WELL....the plumbing repair didn't work out. My wife started doing laundry last week, and the water started bubbling up again.
We had our plumber friend come over, and he installed another clean-out tee at the garage, and had a friend of his come over with the BIG power snake, and snake the line from the garage to past where it tees into the drain from the house.
They didn't really find any obstructions, and the line is clear from the garage to the street.
Final diagnosis is that the pipe is running up hill from the garage to the house clean-out tee, and water doesn't run uphill very well. It probably got in this condition from land movement and earthquakes over the seventy years since the pipe was installed when they built the house in 1942.
SO......about half the digging is done, and there's another 20 or so feet to go to get to the junction. Monday morning they'll be back out here to finish digging out the old clay-pipe line, and replace it with new ABS pipe, with the correct downhill slope to it, and backfill the trench.
And I was just getting the back yard to look decent.
At least we're getting a big break on the cost of the job, which usually runs about $100/linear foot of pipe replaced.
Since these guys are friends of out good friend, the whole job will "only" cost $1500 instead of $4000 for 40 feet of line replaced.
Oh, the joys of being a homeowner!
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
240th Anniversary of The Battles of Lexington and Concord
A.K.A. "The Shot Heard 'Round The World".
And today is also the anniversaries of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the raid at Waco, and the #2 turret explosion on the USS Iowa.
Thanks to The Survival Blog for jogging my memory on theses events.
Not much else to post today, just waiting for the Long Beach Grand Prix to start......
And today is also the anniversaries of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the raid at Waco, and the #2 turret explosion on the USS Iowa.
Thanks to The Survival Blog for jogging my memory on theses events.
Not much else to post today, just waiting for the Long Beach Grand Prix to start......
Friday, April 17, 2015
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Busy Day on the Iowa
We had a special tour of 45 people who went through the USC Naval ROTC program today.
Some were retired, some were active duty, and all had a good time.
Only about half of them wanted to see the Engineering spaces and the Radio areas, so we broke them into three groups of seven, and rotated the groups through the Comm Center on the main Deck, the Transmitter Room down on Broadway, and the Aft Main/Secondary Plot, which is where the Ford Mark-8 and Mark-1 Fire Control Rangerkeepers (computers), and the Stable Elements are located.
Last week we had a group from a local radio club do the same special tour, and if interest keeps up, it *might* get added to the list of "Special Tours" that are offered.
No "official" word on it yet, but we're hoping.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we're giving the same tour to a VIP, a Radioman who served on the USS Missouri during WWII, and since there's only going to be him, myself, and another tour guide, I'm taking my camera!
It was just too busy today and last Saturday for me to be taking any pictures, but tomorrow will be different.
The Aft Main/Secondary Plot is pretty unique, as they took special care of it during storage in the reserve fleet. The paint inside the spaces looks fresh, the floors are super clean, and it's amazingly well preserved.
I'm going to go charge my camera batteries now and get things set out on the dining table so it'll be "In My Face" tomorrow morning. I really want to get some pictures!
Some were retired, some were active duty, and all had a good time.
Only about half of them wanted to see the Engineering spaces and the Radio areas, so we broke them into three groups of seven, and rotated the groups through the Comm Center on the main Deck, the Transmitter Room down on Broadway, and the Aft Main/Secondary Plot, which is where the Ford Mark-8 and Mark-1 Fire Control Rangerkeepers (computers), and the Stable Elements are located.
Last week we had a group from a local radio club do the same special tour, and if interest keeps up, it *might* get added to the list of "Special Tours" that are offered.
No "official" word on it yet, but we're hoping.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we're giving the same tour to a VIP, a Radioman who served on the USS Missouri during WWII, and since there's only going to be him, myself, and another tour guide, I'm taking my camera!
It was just too busy today and last Saturday for me to be taking any pictures, but tomorrow will be different.
The Aft Main/Secondary Plot is pretty unique, as they took special care of it during storage in the reserve fleet. The paint inside the spaces looks fresh, the floors are super clean, and it's amazingly well preserved.
I'm going to go charge my camera batteries now and get things set out on the dining table so it'll be "In My Face" tomorrow morning. I really want to get some pictures!
Friday, April 10, 2015
Friday Again?
Gee...just realized I haven't posted anything in a week.
Been pretty busy here, with both Iowa stuff and "Homeowner" stuff.
After spending both Saturday and Sunday on the Iowa giving tours and talking with WWII vets, I figured I'd have Monday to unwind.
WRONG!
The main drain line from our garage, where the laundry is located, out to the street broke, and had to be repaired. The house was built in the early 1940's, and they used fired clay soil pipe, rather than cast iron. The pipes just slip-fit together, and during 70 years of earthquakes and ground movement, they start to leak a bit. Trees, having water seeking roots, look at this as a new found oasis, and come running.
Sure enough, tree roots invaded the drain line, and grew so much they cracked the pipe. Every time we did laundry, water would bubble up through the ground when the washer emptied.
A few years before I met my wife, she had the same problem with the drain from the house to the street, and had most of the pipe repaired, and they added a clean-out tee where the pipe comes out of the house.
Fortunately for us, the guy who lives across the street is a plumber, and he offered to fix the mess if I helped him.
