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I do not recommend you begin connecting your radio to a remote antenna by building your own antenna OR cable. It is not as simple as it looks. Your first remote antenna and cable should be purchased from a reputable engineering firm. Here are three choices: Ham Radio Outlet DX Engineering cables DX Engineering vhf uhf antennas Doing it like that will get you a good solid start where setting up and operating your radio gear are the primary variables. IF you decide to immerse yourself into antenna and/or cable building you will have a pro-built setup for comparison and example. There are nearly unlimited resources in print and on the Internet. DuckDuckGo search for whatever you want – books, […]
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, once again I address the subject of what do you do when your phones and Internet stop working? Wonder and Nothing useful Are the two answers most people will default to. I know I am unusual in planning and preparing for such a scenario. I not only think of ME and mine, but want others to have value in their radios as well. So I produce an attractive, sturdy laminated card that they just might keep with their two-way radio enabling them to find value in it when no other means of mid-range communication is available. I hereby introduce GEN III of my cards. I will distribute as widely as […]
I determined to UP MY GAME in amateur radio knowledge this year. My primary methodology was to work towards passing the final hurdle in amateur radio to earn my Amateur Extra ticket. It demands a wide range of knowledge covering the spectrum of radio construction, operation and transmission. Two unanticipated things I learned from this effort were: 1) I really don’t want to know how radios are constructed… though much of that is required to pass the exam. 2) Simultaneously teaching a class of newcomers to pass their Technician level exams while studying to pass the third and final level was not helpful. Other lessons along the way. The ARRL study manuals are worth every penny and every hour […]
I continue to extoll the virtues of this platform as your basic home defense firearm. You will never regret having one of these, find many people who it fits perfectly and know it could serve anybody well as an only home defense weapon if you have limited choices. It has not been long since I published 20 gauge youth pump as #1 home defense weapon choice (Bitterroot Bugle .com, April 26th), but I did not include a link to the one I would be purchasing were I in the market today: Mossberg 500 Tactical 8 Shot Pump Shotgun I would simply go to a local dealer, even if it cost a few bucks more, shopping local is always a […]
By happenstance I met two of the local firefighters in my yard last winter. They informed me that were I to request it, Darby VFD would send trucks and crews to monitor my slash piles during their more dangerous phases of burning down. I have been working over the last two years at reducing the fire hazards to our homestead and had developed four piles of brush and wood that were far too fuel-rich to burn without crews exactly like theirs. I made the call. They scheduled a “TRAINING” for yesterday evening. All of their trucks and many of their firefighters were on hand to keep the fire contained and as safe as possible. I am incredibly grateful. They […]
I passed my art final. That’s tongue-in-cheek. Nobody fails Bruce’s Introduction to Pastels class, gets graded or judged in any way. He encourages all of us to find ourselves AND lose ourselves in our art. As I mentioned in my March 3rd post painting with pastels, he conferred an Artistic License on each of us. I am not particularly good at colors, shades, contrasts, non-obective art, and, well, any of it. I do, however, enjoy spending time right-brain-ing it; moving out of the puritanical world I often immerse myself in. Moreover, I recognize that only by exercising the medium and my left brain will I improve any of those areas where I am weak. Following my final class, I vow […]
—– “Spiritual movements are revolts of thought against inertia, of the few against the many; of those who because they are strong in spirit are strongest alone against those who can express themselves only in the mass and the mob, and who are significant only because they are numerous.” — Ludwig von Mises — (1881-1973) Economist and social philosopher Source: Socialism. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. 1981. p53http://libertytree.ca/quote /Ludwig.von.Mises.Quote.A84E —– I ran across an essay I posted about lessons learned from a 2013 community-building seminar in Grangeville, Idaho: schools of thought VS the other kind. Here is an excerpt from that essay: One lesson I’ve carried since that seminar has been: 40% of American 12-year-olds expected to create their own businesses; to […]
I had a couple careers in computer operations and office automation. I know more than a little about preserving electronic data. Therefore I have multiple back-ups of my important files. I don’t do it as often as I should, but intend to at least monthly. I save files from my most active computer onto two USB backup drives and onto my backup computer. If you are counting, that is four copies of every file I deem worth preserving. With my mind working on a couple other things I copied my most treasured files onto one of the backup drives. Well, actually that is what I meant to do. Since this is a process I have been doing FOREVER I really […]
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