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Category: amateur radio

Fri. Mar. 3, 2023 – busy day today

Cooler, and hopefully clear.  Rain is supposed to have passed us by in the night.  It was overcast, threatening rain, and we did get a bit of light misty drizzle in the evening yesterday.   By 11pm we were getting a little rain, but nothing like the straightline winds that were predicted.

The BOL got heavy wind and had power outages in the area.  No idea what really happened until we hear from the neighbors, or someone shares on the local FB group.

Did some errands a preparation for the Hamfest yesterday.  Most of the afternoon got eaten by a trip to the bank to deposit a check though.   The check was too big to use the self deposit feature in the app.   The nearest branch is 10 miles away, on a rainy day, around the time schools get out and people start going home… so normally  heavy traffic as well as weather related crashes.   Joy.

Since I was delayed anyway, I swung through a regular Goodwill store on my way home.   Stock was low, but I did find a book and a couple of DVDs.   I really went in for pants, but didn’t find anything I liked.   It happens that way sometimes.

Hit my storage unit on the way home for two table tops, two CB radios, and a bunch of antennas.  Today I’ll be piling up all the stuff I’m loading on the truck and trailer for the swapmeet.   Gotta pick up the trailer first, then hit another location, then back home to rearrange and load.   I better leave early and come home late… and NOT spend a bunch of time on the internet with my friends.

I’ve got a Dr appointment at 11, which will complicate all the other stuff.  Couldn’t get it earlier and get it out of the way.

There will be some ‘playing it by ear’ today.

The Hamfest swapmeet is a great example of the secondary economy.   There are people who make their living (or part of it anyway) by traveling from show to show and selling directly to the attendees.   For locals, it’s a great way to get a bargain on gear, meet LMIs, and avoid CC and paper trails, if that is something you worry about.

In any case, get out and buy something, then stack it up!

nick

 

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Thur. Mar. 2, 2023 – 03022023 -got a birthday coming up this month…

Same ol, same ol….   warm and humid, chance of rain, although we are on the edge of it, and it’s supposed to be clear for Friday and the weekend, so maybe it’ll blow out early.   Otherwise, high in the 80s low in the 70s.

Spent yesterday afternoon at my client’s house putting in a cell booster.   The tricky part is the cable run.   The house has a second floor but only in the middle and there isn’t a clear path from one end to the other.    I didn’t want the external antenna visible on the front of the house, and the room that needs the boost is near the front.   The equipment closet is near the back.   I am going to try using the coax that was installed originally for satellite tv to get the antenna signal to the room.   If I don’t have to figure out how to pull new cable all the way, I will save a bunch of time and work.  If you are building or doing a gut remodel, pull at least one coax and two cat 6 cables to every room that will get a tv.  If you have weird tray ceilings, or some other thing that won’t allow access to the walls from the attic, put a piece of conduit in.  Almost any signal can be carried over cat cable now, but pure RF still needs coax.

There is only one room with unusable cell signal, and that is the office… so we’re finally fixing it. (We have a pico cell that uses the internet, but until att finally got the fiber in, there was no way to make that work.  A straight up repeater is simpler, and doesn’t use third party paths…)

Today I’ll head back out there to do the rest of the install and then I’ll go home and pull more hamfest stuff.    That’s the plan anyway.

I did stop at the grocery store last night on my way home.   Beef was crazy high, and the only beef on sale was ‘value’ grade.   Chicken was cheap, maybe they’re all slaughtering before the birds get sick and flooding the market.   In any case, we are still only paying $4/ dozen large eggs.  Gas is around $3/gal at “normal” stations.   It is cheaper if you go to costco or go looking for bargains.   Big name stations might be 10c higher.

Stack-a while you can, monkey boy…

 

n

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Wed. Mar. 1, 2023 – welcome to March.

Yup, you guessed it, damp and warm.   The sun came and went yesterday, probably depending most on where you were in town.  I could see the rain in the rays of the sun off in the distance.   I never got any though there was some heavy overcast at my secondary location.

I made my first trip collecting stuff for the hamfest yesterday, winkling out some stuff (road cases and equipment racks) that has been sitting in the same place for at least 4 years, maybe longer.  Mostly filled the back of the truck.   There’s no doubt now that I will need  a trailer.  A box van would be even better, but that would eat too much money.

So much cr@p to load.  So many prices to check.   I may just wing it like I usually do, only checking ebay if needed.  I’m going to be basically giving the stuff away in most cases anyway.

Today will be more of that, combined with a trip to my client’s house to install the cell booster, but only if it’s not raining.    I’m not climbing on a roof in the rain.

