Author: Mark Vogt

Monday

Our bed with the 9W heated throws.

Checked in on WW and put a call out to Pacific Tax service in Las Vegas. I sent him all the information to his E-Mail address to do the final tax return. As far as I know the return does not need to be filed because we didn’t have any income produced during probate.

Tuesday

Nothing heard from Pacific Tax yet. I did get a question about a retirement celebration from doing the audio at church. That’s a terribly complicated story and I don’t feel I deserve more than others that have worked by my side.

Went to Wally World with groceries listed in our new shopping organizer.

We updated our house Day Timer and started on creating a list of homemaking chores for her procedure book. We’ve ended up with three binders to help organize our home. We have a desktop sized day Timer that we annotate daily tasks like appointments and such. We have two smaller 1/4 page binders that have procedures and the other one is a diary for the doctors.

Watched another “Murder She Baked” for our evening entertainment. There’s about six of them Alison Sweeney is one of her favorite actors from her soap opera’s.

Wednesday

Made a trip to get a CAT Scan done this morning, WW had closed down before I got back to the radio.

Took several cat naps as I am still nervous about the final estate return. (I still have not found their tax return from 2019.)

I did locate the refund from 2020 return that was deposited last year 2023. I can use that money to pay for the final estate tax return.

Audio talking points.

1. Others that have served as much or more than I have.
2. Others that are still serving.
3. Previous celebrations/accolades for servants.
4. Time spent serving like missed marriage retreats.
5. Setting up without help and no remorse.
6. Handicapped parking.
7. Setup in a new venue.
8. Setup every Sunday.
9. Running service.
10. Managing the contents of Public Storage.
11. Scripture on Giving, Serving for recognition.
    Mat 6:1  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Mat 6:2  “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. Mat 6:3  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, Mat 6:4  so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 
12. Scripture on Serving, Gifts of Grace
    1Pe 4:10  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 
    Rom 12:3  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Rom 12:4  For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, Rom 12:5  so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Rom 12:6  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; Rom 12:7  if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; Rom 12:8  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. 
13. Scripture on it’s God’s money.
    Mat 6:19  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Mat 6:20  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Mat 6:22  “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. Mat 6:23  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Mat 6:24  “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 

Thursday

Got onto WW this morning and checked in. Talked to my uncle for a good minute as well. I was unable to check the news this morning because it seems that OANN’s certificate is being denied by my browser.

I’ve checked two computers from two networks, and I got the same results.

Mailed the paperwork for our parents 2019 return, it can go three ways and I don’t have a clue how to fill out the forms. No word from Pacific Tax service, we’re on Day 4 and it’s 4PM in Vegas.

Spent the evening clearing the house for our morning guest tomorrow.

Friday

Made a few contacts on FT8 today at 5 in the morning, headed back to bed.

Checked in with Water Way this is the second time it didn’t go well and this time I was chastised for not listening before keying. I think that is the last call to the net.

Moved the cars so the guest can park in the driveway. Had a good long talk with the guest, it was very interesting to discuss African communities.

Saturday

We made a quick run to the Wally World to get a few things, normal shopping day is Tuesdays. I built some pages for the wife’s procedure book for her CPAP mask. Watched Hallmark Chronicle Mysteries with Alison

1. Recovered (Watched)
2. Wrong Man (Watched)
3. Vines that bind
4. The Deep end
5. Heliport to death
6. Series season 1&2 

Sunday

Got ready to go to church at a friend’s house. We made egg salad for lunch and brought seeded rye bread to put it on. I saved the remainder of the coffee, but didn’t drink it. Church service didn’t go well, and I didn’t like some of the decisions that were made. Home for our nap, dinner was soup and a movie.

Monday

Filed extension for our Fed Taxes, I didn’t have any information to file an extension to the estate taxes. Talked to our financial advisor about our finances and the estate taxes. Did some research on filing a final estate tax return which I was asked to do by the lawyers.

