Category: Blog

1. Buy a new radio.
2. Dr Appt to pick up my CPAP.
3. Clear off dining room table.
4. Clear weeds along back of the house.
5. Buy a cool mat for the dog.
6. Clean VAN when the sun sets.
7. Wells Fargo Advisors
8. ID Card appt July 20th
9. Garbage Can for Cave
10. Recycling
11. Good Will
12. Hand truck
13. Fertilize the lawn
14. Buy a hose
15. Repair radiator on Blue.
16. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
17. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
18. Repair the brakes on Blue.
19. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
20. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
21. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
22. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
23. Check Mom’s accounts
24. Fix mom’s printer working
25. File estate taxes.
26. Research Lawyer for Arizona
27. Gift for Camryn.
28. Tag renewal is in glove compartment.

Prayers

1. Children saved.
2. Solve Arizona Probate
3. Children health
4. Our Health
5. Wisdom
6. Our sleeping habits
7. Help for Larry and myself.
8. Safe trip to Blairsville
9. Planning to Ohio
10. Planning for mom’s estate.
11. Court Witness

Monday
I meet the guys on the repeater every weekday at 7:30AM for about 30 minutes.
Kathy and I spend a little time in the morning getting organized at 8-8:30
(Mostly Doctors and Meals)

Areo care called us about 9AM to confirm my 2PM apt to get my new CPAP.
Talked to my daughter for a couple hours to plan her move to Great Falls ND in July.
Took a nap before my apt at the Doc.
It’s an hour drive to the doctor’s office, arrived at 13:45
They gave me a new CPAP without having to sit through their mandatory class since I’ve had one for 10 years.
Got home about 3:30 and my daughter wanted to go to dinner with us at 5:30
She sent a message at 4:30 that she’d be at the restaurant at 5.

We got home at 7:30 and I met the guys on the GARS NET which lasts about 20 minutes.
The ARES net meets at 8:15 for about 15 minutes.
I spent some time looking for a Yeasu 7100 without much luck.  With all the digital being used I want to make sure that the HF radio I get supports those modes with as little modifications as possible.
ICOM 7100 seems to be the middle of the road.
I had to attach my new CPAP to the online RESMED portal that monitors my sleep.  (Which is just the new S/N)
Packed up the old machine and attached the new machine to my mask.

I had to modify the doctors settings of 6-16 mm H2O to 11-16 mm H2O.  If the machine starts at 6 mm H2O the mask is pretty tight against my face until the pressure gets over 10mm H2O.  The machine normally arrives at 14 mm H2O during the night.
This machine had a strong plastic smell when I went down, I don’t remember that with previous machines.
(I dug out the manuals, there’s no “Break In” procedure either.)
I used my old tank, hoses and mask so the only new component was the machine.
The insurance pays $45/Month rent for 14 months, then the machine is ours.
The Wife gets her new machine in August.

Tuesday
Entered info for yesterday in my blog.
Checked my radio for today’s NET.
Grocery Shopping
HRO trip for a 710 radio.

Wednesday
Received documents for Arizona Land.

Thursday
Going over documents looking for errors
Checked in with Paul (10:00)

1. Dr Appt on Wednesday 9AM.
2. Clear off dining room table.
3. Clear weeds along back of the house.
4. Clean VAN when the sun sets.
5. Wells Fargo Advisors
6. ID Card appt July 20th
7. Garbage Can for Cave
8. Recycling
9. Good Will
10. Hand truck
11. Fertilize the lawn
12. Buy a hose
13. Repair radiator on Blue.
14. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
15. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
16. Repair the brakes on Blue.
17. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
18. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
19. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
20. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
21. Check Mom’s accounts
22. Fix mom’s printer working
23. File estate taxes.
24. ID CARE Alert.
25. Research Lawyer for Arizona
26. Run generators.
27. Gift for Camryn.
28. Tag renewal is in glove compartment.
29. Memorial Day Parade

Prayer List

1. Safe return for Daughter.
2. Children saved.
3. Solve Arizona Probate
4. Children health
5. Our Health
6. Wisdom
7. Our sleeping habits
8. Help for Larry and myself.
9. Safe trip to Blairsville
10. Planning to Ohio
11. Planning for mom’s estate.
12. Court Witness

