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Put up a new K4KIO hexbeam antenna for 6,10,12,15,17,20 meters. Mounted in a W8IO rooftop tower at 35 feet, so it should give me some decent DX too. Ham IV rotator.
Replaces my old Mosley TA-33 triband yagi.

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I don't know a lot about ham radio, but that looks cool - like a spider web. It should gather signals well, especially with the rotator.
 
I don't know a lot about ham radio, but that looks cool - like a spider web. It should gather signals well, especially with the rotator.

One brand of hexbeam calls itself Spiderbeam, so well spotted.
Hexbeams also get compared to those old circular laundry lines.
It works better than a dipole, not as good as a full-on yagi.
It's basically a 2 element directional antenna. Wires for each band strung around the fiberglass poles help keep it under tension. Since it's circular shaped it is not prone to turning in high winds and has good high wind survivability. Easy to repair. I put on the optional ice cords to give it extra strength if a bunch of snow & ice gets dumped on it. Good choice for a small city lot.
 
Scheduled a day to go to the range with a friend new to shooting. Managed to get my shed cleaned up for more organized storage. I swapped out the water in some military water cans I have. Cleaned out two new to me mwc and filled them. Then I inspected my recently acquired scepter military fuel cans and took stock of what parts I need and what is still good. Out of the 8 fuel cans I have, 4 of them are good with new/ish seals and the other 4 need new caps since the flanges are broken and seals have shrunk. Luckily I found a place online I can order new cap assemblies from for a decent price. Now to just wait for pay day.
 
Picked up a copy of this interesting text. While our vehicles are most certainly functional for this rural area and well stocked with supplies, improvements are great. That and more options always a good thing. The sections on watercraft and airborne options should be, if nothing else, a fun read ("Get to da choppa!").

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Alas, I'm behind on the reading pile; both due to annoying business reason and some more wacky/fun adventures that have occupied time, but I digress, and I shall leave it at that.
:s0105:
 
Just had 2 cords of lodgepole delivered and have arranged to have the house and shop chimneys cleaned on Wednesday. Filled up 3 portable propane tanks this morning. Also cooked and dehydrated 2 gigantic spaghetti squash and am getting ready to can some special recipe beans and marinara/meat sauce tomorrow. The rest of today will be spent cleaning up the yard and getting it ready for winter. We have a fall break here, so I'm trying to use my time wisely.
 
Moved into my safe room. Went to a little local gun show. Have 1000 5.56, 2000 .22, and 1000 of .380 inbound.

Did some winter prep. Sent my mom pics of my loaded Serviceberry trees along with a pie recipe. Hoping for the best.
 
Sold and bought a new-to-us house so I'm setting up the place. Installed 10x3.5" Spax screws in door hinges, zip-tied my garage door emergency release, bolted my safe to the floor, and recharged my desiccant packs in the oven for 12 hours. I'm in the process of building hanging shelves in my garage, which is small but has a 10-foot ceiling.
 
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Spent yesterday afternoon and last night into this morning tending a slash pile I did a trial burn on.

Still too dry to burn any more. I spent a lot of time fighting to keep it from spreading too badly. It is still going strongly after 16 hours - it is about half the size it started, now about about 20' wide and 10' tall. About have a dozen stumps about 20 feet away caught fire, and one rotten stump about 50 feet away caught an ember and kept flaring up - I've had to dump 5 gallons of water on it about half a dozen times and whack away at it with a pick to break it up. The stumps burn down into the ground into the roots, it is hard to control them.

It is a PITA to burn slash piles without a source of pressurized water.
 
We got a ducks in row to do a final (assuming the weather is about to turn) logging expedition this weekend. I did one the weekend before last and harvested a bunch. (Last weekend I was out on the coast with the beloved, so didn't work on the land.) Tomorrow I'll hit it again. I can already feel the aches that nature provides as a less than subtle reminder that "hey, you aren't that young anymore". The aging process aside, and back on topic:

  • The wife took in two chainsaws to be serviced.
  • She bought a couple of spare chains for said. (woohoo!)
  • I jacked up and fixed a problem tire on the Kawasaki MULE. I use the truck to harvest up the hill, and then the MULE to bring down the split wood to the lower storage.
  • Packed up the satchel.
  • Took a gander at the gun cabinet to see what long gun I'll pack along. I've normally brought along an old Winchester 94, but I might go with the Mossberg 590 loaded with 00-buck. While working up in that part I have encountered furry critters and the far more obnoxious trespassing, bipedal primate types. Either way, something more than a revolver is nice to have.
Beyond that, the normal reading, supply chain management, and taking care of business. Best of wishes and happy prepping friends. :)
 
Working in Texas for 2 weeks and bored in a hotel for 2 days in the middle. Ordered a new pair of boots and resisted a bunch of other boredom fueled purchases. Reeeeeally wish I was at home using these 2 days more constructively.
 
Finally got the slash pile fire put out.

Been going over to the back acreage every morning and every evening stirring the ashes and coals and pouring about 20 gallons of water on them all week long.

Today I did that more energetically - the whole pile - about three times today and I will check on it tomorrow. This last time I saw no embers and no hot coals, but some smoke still. So poured more water on it.
 
Bought on sale two dinky AA battery powered AM-FM pocket radios with ear budds. Telescoping antennae. Work amazingly well with the ear budds. I can hear my favorite 102.7 To Drive FM station quite well. May buy more. Work that well.

That is all. :)
 
I have the FEMA app installed on my phone now. I did not get the test warning recently (before installing the app) because I am on VOIP, but I did get a weather warning this morning about fog. :eek: So I guess it works even though I don't have it open. Good enough.
 
Thank you Heretic. Does the Presidential Cell Phone alert system test count? All the cells and pagers went off at once. Just like in the movies. I guess it worked OK. My old cheap track Cell Phone reacted also.
 
Thank you Heretic. Does the Presidential Cell Phone alert system test count? All the cells and pagers went off at once. Just like in the movies. I guess it worked OK. My old cheap track Cell Phone reacted also.

I didn't get that because my provider is VOIP based, not voice based. I wanted to see if it would work with my phone/plan and it didn't

But I didn't have the app installed, so I assume that now it will work.

On my old phone I had the local app installed. I forget whether it was Oregon based or what.
 
Today I cleaned and lubed the herd. Following that I cut barrel length segments of ZeRust anti-corrosion tubing up and put it into each barrel.

After that I put each into individual silicone "socks" made by Sack Ups and Bulldog. Then tagged each one with a hang tag with a photo of what's inside on each.

Overkill perhaps! LOL. But I feel like it's a layer of protection for the investment.

Rick Shaw
 

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