Tuesday (Day of rest)

I installed a doorbell on the house for the first time in almost 40 years.

We didn’t do much of anything during the day. I did manage to mow the lawn at sunset.

Wednesday

Back in the saddle again, Got onto WW Net this morning and I heard my Uncle check into the net. Had a cup of coffee while researching estate taxes.

Took a shower and gathered my thoughts on how to proceed. My O2 levels are not very good from last night.

I seem to have held my breath for about 45 seconds….

Converted the throws on our bed to low voltage so they constantly stay a little warm.

Thursday

Could not check in with WW this morning, they called me and then others broke in and NCC never came back to me. That kinda ends the time spent at 8AM on this net.

Zaxby’s for lunch most of the week, it’s healthy and we don’t have to expose them to our illness. (What ever that is, we know it makes us tired and prone to coughing.)

Had a long talk with my Cousin in Elgin, they were not affected by the tornadoes or inclement weather rolling through the area.

I have searched and cannot find the scanner or encrypted USB cards. I don’t know where either of them is. I wanted them to keep track of the estate letters from the IRS.

Have to change the wiring to the garage light, the IDC connection was quite warm this evening and I need to put the dehumidifier back on a timer so it doesn’t run during the heat of the day.

Checked Child Fund this morning and picked up two letters from Josephine.

Friday

Got up around 8AM and sent T some money for coffee. Checked in on WW, I wasn’t awake and did a terrible job. I really need to focus on other things for a while.

I put the timer on the dehumidifier so that it doesn’t add to the heat from the summertime weather during the day. I also changed out the IDC connector for a Power Pole connector on the LED light in the garage. (It’s good for 15 Amps which is considerably more than 1.5A.)

I connected the back yard solar panels to the van to charge up the battery. We haven’t driven either of the cars very much over the last couple weeks. I have considered tying the two unused vehicles batteries together so that they both stay charged.

Boxed up all the newspapers today. I really need to go through them to make sure that there’s not any mail folded up in them.

Research on the 1041 has yielded a possibility that the pretax money collected by the lawyers in the IOLTA may have to have taxes paid on them. As far as I know at the moment the year for the estate starts December 2nd and ends December 2nd. That means there are three years that have to be divided up.

Saturday

Checked in with WW, again it was awkward because NCC lost his radio during my check-in. It was noisy on the radio this morning and we doubled.

Started a laundry load of whites to replenish my socks.

We went over the day timer tasks for the day and looked for items that we needed to have before next Tuesday. (Assumed next grocery day.) We didn’t want to go into the grocery store on a busy day like to today with us being ill. (And possibly contagious)

Put the back yard solar panels on the Blue Focus, the battery was 12.4V. (Not too bad.)

It’s possible that we’d owe 7K in taxes for the estate if the expenses don’t offset that.

Looked for the Computer Share documentation all afternoon just to find out they were just where they were supposed to be! Scanned the papers that I think I’ll need then I’ll upload them to the estate website.

Watched a Hallmark movie before bed.

Sunday

Got onto WW this morning and there was no hiccups today, I did not hear my uncle this morning. Spent a couple of hours changing the names of the scanned Compuserve letter files from last night.

Attended church services over Zoom because we are still ill and should isolate for another week. Zaxby’s for lunch after a nap.

Called my cousin and we talked about a lot of things. RSV, we’re pretty sure we have it. Sweating in bed requires light bedding, loose clothing and always a fan. Canker sores might be solved with tums, which we don’t have.

1. Go through newspapers for mail.
2. Put the front yard light back onto the relay module.

Monday *Taxes 7 Days

Tuned up my radio and joined Paul on WW Net first thing this morning. Read some news and checked my E-Mail. We spent some time talking about ending my audio responsibilities and what had transpired last week. We were surprised that GCS is actually in school and providing the UV glasses for the solar eclipse.

Took a bit of a nap and got Zaxby’s salad for lunch. Checked out the Internet to see when the Eclipse will arrive and made some loose plans.

