Sparrow W4SUL Blog

Blog updates now only available on the main site, but here's some old stuff for you to look at!

Random Thoughts for 2008

July 17, 2008

Our beloved Petunia, a 32 year old Amazon parrot died tonight at 10:15pm after a bout of pneumonia. She had belonged to a good friend Ted Shallcross, KD4BWS who died of cancer many years ago. She was a great bird, and we'll miss her very much. I know she's with Ted now and he'll take good care of her...

July 4, 2008

Been a nice radio day. I was able to work Sable Island CY0X this morning on CW. I needed them bad. Then I had a nice rag chew or two on 10 meters. Upon swtiching over to 15 meters I answered a CQ from Dave KD8ECG who I learned is the son of the writer of one of my favorite old radio shows "Big John and Sparkey." We had a nice chat about old radio shows, a topic I'm quite keen on.

I took apart my old 10 foot satellite dish today. Haven't used it in months, and decided I wanted the room in the yard for other projects. It's on the curb and I expect it won't be there by nighfall! I was thinking about turning it into a 70cm moonbounce antenna, but decided do go with stacked Yagie's instead.

My local club had a nice fieled day last weekend. I wasn't able to go because I was laid up after running over my foot with my wheelchair, but my YL Debbie had a nice time!

June 22, 2008

My Bencher clone MFJ key just isn't cutting it anymore. I have to readjust the stupid thing every time I sit down in front of it. Plus the spring tension isn't adjustable, only the contact spacing, which never stays where I put it.
So, I sat down and made a list of what I wanted in a key:

> Magnetic instead of springs - I control humidity not temp in the shack.

> Gold contacts

> Ball bearing movement

> Heavy - Don't want it sliding around on the desk.

> Comfortable finger position - can I use it for 8+ hours at a clip?

> Support - after sale help.

I've spent 2 weeks online researching what's out there. I've polled all the CW ops in my local club on what they're using, and I've come to this conclusion: There are some nice keys out there! So what do I want for Christmas?

I've decided on the Begali Signature. I'll need to sell some junk out of the shack to swing it, but it'll be worth in I'm sure

June 15, 2008

Wow, what a great Fathers Day. Got nice phone calls from my brother Hilary and daughter J'aime this morning, had a nice breakfast served up by the YL Debbie and my son Hilary drew me a nice card. I spent the rest of the morning on the radio! That is until our Florida summer storms forced me to shut down that is.
I was working a sweet 10 meter opening this morning, and had a nice run at a pile up that lasted over 2 hours. I worked 30 stations, all nice 5 to 10 minute rag chews. As soon as one station signed, there was another waiting in wings! I got some very nice comments on my signal today, as well as the great audio that my Heil HM-10 puts out. Many thanks to all the stations who I worked today, you made it a great Fathers Day...

With the storms rolling in, when I'm done working on the web site, I'll be going in and watching the final round of the U.S. Open golf match. Tiger's really got game this week. You can tell he's still hurting from his knee surgary in April, but he's still playing great golf!

May 28, 2008

Car Swapping Day
Decided it was time to take my old Ford Ranger off of the road. We really don't need two cars as I only drive once a week anyway. With gas and insurance prices what they are right now, we'll get by just fine with only one car on the road. After a delightful breakfast with a bunch of ham buddies, I pulled the ramp off of my truck. I sand blasted it down to bare metal, and then repainted it to match our mini van.

March 30, 2008

Today, I'm going to explain why the only sport I follow is golf.

For one, back when I could walk; I played pretty well myself, and enjoyed playing with my late grandfather.

More importantly, golf is a gentlemans game, and the players hold to values and standards that are so often not seen in other sports. Case in point today, during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Stewart Cink could have said nothing about his raking the sand trap yesterday, after having stepped into it to play a ball on the fringe of the bunker. He hit his ball into yet another bunker, then raked the trap. Well, that's a no-no, as the rules suggest that he might have been "testing the sand" for his next shot. Nobody saw him do it, but after discussing the problem with another player today and realizing he might have made an error, Cink asked a rules official for clarification. Cink was disqualified, and driven off the course via golf cart.

Could he have gotten away with the rules violation? Quite possibly, but he did the right thing!

