One of many ponds on the Mason Valley WMA site. Shot with Fuji X100vi with some post-processing in PhotoLab 7.
Goodness, I have been busy the last few weeks. I have project work plus the markets are giving me fits.
Saturday I just could not stand to stay in the house. So, I took Sera back down to Yerington to the Mason Valley WMA and activated the park. We had a nice walk and came across this pond that had quite a bit of activity. I made a few images with the Fuji X100vi and wished I had brought the Sony A7iii and the 400mm lens. There might have been a few more nice captures.
Still, I am satisfied with this one.
After the park, we drove over to the northeast side of Yerington to look at a property. It is a manufactured home on a five-acre lot. I am unsure about the condition of the home. The storage building looks fine and there is a small metal shed workshop that would be lovely, but awful hot in the summer.
It was good to take a look. I would like to have room for some wire antennas and be away from the noise of the mains behind my duplex. It looks like there could be some grass in a fenced front yard for The Girl.
I will have to think on it some more. I think the price is much too high for what it is.
On my way home from Walker Lake, I stopped at the Lucky Gold Casino for some supper. I love the light on the Rexall Drugstore and made the capture with the Fujifilm X100vi using a Kodachrome 64 film simulation, SOOC.
I found a very good tutorial for getting Windows (11), a Digirig Mobile, and Winlink talking to each other and working. It is found on N1SPW‘s website. There are other goodies for ham radio operators there, too.
After an abortive attempt to get my ham radio software working with a Debian 12 Linux install, I am going to give Linux Mint 22 a try.
This post on Groups.io has directions for getting a Digirig Mobile and Lab599 TX500 working together.
Calibre is an ebook library manager that I used years ago, until I drank the Amazon Koolaid. I recently learned that Amazon will cease the download to your PC option on 26 February. That means there will no longer be a way to download a copy of a book you paid for to your personal library. Further, it means (IMNSHO) that Amazon will now be renting eBooks and not selling them, at least for all practical purposes. I think this will lead to one of my rants…
One of my concerns is the loss of the information contained on the Internet. Kiwix is a partial solution to that problem.
I recently acquired a Fujifilm X100vi camera. My experience with its predecessor, the X100V, was extraordinary. The X100 series of Fuji cameras are highly desirable, as evidenced by the inflated prices over the last few years. I was on the fence about the upgrade, but love the new XTrans V sensor in my X-T5 so much that I decided the upgrade was worth the expense. One of the first things I did was to change the default 2.4GHz WiFi to the 5GHz band. This will speed up image transfer to my iPhone quite a bit (remains to be tested).
This is an excellent table of Nikkor lenses and the compatible hoods.
While activating the park at Walker Lake, the view across the lake caught my attention. I made the capture with the Fujifilm X100vi using a Kodachrome 64 film simulation with just a little adjustment to the contrast.
Last Sunday I was a bit out of sorts, tired of sitting at the house, tired of doing the same old thing, and kind-of just generally out of sorts. So, I decided to get out and go somewhere.
I need to renew my Nevada Senior Park Access Pass (gets me in free), so elected to see if I could activate the Walker Lake SRA. It was a new park for me and I would like to my number of unique parks activated.
So, I grabbed the 30Ah battery from the camper, loaded a few things into the 4Runner, and we set off. I knew The Girl would want to go along. I also knew that we could get in a couple of short walks as well.
The drive down was uneventful until I approached the turn off to the park. The driver behind me apparently was displeased that I slowed to make my turn. So, he shouted at me rudely (honked the horn), expressing his displeasure with my driving skills.
We worked our way down to an unoccupied portion of the park, found a relatively level place, and stopped. I got The Girl out for a short walk (that is all she gets at the moment). Then I put her back into the rig, got out the radio and antenna, and got out my table and chair.
It was warm enough to sit outside in the Sun, with it playing peek-a-boo through the clouds. I put down a mat for Sera and she took advantage of it. It did not take long to set up the antenna and the Yaesu FT-897D. I also put out a solar panel and connected it to the battery.
I started on the 10-meter band, phone, and then worked my way down to 20m. The bands were not very good and there was a lot of noise on 20m. I made enough contacts to make the activation before the noise drove me off.
I put away the station and gathered up The Girl for another short walk. I carried the new Fujifilm X100vi along with me and made a few captures. I am pleased with the two shared in this entry and the Rexall Drug Store capture in the last Remainders entry.
Although unusual, I came away with no lessons learned this outing. It was a straightforward setup, operate, enjoy, and recover the station operation. That is good.
We headed home and I drove through Yerington, Nevada instead of taking the bypass. The bypass has been heavily regulated. I suppose there was too much traffic using a local/collector road so they took action to reduce the traffic load. The road is not in good condition, anyway.
I used the opportunity to drive downtown. The Lucky Gold Casino was open and the restaurant/diner was serving. So I bought a grilled chicken breast supper and enjoyed some coffee.
Of course I carried the dog tax to the rig for The Girl. She enjoyed her early supper quite a lot and then settled in for the remainder of the trip home.
It was uneventful. I am grateful. Life is good.
While walking Sera a little, I paused to make this capture with the Fujifilm X100vi using a Kodachrome 64 film simulation, SOOC.
While walking The Girl up at Washoe Lake SP, I paused to make this capture of the afternoon light on Slide Mountain. There is snow, but not enough for spring flows. We need more. Capture with Fuji X100vi and the standard film simulation, mostly SOOC (slight contrast adjustment).
I had The Girl up at Washoe Lake State Park yesterday for an outing. We walked after arriving about noon, then I setup the Yaesu FT-897D station to play radio for an hour or so. The bands were not very cooperative, but I still made about 30 contacts — more than enough for a POTA activation.
Then I got her out for a second walk. We are rebuilding the tissue around her knee to reinforce it. Her gait is better already and the trick will be to avoid damaging the repair until it is strong enough to handle the stress she puts on herself.
She is an all-in dog. That is my girl!
I made the capture on our second circuit of the field, after I put away the station. I am learning the new Fujifilm X100vi and it is a substantial upgrade from the X100V. I am enjoying it.
