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N5VLZ > ALL 01.10.24 05:12l 308 Lines 12887 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 12625_NS2B
Read: GAST
Subj: PCL NET SCRIBE SEP 30 2024
Path: DB0FFL<OE5XBL<OE2XZR<OE6XPE<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<VK5RSV<K1AJD<VE3CGR<
N8FWD<KA3VSP<WB4WPF<N3IP<NS2B
Sent: 241001/0334Z 12625@NS2B.#WNY.NY.USA.NOAM BPQ6.0.24
PCL NET SCRIBE SEP 30 2024
N5VLZ, Daryl, Arkansas (Net Control/Scribe)
K0WAV, Scott, Arkansas (Short Time)
NS2B, Bob, New York (Sysop)
KD2YCK, Louis, New Jersey (First Time Checkin)
VA7RBP, Rick, Canada
KX4AC, Carl, Florida
KE8QPX, Mike, Michigan (First Time Checkin)
KJ4KW, Jim, Florida (First Time Checkin)(Poor Connect Via 20m HF)
KF5TVG, Bob, Oklahoma
**
N5VLZ:
The rest of my comments are in the scribe to save time, and to make
it easier on the eyes of all on the net...never mind the dry corneas
are giving me fits tonight. The comments include "HamShack Hotline",
a "wish list" Amtrak trip for the 2025 Hamcation (which may not be
able to be done, for several reasons), not much from Helene, square
dancing, and some medical related items.
**
N5VLZ:
I was amazed to find out that HamShack Hotline offers an option for
"softphone" (cellphone) only. You have to purchase, download, and
then install an app (Groundwire for the Android phone...I forget what
it is for the iPhone), fill out a request after login on their website,
send them an official copy of your license, then wait for approval.
They'll send the number with your username, password, and the setup
instructions that you must follow carefully, or you could get banned.
Since both the refurbished phone and power supply quit working, this
is my only option. I got it set up, but have not tried it yet.
Starting on Nov. 10, Amtrak is combining the routes of The Capitol
Limited between Chicago and Washington, DC, to Miami, into 1 train,
and renaming it "The Floridian". They lose the double decker Superliner
cars on The Capitol Limited, and get the single level Viewliner cars,
as The Silver Star and Silver Meteor have, but they regain full Dining
Car Service over the entire route. Plus, it means no need to change
trains in Washington, DC. They are doing that for a time, so they can
do tunnel repair/upgrade work in New York City.
What this might mean is that if the 401k my late brother had (that I
didn't know about until after his death) was a "Roth-401k", it means
the taxes were taken out beforehand, and my sister-in-law would split
what's in there now. If not, we'd have to pay taxes on it. The more
funds would mean I could possibly take Amtrak to Orlando for Hamcation
in February, 2025. It's obviously cheaper via coach than sleeping car,
but with sleeping car, all on board meals are included, and I would get
my privacy. Plus, the Floridian may have Wi-Fi all the way, where I
could be railroad mobile with the Smartphone and the SharkRF OpenSpot
4 Pro. But, I definitely don't want to fly. And, you also have to
consider winter time weather, which can shut down everything.
Alas, I have to get all the financial ducks in a row, and while it's
on the wish list, I'm not at all optimistic (especially considering that
my hopes have been dashed too many times in life). With my luck, all
that's in there will go towards taxes, and both my sister-in-law, and
myself, will get nothing from it. There is also the concern for going
away for a few days, and if something occurs, you just can't drop what
you're doing and come home. I'd also have to work out other transportation
options while there (not to mention funds for 2 nights of lodging, food,
and for any shopping at Hamcation), and overall, it might just be more
trouble than it's worth. As the old saying goes, "I'm only one step away
from being rich...all I need is money"...never mind that teleportation
would make things much easier (hi hi).
The worst of Hurricane Helene was east of Arkansas. There was some rain
and wind here, but not any real damage to speak of. Obviously, that's not
the case in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. I saw where
over 100 fatalities have occurred (they fear the death toll may exceed
600), plus many areas are still without power, and flooded out; and that
it may take months before any semblance of normalcy returns. There's
moderate fire danger in northwest and central Arkansas, and burn bans are
starting up again. No rain is expected here for at least another week.
