Mini Ham Field Day

Sunday was a mini field day to test out my Nooelec SDR dongle and 40m dipole.  I drove up to our condo rec area parking lot and found some palm trees to throw my antenna over.  I quickly discovered that you need to secure the ends of the dipole lest they get into a big tangle when hoisting the feed line :(  The other big lesson was to set the offset when using the upconverter (-125Mhz for the Nooelec Ham It Up).  After getting the antenna up and CubicSDR software configured and running, I was able to get some 40m phone.  I didn't get any JS8Call traffic though.  Overall a good success.

 

Dipole in V hung from palm tree

Mobile ham shack

 

 

Open Letter to Rep. Mike Levin

Hello Rep. Levin,
I too share your thoughts on the despicable acts in Washington DC and am glad you and your staff are safe.
I have a few questions in response to the message you sent to your constituents on Jan. 8:
* You claim the Constitution must be defended "every day" and I wholeheartedly agree.  However, your stance and actions against the Second Amendment are opposed to this claim.  I know the discussion on reducing gun violence is too much for this forum but how do you reconcile these contradictory stances?
* Although DC riots were more targeted at government itself, the ongoing riots attributed to Antifa, et. al. were much more widespread and damaging to property and life.  What is your office doing to stop those acts and hold those responsible accountable?

I response would be very much appreciated.

 

Mr. Levin's message:

Dear Neighbor,

I wanted to reach out and address the recent attack that occurred in our nation's capital on Wednesday.

For the first time since 1814, the United States Capitol Building was breached by an angry mob. More than 200 years ago, it was British troops. This time it was domestic terrorists, inspired and encouraged by President Donald Trump. 

I started that day preparing to uphold my oath of office — an oath I took this past Sunday at the launch of the 117th Congress to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That is an oath I upheld later that night by voting to certify the results of the Electoral College and declaring Joe Biden and Kamala Harris our next president and vice president.

While I was forced to shelter in my office for most of the day, I am thankful for the Capitol Police officers and other law enforcement agencies who tried to keep everyone safe. There are many questions that must be answered for how this security breach occurred in the first place, and there will be a full investigation. 

As for the domestic terrorists who sought to overthrow our democracy, they must be prosecuted. 

We must also acknowledge how these terrorists were inspired. Despite 81 million votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, multiple recounts, and more than 60 failed lawsuits challenging the election results, many of my Republican colleagues followed Trump’s lead and pushed outlandish conspiracy theories and baseless claims of voter fraud without any evidence, entirely void of reality.  

Many congressional Republicans sought to overturn the results of a free and fair election because they didn't like the results. They didn’t realize — or didn’t care — that their actions could result in a violent coup attempt. That’s exactly what happened Wednesday.   
  
The question now is a vital one: Where does our country go from here?  

For many decades, we have had passionate but peaceful political disagreements — a shining beacon of democracy. We Americans do not support insurrection or mob rule. 

In short, we are so much better than this.  

We are now at a crossroads in our great nation’s history, a moment where we see two divergent paths in front of us. We can continue down a path of hyper-partisanship, divisiveness and democratic decay, or we can try to heal our country. 

We can come together to reject the violence we saw Wednesday and recommit to upholding the values that unite us as Americans: democracy, justice and equality. It is paramount that we choose the right path.  

Our Constitution must never be taken for granted. We must continue to support and defend it every day, as our oath demands. 

After this unbelievable attack on our Capitol and democracy, we can't afford another day with President Trump serving in office. I am calling for Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment or for Congress to impeach and convict Trump immediately.

I also want to send my condolences to the family and loved ones of the Capitol Police officer who was killed during the attack on Wednesday, as well as at least four others who died during the insurrection. Those responsible must be held accountable.

Newsom School of Economics

Comrade Newsom has a great idea to restore the California economy he ruined: buy electric cars!  Surely this is much better than a 5 year plan consisting solely of tractors.

New York v. Florida

Interesting comparison between NY and Florida and you could substitute California in for NY in these comparisons.

Mattis Interview

Great interview with General Mattis. I particularly like his story at the very end.

Survivalist Books

 Been reading a lot of survivalist books, fiction and non-fiction.