SO.......Monday morning I'm out there swinging a pick and shovel to uncover the pipes. Once we had them dug out, it was easy to see where the root entered, breaking the clay pipe, and exited, breaking the pipe again.
All of the houses in this tract started out as two bedroom, one bath, 950 square foot "starter homes", and they were all built identically, so our plumber friend knew exactly where all the pipes ran, saving us the time of digging in the blind to find them.
The piece of root we pulled out was about 6 feet long, and two inches in diameter, so it had been growing in there for quite some time.
After cutting out the sections of broken pipe with a neat tool that looked a lot like the exhaust pipe cutter I have, he replaced the sections with ABS plastic pipe and rubber couplings.
We then refilled the holes, and now the drain works as it should.
He only asked for $300 to do the work, but we paid him $400 because to us, it was worth the extra money, and he's a genuinely Good Guy.
I shudder to think of what it would have cost us if we just "called a plumber" to fix it!
This coming Saturday and Sunday will be two more days on the Iowa. Saturday we have a group of Naval ROTC people coming, but newly minted and retired, and a few of them want to see the radio and transmitter rooms, and then the same on Sunday, but with some WWII vets who were Radiomen on other ships, including the USS Missouri.
Should be another great day on the Iowa!
Been pretty busy here, with both Iowa stuff and "Homeowner" stuff.
After spending both Saturday and Sunday on the Iowa giving tours and talking with WWII vets, I figured I'd have Monday to unwind.
WRONG!
The main drain line from our garage, where the laundry is located, out to the street broke, and had to be repaired. The house was built in the early 1940's, and they used fired clay soil pipe, rather than cast iron. The pipes just slip-fit together, and during 70 years of earthquakes and ground movement, they start to leak a bit. Trees, having water seeking roots, look at this as a new found oasis, and come running.
Sure enough, tree roots invaded the drain line, and grew so much they cracked the pipe. Every time we did laundry, water would bubble up through the ground when the washer emptied.
A few years before I met my wife, she had the same problem with the drain from the house to the street, and had most of the pipe repaired, and they added a clean-out tee where the pipe comes out of the house.
Fortunately for us, the guy who lives across the street is a plumber, and he offered to fix the mess if I helped him.
SO.......Monday morning I'm out there swinging a pick and shovel to uncover the pipes. Once we had them dug out, it was easy to see where the root entered, breaking the clay pipe, and exited, breaking the pipe again.
All of the houses in this tract started out as two bedroom, one bath, 950 square foot "starter homes", and they were all built identically, so our plumber friend knew exactly where all the pipes ran, saving us the time of digging in the blind to find them.
The piece of root we pulled out was about 6 feet long, and two inches in diameter, so it had been growing in there for quite some time.
After cutting out the sections of broken pipe with a neat tool that looked a lot like the exhaust pipe cutter I have, he replaced the sections with ABS plastic pipe and rubber couplings.
We then refilled the holes, and now the drain works as it should.
He only asked for $300 to do the work, but we paid him $400 because to us, it was worth the extra money, and he's a genuinely Good Guy.
I shudder to think of what it would have cost us if we just "called a plumber" to fix it!
This coming Saturday and Sunday will be two more days on the Iowa. Saturday we have a group of Naval ROTC people coming, but newly minted and retired, and a few of them want to see the radio and transmitter rooms, and then the same on Sunday, but with some WWII vets who were Radiomen on other ships, including the USS Missouri.
Should be another great day on the Iowa!
Friday, April 3, 2015
Two Days Upcoming on the Iowa.....
I'll be there all day tomorrow to escort the Northrup-Grumman (formerly TRW) Amateur Radio Club around, and then for special visitor we're having Sunday.
He's a retired Radioman from the Missouri, and is taking part in the Iowa's Oral History program where we're attempting to get as many WWII vets on tape as possible.
He made a request to see the Radio and Transmitter Rooms, and we're more than happy to acommodate him.
And I'll bet I pick up more than few tips on the transmitters and couplers!
He's a retired Radioman from the Missouri, and is taking part in the Iowa's Oral History program where we're attempting to get as many WWII vets on tape as possible.
He made a request to see the Radio and Transmitter Rooms, and we're more than happy to acommodate him.
And I'll bet I pick up more than few tips on the transmitters and couplers!
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Carpet Project Finished
WELL.....we finally finished getting the living room rearranged and back together after tearing it apart for the carpet guys.
I was amazed how fast they got the furniture out of the house, the old carpeting and padding removed, the new carpeting installed, and the furniture back in.
And in the process of reassembling the home theater stuff, and my wife's computer desk, I took all the equipment outside and blew the dust out of it. Then I cleaned all the gear with some "Endust for Electronics", and proceeded to put everything back together, labeling all of the cables.
A bigger ordeal than I thought it would be, but the new carpet looks great, walks even better, and the whole house looks brighter now that we got rid of the old blue carpet.
I add some pix here later.....
I was amazed how fast they got the furniture out of the house, the old carpeting and padding removed, the new carpeting installed, and the furniture back in.
And in the process of reassembling the home theater stuff, and my wife's computer desk, I took all the equipment outside and blew the dust out of it. Then I cleaned all the gear with some "Endust for Electronics", and proceeded to put everything back together, labeling all of the cables.
A bigger ordeal than I thought it would be, but the new carpet looks great, walks even better, and the whole house looks brighter now that we got rid of the old blue carpet.