This is a pin hole projected onto a white piece of paper.

Under a tree during an Eclipse, you see these dancing crescents of the Eclipse.

You can see when the solar irradiance dropped from the moon’s shadow.

We had soup for dinner and watched Hallmark movies until bedtime.

Tuesday *Taxes 6 Days

Got onto the radio early this morning and took another long nap. We got up around lunch to go to the pharmacy and Zaxby’s for our lunch. Then another nap before turning on Hallmark for another night of movies while we recover.

Wednesday *Taxes 5 Days

Went to the hospital Early to get a CAT scan, but the appt is not until next week.
Got onto the HF radio and checked in on WW Net. Took a nap, just too tired and walking around like a zombie. We went to Zaxby’s for our lunch salads and the drug store for more meds. The weather is not looking very bad. (I thought we’d be getting thunderstorms.) Took off the cover of our old doorbell which is now a switch for the attic lights. The doorbell white wire insulation has totally disintegrated and will need to be reinforced/replaced before connecting power to it. I did find an electronic door chime that will eliminate the transformer part. I should be able to put this into the double gang box that the original chime was in. I need to move the doorbell wire to the other side of the electrical box to comply with low voltage spacing. It should be pretty easy to withdraw the 28AWG wire and pull it in on the other side.

Watched a video from Jacoby about Once Saved, Always Saved…
Badly need a nap before service starts at 7:30…

Thursday *Taxes 4 days

Checked in on WW and had two eggs and sausage for breakfast. Looked over our bank accounts and I’m holding back on payments until we get our taxes done.
We did get out and get some groceries with a quick run to Wally World. We had turkey chili for lunch and then worked on writing to the girls then another nap. We watched a couple movies and headed to bed.

Friday *Taxes 3 days

Didn’t get onto taxes today, I did not feel very good. We had Zaxby’s for lunch and then another nap. We wrote a couple letters to the girls, the only letter we didn’t get sent was to Africa. Hallmark movies was about all we could manage until we went to bed.

Saturday

Got onto my HF radio, but conditions were difficult for the net this morning.

Sunday *I am in trouble…

There is an issue with the distribution of the estate and the IRS that will have to be worked through.

Week of 25 March

Crazy busy week, didn’t blog much. We had a routine doctor’s appointment on Monday and they blew out my vein in my arm

I had volunteered to do parking lot duty and that required preparation and 4 long hard day’s work starting at 05:15 in the mornings. The task was to monitor a gate to the field where the dog show was and check for passes to the show.

Sunday was Easter and I’ve decided that it’s time for me to let go of the audio duties for the church. It’s too hard for me to continue getting up at 6:30 in the morning every Sunday and running flat out until 2PM.

Monday 1 Apr

My arm is still waay too black and blue from going to the doctor last week.

We went to the doctor and the nurse just said “It Happens” and to put cold compresses on it. We went to Longhorn’s for lunch and returned home for a nap. We shopped for groceries and returned home for another nap.

We watched “The Robe” for our evening entertainment.

Tuesday

Got onto the Waterway net and had trouble copying Uncle Paul from SC. 2 Eggs and sausage for breakfast and trying to get organized for the week. We both wrote up all that we knew of for the month of April in our Day Timers.

I put away all the stuff from my GARS Dog Show volunteer duties.

Severe weather predicted for Tuesday evening, but it didn’t affect us at all.

Wednesday

Got onto Waterway and “Checked-In”, Paul was at a doctor’s appointment.

Put Anti-Freeze in Blue Focus and took it in to get the Emissions done. Paid online for both tags, so that’s done for the year. Put about half a tank of fuel in Blue and rotated vehicles to put the van up next to the garage.

Zaxby’s for lunch at 13:00.

Initiated the replacement and responsibilities for the handicapped parking.

Thursday

Sent a message to the team asking who would take care of the cones and signs.

Friday

Nobody answered my question by 10PM today so I sent a message to the team that I would NOT be buying replacement cones for the ones that the school took.

