A Little Opening on 2 meters Yesterday

Got into the Port St. Joe (FL) repeater with no trouble at all, then heard a station in Largo on 146.52 MHz (the 2m common calling channel).  It was a little statickey, but perfectly readable.  430 miles, straight across the Gulf.  No, this is not reliable comms by any means – VHF station-to-station limits out around 10 or 20 miles under usual conditions, due to the curvature of the Earth – but it was something out of the ordinary and a lot of fun.

These things happen in the calm, clear weather a day or two after a cold front passes.

Thoughts for a Black Friday

Yesterday was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day Feast: the traditional grilled steaks and vegetables, washed down with bourbon, chased by too much pumpkin pie and whipped cream, with a cup of chicory coffee some time later.  Now as for all today's Black Friday ruckus, just remember:

Yes, you may have seen this one before.  It most definitely still applies.

Oysters in Trouble in MS, AL

Excess runoff-laden water from the Mississippi River has completely messed up the coastal waters to the east.  This is what happens when you turn a major river into a concrete lined ditch and keep pushing for 1930s farming policies upstream.  Article at NPR.

Don't let this happen to your river.

Movie Review: Ford vs. Ferrari

This is a very good movie, with no aspirations of greatness.  Look, it's about GUYS with CARS and MONEY who set out to win a race, and to do it against all odds.  The only big idea in evidence here is that when asked these guys said "Hell yeah we can do this.  Now get out of our way.  And keep the money coming."  Then they worked hard to make it happen.  Beyond that, it's all broad brush strokes, bright colors, and loud engines.  No subtlety, no subtexts, no sideways commentary about the '60s.  In some ways the story and presentation could be called "cartoonish," but only in the best possible sense of the word.

Likewise, the acting and cinematography are top-notch.  As is the writing; there's not a clunker line in the entire movie.  There's just enough tension between the characters to make them all pop out in 3-D, while maintaining their core traits.  For all the simplicity of the story line and the overwhelming personalities of the characters, it works, it's believable.  The whole thing is a professional effort.  It's also a lot of fun to watch.

Three-plus out of Four Stars.  Go see it in a good theater, with a good LOUD sound system.

Is it a bad thing when a movie merely aspires to goodness, not greatness, and then solidly hits the mark?  In a way, does that make it great after all?

Mars Sample Return Mission Shaping Up

Article over at Science.  In a nutshell, the plan is for a series of rover, lander/launcher, and orbiter missions throughout the 2020's (all unmanned of course) to bring soil and rock particle samples back to Earth in 2031.  While I'm glad to see that we're getting on with this, there are a lot of moving parts to the plan and it's going to take every bit of expertise we've built up over the last 45 years of Mars missions to pull it off.  Anyway, the article's a short and informative read.

About My Take on Cursive Too

From Wednesday's The Argyle Sweater:

Heh.

Minimalist Radio

A very cool little crystal radio, with a unique "crystal" over at The SWLing Post: 
https://swling.com/blog/2019/11/am-radio-from-a-hand-wound-coil-and-an-oxidized-british-penny/

The fact that it was tuned to a station playing The Clash's London Calling when he got it to work just makes this video all the sweeter.

I really need to build another one of these again fairly soon.  However... I will continue to enjoy my triple-conversion superhet with its plethora of digital filters for the time being.

Link-Through to Review of Osprey Tempest 20 Daypack

Following up on last winter's review of the Osprey Talon 22 daypack here at the 'swamp, Section Hiker has put together an even more in-depth review of the women-specific version, the Tempest 20.

Two different points of view, but with very similar observations, and much the same conclusion: Highly Recommended!

Is the Sunspot and Ionosphere Situation Improving?

Maybe.  Word 'round the repeater on last night's tech session was unanimously cautiously positive.  There is some DX coming in, and 80m NVIS last night from FL was booming.  The FT8 crowd is starting to pick up a few more contacts, so... maybe?  Anyway, here's a graphic prediction from last summer (reference link):

While this is five months old, we're so close to the bottom of the cycle that the slope is nearly flat and five months doesn't make much of a difference on a graph like this one.  What is interesting is the long-range prediction out to 2030: great improvements starting in two years, but an overall 'meh' peak.