I add some pix here later.....
Friday, March 27, 2015
Video of the Last Decommissioning of the USS Iowa
Found this through a crew newsletter I get.
It's converted from a VHS tape, so the quality isn't what we're used to today, but it's a fascinating video.
Enjoy!
It's converted from a VHS tape, so the quality isn't what we're used to today, but it's a fascinating video.
Enjoy!
New Carpet Today
Arrrgh.......
Been busy as a one-armed paper hanger the last few days getting the living room and dining room stripped out so the carpet installers can do their thing today.
They'll remove all the furniture for us, but all the "other" stuff had to be out so they don't break anything "fragile".
First off was taking the Home Theater Center apart and moving all the gear, then the wife's curio cabinet had to be emptied and unscrewed from the wall, the DVD racks had to be emptied and unscrewed from the wall, all the book cases had to be emptied and unscrewed from the walls, and her office/computer work area had to be taken offline, and all the gear removed. This is also my #2 radio operating position, so the 2 Meter/70 centimeter radio and scanner had to be disconnected and moved, along with the UPS units, the weather PC, and the FiOS router. I put the FiOS router in the "Network Closet" here in the radio room, and patched to coax from the Verizon ONT into it, and plugged in just the network cable for this room.
I'm still not sure how the carpet installers are going to handle where the coax/network cables come up through the floor, but the rep who was here the other day said they do it all the time, and it shouldn't be a problem. The "good" thing is that one of the places is behind the wife's "work" desk, and the other is behind the cabinet where the Home Theater stuff is mounted.
1032 local time, and they haven't called to confirm yet.......
They arrived about 1045. It's now 1445, and they're just putting the furniture back in place.
Then I can start reassembling things......
Looks nice, and my wife is very pleased.
Been busy as a one-armed paper hanger the last few days getting the living room and dining room stripped out so the carpet installers can do their thing today.
They'll remove all the furniture for us, but all the "other" stuff had to be out so they don't break anything "fragile".
First off was taking the Home Theater Center apart and moving all the gear, then the wife's curio cabinet had to be emptied and unscrewed from the wall, the DVD racks had to be emptied and unscrewed from the wall, all the book cases had to be emptied and unscrewed from the walls, and her office/computer work area had to be taken offline, and all the gear removed. This is also my #2 radio operating position, so the 2 Meter/70 centimeter radio and scanner had to be disconnected and moved, along with the UPS units, the weather PC, and the FiOS router. I put the FiOS router in the "Network Closet" here in the radio room, and patched to coax from the Verizon ONT into it, and plugged in just the network cable for this room.
I'm still not sure how the carpet installers are going to handle where the coax/network cables come up through the floor, but the rep who was here the other day said they do it all the time, and it shouldn't be a problem. The "good" thing is that one of the places is behind the wife's "work" desk, and the other is behind the cabinet where the Home Theater stuff is mounted.
1032 local time, and they haven't called to confirm yet.......
They arrived about 1045. It's now 1445, and they're just putting the furniture back in place.
Then I can start reassembling things......
Looks nice, and my wife is very pleased.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
"The X-Files" is Coming Back!
Supposed to start filming this summer, and will star David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, reprising their roles in a 6 episode miniseries.
This is probably my all-time favorite TV series. I didn't care too much for the two movies, as they were just not "connected enough" to the TV series for me.
It will be very interesting to follow this, and I can hardly wait for it to air.
This is probably my all-time favorite TV series. I didn't care too much for the two movies, as they were just not "connected enough" to the TV series for me.
It will be very interesting to follow this, and I can hardly wait for it to air.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
I'm Still Here....Just Been Busy!
We've been working on getting all the HF-capable antennas on the Iowa sorted out, and hand-over-hand tracing coaxial cables around the ship.
We were able to get the autocoupler for the portside transmitting antenna hauled out of the transmitter room and mounted at the base of the whip, and as soon as we can figure out *where* the coax goes to, we'll do some low power testing with one of the original tarnsmitters.
In the picture below you can see the mounting rails for the autocoupler:
And with this shot from below the antenna, you can see the red insulating base, indicating it was a transmitting antenna:
And the starboard side whip has a blue base, indicating it was receive-only:
The cable for the starboard whip runs into a room off the flag bridge, where it was hooked to a receiver that we're told was used by the "spooks" for various signal interception duties.
Unfortunately, the Heliax cable feeding this one has broken from being repeatedly bent back and forth, so that's another "Let Jim fix it" item in the job jar!
We were able to get the autocoupler for the portside transmitting antenna hauled out of the transmitter room and mounted at the base of the whip, and as soon as we can figure out *where* the coax goes to, we'll do some low power testing with one of the original tarnsmitters.
In the picture below you can see the mounting rails for the autocoupler:
And with this shot from below the antenna, you can see the red insulating base, indicating it was a transmitting antenna:
And the starboard side whip has a blue base, indicating it was receive-only:
The cable for the starboard whip runs into a room off the flag bridge, where it was hooked to a receiver that we're told was used by the "spooks" for various signal interception duties.
Unfortunately, the Heliax cable feeding this one has broken from being repeatedly bent back and forth, so that's another "Let Jim fix it" item in the job jar!
Friday, March 6, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Meanwhile, Back In The CPO's Mess.......
