Month: January 2022

Sunday Operations

ruminator
While hiking and operating a radio in the Pinion Hills east from Carson City, I came across a Gadsden Flag posted above Carson City.

After working Winter Field Day 2022 on Saturday (post to come), I decided to get out again Sunday for some outdoor time and maybe to run the radio a little.

Much of Sunday morning was spent working on a variety of chores. Besides, it was cold in the morning (maybe 18°F) and I did not want to get myself out in that, much less The Girl. Therefore, about noon we loaded up a couple of things and headed out east from Carson City.

As I expected, the Silver Saddle Ranch parking areas had many vehicles. I was right in my assessment that the open space areas would be busy. So we continued on east then turned east onto Brunswick Canyon Road and then south to where I like to operate portable in the Pinion Hills/Pine Nut Mountains.

I bypassed the first to locations I use to operate and continued south and up to a new location I scouted several times over the last couple of years. I was sure the 4Runner would have little trouble traversing the trail, now that the mud has dried. And, I was correct.

I parked the rig, got my sling pack out, and got The Girl out, who was quite excited. We hiked the trail south through a saddle, a hill, and another saddle to climb the next hill. I think that the 4Runner will traverse this trail, too. There were quad tracks and the trail was wide enough, mostly. There were a couple of icy patches that might be a challenge and a couple of steep sections that might also be a challenge.

I will walk it again another time. It also occurred to me that a quad might be in my future for such outings. I could even add a trailer to the quad to carry camping gear and supplies, should I elect to do some tent camping at these more remote areas.

It was a good hum up the trail to the top of the hill. I paused to drink a little water. The Girl ate snow. Then I made a few images and we headed back north to the rig.

What a gorgeous day it was! The air was cool, in the mid-40°F range. But there was plenty of sun to keep me warm.

Back at the rig I put out some water for The Girl and then setup my portable station. For this outing I used the Elecraft K1 and a random wire antenna strung from a 10m SOTAbeams Travel Mast. Deployment took only a few minutes. I also connected the PowerFilm 30w foldable solar panel to the battery to continue recharging it after using it for WFD.

I made two contacts, one SOTA activator and one POTA activator. I heard a Japan station calling, but decided I did not want a ragchew. So I just listened on the bands for a bit, soaking up some sun while The Girl also sunned herself on the mat I laid out for her.

As the sun fell towards the Carson Range, the breeze come up a little — enough to make me chilly. So, I decided to pack the station and walk a little more. The Girl jumped up to go hunt critters as we walked.

I found a Gadsden Flag on a short poles with a solar-powered lamp a dozens steps from the OP. I stopped to make a few more images and give The Girl a chance to play. Then we headed back down the hill toward home, a big drink of water, kibbles for The Girl and hot chow for me.

What a beautiful day and what a great day. I am grateful.

A Jumble

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I found this mess on daily walkies and decided to make the capture.

One day this week, while The Girl and I were walking out at Silver Saddle Ranch, I noticed this jumble along the fence. I decided it would make a good entry for my Project 365.

Monday Radio Play

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I needed a little radio play on Monday, so I took the Elecraft K1 for a spin.

Not having enough radio play on Sunday, I took along my Elecraft K1 radio on our outing Monday. The weather was nicer than Sunday, plenty warm (warm enough for shirtsleeves).

Again, after our walk, I setup a random wire antenna affixed to the 10m mast. The K1 was easy to setup and I found a place to sit on the ground as my table and chair were not in the rig.

The radio matched the antenna readily and I started hunting for SOTA and POTA activators. I worked five stations over an hour and a half, one of them in Florida, all with seven watts of output.

The mental exercise of copying and sending Morse Code is good for me. It provides an excellent change of pace from my normal work, which is highly analytical.

In addition, I get out of the house with The Girl, we have a good time working (I work her when we walk), and I often talk to Older Son or a friend while I walk.

I still have a lot to learn about the K1. It is a capable radio. It is still possible to find one, but that factory stand is nearly unobtanium. I managed to snag a couple of them.

Sunday Radio Play

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I took the Elecraft KX1 out to play a little radio. What a great little radio it is.

It has been weeks since I operated one of my radios. Either the weather was not very good, I was too busy with other duties, or I just did not have the energy to take the radio out for a spin.

Almost all of my operations are portable. I have written many times about the noise level at home. Even if I could hear other operators, the constant hash is fatiguing and I cannot deal with it for very long before I have to leave the radio.

Sunday was a pretty day, a little cool, but with plenty of sunshine. So The Girl and I walked our usual route out at Silver Saddle Ranch, then returned to my parking spot at the upper staging area. I decided to get the Elecraft KX1 out of its case and see if I could make any contacts.

I setup a random wire with one end affixed to a 10m telescoping mast and the other to a 9:1 unun. I used a short jumper to the radio. What I learned is that the wire length I am using does not need the unun; the matching network in the radio is sufficient to make the impedance match between the radio and the antenna.

