Radio, Amateurishly

  I'm pretty sure I saw you. My radio was set up, as it is so often, on a camp table in my parking space where I was doing a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation. I was right next to the boardwalk, on the beach that is the last bit of land between the airport and the Pacific Ocean, the beach that I've flown over countless times. You were out for a morning walk on the boardwalk, effectively doing the same thing I was doing: enjoying an early Sunday morning by the ocean. Neither of us could honestly say we were there for the peace and quiet—the roar of departing jets every couple of minutes removed that possibility—and so yes, I was speaking into my microphone at just a little above a conversational tone, calling CQ and phonetically identifying my station as whiskey six kilo sierra romeo. As you walked by, I smiled pleasantly and tried to make eye contact. Your non-verbal response was a little different. If looks could kill, I'd be silent key, everyone shaking their heads, sayi...

I'm not a lawyer. Or a physicist. Or even a real engineer. This isn't legal advice, or a step-by-step guide to how to perform your RF-safety evaluation. This is just one ham's story about something interesting that came up in the course of trying to make sure his station was safe.   Earlier this month, the FCC's new rules regarding the need for amateur radio operators to perform a radio frequency (RF) safety evaluation went into effect. The specifics of the regulations, their purpose, and how to comply is a topic that has been well covered by people who have expertise on those subjects. This article won't be a deep dive on any of that. Instead, I'll summarize by making three points Exposure of human tissue to RF energy results in energy transfer that has the potential to cause skin burns, eye injuries, and other adverse health effects Most amateur radio activity occurs on frequencies and at power levels where those adverse health effects are negligible Because o...

What makes enigmatic music enigmatic One in a series that we'll have to see how it works out I must've come home late after a night of goofing off with my friends. There were a lot of late nights goofing off with my friends. Not yet ready for sleep, I flipped on the television and put on USA Network's Night Flight , an eclectic collection of short films, music videos, and cheesy old movies, all tied together by some cool  (for the time)  graphics depicting an aerial view of a nocturnal urban scene. On this early spring night in 1988, it was mostly music videos. The presenter was over the moon about a new (to her) Australian band who were sure to be the Next Big Thing.  Just four bars into the intro I found myself sharing in the presenter's enthusiasm. The key of A minor, but with a modal feel, an E minor seventh chord for the dominant rather than the more conventional E7. A bass line that never seemed to want to settle into root position. An unassuming vocal in a comfor...

  SAN FRANCISCO—It appears as though the lack of exposure in the For you feed and the inability to participate in Twitter polls aren't the only unpleasant surprises in store for those Twitter users who have rejected the Twitter Blue subscription model. Starting April 15th, all Twitter users who are not currently Twitter Blue subscribers will have to pay for each tweet. "The pricing plan is quite reasonable," Elon Musk said in a recent press conference, "starting at two cents". The tech mogul and owner of Twitter went on to explain that the first character in a tweet will be billed at two cents, the second character four cents, the third character eight cents, and so on, with each character costing twice the price of the previous character. After a minute of pounding furiously on her iPhone calculator app, a reporter for Reuters pointed out that a 280-character tweet, the current limit for those who are not Twitter Blue subscribers, would be billed a price that...

The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.   -United States National Parks Service Mission Statement In January of 2023, my wife and I visited Joshua Tree National Park for what was to be my third Parks on the Air activation at that site. The day before our trip to the desert, my wife and I watched a couple YouTube videos, including one produced by Allison Anderson. In the ten-minute video , Ms. Anderson shows a number of points of interest in the park, but almost more importantly, she shows off the AirBnB just ...

Into the Hills Early season rains have coaxed a faint green from hills that have been golden brown all summer. By early spring, if we're lucky enough to experience normal rainfall this year, they'll be emerald green. They'll explode with color—and with visitors—as the wildflowers bloom in mid to late spring. On this cool January day, there are few visitors. I have the place more or less to myself, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, we opened our home at varying times to five overnight guests—both friends and family. We gave gifts. We received gifts. We prepared meals and baked cookies and made peanut brittle. A lot of peanut brittle. We hosted get-togethers. We attended get-togethers. We spent the holiday season sipping wine and hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies and being with those dearest to us, and had a great time doing it. It is now the afternoon of the first of January, US Pacific time. I've pitched a c...

  If you attend—or attended—a church that follows a liturgical calendar, you are probably aware that Advent is winding down, and Christmastide is about to begin. Depending on the specific version of liturgical calendar you are using, there are lots of seasons, feast days, and holidays. Some are more important than others. Easter is a biggie. Without the Resurrection story, you have a philosopher with some uniquely helpful insights into how we should relate to each other; with the Resurrection story, you have one of the world's major religions. The Feast of St Crispin is of considerably lesser importance, one you might not have even heard of but for Shakespeare's Henry V .  Christmas has historically been somewhere in the middle. It's not even Jesus' birthday, as many of us learn at the age of four or five. The kind of record keeping that today we take for granted simply didn't exist in the first century BCE. Dates of birth just weren't tracked back then. The dat...