The Great "We Don't Need No Stinking Ham Radio" Flap In California

After having first heard of this a week or so ago, I've found out it's nothing like that which it seems.

Per the ARRL Southwestern Division Director:

The video in response to a lengthy lawyer-generated letter, written in reaction to a harshly worded letter from a CAL FIRE property management employee, makes certain statements about the Governor’s position or State policy that I have been unable to corroborate..

The State of California has not made any determination we can find  "that Ham Radio [is] no longer a benefit."What happened is that CAL FIRE has transferred responsibility for its communications sites to its property management department.  That department has the significant task of evaluating each site, its condition, use and tenants.  If a repeater not known to be associated with the emergency management function of a local jurisdiction is found in a CAL FIRE vault, the default action is to move it out or subject it to commercial rental rates.

Our contact in the California Office of Emergency Services suggests that, if any affected repeater is in any way involved with local emergency or government support activity, they should ask that agency to engage with CAL FIRE concerning the repeater.  If the agency makes the case, there is a good chance that the repeater will be unaffected.

Their advice, with which I agree, is not to elevate this to State Legislators or the Governor's office.

There has been similar activity in Southern California, wherein sites managed by the U.S. Forest Service have required repeater owners to post bonds to cover the dismantling of their sites if they cease operation. Negotiation has resulted in considerable easing of the original requirements and a modification of terms to help mitigate the short-term financial impact on those repeater owners.

So basically, somebody got ticked off, made some angry statements, and it 'went viral'.

Nothing to see here, please move along.....

Bye Bye, Sea Launch!

I'd heard this was "In Work" a couple of months ago. There was a lot of ITAR controlled equipment on the ships, and it had to be removed before USGOV would allow the ships to be permanently relocated.

This has been removed now, and negotiations are underway to finalize the departure of the two ships.

The entire article can be read here.

So Bye Bye, Sea Launch. It was a hell of a run while it lasted.....

Here Comes Winter!

Expecting the next three nights to be 25*, 15*, and 25*

I was just up at The Kids place to tend to the dogs, and in a 90 minute round-trip (including doggie time) the temperature has dropped 10*, and the winds are kicking up.

Expecting rain around midnight, turning to snow showers, turning to snow, with snow on Thursday, and a high of 33*.

And since the winds are predicted to be 30MPH or so, with gusts to 40MPH, I lashed the fence gates closed on the side leading to the back yard. I guess I'm getting acclimatized to here, as yesterday I drained and stowed the garden hoses and sprinklers, put the cold weather covers on the faucets, brought in the big sun umbrella after knocking the wasps out of it, and in general tried to clear the task list for "Winter Preps".

I think I got all of it, but we'll see.....

My Sweet Little Wife has departed on a three week vacation, and The Kids are gone until Sunday night, so Pebbles and I are on our own.

And I got this "present" on the way back from DIA:

Yep...a BIG rock came off the back of a gravel hauler, and I saw it milliseconds before it hit with a CRACK! like a rifle shot.

OUCH.....

I'm tempted to tray and have it repaired, BUT with the rain/snow, and below freezing temps the next two nights, it might get much worse before I can get it in to the glass shop.

I haven't lost a windshield to a rock hit since about 1986, so I suppose I'm overdue.

****************Update*****************

As of 2230 local time, it's down to 32*, there's a LOT of lightning and thunder, and it's snowing.

First Frost Warning of the Season

Going down to 30* here tonight, and the first "official" front warning has been published by the NWS.

It got down to 35* last week, and there was a frost 'advisory' released, but looks like we're getting a real frost, with below freezing temps tonight.

And the NWS is predicting snow showers beginning Thursday, along with lows of 15*~20*.....



Other than that, I got nuthin'.....

Friday Already?.....Again?

Well time sure flies when you're keeping busy!

Got the 3D printed camera mount so I can strap my GoPro to the car, And the taller tires for it so it can bounce off these wacky curbs easier. And that requires changing the pinion gear on the motor to make up for the taller tires. So as of right now, I've got the car partially disassembled to change the pinion gear, do some inspection of the bits, and then put it back together so I can go bombing around the neighborhood again, and TLG can giggle and laugh as he watches me get better at driving it.

