I Knew That Stuff Was No Good

Erythritol crosses blood-brain barrier, linked to strokes etc.  Article at Inc, though I'm sure you can find other sources.

I tried that stuff a couple of times in various Monster drinks.  Nasty.  You can just taste that it's no damed good.

Quotes of the Day

I'm in the middle of planning out a radio tower for the new Franklin County EOC, and two quotes came to mind that are worth mentioning here.  The first is from the very best source, author unknown:

Always and Everywhere,

Mission drives Hardware

I'd like to tattoo this on some people's foreheads.  Reversed of course, so that they could just look in a mirror as needed.

The second of course is from Robert A. Heinlein:

What are the facts?  Again and again and again – what are the facts?  Shun wishful thinking ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell," avoid opinion, care not what  the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" – what are the facts, and to how many decimal places?  You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue.  Get the facts!

RAH may be an even more unassailable source of quotations than either Mark Twain or Winston Churchill.  Probably not the two combined, however.

Thus ends my smartassery for the afternoon.  Time to get down to some Egli calculations in order to nail down just how high this antenna has to be.  Because "as high as we have budget to build!" holds no water whatsoever with me, and in fact actively ticks me off a good bit.

Thursday Movie at the Library Night: Ulee's Gold

Tonight!  Don't forget!

A Glimpse into What's Going On at the ARRL

Over at KB6NU's blog.  It's bad.

Here are my earlier thoughts on the matter, to provide some context.

Yep, Definitely the Equinox

Today, and the exact moment is 10:46 EDT.  Can't you just feel it?  Nah, me neither, but there it is.

No picture here, but APOD usually has something interesting up on these astronomically interesting dates.

A Look at the Science Behind 'Project Hail Mary'

By no coincidence at all, it's this week's topic at Big Picture Science podcast.  Go & download & listen.

I'd put in an image, but just click through and you'll get all the image I'd put here.

Really looking forward to this movie.

Tent Trauma(s)

As mentioned previously, Friday evening at the Santos Fat Tire Fest had an intense storm that resulted in a wet tent interior.  I'd more or less shrugged and mentally planned on a new tent – it's 25 years old after all, and I'd just Nikwaxed it a couple of years ago and had only used it once in the meantime, and here it was leaking again.  Then two things happened.

First up, while taking the tent down, I noticed a trash line on the outside of the fly.  A little closer examination (see inset) and it appeared that the source of the wet tent was rising rather than falling water.

Even so, I was still open to buying a new tent.  Twenty five years is a good run for any piece of camping gear.  Straight-up replacement, incoming!  Then I went looking for a shiny new Eureka Apex 2XT or something comparable and... wait, Eureka's gone?  Whisky Tango?  I mean, they're one of those great companies that... No, gone, just gone.  More on this in a minute.

So I set the tent up in the back yard and hit it with a hose, and you know what?  Pretty damn watertight.  Oh, I've got the older straight-zipper rainfly model, that zipper's always leaked a little, but it's clear that the water problem wasn't the tent's fault, it's where I pitched it (and that astonishing deluge).  The tent was already up and wetted down for testing, so I just gave it another coating of Nikwax and called it a day.

Now back to the demise of Eureka Tents.  Reading between the lines on what happened, it seems that their 2023 Q3 revenues were way down compared to Q3 2022, and so as an underperforming division of Johnson Outdoor products, it had to go.  Never mind that everybody and his brother had taken up car camping during the covid-19 scare and that of course sales of durable items like tents would be down for a few years after a big boost like what happened in 2020-2022, and that this whole cycle was completely foreseeable and could have been ridden out.  Nope, burn down Yet Another great brand, move on.  For what it's worth, the same thing is happening all over the bike industry as well, and I'm sure it's happening with many other "pandemic safe" outdoor equipment manufacturers as well.  Freekin' bean counters.  For a fairly gentle take on what was going on inside Johnson Outdoors, read this short article about Eureka's demise.

Now, as for the rest of Johnson Outdoor's lines, Wikipedia has the complete brand roll; that makes for a handy no-buy list.  I just have no patience for bean counters anymore.

Anyway, I've still got several good tents – a 9x9 funhouse, the 2XT discussed here, and a dinky 1-man Spitfire, and no good reason now to replace any of them.  Good, because I just had to replace a water heater and my mountain bike shoes.  Things were stacking up a little around here.

Damp Camp

Happy 'They Tried to Preserve the Republic' Day

And you might also note that doing it this way really didn't work out in the long run.

ps: One more Caesar gag over at Foxtrot today.

A Brief Rant on Electric Mountain Bikes

As promised earlier this week, here it is, but first the tldr: not for me, perhaps for thee, but only for good reason.  Even so, there's a very good reason to test ride one, so read on.

