http://normgregory.com/ Click on Dan Checks in from New Zealand.

Yeah...it's definitely our Dan Packard. He might be visiting his father.

Great to see you Dan. I still remember sailing with you and your Dad back in ...Hmmm 77 or 78?. I wish I had my ham station up. 73

Kelly McCrae: Welcome aboard! Miss our reminiscing on 1970's radio.

Whoa - Kelly McCae - long time no talk.....what are you doing now?

Yeah, that's me. The video took all morning to upload as bandwidth is heavily metered in N.Z. Unfortunately, I'm not down here for recreational purposes, as I am taking care of my fathers estate since he passed away.

As far as radio goes. FM stations are on even frequencies, i.e. 89.0, 94.4... AM stations are spaced 9 Khz apart, i.e. 837 Mhz, 936 Mhz... TV signals are vertically polarized. So, the occasional TV rooftop antenna you see is straight up and down. However, as in the U.S., satellite dish's are ubiquitous and have replaced most TV antennas during the past decade.

There's a very good radio New Zealand National that can be picked up just about everywhere, with an NPR like interview format. There are also privatized stations with talk and music formats. One I heard, Coast, plays a lot of 60's-70's oldies with an American sounding announcer on, the other night.

Mr. McCrae. Is your family still making that great wine?

I remember one night of jump-starting your VW bug with my VW bug on a cold winters night in our station parking lot. Receiving in gratitude a couple of bottles of your fine wine.

I am taking care of my fathers estate since he passed away.

I'm sure I'm not the only one here that's truly sorry to hear that.

Amen...

Kelly's family had sold the wine business by the mid-90's, when we worked together at "J-J!!!"

What's he doing now? He's a Baskins-Robbins magnate, and perhaps is still dabbling in rental properties.

Dan, sorry to hear about the occasion of your trip to New Zealand this time. Give me a call, when you get back.

I hope he had a good, long life.