Mr. Cink, you left New Orleans without winning a dime, but you won the respect of golf professionals and fans world wide. That makes you a winner!

February 17, 2008

First, happy birthday to my bride. I have been having a great time working VP6DX on different bands and modes I've been sitting for hours, straining to hear them on 10 meters mostly. I'm hoping to get them everywhere, however that's going to mean I'll have to pull my truck up to the tower and plug my log periodic into my 857D because I don't have 6 meters in the ham shack! I'll be up most of the night tonight to try and work them on 40 and 80 CW and 160. Then I'll go after the RTTY on Tuesday or so.

February 10, 2008

TI9KK is on the air. I worked them in 1 call, without any pileups. I sat in the shack since before the sun came up, monitoring their published frequency. At 1230 zulu I heard them tune up, at 1231 zulu they called their first CQ and I got them. Simple as that. A few more stations who were using the same tactic also worked TI9KK, then someone spotted them all all heck broke loose! My point is, plan your DX hunting carefully. Then even with a modest antenna and barefoot radio, you can snag the rare ones too

February 1, 2008

I spent the last several days, taking apart my shack. I had a couple of problems with ground loops, and also was running out of space in my 4 shelf racks...I built up a new shelf system, reinstalled the radios, installed a new grounding system, and last but not least, I did a retune on the input cavity of my FL-2100b amplifier so I could work 17 and 12 meters with some power! Took hours, but now I can get out 600+ watts on 12 and 17, and 800 watts out on everything else 80 -10 meters. Also today, I worked two new ones... Ghana and Guantanamo. I'd seen Guantanamo on the spots as I lay in bed last night, and my YL remarked that she was sure I'd worked them alreay. I had, but had never gotten a card. So now I hoping this now Guantanamo will fix that! I also worked Moldova, which I've worked a dozen times before but had never gotten a card for. Hopefully I can get one now!

January 9, 2008

What a strange day yesterday was... First, my local club held their anual special event station W4B from the Brooksville Raid. An hour before our planned shut down, a tornado watch was issued for a large line of strong thurderstorms that tore through the area. The club was able to break down in time and everyone got home safe
During the storm, while I watched my log periodic antenna dance around in 40+ mile per hour winds; the power went out. We were without juice for over 3 hours. Our ham equipment is all set up to run on standby power so I was fine, but my autistic son Hilary was not very happy without his Youtube and his big screen TV

January 9, 2008

I don't often comment on other peoples web sites etc. but you have GOT to view this video (opens in new window.) It is a step by step guide to building a triode vaccum tube. I wish I had 1/10th of the tools this guy has in his shop. The video is in French, but has no dialog, just background music and is a delight to watch.
In DX news, I've made a few contacts, including a new one ET Ethiopia on 20 phone. He's been on CW too, but I've not caught him there yet!

January 1, 2008

Happy New Year! Let's all hope for the next sun spot cycle to start soon!

Random Thoughts for 2007 (see the main page for 2006 and 2007)

December 22, 2007

My local club, the Spring Hill Amateur Radio Club, installed a much needed new antenna and feed line on the repeater this morning. For the first time since I joined the club, I can hit the repeater with my hand held from my home in the next county! Thanks guys for all the hard work!
Was working HF this morning, and accidently left the wrong antenna hooked up when I went to 80 meters. Turns out my 160m double bazooka, works great on 80 and 40 meters as well. The SWR is a hair over 2:1 on 80 an 40 meters. St. Barts is going to be on 40 and 80 Sunday and Monday, so I'll have to try and work them on those bands as well

December 20, 2007

In DX news, St. Barts was made a DXCC entity yesterday. FJ will be #338 on the DXCC list. I was able to work them yesterday on 20m phone and 17m CW. QSL card is already in the mail! In other news, my birthday is coming up. The best present would be snagging a couple of new ones!

December 12, 2007

Got a bunch of QSL cards today, many direct and a huge package from the W4 bureau. (Thanks for all the hard work guys!) It'll take some time to log them all in, but I'm hopeful that they will bring me well over the 200 confirmed mark. In other news, today is my grandfathers birthday. Though he passsed away back in 1986, I still remember his birthday every year. Pop Pop was the one who taught me how to fish, hunt and fix just about anything!