Last Saturday after finishing the 50 mile Epic (see yesterday's post), a mechanic from Tallahassee, another rider, and I were discussing e-bikes.  The other rider had just finished the Epic also, but additionally had just wrapped up chemotherapy the previous week.  Now that's a legit use for an e-bike.  A couple of tents over in the campsite there was a guy who'd had heart surgery in October, and he'd ridden the half-Epic as well on an e-bike.  Yep, legit.  A friend here in town has trashed-out knees from a lifetime in motion, and he too rides an e-bike.  Totally legit.  What's more, I can see other valid uses as well, such as a pro working on handling skills while giving the legs a rest day, as part of a structured training schedule.  I'm sure the list goes on.

So I got talked into a test ride on Sunday.  Showed up with my driver's license and a credit card (no charge, just as hostages to ensure return of the bike), one of the mechanics tuned it to my parameters, and said "Go!" so I went.  And I must say, it was a pleasant experience.  Rode a mile out on the Cowbone Trail, a mass of small-to-moderate limestone rocks, over which its 47 pounds performed beautifully.  Paused briefly at the bottom of the long slope to chat with a friend, then pointed it upward on the Dr. Ruth Trail; not a bad path, but with a few easy technical climbs.

And that's when it occurred to me why e-bikes have such allure.  At the top of each climb, I felt great!  It's a feeling I remember, from some time ago.  That's the real question e-bikes present:

If someone offered you a pill that would instantly make you 30 years younger and 20 pounds lighter, would you accept it?

And at what price?

(read on – answers below!)

I turned the bike in at the Specialized tent, said my thanks, and went back to camp for my pedals-only bike, and went on for another eight or so miles before calling it day.  Still a little tired from Saturday's 50, yes, and I didn't want to push it and injure something before the drive back on Monday.

Returning to camp after the ride, I talked with a couple from North Carolina who were packing out.  The husband had bought an e-bike a couple of years ago to supplement his regular bike and said that choosing it for a ride was akin to opening the refrigerator and choosing the healthy keto drink or the chocolate milk.  It's chocolate milk every time baby, and after a year, that new 20 pounds around the middle showed.  So he's back to his bike, and getting the weight back off.

Anyway, that's the real value of taking an e-bike for a test ride.  It showed me that I really do need to lose that 20 pounds and how much better life could be if I will do it.  (Sorry, can't do anything about the 30 years.  Or the lung damage.)  That bike held up a magic mirror and said "This is what you can get back, if you'll just get to it" and for that I am most grateful to the folks at the Specialized tent.

If you've read this far, I'm guessing you're thinking "Nice, but exactly how much would that magic pill cost?  Asking for a friend."  $15,649.99  S-Works Turbo Levo R; click through and show some proper bike lust.  I have to hand it to the Specialized reps, they hooked me up with the best damn ride they had.

Santos Fat Tire Fest 2026

Put on once again by OMBA.  And a good time was had by all, despite the watchword being 'moist.'  That, by the way, is somewhere between the dry-ish 'damp' and full on 'wet.'  Here it is day-by-day, with a stack of pictures randomly inserted.  As usual, click to embiggen.

• 
  Thursday: Uneventful drive.  The new Kuat u-bar worked great with the old Saris trunk rack to haul the Anthem.  (this will make future trips to Munson sooo much easier)  Set up camp, rode a little (maybe 8 miles), chowed at Fat Tiki, then met up at the trailhead for a 6pm ride.  Which seems to have been canceled, since it was on some of the earlier schedule sheets but not on the later ones.  That's OK!  Five us rode it anyway, maybe another 8 miles.  We'd just returned to the trailhead when there was a roaring sound in the trees – "What's that?" – RAIN!  As I was rolling back into camp, one of my neighbors was busy zipping up my tent's fly doors.  Good dude.
• Friday: Shopping around the trailhead (got some art and a couple of tee shirts), had a wagu burger, rode about 10 miles.  Showered and went to supper when a Deluge & Major Storm hit.  It was one of those where you're wincing at the lightning and waiting for the tornados to hit, the latter of which fortunately never happened.  Mopped out the tent, fetched the spare bag (my backpacking quilt), and slept snugly if a little wetly.  I wish I could tell you more about the Friday night band, but I was asleep before their third song.  More on the tent situation in a future post.
• 
  Saturday: The Epic Ride, 50 miles with plenty of sag support.  I have to hand it to the OMBA folks, this was even better than in previous years (which were pretty darned good).  Some of the re-routes took us through technical places early in the ride, with the easy stuff saved for after Mile 45, which was much appreciated.  Ran into several friends from previous years at the sag stops, who I'd somehow missed back in camp.  Don't forget to swap cards at the turn-around, if you want to get a finisher's medal!  After the finish, talked a long while with Nixon from Epic Bikes in Tallahassee, along with a guy who'd ridden with him on an e-bike, which was totally legit since he'd just finished chemo the previous week.  Got talked into a Sunday e-bike test ride.  Ate two plates of barbecue and slaw, and again I wish I could tell you about  Saturday night's band, but I was asleep before they began, in my moist little tent.
• I've got to throw in one more comment about the riders in this year's Epic.  They were great!  Everybody was really riding, be it on analog or e-bikes.  (In past years, I've seen a few throttle hot-wired e-bikes, but no such this year.)  After the Epic, one rider was talking about how he had an un-pluggable flat on a tubeless tire, and another rider just chucked a spare tube over as he rode past.  Stuff like that happened on a regular basis.  Finally, hats off to the guy who rode the entire 50 miles on a single-speed gravel bike.  That's real biking tenacity.
• 
  Sunday: Wait, wait, wait, lunch (Fat Tiki again), wait, hand over DL & credit card to trail-test an e-bike (stay tuned later in the week for thoughts on that), rode a mile in and decided it wasn't for me, rode back out, turned it in.  Then rode my real bike for another six careful miles – had to drive the next day, after all.  Chit-chat around the campground as folks were packing out, then I called a friend who couldn't make it to Santos this year.  Noticed that my eleven year old Sidi bike shoes were peeling loose at the front.  New shoes and a new tent coming up?  Expensive trip.
• Monday: Pack out.  Uneventful drive home.  Was it worth it to stay the extra day?  Not really, especially given the moist tent and clothes.  Although, I did get to test ride that e-bike...  That, and it was nice having one recovery day between a 50 miler and having to sit in a car for four and a half hours.  Did get to stop by the Taste of Dixie diner in Cross City, that's always a treat.
• One final comment: No crashes this year.  Still, I rode with shin & knee guards, because you never know when your number's up.