One of the things we do on the Iowa is offer examinations for both commercial and Amateur radio licenses.
This past Wednesday, I found myself back down in the CPO's Mess area helping three young guys get their Marine Radio Operator's Permit for their jobs at one of the places out here in the L.A. Harbor area.
One of the things that's so interesting about the Iowa is the large amount of "Crew Art" painted in various spaces around the ship. I posted a lot of it a while back when I took the "Curator's Tour", which is a tour available to the public that takes you to a lot of the areas not on the current tour route.
Here's a funny one that I'm sure my Navy friends have seen before:
And in the CPO Lounge Area we have this one:
Along with this one on the adjacent bulkhead:
The deck flooring leading in to the lounge area has this nice tile work:
And on the door leading in is this warning:
In the mess area is this autograph from an original plank owner:
Thank you for your service, Chief!
And finally, from one of the hatches leading in to this area, MANY coats of paint:
Sorry for the crummy cellphone pix, but these were "spur of the moment", and I'm seriously considering taking my camera with me every time I go on board the Iowa.
This past Wednesday, I found myself back down in the CPO's Mess area helping three young guys get their Marine Radio Operator's Permit for their jobs at one of the places out here in the L.A. Harbor area.
One of the things that's so interesting about the Iowa is the large amount of "Crew Art" painted in various spaces around the ship. I posted a lot of it a while back when I took the "Curator's Tour", which is a tour available to the public that takes you to a lot of the areas not on the current tour route.
Here's a funny one that I'm sure my Navy friends have seen before:
And in the CPO Lounge Area we have this one:
Along with this one on the adjacent bulkhead:
The deck flooring leading in to the lounge area has this nice tile work:
And on the door leading in is this warning:
In the mess area is this autograph from an original plank owner:
Thank you for your service, Chief!
And finally, from one of the hatches leading in to this area, MANY coats of paint:
Sorry for the crummy cellphone pix, but these were "spur of the moment", and I'm seriously considering taking my camera with me every time I go on board the Iowa.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
I'm Blaming My Wife......
For this rotten cold I came down with starting yesterday morning.
Sore throat, headache, and my nose is running like a faucet with a blown washers in it.
And it's supposed to start raining Friday afternoon, and continue through Monday.
Where's my NyQuil.....I'm gonna hit the rack.......
Sore throat, headache, and my nose is running like a faucet with a blown washers in it.
And it's supposed to start raining Friday afternoon, and continue through Monday.
Where's my NyQuil.....I'm gonna hit the rack.......
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The Last C-17 Is Being Assembled
Well, we all knew it was coming, but hearing about #279 rolling down the assembly line puts it in a new perspective.
I remember when they built the last 717 in 2006 (an MD-95/DC-9, really), and since I was working at Boeing at the time, we all stepped out of the office to watch it take off and fly away.
It was the last commercial airliner to be built in Long Beach, ending a string that ran for over sixty years.
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Mercedes Benz has taken over the Boeing facility on the East side of the Long Beach (LGB) airport, and supposedly Virgin Galactic will be building a small launch vehicle of some kind there.
I'm not sure what's going to happen over on the west side, where the C-17 facility is. Boeing has a large office complex on the East side of LGB, and there are many highly skilled workers on the program that will be available, so perhaps they'll keep parts of the facility going with upgrades and repairs for the C-17, or perhaps they'll do some F/A-18 work there.
Or, Boeing might follow the many, many businesses that just folded their tent, and left California for greener pastures, where the cost of living isn't so high, and the cost of doing business isn't stifled by a state government that can never seem to remove it's head from where the sun doesn't shine......
Yard Work and PC Work Today
Now that's dried out a bit (we got some rain over the weekend), I can finish up the back yard today. I have to finish the edging with my edger, and then get the weed whacker out to do the final trimming.
And then mix up some Roundup and spray the areas we're trying to keep clear.
I had a one gallon sprayer that came with a premix in it, but that ran out Friday afternoon. And then about 12 hours later we had the rain, so unfortunately, most of the Roundup washed away, and we still have some weeds along the driveway.
Roundup seems to work pretty well, as it "Kills The Root", and makes the dead stuff easier to rip out of the ground.
I've also used rock salt in the past with good results, but only use that where I don't want anything to grow, or to kill stumps. Just drill some 1" holes in the stump as deep as you can with a wood bit ("Paddle Bit"), and then fill the holes with salt. Add some water to get things started, and let Nature take over. Years ago, I bought some kind of chlorate compound from National Lumber (remember them?) that you did the same thing with, and then waited a couple of weeks. Once it was dry enough, you could light the stump with a propane torch, and it would start to burn, and continue burning, until the entire thing was gone. Pretty neat stuff, but I'm sure it's not available any more.
And on the PC front, I just finished up refurbishing a laptop and a desktop to take down to the Iowa for our Amatuer Radio use.
The desktop is a Core2 Quad running at 3GHz, with 8GB of memory (I remember when 8 Gig was a big hard disk!) and a clean installation of Windows 7 Professional. It also has an M-Audio "Audiophile 2496" soundcard that we'll be using with a SoftRock SDR receiver to use as a panadaptor for the Kenwood TS-850 that's our main SSB radio., along with a full suite of N3FJP software.