Sunday

Drove to the school and set out the handicapped signs on the MHS cones that were there.

1. Clean disposable filters.
2. Pay for Air Filter
3. Social Security (Survivor plans)
4. Mark’s retirement (Survivor plans)
5. Baxter retirement (Survivor plans)
6. Solar Charge Controller 30A.
7. Return equipment to storage.
8. Listen to the sermon.
9. Costco
10. 25′ microphone cords
11. Take stuff to storage.
12. Repair the brakes on Blue.
13. Repair radiator on Blue.
14. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
15. Insurance rebate check
16. Solar attic fan box.
17. Termite inspection date.
18. Make Dentist Appointment
19. Fill batteries in cave.
20. remove Heat2 Temp and Humidity.
21. PCC on forehead needs to be looked at.
22. Replace dryer vent with one that closes off the outside air
23. Power supply for audio recording on Sundays
    Get battery packs from storage.
    Buy mini USB DC converter and check for noise?
24. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
25. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
26. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
    They won’t insure ACOC stuff.
27. Fix Jacoby account
28. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
29. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
30. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
31. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
32. Wells Fargo Advisors
33. Good Will
34. Hand truck
35. Fertilize the lawn
36. Repair the eves on our home
37. Replace back door of garage
38. Repair window in garage
39. Replace seal under garage door
    • Locate part number for Door seal.
40. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
41. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
42. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
43. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Monday

Checked into the Waterway Net, but messed it up because I was the last person. (I won’t do that again.) I was worried that I hadn’t tuned the radio before the net started, it turns out I had nothing to worry about. My SWR was about 1.4 and that represents over 90% efficiency! I checked my current antenna length and it’s about center of the band, which is excellent for voice and digital. The other two bands are more to the digital end of the band.

Made some hard boiled eggs and downloaded my O2 readings from my finger attachment. We had tacos for lunch and we worked on our piles that have accumulated on the table.

Listened to the sermon and forwarded to the team. Talked about last Sunday just a bit and maybe about someone to take this over, Larry and I are not getting any younger.

Friday, where has the week gone?

This week has been a blur… Monday/Tuesday it was just beautiful outside. We’ve been to Longhorn’s Tue/Wed/Thur this week. We had Chili Mac on Monday and I wasn’t too enthused about eating it two more days. I’ve been on the radio every morning and i made big progress with the digital modes other than FT last night. As though I needed to spend more time on the radio than I have already. Got a message from one of the grandchildren, he’s not really happy with the distribution of my father’s estate. He probably doesn’t have a clue of the sheer difficulty of having the court in charge of the probate. Dog Show is next week, but I’ve not seen any E-Mails but it warns some about the weather.

1. Clean disposable filters.
2. ACOCG SURVEY
3. Buy air filters 16x25x1
4. Buy a water hose
5. Buy parts for bass drum
6. Costco
7. 25′ microphone cords
8. Take stuff to storage.
9. Repair the brakes on Blue.
10. Repair radiator on Blue.
11. Check silver spare tire.
12. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
13. Insurance rebate check
14. Travelers March 1st $1800.00
15. Solar attic fan box.
16. Termite inspection date.
17. Make Dentist Appointment
18. Fill batteries in cave.
19. remove Heat2 Temp and Humidity.
20. PCC on forehead needs to be looked at.
21. Replace dryer vent with one that closes off the outside air
22. Power supply for audio recording on Sundays
    Get battery packs from storage.
    Buy mini USB DC converter and check for noise?
23. Recycle Batteries #3
24. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
25. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
26. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
27. Fix Jacoby account
28. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
29. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
30. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
31. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
32. Wells Fargo Advisors
33. Good Will
34. Hand truck
35. Fertilize the lawn
36. Repair the eves on our home
37. Replace back door of garage
38. Repair window in garage
39. Replace seal under garage door
    • Locate part number for Door seal.
40. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
41. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
42. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
43. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Monday

Joined Paul on WW this morning, the bands are not open at the beginning of the net with the time change. I could not hear the net control station until about 8AM. Paul did come back and we chatted for a few minutes after the net closed.

