I heard on one of the UHF Single Sideband nets that occur in our state that M2 ( thats M squared ) antenna manufacturing Company was having an "open house" at there local operation in Fresno. I had never been to one of these, and I wanted to go. I also knew that the Forrestiere "Underground Garden's" had just again opened for their spring tour season. This was yet another marvel of the Fresno area that I had been trying to see but, had as yet missed the opportunity!

I made reservations at a "pet friendly" hotel for myself and my nearly constant companion and radio contest partner "Spud" (K9DOG/6). I left from work late as my boss came up with yet another last minute "emergency", grabbed Spud and my luggage, and hit the road for Fresno. I was all set to try out my new FT-100D on a trip such as those I had often done when I was in my 20's, as the "Anaheim Flash" set out yet again towards the North.

In those days I had used a Swan 260 "Cygnet", a hybrid vacuum tube/discreet transistor 80 through 10 Meter band transceiver. Oh how far we have come since then! This older transceiver had no "AGC" (automatic gain control) for its receiver, no receiver noise limiter, and operated simply SSB and iCW. This time I counted on having 2 Meter FM, the reliable citizens band road equivalent for Ham's, 2 Meter as well as 70 centimeter Single Sideband for more Ham oriented conversations and discussions, and the High Frequency (HF) wavelength bands for the ultimate reliability in "reaching" someone, and probable "fun bands" for having just a good conversation. I had installed the 40 Meter resonator on my Hustler 6 Meter through 80 Meter "top loaded" whip antenna as the best likely choice for HF and 6 Meters. Wow, has 40 Meters changed!

There has for as long as I have been a Ham, Shortwave Broadcasting on 40 Meters. This was often bothersome, now its a flipping hootenanny! Even with the superior selectivity of my new Yaesu radio, 40 was a pain! This will hopefully soon be remedied as a result of discussion with the World Radio Conference (WRC). I sure hope so! I used to even enjoy listening to some of the shortwave broadcasts on HF, as I would center my "product detector" receiver dead center on the "AM" signal, or at home, switch my Hallicrafter's SX-101A from "SSB" to "AM", just so I could listen to the broadcasts!. A girlfriend of mine would often sacrifice whatever was on evening TV, to curl up on big pillows on the floor of my radio room/office and listen to Radio Moscow's Science Hour. These days it seems its all heterodynes with one broadcaster pretty much on top of another!

So, back I went to VHF, and listened to a few 6 Meter repeaters that cover California pretty much from one end to the other. This sort of mobile activity seemed a lot more peaceful and enjoyable, and reminded me of the days when my Motorola T41GGV was my regular mobile radio companion. With this change the rest of the trip became a better experience, and I rolled into Fresno around 23:00 hours local. The hotel was very nice, although probably any bed would have seemed good! I guess I'm not used to trips of many hours straight anymore, and teaching Spud to drive doesn't seem to be an option! I used to drive from Orange County to San Francisco on a pretty regular basis. Well, I guess these things change too!

On Saturday morning I set out to find M2 Company. I had their address but, hadn't bothered to look up a map that would disclose their location. I was sure I would find folks on 144 or 432 MHz. SSB that would "steer me in". As it turned out, the local FM repeater on 146.940 MHz. had a coterie of helpful Ham's who were also headed toward the best antenna manufacturer in this country. Gee, Ham's on FM know about M2, fancy that?

The short trip from my hotel took me right past Forrestiere's "Underground Gardens", ah, yet another orientation covered. Check and mate! I was surprised at first to see that M2 is housed in only a 50 by 200 foot Butler building. I had expected a larger and more grand edifice. After walking the floor of the different fabrication and assembly areas though, it gave me pause for thought. I plunked myself down for a bit on a nice overstuffed couch in what I'm sure is both a break area, and general brainstorming center. I considered who would buy these relatively narrow bandwidth beam antennas, and who would put up VHF antenna arrays that require a super tough mucho inch/lb. torque rotator. Its a pretty small market. Really too small!

I chatted with a few Ham's and was given a tour of the fabrication areas and shown some of the finer points of what I think is one of M2's finest product lines. You see, M2 Company builds power dividers for all of the VHF/UHF Ham bands, even 6 Meters! These really well built Q-line linear transformers allow phasing and stacking multiple antennas to be a slick and simple process. The operations manager gave me a wonderful and insightful tour and explanation of their fabrication!

I wandered outdoors again to contemplate all I had just been shown, and also to go check on Spud, who had been assigned to guard the rig! She was fine with the car parked in the shade of an adjacent building but, she welcomed a drink of water and a chance to stretch her legs. We wandered by the vehicle of obviously another Ham, who had several vertically polarized antennas on his van. I'm always curious to chat with SSB oriented Ham's sporting vertical antennas. I was also curious about the two 6 Meter band quarter wavelength whips at the rear corners of his truck.

It seems this chap owns an FM "land mobile" shop, so we talked briefly about GE and Motorola radios, the "Pro's" and cons of each. Our conversation then seemed almost magically to turn toward our relative history in Ham radio. While he is about 10 years older than I, he too was first licensed as a young teenager. He too, used a tested and old method to get his code speed up to pass the test, he got caught doing it though! I ran my first home brew transmitter into a light bulb "dummy load", and mine was only about 24 Watts plate input power. His was about 80 Watts plate input, and he connected it to an antenna!

Still we both have obviously succeeded in so far sharing several decades as licensed Ham's. We both have worked in the land mobile biz, and held commercial licenses as well, and we also both seem to lament the general way that Ham Radio is being slowly eaten away. We most strongly connected with the idea that it is much harder to "Elmer" the neophytes. We agreed that this was because they used to have so much better initial footing or basic knowledge. You didn't have to explain or teach the why, only the how! It was a great conversation though, and we chewed each others ears off for nearly an hour standing in the direct sun light behind his van. Spud was smarter! She kicked back and laid down in the shade, probably saying to herself, there he goes again!

I next drove to Forrestiere's "Underground Gardens" and was given a tour by Baldiceres Forretiers daughter. She is quite a gal, with a great sense of humor, and its obvious she has a genuine appreciation for how great an achievement her fathers 'gardens' are! For my part I was awe struck. The caverns grottos and gardens, are amazing. They set a mood and atmosphere that I have seldom seen and felt in any other architecture. I love Frank Lloyd Wrights houses and other buildings but, what Baldisare Forrestiere accomplished in his dwelling simply blew me away! I carried my camera and long lens for the hour plus tour, and never clicked off a frame. My camera was mostly silent though because there were just too many others on the tour. These grottos were never intended for such a large troop. They are best appreciated I think by one or two people who can be enveloped by their presence and strength. They are though a wonder to behold, and I hope the politicians and powers that be will realize that they don't have to conform to todays building codes. They just don't guys!

By this time it was it was getting time to mobile on closer to home. I had thought of camping in the mountains to the north of Fresno, and taking the long way home. There was a hitch though! Spring had sprung, and the showers and storms on the horizon were threatening, particularly to the mountains in the north. So, I decided to take a route covering the flat lands of the agra business. I hoped to find a campground where I could stay for the night on Saturday evening, and thereby split the difference. Mother Nature however had other plans. The rain storms and line squalls were fun to drive through though.

I wound up by driving straight through and getting home on Saturday evening. I will explore this central California landscape more thoroughly though in the future!