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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 5, 2011 09:40
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When will people realize that too draconian HOA rules will reduce property values rather than raise them? Sure, almost nobody wants rusting car wrecks in the neighbour's yard, but almost nobody would want a house where you can't do anything either.BigHustle posted:If anyone would be interested in a copy, I might be able to burn copies or throw up a torrent.
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Apr 5, 2011 12:25
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BigHustle posted:If anyone would be interested in a copy, I might be able to burn copies or throw up a torrent. I would be interested. I still have paper copies from when I did Skywarn training in 2002, could use any updates. I think the NWS still has my old address, should contact them to fix that.
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Apr 5, 2011 13:52
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BigHustle posted:I plan to attend the local SKYWARN training held by the NWS and local police department this weekend. Aside from getting pictures of 450 lb guys showing up in tactical combat gear with 5 HTs strapped to their belts, I'll also get their weather reference CD. I'm probably doing CANWARN up here with my local ARES group. It would be interesting to see those materials, thanks.
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Apr 5, 2011 15:14
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I don't think I'll be able to run a torrent for it since the folks bitch when their connection slows, so I'll rip the CD and put it in my public Dropbox folder so everyone can download it. I'll post the link after the training. Snapshot, I looked at your avatar text and the first thing I thought was 'gently caress you, I'm not getting in your boat' EDIT: I was incorrect about the CD... They aren't handing them out in class, they're mailing them out 6 weeks later. It'll be a while before it gets posted, but I'll still put it up. BigHustle fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Apr 5, 2011 |
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Apr 5, 2011 17:21
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Most if not all of those things are already online and free to download, and the FEMA NIMS stuff is on their site, and is an online only course. Basic Spotting Guide (pdf) Advanced Spotting Guide (pdf) FEMA NIMS site IS-100.b; IS-200.b; IS-700.a; and IS-800.b are the courses you'd want to go through for ARES. Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Lightning (pdf) Are You Ready? (pdf) Cloud Chart (pdf) NOAA/NWS Brochures These are all handy things to have for weather related stuff, and there's a ton on the FEMA site for more ARES related things like Natural disasters/Terrists/All hell breaks loose kind of poo poo. The NIMS stuff is what government agencies use, so it's good to go through the courses and take the 'tests', in case you ever have to help run comms for some large-ish scale disaster/accident/whatever. I wish I could get more people involved in ARES locally, since the majority of Hams here are concentrated in the two largest cities in the county, and the rest of the county has maybe 10 total. It's a fairly large county, as well, almost 2,000 sq. miles in area, and from where I live to the town on the opposite edge of the county is almost 80 miles, so if there's ever a need to rely on 2m simplex there's not really anyone out past 30 miles of me that's even active..
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Apr 5, 2011 22:29
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mwdan posted:
They quite suspiciously left out chemtrails 
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Apr 5, 2011 23:04
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Haha. They should add those, along with smoke, rain and fog, and put them in the "THESE ARE NOT CLOUDS" portion. I wish I could get ahold of the video the lead meteorologist at the local NWS has, of some guys at a Minneapolis TV station showing a live traffic cam of a "forming tornado" that suddenly "dissipated" They were calling the exhaust from a factory or power plant off on the horizon a tornado, and were amazed at how fast it was dissipating. It brings many laughs at the various weather seminars he puts on.
