Worth Noting

This has been a remarkably unnoteworthy week, beyond a trip to Wakulla Springs and a side-trip to Bald Point State Park on the way home.  However, there is one weather condition worth noting and being thankful for:

Contrast this with a visit to Bald Point this time last year.  Somewhat alarming graphic, but there is a nice picture of  the beach if you scroll down.

Hmmm, a Tad Colorful

Still, nothing unusual for mid-August.  In fact, a little on the calm side, though not entirely calm.

We shall see.

On This 1st Day of August, Fingers Crossed

So far, so good.

A Decent Little Power Bank, With a Few Limitations

A few weeks ago FCEM purchased a few of these small 200w Powkey power banks (Amazon link, $80), and I was asked to evaluate one for possible ham radio use.  My overall impression is that it's a pretty good unit, but it is slightly dated and decidedly sub-optimal for ham field use.  Read on, but first let's get the TLDR out of the way.

Pros: Intuitive operation.  All-in-one unit.  4-LED "gas gauge."  Sine wave AC output.  Easy solar.

Cons: "12vdc" outlet is only 11.5vdc.  USB-A only outlets.  AC inverter puts out some radio interference.

Maybe/Maybe Not: Is 200 W maximum output and 146 W-H total enough for your application?

OK, now let's unpack the TLDR.  Intuitive operation, sure.  On/off switch then AC on/off switch, then plug in whatever you're using.  Be sure to take it out of the fitted foam-lined case though first, because there's a vent on each side.  That's easy.  Sine wave AC output is what you want, because that's also the kind of current that comes from home wall sockets.  (Earlier, cheaper power inverters put out "modified sine waves," a sort of stair-step approximation that could damage many devices.  Not recommended.)

It's easy to interface with solar, and in fact I'd recommend buying the combo pack with a 60 watt solar panel for $135 total (link).  Just plug it in, and in good sun it should fully recharge a spent bank in about 4 hours (if the quoted numbers are right).  Of course, you still can and should recharge the bank from a wall socket before heading out.

Now for the downsides.  First and foremost is the 11.5vdc problem, with a 10 amp maximum output current at that.   Some 12vdc devices are OK with this, many aren't.  You can step it up with a boost converter (link, $30), but (a) that's $30 more you have to spend, and (b) you now lose the all-in-one convenience factor.  Oh yeah, and (c) you've got to wire plugs on this extra unit, for whatever plugging you're planning.  But it is doable.  Finally, that 10 amp limit means that you won't be running full-power on any radios – 115 watts input maximum, which translates to about 25 watts RF power out.  So QRP, sure, and a legal-limit CB will do fine, but for typical ham base or mobile units you'll have to dial back the power.

Next up, the USB-A problem.  OK, it only has USB-A ports.  Plug your phone's USB-C charger into one of the two AC ports just like you would at home and rock on.  Don't want to give up an AC socket?  Bring along an AC power strip and you'll have as many ports as you like.  But that's... one... more... thing.

Now, how bad is the problem with the inverter putting out radio frequency interference?  In my testing, an AM radio was unusable in about a 10 foot range around the device, while broadcast FM was unaffected.  It's not bad, but it is something to be aware of, especially if you're thinking of two-way radios.  Again, not bad, but it is there and it is a consideration.

Now for the maybe/maybe nots.  With only 200 watts output, you're not going to run a 1200 watt coffee maker or your kitchen refrigerator on this thing.  Could run the coffee grinder though, and then make your coffee on a camp stove.  And it will run many, many other useful things: a household LED floor lamp (10 watts), maybe a small TV (check its specs), a Dremel tool to sharpen a chainsaw, those sorts of low-draw things.  As for its total energy (146 watt-hours), you could run a couple of lamps all evening and charge a couple of phones (about 15 watt-hours) overnight.  A floor box fan pulls 40 watts on low, so only about 3+ hours there.  Of course, when the power's flowing in from the sun during the daytime and once the battery's charged, it's all free energy until sundown.  Just know the limits and do the math: 200 watts maximum output, 146 watt-hours total, in any combo you like.

Bottom line is this is a pretty nice little plug-and-play unit, with a few hiccups in its design: namely the USB-A only and 11.5vdc output issues.  Paired with its solar panel, it will keep a few lights on, the phones charged, and the coffee beans ground on a car camping trip or after a hurricane, all at a price that won't break the bank.  If any of the cons really bug you – or you just want something with better build quality or a name you recognize – there are lots of other options out there.

Tropical Slop

Three days of stuck-inside rain from TS Bertha:

Well, can't complain too much.  It's moving on west and probably won't develop much farther:

Though, I was heading out on a bike ride when Yet Another small rain band hit.  Meh, again, can't complain too much about this particular storm.

And Here We Go...

TS Arthur.  Not expected to greatly affect us – or anyone else, for that matter.  Still, it is the first named storm.

source: weathernerds

"Though we don't anticipate any significant turbulence, the captain requests that you leave your seatbelt buckled."

And So It Begins

Won't turn into anything, but on the other hand it's not nothing.  Stay tuned.

On This First Day of Hurricane Season

Got new flashlight batteries?  Rotated your gas?  Canned food that you won't mind eating for a few day?  Backup drinking water options covered?  Got FRS walkie-talkies (local option, cheap serviceable option)?  Got an AM/FM radio (good & local, really amazing good, total nerd-out options)?  No?  Then get the hell on the stick.

When the chips (and the internet) are down, you can get the news from WOYS 106.5 FM.  When the chips are really down, try WHBO 1040 AM (Tampa) daytime, WWL 870 AM (New Orleans) day or night, or WSB 750 AM (Atlanta) nighttime.  If the storm is so big it shuts all four of those down, sorry man, not much I can do to help.

