Shack Updates

I put aside the little Arduino project I'm helping my friend with so I could do some "Shack Renovation" this weekend.
Actually, it was more a "Clean-and-Toss" event, where I cleaned up a bunch of stuff, got some stackable storage bins, tossed out several LARGE cardboard boxes that I had "stuff" stored in, and in general neatened things up a bit.
One of the things I did was to get my ICom IC-R7100 and Uniden BC796D receivers set up, and fed them both off the little multicoupler I built sometime back.
The simplest way of looking at a multicoupler is to consider it a "Splitter with Gain", although it does more than that. It also provides 30~40dB of isolation between the receivers, which is good for keeping things like Local Oscillator leakage down to a minimum.
WELL....it's not working the way I intended, and rather than spend HOURS fixing it (trust me...it would take me longer to "fix" it than it did to *build* it), I decided to just leave the Uniden scanner connected to the Discone, and get a little 3-element Yagi that I can point at the airport so I can use the ICom to listen to all the airport stuff.
Yes, I know, it's a terrible waste to use an IC-R7100 to "just" listen to the local airport, but until I get the damn multicoupler working (looks like the amplifier isn't), that's what I'm going to use it for.
Well, me being me, I decided to build an airband Yagi, rather than buy one. I tend to be CHEEP about these things, and I've got piles of 1/8" and 1/4" brass and aluminum rod for the elements, and a ton of PVC pipe to use for a boom.
ANYWAY....snooping around the web for a while, I couldn't find any cookbook dimensions to build a 118~137MHz Yagi, so I figured I'd gin my own up. Gee...there's all these neat antenna design programs for Linux, so I'll just grab a couple and........
BLECH!
NONE of them do what I want! Oh sure, they'll all give me great plots of gain, directivity, and patterns, but that's AFTER I've figured out all the element dimensions!
DUH!
So, it looks like I'll have to start with a dipole cut for 127.5MHz, and then go with the old rule-of-thumb making the reflector and director 10% longer/shorter than the driven element, and then tweak the dimensions of where the elements are spaced on the boom until I get something that looks like it will work.
Maybe I should have just keep going building another one of the Arduino units. I've built three so far, and they all work "As Advertised".

OK....found a website that does *exactly* what I needed to do. It let me design a 2-element Yagi, that has about 3dB gain, and fits on an 18" boom.
You just enter the center frequency, a gain you'd like, a few other specifics,and it generates the element lengths, and spacing.

Sweet!

NOPE 2012

Really great bumper sticker.

You can buy them here.

George Carlin on Environmentalism

I used to be a huge George Carlin fan. Then he seemed to get really bitter, almost "unhinged" toward the end of his life, and it turned me off.

Here's some truly "Classic Carlin" with his take on the Enviro-Nazis.
As per Carlin at his best, he's 100% spot-on.

Thanks to Jeffro for finding it.

1992 L.A. Riots

There's a series of posts over at BonnieGadsden that I encourage you to read.
For those of us who were out here in "LA-LA Land" during the riots, it's a chilling reminder of just how fast society can break down.
I was living in Redondo Beach at the time, right on the beach (Catalina Ave.) with two of my buddies. We were far enough off the freeways that we felt fairly safe, but the sight of all the smoke rising in the distance, and the constant reporting on the TV still gave us pause to wonder just how bad it would really get.
It took Governor Wilson three days to request assistance from the National Guard, and it wasn't until the fourth day that the Humvees started rolling into the city, and a semblance of order was restored.
I have a lot of Korean friends that I've made since then, and they still talk about it. Since the police (at least the LAPD was) were holed up in their stations, you were on your own, and the Korean shop keepers took defense of their property and families into their own hands.

Bill Whittle Lets It ALL Hang Out!

You have to watch this.

As The Feral Irishman says...."This is gonna leave a mark"....

0bamaville

As expected, the lefty loonies are tearing this to shreds.
Guess they can't stand the truth....

H/T to USA_Admiral for finding it.

Make Mine FREEDOM

An oldie, but a goodie.
And more true today than when it was made.......

"California Tree of Liberty" Gone?

Hmmm.....just went to read his blog, and got a message it's been removed?

California Tree of Liberty

Anybody got a clue?

Just a Thought.....

Courtesy of Pink Floyd......

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?


From 1975, no less.
Wonder if they had a "vision".....

O.B.I.T. ***Coming Soon To An "Agency" Near YOU!***

One of the more scary "Outer Limits" episodes was O.B.I.T.

From the opening intro by the Control Voice:

"In this room, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, security personnel at the Defense Department Cyprus Hill's Research Center keep constant watch on its scientists through O.B.I.T., a mysterious electronic device whose very existence was carefully kept from the public at large. And so it would have remained but for the facts you are about to witness…"

Looks like the NSA is building their own these days.

And be sure to read some of the comments. Looks like there's a bunch of "us" among the geeks who read WIRED.....

2nd Amendment Poll ***Please Read and Forward***

I don't often ask people to forward things, but I think this is important.
USA Today is running a poll on whether the 2nd Amendment affirms an INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms.
So please go vote, and pass it on.
Thank you!

Does the 2nd Amendment affirm and INDIVIDUAL right to keep and bear arms?