1. Wells Fargo Advisors
2. ID Cards
3. Garbage Can for Cave
4. Recycling
5. Good Will
6. Hand truck
7. Fertilize the lawn
8. Buy a hose
9. Repair radiator on Blue.
10. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
11. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
12. Repair the brakes on Blue.
13. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
14. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
    They shipped today, that makes 4
15. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
16. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
17. Check Mom’s accounts
18. Fix mom’s printer working
19. File estate taxes.
20. Research Lawyer for Arizona
21. Run generators
22. Gift for Camryn.
23. Sign form for cabin.
24. Received $500.00 Fron Georgia Taxes.
25. Received $ from 2020 Federal taxes
26. Emissions for van 22 May
    Tag renewal is in glove compartment.
27. Memorial Day Parade

Upgraded all my home routers today, that took me about 2 hours with all twelve wireless/VPN routers. All six VPN tunnels are up and running, we watched TV over one of them on our last trip to the mountains. 🙂

Created a new “Octopus” for powering our personal devices. It runs on one 18V 36W power supply *Wall Wart. The micro-USB DC inverters can provide 3A @ 5V and can be located quite a way from the power supply.

This is what the desk looked like using the previous version of the Octopus that terminated every lead with a connector. Yes, that’s a AT&T slimline phone with our home supplied from a white Majic Jack Plus that’s next to the wireless router.

Took the VAN in for its first emissions test, the gas cap failed. Got a new one and brought the operator lunch. All set for renewing the plate in July, with my HAM call sign. 🙂

1. Wells Fargo Advisors
2. Garbage Can for Cave
3. Recycling
4. Good Will
5. Hand truck
6. Fertilize the lawn
7. Buy a hose
8. Repair radiator on Blue.
9. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
10. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
11. Repair the brakes on Blue.
12. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
13. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
14. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
15. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
16. Check Mom’s accounts
17. Fix mom’s printer working
18. File estate taxes.
19. Run generators
20. Received $500.00 Fron Georgia Taxes.
21. Received $ from 2020 Federal taxes
22. Emissions for van 22 May
23. State Park pass.
24. Plans for truck competition.

Spent the week up in Blairsville Ga in a two-person cabin. We drive the van up and brought the kitchen sink including a portable refrigerator on our first trip.

1. Cannot do stairs with the refrigerator, ground floor or have an elevator.
2. We don’t need a huge inventory of fruit on our next trip.
3. We MUST disable the camera security before we arrive home the next time.
4. Brought a little too many clothes.
5. Wash cloths and towels were very handy.
6. Brought too many eggs.
7. Vogel state park turned out to be very helpful as a rest stop.
   Need to apply for a state park pass with my military ID.
8. Need a large tire beach wagon to move the refrigerator.
9. Small tubs were also handy for pills and bathroom supplies.
10. Heated throws were pretty handy.
11. Need to bring solar generator for the Wife’s CPAP.

1. Wells Fargo Advisors
2. Garbage Can for Cave
3. Recycling
4. Good Will
5. Hand truck
6. Fertilize the lawn
7. Buy a hose
8. Repair radiator on Blue.
9. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
10. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
11. Repair the brakes on Blue.
12. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
13. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
14. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
15. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
16. Check Mom’s accounts
17. Fix mom’s printer working
18. File estate taxes.
19. Call lawyer for Arizona at 2PM
20. Run generators
21. Gift for Camryn.
22. Sign form for cabin.
23. Received $500.00 Fron Georgia Taxes.
24. Received $ from 2020 Federal taxes
25. Emissions for van 22 May

Every new ham needs three things.
1. A dual band Handy Talkie. _{To listen to their transmissions}
2. A Mobile 2M radio. _{To use as a base station to get on the air right away.}
3. A SWR meter. _{To check the setup on their antennas.}

The second thing I’ve noticed is decoupling the RF riding down the coax from the antenna was a LOT bigger influence than anyone was suggesting. I was amazed at how well a vertical antenna can be matched by playing with the radials underneath the antenna. (Like no reflected reading on the SWR meter.) Also, the mast has an effect on the radial length for some reason. (They were roughly 1/4 wavelength on the taller mast.)

1. Deposit checks
2. Call court house on Sunday evening.
3. Leave Cell phone in
4. Update bills on Estate Website
5. Wells Fargo Advisors
6. Garbage Can for Cave
7. Recycling
8. Good Will
9. Hand truck
10. fertilize the lawn
11. Buy a hose
12. Repair radiator on Blue.
13. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
14. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
15. Repair the brakes on Blue.
16. Follow-up Appt with Lung Doc.
17. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
18. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
19. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
20. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
21. Check Mom’s accounts
22. Fix mom’s printer working
23. File estate taxes.
24. Hire a lawyer for Arizona.
25. Run generators

My station ground into my “Cave” required a little more effort than I had planned. The ground loop around the homestead had several breaks in it, I decided to make it one contiguous piece of wire this time. The hole above was already made through the wall by the AT&T installers who drilled through the bottom plate of the wall to install DSL years ago. I still need to seal the hole and bury the wire.

