Indoor Antenna

Hey folks! Yep, been a LONG time since I've posted here. Just been spending my time on other things...

Woke up this morning early and Vanessa is still resting, so I thought I'd pop on here and post. Hopefully will feel good to get some words down, me being the communicator that I am.

I was doing a BBS mail run just now and was typing a fairly long post about an indoor antenna test I did last night and thought I'd make a blog post out of it too...

To go back in time, so to speak, before Vanessa and I bought our mobile rigs, we were using her HT's that she uses for Fire Department use. Unable to broadcast very far at all, I bought a 'magnetic' base antenna online to pop on the roof and use the HT (handheld transceiver) in the truck. I was able to hit the main 'local repeater' from Dyersburg regularly. I think I remember hitting the Ripley repeater too...

So, that one had a wire break, so it got set aside. $30 for an antenna and it not last? No thank you!

We went to the Huntsville Hamfest and Diamond Antenna had a booth. I mentioned it to them and they said "Lifetime Warranty" and send it back. Meanwhile, we bought matching mobile rigs - Diamond 770 antennas - Diamond antenna mounts, so it wasn't really needed. I did send it back for a replacement, but it just sat here for a long time.

Fast forward a bit... Vanessa and I have been to Skywarn classes and are interested in weather spotting / storm chasing. This is great when we're in the truck - 50 watts - can hear and hit MILES away - but not so great in the house. Not having hundreds of dollars to spend on an indoor rig, antenna, tower or mast, etc. I started looking at alternatives.

A local HAM in the local club gave me some suggestions to try and an offer to help. Another user shared his plans for an indoor antenna I can build for less than $20 using copper tubing. Haven't done more than read through the plans.

So a few days ago I remembered this little mag mount that did so good on the truck. Last night I connected it to the HT and activated the repeater at Spring Hill. I've activated it before, but so far so good. I called out for a quick check and BOOM - got an immediate reply! Was reported as great signal strength & clarity!

Popped over to a further repeater that I've never been able to activate at all from the handheld - got the response tone right away but didn't call CQ since it was late. Bottom line - success!

The Spring Hill repeater is the local one for weather. There's one in Union City that I want to try - the next two are Jackson then two in Jonesboro. Not sure if they will connect, but from home the Spring Hill one is the primary one.

By the way - the antenna is a Diamond MR73.

Rogue One - Second Viewing

First - SPOILERS abound in this post!!! If you have NOT seen Rogue One then what are you waiting for!?!? :-)   I can only assume if you haven't seen it by now you're not worried about it, so you can either read this without worrying about spoilers or skip it entirely. :-)

Remember - SPOILERS ahead! Last chance to turn back...



Okay - went to the theater after work today to see it for the second time. WOW! Since I knew what was going to happen I didn't have to keep my eyes glued and wonder just what they were going to do next! That being said, it affected me on a different emotional level this time.

All was fine until Jyn ran out to save the little girl on Jedha. I am not ashamed to say it brought tears to my eyes. It was so human! So real! That just opened it up and I was wiping tears at different parts of the movie after that. So, so good!

And I wanted to address a 'plot hole' that people are clamoring about. I have an answer, though I think some will give push back... There is so much about that Galaxy Far, Far Away that we don't know. We are not given every little detail on screen. People have complained that R2-D2 and C-3PO couldn't have gotten from Yavin IV to Alderaan and back to Scarif while watching the X-Wings take off. Well, they didn't have to...

Remember in Episode IV, A New Hope? They knew who Leia was immediately when the Falcon arrived. They didn't have to get identification or anything. That means she had been there before.

When Bail gets ready to leave to head back to Alderaan, he calls for Antilles, but he never mentions the Tantive. He also mentioned to Mon Mothma that "his Jedi friend" would be found by someone he trusts with his life.

So - here's what I think happens off screen... He leaves Mon and heads for his ships. One of them has Leia already on board (not EVERYONE at the temple was at the briefing - remember General Syndulla being paged?) and Bail gets on the other, after instructing her to find Obi-Wan. It's only after  Bail leaves that the attack on Scarif is announced and Leia, never one to dodge a fight, decides to go as well.

She's even 'cloak and dagger' style keeping her ship out of the fight and tucked neatly into the flagship, but then speeds away with the "hope" that is transferred at the end.

Thoughts?

And one other small thing... I THINK I saw a Z-95 on Jedha when Saw's band was leaving in a hurry after the Death Star attack. It's just the wing, and looks like an X-Wing wing, but is obviously a single wing... Anyone else notice this?

Models for Sale - 2nd try

This is a 2nd try - the first post had an issue with the way I pasted in the pics instead of uploading them. It's going to take FOREVER to upload pics, and I'm not doing this for a profit - so I'm attaching the PDF to this post.

I had some issues with a PDF attachment not going through email to some people, so I offered to post this up. Please note there are NO prices listed. I look at recent "sold" prices on eBay to determine a current 'street value' and then go from there. As I've said before, no reasonable offer is refused!

There are THREE kits here that honestly I don't care if I ever sell them or not. :-) They have sentimental value to me, or are something that have other value. (the two Chevy Sport pickups and the Mad Max car).

Now, on to the 'stuff'. There are lots of pics, so please be patient with the page loading…

Also - if you need to see any more pics of specific ones, let me know! Glad to do so!

