@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

wd9ewk

@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio

Also licensed as VA7EWK, enjoying the amateur satellites & HF. All operating is portable, even at home - fun! Owner of an NFL team. Opinions are mine. Will occasionally post en español. Find me on the satellites!

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ai6yr, to hamradio

Hmm, Gigaparts selling a $900 "mystery box" all-band (UHF/VHF/50/HF) radio. 🤔 #hamradio

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr @va3db @kc2ihx TS-2000 birdie is around the SO-50 downlink. Even mentioned in the manual.

exador23, to random
@exador23@m.ai6yr.org avatar

That's a LOT of batteries. 680-megawatt of lithium-ion grid storage is supposed to come on-line soon in https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/california-battery-plant-is-among-worlds-largest-power-storage-booms-2024-04-12/

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr @exador23

https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor

Flux capacitor, as listed on O'Reilly Auto Parts web site

N4JAW, to hamradio
@N4JAW@mastodon.radio avatar

My Buddy and Me. My Buddipole Experience

https://hamonabike.blogspot.com/2024/03/my-buddy-and-me-my-buddipole-experience.html

@Buddipole

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@N4JAW I have had a Buddipole Mini with tripod for ~20 years. It gets used on Field Days, sometimes at home on HF, and even for my 10m antenna to work AO-7 in mode A (2m up/10m down). Great antenna!

ai6yr, (edited ) to SpaceX

Sonic boom in Ventura County - SpaceX... Did it blow up? (Update, no apparently the returning booster caused the boom) #SpaceX #VenturaCounty #SantaBarbara #boom

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr I didn't go out to see if it was visible here in the Phoenix area. It has been cloudy here in the past couple of hours. Fernando KF7R got this picture from Mexico highway 15, north of Hermosillo in Sonora.

(from https://twitter.com/KF7Romeo/status/1769917055212400862 )

ai6yr, to random

Oh, look, my kitchen linoleum has a new home, it has moved to Parker, AZ.

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr And a good place for it... https://co.la-paz.az.us/468/Landfill-Transfer-Stations

ai6yr, to movies

Watched the Sinatra version of Ocean's 11. Las Vegas is unrecognizable!

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr That's why I try to go through there every couple of years. Things are always changing. BTW.... it has been almost 5 years since my last visit to Las Vegas...

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

A thread...

After returning from Salt Lake City last weekend, ham stores in the USA started having the Kenwood TH-D75 in their inventories. After filling preorders and back orders, there was one left at the Phoenix HRO store on Tuesday (6 February) afternoon. The operative word is "was"... After calling the store to confirm they still had one in stock, I went over there and purchased it.

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

The TH-D75 is very similar to the previous TH-D74. The case is rounded off a little bit, and there is a USB-C port instead of a micro-USB port like the TH-D74 that can be also charge the radio. It appears to me that the wall-wart adapter through the external power port charges the battery faster than using the USB-C port, but there are a couple of options available through the radio.

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

Last year, I made a few radio contacts with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren (KO5MOS), operating as NA1SS from the ISS. After he returned to Earth, I sent a letter with a USB stick containing photos, MP3 audio, & a few videos with his activities. Although I had already received NA1SS QSL cards for our contacts, I also sent a QSL card for one of our contacts. Yesterday, I received this from NASA:

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

Another Thanksgiving weekend task completed... @fedora upgrade complete. Current HP laptop started on 31, and it's now on 39 with upgrades as each version is released. So far, so good. Have been using Fedora since the beginning, and back to Red Hat Linux 4.0 before Fedora.

ai6yr, to delhi

Interesting traffic sign running in Arizona this weekend.

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr That may have been yesterday's message on the Arizona message boards, but the message changed during the day today (other than weather-related messages on the boards around Flagstaff on I-17 & I-40).

ai6yr, to random

Surprise! It's a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. (as in )

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr I had a nice soaking about 3 hours ago, lost power for 2.5 hours, but outside temps dropped to around 80°F to make it bearable outside. Light show is still going, even with no rain here... (I'm about 45 miles SE of Surprise, NE of the Phoenix airport).

