Mobile Radio Power: One Fuse or Two?

Bob K0NR makes his case at: https://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/2020/03/one-fuse-or-two/

TLDR Version: If you blow the fuse on the negative/ground side, there still remains a current path through the coax ground shield braid and that would be a Bad Thing.  His solution is to only have a fuse on the positive/hot side and to install a substantial chassis ground on the radio.

I tend to agree.  Lots of nice diagrams at the article, lots of well-explained points to consider.

Of course all this is moot for a fully-floating ground plane antenna, but how often do we see those in mobile installs?

Surprisingly Close to the Truth

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/funding
Be sure to read the mouse-over text and to hit the big red button at the bottom for one more gag.

Hm, got a corner staked out already.

Two Special Event Stations of Note

15th Anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina & Rita, Aug 28 – Aug 30
and
Burning Man, Aug 27 – Sep 7

Sort of interesting, both.  You can find full details at the ARRL's page.  (it's dynamic content, will change within weeks; also, you'll have to scroll down some)  Weirdly, I'd really like to get that Burning Man contact in.

Google/Blogger Relents, Decides to Use Functioning Interface

Well that's some good news this week.  I'll probably stay around here now.  Oh man, is the original interface functional and simple to use.  Got the useable stats page and everything back.  Nice!

If you're wondering what all this is about, Google/Blogger has been struggling with a new posting interface/editor all summer.  It didn't go well.  Here're my earlier thoughts on the matter.

3 Hurricane Sites I Trust

This is sort of a re-hash, but I was asked about it today, so here goes:

The best first, the National Hurricane Center:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

This site has raw model results buried down in there:
https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/?index_region=at

This site has a meteorology grad student explaining what's going on:
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com
He usually posts once per day, in the evening.  Things are frequently out of date by the next day.

All the rest is media-screaming, designed to induce watching thru the next commercial break.

It's gonna be a bumpy week.

2020 So Far

Maybe have something constructive to say over the weekend.

Silca Pump Rebuild: 32 Years and Going Strong

Strangely, there's not a lot to say here beyond the post title.  Parts are available directly from Silca.  If you don't have one of their basic floor pumps, they'll be happy to sell you one for $99.  As I've pointed out before, this is not a cheap price but then this is not a cheap pump either: 32 years, two rebuilds, and still as good a new, albeit with a nice patina and a lot of fond memories.  But first, a picture:

So what parts did this overhaul require?  The leather plunger washer was the main one, just because it's the heart of the pump.  (Don't forget to buy the required leather oil that Silca also conveniently sells.)  The rubbery washer in the presta chuck; those just wear with every use, and it stacks up over 17 years.  Finally, the gauge.  The old one from circa 1988 was plastic-bodied.  It could flex when smacked on the side, which lead to the clear cover popping off sometime back during the first Bush administration, and eventually to the demise of the internal parts.  It held air nonetheless, but it did necessitate a separate hand gauge (something you should have anyway; strangely, Silca doesn't sell these).  The new one is metal, and there's a fair chance it'll outlast me.  Accurate too.  BTW, they sell a complete overhaul kit or the required bits individually.  I opted for the al la carte route, since the air hose was still good from the last rebuild.

It's noteworthy that everything, and I mean everything, went together smoothly and all seals were air-tight on the first try.  How often does something like that happen on a hard-used third-of-a-century-old piece of gear?  You can get a cheaper – in more than one sense – bike pump down at the big-box store, but this is the real deal, the one you want.

Plug "silca" into the search bar for some of my other impressions of their pumps and customer service.

ps: I still can't get the right font in this crappy new blogger interface.  Will continue with what we've got here for the moment, mostly out of inertia.