If it’s raining, I’ll be pulling together stuff from my house and garage for the hamfest, and checking prices on major pieces.   I’m also debating whether to take an inverter and a couple of batteries or the honda inverter gennie.   The batteries would give me 12v for the stuff that needs it, but might not have enough power for the bigger 120v stuff.   Messing around with gennies isn’t how I expect to spend the time I have onsite though.  I need to take a box of AA batteries too, so people can test stuff if they want to.   NOW it feels like an onrushing train…

Hey I’ve got an external deadline.   Time to get stuff done.

And stacking has been woefully inadequate this week.   I’ll need to take a bit of time and do some thoughtful catching up and re-shuffling of current stacks.

Just because I’m slack, doesn’t mean you should be, get to it.

nick

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Tues. Feb. 28, 2023 – ah February, I hardly knew ya…

Another warm, damp day, but hoping for a bit of sun.   No pre-assigned tasks to break up my day, so I should be able to get stuff done.  If it doesn’t rain.

Did less than I’d hoped yesterday.    There were bills to pay and paperwork to update, as well as the vet visit.   Poor doggie has a very sore backside from his shot, and spent the day whimpering and looking at me.   The LOOKING, and the little pathetic yips are very hard to resist, so I spent some time on the floor comforting him, until his girl got home and took over.

I had to get on the phone and wait for about half an hour for the ability to pay for insurance with a check… reading the numbers to a human.  Gah.   Did the same with the gas bill at the BOL, but that at least took a credit card.   Three sets of humans I didn’t expect to talk with and it felt like the 80s all over again.

I did receive my new driver’s license.   Shiny.   Lots of new security features.   Texas went RealID some time ago, despite very real misgivings and a public anti- stance, but this new card has even more anti-counterfeiting features than the old.   Got my FCC renewal a couple of days ago, so just waiting for the CHL (or LTC as it’s now known) to come  through.  Need to do my passport too, but that isn’t a priority.

Did some cleanup prep for pulling together my hamfest stuff.   Made a bunch of lists and started remembering where everything was, and WHAT everything was.   I’m pretty sure I will order a uhaul trailer today so I can take all the extra stuff I want to unload.

One thing about finally having a BOL is that it collapses some uncertainty states and solidifies some of the needs and wants.   I don’t just need a tower, I need legs for the tower I have…  A lot of just collecting potentially useful things is solidifying into WHICH useful things will be useful at this particular BOL, and not some hypothetical BOL.

And some of my “enthusiasms” have passed.   Which means stuff I stacked in the throws of that “enthusiasm” are now surplus to needs.

I should be able to take a whole bunch of stuff to the swapmeet.   Whether it will sell, depends on whether people still have money and the desire to spend it on ham stuff.    I’m going to price pretty aggressively to encourage them to buy.  That is really all I can do.

So take a look at your stacks.   See if the stuff is still fit for mission.   See if the mission still needs doing.   And adjust.  Stack what you need NOW, instead of what you thought you needed a year ago.

 

nick

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Sat. Feb. 25, 2023 – no school like the old school

Warm and damp.   Spring in Houston.   Definitely feels like time for gardening…   never did get much warmer or sunnier yesterday, just a grey, blah day.  Today should be clearer according to the weather liars, but we know how that goes.

Didn’t actually do much yesterday.   Slept in my chair more than I’d like to admit to.   Had some issues going on that took up a lot of  mental energy, and didn’t leave much for work or play.    Everything resolved itself, but the day was a write off.

Today I’m going to start pulling together my stuff for the hamfest swapmeet.   I’ve got stuff at home, in storage, in the attic, out back, in the driveway and garage, at my secondary location- basically everywhere I’ve ever stashed anything.    I hope to just pile all of it, take it to the swapmeet, and hopefully turn a bunch of it back into cash.   Even with stacking and multiple vehicles and residences, I don’t need all the stuff I’ve got.   Plus I’ve got a bunch of parts, salvage, and industrial stuff that I hope to sell.  There should be a lot of pent up demand, if people have cash.

Of course if people don’t have any money, it won’t matter how motivated a seller I am, and I’ll end up dragging a lot of stuff back and forth for no gain.   I have no idea how it will go, but I am hopeful there is still money out there looking for bargains.

Take a look at your stacks.   See if what is there still meets your needs and goals.   Adjust accordingly.   Stack more of the good stuff…

nick

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Tues. Feb. 14, 2023 – it’s like deja vu all over again…

Cool and damp.  Wet and muggy.  Pretty close to the same thing right now.   Wasn’t bad yesterday, with clear skies until later in the day, and then it was just a few clouds.   The temperature did come up in the evening, which was a bit weird.  64F when I went to bed.

Did my big drive down to Dickenson to pick up and drop off.  Sold one freezer.   Picked up two more.  Took them back to my storage unit.   I’ve got more organizing and sorting to do there, but it’s supposed to rain today.  Can’t pull half the stuff out into the rain in order to sort the other half.

