Connectors

With the decline of the hobby electronics industry, here in New Jersey we have lost essentially all stores which stock cable, connectors and parts for electronic, specifically amateur radio, pursuits.

As such, I'm relegated to ordering connectors via an online supplier or, typically, amazon.

Here there are a plethora of Chinese suppliers who seem to provide perfectly adequate connectors.

IF they get the order right.

A big "IF"

Shack Picture

Update 1/4/2016:

New home for my current rigs:

• IC-706
• FT-736R
• FT-817 and lastly
• SDRplay SDR

Have an MFJ through-window feed panel and power supply setup.

Have 3 antennas outside, not permanently mounted yet:

• A99, 10mtr 1/2 wave vertical
• Elk 2m/70cm Log Periodic Yagi
• MFJ 2m/70cm onmidirectional

Hey, I'm getting there :)

Satellite PSK

http://st2nh-blogger.blogspot.com/2013/11/satellite-psk.html

currently setting up a new home shack, have the components and among other
thinks... will try Sat PSK via IC706 -> up to a FT-817 down

edit: I think I'll actually be using the FT-736R down.... but we'll see :)

Should be fascinating!

Destroy this one, and they'll all go.

I think this line by Spock, in Star Trek TOS, was the single reason I went into computers, even though I saw this episode years before my first encounter in a computer lab at Montclair State.

SPOCK: This one's the key. The circuit is now locked. Destroy this one, and they'll all go. 

Note that in my high school, learning about "computers" meant learning basic and submitting jobs through punched cards. I didn't take a computer class until freshman year in college.

I will also note that I never rose to greatness (big deal LOL) in either programming or position.

I have, however, been gainfully employed and have always enjoyed the technology and techniques applied to our world via the bits and bytes deployed in computers.

Now what is it about Satellites that drew me back to Ham Radio?

A sense of "fun"? Something different? Not sure.

One thing I'm sure of is that I'll never rise to "greatness" within the Ham Satellite community, but will definitely enjoy the ride of learning, and sense of adventure, as I point an antenna to an anticipated point of AOS and follow a track through LOS!

AO-85

Had the Elk out over the weekend:

Tried listening to a pass of ao-7. Totally dead, not even a beacon heard on a 60deg pass.

Then caught a nice pass of AO -85...strong as expected but with a lot of fading/dips. Did an a/b comparison to check out with or without my MFJ-916b duplexor with pleasant results using the ft-817

Next I will be checking out a good pass using the rtl-sdr using HDSDR on a nextbook tablet.

I do have several additions on order for "the shack"

1. An Arrow GP146/440 antenna for general weather sat/highpower sat listening:

 2. An MFJ-4603 window feed through panel:

  

and

3. An SDR-PLAY software defined receiver:

 

 

The Elk

no, not the animal, but an Antenna:

picked up one of these:

Listened to a pass of AO-85.

More later

73,
KA2CZU

Oy Vey

so much has happened, and my hope of keeping this blog updated has faded than the worst tumbling satellite without adjusting for doppler shift, dipping behind the LOS horizon!

bottom line is that I'm all geared up, but without much time to get on the air!

Perhaps I'll be able to utilize some cold weather times for standing outside with a yagi pointed in the air ... DOH! :D

ISS SSTV

not for me... schedule didn't allow

ARISS SSTV images were transmitted this weekend from the amateur radio station in the ISS Russian Service Module to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Mission.
40 years ago this week, the historic joint Apollo-Soyuz mission was conducted. Apollo-Soyuz (or Soyuz-Apollo in Russia) represented the first joint USA-Soviet mission and set the stage for follow-on Russia-USA space collaboration on the Space Shuttle, Mir Space Station and the International Space Station.
Below images that where received during the night between the 18th and the 19th of July with a FUNcube Dongle Pro+, SDR# and RX-SSTV.

Satellites - APRS on Ham Radio Sats

Since the last time I was really active on Ham Radio was at Tinton Falls... I'm reclaiming this blog for my personal Sat adventures, to log notes, and remind myself of what the heck I'm up to :)

anyhow, Sats are free, if you're a ham operator.

some notes on two sats from Patrick:

Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2015 14:07:33 +0000
From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb@wd9ewk.net>
To: "amsat-bb@amsat.org" <amsat-bb@amsat.org>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Can't digipeat APRS thru satellites
Message-ID:
    gh4fLseAV5zq7onVv-gHopHzD2M3WZLMo-TCijmbLQ@mail.gmail.com
>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Mark,

If you are trying to digipeat through NO-44, you will need to use
W3ADO-1 as the path. For NO-84, it won't digipeat anything sent
via PSAT, but you can use ARISS or APRSAT for the path. I have
not used NO-44 in a while, but when it is getting enough power
from its solar panels it does work with W3ADO-1. NO-84 is actually
a good APRS digipeater, even though not many stations are picked
up by the Internet gateways. It is possible that the gateways that
work fine with the ISS and its stronger signals just don't do as well
with the weaker signals from NO-84. With my TH-D72A and Elk, I
hear NO-84 well, and it seems to hear me OK once it is up a few
degrees above the horizon during its passes.

Hope to see/hear you soon on NO-84. I have logged one packet
QSO on that satellite, and will try for more. I also want to try the
10m/70cm PSK31 transponder, but for now my TH-D72A and Elk
antenna is able to use NO-84's packet digipeater well.