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Apr 6, 2011 00:24
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I'll have the AG0ON node back up shortly. I've been super busy. One of the things I've been busy with this week was the following: (Backstory: I made a J-Pole which worked great, but it was never mounted in an optimal location. I purchased a Diamond X300 dual band 2m/70cm antenna, and put it in the same spot with similiar results. This location was known to be a lovely location, but it is the one I had easiest access to.) This is the old TV antenna, which was always a POS and has been unused since 2000. It just has to go. As soon as I got into ham radio, I knew one day I'd put an antenna up there.  Well that day has arrived. I rented a 50 ft tow-behind articulate lift. (The 40ft tow behind unit or 37ft bucket trucks can't handle this job.) It is quite an awesome piece of equipment! Very heavy too. It's within the towing limits of my '96 Dodge B2500 van, but the tow sure did give her a workout. I did not like the safety logistics of doing this job on a ladder from the flat roof. The rental fee is alot cheaper (and less painfull) then going to the hospital.  My buddy stopped by and managed to get an action shot of me installing the U-bolt hardware with his camera phone. I may not have the sexiest butt, but that safety harness along with those jeans is not flattering AT ALL.  Here the Diamond X300 antenna stands proudly with its base 45ft high in the air, right above my roof line. I have the tallest house in the neighborhood, so the antenna is the tallest thing around, minus trees. I used the old coax from the TV antenna (which fed into the basement) to measure the height, so 45ft is a relatively accurate number.  In this close up you can see I installed new chimney straps right below the old ones. The hardware on the old ones was a bit rusty.  This is where I used to have the Diamond X300 mounted, prior to the chimney, on a very temporary wooden stick attached to a vent pipe. I can easily climb onto the flat roof via the window in the attic.  In this picture you can see that same wooden stick and get an idea of where it is in relation to the rest of the house. The antenna preforms fantastic in it's new location, and I could not be happier. Those of you with good eyes may also notice a 10m verticle wire dipole in this picture.  I can't forget the obligatory ride into the sunsut.  I can hit any repeater I want (within reason) with full quieting and great audio now. I haven't had a chance to do any real simplex work with it yet, but I'm noticing that when listening to repeater input frequencies, I can hear way more stations then I ever did before. Also, the coax I used is RFC-400, an LMR-400 equivalent. Great stuff, very low loss, easy to install PL-259's too! AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Apr 8, 2011 |
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Apr 8, 2011 13:58
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 10, 2011 02:15
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Jose Pointero posted:Wow, that's gotta be one of the most competent ham installs I've seen. Nice work and I bet it's awesome being that high up. Jose Pointero posted:However,
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Apr 10, 2011 07:29
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 10, 2011 08:17
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Well, you know, ventricle failure and other heart ailments. Looks like a nice installation, AbsentmindedWelder.
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Apr 10, 2011 19:58
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Hey everyone. I was a little disappointed with the turnout at the Skywarn training. It was held in Sunset Hills, MO which had a portion of the town leveled by a freak tornado in January so it was mainly attended by locals. Of the 60 or so people there, only about 7 hams showed up. I was hoping to get some pics of cars with 40 antennas glued to them or 450 pound dudes in tactical combat gear, but none of those guys showed up. The presentation was really informative and the NWS guy running the show was actually entertaining, so I got a good amount of info out of it. I also got a SKYWARN window sticker to tard up my shitbox. I also picked up a discone antenna for 6m/2m/1.25m/440 use. I put it up on a tripod in the backyard and noticed a dramatic increase in reception and managed to pop into a 2m repeater roughly 18 miles away with 5w of power from ~10 feet off the ground. I need to get this thing up on the roof and pick up an amplifier and I'll be good to go.
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Apr 11, 2011 05:50
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BigHustle posted:Of the 60 or so people there, only about 7 hams showed up. I was hoping to get some pics of cars with 40 antennas glued to them or 450 pound dudes in tactical combat gear, but none of those guys showed up. You need to join ARES, or better, RACES (because it's associated with the government!) to find those people. Not saying all ARES/RACES people are like that, but that's what those people tend to be drawn towards.
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Apr 11, 2011 14:32
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fordan posted:You need to join ARES, or better, RACES (because it's associated with the government!) to find those people. Apparently at one of the previous SKYWARN meetings one of the RACES guys showed up in tactical SWAT type gear and was packing heat. Keep in mind that the session was held at a boys and girls club. There was a minor meltdown last night during the club meeting. Our resident nutjob was raving about the nuclear contamination from Japan that was going to come down in the rain we had, and how everyone should keep their wives and daughters out of the rain because STRONTIUM 90 BIRTH DEFECTS and poo poo. Of course she tells everyone to go to her website to find a link to the University of Maryland radioactive plume tracker. Her website is her home business, selling radioactive fallout protection materials. One of the guys in the net said that if she did that again he'd turn her in to the FCC himself, and the poo poo storm went on for a good 20 minutes from there. Unfortunately, she was net control for the night, so there was no way to shut her up.
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Apr 11, 2011 19:00
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BigHustle posted:Apparently at one of the previous SKYWARN meetings one of the RACES guys showed up in tactical SWAT type gear and was packing heat. Keep in mind that the session was held at a boys and girls club. Net control? Do you have a weekly net that serves as your meetings somehow? You should record nutjobs like that for laughing at later on: http://www.davee.com/scanrec/
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Apr 11, 2011 20:06
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Nullsmack posted:Net control? Do you have a weekly net that serves as your meetings somehow? You should record nutjobs like that for laughing at later on: http://www.davee.com/scanrec/ Yeah, we do an on-air net meeting every Sunday night. I always like to watch the news ahead of time to hear what she'll be pulling a 'Chicken Little' about that week. When the heavy sunspot activity happened last year she was in a panic because a solar flare could create an EMP that would wipe out communications planet-wide, when the Icelandic volcano erupted it was going to blot out the sun and start a second ice age. When they discovered methane leaking from some spot in the ocean it was that the methane would collect in the atmosphere and ignite, causing all of the oxygen to burn off, killing us all. She was talking after the net. Apparently she knows a 'nuclear expert' who says that Fukushima reactor 1 will 'go Chernobyl' this week. When I brought up that it was literally IMPOSSIBLE for that to happen, she started wailing lamentations about how we're all going to die of radiation poisoning. I emailed the club president and asked him to intervene in her fearmongering, but I haven't heard back yet.