Finally got my coax with lightning protection and grounded.

1. Deposit checks
2. Call court house on Sunday evening.
3. Update bills on Estate Website
4. Wells Fargo Advisors
5. 1/4 drill bit LONG
6. Garbage Can for Cave
7. Recycling
8. Good Will
9. Hand truck
10. Buy 6 AWG bare wire for grounds
11. fertilize the lawn
12. Buy a hose
13. Repair radiator on Blue.
14. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
15. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
16. Repair the brakes on Blue.
17. Follow-up Appt with Lung Doc.
18. Check temperatures for Pahrump pump house every week.
19. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
20. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
21. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
22. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
23. Check Mom’s accounts
24. Fix mom’s printer working
25. File estate taxes.
26. Hire a lawyer for Arizona.
27. Run generators
28. Pull RG213 through attic to cave.

The van doesn’t get driven much, maybe two 5 mile trips on Sunday to church and back. I am getting worried about the battery not having enough time to recharge. I’ve connected my yard’s solar panels to a Solar Charge Controller to apply about 1/2 amp charge during the day.

The white wire on the bottom is to reduce the wear on the door seal and to have a break-away connection if I forget to disconnect it. (I had previously driven our cars with the wire attached and tore through the door seal.)

Cleaned up the weeds on the fence today.

Well, the new antenna is up. I really don’t like the SWR of 2 though. The base of the antenna is a MUCH better design with the cable connections protected under a hood of sorts. The receive sensitivity doesn’t seem to have improved much if any.

The antenna claims to be a 6/8 wave C-Load(2m) antenna, which I assume has a capacitor in series with the radiating element to make it appear as 50 ohms.

I had to add radials to reduce the SWR below 2:1. After cutting almost 3 inches off 1/2 inch at a time I ended up with 13″ radials and a SWR of 1.2:1. (200MW reflected) I don’t know yet why the SWR went up a little with the addition of 50′ of coax?

Now this looks a little better with the 2M radials. (Not much, but every little bit counts.)

1. Mow the back lawn
2. Buy tickets for Vegas.
3. Repair van window
4. Update bills on Estate Website
5. Wells Fargo Advisors
6. 1/4 drill bit LONG
7. Garbage Can for Cave
8. Recycling
9. Good Will
10. Hand truck
11. Buy 6 AWG bare wire for grounds
12. fertilize the lawn
13. Buy a hose
14. D Repair radiator on Blue.
15. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
16. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
17. D Repair the brakes on Blue.
18. Follow-up Appt with Lung Doc.
19. Check temperatures for Pahrump pump house every week.
20. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
21. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
22. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
23. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
24. Check Mom’s accounts
25. Fix mom’s printer working
26. File estate taxes.
27. Hire a lawyer for Arizona.
28. Run generators
29. Pull RG213 through attic to cave.

I had removed the lining of the door to facilitate closing the window after it failed. I know how badly moisture can ruin a vehicle from previous broken windows.

To remove this panel it required releasing the two handles holding the window AND supporting the window in a raised position until I could get this panel back in place.

This is the old hardware that I am about to replace.
There weren’t too many bolts, and it wasn’t terribly difficult.

The most difficult part of finishing the door was getting the window clips back into their holes under the window. I ended up using a pair of wire cutters as pliers to push the clips behind the glass.

---

1. I measured the voltage between my house ground and the coax shield and it was 6VDC.
2. When I first mounted this antenna I did have a 6AWG wire running from the antenna to the house grounds.  I had to steal that ground wire to ground the antenna on the 25’ pole.  *Which is where I originally planned on returning it too.  I’ve been fighting with the poor design of the antenna base ever since I got this antenna.  The base (Without the ground plate) seems commonly used to mount whip antennas on vehicles.  I also had plans to ground the radio, but alas I have been using my time with moving / modifying this silly 5/8 wave antenna.
3. The ground was left off the antenna so that I could evaluate how much RF remained at the base of the antenna.  I had also put a loop in the coax and a ferrite toroid core around the coax at the base of the antenna to lessen/isolate any RF riding on the coax shield. (It seemed unlikely that I would get injured with 12W RF (25V @ 50 Ohms)  My ELMER does not use a ground plane OR a ground wire at his antenna.  (His antenna is sitting on a wooden painting stick LOL.)  I have looked at antenna analyzers on Amazon and they all look like China grey market crap.