And I corrected the error on the timing cover by sanding off the yellow I had applied, and then kept on sanding until the wrinkle paint was completely removed from the lettering.

Took about two hours with numerous small pieces of 220 and 600 grit paper, and a teeny-tiny sanding block I made. Got the first coats of color on it, and it looks the way I wanted from the beginning.

I took a trip up to the "E-Team Hobbyplex" track ans store the other day, and I'm impressed! The owner is another Old Guy like me, and he's been doing R/C cars, trucks, and boats for about as long as I have. He's also an Uber Gearhed, and has quite a collection of AMC muscle cars. He has Javelins, AMX's, a Rebel Machine or two, and the S/C Rambler, which was AMC's version of the Chevrolet Nova SS, a "compact car" stuffed full of V8 power with a manual transmission, limited-slip differential, cold air hood, and a bunch of other "Hot Rod Parts" installed at the factory. Cool little cars!

And the track is impressive. It's set up as a road course right now, but they put some temporary ramps, jumps, and stuff over it, and run indoor off-road events. They even run a "class" for the ARRMA Senton truck like I have, so I'll probably go up there with the Senton and have some fun. He's been in the building for over 15 years now, and has parts out the wazoo, along with cars and trucks from $150 entry level rigs up to the full-blown, very high-end cars that go for $1200 without wheels, tires, motor, speed controller, or radio. You can't even call those kits "rollers" because they don't have wheels included, so they're called "sliders".

And I knocked out some quickie projects in the basement, including rebuilding the Heathkit IM-103 Line Voltage Monitor I got on eBay.

I've always wanted one of these things because only the Really Cool Guys had them when I was a kid. The guys who had their Amateur Extra class license, and knew everything about radio. Like all items this age with 1960's vintage electrolytic capacitors in them, this one had a bad capacitor. So I ordered a few of them, along with a 5W replacement for the 2W resistor that is dissipating 1.8Watts in normal operation. Running a part at 90% of it's max rating isn't a good idea, so doubling the Wattage rating on the replacement fixes a design flaw in the meter.

And I've been cleaning up stuff out of the basement by dumping it on eBay. It brings in some "hobby money", and gets rid of some of the bubble wrap stored in the basement from when we moved.

Hell yes, I saved it! Only used once, perfectly clean, and why buy more when I have a two year supply!?

Just doing my part to be green, and recycle responsibly, ya know?

And I showed TLG the video I took of UP 4014 last week. When they blew off the steam, and then blew the whistle, he was quite impressed! There's a "Vintage and Antique Toy Show" this Saturday down at the Larimer County Fairgrounds (aka "The Ranch"), so I'm going to head down there and see if I can find him a little toy tractor. Gotta be green and yellow because he gets really excited when he sees a green and yellow tractor, so he should have one.

Hope y'all have a good weekend. Sorry for no pretty pix, but when I start taking pix, it slows me waaay down on some of these projects.

Busy Weekend

Besides going up to Harriman Crossing, Wyoming with my friend Well Seasoned Fool to see UP 4014 on Friday, I've been bouncing around doing a bunch of other things.

I uploaded the video I took to YouTube, but can't figure out how to embed it her!

ARRRRGH!

Just do a YouTube search for "UP 4014 Big Boy At Harriman Crossing", and all five I posted should turn up. (Just fixed the above link. It now takes you to all five videos)...

Hmm...let's see if this works....




On Sunday from 1600 to 1700 MDST I'll be operating the 30 Meter Digital Mode station at the special event for the 100th year of WWV operation.

I also loaned the group putting it on a couple of 35 Amp Astron power supplies with the cables and RigRunner DC distribution panels to help them out a bit.

I'll take my camera and get there extra early for my shift so I can get the idea where things are, and who's who.

And ordered some spare and maintenance parts for the RC car. I'm also going to mount my GoPro to it, and drive it around the neighborhood. Should be a hoot!

Have a blessed Sunday!

Big Vise Built From Scratch

I know Phil will go bonkers over this when he sees it.

The guy made this from scratch in his "shop". And what a shop it is.

Oh, Lordy.....Another New Hobby.....

WELL......in a moment of weakness when I was at the local Hobby Shop, I bought an ARRMA "Senton" 4x4, Ready-to-Run, Radio Controlled model.

