Hello!

I have a new ongoing series on the Christian doctrines of salvation. Check it out!

https://basicorlando.blogspot.com/p/salvation.html

Right now, I'm up to 5 parts. There's at least 3 more in the works!

Antenna Grounding and Feedback

So I have a new shack, and with a new shack comes new problems.

Right now the issue seems to be feedback getting back to the radio and causing interference to the radio. I've got two antennas up, and there's a third I scrapped.

First antenna up was a 20m Off Center Fed Dipole (OCFD), I used a 4:1 W2DU balun at whatever ratio (1:3 I think?) the online plans told me. Results were middlin' and I think it caused some problems. I definitely could have used an antenna analyzer to help me deploy that. I've scrapped it for now, the housing for the balun came unglued, so it will need some work. There's also some debate as to whether i need a voltage balun or current balun, or possibly both here. Honestly most of the documentation i've found about OCFDs sounds more like magic than easily replicable  science. I don't know. I'll try again in the future, but I also need to take another look at my skeleton slot fed dual band dipole project I started a loooooong time ago, but never finished. I'll apparently need a ferrite bead current balun for that.

Then I deployed a long wire. It's half an 80m dipole. it's doing OK, but is very tuning touchy. I don't know if that's because my station ground is lacking, or what. Right now, my ground is simply the return to main. I'm sure that's part of the issue, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I am tempted to run a wire to the ground rod outside that's from the old shack. My latest research on station grounding has me second guessing that though. 

My third antenna is a 20m Delta loop. It's served me well in the past. I have it deployed as a nearly equilateral triangle with 450ohm ladder line. I've tuned everything from 20 and up, and had some nice contacts. It gives me the least amount of feedback, and to get the feedback to stop, all I have to do is turn the power down a little.

That's it for now, a tour of my shack and projects.

lots to do.

New Post on BASIC Blog

 Some time ago, I started a ministry to homeless people called BASIC.

BASIC Stands for "Believing And Serving In Christ". I started a blog over there that I used to propagate our prayer list, and to provide updates to the ministry's supporters. I would also post theological posts over there, including sermons and lessons I've done other places. now I'm in the middle of a series on the topic of Salvation.

it will be a multi part series, here's the first post:

https://basicorlando.blogspot.com/2023/03/brothers-what-shall-we-do-salvation.html

go and check it out, tell your friends.

The Fight

 I'm weary.

I'm burdened.

I'm tired of being ignored, maligned, and pushed aside in favor of shallow, insipid, worldly philosophies.

 

I am full of lament.

So much has been lost! What can be gained if you forfeit your soul! All around me those who would claim the Name of the Creator show they don't understand. A few know that they don't understand, and maybe more than them can grasp it, but so many are without even a most basic knowledge of what they were called to do when they began calling on the Name of the Lord.

Ah His Name is so abused.

by my lips and my deeds. Father, I'm often one of them, blessing with the same mouth that curses. Knowing the cure, but when do I show the way.

I'm not blameless. I'm not righteous.

I sit.

burdened.

I need to tell you what I know of the Lord.

What is wrong will be made new. What is old will pass away.

Burned away, I await a transformation. Grace changes things. Changes what I am. Feets of clay fall away replaced by solid rock. This rock is a teaching I know and obey.

Do you see it yet? It came.

It's here. 

Just A Little Grace...

That's a line from a song, "Grace" by "The Choir" a band first introduced to me by Terry Davis while he was the youth minister at Westside Christian Church in Jacksonville. I tell you all this because I've been listening to this song since the summer of 1992. It was part of a mixed tape Terry created (copyrights included) for the summer. More than almost any other song on the album, this one has stuck with me. Go on,take a listen and read the lyrics:

  Lyrics from Genius.com:

Grace Lyrics

 

[Verse 1]

 

Screaming at the newsman Telling him to take it back I'll sue him if he won't retract Crying to the hangman Begging him to render slack If I could, I would go back

 

[Chorus] Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace

 

[Verse 2] Were you talking to the shrubbery? Did you cut the roses down? Someone oughta till that ground You thought I had a pure heart, well I thought you were an angel, girl Mercy is the silver pearl

 

[Chorus] Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace My mother deems me ever dear I'm less a liar than sincere

 

[Guitar Solo]

 

[Verse 3] When you cut me in the alleyway You don't have to turn that knife I'll suffer in the afterlife Praying to the Father Sorry, did I grieve the Ghost? You're the one I love the most

 

[Chorus] Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace You gotta give me You gotta give me grace Just a little grace Will you extend me Will you extend me grace? Just a little grace My mother deems me ever dear

I wish I could take you on a mental journey back to 14 year old Me, figuring out the world. I was high on the love of God, and the youth group at Westside had my back. I cannot emphasize to you the importance of "belonging" to a young man of that age, but I will say this again: This song has stuck with me, it helped me understand that I existed as a person right where I belonged. I knew it was an important song then, but I didn't know how important it would be to me now. First, let's look at it's stucture. I took the song as a pastiche of several of Jesus' parables about Grace. Notably, I believe we're given a scene of people, some refusing to show grace, others begging for grace, and the point is the question that keeps being asked: "Will you extend me grace?" In the first part of the song, I think the question is being asked to people like you and me. Will you give me grace? I think the implied rhetorical answer is "usually not." This brings us to the second part. The People (Church) who are rhetorically answering "No" in part one, are now under attack, and they are asking "Will you extend me Grace" to the Lord. The rhetorical answer is supposed to be yes, as emphasized by the begging line: "You gotta give me grace". There is danger is obliging God to do anything, it's far better to trust God to keep his Word, and listen to Him. Here's how the Lord commands us to be in matters of Grace and Forgiveness:

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35 ESV, copied from Bible Gateway

This is really kind of a simple parable. If you call out to God for forgiveness, you must expect to forgive others too. We can't earn the forgiveness we beg God for, but we can be grateful for it. If we're grateful for the grace we've received, we will show it in kind. That is all. Enjoy the music! Show some grace. No I don't know why the album date is 1993, and I know for a fact we had that song on a mixed tape earlier than that. the only thing i know is that Terry Davis is The Man.

Satellite Thrills

 In October of last year, I managed my first confirmed OSCAR contact. OSCAR stands for "Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio". So far it's been awesome and heartbreaking, like everything else I do in ham radio, LOL.

First Pass Where I Made a QSO

My gear, a Kenwood TH-G71a and Baofeng GT-3

 

Things I've learned so far:

• Weekend operations are a challenge. It's hard to hit the FM birds with a 5w HT and rubber duck antenna, even if the antenna is a "gain" antenna. Persistence and high angle passes are essential.
• Don't forget to QSL! Lots of people are on LOTW, and confirming your contacts for awards is easy.
• Move around a little. People like it when you activate different places.
• The satellite community is an amazing group. They all know each other, and have been very welcoming to me so far.
• Everyone gets testy when the birds get swamped. It helps to take a minute to listen.

 Projects I need to do for the birds:

• Hand held tape measure yagi. I'm pretty close to achieving this. I've built a tape measure antenna for 2m before, and  have cut the booms, I have a tape measure, and need some dowel rods, and other odds and ends.
• Really could use a Yaesu FT-818. Actually could use two ( the "Yaesu FT-1636" ) to work the linear birds. I especially want to work AO-7.
  
• It would be nice if i could get my mobile radio working again to get 10w into AO-27. 

Here's where I've worked and activated so far:

 

it's pretty common for people to use a grid tracker spreadsheet to mark what they have.

So far, I've worked 3 countries (USA, Panama, and Mexico) with my HT's. I can't wait to work something else!

Tired

I'm struggling with the where and when to post this. bear with me.... 

Today I am a special kind of tired. 

 Ever felt the pain of the day when the day begins? That's me right now. Over all, I'm pretty well rested. Got 6+ hours of sleep list night even though I'm on call. Didn't wake up once. I should feel good right? Well, I realized as soon as I woke up, I still have much the same work to do today that I did yesterday. 

It didn't get any less or easier, it's still there. 

It's the tired you get when you realize the work's not done. 

 It's never done. I'm just moving from one task to the next. I'm always expected to be certain things. We all are expected to be certain things. The labels I have on me weigh me down. Some I give to myself, some are given to me, all of them are mine and no one else's. 

You're this tired when you realize that the work is yours to do, and no one else's.

Contingency is an interesting concept to ponder and work with. On the one hand, nothing about my existence is necessary. I could have never been, or I could die tomorrow, and the universe can continue to exist. On the other hand, there's this work I'm doing raising kids, earning money, teaching others, hearing their concerns, all things that I have been called to do, but sometimes, I just want to embrace that contingincy. The world doesn't need me. I just want to feel rest. 

That's when the scripture comes in: 

I feel this tired when Hebrews 12:1 moves from being a memory verse at church camp to being the first verse in a page that convicts my efforts.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

(Heb 12:1-29) 

It's the tired that makes you thankful for grace. 

Deeply thankful for it. 

I can't sleep, exercise, rest, or share away this tired in me. I just need God's grace to help me endure. 

 

Father God, I am grateful for this unshakeable kingdom. I can rest there. Every day until I will bear with being tired. Tiredness and weariness in my bones can't compare to the rich peace you offer us in Christ. Please bear me over to that kingdom. In the name of Jesus I ask this AMEN.