Checked Sunday’s recording, good to go. Forwarded the links to the team. My Lisinopril medication is on hold, the pharmacy ran out of it.

1. Repair roof leak!
2. Clean disposable filters.
3. Buy air filters 16x25x1
4. Buy a water hose
5. Costco
6. 25′ microphone cords
7. Take stuff to storage.
8. Repair the brakes on Blue.
9. Repair radiator on Blue.
10. Check silver spare tire.
11. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
12. Insurance rebate check
13. Travelers March 1st $1800.00
14. Solar attic fan box.
15. Termite inspection date.
16. Make Dentist Appointment
17. Fill batteries in cave.
18. remove Heat2 Temp and Humidity.
19. PCC on forehead needs to be looked at.
20. Replace dryer vent with one that closes off the outside air
21. Power supply for audio recording on Sundays
    Get battery packs from storage.
    Buy mini USB DC converter and check for noise?
22. Recycle Batteries #3
23. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
24. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
25. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
26. Fix Jacoby account
27. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
28. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
29. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
30. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
31. Wells Fargo Advisors
32. Good Will
33. Hand truck
34. Fertilize the lawn
35. Repair the eves on our home
36. Replace back door of garage
37. Repair window in garage
38. Replace seal under garage door
    • Locate part number for Door seal.
39. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
40. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
41. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
42. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Monday

It was a beautiful day outside, I did some tuning of my backyard antenna and centering the resonant frequencies more towards the middle of the band.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a rainy day, but I was just a bit too active. I got onto WW in the morning with 5 Watts, they did say I was a little light. Then I worked on some organization/planning. We went to Longhorn’s for lunch and I walked about 200 yards. I paid dearly for that because I was hurting all over between the changing weather and the long walk. I noticed a water spot on the chimney, need to keep an eye on that!

Wednesday

Got up and onto WW net with Uncle Paul this morning. I also listened in on the morning drive with GARS. This time I used 90Watts LOL. I retuned the 40M antenna and firmly attached aerials, so they don’t move across the insulators. I also replaced the heavy porcelain insulator with a lightweight plastic one to raise the antenna out of reach. Went up into the attic looking for a roof leak, I didn’t find anything wet near the chimney. Went to the Ortho dentist and paid our $400 to get onto their plan for the Wife’s braces. Played with the radio most of the evening.

Thursday

Had a rough evening, I obviously was too active again yesterday. My backsides were in a abnormal state of pain this morning. I did manage to put a strain relief on the coax cable to my back yard antenna. I also made a weather shield for the surge arrestor on the coax with its two non watertight connections. Joined WW this morning and I heard Paul check in.

Friday

Joined WW this morning and then worked on why Accuweather didn’t load. It turns out that the local DNS cache had the wrong address in it. I deleted the local DNS ad list that I loaded long ago, the Pi Hole does that for us. I also set a plastic bowl on the floor to keep the stress off my leg.

Sunday

Joined WW again this morning, set the rest of the clocks for the correct time.

1. Clean disposable filters.
2. Buy air filters 16x25x1
3. Wells Fargo check
4. Buy a water hose
5. Costco
6. 25′ microphone cords
7. Take stuff to storage.
8. Repair the brakes on Blue.
9. Repair radiator on Blue.
10. Add lightning spar on backyard antenna.
11. Check silver spare tire.
12. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
13. Insurance rebate check
14. Travelers March 1st $1800.00
15. Solar attic fan box.
16. Termite inspection date.
17. Make Dentist Appointment
18. Marriage Retreat registration by Feb 28th.
    I think we are opting OUT of staying the night.
19. Fill batteries in cave.
20. remove Heat2 Temp and Humidity.
21. PCC on forehead needs to be looked at.
22. Replace dryer vent with one that closes off the outside air
23. Power supply for audio recording on Sundays
    Get battery packs from storage.
    Buy mini USB DC converter and check for noise?
24. Configure Ham Radio Deluxe software.
    Why doesn’t it carry the power over to QRZ.
25. Recycle Batteries #3
26. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
27. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
28. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
29. Fix Jacoby account
30. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
31. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
32. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
33. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
34. Wells Fargo Advisors
35. Good Will
36. Hand truck
37. Fertilize the lawn
38. Repair the eves on our home
39. Replace back door of garage
40. Repair window in garage
41. Replace seal under garage door
    • Locate part number for Door seal.
42. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
43. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
44. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
45. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Three band 10, 20 and 40Meter Inverted VEE antenna to be somewhat Omni.