If phone service is down, FRS is your easy, license-free option for talking around the neighborhood.  (You did set aside an extra one for the widow lady next door, right?  Good.)  Don't believe the range numbers on the box, marketing departments lie.  Around here, figure on a half-mile on channels 1–7 and 15–22, or a quarter-mile on channels 8–14.  Why?  Because those blocks channels are limited to 2 and 1/2 watts respectively.  If that's not enough info, go over to wikipedia and read up..

Also, if the power goes out, use battery camping lanterns rather than candles or oil lamps.  Last thing you want is to start a house fire when everything else is going wrong.

Hope for a Comparatively Mild Hurricane Season

No guarantees, ever, but overall conditions seem unfavorable for Atlantic basin hurricanes this year.

We shall see.  Hurricane season starts tomorrow.

Hurricane Season Kick-Off Recap

And today's event (mentioned previously) went pretty well.  Perfect weather, blue skies, and an enthusiastic crew putting it on all made it come together.  At the radio tent, we had HF & VHF/UHF radios, field-worthy antennas, and solar power.  Here are some pics:

Yaesu FT-450D HF & FT-7250D VHF/UHF radios, along with solar controller and a few other do-dads

leftmost: VHF/UHF vertical; two other poles: HF W3EDP antenna

60 watt solar panel; easy up, easy down

As usual, there was a good bit more interest in the solar than in the radios.  That's OK, emergency preparedness info got passed along in all ways at hand.

Hurricane Season Kick-Off

Details on poster below.  For more info, check at the Franklin County Emergency Management site.

Hey!  That's it's Saturday!  If you're going, don't forget!

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.

A DIY 'News Cruiser' Radio Setup

Jock Elliot over at The SWLing Post has come up with the concept of having a set of pre-programmed news stations in one or more at-hand radios in this article for gray sky days.  Great idea!  You go read now; I'll wait.

OK, you're back.  Here's a list of links mentioned in the article and in the comments.

• list of Clear-Channel AM stations at NOAA and at Wikipedia
• find local stations at Radio-Locator
• Emergency Alert System Primary Entry Point stations & some more discussion of PEPs

Because no blog post is truly complete without a graphic – oh, and I need a reminder to write some of this down – here's a map of the US's PEP stations:

Finally, while I was writing this post I had to look up the definitions of Blue Sky / Gray Sky conditions in the context of emergency management.  These in a nutshell correspond to "normal times" and "disaster conditions."  Along the way I stumbled across one more term, Black Sky Event.  Hoo boy.  Zero stars, would not recommend to friends.

QRPer Interview on Hurricane Helene, Radios, & Muddling Through

In this radio show / podcast, Thomas Witherspoon from the QRPer blog discusses his family's experiences in Hurricane Helene, solar power at their home, and of course, the utility of ham radio, all in generally accessible terms.  Length is a little short of one hour, so it's an easy listen.

Upon This Last Day Of Hurricane Season 2025...

Some good news:

Tomorrow winter begins. (no, don't give me any of that 'not until the solstice next month!' business; no, just no)  What the hell happened to fall?

More Grant Blight

 Waveland to Open Bids for Pier Repairs; article at the Sea Coast Echo

Five years after Hurricane Zeta... and Waveland's just getting around to fixing up the municipal pier.  See an earlier post for the definition of grant blight.

Think of all the tweenagers and teenagers who missed out on good times fishing there.  Those five-plus years are now mostly lost to a fog of video games, cheap beer, and worse.  If you neglect these amenities, the kids will find something else to do.  Getting these hang-outs back up and running after a storm should be a high priority, not something left to DC's mañana-go-round.

The ugly reality of grant blight.

Ground Wave Madness

 In recent months a question has arisen in local ham radio circles, most definitely including FCEM:

What if we have a real lulu of a storm that breaks the Carrabelle repeater antenna off the tower?

Now, on one hand, we see a significant impact about once a decade, and only a quarter of those have winds that exceed the antenna's wind rating (112 mph).  Multiplying through, and we have a 1-in-40 chance of an antenna knock-out any given year.  On the other hand, if we have such a hurricane, then that is exactly when we'll really-really need that repeater.  Putting up a tougher antenna with a 135 mph wind rating would improve our odds by a factor of five (at the cost of about 2 dB gain, plus begging our tower guy to go up there one... more... time...); 1-in-200 are odds I can live with.  Even so, things happen.  We need a fall-back plan.  I smell a project coming on:

GWEN  |  A 160m Band 'Rubber Duckie' Antenna

Coincidentally(?) I'm finally reading Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.  Inspiration comes from the strangest places.  In other news, our run of good luck continues:

Finally Some Word from Jamaica

 'Everything's gone', BBC finally able to access one of Jamaica's worst-hit areas

Jamaica's 'ground zero' – Assessing hurricane damage in Black River

Before and after Satellite photos

A few minutes of video showing a glimpse of the destruction.  It's always this way – an 80 mph Cat 1 roughs up a US urban area and it's all stop the presses because it's the end of the world, but a 185 mph monster smashes a hard-to-reach less-than-glamorous area and it's... meh.

Anyway, good if brief reporting.  As news trickles out, do what you can to help these folks.

Look'em In The Eye

 Nice footage from a Hurricane Hunter of the eye of Hurricane Melissa today, over at the BBC.

I've been directly in the eye of a storm twice – Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and TS Mindy in 2021.  Neither time was a particularly clear sky situation as seen in that video, though the wind did die down spookily for a bit in each case.  Avoid whenever possible.

So Far So Good

Presented without further comment, because there's really nothing that says it better than these hundred-mile high letters out in the middle of the Atlantic.

Gah, spoke too soon.  Mostly Harmless, but you never know: