Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Interview Wirh General Mattis

This is about 40 minutes long, and worth every second of your time.

I think President Elect Trump has made a wise choice....





And I just saw this over at the Western Rifle Shooters Association:


Be Safe, and Stay Alert

a.k.a. "Condition Yellow".

We won a major battle in November, but this war is far from over.....


Saturday, November 26, 2016

CBS Comes Clean

Or about as close to it as the lamestream media is capable of doing.

Go RTWT over here.

More Rain

Which is cool because drought!

It started an hour or so ago as a light sprinkle, and now it's a genuine RAIN storm. It's under .1" as of a few seconds ago when I checked my weather station, but NOAA says it should continue most of the day.



Good news for the Central Valley area where a lot of farming is done. We didn't have any reported mudslides from the last storms that came through, but if this one dumps a lot of rain that might just change.

And the little Airspy SDR radio just keeps plugging along. I did some monitoring of the APT Weather Satellites, and although I didn't save the audio files to convert them to images, I saw NO signs of strong-signal "breakthrough" like I did with the USB dongles I was using.

If you're looking for a Software Defined Radio receiver that's far better than the $25 dongles, this one gets my vote.

And I've tried almost all of them....

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving

Having some family members and friends over for dinner and some board/card games.

Hope your day is a happy one as well!


Sunday, November 20, 2016

Airspy SDR First Report

I didn't need to find a USB extension as the USB cable that came with this little was plenty long enough to reach from the back of my Linux PC all the way around to the front and still have a couple of feet left.

SO....I plugged it in, ran dmesg, and was reqward with the following:

[17442.607014] usb 1-1.6: new high-speed USB device number 4 using ehci-pci
[17442.700026] usb 1-1.6: New USB device found, idVendor=1d50, idProduct=60a1
[17442.700040] usb 1-1.6: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[17442.700042] usb 1-1.6: Product: AIRSPY
[17442.700044] usb 1-1.6: Manufacturer: www.airspy.com
[17442.700045] usb 1-1.6: SerialNumber: AIRSPY SN:573064DC314023C1
[17443.788553] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[17443.818345] airspy 1-1.6:1.0: Board ID: 00
[17443.818350] airspy 1-1.6:1.0: Firmware version: AirSpy NOS v1.0.0-rc10-0-g946184a 2016-09-19
[17443.819047] airspy 1-1.6:1.0: Registered as swradio0
[17443.819050] airspy 1-1.6:1.0: SDR API is still slightly experimental and functionality changes may follow
[17443.819079] usbcore: registered new interface driver airspy


 This tells me it discovered a new USB device, queried it, and the device responded with it's ID, and the revisions, including what firmware is loaded into it. Very nice!

Then I started GQrx, selected "AIRSPY" from the choices, and brought up KLOS, 95.5MHz.



After that check, I tuned it to 162.550MHz for NOAA Weather Radio, and set up the filters and gain settings appropriate to listening to narrow FM voice.

It's been sitting like that for about an hour now, and there's been NO "break through" from strong local transmitters, and no funny images or spurs appearing in the panadaptor/waterfall display.



This is quite a bit better than any of the USB dongles I've tried, and I suspect it would be quite a bit better than the SDRplay receiver I have, although I gave up trying to make that radio work with Gqrx.

I haven't tried it with Linrad yet, but I'm sure it will work just fine.

And I suppose I'll try the GNURadio Companion program again, but it's pretty obtuse to use, and assumes you know a whole lot about exactly what you want to do with your hardware, and also understand the hardware extremely well.

So far, this little receiver looks like a real winner!

Radios and Rain!

It's raining cats and dogs here right now. Rate was was up to 1.5"/hr, and we've received about .65" since it started this morning. It's backed off to .45"/hr and the NWS radar shows the major portion of the storm has gone through, but there's another one right behind it.

We sure need the rain, but I hope it doesn't cause flooding.

AND....my Airspy Software Defined Radio  arrived the other day.



This one uses a 12-bit ADC, which gives it much better dynamic range than any of the inexpensive dongles have, and it's built into an aluminum extrusion with metal end plates, something lacking in both the SDRplay, and the vaunted HackRF One.

