McMinn County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest (Athens, TN)

The McMinn County Amateur Radio Club (MCARC) will host its annual hamfest in Athens on Saturday, July 16 at Athens Regional Park. The hamfest is from 7:00 am to noon and is free if you aren't selling.

PSK31 (and Ham Apps for Droid)

For a while now, I've been thinking about playing around with the digital modes - specifically PSK31. Unfortunately, the Small Wonder Labs PSK31 kits have been discontinued:

"The PSK-series transceiver is discontinued effective immediately. There will be a successor- schedule is uncertain."

So that option is out for now. I came across several ham apps for the Droid phone by Wolphi LLC that included DroidPSK - PSK31 in addtion to others like a Morse code trainer, DX beacon, DX cluster, etc. I thought "Great! I can play with that." - until I saw that DroidPSK app was $5. I'm pretty cheap when it comes to nickel and dime stuff that I may not use very long.

That led me to another search that turned up K7AGE's "Introduction to PSK31 - Receiving." He makes it look really easy to start recieving - even without any special equipment. All you need is the DigiPan software, your computer, and your radio.



He also posted a video with some sample PSK31 signals, so you can test the DigiPan install without even needing a radio. As usual, hams come up with cheap ways to do ham stuff.

I still may shell out $100 bucks to get a SignaLink USB, so I can Tx. (I know, I know... I won't spend $5 on the app, but will spend $100 on the hardware. Does not compute. Does not compute.)

VALOUR-IT

My grandfather was in the Navy. That's as close as I got to military service. Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn't be better off if you had to serve (may be even fight bugs) before being allowed to vote. I appreciate what those in the military have done and continue to do to serve our country.

I'm a geek. I love computers and can't image life with out the internet, e-mail, etc. I am amazed by the breadth and depth of options to communicate with family and friends. The information available now is almost limitless. I wouldn't want anyone or anything to take that away from me.

Put those things together and you can see why I can support a charity like Project Valour-IT that uses donations to get specialized laptops to wounded warriors.

Project Valour-IT helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Items supplied include:

-Voice-controlled Laptops - Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
-Wii Video Game Systems - Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
-Personal GPS - Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD

Consider giving if this resonates with you.

Via BlackFive

Software One for the Valentine One Radar Detector

I was looking at the KG-UV Commander software again for the previous post about CHIRP and I noticed KC8UNJ's link to his Software One application for the Valentine One Radar Detector. I don't even have a radar detector, but I still think that's pretty slick. If I were a programmer, I think I would have to learn how to work with serial communications - that stuff is everywhere. I would be all powerful if I could talk to machines through the serial port and do database selects, inserts, deletes, and updates on the back-end!

Universal Radio Programming Software - CHIRP

Instead of having a program to update the UV-3R and a program (or two!) to update the KG-UVD1P, how about a "one size fits most" application for programming radios. CHIRP will update, as of this writing, three Alinco, seventeen Icom, one Jetstream, seven Kenwood, nine Yaesu, and three Wouxun models. It will not do everything the radio specific software will do, but will update the basic memories for your favorite frequencies. You will still need the appropriate cable for your radio.

RunKeeper

I've been using the free version of RunKeeper for my Android phone. It uses the phone's GPS to track your progress during runs, rides, etc. It will announce your distance, time, and pace. You can adjust the frequency of the announcements. I like lots of feedback, so I get updates every quarter mile and every five minutes. It automatically uploads your data to the web where you can view it on the web page. Below is a sample of one of my activities. You can also connect with other RunKeeper users and share your activities and view theirs.

It is pretty slick for a free app. (There is a premium "Elite" version for $20/year.) Being able to easily track my runs and see what others are doing has really been a great motivator. RunKeeper gets a thumbs up from me.

Shooting 9mm in a .40

The right way to shoot 9mm in .40 involves making some hardware changes.

The wrong way involves failures by multiple parties. I'm going to keep claiming to be a new shooter as long as people will let me get away with it. When this happened, I think it was my third time shooting pistols, so definitely qualifying as new. The first time shooting pistols was with a friend on his family farm. The second time was the Basic Hand Gun course at Coal Creek Armory. One of the goals of the course is to teach you "how to select proper ammunition." You probably see where this is going now that I've set the stage.

I was feeling good about what I learned in the course, so I convinced a buddy to go with me to CCA to rent some guns and a lane. I don't remember exactly what we were shooting initially - Beretta PX4 Storm, Kahr CW9, and maybe something else - all in 9mm. We finished up the box of ammo and decided to try the Glock 22.

We swapped guns and took our new box of ammo out to the lane. I started loading the magazine and took the first turn with the gun. After a string of failures to fire and feed, our trouble-shooting quickly revealed we were shooting 9mm instead of .40 S&W. I have visions of the bullet tumbling through and bouncing around the barrel.

Shame on the CCA employee who gave us the wrong ammo when we switched guns. I expect them to have some level of expertise and pay attention to details.

Shame on me for not checking the ammo. Ultimately I was the last safety as I loaded the magazine, but since I did not look at the box or closely at the rounds I failed, too. While I didn't have the experience to recognize the ammo by size, shape, or feel; I could have easily seen what was printed on the box.

No one got hurt and they didn't make us pay the rental fee. Lesson learned.

Radio Cancer

K4NBC posted the following picture. Now I understand the link between mobile phones/RF and cancer. (And, yes, that is a red UV-3R in the pack.)

Solar Charger with USB

I like the Lady Ada/Adafruit kits. I've built the Minty Boost. I could try the USB, DC & Solar Lipoly charger and since it will do up to 1A, it would work with my fancy UV-3R USB cable.

Blogging

I know I am special - just like everyone else. But this post from the Simple Dollar mailbag got my britches in a bunch. Would I like to get rich blogging? Sure, but I'd like to become rich from winning the lottery, too. I figure my chances at becoming rich from blogging are about the same as winning the Powerball. My blog is less than a year-old, so I am really pleased that anyone reads my posts. I have seen modest increases month-over-month, but at this rate, I will be retired before it would make money. Back to the mailbag and my answers...

"Q2: Starting a blog
I have a great idea for a blog, one that no one at all is doing and i am in the process or being or trying to be an expert on this such topic.

I would be very surprised if someone wasn't already doing it. If no one is doing it then you may have such a niche that you couldn't expect to make enough money from this endeavor to replace your day job. Also, you might want to work on your grammar and proof-reading.

Problem is, time, i don’t have any or enough to do it. I went out and bought a website all gung ho to do it, and never got around to it.

I suggest a time-machine.

I was able to get a refund from the web-company for the service but not for the domain name. Which i believe i technically still own for a year, since i did pay for it.

Yes, you own the name until the term expires.

My question to you is, is there a way i can start up a blog that wont cost me anything or much at all, and then maybe one day move it all over to my own site.

Yes, a quick search should reveal that Blogger, Wordpress, and others are popular services.

Also, is there ways to make money blogging when your on or using a free blog site?

Yes, a quick search should reveal that many of the free services allow you to run ads.

I’m an IT professional and have been for 17 years so i know all the tech speak.

You are a what? And you can't come up with some of these answers on your own?

I’d really love to get out of this field and into a full time job of blogging such as you do. Its just really hard to find the time.

Assuming you were 18 when you started working, then you are 35 now. That makes you too old, I would have thought, to be part of the entitlement generation. Life is hard. There aren't enough hours in the day. Time to put in some effort if you want to make something happen.

Did you start out on a free blog spot?"
- Dennis

Funny choice of words - "free blog spot" considering you were asking if free services existed.

Enough venting from me... grumpy mode off. Back to the normal grind.