If it does rain, I’ll find something to do.   There’s a list you know…

Birthday is approaching and everything is coming due.   Renewed my driver’s license online.  Filed the renewal for my LTC online too.   Will have to file my ham license renewal today.  There are a couple of extra steps to go through this time, due to changes at the FCC.  Renewed my membership in my hobby org a couple of months ago to get an early bird special.   Several trade magazines wanted to be renewed this month too.    Spring is all about renewal I guess.   I just hope not in the Logan’s Run sense…

Had a big outage here last night.  Longest one we’ve ever had.   If the host company shares anything with us, I’m sure Rick will share what he can.   If it happens again, you can check for a status update at flandrey.com.   If I’ve had time to do one…

Hopefully the hamsters will get back on their wheels and keep running into the future.  Lazy little furballs.

Today will depend on the weather.   I’ve got a couple of minor things to pick up, and lots of options for other work here, so I’m sure I’ll be able to keep busy.

It’s all about keeping busy, as long as progress is made.

Too many weird things happening in the world, time to be conservative in the classical sense.  If you saw all of what’s going on today, looking back from ten years in the future, would the steps to world changing conflict look so obvious you can’t believe that people didn’t see them?  Consider that.   And consider that people do and did see them but it happened anyway.   Then consider your plan for the next few years.

 

Stack it up while the stacking is good.

nick

 

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Thur. Dec. 22, 2022 – yup 12222022 – work fascinates me, I could watch it all day…

Cold.  Wet.   More cold later.   40F when I went to bed.    Wed. wasn’t too bad.  I wore a jacket and just a sweatshirt while I was working at my storage unit.

I did manage to rearrange, sort, and stack stuff.   Made room to get some stuff out of the house.   We will have room for a Christmas tree now…  which we will have to get today.  And my mom, we’ll have to get her too. And an antenna tower.   Gotta get that.

Oh, child 1 will be getting her braces off.   If they get up after staying up to all hours watching the Addams family movies again.  Missed the appointment Wednesday morning due to sleeping in.  I guess we’ll see how important it really is.

Once D1 is not a brace face anymore, and W1 has dropped her car at the repair place for some brake work, I’ll  be free to pick up my big antenna tower.   It’s a Wade DMX 52.   Free standing, no guys, good for 3 sq ft of antenna wind load.   Some how the anchors and hardware kit seem to have gone missing so I’ll have to order those, but it looks like it was never installed.   I might try to sell it at the hamfest in March, as it is really pretty dang big (52 ft tall!)  Setting it up at the BOL would give me better reach and reception for ham radio… but it’s a $4000 antenna tower, and if I could get half that, I’d make good money on it.   On the other hand, I’d never get an antenna tower like it for the money I paid.  On the gripping hand, I’ll have to order the parts kit and anchors from the factory, and dig a big hole and fill it with concrete in order to set up the tower.  That probably won’t be cheap, but it would be common expense to any tower.

Choices.

Meanwhile, my wife will be taking my expedition to pick up my mom from the airport.   So I better make sure it’s clean and fueled before I head out.   Probably should get some groceries in, since it’s my normal time to do that.  Hope the panic buying hasn’t stripped the store.  Oh, and I should at least test the gennie… and the heaters.

Work.  Got plenty, thanks.

Stack stuff.   Learn stuff.   Build your network.

nick

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Sun. Jun. 5, 2022 – working, but not just…

Cool morning, to hot day later, but still nicer than Houston.   It was at least 10 degrees cooler up here yesterday.  Still brain boiling hot in the sun though, so I waited a bit before weeding in the garden.

 

I don’t see any sprouts, well, one or two things that might be veg, but mostly I see grass.   Pulling it by hand, I can do a row in about 10 minutes.  Two rows and my back is screaming at me though, so I didn’t get the whole thing weeded.  Depending on temps, I’ll do more today.

I’ve got inside stuff to alternate with outdoor stuff to try and keep reasonably cool.

Last night was great.  I spent a bit of time at sunset actually fishing.   Didn’t get even a nibble, but I spent the time casting and tried a couple of different baits.   Then after dinner, I lit a fire in the metal fire pit out on the dock and spun the dial on the shortwave for a couple of hours.

Nice open bands, heard some DX I never manage to hear, and even an australian station that I rarely hear at home.   I need a good antenna and a bigger radio… or a good radio and a bigger antenna….

Since I can see the stars up here, I’m motivated to learn more about them.  There might even be some astronomy content in the future.  I did see about a dozen nice meteors, more than when we were watching the shower, but they weren’t as dramatic.  Neat to see in any case.

Lots of big splashes on the lake too.  If I could figure out how to catch them, I’d be eating fish tonight.             Figuring that out is fairly high on the list of preps.

