Monday, October 24, 2016

Winter Build Project

The following message was received tonight via undisclosed methods:

CBLA Field Agent Radio

This communique will serve as Official Notice that the Color-Burst Liberation Army has adopted the KD1JV MAS-80 CW transceiver for use by our Field Agents.  In the spirit of those who've gone before us, the CB/MAS-3579 is the solid-state equivalent of the vaunted PARASET field radio used by Allied agents in Europe during WWII.  Like the PARASET, the MAS uses a crystal-controlled transmitter and a regenerative receiver.  Just like the agents who operated the PARASET, CBLA Field Agents will be required to assemble their own radios.

Construction details can be found here:

<http://kd1jv.qrpradio.com/MAS/MAS.htm>
The CB/MAS-3579 is powered by 13.8 Volts and transmitter output power is 2 Watts however simple modifications can raise that to 3 Watts.

Carry on,

Generalisimo Stephen Smith
CBLA #1
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End Transmittal

Seeing as how the glowbug I'm currently using is a tad off frequency, I believe this would be a great second attempt. Beats trying to refreq my rockmite! I'm mostly sure I've got enough parts to get by...
If not, I'll find a TV set somewhere and apply some "Victory Against Ignorance".
Other thing to do this winter:

Get a better Antenna up for 80m!

Craziest idea I've pondered to do this: a vertical loop for 80m where the bottom is 10' off the ground.
I've got the speakerwire, do I have the real estate?

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Thank You, Ma'am!

Peddling as hard as I could, beating my fastest time home consumed my thoughts. My feet and lungs synchronized and as speed built, the force of my breathing intensified. 1, 2, 3, 4, in, out, in, out, right, left, right, left; everything happening at once.
Focused, I took in data from around me, seeing everything I could see while going. My wheels, flowing with the pavement, moved my arms and legs up and down, smoothing the path, absorbing the blows of terrain and transitions.
Determined, I needed to prove I could get home in under a certain time, and since this was Friday, I could go all out and recover my sore legs over the weekend.
I am my fastest, and then, I hear a car approaching and slowing down, prepare for evasive action! But then, a woman's voice called to me:
"You lost a shoe!"
The flow of traffic took her away quickly as I stopped and took off my backpack. The open cargo compartment mocked my best efforts at riding. The missing shoe lay on a transition from a cross street back to the bike path, a place where there's a puddle when it rains. I'm glad it hadn't started raining yet that day.
The lady was gone before I could say thank you.

So Lady on New Jersey Avenue in a Pontiac (I think):

Thank you very much!

This is a true story that happened Friday, September 30, 2016 at approximately 4:55 PM. I rode home in 19 minutes even with backtracking and stopping to get the shoe. I have changed the way I zip my backpack to minimize losing cargo in the future.