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.

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[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.