And that's it for this year's Santos FTF.  Planning on next year already.  Also, will update and add links to the posts on e-bikes and this year's tent trauma after those posts are up.

About that Cyberpunk Dystopia You Ordered

Oh, it's here alright, but as the old saw goes, it's just not evenly distributed.  Here's a long-ish essay on the matter [tldr below], with respect to a semi-functional AI on-the-fly cheatsheet generator, cluely (no, I won't link that), and the culture that brought it into existence.

Personally, I am tired of seeing these "hyper-agentic" boy-childs thrashing about for a few years, leaving Chesterton's fence ajar at every turn, before finally burning out and departing stage left for Bora Bora and an early death at the hands of their local coke dealers.  This is what, three generations? of them I've seen come and go.  Anyway, it's sort of amusing to watch one more cycle of crash and burn.  Just don't take my cash with you via some sort of taxation for a national need.

Meanwhile, using century-old shortwave technology, Iran is either waking sleeper cells worldwide or pulling a head-fake freak-out by broadcasting seemingly random strings of numbers.  Also, they're making the Straits of Hormuz unusable via some pretty nasty quarter-century old tech about which I have absolutely no comment.

Anyway, here's the tldr you were promised.  It's AI-generated of course.  What, you didn't expect me to read through and summarize all of that lit-school rambling, did you?  But you probably ought to read the entire thing when you get a chance, if only for the amusing parts about what Scott Alexander is up to these days.

Sam Kriss's essay "Child's Play" in the March 2026 issue of Harper's Magazine is a sharp, satirical critique of Silicon Valley's latest wave of AI startups and their young founders, focusing on Cluely—a glitchy, controversial AI interface tool co-founded by Chungin “Roy” Lee (a Columbia dropout who gained fame by cheating on job interviews with AI and posting the videos online). Kriss portrays Roy and similar "highly agentic" figures—like teenage founder Eric Zhu with his absurd ventures—as emblematic of a shift in tech culture, where relentless action, hustle, and "agency" (a bulldozer-like drive to dominate and leverage AI) now trump traditional intelligence, creativity, or expertise, since AI itself handles thinking and problem-solving.

The piece weaves observations of San Francisco's surreal atmosphere—homeless people chanting, bizarre viral ads, Waymo cars, fratty startup offices stocked with protein bars and toys—with anecdotes about Cluely's hype-driven rise (including a blind-date ad using AI scripts), rationalist influencers like Scott Alexander warning of AI's risks or absurdities, and opportunistic grifters. Kriss argues this heralds a dystopian bifurcation: a small overclass of hyper-agentic individuals using AI for unchecked power and wealth, while most people become a "permanent underclass" rendered obsolete and mindless. The tone blends dark humor at the absurdity (e.g., sperm-racing apps) with foreboding about eroded human thought, purpose, relationships, and creativity in an AI-saturated, capitalism-fueled void, where even the founders seem driven by childish hungers for control rather than meaningful innovation.

Yeah, GTFO my lawn while you're at it, but stay tuned because I have a rant about e-bikes queued up for later this week.

Looks Like Project Hail Mary is a Go

The Critical Drinker approves.  Youtube, 7 minutes.

Back from Santos Fat Tire Fest

... and much, much more to say, but later in the week.  It rained, hard, several times and I have a living room full of now dried-out gear left to stow.  But, to tease upcoming topics (and so I don't forget either...): Tents!  e-bikes!  Uninjured!  The State of Mountain Biking!

Oh, and here's a pic from – where else? – the ACME trail.  Click to embiggen.  See y'all later in the week.