The laptop is an older Dell that somebody gave me that I added a bigger hard disk to, and maxed out the memory to 4GB, and installed Windows 7 Professional. We'll be using that on the "CW" station to do digital mode operation using the soundcard interface I built a while back.
I'll clean them up tonight and make sure all the updates are current, and lug them down to the Iowa Wednesday morning where we'll join them to the domain, and bring our station up a notch or two.
And then mix up some Roundup and spray the areas we're trying to keep clear.
I had a one gallon sprayer that came with a premix in it, but that ran out Friday afternoon. And then about 12 hours later we had the rain, so unfortunately, most of the Roundup washed away, and we still have some weeds along the driveway.
Roundup seems to work pretty well, as it "Kills The Root", and makes the dead stuff easier to rip out of the ground.
I've also used rock salt in the past with good results, but only use that where I don't want anything to grow, or to kill stumps. Just drill some 1" holes in the stump as deep as you can with a wood bit ("Paddle Bit"), and then fill the holes with salt. Add some water to get things started, and let Nature take over. Years ago, I bought some kind of chlorate compound from National Lumber (remember them?) that you did the same thing with, and then waited a couple of weeks. Once it was dry enough, you could light the stump with a propane torch, and it would start to burn, and continue burning, until the entire thing was gone. Pretty neat stuff, but I'm sure it's not available any more.
And on the PC front, I just finished up refurbishing a laptop and a desktop to take down to the Iowa for our Amatuer Radio use.
The desktop is a Core2 Quad running at 3GHz, with 8GB of memory (I remember when 8 Gig was a big hard disk!) and a clean installation of Windows 7 Professional. It also has an M-Audio "Audiophile 2496" soundcard that we'll be using with a SoftRock SDR receiver to use as a panadaptor for the Kenwood TS-850 that's our main SSB radio., along with a full suite of N3FJP software.
The laptop is an older Dell that somebody gave me that I added a bigger hard disk to, and maxed out the memory to 4GB, and installed Windows 7 Professional. We'll be using that on the "CW" station to do digital mode operation using the soundcard interface I built a while back.
I'll clean them up tonight and make sure all the updates are current, and lug them down to the Iowa Wednesday morning where we'll join them to the domain, and bring our station up a notch or two.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
72nd Anniversary of Battleship Iowa's First Commissioning on 22 FEB 15
And we'll be operating NI6BB 22 FEB 15 from 0900 to 1600 PST.
Look for on the bands from 40 Meters through 10 Meters, typically on a frequency ending in "61", like 14.261 MHz, +/- any QRM.
At this time we have seven operators, and one "guest" CW operator on the schedule, so we should be able to keep the phone and CW stations in continuous operation.
Look for on the bands from 40 Meters through 10 Meters, typically on a frequency ending in "61", like 14.261 MHz, +/- any QRM.
At this time we have seven operators, and one "guest" CW operator on the schedule, so we should be able to keep the phone and CW stations in continuous operation.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Great Panoramic Views of the Battleship Iowa
One of the guys in the Grey Radio Gang has a friend who takes numerous pictures of things, and then stitches them into panoramic views.
Pretty neat stuff, and he has some very nice interior shots of the Iowa.
And be sure you check his complete index, as he has some amazing panoramas of all kinds of things.
He has everything from Alcatraz to the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro.
Tons of stuff to see, and a great Internet Time Sink!
Pretty neat stuff, and he has some very nice interior shots of the Iowa.
And be sure you check his complete index, as he has some amazing panoramas of all kinds of things.
He has everything from Alcatraz to the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro.
Tons of stuff to see, and a great Internet Time Sink!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
LOTS of F/A-18 Actvity Out of Long Beach Airport
Typically, I'll see/hear a few Hornets leaving the field per month, along with the occasional C-17but this last week has been nuts!
On Sunday alone, I counted twelve departing F/A-18's, and there's been at least ten today.
I know there are some "activities" coming up at one of the old Los Angeles harbor warehouses (the Iowa staff sent a notice to all of us), and we used to see various drills being conducted at the MARAD facility next to Sea Launch, but nothing like this.
A couple of years ago I read a press release stating that the guys from NAS Los Alamitos would be conducting practice take-offs and landings from LGB, and to be aware that the aircraft used would be louder than the commercial airliners.
Yeah, just a wee bit louder.
I'm not complaining, as I don't mind hearing an F/A-18 blasting off to who knows where, but I'm curious about the greatly increased air activity.
And in further Long Beach news......
They started building the course for the Long Beach Grand Prix today, the Longies have the ports of L.A. and Long Beach tied up in knots, and Virgin Galactic announced plans to build a "small launcher" in some of the former Boeing buildings near the airport.
Back to yard work, and replacing a busted driveway light.....
On Sunday alone, I counted twelve departing F/A-18's, and there's been at least ten today.
I know there are some "activities" coming up at one of the old Los Angeles harbor warehouses (the Iowa staff sent a notice to all of us), and we used to see various drills being conducted at the MARAD facility next to Sea Launch, but nothing like this.
A couple of years ago I read a press release stating that the guys from NAS Los Alamitos would be conducting practice take-offs and landings from LGB, and to be aware that the aircraft used would be louder than the commercial airliners.
Yeah, just a wee bit louder.
I'm not complaining, as I don't mind hearing an F/A-18 blasting off to who knows where, but I'm curious about the greatly increased air activity.
