Not Related to Anything – Just a Rant

I’m not here to poo-poo anyone’s adventure to the edge of space.  I’m glad Katy Perry, Gail King, and others had a successful Blue Origin flight this morning (April 14, 2025).  As a big fan of William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk, he is also a Space Tourist.  None are astronauts, none have gone through the years of training to make that claim.   Just because I can get on a Delta flight to Las Vegas doesn’t make me a pilot.  Is this something we can agree on?

Happy Anniversary – 10 Years Since Walking Dead films in Opelika (Not Really)

Holly Molly – Ten years ago (April 1, 2015), really. I had posted my usual April Fools joke on my blog at the time of the day, opelikadailynews.com. And Bam! It went viral. The Alabama Film Commission called local officials to find out more, and blog traffic over three days reached over 85,000 views. And after several hours of searching, a local news reporter (with great hair) found me. She asked for an interview, and I had to fess up and ask if she had noticed the date on the calendar. She asked, “Have you pranked me?” I said yes, then the phone hung up. Later, a call back to complain about my poor journalism. It’s a blog, folks!

The story was a blog post that went viral, but that was never addressed. I ran into someone this week who heard that when they were in High School, they are now working with OPS. I even got some flashing blue lights at me one afternoon on 1st Avenue. The officer said, “Katz, that wasn’t funny”. But he was laughing. I think this is about the time America lost its sense of humor. It’s kept me from writing more. Here’s the original post:

The Walking Dead Plans Opelika Shoot in Spring – April 01, 2015

AMC Televisions “The Walking Dead” plans Alabama Film locations. Reportedly, Steven Yuen who plays the character Glenn Rhee in the show was spotted in Tiger Town last weekend, on his way from the Florida panhandle to the shows Georgia film studio in Senoia. Apparently, several walkers (aka Zombies) cast for the show have been from this side of the Chattahoochee River and the Opelika area which has captured the attention of Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd and Creator Robert Kirkman. Work will stop of the demolition of the Old Mill on 1st Avenue as scouts have determined its empty open areas, not used for Hollywood since Norma Rae will work well for one of the early spring shootings. Production of the new season is to begin within weeks. Talking Dead host and Stand Up comedian Chris Hardwick will do several cast interviews during the Opelika Filming. AMC’s Walking Dead ended season five on Sunday with its highest-rated finale in history, with 15.8 million viewers and 10.4 million among A18-49, ending its season with all 16 episodes ranking among the top 20 telecasts in the demo this season. After-show Talking Dead had its highest-rated episode ever, with 7.5 million viewers and 4.9 million in the demo. More details as they become available!

I hope this brings back some memories from ten years ago. Keep smiling! – Jerry

My Road to my Ham License is through GMRS

Several weeks ago, I decided to get into GMRS radios. It’s a cheaper entry to radio and eventually Amateur (Ham) Radio. No, you don’t have to go that route, but with a budget in mind, I thought I’d take some time to listen and learn about these radio communications. My long-term goal is to get on HF and talk to the world with my Ham license.  I found a group dedicated to GMRS, the North Georgia GMRS.  It’s a network of repeaters around Atlanta (see graphic) that connects to the Chattanooga area and even has a repeater in Ocala, Florida.  I’ve spent a lot of time listening to the past few weeks. After getting my GMRS license, my first transmission was a call when I heard traffic on channel 20 and checked in as a new user.  I got an immediate response from someone in Chattanooga who said I must have set my radio up correctly because I came in loud and clear.  Funny, I unpacked it, turned it on, and got lucky.  Since then, not so much.  I’m 21 miles from my house to the Columbus repeater. It’s in Phoenix City.  I’ve experimented with my Baofeng UV-5G Plus and my Radioddity DB20-G.  I can get to the repeater after purchasing several antennas for the truck, but it’s not great yet.   After some research, I realized I needed more power, so I’ll replace the truck mobile unit with a 50-watt GMRS transceiver. It’s recommended that I wire the power directly to the battery since the cigarette lighter port probably won’t power the unit; I’ll have a friend who does those types of installs help with the project.  Stay tuned; I’ll update you in a few days!

Those Walkie Talkies on TikTok

If you are a fan of Tic Tok, you may have seen someone in your feed talking the advantages of handheld Walkie Talkies that you can talk to people all over the world. They push the Flash sale in their online store on several model radios, which are good prices, but I think they might be overselling just a bit.

Additionally, they use the recent communication outages in North Carolian’s hurricane as an example of why you should have the radios. On, this they are correct. But follow along for a few. If you are thinking about getting a radio,

Let’s begin with two entry level services.

Family Radio Service (FRS) No License Required

The Family Radio Service (FRS) is a private, two-way, short-distance voice and data communications service for facilitating family and group activities. The most common use for FRS channels is short-distance, two-way voice communications using small hand-held radios that are similar to walkie-talkies. (Source: FCC) Read More Here: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/family-radio-service-frs This is like CB radio, Goood Buddy, but more (I guess)!