Martin F. Jue Documentary – Coming Soon

Here's a short article over at Dan Romanchik's place about the in-production Martin F. Jue documentary, with links to the filmmaker's page, which has a film trailer.  Go read & watch.

What a remarkable man.  I've used many of his company's radio-related product over the years, and commented on them here at the blog.  Here they are, pre-searched.

Contemplating a Resilient but Lower Gain Antenna

Referring back to Sunday's post, the new Carrabelle repeater antenna is expected to have about 4 dB less gain than the old one.  That's a lot.  But how much of a real difference in range will this make?  Consult the Egli model.  In it, range drops as the fourth root of gain (remember to convert from dB to magnitude), so 4 dB down corresponds to about a 21% drop in range, all else being equal (which it never is, but you have to start somewhere).  Here's a map of repeater-to-vehicle range predictions for the two antennas:

Not great, but not a deal-breaker either.  That's engineering trade-offs for you.  If this one is unacceptable, upgrade your vehicle's antenna.  Going from a 1 dBi shorty used in the above modeling to a 5/8ths wave antenna will get you nearly all of this range back.

Elijah Craig Toasted Rye – meh

I mean, it's a perfectly good rye, and its value is in the subtle notes.  But if you're looking for subtle notes, why are you drinking rye whisky?  Probably one best saved for bourbon drinkers with discerning palates who want to occasionally try something a little different.

I'll save the rest of the bottle for when oak pollen stuffy nose season is over, but frankly it's more clutter in the cabinet than it's worth.  If you want the Better option, go with Old Overholt Bonded (especially if you're mixing with say, sour mix); for the Best option and neat sipping, go with the High West.

And That Was The Month That Was

February's gone?  Already?  A busy month of many time-eaters.  But here are some highlights of life lately:

• Picked out a new antenna for the Carrabelle repeater that was zapped by lightning two weeks ago.  This one, an all-aluminum j-pole-ish thing.  It checks three of the main boxes (lightning resistant, not too heavy or big to go on the existing mount, and good wind survival – reportedly 153+ mph), while losing some of the gain we formerly had – about 4 dB's worth.  All engineering is a compromise, and the lower gain is something we'll have to live with.
• Dealt with some loose-and-flapping questions about a proposed antenna tower at the new-still-in-planning Franklin County EOC.  Messy.
• Wrapped up construction and testing of the "PRC-26" backpack radio.  This was one of those projects that fought back, first with minor but time-wasting construction details on its antenna, and then with a radio that wouldn't program via computer but required hand programming.  In the end though, it all came together and it works.
• Two bizarre flat tires on the gravel bike, one a thorn, the other a big ol' square-cut tack.
• And for the tubeless mtb, I got How To Use Dynaplug Tire Plugger sorted out too.  So weirdly simple.
• Federal. Taxes. Done.
• State. Taxes.... undone, but help is lined up, so should be done Real Soon Now.
• Two visits from two brothers that both got rescheduled twice.  I mean, what're you gonna do but roll with that?
• New brake pads all 'round on the Mustang, and in time before the rotors took a beating.
• Oh yeah, a new war, and this one looks.... concerning.
• And finally something good today – Holly Williams (yes, THE Holly Williams) in a short concert, within walking distance of home!  Her song Waiting on June seemed to suddenly put some dust in the air in the venue..

I'm taking a little time off over the next week or so.  Will post pics of any worthwhile adventures.  Not even going to try to tag this post, it's so scattershot and mostly ephemeral.

ps: Saw this a day later on Monday the  2nd.  Somehow  fits the overall theme here.

Gap Point & Catfaces

Hiked the Gap Point Trail again today (see 2021 & 2022).  Nothing really new, though I did talk with a nice couple from Thomasville who are staying in Apalach.

Anyway, on to today's pics.  While discussing a recent talk by Kermit Brown hosted by the Apalachicola Area Historical Society at the Rainey House (no links; search engine use left as an exercise for the reader) with a friend, the topic of catfaces came up.  These are scars left on pine trees decades ago by the turpentine industry, the idea being to drain off some of the tree's sap without killing the tree.  Anyway, my friend had no idea what I was talking about, so here are some pictures.

A tree with a catface.

Closeup of the same catface, showing a metal gutter to guide sap into a Herty cup.  The nail to hang the cup is still there too, just below the gutter.

In fact, here's an entire documentary from the 1940's showing how it was done.  Looks like incredibly hard work.  These days, I understand that turpentine and rosin are by-products of the paper industry, and of course petrochemical products have replaced many of the former uses for pine-sap products.  BTW, turpentine from St. George Island was particularly prized for its clarity.  It reportedly didn't affect light paint colors as much as other turpentines.

Finally, on the way out, here's a shot of East Slough.  You can see where the main creek winds through by the change in the color of the reeds and needle grass.

I'm tired now.  Going to hit 'post' and hit the rack.