Good luck, and 73!

Time to Get Back to Fishing

Whether in Tinton Falls or NJ Dixie, fishing is where it's at

Current "Sites" or blogs:

Betty and Nick's Fishing Report

The Hock

Stopped by the Hockhockson at (whatever the old Grist Mill Restaurant is called nowadays) over the past weekend.

River was blown out due to 2013's first tropical storm of the season, Andrea

Gone but not forgotten

We have finally left Tinton Falls for the confines of Smithville.

The new homestead:

Ft. Hood - from the other side

Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush

from: http://hillbuzz.org/2009/11/10/thank-you-former-president-george-w-bush-and-former-first-lady-laura-bush/

Forsale No Longer

Well the homestead is sold. Closing in less than 2 weeks. Now to get a Certificate of Continued Occupancy. Wow, what a hassle!

Tinton Falls used to be a friendly town to work with, but the folks down at the town hall look harried and unhappy. I have no idea what the new mayor and staff have done, or what has transpired since old Mayor Ann M left, but Tinton Falls is no longer a friendly place.

We will be moving at some point, hopefully when planned, hopefully our closing won't be delayed by unhappy bureaucracy.

And this is in a down housing market. Imagine if sales were up??? I can't, given what I've seen and dealt with.

And Free? Nothing is free anymore.

Used to be a song "Signs", but now should be replaced by "Forms":

Forms, forms everywhere a form
Blocking out progress, ruling the norm
Do this, don't do that, don't you have a form?!

Life Lessons

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of Cleveland, Ohio.
>
> "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
> It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled
> over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more."
>
> 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
>
> 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
>
> 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
>
> 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends and
> parents will. Stay in touch.
>
> 5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
>
> 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
>
> 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
>
> 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
>
> 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
>
> 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
>
> 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
>
> 12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
>
> 13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
> journey is all about.
>
> 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
>
> 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God
> never blinks.
>
> 16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
>
> 17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
>
> 18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you
> stronger.
>
> 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is
> up to you and no one else.
>
> 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no
> for an answer.
>
> 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
> Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
>
> 22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
>
> 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
>
> 24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
>
> 25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
>
> 26.. Frame every so-called disaster with these words "In five years,
> will this matter?"
>
> 27. Always choose life.
>
> 28. Forgive everyone everything.
>
> 29. What other people think of you is none of your business..
>
> 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
>
> 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
>
> 32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
>
> 33. Believe in miracles.
>
> 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did
> or didn't do.
>
> 35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
>
> 36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
>
> 37. Your children get only one childhood.
>
> 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
>
> 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
>
> 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd
> grab ours back.
>
> 41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
>
> 42. The best is yet to come.
>
> 43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
>
> 44. Yield.
>
> 45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a "gift."

He Is Risen! He Is Risen, indeed!

The Gospel (good news) of the Apostle Matthew 28:6 "New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying."

There is no other leader who has risen from the dead.

Jesus' resurrection is proof that He is the One True God, Lord of All, and that He has fulfilled His promise of redeeming mankind from the just penalty of sin.

There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved: The "Name" is that of Yeshua Ha Meshiach, Jesus The Messiah, The Christ. In whatever language you read or translate it, it means the same: The Savior, The Anointed One, God's only son.

Don't get hung up by skeptics... today *is* the day in which your life can be changed. Once and for all.

Don't get hung up by hypocrites... The Lord knows there is room in heaven for one more ;)

Don't get hung up by science... Science is discovering that which God created and nothing discovered will ultimately do anything but reveal God to you in a new marvelous way. Psalm 19 proclaims: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork....

But one fact remains and was testified over a period of many days, and with hundreds of witnesses and never contradicted by historical, legal, governmental record: Jesus rose from the dead.

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!!

Soon It Will Be Winter

and we are STILL here in Tinton Falls... the brainless boro it seems (unlike my home town of Metuchen... the original "Brainy Boro")

anyhoo, soon there will be snow, and where will poor Robin GO?

Bertha and the Surf

Well big Bertha is storming along out in the Atlantic Ocean and meanwhile along
the New Jersey coast, we saw some of the impressive swells come in, resulting in
what our forlorn surfers call as "surf's up".

Fishing along the New Jersey coast has been interesting since our inshore waters
are cooled down significantly by a Southerly wind, prevalent when there are extended
Bermuda highs impacting the weather on the Eastern seaboard, such as we have seen
this spring and early summer.

To note, on Thursday of this week, Atlantic City surf temperature was 57F. FIFTY SEVEN
in July. Very chilly, but as a result a significant number of striped bass, even some of the
normal migrants, have stayed in the cool water and feasting on the abundant schools of
bunker, seen up and down the coast.

Why does a Southerly wind cool down the surf?

It's due to the Coriolis Effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

more on this another time.

God Bless,
Surf Rob

The Value of Diligence

Ecclesiastes 11

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Value of Diligence

Cast your bread upon the waters,
For you will find it after many days.
2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight,
For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
They empty themselves upon the earth;
And if a tree falls to the south or the north,
In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind,^[a]
Orhow the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child,
So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.
7 Truly the light is sweet,
And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;
8 But if a man lives many years
And rejoices in them all,
Yet let him remember the days of darkness,
For they will be many.
All that is coming is vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
God will bring you into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.

This is FREE in Tinton Falls

Except, of course, for the NJ Fishing License fee with trout stamp :)