Month: May 2023

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.