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Apr 11, 2011 20:56
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drat BigHustle, I wish the nets around here had even a fraction of that entertainment! I have to listen to 80M for that kind of craziness. Locally the nets are pretty dry, nobody acts up and the phrase "no comment" is common after check-ins. Once in awhile I can catch something interesting on 2M simplex (cursing, etc) but otherwise FM is dull. Skywarn nets from the semi-famous "147.300 Bluemont repeater" which covers a huge chunk of Maryland, DC and Virginia can be interesting during severe storms. I still remember the phrase "OMG the hail is cracking my windshield" from some storm going through northern Virgina a few years back. Kind of makes you think "time to go inside!"
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Apr 12, 2011 02:43
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Radio Nowhere posted:drat BigHustle, I wish the nets around here had even a fraction of that entertainment! I have to listen to 80M for that kind of craziness. Locally the nets are pretty dry, nobody acts up and the phrase "no comment" is common after check-ins. Once in awhile I can catch something interesting on 2M simplex (cursing, etc) but otherwise FM is dull. Skywarn nets from the semi-famous "147.300 Bluemont repeater" which covers a huge chunk of Maryland, DC and Virginia can be interesting during severe storms. I still remember the phrase "OMG the hail is cracking my windshield" from some storm going through northern Virgina a few years back. Kind of makes you think "time to go inside!" Snag a copy of EchoLink if you don't have it already and check out the W2NJR statewide linked repeater system in New Jersey. Now THAT is some heavy duty hilarity.
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Apr 12, 2011 03:04
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I took the D-Star plunge. (Icom 2820 on my desk, and a DVAP in the mail.) If anybody has D-Star capability here, PM me, and we'll see if I can figure out how to make this poo poo work, and then have a QSO. Speaking of QSO's, I have the AG0ON node very close to being up again, so stay tuned. Also, let's start thinking about a net day/time is that is accommodating to most people.
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Apr 12, 2011 06:05
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BigHustle posted:Snag a copy of EchoLink if you don't have it already and check out the W2NJR statewide linked repeater system in New Jersey. Now THAT is some heavy duty hilarity. 147.435mhz in the Los Angeles area is always fun.
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Apr 12, 2011 07:01
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BigHustle posted:Apparently at one of the previous SKYWARN meetings one of the RACES guys showed up in tactical SWAT type gear and was packing heat. Keep in mind that the session was held at a boys and girls club. To be fair, I pack heat at radio club meetings. But then, I pack heat EVERYWHERE. HTs make an amazing cover device from a weapon. Put the belt clip directly over the weapon, perfect excuse for the extra clips on the belt to the left and right. I got rid of all my old Army crap, though. It's somewhere in my storage unit.
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Apr 12, 2011 12:58
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Skyssx posted:To be fair, I pack heat at radio club meetings. But then, I pack heat EVERYWHERE. HTs make an amazing cover device from a weapon. Put the belt clip directly over the weapon, perfect excuse for the extra clips on the belt to the left and right. I got rid of all my old Army crap, though. It's somewhere in my storage unit. Yes, but do you show up to general public functions looking like this?  The dude somehow thinks that having a CCW permit and being a member of RACES entitled him to open carry a loaded Deagle on each hip while in a facility that specifically has 'NO FIREARMS ALLOWED' posted at all entrances.
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Apr 12, 2011 14:47
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BigHustle posted:The dude somehow thinks that having a CCW permit and being a member of RACES entitled him to open carry a loaded Deagle on each hip while in a facility that specifically has 'NO FIREARMS ALLOWED' posted at all entrances. Laws about how and when private property owners can deny law abiding citizens the right to carry vary from state to state. Anybody can put up a no firearms sign, but there are places where one can legally ignore that. But, a dude showing up at a Boys and Girls club all tacticooled out is a little much.
