I am back from ARRL Field Day camping and radio play. I will write a complete AAR when I return from field work this week. But, here is a hint at what the site looked like. I made this capture early Monday morning as the sun rose over camp.
The trip home was uneventful. It was a good weekend and a good day.
I am grateful.
We hiked out at Silver Saddle Ranch the last few days. It is closer to the house and the weather has been cooler, so Sera does not get too hot. I am on the watch for snakes and keep her close in. There is also the chance of encountering another canine and she can be reactive (depending on the other dog).
On this particular hike, I carried the Fuji X-T1 (my first Fujifilm camera) with the little Fujinon 35mm f/2 lens. It is from Fuji’s compact lens series, which remind me of the old film rangefinder camera lenses. The rangefinder cameras and their lenses tended to be compact (and good). There was also less of a range of focal lengths for those cameras because of the limitations of the rangefinder focusing system.
But, I digress. I do like to talk about equipment.
I struggled to keep my attention focused on my space. My mind wandered in every direction, that barking dog or chattering monkey figuratively trailing me on the trail. It took effort to reign in my wandery mind and focus on my Girl and our hike. The camera I brought to help me with that did not help. I struggled to find a subject to capture or a place to pose The Girl so I could make an image.
I elected to carry the old X-T1 because it is small and the 35mm lens offers a different look at things than the 23mm of the X100V. I thought about tossing another lens into the bag before we left the house, but elected to keep the kit small. A recent goal is to keep things as simple as practical because of my propensity for making things overly complicated.
Aside: As I write this early Wednesday morning, Sera just wandered in to my workroom to check on me. She looked at me, made eye contact, and asked if I am OK. She knows I am up early, even for me, and decided to check on me. After some interaction, a few pets, a doggie smile, she headed back to bed. I will return there and sleep a bit more before I really start my day.
For most of the last year, I have been shooting mostly JPG images with the Fuji X Weekly film simulations. The Fuji cameras are particularly good at reproducing certain film looks and I want that film look. (That means I need to shoot more film, I think.)
But, over the last week or so, I decided to revert back to shooting in RAW and then post-processing the RAW files to a processed (in-camera or at the computer) JPG after the fact. I generally have an idea whether I am looking at a subject that will present better in black and white or color.
So, for the trail image above, I knew that I would produce a black and white image. I also knew I wanted to use one of the embedded film simulations in the X-T1. The ACROS seems like the one to use.
Today and tomorrow I will finish up my preparations for a Field Day 2024 expedition. I will camp with friends out south from Smith Valley, Nevada. We will have a good time of radio play and fellowship.
When I come home Monday, I will have to do a quick reprovision of the camper because I have field work the remainder of next week. Then I expect to be home for a bit as I have a number of personal projects to work on before the summer ends.
Camping is good. The fellowship of friends is also good. Life is good. I am grateful.
We walked up near Spooner Summit in the national forest this morning. It was a lovely morning and the hike did both of us good.
On the way out, I noticed this old pine has an odd curve where it enters the soil. I wonder what happened to it to make it grow this way? It made for an interesting image and a welcome pause as I hiked up the trail.
When we arrived back at the 4Runner, there as a pickup parked next to me with the ramp down. I rounded the back of the 4Runner and a young man was sitting on a granite boulder. Surprised, I muttered…
“Well, hello! You startled me.”
“Hi. Sorry, I’m waiting for my uncle. He took the bike and rode on up the trail. A woman and a child rolled off the trail.”
I listened to the story and the accident must have happened while we were on the trail because there was no emergency equipment at the trailhead when we arrived. (Note: There was equipment when we left.)
I gave Sera some water and took some myself. The uncle returned. The folks were OK if a bit shaken. Apparently, the woman drove her 4Runner off the trail and it tumbled down the slope into the ravine.
I am glad they were not hurt. I remarked “There but for the grace of God go I.” It could have happened to me.
I never know what I will find when in the field.
I am grateful. Life is good.
On the same day I made the image of me new-to-me Patrol Pack, I also noticed Sera on overwatch. She was making sure there were none of the dreaded bushytails stalking us. So, of course, I had to make an image.
It was a good pause on a good hike. I so enjoy her company and am so grateful to have her in my life.
Life is good.
I bought a milsurp Molle II Patrol Pack a couple-three months ago. It is part of my (apparently) never-ending search for the perfect pack. These are long out of service, relatively rare, and in demand. They are also nearly the perfect size for a daypack.
My seller scrounged up a stiffener and pad for my pack and I have them installed. The stiffener helps keep the shape of the bag. It works well enough, although I might have to trim it up just a bit as it seems to be about a half-inch too tall.
It is big enough to hold my necessaries for hiking with The Girl. I have enough water for us both for a morning or afternoon hike, and even room for a small radio. I have been carrying a camera and small water bottle in a small Domke bag slung cross-body and over the pack. That does not put too much pressure on my neck (a personal peeve).
I like it so far. I am still setting it up and would like to carry a water bottle on the outside, but the Maxpedition bottle bag I have does not hang well from the PALS webbing. So, I need another solution.
I paused to make this image on a small summit just off our regular path near Spooner Summit. I had paused to breathe a minute, take some water, and water The Girl. She also posed for me while we were on break.