I definitely fell down on the blogging this week. The beginning of the week was a bit of chaos trying to nail down prescriptions and daily tasks. Wednesday, I managed to get seriously hurt and that triggered shingles. I went to a doc in the box on Friday after the pain was getting unbearable. That’s when we found out that the rash across my back was shingles. Saturday still in pain went to the emergency room to get an xray of my hip to rule out a fracture. (Which I seriously thought it was.) They did a CAT and it didn’t show anything which is terrific news. They also gave me some Tramadol for the pain. Yea. I was still in significant pain on Sunday, so I went home right after setup.

Spent some good time working with the HF radio this week. Checked in on the WW net most every morning and made some 200 contacts on FT8 with HRD providing the logging. The antenna is now safe to operate with the ariels high enough off the ground they cannot be easily reached. Even though the ariels are insulated, it’s possible to get a small RF burn on them. I spent a good deal of time tuning them, it turns out that the distance between the 10M and 20M ariels is a critical tuning distance.

1. Clean disposable filters.
2. Buy air filters 16x25x1
3. Wells Fargo check
4. Buy a water hose
5. Costco
6. Bass Drum feet
7. 25′ microphone cords
8. Take stuff to storage.
9. Repair the brakes on Blue.
10. Repair radiator on Blue.
11. Clean out Blue Focus.
12. Add lightning spar on backyard antenna.
13. Buy a 25′ RF Cable to move antenna west.
14. Check silver spare tire.
15. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
16. Insurance rebate check
17. Travelers March 1st $1800.00
18. Safeco Feb 10th $2200.
19. Solar attic fan box.
20. Termite inspection date.
21. Child Fund letters.
22. Make Dentist Appointment
23. Marriage Retreat registration by Feb 28th.
    I think we are opting OUT of staying the night.
24. Fill batteries in cave.
25. remove Heat2 Temp and Humidity.
26. PCC on forehead needs to be looked at.
27. Replace dryer vent with one that closes off the outside air
28. Power supply for audio recording on Sundays
    Get battery packs from storage.
    Buy mini USB DC converter and check for noise?
29. Configure Ham Radio Deluxe software.
    Why doesn’t it carry the power over to QRZ.
30. Recycle Batteries #3
31. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
32. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
33. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
34. Fix Jacoby account
35. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
36. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
37. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
38. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
39. Wells Fargo Advisors
40. Good Will
41. Hand truck
42. Fertilize the lawn
43. Repair the eves on our home
44. Replace back door of garage
45. Repair window in garage
46. Replace seal under garage door
    • Locate part number for Door seal.
47. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
48. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
49. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
50. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Monday

Ham + Pea Presidents day.

Grocery shopping today.

Tuesday

Got onto the radio with Paul and checked in on the Waterway net. 2 Hrs LOL

Kathy went to Dental to get some braces. We ended up going to Longhorn for lunch because of timing conflicts.

Wednesday

Cleaned out Blue Focus back seat in preparation for getting it serviced.

Killed the wireless router for Home Assistant with the microwave. It popped the bedroom ARC Fault breaker and that took out the router. I ended up standing up a wireless router on my desk to run Home Assistant during the night.

Ordered some RF cable to move the backyard antenna.

