First Breath of Fall?

Yes, it's kind of early, but it seems we have an actual cold – well, "less hot" front on the way tomorrow:

The forecast predicts a dip down to 70F near the Bethel Trails on Sunday morning, so you can guess where I'll be.

These early fronts do happen, but this is pushing it back by a couple of weeks from any other early front that I can remember.  It is odd though this year, we've gone straight from April showers into two hot July days and from there right into (maybe) early September.  If it cools the Gulf a little more, and the weather's just cool enough for mountain biking, I'll take it.

Dirt Rag Magazine Turns 200

200 issues, that is.  Here's a link the article at their web site.  Still waiting on my copy, but for the time being here's the cover:

If you're not a subscriber, it might be time to find a copy down at the newsstand.

Radio Programming Notes

Reference notes to self and anybody else who is befuddled about using chirp to program channels into various radios, from a Macintosh USB port.  (not a full chirp manual here!  just a few reference notes around some of the gotchas)

(For the non-hams out there: Why the heck do you have to program a radio?
In this case, it means pre-setting a bunch of frequencies and other items for handy use in the future.  Conceptually it's no different than "programming" the push-buttons on your car's AM/FM radio, but as you might imagine, there's a lot more going on in a multi-mode multi-band two-way radio.  Hence the convenience of using a spreadsheet-like program to download, edit, and upload the myriad settings.  Anyway, back to the main topic; if you needed this paragraph, you can probably safely skip the rest of this post.)

The cable you want for Baofengs:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUB0ONK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Currently slightly north of $20, which is more than some of the radios it can program.  Still, for time saved, well worth the money.  Also, no dodgy drivers to download from Chinese web sites.  I mean, can you really trust that stuff?  I'll take the Apple pre-loaded ones, thankyouverymuch.

Next up, the cable you want for a Yaesu FT-817ND:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041LNISK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Similarly, it's plug-and-play, drivers pre-loaded by Apple.  About $25, and money damn well spent, because again, there's no downloading drivers from some who-knows-where web site.  There's still a little guessing about which USB port to point chirp towards, but here's a hint to narrow it down: it ain't either of the two with "bluetooth" in the character-salad name.

Finally, some guiding advice on getting programming images up from and back down to your FT-817ND, courtesy of VK3BQ:
http://www.vk3bq.com/2013/10/18/chirp-and-the-ft817nd/
Just in case the web site ever goes away, here's the key part:

A trap for young players with the 817 and chirp. You need to do two steps to get the radio to talk to the computer

Power on the radio while holding down both MODE < > buttons, The radio will beep three times and show “CLONE MODE” on the display.

Set CHIRP up to download the radio image form the menu, then on the radio, press button “A” and the radio will start TX’ing data, and you have a copy of the radio memories. Program up the radio in chirp with your repeaters and other parameter settings and save a copy. To load the new memories/file into the radio, power on the radio as per above and enter “CLONE MODE” again, Set CHIRP to upload to radio and then press the “C” button on the Radio, the device will change to RX mode and receive the new configuration. The instructions are on page 69 of the 817nd (2011) manual under Cloning.

Alright!  Made it easy, and it even worked the first time.  Got all of the customary PSK31 frequencies, the local repeaters, and the common 2 meter simplex frequencies programmed in right, and all without having to perform a selfie root canal as part of the process.  Tested out on the W5SGL repeater, and all is right with the world.

Next up ("next" as in somewhere between "this weekend" and "real soon now"): Do the same on the FT-857D.  The same cable allegedly works for that radio too, so I'd say there's a high chance of success.  Will update this post after the attempt is made.  (Edit: did so, worked fine; see postscript below.)

OK, that was a deep-dive into high geekery; mostly it's notes to myself.  Maybe have some mountain biking report after this weekend.  The weather's taking a slight turn for the better.

ps: It all works exactly the same on an FT-857D, except that to upload data from the radio to the computer, press "C".  On the other end of things, once you've gotten all the channels entered into chirp, to download to the radio press "A".  It's just like the 817, only opposite.  Why?  Because Yaesu, that's why.

Whatever the radio, remember to download an image from it and save that before starting editing.  One nice thing is that, even though it's bad form to swap images between an 857 and an 817, you can copy and paste rows or even blocks of rows from one image file to the other.  Handy.

pps: One more note-to-self: programming an FT-60 with chirp.  Haven't tried yet, will get to it eventually.

Listen in on the Tuesday Evening Net

At 7 pm CDT sharp on Tuesday evenings, you can listen in on the MCARA 2 meter club net.  If you're local, tune to your receiver to 146.73 MHz FM.  If you're not local, point your web browser to our Broadcastify page at http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/25297

No guarantees of anything beyond the net being called, but generally we have a lively technical session following the check-ins.  Anything even vaguely radio related is fair game.  Sometimes it rolls for an hour, sometimes it's over in ten minutes.  You never can tell.

Movie Review: Baby Driver

It's an action flick.  It's a "gotta keep working to pay off The Man, but then I'm outa here" story.  It's part Reservoir Dogs.  It's part Romeo & Juliette.  There's a dual-weilding Laura Croft character.  It's part won't-that-villan-ever-die jump-scare horror flick.  It's got Blind Al from Deadpool, except here she's morphed into a deaf man.  It's got Jamie Fox playing The Joker, except here he's just called "Bats."  (Maybe that one was an unintentional sideways reference to another fictional story line.  Interesting neck tattoos though.)  And of course there's the criminal mastermind.  With all that going on, it's never boring, but it never exactly gels either.

Then there's the music, which is a whole story line and effectively a character unto itself.  Maybe the best part, even over the car chases.  It's more than the rhythm and beat here, it's the timing chain for the movie's engine.  If you know a song, it foreshadows that something's ahead – not that you'll have any idea of what it may be, because there are surprises around every corner.

For all that weird Bass-o-Matic blend of ingredients, the acting is uniformly top-notch and the car chase sequences make it worth the watch.  It pumps the excitement and pulls at the heartstrings all at once.  It does keep your attention, and was even kind of fun.  Two and a Half Stars.  Go see it on the big screen, enjoy, and then move on.

I won't buy the video when it comes out, but the soundtrack album... got to pick up a copy of that.

LawDog in Print

Long-time Texas blogger LawDog has finally put his domestic tales into one volume.  Released last Monday in Kindle and slated for print release in mid-August, it should be just the thing for the late-summer reading season.  And even though I'm sure I've read all of this over the years at his blog, I'll be downloading a copy of the e-book as soon as this is posted.

But what to do for a follow-up act?  Lawdog's African adventures, of course!  Can't wait to re-read the one about his mother ordering the python-skin purse.  Slated for e-book release on August 10th, and out in print a month later.

Speaking of late summer, is anyone else out there ready for early fall?  With the July 4th festivities fading in the rear-view mirror and two months of heat, humidity, and hurricanes ahead, it's a common sentiment.

Basics of the Standard Model

The current state of particle physics summarized in ten minutes, over at the BBC.  Yes, unfortunately you'll need flash to watch the video.

There.  If yesterday's post on paranormal radio was weird, this one's much more so – because it's real.  Enjoy.