Amateur radio has something for all, that is one reason there are clubs . These groups promote that mode of operation, some by sponsoring “DXpeditons” to places which are scarce on operators but you could get credits for communication with that area. These are often promoted with T-shirts, coffee mugs, and/or paperweights sporting the dates and locations of what they are going to do!

Some clubs sponsor “Hamfests”, which will have a lot of areas and equipment for everyone about everything. They have vendors that sell everything from equipment to books. There are vendors that sell antennas, there are vendors that sell computers and radio accessories. There is usually an area where “hams” can sell anything from radio accessories to remote doorbells! Most of the items available can be found at Amateur radio. Again you will see some of these clubs advertise these “hamfests” using coffee mugs and paperweights, and giving the t-shirts to the people working the floor, or the mike, or the “talk in” radio for the club.

Clubs also sponsor testing sessions for people to acquire a new license or upgrade the one that they have. These are usually advertised with either the “hamfest” or separately.
The basic levels of testing mainly consists of the rules governing the use of Amateur radio. As a person advances through the different classes of operation, more of the questions will be of a technical nature. All of the written tests are multiple choice ( four answers each) and several Amateur radio web sites have the questions and answers for each of the level of tests which is patterned after the written portion of the air pilots test (another government test).

Due to the changes that the World Organization on Frequency Allocations has made, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has deleted the necessity of Morse code (against some of the older “hams” wishes) for all levels. This means that none of the levels of Amateur radio Operations need any Morse code. With these updated requirements for licenses more people are getting into this fantastic hobby or are upgrading to a new level. A nice gift for someone (male or female) that has accomplished this is either a t-shirt or coffee mug that has their name and call letters on the product.

For many years, kids have loved Radio Flyer wagons, and they have been on birthday and Christmas lists for many kids over the year. For many children this wagon has become a place to imagine and come up with all kinds of adventures. Of course while you may be familiar with this toy, you may not know much about the history of these unique wagons.

Believe it or not, it was an Italian immigrant that was behind the Radio Flyer wagons. His name was Antonio Pasin, and he had the idea himself. Being a good wood worker and quite determined he began working in New York City. Soon he had enough money to buy the tools he needed to have a workshop of his own. He started building these little toy wagons and he would sell them.

Decades later he would start producing more of the wagons. He wanted to make wagons that would work for any child and they began to develop more than just wood wagons. They started making steel wagons, which were given the name, Radio Flyer wagons. He named them this because of the invention of the radio and his amazement with the concept of flight.

Later Pasin would bring the Radio Flyer wagons to the Chicago World’s Fair. The wagons became quite popular and made Pasin and his wagons very famous. They actually became the most well known manufacturers of these types of wagons and even years later these wagons are still some of the most popular, and even more models have been added to their line up.

Still today Radio Flyer wagons are very popular and the company still makes millions each year. Kids still love the Radio Flyer and have great adventures in these wagons. So it is easy to see why so many children yet today want to have one of these exciting wagons that have been around for so many years.