Monday, February 19, 2018

 ARRL DX CW 2018



Band     QSOs     Pts  Cty  Pt/Q
   3.5      35     105   25   3.0
     7      35     105   25   3.0
    14      78     234   45   3.0
    21      27      81   16   3.0
 Total     175     525  111   3.0
Score: 58,275
1 Mult = 1.6 Q's

Made a few contacts to keep up the CW ability.  Most contacts made (using N1MM) at 30+ WPM but did slow down for a few ops and the noise on 80M,  This was the first time in a while that I had at least a semi resonate antenna on 80.  Hoping to get a few new ones on 80 but I think only manged 1.


Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Waiex Trip to Ocracoke NC
Fall 2014


Took Trish to Ocracoke for a couple of days for our anniversary.  She really does not like to fly with me but was amazed at how it looked from the air and how much faster it was compared to last time we went in the VW Camper.  The weather was really good and I decided to go at the last min so I did not get my 1st or 2nd choice of hotel but did get a room at the Pony Island which we would recomend to anyone flying down.  The desk dispatched on of the hotel people to pick us up at the airport.  The hotel also has rental bikes and their resturant is a local hotspot for breakfast.  You can ride 'downtown' and to the tourist spots on the bicycles.  We went to Dajio's for a nice Anniversary dinner.  We could ride to the beach which is right next to the airport.  


Flying over Cape Point Light


Bicycle ride to Ocracoke Light


Beach right by airport


Trish at the Beach


Rental Bike at the airport


Using the secret code to use airport lobby


Pony Island Inn


From the pilot seat

Bike Florida 2014

Bike Flordia 2014

This was my second time to Bike Florida and it was different going by myself on Amtrak.  Had to ride a rental bike as Amtrak would not load my boxed bicycle so I brought my pedals, seat and handlebar bag.  Other highlights were teaching Yoga everyday in exchange for cost of Bike Florida pass.  I did still purchase the meal plan.  Slept on the gym floor on my yoga mat and blanket with a light sleeping bag.  After riding 35-65 miles per day and a Yoga class I slept fine.  Riding on the Speedway was interesting.  The banks are steeper than they look on TV.  Fish Taco's, something I had never tried were available at the beach Taco shop in Flagler Beach and other places, found out that I often like them.  Do not miss one of the Bike Flordia tours if you can fit one it.  Lots of nice people breathing too much O2 and enjoying life!


 Riding on the Daytona Speedway





My old Brooks Seat that I brought with me to use on a rental bike failed!  Do not buy these seats it only lasted for 40 years! 

 First Class accomodations at Bike Florida bring your 'sleep music' and eyeshades.
Riding up the coast 60 miles with a nice headwind.  Felt like a hundred by the end..

Monday, May 19, 2014

46th Horn Point Antique Fly-In 2014

Great day for the Horn Point Antique Fly-In.  The field was a bit wet from Friday night storms but the WX was good white puffy cloud type of day.  Not many planes though but the ones that were there were all worth a look!  Saw a Cessna with a very nice cream colored leather interior and nice avionics along with some Stearmans that looked like they flew out of a museum.  The Fairchild 71 was also a museum piece and I think is only one of two still flying.  I loved the wicker seats.  The pilot sits up front alone then there are 3 rows of two and one in the rear, all wicker chairs with red upholstery.  So 7 seats plus pilot = Fairchild 71 I guess.  Carl and I were working on the annual condition inspection for the Waiex and he took me over in the 1940 A-65 T-Craft.  I had flown in a BC-12D once at Basking Ridge about 50 years ago!  

More about Horn Point Antique Fly-In here http://www.hornpointflyin.info/








Me with Carl's 1940 Talyorcraft A-65

Funk 

1929 Fairchild 71

F 71 interior

Heading back to RJD in the T-Craft

Back to work on the Jabiru 3300

Monday, March 31, 2014

Bike Florida 2014 My Summary

Bike Florida 2014
Getting on the train was not the best experience as Amtrak would not load my bike, so I boarded without it and watched it sitting in its box on the platform as train 97 pulled away. The train was already 2 hours late so it was 9:34 and past business hours.

In the morning I called Sun Cycles Shop and told them my dilemma, they texted the guys at the event and they called about 90 minutes later. When I arrived in Palatka FL I was asking for directions to start walking with my large 40 lb wheeled bag and overnight bag. Some told me they had come to pick someone up and take them to the Overturf Center and to throw my bags in the truck and jump in! They dropped me off at the Sun Cycle tent and I looked in to see only two bikes but one was tagged with my name! It was a nice blue Trek 1.1 Alpha. I had brought my own pedals and had them put them on the rental bike. Day One rides were 7.5, 29 , 53 and 70 as it was already 2pm by the time I got registered and staked out a place in the gym I did the 7.5 but rode around town and few extra times to get a feel for the rental bike. That evening the town had a street party with a blues band and car show. Bike FL also had a hospitality tent with refreshments downtown.

Sleeping in the luxurious “indoor camping” areas was better than last year. Again I took my binaural ambient sleep music to mask the noise and this year Trish bought me a nice sleep mask (last year I used a sock). The yoga mat and blanket added some padding under the Walt-Mart sleeping bag. To me the gym floors with a couple hundred people were much more conducive to sleep than the Amtrak coach seat in a moving train with 20 some stops between DC and Palatka.



Next day I ride the shortest 35 mile route and find the rental seat pretty uncomfortable. Also the limited training compared to last year shows some but mostly the seat is painful! The WX is not quite as hot as yesterday but it felt great after a cold winter in MD. Back at the school, I decide to put my old Brooks seat on for the rest of the tour. In the evening I taught Yoga at 7:30 and it felt great to have the class outdoors as no space was provided for the evening class. The temp was perfect though and we finished the class under a clear sky full of stars. Off to sleep with the sleep mask and ambient noise sound isolation earbuds.