I haven't connected it to a PC yet due to some problems here. My KVM switch has failed again, and although this one has everything I want, this particular model just isn't very reliable. It's been "stuck" on the port for my Linux PC  for a couple of months, and I've tried everything I can think of to get it "unstuck". At first the mouse was acting strange, then the keyboard started giving me double, missing, or wrong characters. I wound up attaching a mouse and keyboard to the front USB connectors which made the PC reliable, and then it pretty much failed completely, with the buttons on the front panel becoming unresponsive. It still passes the video, but otherwise it's just a $125 lump. Replacing it with something different will require tearing apart about half my radio station due to the fact that I've got all the cables routed "nice and pretty". I'll probably just run a USB extension cable from one of the back ports on this (Linux) PC so I can try out the Airspy, and scratch my head a while longer on what to do about the KVM problem.....

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Quiet Day....

Just sitting here enjoying my 2nd cup of coffee, and waiting for a laptop to decide if it's going to boot up or not.

Friday night I'll be running the auction for one of my radio clubs, and Saturday I'll be on the Iowa from 1000~1700 to help host a large Ham club visit. No word on if we'll escort them down to the transmitter room, but if we have enough people we'll take them down there. There's a "Two Man" rule in effect anytime you go down to Broadway, and we're required to have flashlights and a radio so we can keep in touch with Security.

December 7th we'll be operating NI6BB in memory of Pearl Harbor Day, so I'll be down there all day for that.

And the progress on getting the house ready for sale continues. I've got a ton of stuff I'm going to get rid of, and we have a "Large Item" trash pick up scheduled for the end of November. We've got some old furniture, a 75 gallon aquarium tank, and some other misc items to get rid of. I'm willing to bet some of it won't make it on the trash truck, as we have a couple of "junque dealers" who cruise the neighborhood two or three times a week looking at the items people kick to the curb, and they haul them away to do whatever with.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Did Angel Just Get A Mention On "Day By Day"?

I think she started the "Trump Acceptance Resistance Disorder", a.k.a "TARD".

If so....CONGRATS ANGEL!


Poor Little Snowflakes!



My daughter-in-law was FarceBooking with all her friends the other day to attend this anti-Trump rally in Fort Collins. Even though she was born and raised in Colorado, I think the time she spent out here at CSU Long Beach might have addled her a bit.

Read the whole article here, and enjoy!

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Anti-Trump Idiocracy

Ye gawds....the flying monkeys and professional troublemakers ("Protesters"?) have sure come out of the woodwork.

As I was leaving the Iowa yesterday after having spent a wonderful day on the radio, escorting Veterans around, and meeting some amazing Vets, one of the security guys told me they'd received a 'heads up' from the Port Police that a demonstration was going to target the Iowa for "supporting Trump" during his visit to the ship last September.

It doesn't matter that Trump was invited to speak at a private event, or that Bernie Sanders and his group had approached the ship to hold a rally and were stunned to find out anybody wanting to use the facilities had to pay. The Iowa just happened to host an event where Mr. Trump spoke, and as such was a convenient target

Reminds me of why I nuked my first FarceBook account when I posted something about how having a handgun saved a woman's life.

One of my wife's "best friends", the screaming liberal loony moonbat female minster that married us, has gone off the deep end. Tuesday night/Wednesday she and her husband were actually physically ill over Mr. Trump's victory.

She's been continuously posting on FarceBook all the usual tripe that liberals spout when they get all butt hurt, and now she's proudly posted pix of her wearing a safety pin indicating her support of whatever wearing a safety pin means these days.

Some of the Supra people on FarceBook have also started getting rather upset on their personal pages, although the FarceBook Supra MK-II page has stayed civil.

And outside tonight, there are helicopters buzzing around, and sirens screaming in the distance.

Nothing so far on the scanner other than the usual Saturday night DUI traffic stops....


OK, just heard some scanner traffic from the West Side division. One of the officers on the scene said that after he made a few arrests, the rest of the crowd "seemed to be a bit more....uhhhh....law abiding".

Just heard part of a call from El Segundo requesting that "all available units get down here".

CHiP has just called for more units to one of the ramps on the Harbor Freeway, RTE 110 South. From the area (Wilshire District) I suspect troublemakers protesters are trying to shutdown a freeway again....

Thursday, November 10, 2016

President-Elect Trump's September 2015 Speech Aboard The Battleship Iowa

I wasn't there for this as it was a private (By Invitation Only) event.

The podium was just aft of Turret #3, and if you'll look closely, you'll see a red, ribbed "thing" behind the speakers. This is the antenna mount for the Trussed Monopole antenna we use for BIARA Amateur Radio operations. The antenna itself has been removed as otherwise it would have been a distraction.

And security was very tight for the event, with "Men in Black" scurrying around before, during, and after the event.



Wednesday, November 9, 2016

What Alternate Universe Did I Get Zapped Into?