And in further Long Beach news......
They started building the course for the Long Beach Grand Prix today, the Longies have the ports of L.A. and Long Beach tied up in knots, and Virgin Galactic announced plans to build a "small launcher" in some of the former Boeing buildings near the airport.
Back to yard work, and replacing a busted driveway light.....
Thursday, February 12, 2015
More Battleship Iowa Transmitter Progress
Well, we now have three "functional" transmitters after this Wednesday's work.
We found a dead 6AN5 tube in one the exciters, but replacing it didn't seem to help the output, so that one still needs some repair work.
And we still have to replace the chain-drives from the frequency set knob to the internals in most of the exciters, or at least in the ones that we can get up and running with enough drive for the power amplifier.
The original "chains" were little plastic things that look more like ladders than what you'd think of, and after sitting for 25 years in one position the plastic took a set, and turning the knobs results in the "rungs" getting ripped out of them.
We're slowly replacing them with real metal chains (like miniature bicycle chains) that our friends on the carrier Midway donated to us. Our lead Gray Radio Guy was down there last year, and noticed a bunch of exciters that were going to be scrapped, so he asked if we could salvage some parts. The guys on the Midway stripped out the chains, sprockets, and detent mechanisms and sent them our way, so we have a small supply of them now.
We also have some plastic chains, but I haven't talked to our guy who does the work to see if, or how well, they work.
And we're debating whether to home-brew a mast oscillator for all the transmitters and receivers so they're all on the same frequency.
I have several 5MHz Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillators here from some HP test equipment I stripped, and it would be a simple matter to box one up with a power supply, and feed it to the distribution amplifiers that are still in place.
The cables that used to bring the 5MHz master clock down to the transmitter room from Radio Central have been repurposed to connect the two portions of the bow-mounted Disc/Cage antenna up to Radio Central, so *if* we decide to set up a Master Oscillator, we'll have to mount one in Radio Central for the receivers, and one down in the transmitter room for the exciters.
And we had a group of SeaBees aboard from Port Hueneme in the morning, and one of them was an ET, so we took him around all the radio gear, most of which he knew.
Still much work to do in getting the antennas and cabling sorted out so we can run both the Amateur Radio station and the original gear, but we're starting to make some definite progress!
We found a dead 6AN5 tube in one the exciters, but replacing it didn't seem to help the output, so that one still needs some repair work.
And we still have to replace the chain-drives from the frequency set knob to the internals in most of the exciters, or at least in the ones that we can get up and running with enough drive for the power amplifier.
The original "chains" were little plastic things that look more like ladders than what you'd think of, and after sitting for 25 years in one position the plastic took a set, and turning the knobs results in the "rungs" getting ripped out of them.
We're slowly replacing them with real metal chains (like miniature bicycle chains) that our friends on the carrier Midway donated to us. Our lead Gray Radio Guy was down there last year, and noticed a bunch of exciters that were going to be scrapped, so he asked if we could salvage some parts. The guys on the Midway stripped out the chains, sprockets, and detent mechanisms and sent them our way, so we have a small supply of them now.
We also have some plastic chains, but I haven't talked to our guy who does the work to see if, or how well, they work.
And we're debating whether to home-brew a mast oscillator for all the transmitters and receivers so they're all on the same frequency.
I have several 5MHz Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillators here from some HP test equipment I stripped, and it would be a simple matter to box one up with a power supply, and feed it to the distribution amplifiers that are still in place.
The cables that used to bring the 5MHz master clock down to the transmitter room from Radio Central have been repurposed to connect the two portions of the bow-mounted Disc/Cage antenna up to Radio Central, so *if* we decide to set up a Master Oscillator, we'll have to mount one in Radio Central for the receivers, and one down in the transmitter room for the exciters.
And we had a group of SeaBees aboard from Port Hueneme in the morning, and one of them was an ET, so we took him around all the radio gear, most of which he knew.
Still much work to do in getting the antennas and cabling sorted out so we can run both the Amateur Radio station and the original gear, but we're starting to make some definite progress!
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Holy Smokes, Two Thousand Pageviews In One Day!
Apparently my post on getting one of the Iowa's transmitters working again was re-posted on somebody's Facebook page, and now I'm getting a whole LOT of pageviews, and offers of help!
I'm humbled by all this!
I sure didn't get it running all by myself.
The "Grey Radio Gang" are the guys doing all the heavy lifting, and I'm just the guy that got handed the title of Lead Technician, primarily because of my previous work experience with high voltage and high power transmitters of various types.
Don't give me any medals or accolades.......give them to the team that's making this possible. I couldn't possibly have gotten this far without their support.
I'm humbled by all this!
I sure didn't get it running all by myself.
The "Grey Radio Gang" are the guys doing all the heavy lifting, and I'm just the guy that got handed the title of Lead Technician, primarily because of my previous work experience with high voltage and high power transmitters of various types.
Don't give me any medals or accolades.......give them to the team that's making this possible. I couldn't possibly have gotten this far without their support.
Battleship Iowa Superstructure Tour - Conclusion-
Sorry for not getting this up sooner, but I had some other things to do.
SO....let's see....where were we.....
After leaving the CEC, we went up several flights of ladders (narrow, steep stairs for the land-bound folks), and made our way to "CONN2", which is the highest point on the ship where it can be steered from.
