Week of 5 Feb 2024

  1. General HAM license test Sunday Feb 11th.
  2. Stepstool
  3. Buy air filters 16x25x1
  4. Wells Fargo check
  5. Research new smoke/fire/CO detectors.
    Draw fire detector wiring diagram.
  6. Air in Silver’s tires.
  7. Air in van’s tires.
  8. Insurance rebate check
  9. Travelers March 1st $1800.00
  10. Safeco Feb 10th $2200.
  11. Solar attic fan box.
  12. Termite inspection date.
  13. Child Fund letters.
  14. Make Dentist Appointment
  15. Marriage Retreat registration by Feb 28th.
    I think we are opting OUT of staying the night.
  16. Fill batteries in cave.
  17. Bags for church.
  18. Repair Heat2 ESP8266.
  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. Configure Ham Radio Deluxe software.
    Did get it configured to reach into my LOTW.
  24. Recycle Batteries #3
  25. Look for another Subpoena.
    (They may not ask us anymore because of a chain of custody issue.)
  26. Add relay to refrigerator UPS to charge from Solar.
  27. Get exercise pads from storage.
  28. Check on Home Owners insurance for storage.
  29. Fix Jacoby account
  30. TurboTax 2024.
    Signed in and started my 2023 taxes.
  31. Mount HA#2 and Pi-Hole.
  32. Buy more solar panels in case of NATO WAR.
    Sweden is seeking to join NATO.
  33. Change owner of church Public Storage locker.
  34. rebuild Attic fan power switchbox.
  35. Wells Fargo Advisors
  36. Good Will
  37. Hand truck
  38. Fertilize the lawn
  39. Buy a water hose
  40. Repair radiator on Blue.
  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. Repair the brakes on Blue.
  46. Two 8GB Raspberry Pi’s are ordered from Newark Electronics.
  47. Register with IRS as an administrator of an estate.
    File estate taxes.
  48. Put tape over door seals on Blue.
  49. Research Lawyer for Arizona

Living room is still storage, it’s about 50/50 groceries and “Stuff”

Monday

Listened in on the “Waterway Net” this morning with my Uncle. We chatted for a while and that took up 2Hrs this morning. I need my General license to transmit on 40M (7MHZ), hopefully I’ll pass the test on Sunday.

2 cups of coffee, 4 Eggs, breakfast sausages and orange juice for breakfast.

Filled one with coffee, it was still 150 degrees 14 hours later.

Dropped off the car at Firestone and we were running out of time to make any kind of dinner. We have a cooked turkey in the refrigerator but there’s no fixings to go with it. So, off to lunch at Longhorn’s with Tiffany and pick up the car from Firestone customer car care after we get back home.

The new microphone stand appeared on our doorstep. It will replace the one I gave away.

Had a can of soup with crackers for dinner


Lots of practice tests today getting ready for Sunday.

We watched Hallmark movie “Timeless Love” for our entertainment tonight, it was cute.

Tuesday

Got up early enough to get onto Waterway Net, I did not hear KK4SAC check into the net today. Reset my radio to WSPR and had a couple muffins for a snack.

Got my first 100% on a practice test this morning. Took a shower and I’m back to taking practice tests.

Went to THD and got a step stool after our nap. Read the news and worked on my radio for a little while. Turns out that I CAN transmit on 40M in the CW portion. I tried to tune the antenna at the bottom of the 40M band and it failed. I moved up to the top of the CQ portion and the radio successfully tuned. It was getting dark, but I thought I could put the extensions on the aerials before it got too dark to mount them. (I was wrong.) By the time I got to the Western Aerial it was really dark. The additional 7″ I added to the aerials was sufficient for the radio to complete a tune cycle at the bottom of the band. It appears that the radio needs the antenna to be LONGER than needed. (Inductive)

Watched a Hallmark movie “Be My Valentine”, it has a limited life though. (Three more days)

Wednesday

Sipp’n on a cup of coffee waiting for the Waterway net to get started at 7:45. Wow good propagation today.

Worked on my antenna this morning, I need to separate the 40M aerials into two lengths. The shorter length that can be tuned to the upper portion of the 40M band and a pair of extensions that can be tuned to the lower part.

Thursday (Cold Again)

Took a shower while the heater was warming the home. (Bathroom gets nice and toasty.) Sipp’n on a cup of coffee while making this post. I need to get some pants on and pull the extensions off the antenna for the morning nets.

Listened to my Uncle check in on the Waterway Net 7.268MHZ, he was 599 today. Listened to SCARS 7.251MHZ for a while before turning down the volume.

Time for another practice exam….

Cleaned up two tubs out of the living room and put the solar panels on the van to charge the battery.

Watched another Hallmark movie for our evening entertainment.

Friday

Up at 06:30, put a VNA on my antenna without the extensions and measured the performance of the antenna. (I want to be ready for Sunday)

07:45 Listened to my uncle check in on the Waterway Net 7.268MHZ, he was 58 today. He did a call out for KQ4GEL letting them know I am taking my test on Sunday.

Took several practice tests and watched the Hallmark movie “Christmas Train” with the wife for our evening entertainment.

Saturday

Slept in until 8, I’ve not been sleeping very well. We went to Longhorn’s for dinner and then to Wally World for groceries. Took a good nap then a couple more practice tests for tomorrow.

Made plans for my test tomorrow and then watched the end of the movie “Christmas Train” with the wife.

Sunday

Helped run the sound board, let my partner take the reins as much as possible.

Headed home about 12:30 to take a shower and a nap. 13:10 got up and got ready to drive to the test site. 13:50 arrived at the test site a little early. 14:15 Passed my HAM General License test and headed over to Longhorn for lunch. 15:15 headed home for a nap.

I tried to get onto WSPR with my new KQ4GEL/AG callsign and the software can’t use the suffix /AG. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how well my TX is reaching other stations. Normally I’d use WSPR, but that isn’t working with /AG. JS8 to the rescue, with its heartbeat networking I got a pretty good idea of my antenna’s efficiency at 40M.

Stations that received my 15W signal at roughly 0dB average.

Since everyone seems to be well above -15dB I dropped the power to 10W.

The center between the grey lines is a little bit east from my station.

I assume that I’ll get a message from the FCC within a day or two.

I guess the thunderstorm helped with the propagation.!