There's still potential for something to form in the Gulf Of Mexico over
this week, but it's too early to know for sure.
I went to a local club square dance Saturday night, and while I didn't
get short of breath, my hips were complaining...I guess I need more
exercise than from the bedroom to "the little ham's room" and the kitchen
(hi hi).
I go in for a full physical, wellness check, blood work, etc. on Oct. 14 --
the same day I get a new Medicare number. I'm getting a lot of mail and
email on the Medicare deal, since I turn 65 next March. I am going to keep
my current Medicare plan, as I like the benefits that it offers.
**
NS2B:
GE All!
It was a nice week - a couple days or rain - but nice otherwise.
A while back I think I was babbling about taking down a J-Pole, and putting
up a 5/8 over 5/8 vertical in its place. At first, it seemed like a win, but
over time, it seemed like it was going deaf.
So last week, I swapped the J-Pole back in place and it's much better! I
think the vertical must've been collecting moisture and not behaving well
because of it.
I almost just stuffed it in the recycling bin, and then decided maybe I
should just hang on to it for parts. Might be able to build something else
with it.
Spent Saturday down at the race track in the rain. Fortunately, everyone was
well behaved and I didn't have to flag much, so I could stay under cover and
not get wet!! (It was good wx for boring races! hihi)
I think Jim's about to lose his battle - in the beginning he had a pretty good
connection, and I thought he might actually be able to participate - but as
you can see 20m went away on him.
So Mike, to answer your question - we do have a user port on 20m - 14.105 LSB
1600/1800 tones.
Being 300 baud, you need a near perfect connection to really participate in the
net. But it's good for sending messages or just casual chats.
**
KD2YCK:
Hello all, first time here, good week overall. Weekend was gloomy but sun back
out today.
Over the weekend, I played with getting HT to do packet > 1200 bd and found 2400
worked well. So I might use that as my local connect over rf, laptop + HT
I am quite a new ham, license about 2021. I did a lot of FT8 and other digital
and phone in the start. I mostly do software these days for a living, but I
started out in electronics R&D originally.
FB all. Following on about experiments this weekend;
With the HT experiments when I learned 2400 was the maximum it would run, my
immediate thought was to open it up and make some mods. But I then realized with
these cheap HTs like the ubiquitous BaoFeng, it is all radio on a chip (RDA1846)
- So mods not possible.
Made a 3-way simplex qso earlier on .52 then .55 - between Brooklyn, Queens and
NJ.
Mostly use an FT710 and 991A for HF and stuff. Have some SDRs, mobiles and I am
on 220 all mode also quite a lot. But simplex on 220 is quite rare.
The other thing I did briefly, new firmware on uvk5, tested, tx on 6 and 10m
(works) and even decoded FT8 USB on 2m with it. Strange but fun.
I run LinBPQ (20m/2m usually) and gradually getting it better configured,
forwarding and so on!
Jim, my station was hearing you well tonight, for what it is worth...
**
VA7RBP:
Good evening Daryl and all on the NET.
Another lazy week done...mostly just did a lot of reading.
The highlight of the week was Arlene's birthday dinner. We drove to Kaslo, about
2 hours north of us, and enjoyed a fantastic prime rib dinner on Friday night.
Other stuff...temperatures are getting down into the low 30's at night now. Today,
I shut down the sprinkler system and blew the lines out. In another couple of weeks,
I'll have to make an appointment to put the winter tires on.
**
KX4AC:
GE all!
Definitely a busy week. I am on the east coast of Florida, so we escaped the worst
of the storm. Just a bunch of rain and some wind, but not too bad. The people on
the west coast, like Tampa, got clobbered, though. I have a friend with family near
Tampa, and he says they had 4 feet of water in their house. Yikes!
I got a new HT recently, a Kenwood TH-D75A. Nice rig. It is a tri-bander, 144/220/440,
which is nice and has GPS, APRS, D-STAR, and a built-in TNC. I can just plug it into
my laptop and do packet!