• As bad as the following antenna looks, I am only getting a little over a watt back from the antenna at 25W forward power.  It was a LOT easier to work with 18AWG wire radials which is also the gauge of the magnet wire that the antenna radiating element is made of.  (Which I read is a way of increasing the “Q” of the radials.)   The reason for the high number of radials was to vary the length slightly so that several of them would be resonant at any given frequency. (According to “Google Foo”, if the “Q” is high, then resonance of the radials would be a narrow spike.)  I did realize that the radiation pattern would change as the radials that are resonant changed.  (But then I have 9 of them.)

• I hadn’t counted on the “L” bracket from Dish network being approximately ¼ wavelength long.  I’ll have to insulate the antenna from the mast to find out how much that affected my setup.

1. Mow the lawn
2. Buy tickets for Vegas.
3. Call Kelli if she doesn’t answer my E-Mail.
4. Repair van window
5. Update bills on Estate Website
6. Wells Fargo Advisors
7. 1/4 drill bit LONG
8. Garbage Can for Cave
9. Recycling
10. Good Will
11. Hand truck
12. Buy 6 AWG bare wire for grounds
13. fertilize the lawn
14. Buy a hose
15. D Repair radiator on Blue.
16. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
17. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
18. D Repair the brakes on Blue.
19. Follow-up Appt with Doctor.
20. Check temperatures for Pahrump pump house every week.
21. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
22. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
23. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
24. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
25. Nancy’s Will, i don’t have a copy but she’s working on it.
26. Check Mom’s accounts
27. Fix mom’s printer working
28. Hire an accountant for the estate taxes.
29. Hire a lawyer for Arizona.
30. Run generators
31. Pull down 2M antenna from 25′ mast.
32. Install 2M antenna on Dish Network post.
33. Tune 2M antenna and measure VSWR.
34. Test some repeaters to see if they are better.
35. Replace insulated grocery bags.
36. Pull RG213 through attic to cave.

1. Repair van window
2. Update bills on Estate Website
3. Charge WetCell Batteries
4. Wells Fargo Advisors
5. 1/4 drill bit LONG
6. Garbage Can for Cave
7. Recycling
8. Good Will
9. Charge New Batteries
10. Hand truck
11. Buy 6 AWG bare wire for grounds
12. fertilize the lawn
13. Buy a hose
14. D Repair radiator on Blue.
15. Program remote access backup routers for mom.
16. Drive to FL
    • Install remote access
    • Install MJ Phone
    • Repair VPN
    • Install Home Assistant
    • Bring back 55″ TV
    • Bring framed picture from Thanksgiving.
17. D Repair the brakes on Blue.
18. My appt for CatScan.
    Follow-up Appt with Doctor.
19. Check temperatures for Pahrump pump house every week.
20. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
21. Two more 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from DigiKey
22. Floss, banana, Meds and toes.
23. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
24. Nancy’s Will, i don’t have a copy but she’s working on it.
25. Check Mom’s accounts
26. Fix mom’s printer working
27. Hire an accountant for the estate taxes.
28. Hire a lawyer for Arizona.
29. Run generators

Unplugging a refrigerator

We accidentally kicked out the power cord to our portable refrigerator this week.

I actually had a moisture sensor warning for the rug, but no alarm was connected.
(I have one now that checks the temp AND the moisture from the drain hole.)

Not a huge deal, we lost one package of hamburger.
We washed the insides down with soap and water and plugged it back in.

The large delta temperature when the compressor runs makes it difficult to determine the actual temperature of our food.

I put the temp sensor in wine glass with a bit of rice to add some mass.

The glass was supported away from the walls of the refrigerator to reduce the influence. I was still unhappy with the delta Temp (Blue line) still confusing the desired temperature reading. I had to add more mass inside the glass OR add insulation to lessen the delta temperature.

The next thing I tried was a Yeti mug (Good insulation) with the rice and temp sensor in the bottom with a sock on the top to keep the air from circulating.

The temperature was changing so slowly that I removed the sock. I inserted a spoon into the rice to increase the conductivity into the rice and lowered the set point temperature of the fridge.

Now that the average temperature of the rice is closer to the desired temperature, I need to raise the setpoint to something more reasonable for a refrigerator. (Not a freezer.) Milk freezes at 30-31.5 degrees, so the ideal temperature should be really close to 32 degrees. (Coldest temperature before freezing, down from 38 degrees recommended fridge temp.)