Search Results for: ham radio

“Work expands to fill the time available” has been getting another ranch-sized proof around here this weekend. Next weekend, ham radio bugs (and keyers – that’s a joke, get it?) head out into the wilds for the ARRL;s Field Day 2026.  Contest Rules here, said old George, AC7X, electron boss extraordinaire. “With so many hams … Read More

The United States has been sold down the river by our own – mislabeled – “leaders.” We have (pardon this) all kinds of shit blowing up in the Middle East, and with the GovDown II in process and the whole airline industry on the ropes, the “Fools on the Hill” will be taking a couple … Read More

Truth be told?  I must have been the guy in the back alley behind a diner in the thirties who ran the floating craps game. This week sets up like the classic “could go either way.”  As I showed you Friday, we’d get to the resolution of a bounce in our state-variance extremes modeling – and … Read More

Ham radios are like women, sports cars, airplanes, and sailboats.  Your enjoyment of any of these will depend on careful consideration of your “use case”. However, if your use case is “spend all your money” my experiments indicate that even a thoughtless collection of two or three of the above will work fine. Which has … Read More

Change of plans. See “Real Serious Prepping Note” at the end of this!  Today’s column was going to be about unboxing of a Johnson Ranger and a Hallicrafters SX-32 and the process of restoring each of these to primo condition. Unfortunately, though, the caffeine-agitated mind would not stop; insisting we first get closure on my … Read More

Well, here it is, a few minutes before 5 AM on a holiday Sunday, and before heading out to the shop, a visit to the 3806 (LSB) ham radio group was in order.  There was “John-boy” (“coffee good!”) and a new fellow I hadn’t talked to before discussing the finer points of fly killing. With … Read More

You can tell it’s quiet when… W9IMS is on 14,245 MHz USB at the moment.  Special events station for the Indy Motor Speedway – they will be on againt after this weekend third weekend in July… All work and now play makes George as a…uh….was that a DL calling him?

We need to begin at the beginning, I suppose.  Because I am working with a colleague who is investigating something, and needs a PEMF (pulse, electro magnetic force) device to interact with, I have been up to my butt in Tesla/scalar antenna designs this week.  And, curiously, how to simplify the design to use all … Read More

The Early Futures today were looking grim.  No surprise to that. The weekend news flow was dominated by: The death of former President Jimmy Carter: Former US President Jimmy Carter dead at the age of 100. A special note here: We have long-held that public figures (HWood types) should STFU and not engage is shallow, … Read More

Oh, boy. Did I screw up the calendar, or what? This weekend features one of two major ham radio events of the year as far as we’re concerned.  This is when prepping gets put to the test as hams go all-out for Field Day.  Details on the ARRL website here: 2024 ARRL Field Day Theme: … Read More

“OK, what’s so “magical” about Monday.  Did you miss the they suck memo?” Heavens no.  But over the weekend, if you were paying attention, the fairy dust of modern media fell on Switzerland.  How so? Swiss Voters Back Higher Pensions, Reject Working Longer. See how it works?  As the world becomes addicted to Free Lunch (inflationomics) the … Read More

Ready for the Internet to Collapse? Of course not.  No one is. I mean picture a world where… Credit cards no longer work. Food and groceries can’t be delivered. Trains don’t run. Fire, medical, and police dispatch may not work. No social media work. Your bank’s offline until….who knows? Oh, and you’re locked in whatever … Read More