Hey, it's for the grandson, don't cha know?

Anywhoo....Back in the mid 1980's, during "Act II" of my life, I was hugely involved in R/C models. Even exercised my American right to run a small business supplying a few items to the local hobby shops. Barely broke even, had Tons 'O Fun, and met some cool people.

Fast Forward about 30 years.....

As I was digging things out down in the basement, I came across my little Kyosho "Mini-Z" R/C car. We used to "race" these on the ship during our transit back to Home Port, and we had a ball. The Company bought the cars (Radio Shack "X-Mods" cars), the track, and a truckload of AA batteries. I wanted my own car, asked if this one would be acceptable, and the "Sanctioning Body" approved.

So I ordered up some new tires, and was playing with it one day when The Little Guy was here, and he just loved it. I bought a couple of "RC Stunt Cars" at Harbor Freight for $7 each, but you can't really drive them; they're only good for doing spins, wheelies, and crashing in to stuff.

Naturally, that just won't do for TLG. I want him to learn how to control one of these, and to do that, you need something controllable.

And since he's a beginner (ya think?), that means learning how to drive one in wide-open spaces, like the cul de sac we live on, along with all eight front yards that line the sides of the street.

And that means 4-wheel drive, and something larger than a 1/12th or 1/10th scale car.

So we got this:

It's a 1/8th scale model (they claim 1/10th scale...HAH!), about 22" long and 12" wide.

The motor in this brute looks like it escaped from my Makita cordless drill:

It's a "550 Motor", indicating a standard "can" size. 540 motors are used in some models, and the 380 motor is about "slot car" sized, so this is a YUUUGE motor compared to what I've used in the past.

It's well laid out, and seems pretty well built.

It has hypoid-drive differentials for the front and rear axles (Just Like Dad's Car!), but NO center differential. Instead, the gearbox powers the driveshaft between the two differentials through a "slipper clutch", which is really there to protect the motor from the shocks that happen after a jump, when the wheels are spinning full power, unloaded, and then slam back into the ground. It's a clever, inexpensive way to protect the driveline. This would be a no-no for pavement racing because the front and rear axles turn at the same speed, but running in grass and dirt there's plenty of wheel slip so that it doesn't matter.

The only weak point according to the guys that have had these for a while is the steering servo, which fails under heavy use.

The orange box on the left is the servo, and the orange box on the right is the electronic speed control.

A direct replacement is $22 at the hobby shop, while the upgraded servo is $35.

HOWEVER....judicious shopping can find even better quality servos (stronger gears, ball bearings, more torque) for around $20. Since they pretty much all use the same connectors, and are the same size, installing a bigger, beefier, better-built servo is a no-brainer for $20.

And even though you can get a lot of Hot Rod parts for these, I'm not planning on buying any. When something breaks, I'll replace it with a better part, if available, but otherwise I'm just gonna leave it stock. I'm not going to compete with it, just have fun with TLG blasting around the front and back yards.

Tear The House Apart Day.....And Now Put It All Back.....

Well, we tore it apart last night in preparation for today.

Having the downstairs carpet cleaned today, along with the tile and grout in the entryway, kitchen, and sun room.

So I'm going to be busy, and might be offline for a while while they're doing the sun room, aka the Radio Room.

We've been here almost two years now, and since we'll be hosting Christmas this year, my Sweet Little Wife wants to get some of this 'heavy lifting' stuff out of the way.

Be back later.....



Well, that was fairly painless. Nice young guy from ChemDry, all by himself, did three rooms of carpet, two stairways, and ALL the tile and grout in about 5 hours.

So now I have a couple of fans set up as exhaust fans, and the windows on the opposite side open, and we have a nice flow of air through the downstairs.

It looks great!

The tile looks amazing, and the two spots where the glaze had chipped came out the same shade as the tile, something we didn't expect. So, I got out the "Tile Repair Kit", and brushed in some of the "glaze" from the kit where the tile was damaged. Hopefully this will seal it well enough that it doesn't discolor again.

The nap of the carpet bounced back nicely, but it'll get flattened out again in the traffic areas. My wife says this isn't Real Good Carpet, but considering the people who put it in were planning on having 4 or 5 college kids living here, they probably figured it'd get trashed, so why spend big bucks on top-of-the-line carpet.