	Random Thoughts for 2008



	July 17, 2008

	Our beloved Petunia, a 32 year old Amazon parrot died tonight at 10:15pm after a bout of pneumonia. She had belonged to a good friend Ted Shallcross, KD4BWS who died of cancer many years ago. She was a great bird, and we'll miss her very much. I know she's with Ted now and he'll take good care of her...

	July 4, 2008

	Been a nice radio day. I was able to work Sable Island CY0X this morning on CW. I needed them bad. Then I had a nice rag chew or two on 10 meters. Upon swtiching over to 15 meters I answered a CQ from Dave KD8ECG who I learned is the son of the writer of one of my favorite old radio shows "Big John and Sparkey." We had a nice chat about old radio shows, a topic I'm quite keen on. I took apart my old 10 foot satellite dish today. Haven't used it in months, and decided I wanted the room in the yard for other projects. It's on the curb and I expect it won't be there by nighfall! I was thinking about turning it into a 70cm moonbounce antenna, but decided do go with stacked Yagie's instead. My local club had a nice fieled day last weekend. I wasn't able to go because I was laid up after running over my foot with my wheelchair, but my YL Debbie had a nice time!

	June 22, 2008

	My Bencher clone MFJ key just isn't cutting it anymore. I have to readjust the stupid thing every time I sit down in front of it. Plus the spring tension isn't adjustable, only the contact spacing, which never stays where I put it. So, I sat down and made a list of what I wanted in a key: > Magnetic instead of springs - I control humidity not temp in the shack. > Gold contacts > Ball bearing movement > Heavy - Don't want it sliding around on the desk. > Comfortable finger position - can I use it for 8+ hours at a clip? > Support - after sale help. I've spent 2 weeks online researching what's out there. I've polled all the CW ops in my local club on what they're using, and I've come to this conclusion: There are some nice keys out there! So what do I want for Christmas? I've decided on the Begali Signature. I'll need to sell some junk out of the shack to swing it, but it'll be worth in I'm sure

	June 15, 2008

	Wow, what a great Fathers Day. Got nice phone calls from my brother Hilary and daughter J'aime this morning, had a nice breakfast served up by the YL Debbie and my son Hilary drew me a nice card. I spent the rest of the morning on the radio! That is until our Florida summer storms forced me to shut down that is. I was working a sweet 10 meter opening this morning, and had a nice run at a pile up that lasted over 2 hours. I worked 30 stations, all nice 5 to 10 minute rag chews. As soon as one station signed, there was another waiting in wings! I got some very nice comments on my signal today, as well as the great audio that my Heil HM-10 puts out. Many thanks to all the stations who I worked today, you made it a great Fathers Day... With the storms rolling in, when I'm done working on the web site, I'll be going in and watching the final round of the U.S. Open golf match. Tiger's really got game this week. You can tell he's still hurting from his knee surgary in April, but he's still playing great golf!

	May 28, 2008

	Car Swapping Day Decided it was time to take my old Ford Ranger off of the road. We really don't need two cars as I only drive once a week anyway. With gas and insurance prices what they are right now, we'll get by just fine with only one car on the road. After a delightful breakfast with a bunch of ham buddies, I pulled the ramp off of my truck. I sand blasted it down to bare metal, and then repainted it to match our mini van.









	March 30, 2008

	Today, I'm going to explain why the only sport I follow is golf. For one, back when I could walk; I played pretty well myself, and enjoyed playing with my late grandfather. More importantly, golf is a gentlemans game, and the players hold to values and standards that are so often not seen in other sports. Case in point today, during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Stewart Cink could have said nothing about his raking the sand trap yesterday, after having stepped into it to play a ball on the fringe of the bunker. He hit his ball into yet another bunker, then raked the trap. Well, that's a no-no, as the rules suggest that he might have been "testing the sand" for his next shot. Nobody saw him do it, but after discussing the problem with another player today and realizing he might have made an error, Cink asked a rules official for clarification. Cink was disqualified, and driven off the course via golf cart. Could he have gotten away with the rules violation? Quite possibly, but he did the right thing! Mr. Cink, you left New Orleans without winning a dime, but you won the respect of golf professionals and fans world wide. That makes you a winner!