Thursday

Didn’t make it onto Waterway nor did I talk to Paul this morning, he was working his “Honey Doo” list.

Tried to reload the firmware onto the Mango router, it was still being difficult. I ended up tossing it into recycling and replacing it with a spare.

The humidifier was off, apparently I didn’t turn it back on after the fiasco with the breaker. The humidity is below 40%, which is low in the wintertime.

Bought a pair of drum spurs, they look old. (But all I need is the ends anyway.)
Played Bingo with the elderly.
Watched Hallmark movie with the wife.
Made some FT8 contacts while looking for a cure for my feet.
Updated my Daytimer pages in my daily book.

Friday

Joined Paul on the Waterway Net this morning. Played around with FT8 trying to figure out how to properly adjust the power settings. With a full waterfall it’s almost impossible to adjust the frequency, adjust the power and know which phase the transmit is in.

We went to Longhorns for lunch, met up with the woman that got into an accident, and she’s got a job as a School Bus driver! We gave Terresa several 20’s for “Pay It Forward”. I did not see Lizbeth today.

Drove to the candy store for a roll of antenna wire, it was a bad move to do that during rush hour though.

The coax did come in to properly ground the coax at the mast of the antenna. It will also allow me to push the antenna closer to the center of the yard.

Saturday

Checked into the Waterway Net with my Uncle while sipping on a cup of coffee.

1. Buy air filters 16x25x1
2. Bass Drum feet
3. 25′ microphone cords
4. Clean disposable filters.
5. Take stuff to storage.
6. Repair the brakes on Blue.
7. Repair radiator on Blue.
8. Clean out Blue Focus.
9. Add lightning spar on backyard antenna.
10. Check silver spare tire.
11. Wells Fargo check
12. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
13. Insurance rebate check
14. Travelers March 1st $1800.00
15. Safeco Feb 10th $2200.
16. Solar attic fan box.
17. Termite inspection date.
18. Child Fund letters.
19. Make Dentist Appointment
20. Marriage Retreat registration by Feb 28th.
    I think we are opting OUT of staying the night.
21. Fill batteries in cave.
22. remove Heat2 Temp and Humidity.
23. PCC on forehead needs to be looked at.
24. Replace dryer vent with one that closes off the outside air
25. Power supply for audio recording on Sundays
    Get battery packs from storage.
    Buy mini USB DC converter and check for noise?
26. Configure Ham Radio Deluxe software.
    Did get it configured to reach into my LOTW.
27. Recycle Batteries #3
28. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
29. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
30. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
31. Fix Jacoby account
32. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
33. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
34. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
35. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
36. Wells Fargo Advisors
37. Good Will
38. Hand truck
39. Fertilize the lawn
40. Buy a water hose
41. Repair the eves on our home
42. Replace back door of garage
43. Repair window in garage
44. Replace seal under garage door
    • Locate part number for Door seal.
45. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
46. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
47. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
48. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Monday

Whew, it’s been a really busy day! I spent almost the entire day on the radio!
It’s raining outside and my radio wants to do a long tune on frequencies it didn’t a day before. According to Google Foo, the antenna appears to be longer when it’s raining. I pulled the extensions off the antenna to improve the performance, but it still did a long tune.

On waterway.net this morning, it’s been a adventure. They came back with I was off frequency, I paused because that’s just about impossible with this radio. Another HAM helped me out and he said that I needed to adjust my TX Microphone equalizer. (Personally, I thought that the default settings would match the equipment sent with the radio.)

I spent an hour configuring my TX SSB audio, there are no less than 20 settings on this radio to fine tune the TX level and bandpass.

I did a power test with Paul and his receive degrades at 5W to a 57. But still, that’s a tiny bit of RF to reach him.

Now I have to keep track of the modulating frequency AND the transmit frequency since the Automatic Tuner is 2KHZ wide. (Meaning FT8 can be 2.7KHZ wide.) I’ve decided to shoot the middle, Tune at 1500+7.074MHZ=7.075500MHZ

Tuesday

At 4AM I cannot reach Europe, but I can reach the entire USA on 15W.