It most likely came from Home Depot, like all the new appliances, vanities, light fixtures, plumbing, etc.

Not much odor, except when he was doing the grout. My highly calibrated sense of smell indicates it was some kind of glycol or alcohol, perhaps butyl cellosolve product. It dissipated quickly, and now with the fans running, the odor is almost gone.

Supra "Timing Cover #3" Refurb OOOOPS! Annnnnd Homemade BREAD!

I saw this coming last night when I started applying the first color coat to the "DOHC" lettering.

The wrinkle finish on the cover came out pretty well:

BUT (always one of them hanging around somewhere...) I noticed the paint wasn't brushing out very nicely, and it struck me that I didn't take the paint off the letters, and the very rough surface was making the painted letters look a bit weird, like the paint had crazed:

So now I'll have to carefully scrape the paint off the letters, leaving them with a flat surface so the gloss paint flows out and looks good. This wasn't a problem with the cam cover lettering as I'd block sanding the paint off the ribs and lettering, giving me a flat surface to brush the paint on to.

Oh, well, live and learn, and DON'T get in a hurry!

And with the weather cooling off (gonna have lows in the low 40's this week), thoughts turn to firing up the oven, and making some bread. There's little that beats the smell of fresh baking bread on a cool day. I used to "help" my Mom bake bread all the time when I was little (I was the "Punch Down" guy!), along with "helping" her make rolls, biscuits, cookies, and many other home-baked goodies. I used to be a pretty good cook, with a few specialty items like chili, spaghetti sauce, and of course burgers and steaks.

So now I'm on the hunt for good bread recipes. I bought some yeast, and it's in the fridge, and we have everything else I need to make "basic bread", but I'm thinking of maybe trying some rye bread, or a 'peasant bread' made with a coarser flour.

So I'm off to the InterWebz to see what I can find for bread recipes.

I'm sure there's thousands of them out there.....

Supra "Timing Cover #3" Refurbishment

When we last saw our intrepid hero, he was praising his Sweet Little Wife (hmmm...might start an acronym page like the guys at the Chant) for letting him clean parts in the kitchen sink.....

Today's episode takes us deeper into the refurbishment of "Timing Cover #3" on my '85 Supra.

After the cover dried, I started doing the final cleaning of it to get it ready for paint. It's going to be 85* and sunny this weekend, which is perfect weather for wrinkle painting stuff. It was pretty clean after the bath I gave it last night, but still had some crud in a few of the recessed areas, and in places around the edges where my scrub brush didn't reach, so I cleaned all those areas using my Secret Sauce, Spray-Bottle Version (Windex with ammonia-D and about 30% denatured alcohol), and some other solvent for the greasy bits that were hiding.

In the process of cleaning it, I noticed a bunch of unsightly 'casting flash' from when it was injection-molded 30-odd years ago. Besides leaving sharp edges that can slice your hands when working on it, it's ugly, and has to go. I got out my trusty X-Acto knife with a new blade, and trimmed/scraped the flash off, then followed that with some 600 grit sandpaper on the edges to smooth them out nicely.

Yes, indeed you do detect some Mission Creep setting in, as usual with all my projects. This one doesn't have much, though.....

So after taking care of all the rough edges, and smoothly blending them in, I noticed that the plastic had retained much of it's gloss (hey, it's clean!), and since that's a Bad Thing when it comes to paint adhesion, I scuffed it up with some 600 grit that was already in the sanding block. Then I dusted it off, wiped it down with some brake cleaner, and set it aside while I did some other things.

Then I noticed (man, I'm really observant these days...) that it wasn't "flat", and had some low spots. Even though the wrinkle paint is quite thick, and easily fills in things like sanding scratches, it ain't that thick, and the low areas would likely show up after the paint cures.

So I block sanded the entire thing.

Is it 100% "flat" now? No, but then it's not going to Pebble Beach, either. Which is actually moot, because they'd take points off for it not being 100% OEM.

That aside, it's plenty flat, almost all the gloss is gone, and I'm just waiting for the weather to heat up to paint it. I'll bust any remaining gloss with a Scotch-Brite pad, wipe it down, and shoot the wrinkle paint on Saturday.