It was a good day. I am grateful. Life is good.
I worked at Wilson Creek and South Fork Silver Creek yesterday. Of course, Sera, AKA The Girl was with me. We were walking last year’s work and noting areas that need some attention. We also walked an area slated for work this year.
The Wilson Creek meadow is lovely. There were a few mosquitoes, but not bad. The weather was also lovely. It was a good day to be outdoors.
The Girl had a blast, running all over the meadow, jumping in the water, rolling in the grass and mud, and then repeating.
It was a good day. I am grateful.
A few weeks ago we had a nice day and the motivation to replace the valve cover gasket on Older Son’s vehicle. I think I wrote about all of that before.
But, I made a few images with the Nikon F2AS that came to live with me and a Nikkor 35mm f/2D lens. The camera is completely mechanical. It does have an internal meter, but a battery is not required to run the camera; only the meter.
I shot the image with the 35mm probably at f/4 or so. The film stock is Ilford XP2, which is a lovely C41 process (standard color chemistry) that renders in black and white. The scan was done by the processor and seems overly contrasty to me. I’d like to redo the scan to see if I can get more tones from the negative.
Although having film processed locally is faster and more convenient, a professional laboratory should produce better results. I am planning to send film to a couple of labs, particularly color chemistry films, to see if they produce better scans. Black and white film (traditional processing) I will likely do myself. I have a film changing tent (covers the hands) that I can use to load a tank. The processing is done in the light because the tank is light tight.
I have a film scanner but could also use a digital camera to photograph frames with a light table and macro lens.
There are more experiments to do.
The day was a good day. The valve cover no longer leaks oil.
Life is good.
This is another frame from a cemetery walk a month ago. The film sat in the camera for a while until I finished the roll. Then it sat in the camera bag for a week until I had time to get it to the processor.
It will be interesting to scan some frames for myself using either a digital camera of the film scanner I have at home.
Although it was cold, the sun was shining. The Girl wanted out to chase squirrels, but dog are expressly forbidden. That is most likely because too many people do not police up after their dogs. So, those who do pay the penalty.
Although the sun was warm, the wind had a bite to it. Older Son and I finished before too long because of the cold.
Still, it was a good day. Life is good.
I shot this image a couple of weeks ago using Kodak Gold 200 film. It is from the first roll of color film through the new-to-me Bronica S2A medium format camera. The Bronica is my first square format camera and is a beast of a brick! I think it weighs in at about four pounds with the standard Nikkor 75mm f/2.8 lens and a film back.
The firing of the shutter is a thing that has to be experienced to be appreciated! There is a lot of movement inside the camera body with the moving of the mirror and focal plane shutter. It is also loud. However, although I have read of motion blur complaints, I am not quite sure that I believe them. A tripod will be required for slow shutter speeds.
Kodak Gold 200 works well in bright sun. I like the color rendition. I think I will shoot some more of it and send it for processing at a place that can produce higher resolution scans.
Busiek State Forest, POTA US-4838, has been on my to activate list for a long time. I hiked the Yellow Trail with the kids a couple of years ago. Along the way, we came on the Carter Cemetery, an old family plot that was established late in the 19th Century. It looked like a perfect place to activate the park.
But, I never got back to do the activation. So, last week I had a day off and it was a pretty nice day. So I took The Girl and we drove out there. There were not a lot of people, it being a weekday. So there was not much traffic to deal with.
We had a nice hike up to the cemetery. I decided to set up on a bench there, although I had to face away from the trail to get my leg high enough for my kneeboard. I did not care for that facing, but it was necessary.
I decided to use the Elecraft KH1 for the activation. I am still learning that radio and have a little trouble with the paddles. But I can make it work and it is an excellent little rig.
I was just starting to work calling stations when Sera broke away from me and approached another dog. The other dog said No! emphatically, but there was not really a fight. I had to drop everything and retrieve my dog.
There was no damage other than a pissed-off handler. But it really affected me emotionally and in one way really ruined the day. I just cannot take my attention from Sera when we are out in the field and might encounter another.
I moved us about 50 feet away from the trail, behind a low rock wall. She could not see the trail and I could. I put her in a down-stay and sat on my sweatshirt and started over.
I could pay attention to my operations and stay aware of the situation around me. It was a much better location from which to activate the park.
I made 14 contacts on three bands — 20m, 17m, and 15m. It was more than enough to make the activation and there was still time to get in a bit more walk before returning home for the day. I packed up the kit, donned my pack, and we walked on up the trail another quarter of a mile to a split. Both ways would require fording the stream. I was not geared for a fording, so we reversed and walked back down the trail and to the rig.
The Girl got a nice big drink from the stream. (I love the rocky-bottomed Missouri streams in the Ozarks.) We crossed the bridge and stowed gear in the rig, then drove home.
I had a lot of maintenance scheduled for the 4Runner starting the next day. All of the 200,000-mile scheduled maintenance was done, plus I replaced the tires and had the alignment checked and adjusted. It was a lot of money, but I think the rig might have another 100,000 miles left in it and I might as well get them.
In the end a learned a few things:
Despite the uncomfortable feelings associated with Sera’s behavior and the engagement with another dog, it was a good day to be out. It was a good day to be with her. And it was a good day to play a little radio.
I am grateful. Life is good.