Caffeinated Thought for Today

 Eh, all I got for today.  Go build a j-pole.

Jurassic Duck Mk III & PRC-26

From that last post, you could probably tell that I've been up to something.  Following up on last month's Three Days In The Woods, it was painfully clear that we needed serious radio power in a backpack-able format.  Some discussion of updating the old AN/PRC-25/77 radio concept was batted around.  Starting with the Jurassic Duck Mk II as a prototype antenna and building up a backpack frame with a TYT-9000D 2m radio and a 20 AH LiFePO4 batt, we took the original DoD realization from 42 pounds and 2 watts for $5000 (inflation adjusted) to a much improved 14 pounds and 60 watts for $300.  Of course, that's 60 watts on 2m, which for the typical 40 MHz used with the PRC-25/77 series, has about the same punch as 5 watts at that frequency.  OK, so a third the weight and two and a half times the power for a sixteenth the cost.  Wrap it up, I'll take it.  Also, this being 2026, we dubbed it the "PRC-26."  Picture on the right.

Of course, any project such as this one will naturally bring in a few refinements and construction notes.  Here they are for this iteration:

• We used a cam-lock lever to allow the antenna pole to pivot over to half-size for storage and transport.  This has caused all kinds of havoc, and I don't recommend it.  First, it necessitated bringing the coax out through the side of the PVC pipe above the pivot, which makes slipping things in and out during adjustment a bear.  Also, it necessitates a longer lower segment, which makes the whole thing wobbly.
• Recommended for next iteration: Two glue-on male threaded adapters with a female threaded coupler to join them.  Note, the UHF plug connector can slip through all of these and come out through the bottom of the lower pipe.  Much simpler, more rugged, and easier to construct.
• Be damned sure to get thin-walled PVC!  Bring a section of 450 ohm window line to the hardware store with you and try slip-fitting it in.  It'll be snug, but make sure it fits fairly easily.
• Revised lengths for the j-pole internals: 
• main radiator = 38" with an inch or so of loop-over (cut it a little long and tune down 1/4" at a time)
• 450 ohm segment = 17" total length, remembering to leave enough to solder the bottom legs together and an extension on the hot side for the main radiator wire attachment
• tap 1.75" from the bottom of the window line

And that's it!  I'll be building up my own personal copy of this revised version in the near future.

Programming a TYT-9000D VHF Radio... by Hand

At FCEM we've been using TYT-9000D's for general-purpose 2m radios.  They're easy to work with, and at around $130, the price is right.  Also, up until now, they've all been really easy to program using chirp and the proper USB cable.  The data port's right there on the front, and there're no complicated "get this thing into programming mode" steps to follow.  It's more of "just plug it and do it."

Until lately.  The last couple of radios we've gotten in would. not. talk. to. the. computer. grrr. for anything.  Tried some of our other, older 90000D's, no problem.  Tried different computers; nope.  Got the latest copy of chirp, still no dice.  I just had a handful of repeaters and simplex channels to program in anyway, so how hard could it be?

As it turns out, it's not a lot of fun but not completely awful either.  Here's a useful video.  The guy over-explains a lot of stuff for somebody who just wants to get the job done, which stretches it out to 15 minutes.  However, all that over-explaining is way better than under-explaining, and some people might need it.  Anyway, if you just want to get down to business, here are the steps:

1. Set the bandwidth/frequency deviation as described near the bottom of this post first!  Fortunately, you'll only need to do this once, and can program in all the other channels without repeating this step.
2. Punch in the repeater's output frequency using the hand mic keypad.
3. Press P5 and use the big knob to set the PL tone.
• To cycle through T, TS, DCS & OFF options, use P5 repeatedly.
• Press P3 to return to VFO mode.
4. Press & hold P4 to get to the offset menu.
• Big knob changes offset (you'll want 0.6000 on any 2m repeaters)
• Press & hold P4 to cycle through +, –, and OFF.
• Press P3 to return to VFO mode.
5. To save into memory:
• Quick press F
• Use big knob to dial to the memory channel you want.
• Quick press P3 to save to that channel.

Done!  There now, that wasn't so easy, was it?  Oh, also, I have no flippin' idea of how to program in alphanumeric names by hand.  I think that it's theoretically possible, but you'd have to get Rainman to read the manual and show you how.  If it's just a half-dozen channels, make yourself a 3x5 card if you need to.

Also, here are a couple of handy items when in operating mode:

• P3 toggles between VFO and Memory modes.
• F P5 locks & unlocks the radio's controls (good when working in the brush).

While we're at it, here are three other useful setup items that took me a good long while to dig out of the manual.  I'll put them here, partly as a note to future self, and also as a help to other poor souls.

First, the digital noise reduction filter is way overkill, like dialed up to eleventy and sounding all underwaterey, and it's not needed for FM anyway.  Turn it off by:

1. Press the F key for about 3 seconds.
2. Use the P1 & P2 keys as up/down to get to Menu 31.
3. Turn the big knob to get it from "RENC-ON" to "RENC-OFF".
4. Press P4 to confirm setting & get back to operating mode.

