Scotty... I need more power!
My ISP seems to have an issue for some reason.
Icom 208H - Skip Channel
Among the many amateur radios that I have in shack is an Icom 208H. It has been sitting
here largely unused. With winter approaching I figure that will be in my shack or
near my work bench quite a bit more. I decided to spend the money and get the proper
software to be able to program my radio via my PC. I ended uploading in repeaters
and simplex frequencies for the Twin Cities metro, central Minnesota, and as far north
a Brainerd and Pequot Lakes. I also loaded in the railroad frequencies.
I have been pretty impressed the receive coverage so far.
One issue that I have run into when the radio is scanning is an occasional repeater
that is hung up. I can never remember how to configure the memory to skip the
channel.
Now it the note is posted in my blog where I can find it. :-)
Too big to fail is a sign that they are too damn big!
I think that it
is clear that I have become a cranky old curmudgeon.
is clear that I have become a cranky old curmudgeon.
-------
cur-mudg-eon
–noun
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
Origin:
1570–80; unexplained; perh. cur- repr.
1570–80; unexplained; perh. cur- repr.
-------
This bail out crap
is idiotic. Companies should strive to have viable business models, provide
leadership, and be able to pick themselves up on their own. Since when did we start
rewarding failure? Maybe some of these companies with poor leadership and/or business
practices should go out of business... let evolution play out instead of creating
another bubble.
is idiotic. Companies should strive to have viable business models, provide
leadership, and be able to pick themselves up on their own. Since when did we start
rewarding failure? Maybe some of these companies with poor leadership and/or business
practices should go out of business... let evolution play out instead of creating
another bubble.
I never thought
that I would start quoting Ronald Reagan... but I am starting think that he was right.
Look at the bail-out and then consider: "Government
is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."
that I would start quoting Ronald Reagan... but I am starting think that he was right.
Look at the bail-out and then consider: "Government
is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."
Too big
to fail is a sign that they are too damn big!
to fail is a sign that they are too damn big!
Argghhhhhh!
GM - WTF
WTF
Ok.... this pushes me over the edge. GM is now spamming my
inbox with their attempt to get some of the bail-out cash. What a bunch of free-loaders.
They think that they should be bailed out just because they have run their company
into the ground.
I don't see anyone handing me bail-out money or offering me an easy way out.
GM here are a couple of common sense ideas for running your business:
Provide some real leadership, vision, and consider innovating again.
Maybe come up with a couple of vehicles that people are interested in buying.
Dump some of the crap from your product line that is no longer viable.
Stop comparing yourself to your competition.
Lead by example and stop looking in the damn mirror.
What a lame attempt to skim for money. Now they are trying to put the spin on their
crappy business model.
BNSF pictures
Ben, Joe, and I spent a couple of hours Saturday afternoon cruising around west of
Willmar, MN taking pictures of trains.
2008 ARRL September VHF Contest
Summary:
I was scrambling to swap out my Kenwood TR-751 as the IF rig for the transverters
with an older Kenwood TR-9130. I was messing with getting the power levels tweaked,
the 6 pin mic connector, and the discovery that it has a PTT-High interface. Once
the TR-9130 was in place I had to adjust the TX & RX levels within the transverter.
It appears that my 1296 transverter may only be putting out 4-5watts instead of the
15-18watts that it is rated for.
The weather was poor with rain & drizzle pretty much all weekend. I could hear
the rain approaching 10 minutes before it hit as the noise level on 6m & 2m would
increase from S0 to S6.
The activity level was extremely low. I was surprised at how quiet it was for the
contest. The voice & CW keyer ran un-answered for large portions of the contest.
Finally Sunday evening around 7:00pm I pulled the plug on the contest and decide to
work on homework with my kids, clean my office/shack, and watch part of a movie.
My log is about 60% lighter than I would have expected for this contest.
Highlights:
I worked N0UY in EN18, N0PB in EM39 and then briefly into EN50, EN51, and EN52
Thanks to KC0IYT/R and W0ZQ/R for their efforts to put on a limited rove this weekend.
Without you it have been a really quiet event.
Grids Worked on 50MHz
Grids Worked on 144MHz
Grids Worked on 222MHz
Grids Worked on 432MHz
Grids Worked on 902MHz
Grids Worked on 1296MHz
2008 ARRL August UHF Contest
Summary:
This was the first August UHF contest from this house. (We built it 3 years ago.) I
thought that conditions on Saturday afternoon were kind of average or poor. Once the
sun went down and the relative humidity went up it seemed like some of the paths
started to open up. On Sunday it seemed like conditions were decent but the activity
level was kind of low. During the last 2 hours of the contest I had a thunderstorm
sit a couple of miles away. I had to disconnect the coax and rotor cables do the nearby
lightning activity.
Highlights:
Working W0ZQ/R and W9FZ/R through a bunch of grids. (Many of them new for me.)
Working N0PB in EM39
Working K2YAZ in EN74
Working N0GZ in EN31
Working W0FLS in EN21
Working N9LR in EN50
First contest with the 902 antenna on the tower. (Thanks to W0AMT for the transverter)
First contest with the IF switch box and transverters relocated to our utility room
Wish was better:
More activity (the rovers were awesome... but we need the fixed stations to be active
as well.)
Thunderstorm during the last two hours of the contest
My 902/1296 IF rig is slightly deaf compared to my backup IF rig.
Need to get a microphone for the backup IF rig so that I can migrate to this radio.
Better band conditions.
Some missed 902/1296 opportunities with K0AWU, K2DRH, etc.
EN25 is not quite on people's radar so I sometimes struggle getting people to look
my way.
Future Plans:
I would like to get a 2304 system on the air some point on the VHF/UHF tower.
I would like to get a 10GHz system up on my HF tower. (I need more bands!)
My Elecraft K2 will be driving more of the lower band transverters as time progresses.
Grids works on 222mhz
Grids works on 432mhz
Grids works on 902mhz
Grids works on 1296mhz
Thunderstorms at the end of the contest
Have some Cake from 1996
I am listening to Cake - Fashion Nugget from 1996 right now. Great album!
Don't ask why I am listening to this right now in my office... no real reason. But
I had forgotten how much I like this Album. I am not sure if there is a bad song on
this album.
I find that I listen to a lot more music when it is on my home network and I can listen
from any of our computers in the house vs. having to run upstairs... find the
CD in the CD rack... oh wait is that one still in the box from when we moved three
years ago.... arghhhh.
About the only music that I listen to directly from CD is in my car or truck on a
trip. Once in a while I hear a song on the radio that will prompt me stop
at store and pick up a CD.