The British withdrew from the EU......

The Cubs won the World Series......

And Donald J. Trump is now President-Elect......

It's amazing the amount of downright hostility that's being expressed by the Lamestream Media, losers on FarceBook, and others.

My wife is the office manager (#2 to the principal, which means she really runs the place...) at a very prominent magnet high-school that specializes on teaching the STEM type of program.

She said quite a large number of students (mostly girls, but some boys, too) were in tears today over Trump's victory.

And further, they were wondering when (not if...) the grief counselors would be on campus to help them in their time of need.

I was stunned when she told me that, as all of these students that I've met do NOT seem to the special little snowflake type.

Oh, well....a goodly number of supposed "adults" were crying, too......




Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Nobody at My Polling Place

Except the workers.

The lady there who took my mail-in ballot, marked it "VOID", and gave me a new one said the turnout was extremely light for this election.

And I saw one sign for Shillary in the neighborhood, and a clapped-out POS car with a "Fuck Trump" sticker on it.

Not quite what I'd expected in this mini "Diversity City" part of town.

Monday, November 7, 2016

T minus One Day

Whichever way the election goes Tuesday, I fear we're in a for very bumpy ride in the next four years.

Since I didn't get my mail-in ballot mailed-in, I have to go to my local polling place, turn in the ballot I received in the mail, get a new one, fill it out, and submit it.

Our polling place is on the grounds of the church we were married in, and the actual voting is done in the gymnasium, where we had our reception. It's in North Long Beach, a place that's, ummm..."diverse".

I've never seen any signs of voter intimidation all the times I've gone there, but I'll definitely be in  "Condition Yellow", which I always am when outside the home, and usually when I'm inside as well.

I don't do predictions as that's not a business I was ever in, but I'll leave you with this message from Rev. Paul:

A Prayer for America

Father God, we humble ourselves before You, and ask you to forgive this nation for its sins. The United States of America has turned its back on You and Your commandments. It has condoned the taking of innocent life, rebelled against Your authority, and made it illegal to even mention Your name in many public venues.

Father, we ask You to have mercy on us, and grant us not the judgment we deserve, but Mercy. Please Lord, give us one more chance to fulfill our original promise to You, and proclaim Your lovingkindness to the nations of the Earth.

Lord, let Your will be done here, including tomorrow's election and in the days to come.

We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Sunday.....

Hope you all had a pleasant day.

I finally finished the last of the laptops for the Marine Mammal Care Center. I got stalled for a bit after they picked up the first one because the took the power supply and it took several days for my friend to bring me another one.

Rather than fight with cleaning up the existing Win 7 install, I whacked the drive with DBAN and proceeded to do a clean installation of Win 7, and then snagged all the correct drivers for it from the Dell support website.

The third one was a bit more involved, as the "pointing stick", a little nub in the middle of the keyboard that you can use like a mouse, had failed, and sent the cursor sailing over to the left side of the screen as soon as it booted up.

Since I've never met anybody who uses that thing, I took the laptop apart and unplugged the cable for it where it plugged into the motherboard.

Then lather, rinse, and repeat as I did the #2 laptop.

These laptops originally came from Dell with Windows 7 Professional, but it was the 32-bit version. This limited memory to less than the 4GB that was installed from Dell, and made my collection of used memory useless. When I did the fresh install I used the 64-bit version, and was able to bump the installed memory up from 4GB to 8GB. It took a bit of searching on the Dell support site to find the 64-bit versions of all the drivers, but it was worth the effort to give these old laptops double the memory.

And I installed the GWX Control Panel to keep these machines from getting infested with the Windows 10 OS.

I'm glad these are finished, and now I can get back to doing my own projects again.....

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

CUBS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!

Growing up in the Chicago area made me a life-long Cubs fan.

I've seen their ups and downs, wins and losses, and all the heartbreak that goes with being a cubs fan.

Tonight they finally did it!

Congrats to the Cubs.

This just makes me wonder if The End Times are near......

Record Number of Early Voter Democrats Seen in Chicago....

Hmmm...maybe I should have posted this as "LATE Voters".....



Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Uh Oh....Looks Like Blogger "Burped" Again....

Hmm....lost all the recent post updates that show under everybody's blog title, and when I got to one of your sites, it's just a strange looking "index" type of page.

Wonder what the NSA is "secretly" embedding in the code.....


AND...two minutes later everything is fine again.....

Annnnd.....We Got Zip.....

 Total snow was about 6~8", but half o0f it melted as soon as it hit, and we never had more than 3" on the ground at any one time....