Going Shooting on Sunday

Hah! Bet that got your attention.

Actually, I'll be shooting some RF up at the Amateur Radio Satellites as I test out my "Port-A-Sat MK-III" antenna system.

This is the one I built using a surveyor's tripod, a used (very used!) Azimuth/Elevation rotator I bought from a friend, an AMSAT "LVB Tracker" interface that I bought several years ago, and just now got around to testing, and a "Dual-Band Easy Satellite" antenna from Gulf Alpha antennas. The rotator interface is one of the original "LVB" trackers designed by Howard, G6LVB. I always get a lot of "static" from other members of the Amateur radio satellite community about using a "cheap knock-off" of Howard's design, even though he published all the specs, designs, and printed circuit foil patterns and files. The one I've been using is a clone of it kitted up and sold by a really nice Ham in India.

Seeing as I'll be seen by LOTS of people next weekend, I figured I'd use the "authorized version", and avoid any PR flack.

I spent today getting the last bits and pieces arranged, making some cables, and testing/calibrating the interface box and the two rotators.

So far, so good, BUT the surveyor's tripod has spikes instead of feet, which makes it pretty dicey to use on hard surfaces. I'm going to make some blocks out of a 2x4, and bore a hole about half-way through for the spikes to rest in. I've got some 1/2" thick, adhesive backed rubber sheet that I'll glue to the bottom, and hopefully that should give me some traction on the deck of the IOWA next week.

It's one thing to have "Technical Difficulties" in front of a crowd, but having the tripod legs go scooting in different directions resulting in the whole thing crashing down is a bit of an embarrassment I'd rather not endure.

Once I have it aligned North, and level, I'll run some paracord between all three legs to keep them from separating.
, and doing a "split"

I'll try and post a few pix on Sunday.

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Political Quotations

    "If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” — Milton Friedman

    “I need a job. My family can’t eat healthcare.”

    “Romney can tell us when he left Bain Capital when Obama tells us when he left Kenya.”

    “Let’s not look backwards and look at Obama’s past. Instead, let’s look backwards and dwell on Romney’s past.”

    “He that is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” —Benjamin Franklin

    “Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” —Winston Churchill

    “INTAXICATION:  The nice feeling you receive a tax refund until you realize it was your own money in the first place.”

    “Romney supporters sign their checks on the front while Obama supporters sign their checks on the back.”

    “If you can afford beer, wine, drugs, cigarettes, manicures, and tattoos, you don’t need food stamps or welfare.

    “We should measure the success of government programs by how many people leave them not how many people are added to them.”

    “When the government fears the people, there is freedom. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” — Thomas Jefferson

    “If someone is so fearful that they are going to start using their weapons to protect their rights, it makes me very nervous that these people have any weapons  at all!” — Democrat Congressman Henry A. Waxman (California).

And one of my favorites.:

"If you think it's time to start burying your guns......then it's probably

time to start digging them up".

I tried to find out who first said that one, but the best reference I could find was here. 

I thought it was Claire Wolfe, but it looks like Tam said it first.

You go, girl!

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The Second Amendment Is NOT About Duck Hunting!

Shamelessly stolen from wirecutter (thanks, Ken!)!

1941 Chevrolet Pick-Up Truck

Had to get my Jeep smogged last week, and while I was there, I spotted this 1941 Chevy Pick-Up truck in the lot.

REALLY sweet! The paint was the best I've seen in years, and EVERY nut and bolt was either chromed, or polished stainless.

The guys at the shop said it had a 350 in it with a Turbo-Hydramatic.

Dividing a Circle Into Thirds, Without a Protractor

One of the things I'm doing in preparation for the JOTA event on the USS IOWA, is (finally!) building up my new "more portable" antenna mount for my satellite antenna.

I started with a 5' surveyor's tripod I got really cheep on eBay. I have numerous "spare" Yaesu Azimuth/Elevation rotators and control boxes, so I figured I could mount one of my spares to the tripod with an adapter plate.