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

The FM transponder on UVSQ-SAT will be activated on Tuesday (5 September 2023) for 11 hours, starting at 1000 UTC. Uplink is 145.905 MHz, downlink is 437.020 MHz (+/-), no tone on uplink.

https://twitter.com/uvsqsat/status/1698267074332602467

ai6yr, to random

at Bob Hope Drive - KTLA video. It's a mess out there... you do not want to be driving out to Phoenix on the I-10 today! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmDajbavfe0

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Or driving in from Phoenix on I-10.

Video looked like some traffic moving east from Bob Hope Drive/Ramon Road exits (a favorite stopping point for me on my trips to/from SoCal) to Indio & Blythe, but westbound was at a standstill. Glad I don't have to be going to or from that area right now...

ai6yr, to hamradio

Contemplating standing out on top of a hill with a big metal antenna and big metallic umbrella to contact the International Space Station in 30 min (yes, it's raining)... so watching the carefully, LOL.

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Don't bother. ISS radios are off for an undocking, won't be back on until tomorrow morning per:

https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

Also no recent reports from anyone hearing ISS cross-band repeater or packet digipeater:

https://amsat.org/status/

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr I thought I remembered seeing the plan for the radios going off today. As for lightning... none here. More clouds, a little more humidity, around 100F at the moment, a little better for doing work outside...

ai6yr, to random

Hmm, found this is a bag of Ethernet cords at the city's "ReUse Store". Works, wonder if this is any good. May have to become a podcaster LOL.

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr You can also use it with your satellite gear. Nice find!

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

Looks like we have 4 TEVEL satellites available this weekend (2, 4, 6, 7), per 4X1DG via AMSAT-BB:

https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org/thread/HHNSZBEHBO65GBRHPD75PK4N63BCQCSW/

https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org/thread/GOUREEUJVDL7AGYLNXT5CLBE63CO7CKI/

ai6yr, to Phoenix

NWS : "Record or near record hot temperatures will continue this week with forecast highs over 115F in Phoenix and over 111F in Yuma in El Centro. Overnight lows will remain in the mid 90s in Phoenix, challenging the all time record warm low of 96 degrees."

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Yes, very hot around Phoenix. When I was out earlier this morning, I saw 102F just after 8am! I stayed inside yesterday until around sunset - not even going outside for satellite passes in the morning. More of the same today...

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr In the sun, it is possible my radios are reaching the upper limits of their specs on temperatures. LCD displays also don't like being baked by the sun's heat.

I was out last night, and it was still 104F approaching 10pm. At least the sun wasn't baking the radio, and me.

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Lately in the mornings, when it is at or over 100F, once the cooling fan comes on for my radio, it stays on until I power the radio off. Even if I'm transmitting at low power.

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

Last night was a nice evening to play radio, despite the evening temp being around 100F/38C. Three passes, nice to work @KC7JPC in FM & D-Star on all 3 of those passes. Best pass for us was the last of the 3 passes, on TEVEL-4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EVWofTCU9I

More videos of D-Star via satellite at: http://www.youtube.com/va7ewk

ai6yr, to hamradio

I still think it's awesome some of the ham radio folks I know just casually chatted with Woody Hoburg a few weeks ago on the radio when the went past. Apparently he's going to be doing a spacewalk soon. https://nitter.net/Astro_Woody/status/1673784428118540289

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr @mjf_pro I didn't see any reports of ISS crewmember activity during Field Day, but Woody has been on occasionally during June. Maybe he'll get on again, before returning home in 2-3 months or so...

wd9ewk, to random
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

This might be interesting for @ai6yr & @kd6nfd ... I worked the AA6CV club on TEVEL-5 Saturday morning a few minutes into Field Day. It took a bit to get my call sign through to the operator there, but we did it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRldvezvtQg&t=67s

wd9ewk,
@wd9ewk@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr @kd6nfd AA6CV was also on the TEVEL-3 pass a few minutes earlier. I tried to make the contact on that pass, but was unsuccessful. AA6CV was definitely being heard, before and after the 1800 UTC start of Field Day (2:43 mark in the video)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp916GqZ7WE

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