Second, if you have managed to get your radio to work with chirp, you'll want it to display the alphanumeric name you put in, e.g., "CBELLE" rather than "145.230" for the case of the Carrabelle repeater.  Toggle that over by:

1. Press the F key for about 3 seconds.
2. Use the P1 & P2 keys as up/down to get to Menu 26.  (not 27 per the manual; it lies)
3. Turn the big knob to get it from "DSP-FR" to "DSP-CH" to "DSP-NM" – frequency, channel number, or alphanumeric name, whichever you want.  Probably the alpha name.
4. Press P5 to confirm setting & get back to operating mode.

Third, all the 9000D transceivers I've seen have three FM deviation settings.  For 2m ham, you want the widest setting.  (Yes, I know the manual only says two settings.  The manual lies.)  You can set these using chirp (if it works on your radio), or do it by hand.  Important: if you're programming channels by hand, do this first!  Here we go:

1. Press the F key for about 3 seconds.
2. Use the P1 & P2 keys as up/down to get to Menu 08.
3. Turn the big knob to get it to "BAND-25" (i.e., 25 kHz deviation).
4. Press P5 to confirm setting & get back to operating mode.

There.  The TYT-900D is a weird, cantankerous beast to set up, but the price is right and they work pretty well once programmed.  Good luck.  And if you leave the digital noise reduction on, tell Aquaman I said hello.

A Beautiful Mess of a Plane

It was designed for but arrived a year too late to make it into WWII, so it was re-forged into the bridge between the Prop Era B-29s and the Jet Age B-52s.  Somewhat forgotten today, the B-36 Peacemaker was in service for less than fifteen years before it was phased out.  Seventy six years ago yesterday, one fell out of the sky over Canada; you can read about the incident here at This Day in Aviation.

Anyway, it's a beautiful plane in its own ungainly way.  Glad we never had to use them for their main purpose.

Beast of a plane, but I'd love to have gone up in one.  Once.

With the retractable gun turrets, it has a certain sci-fi vibe.

This Explains So Much

Over at SMBC.

It also goes a long way towards explaining why we now have string theory and techno-pop.

Kessler... Maybe?

A couple of years ago I posted a little piece on the Kessler Syndrome here (includes a brief discussion one the topic at hand, if you need a reminder), and the bottom line was "yeah, don't worry about it – yet."

Now Kessler and a co-author have recently revisited the topic, and their results are not so sunny.  You can read the abstract and download the paper here, or listen to Sabine Hossenfelder's take on the matter here.  It's going to be interesting to see this one batted around over the next few years.  With such wildly divergent results, there's going to be a good academic catfight.

My advice: Enjoy your Starlink while you can, but brush up on your HF skills too.  And if it comes to it, enjoy the light show.

Protip: Never exceed any limit labeled "Runaway Threshold."  Don't, just don't.

New GP-15 Antenna and The Undead GP-1

During some testing a couple of weeks ago, it became clear that something was up with my trusty old Comet GP-1 VHF/UHF antenna.  The SWR was way off, a little above 3:1 in the 2m and 70cm bands, which is to say that, rather than radiating RF energy, a lot of it was being bounced back into my transceiver and getting turned into heat.[1]

Now, I'd had my eyes on an antenna that would add the 6m band as well[2], and the Comet GP-15 checked all those boxes, as well as adding about 3 dB more gain on 2m and 70cm.  The only real downsides are at 8 feet length it's twice as long as that discrete little GP-1, and it has a somewhat lower wind speed rating, 112 vs. 135 mph.  That lower wind speed rating turns matters from "set it and forget it" to "another item on the hurricane checklist to bring inside."

The GP-15 is kind of an odd antenna.  It relies on one extra-long, tunable radial (see inset pic) to adjust its resonant frequency.  The instructions have a helpful chart showing radial length setting vs. resonant frequency.  I'm really only interested in the 50 to 51 MHz part of the band, where the SSB voice, various beacons, and allegedly some digital traffic hangs out.  (see chart linked below)  The rest of the band, 51 thru 54 MHz, is primarily set aside for repeaters and local FM use.  Not so interesting where there are no local repeaters or users.  Also, the instruction sheet flatly indicates that it has a useable bandwidth of 1 MHz, so choose which quarter of the band allocation you want wisely.  Accordingly, I set things up while still on the ground for my region of interest, mounted it on the roof[3] and.... it was resonant smack in the middle of the band, useable across the entire 4 MHz of the band.[4]  So I tweaked it a little lower to optimize for my interests and called it a day.

Still haven't gotten any 6m band openings[5], but in the wake of the cold front currently blowing through, some tropoducting is in the cards for early next week.  Contacts on 2m & 70cm however report that my signal is much stronger, so there is that. 