So yeah, maybe things are picking up, starting about now.

A Good Friend is in a Bad Way

After a GREAT day on the Bethel Trails, the friend I was riding with sent the following:

I have to worry about the guy.  Riding a hardtail after age 50 is a true hardship.

Coffeeneuring Stop #7: Cat Island Coffeehouse

Just one of those perfect weather days, perfect for a casual road ride and a cup of coffee.

1. where: Cat Island Coffeehouse, Pass Christian MS
2. when: 11/16/19
3. what: a "Mississippi Mud," essentially hot chocolate with a shot of espresso; a chocolate brownie
4. ride details: beautiful low-60's afternoon; just an easy spin over the bridge (pics below); CX bike
5. mileage: 16.6 miles round-trip

  

  

Top Left: view from the end of my street.  The point of land across the Bay toward the left is the destination.  Top Right: The Goodies.  Bottom Left: Pass Christian harbor.  Bottom Right: the road home.  Click any to embiggen.

And got to give credit to the bike that got me there:

The CX bike in all its glory.  I swear, that thing is more handy than duct tape and vice-grips put together.

Oh it was just too pretty a day, so here's one more picture from the bridge:

Dig that sun flare!  There's some UV in the air.

And with that, the official portion of The 2019 Coffeeneuring Challenge is in the bag.  But there's no stopping this train, who know where it might go: #8, #9, ... or more?  Tomorrow and next weekend will tell.

The "Why" of Mountain Biking Well Explained

Over at Dirt Rag.  Read the whole thing.  

That is all for this Friday evening.

3x Charmed

Yesterday morning, the shower, heater, and wifi router all broke.  These things travel in threes.

Fortunately, the shower was patchable enough to get through to the weekend, the heater was only a rattled-out circuit breaker on the outside compressor unit, and the wifi... well, we got 13 years out of the old Apple unit, it was past going and beginning to be a security problem as well.  Nothing a two hundred dollar bill couldn't fix.

Bah.  I'm going to glower into my after-supper coffee now, and contemplate the good fortune that none of these items went truly sideways.  Expect more content later.

ps: theme music from Robert the Greater and Big Bob
- Stop Breaking Down
- Everything is Broken

"Why Shortwave?" Explained

Without mentioning radio once, here it is: The Beauty of Degraded Media:

Well, damn, the video won't embed, so here's the link.

That is all for today.  Too many things broke in the last 24 hours – fortunately none particularly expensive – and I am tired.

Kilroy Is There

Article about a bit of retro-grafitti carved into the WWII Memorial, over at Atlas Obscura.  Most appropriate.

All I've got.  Hope you had a good Veteran's Day, hope you thanked a veteran.

Coffeeneuring Stop #6: Cafe Con Leche

More-or-less repeating last year's set of stops (hey, small towns, not that many shops), it was back to Cafe Con Leche just after Seafood Festival weekend.  Had lunch and of course coffee with Sis and a friend.  I biked, they drove.  Nice day out on the porch overlooking Water Street.  On to the details:
1. where: Cafe Con Leche, Apalachicola FL
2. when: 11/4/19
3. what: coffee, black; no frills
4. ride details: pleasantly cool day that warmed up to low 70's; had to dodge some Festival clean-up traffic along the way.  Rode the '89 Karakoram
5. mileage: 2.2 miles round-trip

The picture is overlooking Water Street and Ward's Seafood.  Cup is balanced on the saddle.  The pic from last year's visit had a view from the same spot, but angled more down-river.  Look at those clouds!  The weather was rapidly clearing.

FCC Considering All-Digital on AM Broadcast Band

About time.  Article at Radio World, hat-tip to The SWLing Post.

Discussed five years ago here, with a closing statement "five to ten years."

Now That is Scary

The second part of this comic actually happened to me this week: PhD Comics.

Winged it with a handful of printer paper, nothing else to do with it.  Nobody attacked, so I guess it went OK.

The Fright Last Night

https://babylonbee.com/news/ron-paul-scaring-neighborhood-children-by-jumping-out-and-telling-them-about-the-national-debt

That is all... for the moment.