General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) License Raquired, No Test

The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a licensed radio service that uses channels around 462 MHz and 467 MHz. The most common use of GMRS channels is for short-distance, two-way voice communications using hand-held radios, mobile radios and repeater systems. Repeater systems allow you to expand the area you can reach. (Source: FCC)  Read More Here: https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs Most of the radios you are seeing on TikToc are Tig or Baofeng Radios and require at least a GMRS license ($35 from the FCC) and a Ham License on others. I’ll discuss GMRS more with an overview of groups and area networks setup by those groups

Ham Radio – We’re going to save this for another post. More complicated, several levels of licenses and each is testable.

About Those Race Camping Trips!

It’s been a while since I posted, and I’ll apologize for that right now. My next big camping trip was to the two races in late summer or fall, in Atlanta and Talladega. I totally mis-scheduled Atlanta due to some work conflicts, so I was unable to make that trip, but there was still Talladega. If you remember from last year, I was unable to complete the trip due to a transmission issue with my 2016 GMC Canyon. After fixing that, I figured I’d trade and get a new truck to avoid any future issues. I love the 2024 Nissan Frontier I bought. But then, while driving around town one day, I got a check engine light, as the transmission jumped out of gear. The Lynch Service Department ran a computer check and it called for the transmission to be replaced. Lynch was great, it took several weeks for the transmission to arrive, Nissan was pretty quick to say yes, and all was good. Unfortunately, it all arrived after the Dega race. I may not schedule that again, because I am wondering if I’m snake bit on that one. By the way, the truck is running great. I believe it’s an updated version, because I don’t notice the nine speed transmission shifting, as I did in the original. The transmission was changed out after 12 months and just under 5,000 miles for the record.

I have a new interest now; one I’ve had for just over 60 years. When I was a kid, I had a cousin that was into Ham Radio. From pictures I saw he had a really cool setup. But, for me, it never happened. Now, I am studying for the Amateur Radio Technician license and dabble in GMRS (General Radio Mobile Service). That deserves its own post and will expand what I discuss here.  

Creative Radio On-Air Name Ideas Inspired by Tools (aka Ania Hammar)

This post is off-topic for the site and not political, so everything should be okay, right?

I was off at Harbor Freight today to pick up a tool bag for the camper. Wait, is that a tie-in for the camper site? Maybe!  So, I was driving my Boulder Gray *Nissan 2024 Frontier Pro-X, windows down, country music on SXM’s The Highway, and the host (we were called jocks back in the day) was Ania Hammar. I thought, being a former jock who played both rock and country, what a tremendous on-air name.  Okay, it’s spelled Hammar not Hammer, but it sounds right.

After Leaving Harbor Freight Tools, I wondered what other great on-air names might be hidden on those shelves. So, I opened the website to see how it went. I figured I would start with hand tools since the other Hammar is a powerhouse on-the-air. And the hammer is a hand tool.

So, I started with the hammers. Let’s use my first name.

  • Jerry Sledgehammer
  • Jerry Rubber Mallet
  • Jerry Ball-Peen Hammer
  • Jerry Pry-Bar

I don’t think this experiment works; let’s move to power tools.

  • Jerry Drill/Driver
  • Jerry Hammer drill

This experience isn’t working. Let’s check the other tool sections. I think I’m on something here. Maybe I should try some of the brand names of tools.

  • Jerry Vulcan
  • Jerry Titanium
  • Jerry Earthquake XT
  • Jerry Spectrum
  • Jerry Predator (I like this)
  • Jerry Thunderbolt
  • Jerry Diamondback

I feel like we’re done here. This has proven that only Ania Hammar has the best version of tool names. I know on the radio those traffic guys are taken with Major Delay, probably the best.  Thank goodness. I’m not on the air anymore and don’t have to worry about this. My on-air name was Jerry Katz! Pretty sexy, huh? (See something you like, please comment!)

*I’m sorry. I love this truck and want to promote it! No, I’m not getting paid to say that!

Who’s Camping with You? Uh, Nobody, That’s Okay, right?

I used to get those questions when I went camping. I always went alone, and there’s some solitude in that. Get up when you want, do what you want. That thought was validated this evening when talking to a friend who recently spent a week in Banif, Canada.  He traveled there for some hiking and spent nights in a hostel.  He met new friends and got that solitude.  I found that the same. When you travel alone, there is always someone new to meet.

So Much Camping – So Little Time!


Let me tell you about all the fun camping I’ve done in the past few months. Okay, I haven’t been anywhere.  This isn’t the way I had planned it.  But, alas, two trips are coming. Both trips to NASCAR events, first the Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Quaker State 400 on Sunday, September 8th, and then Talladega’s Yellawood 500 on October 6th.  Plus, I may have other camping news to announce here in the coming days. I hope I didn’t just jinx it.