It’s a one way conversation in the morning from Europe.

Joined the Waterway Net with Uncle Paul. My changed microphone settings were received well by participants in the Net.

We ended up taking a shower, then a nap before eating lunch at Longhorns.

I opened the doors on Blue Focus to dry out the insides. The cold dry air was perfect and when I closed up the car the air would have been even drier. I also put the four solar panels on the Blue Focus battery to give it a bit of a charge.

12:44 Back home and clearing the backlog of things to finish.
Added the two contacts I talked to on the Waterway net.

Now that I am running 90W SSB, I decided I needed to insulate the ends of the 40M aerials so that they are out of reach from inside the fence. (They were already too far inside my yard to be reached across the fence.) I used some tubing that I had laying around to cover the aerials. I believe that the wet string caused the antenna to detune slightly this morning. The extensions are also an issue because of the yellow flags on the ends.

Pulled the extensions off the 40M antenna for tomorrow’s waterway Net.

I added a wire tie as an insulator to the end of the extension. That keeps the wire completely inside of the tubing covering the lower part of the aerial.

I need to figure out how my 10M aerials work above 28.3 MHZ in the evenings when 10M is dead. I tried to remove the extensions and almost got bit from a brown recluse spider. He/she was hanging out in the insulator. I am hoping even if it did attempt to bite me that it’s tiny fangs couldn’t pierce the skin. (Hoping) It did appear to try to escape on my first attempt, it disappeared completely when I tried to take a picture of it. Then the issue is “WHERE IS IT!”

Six FT8 contacts today!

Wednesday

Spent almost three hours on the radio this morning. Joined my uncle on Waterway this morning, then we met on Keels to Wheels. I tried to get onto SCARS, but was too timid to make it. I think my uncle would have preferred that I had gotten a little more aggressive. I did join Waterway and SCARS clubs today.

We took a good nap and then started making dinner when we spilled the chicken into the sink. Longhorn made lunch for us today.

Back home worked on E-Mail and tuning 40M band on the radio. I am pretty sure the plan is to run the radio without the 8″ extensions on 40M as the radio doesn’t need them. (And I need the efficiency for SSB)

House church takes up most of the evening on Wednesday.

Back home, checking the news and my radio for tomorrow.

Thursday

Joined the Waterway Net in the morning with my Uncle. We decided to go to Longhorn’s for lunch after the invite yesterday. We took a nap AFTER our lunch to allow us to get to Longhorn’s at 11AM. It was a very pretty day yesterday afternoon. We spent most of the day trying to get our prescriptions in order. We watched the end of the chocolate Hallmark movie “Sweeter Than Chocolate” we started Wednesday.

Friday

Checked into the Waterway Net, I forgot to send my full callsign. I was trying to write a script and completely eliminated my callsign LOL. Also, I’ve been in 2M for over a year and they don’t send callsigns that often.

Printed a new page for my day timer. Then spent an hour making a new one LOL.

Cleaned the driveway and maybe 1/4th of the living room.

Took a few minutes and did some tests with 40M radio tuning. I have got to get more practice with these nets. I have to remember to close the gate, even though the aerials are covered with tubing.

Played with JS8 Call for a couple hours while I had a bit of dinner. We entered the restaurant reviews for Longhorn, I did three and the Wife did Valentines Day.

Time for Hallmark! We watched “Betting Bride” tonight for our evening entertainment.

Saturday

Got onto Waterway HAM HF NET this morning with Paul.

We discussed at great length what we’re going to do today.

I’ve given a LOT of thought about my back yard antenna and lightning. There’s two vulnerabilities with the RF cable outside coming from the antenna and one more from the ground under the wire. The antenna on the roof as a lightning spear that’s actually the copper wire running the length of the antenna pole. I want to replicate that onto the back yard antenna.

Lunch was meatloaf, it was a little greasy, so I don’t think we’ll have that again.