Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: Cave Rescuers Use Ground-Penetrating Digital Radios

Waaaay down in the 2200m band around 137kHz.  This article at Dan Romanchik's blog initially alerted me to it, but here are all the other links:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrsuT64SFB4
• https://qrp-labs.com/qdxm.html
• https://makezine.com/article/electronics/cave-radio-talking-through-solid-rock/
• https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/new-rock-piercing-radio-tech-helps-rescue-tourist-trapped-in-canmore-area-cave

Interesting stuff.  If I had any spare time and collaborators, I'd look into how this band propagates across large bodies of salt water.  Vertically polarized, of course.  If I get around to building something, I'll call a few friends over by Biloxi, or maybe contact some Tampa area hams.  Yeah, real soon now.

Reminder to Self: ARRL September VHF Contest This Weekend

It runs from 2pm on Saturday to 11pm on Sunday.  Think I'll try at least to pick up some 6m traffic.  Since putting up the new antenna last winter, I've barely been using it.  Anyway, links:

• https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2026/09/alright-hams-next-big-vhf-contest-is.html
• https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php#20591
• https://www.arrl.org/september-vhf    <---<<< Rules.  Kind of important.

Sorry, no spiffy graphics for this post either.

Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: Physics and AI

Article over at Quanta.  Impossible to describe, go read the whole thing.

And yes, Demers' take is pretty close to mine too.

Bonus Tab-Clearing Post: Bears, Bear Spray, and Pistols

A look at the actual data at The Truth About Guns

TLDR: Use what you have at hand.  They both work, and the differences are statistically meaningless.  Use one.  Use both.  Use whatever's legal.  Use whatever you've got.

Fingers Crossed...

I'll just leave this here, and leave matters well enough alone.

Year of the Straggler

And it's been a great year on the new bike that still hasn't seen any real adventure.  No new pics, just rides around, through, up, over, and occasionally under town.  For a nice pic, see the original post announcing the acquisition.  Also, see the one month review.  Hopefully it'll see some roads up in Tates's Hell Swamp this winter and a little more adventure, or at least a trip to the Dwarf Cypress Forest.

As for changes, not really many.  Added a seat bag, have a handlebar bag ready to go.  Shorter stem, dropping from 100mm to 70mm; makes all the difference in handling.  Um... the shop here in town replaced a broken spoke, but that's not really an upgrade, nor even much of a change.  Rebuilt the pedals.  Wore out the rear stock tire; replaced it with a Ritchey SpeedMax, which is marginally faster.  I guess that counts as an upgrade.  Anyway, none of this has substantially changed the look of the bike, so that initial picture still holds.

Thinking back to getting this bike just before and unbeknownst to me the release of the new model, I'm glad I have the one I have.  I'd always admired the Straggler's predecessor, a model called the Cross-Check which was essentially the same bike with rim brakes.  Also, I was curious about Avid mechanical disc brakes, which are not on the latest version.  If I had the latest model, I'd have always wondered about what I'd missed.

All told though, I am quite surprised at the lack of pics of the bike in the photo album.  Will have to remedy that soon.  Cooler weather is just around the corner, and adventure awaits.

The Calendar Says "Fall"

But the weather says "not quite yet."  At least with my cleaning frenzy of last week, my sweaters have been located.  They'll probably be needed in a month – or two.

ps, later in the day:

The view is facing east; the red hue is sunset reflected off the fluffy popcorn clouds over Tate's Hell Swamp.  Definitely a September sky, even though the thermometer is saying "yeah, but not too far out of August either."