Finally, with the new antenna installed, it was time to dig into what went wrong with the 5 year old GP-1 and that 15 year old length of LMR-400 coax.  On the bench both tested out as working perfectly, so your guess is as good as mine.  Maybe I'll have something to sell on the Monday night net, though I'll test them all again before trying to offload them.

Anyway, here's a link to a good set of pdf charts showing what's where on the commonly used VHF & UHF ham bands.  Get your GP-15 (or GP-1, or any number of other interesting and useful items) here.

-----

[1] No wonder the fan was running so much!  I could barely get through a Monday evening net session without it topping 140 degrees.

[2] Why?  Because it's there, that's why!  Stop asking foolish questions.

[3] A process akin to conducting an EVA on the ISS.

[4] Yes, of course I hauled an SWR meter and LiFePO4 battery up on the roof with me, along with many other potentially useful items – wrenches, vice-grips, multi-tool, drill & driver bits, etc.  And of course an FRS radio to stay in contact with my safety man on the ground.

[5] and hence no contacts, though there is one guy over in Carrabelle who can do 6m I ought to call.

Conspiracy of the Week: Gravel bikes were invented to convert roadies into mountain bikers

Presented in a short, amusing editorial over at Singletracks online mag.

I haven't noticed, personally, any pelotons of roadies streaming up and down my local gravel trails, but you never know what February will bring.

On the State of Particle Physics

Quanta online asks Is Particle Physics Dead, Dying, or Just Hard?

It's a real quandary, and the author explores all corners of the problem in an even-handed manner.  TLDR: On one hand, (a) the Higgs boson has been found and all the slots in the Standard Model's chart have been nicely filled, (b) the super-symmetric particles that were sort-of predicted at LHC energies simply weren't found, and (c) there are no firm theoretical predictions that we'll actually find anything else of interest at higher energies.  On the second hand, damn the torpedos, build the next generation accelerator and go look at what's out there at higher energies, because you can't know until you look.  On the third hand (see, I've just finished re-reading Project Hail Mary and one of the main characters has five hands; I could keep this up for a little while longer), that $22 billion has to come from somewhere, and we all know without even guessing that that money's going to come out of the rest of science.  Do we shut down other more promising programs just to go have a look "because you never know"?

Feel free to comment, but only after you've read the above-linked article, and then read Lost in Math for a chaser.

Finally this popped up yesterday as well (coincidence?  probably not):

Nasty, but also funny and on the nose.

Owl Cafe Sold

Article at The Times.  Key quote:

"The locals are the backbone of a restaurant like this,” Carruth said. “Yes, it’s a heavy tourist market, but it has to start taking care of locals first. This is the only restaurant (of ours) that is literally entrenched in a community as the Owl is. It’s heavily dependent on the trust and support of locals here."

Seems very likely a change for the better, in many ways.

What's Up With Surly?

A friend commented on the brand of the gravel bike I ride, in sort of a WTF? way.  So... here ya go:

Hey it's not definitive or anything, they get some minor stuff wrong, but pfft.  Close enough.

Also, the Bike Filth youtube channel is interesting in a sort of maybe grassroots way.  I appreciate the shorter five-minute-ish format, punk rock intro, and all the mud.

Of Moka Pots, Black Coffee, and Inescapable Beats

I was discussing with a nephew last week about espresso and the fearsome moka pot, and afterward I was playing around searching for moka pot articles.  First this one popped up, and it's pretty good and all, but then at the same site there's this article on How to Enjoy Black Coffee.  A 2200 word article on... how to

1. pour coffee into a cup
2. drink it

...?  I guess in some venues writing still pays by the word.  Personally, I'll sweat over a 200 word abstract for a couple of days.  That's the real work, then the rest of the paper more or less writes itself.

Anyway, here's some music for a Monday morning with which to enjoy your black coffee and/or moka:

• Blue Monday (original) – more suitable for black coffee; strong black coffee
• Blue Monday (vintage instrument cover) – definitely from a vintage moka pot with layers of patina

XHDATA D-219 AM/FM/SW – A Decent Radio for $13

The folks over at The SWLing Post blog keep raving about these things, so I had to try one.  At only $13 (for the green one; other colors are $4 more, go figure) it's not much of a risk.  My verdict?  A bargain at twice the price.  So much else has been written in three articles over at The SWLing Post that I'll give a short list of pros & cons, then refer you to the links below for more details.

pros:

• It's built around a Silicon Labs SDR chip, and those always work well.
• And yeah, it works great!  Nighttime WSM 650 AM sounded as clear as on my PL-660 (10x$).  Same for daytime reception of WWL 870.
• Basic shortwave stations came in easily: WWV time signals, WWCR, Radio Havana, etc.
• Broadcast FM reception was fine, but it takes a lot of effort to mess that up.
• Runs on dirt-common AA batteries.
• Cheap enough to hand out after a hurricane, and if it goes missing you're only out $13.

con (just one):

• Tuning on the broadcast AM dial was too fast – downright twitchy – making it difficult to pick out a known station/frequency.  If the tuning dial moved frequencies about a quarter as fast, that would be about right.  Trying to find WSM 650 in a crowded AM spectrum was a trial, despite knowing it was there and spotting it on my PL-660.  Once found and locked on though, all was good.