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Apr 12, 2011 15:34
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BigHustle posted:
I've never met any hams that take it that far, but I've never been involved with RACES or anything. I took a spotting class years ago but I guess I was unlucky in that nobody like that showed up. I did have a boss about 10 years ago who was into skywarn big time. He didn't open carry or anything but he drove a huge Toyota Land Cruiser outfitted with amber flashing lights, magnetic skywarn signs, and like 5 VHF/UHF antennas. He was a really cool, down to earth guy though, his only failing was being a skywarn nutcase. He was one of the marines who survived the bombing in Beirut, and carried like 5 people out of the place on a broken leg or something. So I tried to not give him any grief over "tacticLOL" skywarn stuff, outside of making the occasional joke about how I could get him a mobile doppler radar on the gray market pretty cheap.
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Apr 12, 2011 15:34
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:I took the D-Star plunge. (Icom 2820 on my desk, and a DVAP in the mail.) If anybody has D-Star capability here, PM me, and we'll see if I can figure out how to make this poo poo work, and then have a QSO. I was just looking at my 92AD and thinking I needed to play with it again. Unfortunately, last I checked, the local D-Star repeater didn't have it's gateway up yet, and the closest one with a gateway is challenging to get to with an HT. Also have a dongle and a DVAP, although I have yet to get my DVAP working since I need a password reset on my home gateway account, and multiple attempts to find someone who can do that have failed so far. Time for attempt #4. Dijkstra posted:Haha, wow. loving RACES. Most RACES members are good guys looking to help in an emergency. It's just the ham radio group most likely to attract the wanna-be police/soldier/survivalist types. Actually, one of the people I know in Skywarn out here often does take a modified truck out to the midwest this time of year to storm chase, but most of his modifications are things like XM/WX satellite weather, computers, TVs, etc to actually track/forecast storms, and less about amber lights. And a few VHF/UHF antennas, since he is a ham after all. 
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Apr 12, 2011 15:49
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:There's nothing wrong with a dude carrying a gun and a radio. In fact, more people should carry guns and radios. I agree with you there, although I'm not a gun person. quote:Laws about how and when private property owners can deny law abiding citizens the right to carry vary from state to state. Anybody can put up a no firearms sign, but there are places where one can legally ignore that. I think the matter had less to do with private property laws and more to do with the fact that the dude strolls into a public info event hosted by the county police at youth activity center wearing combat gear, a kevlar vest, and carrying two loaded Deagles. The only thing he could have done to make the situation worse was to enter blasting 'gently caress tha Police' from a loudspeaker. Dijkstra posted:Haha, wow. loving RACES. I haven't gotten involved with RACES either, but I was of the understanding that the whole program is set up to relay emergency communications. I don't understand the nutjobs who think that makes them SWAT team members. It's not so bad here in MO for the most part, but up in Jersey some of the RACES folks thought they were Delta Force or some poo poo. I'd almost be willing to bet that if some poo poo goes down one of those dudes will roll up with a .50 machine gun mounted to his Hamabout.
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Apr 12, 2011 16:02
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BigHustle posted:I haven't gotten involved with RACES either, but I was of the understanding that the whole program is set up to relay emergency communications. I don't understand the nutjobs who think that makes them SWAT team members. It's not so bad here in MO for the most part, but up in Jersey some of the RACES folks thought they were Delta Force or some poo poo. Clearly you have us Jersey hams confused with Ohio. And what's to understand about the nutjobs? They want the respect and authority that goes with being law enforcement, but can't actually become police for whatever reason. You see similar stuff with volunteer firefighters who decide to go with massively tricked-out lightbars for their personal vehicles. It gives them a sense of importance. I mean, I have a pair of magnetic amateur radio communication signs for my car doors, but I've used them like 3 times, primarily when I was working a public service event, a 50 mile city-to-shore bike tour. Being able to identify me in my car by the side of the road as one of the communications workers for the event was useful for bicyclists who might want to report a rider down or the like. I wouldn't dream of something like strobes/siren/all the other wacky stuff people sometimes use... Although I have considered a simple amber beacon just to increase visibility.
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Apr 12, 2011 19:13
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fordan posted:Although I have considered a simple amber beacon just to increase visibility. This is how it starts. I recommend that you seek help now before it's too late.
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Apr 12, 2011 20:18
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BigHustle posted:This is how it starts. I recommend that you seek help now before it's too late.  Does this mean I should cancel my Hamvention trip this year?
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Apr 12, 2011 22:05
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I'm cool with the idea of ARES/RACES/whatever volunteer communications adjunct, but I just don't see any of them ever *actually* being useful.