	February 17, 2008

	First, happy birthday to my bride. I have been having a great time working VP6DX on different bands and modes I've been sitting for hours, straining to hear them on 10 meters mostly. I'm hoping to get them everywhere, however that's going to mean I'll have to pull my truck up to the tower and plug my log periodic into my 857D because I don't have 6 meters in the ham shack! I'll be up most of the night tonight to try and work them on 40 and 80 CW and 160. Then I'll go after the RTTY on Tuesday or so.

	February 10, 2008

	TI9KK is on the air. I worked them in 1 call, without any pileups. I sat in the shack since before the sun came up, monitoring their published frequency. At 1230 zulu I heard them tune up, at 1231 zulu they called their first CQ and I got them. Simple as that. A few more stations who were using the same tactic also worked TI9KK, then someone spotted them all all heck broke loose! My point is, plan your DX hunting carefully. Then even with a modest antenna and barefoot radio, you can snag the rare ones too

	February 1, 2008

	I spent the last several days, taking apart my shack. I had a couple of problems with ground loops, and also was running out of space in my 4 shelf racks...I built up a new shelf system, reinstalled the radios, installed a new grounding system, and last but not least, I did a retune on the input cavity of my FL-2100b amplifier so I could work 17 and 12 meters with some power! Took hours, but now I can get out 600+ watts on 12 and 17, and 800 watts out on everything else 80 -10 meters. Also today, I worked two new ones... Ghana and Guantanamo. I'd seen Guantanamo on the spots as I lay in bed last night, and my YL remarked that she was sure I'd worked them alreay. I had, but had never gotten a card. So now I hoping this now Guantanamo will fix that! I also worked Moldova, which I've worked a dozen times before but had never gotten a card for. Hopefully I can get one now!

	January 9, 2008

	What a strange day yesterday was... First, my local club held their anual special event station W4B from the Brooksville Raid. An hour before our planned shut down, a tornado watch was issued for a large line of strong thurderstorms that tore through the area. The club was able to break down in time and everyone got home safe During the storm, while I watched my log periodic antenna dance around in 40+ mile per hour winds; the power went out. We were without juice for over 3 hours. Our ham equipment is all set up to run on standby power so I was fine, but my autistic son Hilary was not very happy without his Youtube and his big screen TV

	January 9, 2008

	I don't often comment on other peoples web sites etc. but you have GOT to view this video (opens in new window.) It is a step by step guide to building a triode vaccum tube. I wish I had 1/10th of the tools this guy has in his shop. The video is in French, but has no dialog, just background music and is a delight to watch. In DX news, I've made a few contacts, including a new one ET Ethiopia on 20 phone. He's been on CW too, but I've not caught him there yet!

	January 1, 2008

	Happy New Year! Let's all hope for the next sun spot cycle to start soon!

	Random Thoughts for 2007 (see the main page for 2006 and 2007)

	December 22, 2007

	My local club, the Spring Hill Amateur Radio Club, installed a much needed new antenna and feed line on the repeater this morning. For the first time since I joined the club, I can hit the repeater with my hand held from my home in the next county! Thanks guys for all the hard work! Was working HF this morning, and accidently left the wrong antenna hooked up when I went to 80 meters. Turns out my 160m double bazooka, works great on 80 and 40 meters as well. The SWR is a hair over 2:1 on 80 an 40 meters. St. Barts is going to be on 40 and 80 Sunday and Monday, so I'll have to try and work them on those bands as well

	December 20, 2007

	In DX news, St. Barts was made a DXCC entity yesterday. FJ will be #338 on the DXCC list. I was able to work them yesterday on 20m phone and 17m CW. QSL card is already in the mail! In other news, my birthday is coming up. The best present would be snagging a couple of new ones!

	December 12, 2007

	Got a bunch of QSL cards today, many direct and a huge package from the W4 bureau. (Thanks for all the hard work guys!) It'll take some time to log them all in, but I'm hopeful that they will bring me well over the 200 confirmed mark. In other news, today is my grandfathers birthday. Though he passsed away back in 1986, I still remember his birthday every year. Pop Pop was the one who taught me how to fish, hunt and fix just about anything!