I bought some good 6061 1/4" thick aluminum sheet, and proceeded to cut out a 6"x6" square. I marked it, and using a set of trammels, laid out a circle the same diameter as the bolt circle for the Azimuth motor. Then I drilled and countersunk some holes to bolt it to the motor with flat-head machine screws.

Now the task was to mount the plate to the tripod, and there was the snag I hit.

The top of the tripod is triangular, and where the legs mount to it there's a lack of space on the underside of the plate to use four mounting screws. So, I decided I'd use three screws instead, and they'd have plenty of room between where the legs meet the top of the tripod.

The problem was, how do I lay out 3 equally spaced holes on the correct 3" diameter circle I just scribed using my trammels?

I remember from way back in high-school geometry (or was it trig?) that dividing a circle into thirds was a very complex, tricky task, and you were better off to just get a protractor, and lay out your marks every 120*.

A quick Google search found this very ingenious method of equally dividing a circle into three sections, WITHOUT the use of a protractor.
I was so amazed that I thought I'd share it with my friends here, in case any of you are metal cutters like I am, or perhaps woodworkers.

Enjoy the little video. I found it quite amazing!



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ARRRRGH!......Garbage Disposal Blew!!

WELL.....I was right in the middle of machining some adapter plates out in the garage when my wife walks in.

"You're NOT going to want to hear this.........."

There was a massive water leak under the sink, and since I put a nice new faucet assembly on it a couple of weeks ago, I immediately thought the worst.

Turns out the water was POURING out of the circuit breaker ( !! ) button on the garbage disposal!

And the breaker hadn't tripped, and the panel breaker hadn't tripped......

I unplugged it, and off we went to Home Depot.

I looked up the specs on the "Badger 100" that was in there, and found out of ALL the reviews listed, the HIGHEST review was a "2".

Her oldest son had installed it about three years ago, and all the reviews said you were lucky if you got TWO years out of it. It's been jamming a lot lately, and tripping the breaker once in a while, so I guess the "extra" year we got out of it was just luck.

Now in the process of installing the new one, and just about finished, but had to take a break. I'm not as young as I used to be (who isn't?), and working on my back, under the sink, has a tendency to put kinks in me.

The replacement we bought got 12 "5 Star" reviews, so I'm hoping replacing a $79/ 1 year warranty disposer with a $180/ FIVE YEAR warranty model will be worth the money and effort.

It's pretty cheap of them to NOT include a $3 power cord, so I'm going to reuse the old cord.

And the conduit fitting.

And the wire nuts.


****UPDATE****

It's all connected, no leaks, and works as expected.

It's very quiet, and seems like it could grind up small branches. Everything we've put in so it so far just disappears with a 'whoosh'. This one is a two-stage grinder, which is supposedly "Better for the Environment".

Now while I'm by no means a "greenie", we do some commons sense stuff like separate the plastic bottles and aluminum cans, flatten them, and take them to a place that buys them for more than the CRV.

Since we have two trash containers here in Long Beach, one for regular garbage, and one for 'Recylables', I wonder how long before The Gubmint will demand we turn our valuable trash over to them instead of selling it ourselves.

Back to the disposal.....This "Better for the Environment" pap is proudly printed on the box, showing a "Circle of Political Correctness", printed in GREEN, showing food being put down the disposer, going to a Sewage Treatment Plant, then a picture of a tractor, and finally a picture of an apple, all proudly printed in GREEN, with a "vegetable based soy ink", the idea being that since this unit grinds the waste to smaller particles, it's easier to process in the STP, making for better fertilizer, which grows pretty green apples, and all is wonderful in the world.

Having worked in many Sewage Treatment Plants in a former career as an Industrial Controls Field Service Engineer, I can safely tell you that the size of the food particles coming out of your kitchen disposal has absolutely NO effect on the efficiency of the treatment palnt.