I can be reached via email at jimmylogan0916@gmail.com or you can leave a message here.

Model Kits for sale - updated 12/14/16

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1DON3zCNlIpak9FdnpXdXVReW8/view?usp=sharing

December 2016 12 of 12

My 12 of 12 - actually a bit more than 12

First one of the day - took a snap shot of my HAM rig in the truck...

Next, the current book I'm reading - it's the lead up to the new movie! Yes, I have tickets bought already - Thursday night at 7. :-)

Took none during the day - but took a pic of Vanessa during our supper at Chick Fil A - 

And here's MY cup of tea...

The next ones are pics of model cars and 'stuff' that I found in a box. I added them to my 'for sale' list. If you'd like to see the whole thing, let me know! No reasonable offer refused!

This is 'Interior Junk' - stuff you'd see in the car seat or maybe the floorboard. :-)

This is one of my favorite kits! I have two of them. This one I had started. You can see all the subassemblies and parts, etc. in separate bags!

Here's a copy of the Green Hornet I picked up! Never got around to building it either...

Unopened bottle of brush cleaner... Since I paint exclusively with acrylics now I have no need for this.

Styrene is great for scratch building! This is 'diamond plate' I was going to use for utility stuff (bumpers, flat bed decking, etc.).

One of the best deals you can get is the odds & ends assortment! Had sheets, rods, tubes, etc.

One of the projects I never got to was a duel wheel pickup with a home made flat or stake bed. These are resin copies of the duel wheels for the back and singles for the front. Was going to be a ton truck very much like those my dad drove.

Flocking - for 'carpet'

Have three or so copies of this kit! This is one I started. This was my dream car for years. Pretty much gave up on it now though...

And last, some pipettes - these are great for moving paint from one bottle to another. Again, with using acrylics and not using an airbrush it's not something I figure I'll ever use.

More Comic Acquisitions - Six Million Dollar Man complete

I have now completed my run of Six Million Dollar Man - the old Charlton Comics series from the 70's!

It was only nine issues, and the later issues are a little hard to find. Well, yesterday issues 5, 7 & 9 came in from sellers on eBay and it completes the run!

I already have the six issues of "season six" from Dynamite a few years ago and the latest issue of the new Dynamite series "Fall of Man" came in from My Comic Shop (dot com) yesterday.

I haven't posted it, but I read issue 20 of DC Comics Presents a couple of weeks ago. This was Green Arrow and once again this series is NOT what I remembered. :-)  Am I sorry to have finished the run? Not on your life! That's a part of my childhood and CLASSIC stuff from the Bronze Age! I'm still getting graphic novels from the local library via the Tennessee READS system (reading them on the iPad via the Kindle app), so I'm getting a more modern take on things as well.

Also - the latest issues of Flash came in yesterday and there was a nice take on the cover of the old issue 123 - Flash of Two Worlds. :-) This has been a recurring theme since I saw them do a tribute to that on the Flash television show last season. :-)

Anyway - ready for issue 21 of DC Comics Presents and was about to start reading it when I realized I hadn't 'reported' on the last read. :-)

One last thing - Russell - you might want to give the modern books a try! No, it's not the same as the Bronze Age, but there are still some good stories in there if you go looking! Not all of them, mind you, but there are some gems! :-)

12 of 12 November 2016

Only did two pics during 12 of 12 this month...

The above was from breakfast...

And this was playing on the radio...

I really expected more pics because it was a day that Vanessa and I were planning to sing that night. We performed at the Bonicord Fire Department Spaghetti Supper. I guess I was so busy getting things set up, then performing, etc. that I didn't stop to take any pics.

Here's one someone put on Facebook. The third person is the wife of one of the fire fighters - she played bass in a bluegrass group I was a part of YEARS ago...

I've done some more reading lately, and come to a less than satisfying revelation about gaming, but that's for another day...

Netflix

I just typed this reply to a BBS post and thought it might make a good blog post in and of itself...

Enjoy! (and feel free to comment!)



-=> Dallas Vinson wrote to All <=-

 DV> Here it is folks, the complete list of what is being pulled from
 DV> Netflix next month and when:

 DV>      Nov 1st
 DV> Deliverance
 DV> Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
 DV> Major League

 DV>      Nov 22nd
 DV> Let's Go To Prison

 DV>      Nov 25th
 DV> Robin Hood (1973 Disney)

Some good memories here... Deliverance is just a classic! Disturbing,
yes, but a classic! The book was fantastic and I'll never forget the
scene in the tent when the protaganist is awakened by a hawk (I think
it was a hawk) that had landed on the tent. A claw had poked through.

Soon he flew away and the protag was in and out of dreaming and felt
like he was flying along with him. The bird would come back and the
claw would be there again and once he touched it and it had blood
on it.

Powerful stuff! The writer played the sheriff at the end (notice
the good teeth?).

Escape to Witch Mountain was the first movie I remember seeing
at the theater as a kid. I had a crush on Tia. :-)

Major League - ah - this was coming on TBS or something years ago.
I started watching it cause I couldn't sleep. WOW! Great flick!

We were at the hotel watching the game last night and my wife said,
"I keep expecting Wild Thing to start playing." :-)

Prison - very funny. :-) My son turned me onto that one.

Robin Hood - the Roger Miller version. That was a regular at our
house when the boys were smaller...

Thanks for the memories!