The lights come on at 6 am but I don't even notice them but I do sense folks moving about and I get up to eat breakfast in the cafeteria, pack and throw the bags in the luggage truck. As I have no lights I have plenty of time to get ready to take off on the 62 mile ride to We are riding to Daytona today and it was a nice ride even though it was way over my 25 mile or so max training ride this year. The old brooks saddle felt much better on the sit bones. In the evening there was talent show and I taught a Yoga class again for those that wanted to do that. This time the venue was a wrestling room which felt a bit strange with the soft had foam floor but was probably great for those that came with no yoga mat. It was difficult for balance poses as your feet 'sink in', one person complained of the chemical smell. Oh well....Tomorrow will be a local day and the WX guessers call for another nice day.

Today I don't even wake up at 6, when I finally peek out of the sleep mask and ambient noise it's nearly 6:30 and almost everyone is up and moving. I have only been waking up once to pee at 4 or so and sleeping well. I take off on the 25 mile ride to Daytona Speedway. At the speedway it is warmer and I take off the long sleeves and ride around the 2 mile track twice just enjoying the sights. The banked curves are much taller than one would imagine. The banking is so steep one needs to get on hands and knees to crawl up to the top. We were asked not to ride bicycles up past the yellow line. We stopped to take pictures and saw the victory circle, the pits and had pictures taken by the professional photographer covering our event. The Speedway was open to other bicyclists and human powered vehicles until 11am so it was great to have gotten there early enough to enjoy the track.

Failed Brooks Seat!
At Daytona Speedway



North of Daytona..

Surfer Taco Shack Flager Beach

I did not know how steep the banking is!

Nice Rest Stop


Rode back to the Seabreeze High school on the other side of the inter-coastal waterway. Some of the ride was on a bike path and it was very pretty, until a motorcycle pulled out and stopped right in my path. I hit the brakes and tried to swerve around but the bike started to slide so I straightened out and hit him in his left saddle bag. I called him several names such as DA MF and a few more and rode away. A few hundred yards later my seat felt funny, then I heard parts falling off the bike. I stopped at the base of the bridge over the intercoastal and upon dismounting the front 2/3 of the Brooks leather seat fell off! I took the safety vest and wadded it up as a pad and just set the piece of the seat back on and rode the final 4 miles or so back to the school. Back in the gym I changed to my casual shorts and shirt and headed back out to the Beach only blocks away.  At 4 pm there was the Bike FL beach party and I stayed for a while but missed the bonfire as I went back to teach Yoga again.

Today would be a “travel day” of about 60 miles with the added bonus of a 17 mph direct headwind all day, maybe increasing. Today I was glad that I was riding without a cyclometer. All I could do was ride into the wind. My new friend Bill had reminded me that “that is what gears are for” Nancy and I rode together as she was going 'my speed'. Seeing the wave and the beach much of the time was very scenic but was offering little protection from the winds and sometimes was riding in the 2nd to the lowest gear for long periods, if we went behind a building or high dune I could up shift a cog or two but then a gust would hit and I would have to downshift again. Stopping at all the rest stops for 10 min or so we finally made the Oasis restaurant south of St. Augustine and stopped for a nice Fish Taco. After about 45 min or so we took off again and finally made it to the Solomon Calhoun Center which would be our home for two nights. Again there was no assigned place for the PM Yoga class but it was not too cold to have it outside next to the baseball field on the grass behind the outfield. Layover rides were 45, 60, 100. I choose to ride to the 1st rest stop on the 45 mi ride which was right up the beach but the wind was more of a direct x-wind with a slight downwind component on the way out and slight headwind on the way back but nothing like yesterdays grueling ride. Back in St. Augustine we bought lifetime senior passes for National Parks so we could visit the famous Fort “Castillo de San Marcos” and walk/ride around downtown St. Augustine for several hours. Later we went back to the center for a shower and took the shuttle bus back downtown to the “Fountain of Youth” in time for the last Planetarium show and 20th Anniversary Party. I left early to teach Yoga but it was lightly attended as the party went till 9:30. Light out at 10 PM.

Up early again and off to ride about 40 miles back to Palatka. Todays ride was very pleasant but I was really having butt pain and overall tiredness from the tour. It was one rest stop at a time till we got back to the long term parking area. Nancy and I rode together and stopped for a few pictures. At the end we had some time to shower and pack up, turn in the rental bike and then have a great soul food style BBQ Ribs with all the fixin's and dessert. Nancy dropped me off at the train station which was only 45 min late this time. I got on the train and rode the 17 hours back to DC. In Jessup GA it started raining and rained all the way back home. It rained all day Sat and Sun turned to some sleet and snow in the DC area. I slept a lot. Next year the tour may be in Sarasota FL. I hope I can go again.



Ready to Leave at Palatka 



Monday, March 3, 2014

ARRL DX SSB 2014

ARRL International DX SSB

 Band    QSOs    Pts  Cty
    14       4      12    3
    21      71     210   41
    28      32      96   22
 Total     107     318   66
Score: 20,988

Not too much time spent on this one.  Ten meters was very active it was good to hear lots of stations on.  I did have a feedline issue on the R7 Vertical which was somewhat frustrating.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

RTTY Round Up 2013

ARRL RTTY Round Up


 Band    QSOs    Pts  Sec   DXC
   3.5       5      5    2    0
     7      34      34    9    1
    14      54      54   13    5
    21      28      28   11    5
    28      14      14    3    2
 Total     135     135   38   13
Score: 6,885

Summary from N1MM
Time on 4hr 30 min
Antenna Cushcraft R7 tuned for CW part of band
Radio FT-1000mp MkV
Radio keyed using sound card to FSKit for 'real' FSK