In getting up there, we passed the room where the transmitter for the SPS-67 radar is located:
And I stuck my head in to grab a picture of the rack:
Looking at the hand made table taped to the cabinet, you can see that this radar operates in C-Band, and outputs approximately 50 dBm of power.
For those that don't "know" dBm, this equates to approximately 100 Watts. Since the chart doesn't specify whether this is peak or average power, but knowing just a bit about radar, I'm going to assume this is an average power measurement. Not knowing the pulse width and duty cycle, I can't calculate the peak power, but the Wikipedia article states that it's 280 kilowatts, which "seems" about right for a high-power surface search radar.
Note: Do NOT stand in front of the antenna when the radar is in operation!
There wasn't much else to see in this room, so I didn't take any other pix. We did stop by another radar room which was full of equipment, waveguides, waveguide switches, isolators, and other radar gear, but unfortunately I didn't take any pix in there.
Me bad!
After going up another couple of flights of ladders, we reached "CONN2", or the Number 2 "Conning Station" where the ship can be maneuvered from:
Once again, as in the Aft Steering Compartment, the ship's wheel is missing:
The one from this position is in some USN facility in D.C., and we're trying to borrow it back so we can make a copy.
There's an Engine Room Telegraph to signal speed changes from up here, along with a Shaft Revolution Indicator:
And a table listing shaft revolutions and speed in knots, showing that you can get pretty fine speed control by calling for a given number of shaft turns:
And a couple of weather repeaters:
The horizontal slits in the armor are the viewing ports to see where you're going:
The armor isn't very thick up here, maybe 2~3", and I have no idea what the "X" means that's on the covers.
There's also a Chart House up here, and the room designator indicates we're on the "08" level:
And the Chart House is pretty well stripped:
Steeping out shows we're pretty far above the deck here:
And you have a pretty nice view of the harbor where the Iowa is berthed:
The deteriorating structure in the above pic is some kind of duct work for one of the radars that used to be mounted on the platform above it.
One of those many things on the ship that need to be cleaned up/restored.
And what's a BIG ship without a BIG Ship's Whistle?
This one used to be steam powered, but nobody on the tour could remember what powers it these days:
One of the signaling lamps on the starboard side:
A close-up:
And her mate, on the port side:
And that's it for this crew tour, other than the LONG climb back down to the main deck.
SO....let's see....where were we.....
After leaving the CEC, we went up several flights of ladders (narrow, steep stairs for the land-bound folks), and made our way to "CONN2", which is the highest point on the ship where it can be steered from.
In getting up there, we passed the room where the transmitter for the SPS-67 radar is located:
And I stuck my head in to grab a picture of the rack:
Looking at the hand made table taped to the cabinet, you can see that this radar operates in C-Band, and outputs approximately 50 dBm of power.
For those that don't "know" dBm, this equates to approximately 100 Watts. Since the chart doesn't specify whether this is peak or average power, but knowing just a bit about radar, I'm going to assume this is an average power measurement. Not knowing the pulse width and duty cycle, I can't calculate the peak power, but the Wikipedia article states that it's 280 kilowatts, which "seems" about right for a high-power surface search radar.
Note: Do NOT stand in front of the antenna when the radar is in operation!
There wasn't much else to see in this room, so I didn't take any other pix. We did stop by another radar room which was full of equipment, waveguides, waveguide switches, isolators, and other radar gear, but unfortunately I didn't take any pix in there.
Me bad!
After going up another couple of flights of ladders, we reached "CONN2", or the Number 2 "Conning Station" where the ship can be maneuvered from:
Once again, as in the Aft Steering Compartment, the ship's wheel is missing:
The one from this position is in some USN facility in D.C., and we're trying to borrow it back so we can make a copy.
There's an Engine Room Telegraph to signal speed changes from up here, along with a Shaft Revolution Indicator:
And a table listing shaft revolutions and speed in knots, showing that you can get pretty fine speed control by calling for a given number of shaft turns:
And a couple of weather repeaters:
The horizontal slits in the armor are the viewing ports to see where you're going:
The armor isn't very thick up here, maybe 2~3", and I have no idea what the "X" means that's on the covers.
There's also a Chart House up here, and the room designator indicates we're on the "08" level:
And the Chart House is pretty well stripped:
Steeping out shows we're pretty far above the deck here:
And you have a pretty nice view of the harbor where the Iowa is berthed:
The deteriorating structure in the above pic is some kind of duct work for one of the radars that used to be mounted on the platform above it.
One of those many things on the ship that need to be cleaned up/restored.
And what's a BIG ship without a BIG Ship's Whistle?
This one used to be steam powered, but nobody on the tour could remember what powers it these days:
One of the signaling lamps on the starboard side:
A close-up:
And her mate, on the port side:
And that's it for this crew tour, other than the LONG climb back down to the main deck.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Battleship Iowa Transmitter Reactivated After Almost 25 Years
Well, we finally got one of the transmitters fired up today after last being powered on in 1990.
Here's a view looking into the Transmitter Room, located "On Broadway", directly across from Engine Room #2. The exciter/power amplifier units are to your right, while the Antenna Couplers are all in the racks to your left:
And this is one of the Exciter/Power Amplifier sets:
The exciter is at the top, the Power Amplifier is in the middle, and the bottom unit is the high voltage power supply for the amp.