OK, here are the links to other reviews.  If you want to buy, use the affiliate link at the first one.  That way The SWLing Post gets a little bit:

• Rediscovering Simple Radio Joy with the XHDATA D-219 (buying link towards the bottom)
• The XHDATA D-219 Shirt-Pocket Radio
• XHDATA D-219: A Classic Budget Shortwave Receiver

If you've been thinking "gosh, I'd like a good radio, just to play around with or for hurricane season, but I don't want to spend too much" go ahead and get one of these.  In real world practical use you'll probably get the most out of the AM & FM bands, but it's also a credible shortwave receiver and that's always entertaining.

And Then Life Resumed

Not a lot to discuss or report about today, but at least I'm doing a fair job of digging out of small tasks left over from the past two weeks.  Guess that's something.

Oh, Oyster Cook-Off tomorrow.  Sounds worthwhile, especially since it's just around the block.  Yep, definitely going.  Going to go read some more on Project Hail Mary now though.

Time Off Today

If you know, you know.  All's OK, just...

Shoulda posted this yesterday, because it applied then too.  Back in action tomorrow!

Re-Reading Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary

As before, this sci-fi novel's going quickly.  Note that the movie hits theaters on March 30th.  Go read my 2021 review of the book, then get reading yourself.

A PDF of Allied's Radio-Formula and Data Book (1953)

Dan Romanchik found a physical copy of this slim book at a thrift sale last week, then scan & posted downloadable copies here.  In these days of science & engineering calculators, perhaps the log and trig tables are not needed as often as in the days of slide rules (but they're still good to have!).  Rather, it's the formulae for, say, calculating the characteristic impedance of twin-lead transmission lines, or resistor color codes that are good to have ready at hand.

Binge: Just Kinda Fun

Douglas Coupland's 2021 short story collection (60!) is a hoot to read.  In many ways its structure is reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's 1994 now-classic movie Pulp Fiction, in that many of the stories touch onto each other, mcguffins and characters get swapped around like so many DNA sequences between interacting bacteria, and unexpected turns ensue.  Also, like all of Tarantino's movies, this book is not one for the easily offended.  (Don't give out copies to family unless you're pretty sure it'll be cool.)  Unlike Tarantino's movies it's not all slam-bang blood-soaked crime noir, but more of semi-everyday lives gone wrong, or at least very weird.

Reading through the above, it doesn't say what sort of things this book is about.  How about a guy begging for spare change outside a liquor store on a rainy night; what's his real backstory?  And then, how do a few simple acts of kindness from a passing liquor store customer change things?  (Don't worry, this isn't Dickens.)  How to give away Starbucks gift cards, creatively, and yet in a high school-appropriate manner?  Why does a seemingly normal wife-and-mom suddenly go vegan, and what are the downstream consequences?  Because there's always a downstream and there are always consequences.  And on it goes.

Anyway, it's not so much an engrossing read as an unputdownable bag of potato chips, and yes that's the reason for the book's title.  If there are any take-aways, they'd be somewhere between "There but for the grace of God go I" and "OK, I can totally see that weird shit happening to – or possibly because of – my friends and me."  And remember, there are always downstream consequences, both good and bad, that may not be immediately evident.  Just ask RFK jr.  It could happen to you.

And Now Bob Weir

Jerry Garcia some time ago, Phil Lesh in late '24, and now  Bob Weir has left the building.  Just the way it goes.

A Few Days in the Woods

Missing person found dead in Franklin County, news & video at WMBB's site.

Franklin County Emergency Management was on scene, both searching and providing logistics support.

FWIW, what worked for communications over the 3-ish mile radius we searched in (where cell phone coverage was spotty) was searchers radioing back to the drop-off trucks via FRS (quarter-mile range), which then relayed to the FCEM mobile trailer via 2m ham radio (5+ mile range).  

On one hand, I often go into the woods just to hike for fun and play radio.  On the other hand, this time wasn't for the fun of it.  Anyway, the guy was recovered and FCEM & associated volunteers got a good work-out.  And no, it wasn't any of our FCEM people who actually found the guy, so there is that small consolation.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Is No More

Article at USA Today.  Used to read that thing all the time, back in the day.

Hard to believe, but the times they are a-changing, truly.

Back Open on a Limited Basis

Apalachicola Bay oystering re-opens on a trial basis: Article at the Times.

Hey, I'll take any good news I can get these days.

Somehow Appropriate for Today

8 non-alcoholic beers that don't suck (and one that kinda does) at Singletracks Mountain Bike News

Hey, the Athletic Brewing Co. rep at the Santos Fat Tire Fest was a decent guy, their n/a IPA is pretty good, and The Pig keeps it in stock.  This is a good world.

Which reminds me, now that it's January, I need to go on and get my ticket to this year's Santos Epic.