Speaking of preps, I did move some more food up here.   We could go a month without starving, but we’d be pretty bored.   I’m working on expanding both duration and variety.   A chest freezer and a big UPS is pretty high on the list.  ‘Course, septic is too.

Still stalled on the big projects waiting for other people.

Got plenty to do in the mean time.

BTW the propane “camping” instant water heater is working really well.   It’s a bit of a comfort item, although hygiene is important, and morale is too.  $200 well spent so far.   No idea about longevity, but the only negatives in the amazon listings were people who let it freeze with water inside.   Given proper maintenance, I don’t see why it couldn’t last a long time.      If you’ve got the basics covered, I can vouch for how nice a hot shower is when you are filthy and sore.

One more thing to stack.

Stack all the things.  You are your own infrastructure provider.

nick

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Sat. Mar. 26, 2022 – home, briefly, then out again, probably

Cool and sunny, clear and nice.   I hope.  Yesterday was exactly what you want from a lakehouse wrt weather.   And it wasn’t bad at home in Houston either.   Spring is great here for the couple of days it lasts.

It doesn’t feel like prepping when I’m not in the store buying rice and canned goods.   Getting the BOL ready to occupy is a major prep, but it doesn’t feel like it.  The 5 hour round trip is a time killer too.

But, after picking up stuff today, I’ll probably head up there to drop it all off.   I can’t leave it here, and it can’t stay in the back of my truck.  It’s almost all destined for the BOL anyway.    There is a natural duplication of stuff when you have more than one location to stock.  I don’t want to be bringing brooms and mops back and forth, nor yard and garden tools.  Some specialized stuff will go back and forth for the nonce.   Stuff like power tools, tree trimming stuff, and construction tools are too expensive at the moment to just duplicate.   EVENTUALLY I’ll have a full set of tools up there, but not just yet.

I may even buy a new gasoline chainsaw for up there.   A gas blower and string trimmer would be useful too.

I spent the night up there spinning the dial on my shortwave radio and there were soooo many signals.  I can’t wait to get a proper radio and antenna set up.   I was surprised to see that there were 5 local repeaters too.  1 for digital voice and 4 traditional ham repeaters.   I didn’t hear any traffic on them, but I’ll  dedicate an analog scanner to those freqs and keep an ear open.   It would be nice to have some ham community up there.  It would help give me an ‘in’ with the locals.   I swear it’s like Peyton Place.   Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone’s business.   It’s a bit more intense meatspace than I’m used too…

But, most of your help, and most of your trouble is going to come from close to home.  It’s worth it to find our place in the community to get that support and avoid what trouble we can.   Everyone has been very nice so far, but it could just be ‘southern’ nice.   We’re definitely in our trial period.  Hope we have long enough to get to the “us” instead of “them.”

So, stack some cans, but stack some community too.  It takes time, and like a garden, you need to get started early.

n

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Wed. Oct. 27, 2021 – getting more work to do, and some small portion done

Hot and damp again, although the chance of rain seems to be lessened a bit. We got a couple of spritzes of rain late in the day. Just enough to convince me to put the tarp back on the truck, but not even really enough to get wet.

Among my tasks for today are getting stuff out of the house and out of storage and TO the auction. I also need to arrange and maybe pick up a car trailer for my Thursday adventure picking up my parts truck. Wife was not thrilled btw. Who knew? If I leave it in the lot at my secondary, it will get destroyed, starting with cutting out the catalytic converter, ending with someone breaking windows and using the back seat to fornicate, or defecate. Neither is appealing to me. If I can’t flip it to the repair place it will be in my driveway for a while.

One of my auction stops was for radio stuff, antenna cables mostly but there was some other stuff in the box. The other stop was the county surplus facility. I haven’t been there in a long time so I spent some time chatting with the clerk/admin that runs the office. They are getting crazy high prices for their surplus, mostly from new buyers. This was the case last time I was there too, but has only increased. There are a lot of people trying to be resellers and competition for product is getting intense. While I was there chatting a buyer called in and renounced her lot, offering it to anyone who wanted it. It was radios and chargers. Yep, I’ll have that for free, thanks. Turned out to be FRS/GMRS mostly but also one nice Moto business radio. I officially have far too many of the little radios and should start pairing them up and selling them.

With the radios and antenna stuff, that aspect of prepping gets a few more thing on the stack. I’ve been doing food, and hard to get medical. Now I need some bigger things, like the gennie hookup, whole house water heater, and master bath … since it’s getting cooler, attic work is back on the table. Oh, and I need to get my client sorted.

All while decorating for Halloween, and then the endless stream of holiday preps, including freaking air travel Thanksgiving week. I better get cracking.

Keep stacking.

nick

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