NONE.

You could practically stuff a whole cow through one of these plants and it would reduce it down to sludge.

I'll admit that smaller bits going into a home septic system is probably a Good Thing, but to an industiral-scale treament plant? HAH!

And somebody at Insinkerator probably got a nice bonus for putting this crap on the package.

Oh, well......at least the new disposer works very well, and it's extremely quiet.


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Busy This Weekend

So I probably won't be posting much.

Saturday morning I have my monthly radio club breakfast, and then we're giving a Commercial Radio License Exam, and then I have to go over to the USS IOWA and turn in my paperwork, and get badged.

JOTA (Jamboree On The Air) for the Boy Scouts for our area is going to be held onboard the IOWA on October 20th, and since I'm running the satellite station, I have to finish my paperwork to be a volunteer.

Which means I have about 12 days to finish building my new "portable" satellite antenna system, get it tested, and round up all the gear I'd normally take out on Field Day.

The last of the parts I needed came in this afternoon, so I can begin in earnest Saturday afternoon. I've got most of the small sub-assemblies, cables, mounting plates, etc, all made, but I still have to bolt everything together and see how it plays.

Should be an interesting two weeks.....

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Yes, I Watched/Listened To The "Debate"

I didn't quite get the impression that Romney "mopped the floor" with 0Bama, but I did get the impression that he came across as intelligent, sincere, and full of energy.

I particularly liked the part where 0Bama was crying about the 2.8 billion "Tax Breaks" being given to the oil companies. Romney countered with it was mostly an accounting method, and came slamming back with the 100 billion 0Bama had spent on "Green Energy", and he proceeded to name the companies 0Bama has bestowed all this wealth redistribution upon, and commented that in one term, he spent FIFTY TIMES  that amount on failed "Green Energy" programs.

 “You don’t just pick the winners and losers. You pick the losers.”

I think that will go down in history as the entire 0Bama policy.

Brietbart has an excellent review of the debate.

Be sure to read the comments. Some of them are hilarious.

"The new tingle Matthews has is urine running down his leg from peeing his pants."

" And we all know that if Obama did nothing more than belch and drool all over the mic for the entire debate the alphabet media would still say Obama won big."

" Does anyone have one of those 23 million jobs the president created?"



It should be very interesting to watch the Ryan/Biden spectacle.

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Sail On, Sailor

Another one of my Beach Boys favorites.

From their album "Holland".

I sailed an ocean, unsettled ocean
Through restful waters and deep commotion
Often frightened, unenlightened
Sail on, sail on sailor

I wrest the waters, fight Neptune's waters
Sail through the sorrows of life's marauders
Unrepenting, often empty
Sail on, sail on sailor

Caught like a sewer rat alone but I sail
Bought like a crust of bread, but oh do I wail

Seldom stumble, never crumble
Try to tumble, life's a rumble
Feel the stinging I've been given
Never ending, unrelenting
Heartbreak searing, always fearing
Never caring, persevering
Sail on, sail on, sailor

I work the seaways, the gale-swept seaways
Past shipwrecked daughters of wicked waters
Uninspired, drenched and tired
Wail on, wail on, sailor

Always needing, even bleeding
Never feeding all my feelings
Damn the thunder, must I blunder
There's no wonder all I'm under
Stop the crying and the lying
And the sighing and my dying

Sail on, sail on sailor
Sail on, sail on sailor
Sail on, sail on sailor
Sail on, sail on sailor
Sail on, sail on sailor
Sail on, sail on sailor
Sail on, sail on sailor

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Endeavour's Final "Flight".

Courtesy of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center/



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Verizon Email Down

SO.....I won't be getting any notifications when somebody replies to my scribblings.

Looks like it's nation wide, too.

Oh, well....we've had FiOS for several years now, and been quite satisfied.

Guess I can cut them a little slack when the system craps out once in a (great) while!