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Apr 13, 2011 02:11
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fordan posted:
No, you should just avoid flashing lights for your vehicle. Everyone says 'Oh, just one and I'll be OK' and before you know it they're spending their whole paycheck getting high(beams). Skyssx posted:I'm cool with the idea of ARES/RACES/whatever volunteer communications adjunct, but I just don't see any of them ever *actually* being useful. It's like any other group... The nutcases get all the attention because they're whoring for it. The people doing the actual work are keeping their heads down and practicing their skills via drills, nets, and public service events like the one Fordan participated in. If something were to happen that required some support from RACES and a hamtard shows up in his armor plated Hoveround with no clue about the procedures set in place, that idiot is going to either be sent home or reduced to coffee gopher. As far as usefulness, it does have its place. If you end up with a situation like the flood in Arkansas where the area is off the beaten path and cellular service is either limited or non-existent, radio relays can provide an invaluable service for getting help to specific spots without having to send a person back to let everyone know what's up. In an emergency setting, amateurs can relay 'non-essential info' (where to send water or food, numbers of people in specific locations) leaving official law enforcement lines open for actual emergencies. The problem is that people go into these things expecting to be activated to hunt down Osama bin Laden and take him out, not to tell the Salvation Army that there are 50 people more at the relief station than they estimated and could they please send more blankets. It's like the SKYWARN poo poo. I went to the meeting because I was interested in getting more info after the New Years Eve tornado outbreak since the biggest twister passed about 1.5 miles north of my house. From the way the nutcases ramble on and tie up the repeaters during storms, they make it sound like the whole point of the service is storm chasing. During the meeting the NWS area emergency coordinator stressed that they wanted NO ONE chasing storms or putting themselves in danger in any way. I actually fire up the radio during rainstorms just to listen to the idiots on the repeater report 'storm activity' and hear the gal from the NWS key up her mic, sigh heavily, then tell them that light drizzle is not a reportable occurrence and that they don't need to 'activate' and follow that lonely little raincloud like they're Winnie the Pooh.
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Apr 13, 2011 07:02
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Skyssx posted:I'm cool with the idea of ARES/RACES/whatever volunteer communications adjunct, but I just don't see any of them ever *actually* being useful. They're actually being useful many times each year, in more localized emergencies. Also many of the groups do communication for non-emergency public service events - bike rides, parades and such; that works as both exercise and public outreach. The last "big one" I think, was Katrina. There was that sort of blankets-toiletpaper-and-medication communication between shelters and hospitals (which is important enough), and radio amateurs also effected rescue of people stuck on roofs and in buildings, by passing messages to the Coast Guard helicopters and people with boats. ARES and the amateurs in the Red Cross and Salvation Army were very active. It's no exaggeration to say that many people are alive and in better condition than they would have been without amateur radio. Here in Norway, the main focus for the amateur radio emergency service is search-and-rescue support for the police and cooperating organizations like the Red Cross. That established relationship has been used for some other types of emergencies too. I don't think RACES in particular has ever been activated for real, since that only happens when the POTUS closes down amateur radio in wartime. That's why they recommend that RACES groups also join ARES, which gets activated fairly often. Edit: Correction: RACES groups actually do activate from time to time when state and local governments activate them, in disasters for example. Vir fucked around with this message at 10:43 on May 26, 2011 |
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Apr 13, 2011 11:38
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BigHustle posted:Snag a copy of EchoLink if you don't have it already and check out the W2NJR statewide linked repeater system in New Jersey. Now THAT is some heavy duty hilarity. Wow, this really is gold. Secret muslim talk going on now. 
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Apr 14, 2011 00:42
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ThinkFear posted:Wow, this really is gold. Secret muslim talk going on now. The good stuff usually comes up in the late evening if KC2WAD shows up on the repeater after knocking back a few fifths or if the 'Mad Kerchunker' shows up to interrupt conversations/nets and identify with mock call signs like 'KC2lickmyballs' or 'N2kissmyass'. Now there's guys on there bitching about China. Mainly about how they're pissed that people are buying Wouxian drat CHINESE CRAP radios.
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Apr 14, 2011 01:06
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 14, 2011 14:35
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Jose Pointero posted:Hah, one of those will probably be my next purchase. I'm glad China has finally started to step up their game in the ham market...it could definitely use a little shake-up, especially in regard to prices. I'm waiting for them to start making mobile units. I'd like a cheap 2m/440 to put in the car.
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Apr 14, 2011 16:32
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BigHustle posted:I'm waiting for them to start making mobile units. I'd like a cheap 2m/440 to put in the car. It looks like your wish in the on the way. Wouxun mobile 2m/440 in production.
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Apr 14, 2011 18:05
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xergm posted:It looks like your wish in the on the way.  I love my Wouxun KG-UV2D HH, so that's pretty awesome.
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Apr 14, 2011 18:13
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