the World's largest Quad antennas on a 120' tower.  

Then there is WW4AW who went from just having just one single Baofeng handheld with a bent rubber duck antenna to one of the World's largest shacks and an impressive array of operating positions as well as door locking systems.  Braithwaite's favorite client to date is AX2CAR who went from carrying a handheld hidden in his glovebox to this impressive mobile array and a World Class Contest Rover.  (Shown below is his daily commute configuration)

Brathwaite claims that though his methods may be considered unorthodox by many you can not argue against his results.  The Life Coach claims that he is so busy now with word of mouth referral that he cannot service all the requests and is considering mentoring others to fill the need for more Amateur Radio Life Coaching.  When pressed for reactions from the spouses of these Operators Brathwaite was evasive and did not give any conclusive answers as to the spouses reactions.  In fact our investigations were unable to uncover any reactions from an XYL nor did we actually meet or even see any of them.  That aside the Ham Radio operators we met were happy and living fulfilled lives, fully accepting who they were as individuals and living their best lives.

-VA7SL reporting from Burnsville West Virginia
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The DIPOLE - the Worlds finest Amateur Radio News Source like a Dipole there are two sides to every story, we ignore those sides, digging deeper for unwanted lobes and parasitic reactions

In my first article I described the most common types of Ham Radio Nets, in this submission I shall discuss some of the more esoterica of Net traffic:

• Boaters Net is  where many Operators check-in and hope to hear an actual Maritime Mobile station, every month or so they actually get one!  Some may actually refer to this as a Fish Net.
• Blind Hams Net always held after dark (at least they think so) and discussions of Music and Audio quality are priority traffic. 
• Raspberry Pi Net is a net where the same old joke is made week after week about cooking the Pi's all day to get ready for the Net.  I am yet to get a good recipe from this Net.
• Friends of Bill Net is a radio talking group of Tea Totalers who take things One Net at a Time and can talk about the bad old days but always forgetting how much fun they had.
• Science Nets are where every Net Controller becomes Bill Nye The Science Guy after several hours of watching YouTube videos.

-VA7SL reporting from Net Control

​The DIPOLE - the Worlds finest Amateur Radio News Source like a Dipole there are two sides to every story, we ignore those sides, digging deeper for unwanted lobes and parasitic reactions

(The VHF and above Radio World is littered with quiet repeaters, too quiet in fact.  A tried and true practice to encourage activity is for the repeater sponsors to host a daily or weekly Net.  What you will find is that there are several different styles of Nets that can be employed and many are based on the personality of the Net Controller.  Here is a list of the most common type of Amateur Radio Net types and an explanation of their raison d'être:

• The most common Net  which can be found almost everywhere is the ever stimulating "Check-in Only Net".  You know where the authoritarian net controller demands you state your call sign, name, QTH and then SHUT UP SCHWEINHUND!  Always a good time, short sweet, over quick and affords the Net Controller the option of pontificating on a topic of their choice at random times for no apparent reason.
• A variation on this theme is the "Calling Callsigns from a List Net".  This variation allows for the ever chatty Net Controller to really flex there vocal chords, especially during long runs where no one answers.  This is a favorite amongst those really trying to make the Net as long and disinteresting as possible.  These Nets reward returnees with a place on the list whether they are actually there or not.  Very often it is the not.  This type of Net takes Callsign, Name and Good Morning/Evening everybody have a great day/night as there traffic passing ritual.
• A "The Cross Country Checkup" is stimulating in that it excites the imagination as you can listen to check ins from far flung locals that you might otherwise not hear from such as Bismarck, North Dakota, Moscow, Idaho and Chevy Chase, Maryland.  
• The "Net with a Purpose" is just hard work and requires a Net Controller with a skillset to do more listening then talking.  This type of net asks questions of the check ins on a topic of the day or interviews a guest with a particular knowledge set to share with the listenership.  You will hear such things as discussions about Raspberry Pi's, Raspberry Pi's and did I mention Raspberry Pi's?

de VA7SL reporting from Mission Control
(Editors Note: VA7SL is a Net Controller on the Trans Canada Net and has been found guilty of all the sins of which he writes by a jury of his peers)
The DIPOLE - the Worlds finest Amateur Radio News Source like a Dipole there are two sides to every story, we ignore those sides, digging deeper for unwanted lobes and parasitic reactions