Yeah, I've reviewed it and re-reviewed it. But why should you listen to me when the pros at SectionHiker crank out another review of the same tent? You can read their review of the Spitfire 1 here.
It is gratifying that the pros are in agreement with the rank amateur here: it's not perfect but at a hundred-bucks-and-change it's impossible to beat. To reach a noticeable step up – and that's just a step up, not a whole new level mind you – you'd have to triple the money. Read all three pieces, BTW. They each point out different features, quirks, and drawbacks, but they all come to much the same conclusion.
So much of the time in ham radio, people are making contacts just to make contacts. And there's nothing wrong with that! Whether it's to test out gear, "see how far," racking up points in a contest, or simply to play, it's a lot of fun to just get on the air and talk to a bunch of different people. On the other hand... It's nice to drop into a real conversation with a radio operator on the other end of the ionosphere, and it's especially good when somebody learns something that has little to do with ham radio. A few weeks ago I mentioned seeing OCMS at Jazz Fest and the guy on the other end told me about how WPAQ plays a bunch of string band music. That's led to all kinds of new listening, even if it does mean streaming over the internet. Then this past Sunday I ran into a ham up in Ohio who's got an FT-817nd radio outfitted similarly to mine. We started talking, and he recommended his book on hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail, A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike. This is an especially interesting book because the author started serious backpacking in his 50's and had his own set of physical problems and is an MD. Before turning in, I'd pulled a kindle copy and started reading. While not exactly all pleasant topics, it is a practical guide to overcoming the big problems that knock people off the trail and back onto the sofa (mainly blisters, abrasions, knees, and motivation). He next turns positive with advice to get your pack down to a weight that you can ignore – something in the 15 lb range including food – and just go enjoy the damn woods already. Finally he wraps up with a recap to drive it all home. Never would have found this without ham radio! So the larger point here (beyond the book mini-review) is if you're going through the trouble to get into ham radio, you might as well talk to people while you're on the air. With all these interesting and technically savvy people around, you never know what knowledge you'll pick up.
Here's a nice video, but it seems to be slightly down the way from the actual headwaters.
Here's a link to the actual spot at Google Maps. Also, they've got a few pictures here. Somewhat less dramatic than the video, but interestingly enough it's about 100 yards north of the Appalachian Trail, about 50 miles north of the trail's southern terminus, and only about 5 miles from parking just north of Helen GA. Sounds like a good hike to me. Just as soon as I can shake loose the time.
It's been a couple of months, but then West has been busy and he's getting into more modern, heavier territory lately. In any event, there's a new episode up, 118 A Basic Look at Postmodernism. No, I haven't listened yet either.
So you're out shopping for a new ham radio, or maybe you're just perusing reviews in the latest issue of QST or Sherwood Engineering's test summary page, and there's all these crazy numbers. You may even remember some of them from studying for your ham exams, but but... several years on, who remembers trivia you've never had to use? Well, you're in luck here, because in a recent edition of the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast, Eric Swartz from Elecraft walks us through these figures, discusses what they mean, which ones are important (and which ones can largely be ignored), how they affect receiver performance – the whole picture, squarely in a real-world context. This portion starts about 1:25 into the podcast, so either be prepared to listen for a while or to skip ahead to the main part.