I learned something.

So I set aside the unun and tuned the KX1 to 7.2835MHz for the 40m Noon Net. It is an easy check on whether my radio is working and the net control operators will take check-ins from CW operators. (CW is the official term for Morse Code operations.)

One of my favorite features of the KX1 is that it has an adjustable filter and at the wide setting it is about 2KHz, which is plenty for listening to phone operators. It will also tune the entire 20m, 30m, 40m, and 80m bands, which means I can listen to both code and phone operators on those bands. In addition, it will receive CW, lower sideband, and upper sideband modes (switchable). That is a huge feature for such a small radio.

I was able to check-in to the net with about four watts of output, so the radio was working. I then turned my attention to SOTA (Summits on the Air) and POTA (Parks on the Air) activators to determine if I could hear any of them.

I worked four stations, three POTA activators and one SOTA activator. The setup and teardown of this station takes only about ten minutes each. So, for 20 minutes of work, I played for an hour or so and made a few contacts, all QRP (low power). It was a good day.

Working, Maybe Too Much

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Most every morning, I make a cup of coffee… or two… but rarely three.
The year has already been busy. Late last year I was pressing to complete a report for one of my projects. That used a bunch of energy and left me with little motivation to do anything significant over the holidays, except remember why we celebrate them and try to recover a little.

Then the new year happened and work restarted, with me starting out on the backside of the power curve having left other projects languishing while I finished the report. In addition, I want to develop some new habits that are inviolate because they are good for me.

There are three components to this endeavor — The body, the mind, and the soul.

For the first, it includes attention to my body in terms of food and exercise. I injured my right leg last year, being a foolish old man, and am still paying for it. But The Girl needs, actually demands, a daily outing for her exercise and intellectual stimulation. So I continue walking but cannot carry my regular pack for now. I am stretching most days (needs to be every day) as well as getting in a couple of resistance sessions in each week.

My diet needs to change a bit as well. It is time to reduce my poor carbohydrate load and increase my good carbohydrate load, as well as increase my protein intake.

I believe that meditation is good for mind, body, and soul. It is a time to just be for a few minutes, listening to a guided meditation, and letting go of the mental busyness that plagues me daily. I do not need to think all the time. I do not need to be all up-in-my-head when there are other wonderful things to take in. Meditation, even a few minutes every day, helps me be more present when I am out with The Girl (and at other times). An side benefit is that the breathing exercises lower my blood pressure.

I am also committed to praying more. The benefits of prayer are documented in the professional literature. It does not matter whether one believes in God (I do) or a guiding force or whatever. The process of prayer is beneficial in and of itself (although I believe that God hears prayers and answers them). My intention is to spend a few minutes every day talking to God, and not just over meals. I have people and situations on my prayer list (I keep one) and remember them when I sit to pray. I also pray often when I am walking with The Girl. It helps me stay present in the moment when we are out and about.

There is one more intention that I have. It is to spend a few minutes each week (at least) putting a few words here on my parcel of the Internet. I have plenty of images that I can post and say a few words about. I like to post some images here. This post is a beginning. It remains to be seen whether I am able to maintain the habit or not.

Finally, I posted an image above. For a fun, creative work, I decided to work on a Project 365 this year. I often have one running on my Instagram account (User @drdbt). But this year I decided to post on the “official” Project 365 web page as well. I enjoy sharing the images I make and hope that others enjoy what I shoot.

New Year 2022

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This is a test shot with the new (to me) Sony A7S. I used a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 at f/4 and an ISO of 25k. The test subject was Sera in my backyard, playing in the snow.

In the evening of Christmas Day, Sera needed to go out before we hit the rack. I bought a Sony A7S (first generation) a month or so ago for use as a low-light camera. This Sony model (the A7S and its progenitors) is considered the queen of the low-light cameras. The 12.1MP sensor resolution is fine for most of what I do, plus does not take up so much disk space on the computer and its backup drives.

Work kept me from doing much with the camera and will for awhile yet. But I wanted to do some test shots. So I took it into the backyard with us, with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 mounted to the camera. (Yes, that is a legacy manual focus lens.) I set the ISO to 25k and made a few captures of Sera playing in the snow.

I like this one the best of the lot. There’s a lot of detail in the image. I am impressed.

This week I continued working on my review of 2021. What I came away with is that of the things I should do, my self-care suffered in favor of the work. The work is good too, but I really need to spend some time every day working on myself, including the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects.

Work continues to keep me busy. In fact, I intended to publish this on Christmas, but here we are more than a week later.

Sera and I are walking and enjoying each other quite a lot. She loves our daily walks and the time to work off-lead. I require her to check in every minute or two and do not like her to be out of sight for long. There are coyotes in the field and she would think they were like domestic canines. That could be bad.

Happy New Year, all.