One of the "Grey Radio Gang" team members had installed new drive chains in the exciter a couple of weeks ago, and after verifying that the RF output cables did indeed go to where we thought they did, and verifying that when patched to the dummy load it was indeed connected to the load, we had the ships Electrician check the power wiring (440V, 3 phase) for shorts and grounds, made sure all the switches and knobs were set per the start-up guide, and proceeded to power it up.
Nothing.......dead as door nail.
Some checking revealed that one of the interlocks where the exciter slides in to the rack was stuck, and freeing it up, we were able to power up the exciter and power amplifier.
Power amplifier voltages and currents checked as normal, but keying up the unit and speaking in the handset revealed NO RF power output, and NO drive from the exciter. We then inserted a power meter between the exciter and power amp and confirmed we had no RF drive to the amp.
The first thing I checked was the 5 MHz reference oscillator source, which was switched to "External", and since the 5 MHz Reference Oscillators were removed from the ship when she was in mothballs, I switched it to "Internal", and we tried again.
Still no RF drive to the amp.
Since this exciter/amplifier pair had been more or less picked at random to be the first to be powered up, and had the drive chains replaced so that all the frequency set knobs worked, we then looked for an exciter that had at least the tens, ones, and hundreds knobs in working condition so we'd pretty much know what frequency we were tuned to.
We found an exciter that had those digits working, and proceeded to swap the two exciters.
Powering up the set after swapping exciters revealed a missing fuse, and after we replaced that, everything powered up as expected.
And this time we had RF drive to the final power amplifier.
Results?
How's about 950 Watts output @ 14.250 MHz into the dummy load, as measured by the built-in metering!
We still have quite a ways to go before we attempt to put one On-The-Air, but the results were quite encouraging for a transmitter that was last powered up sometime in 1990.
I'll be bringing in my power meter and spectrum analyzer so we can get a calibrated power measurement, and check the signal for spurs and modulation level, but BB-61 should be On-The-Air later this year with a BIG voice!
Here's a view looking into the Transmitter Room, located "On Broadway", directly across from Engine Room #2. The exciter/power amplifier units are to your right, while the Antenna Couplers are all in the racks to your left:
And this is one of the Exciter/Power Amplifier sets:
The exciter is at the top, the Power Amplifier is in the middle, and the bottom unit is the high voltage power supply for the amp.
One of the "Grey Radio Gang" team members had installed new drive chains in the exciter a couple of weeks ago, and after verifying that the RF output cables did indeed go to where we thought they did, and verifying that when patched to the dummy load it was indeed connected to the load, we had the ships Electrician check the power wiring (440V, 3 phase) for shorts and grounds, made sure all the switches and knobs were set per the start-up guide, and proceeded to power it up.
Nothing.......dead as door nail.
Some checking revealed that one of the interlocks where the exciter slides in to the rack was stuck, and freeing it up, we were able to power up the exciter and power amplifier.
Power amplifier voltages and currents checked as normal, but keying up the unit and speaking in the handset revealed NO RF power output, and NO drive from the exciter. We then inserted a power meter between the exciter and power amp and confirmed we had no RF drive to the amp.
The first thing I checked was the 5 MHz reference oscillator source, which was switched to "External", and since the 5 MHz Reference Oscillators were removed from the ship when she was in mothballs, I switched it to "Internal", and we tried again.
Still no RF drive to the amp.
Since this exciter/amplifier pair had been more or less picked at random to be the first to be powered up, and had the drive chains replaced so that all the frequency set knobs worked, we then looked for an exciter that had at least the tens, ones, and hundreds knobs in working condition so we'd pretty much know what frequency we were tuned to.
We found an exciter that had those digits working, and proceeded to swap the two exciters.
Powering up the set after swapping exciters revealed a missing fuse, and after we replaced that, everything powered up as expected.
And this time we had RF drive to the final power amplifier.
Results?
How's about 950 Watts output @ 14.250 MHz into the dummy load, as measured by the built-in metering!
We still have quite a ways to go before we attempt to put one On-The-Air, but the results were quite encouraging for a transmitter that was last powered up sometime in 1990.
I'll be bringing in my power meter and spectrum analyzer so we can get a calibrated power measurement, and check the signal for spurs and modulation level, but BB-61 should be On-The-Air later this year with a BIG voice!
Friday, January 30, 2015
"Curator's Tour" Video of the Battleship Iowa
Found this on YouTube while I was searching for something else, and thought I'd repost it here. This is an abbreviated video tour of the one I took a few months ago, and it's worth the 9 minutes of your time.
Hang on, I'm still sorting through the pix of the Superstructure Tour, and I'll get those posted later today.
All of the tour guides and other people you'll see wearing Iowa shirst in the video are people I work with on the ship, and a nicer bunch of men and women would be harder to find. We're all there because we appreciate having this grand ship available to us and the public, and we treat her like the fine ship she is.
Hang on, I'm still sorting through the pix of the Superstructure Tour, and I'll get those posted later today.
All of the tour guides and other people you'll see wearing Iowa shirst in the video are people I work with on the ship, and a nicer bunch of men and women would be harder to find. We're all there because we appreciate having this grand ship available to us and the public, and we treat her like the fine ship she is.
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