I always learn something from my mistakes but often forget the lesson. When the mistake occurs again, I remember the lesson and then try to do something about it. “Don’t worry too much, it will happen to you.” (Traffic)

Recently, cruising down the highway my phone rang and I answered it, via the hands free feature in the truck . Shortly after completing the phone call, it became clear my mobile radio was keyed up to the local repeater. Frustrated and frantically the PTT button (push to talk) was freed up and the radio went back to receive. Now the question was: how long was the transmission and did anyone recognize me as the offending station? It was clear that I was the offender but it could not have been too long a transmission as neither the repeater or the mobile timed out. Time to investigate the time out timer on my radio. As you can imagine, this was very embarrassing and here is my apology.

There is not a good excuse on my part. Drilling holes in my dash for a mic hanger is just something I am unwilling to do. The trick is to apply the knowledge learned from my lesson and solve the problem. Searching online I came across this product. Self adhesive microphone hanger. Time will tell how long the adhesive will last but until then you should no longer be forced to listen to my open mic.

I am in good company of being guilty of unwanted/unintended radio transmissions. Several respected hams have shared similar stories with me over the years. The key is learning from our own mistakes or hopefully from others so as not to embarrass ourselves with a preventable mistake. “Hang yer Mic!” (image lovingly created by my daughter) 73 de Gil NG7IL