Speaking of packet, I spent a bunch of time last week updating my packet station to
get AXIP working along with NET/ROM, and Bob(NY) graciously offered to setup forwarding,
which I think we finally have working. I expect there will still be glitches to iron
out, but so far so good.
Got my first batch of bulletins this morning. I forgot to mention that.
If you come to Hamcation, Daryl, I am sure you will have a bunch of fun, but I won't
be there. I am planning on retiring mid January, and moving back to Arizona. So have
fun on my behalf.
If you want to spend time at one of the theme parks Universal is a much better deal,
IMHO, than Disney (though personally I love Disney :-))
**
KE8QPX:
Hello everyone, first timer.
Am new to packet, but it is very interesting to me, so it will be awhile before I've had
enough I'm sure.
This week, I added the final parts to an old Kantronics from 1992, and it seems to be
working just fine.
Am in Michigan and since people are discussing weather, ours has been nicer than normal.
Lots of clear days and sun. We are often quite cloudy, so it has been nice.
Am here on telnet and wonder if there is a way to get in via RF. Hope to try that, but
maybe it isn't very likely to work?
Nice to be here.
First, sorry, hit the wrong button and blew myself out. Second is this BBS located in
NY?
It was nice being here. Sorry for this now, don't know what I'm doing yet.
**
KJ4KW:
This is Jim. I am back, but don't know for how long the link will last.
**
KF5TVG:
Hi all!
Nice turnout tonight!
Welcome to the first timers, and hope you come back to visit.
Can't believe September is already gone!
Stumbled across a SDR (HackRF1) I bought on sale 7 or 8 years ago. It's a half-duplex
tx/rx device that can put out a few milliwatts of power, and has a large bandwidth and
range. Back then, I was able to create a "test" 2G cell tower signal, and also a very
low power tv transmitter using ATSC American digital TV standard.
Since then, the software tools (gnuradio and GNU Radio Companion) have been "upgraded"
several times, and now I can't duplicate the ATSC stuff. (Haven't tried the cell stuff...
It was pretty tricky). So much for progress! I'll keep plunking on it for awhile until
my attention span drops! Not long in other words.
Still playing with HAMWORD and tinkering with meshtastic.
Many thanks to Daryl and BOB(NY) for making this net happen each week!
**
Replies from N5VLZ:
First, Scott, K0WAV, was short time tonight...so, that's why you didn't see his
comments. I think the 9 checkins tonight is a net record.
Bob (NY), FB on the racetrack, wx, antenna, and forwarding with Carl...and thanks for
the update on Jim and on HF.
Louis, glad to have you here...we're here each Monday except for the weeks of Easter,
Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.
FB on the HT doing packet, the 3 way simplex QSO, and the rigs. Hope you can join us
again.
Rick, Happy Belated Birthday to Miss Arlene, and FB on the prime rib dinner. On the
colder wx, I hope it gets here soon...I'd like to not have to worry about having the
lawn mowed again until spring.
Carl, glad you escaped the worst of Helene. I saw where the death toll is now well
over 100, and many roads in North Carolina are still flooded out. FB on the retirement,
the triband rig, and forwarding with Bob (NY). If I can make the Hamcation trip, I
wasn't planning on going to the theme parks...money will be tighter than a frogs butt
underwater as it is!!
Mike, I still have an old MFJ 1270C TNC with a TNC to computer cable, but no cable or
rig to use with it. 20m is ornery after dark, so it may be better going in via telnet...
I will defer to Bob (NS2B) on that. His BBS is in Penfield, New York...and with my
coming in from Arkansas, I have to use telnet.
Jim, you might have better luck with telnet, as 20 meters gets ornery after dark. My
email is good on QRZ...drop me a note, and I'll get you the telnet options. At least
you made it in.
Bob (OK), it's less than 3 months until Christmas...and I guess I better get the Easter
shopping started soon (hi hi). FB on the SDR HackRF1 deal...hope you can get that
working. Also, FB on HamWord...I still have not tried that...I was never good with word
games. And, Bob (NY) and I love doing the net for everyone.
**
Daryl Stout, N5VLZ, Little Rock, Arkansas
Please see my QRZ bio for more information.
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