• Survivalist series books 1 to 5 by A. American - gold standard for prepper fiction
  
• Bound to Survive series 1 and 2 by Charley Hogwood - mostly fun, sometimes serious but always educational
  
• 2050 series books 1 to 3 by Phil M. Williams - seems much closer than 30 years in the future
  
• Turn Red Tomorrow by Michael Zargona - a lot going on in this book
  
• Charlie's Requiem book 1 by A. American and Walt Browning - another take in the same Survivalist universe
• Build the Perfect Bug Out Vehicle by Creek Stewart - not exactly a daily driver
• Small Unit Tactics: An Illustrated Manual by Matthew Luke - technical, but not FM, for small unit ambushes
  
• Contact! A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse Survival by Max Velocity - less technical than Luke's book
  
• Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery - title says it all
  

Weekend Activity

• Rucks at the local reserve and Torrey Pines SB
• Zoo at Night - haven't been in a long time and a lot has changed; we got in before the lockdown and saw many animals

Wanted: Director of Health Services - no experience necessary

Biden chooses health expert lawyer to be next head of HHS.

Dictator Newsom

 I guess its only tyranny if you disagree with the tyrant but ok if you agree.

Update: Dictator disregards his own rules.

The Meaning of Science

Watt's Up has a good discussion on the process of science and how it applies specifically to climate change.  Hopefully our dear leaders will read it.

Ruck and Hike

On Saturday, I loaded a pack with 48 pounds of bricks and water jugs and headed for a nice ruck at Denk Mountain.

On Sunday, Jyoti and I went for a hike at William Heise County Park.  The Desert View Trail had a great overlook that had 360 degree views to the desert, mountains and foothills.  One of my new favorites.

New England Fall Vacation

As vacation plans get changed weekly, Jyoti was able to put together a New England trip for us and Kevin and Robyn.

We first flew to Portland, Maine.  Portland is a nice small city, bigger than I expected but not crowded.  It had some great restaurants as well.  I highly recommend BlueFin, they had the best lobster dishes of the trip.  We visited Fort Williams Park and took the obligatory photo at Portland Head lighthouse.  Later in the day, we took a ferry to Peaks Island and rented a golf cart to take a tour around the island.

The next day, we headed up the coast. Along the way we stopped in Bath to visit the Maine Maritime Museum.  The museum had great indoor exhibits as well as outdoor ones.  After a few hours driving through some rain, we made it to Bar Harbor.

At Bar Harbor, we spent two days exploring Acadia National Park.  We did a few hikes and drove the loop (after figuring out the experimental reservation system).  Hikes included the Beehive, Jordan Pond, Wild Gardens, and South Bubble.  We drove up to Cadillac Mt. but it was super foggy and we couldn't see anything.  Acadia is beautiful but feels more like a big city park than the massive open spaces of the western parks.

Leaving Bar Harbor, we drove south.  We stopped at several attractions, small towns and lighthouses along the way to Bailey Island.  The island is way off the beaten path but is very nice.  We stayed at a small motel, the Bailey Island Motel.  It was very quaint and had the best homemade muffins!  Since it was pretty much the end of the season all the restaurants were closed and there weren't many people there.  We did a nice short hike to Giant's Steps and visited Land's End.  I would love to visit the island again and spend more time there.

Next stop was Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  We were able to tour the USS Albacore which was really cool.  Strawbery Banke was great even though the houses were not open to walk through.  We had a great dinner at Black Trumpet overlooking the river.

Last stop was Boston.  We spent a day here to visit relatives but got in some sights as well.  We hiked the Freedom Trail from the Commons to Bunker Hill.  Many things were closed but we got into the Paul Revere House.  The Charlestown Navy Yard was closing when got there which was a bummer.  However, our flight the next morning was canceled.  So with an extra day, we headed back to the shipyard to visit the museums, USS Constitution and the USS Cassin Young.

Portland Head Lighthouse

Peaks Island gold cart

Jordon Pond

Top of South Bubble

Beehive summit

Hiking out to a lighthouse

Lands End, Bailey Island

Paul Revere House

Bunker Hill

How To Open Schools and Outdoor Activity

 One of the big debates this COVID season is how to safely open up schools. Anecdotally, the schools that have opened up have had decent results. One of the local school districts has enlisted the support of UCSD to help them figure out the risks and how to manage them.  They have some interesting points.  But the main point IMO is that there is very little risk when outdoors.  The data (at least that data that government allow us to see) shows that there are no outbreaks attributed to outdoor activity.  Maybe we should hold the governor and health departments responsible for their bad decision to close the beaches, parks and playgrounds.

Trump Taxes

Assuming the NYT has it right about Trump's tax returns, I congratulate Mr. Trump on paying so little in taxes.  The NYT is showing that it is ignorant about tax law or is so biased they willfully make false/misleading statements regarding the tax code.

Bigger Pockets has a great review on the terrible Time article. 

Note that Biden uses all the tax "loopholes" available to him to lower his bill.

Forgotton Depression of 1920

There are some great lessons to be learned from the depression of 1920.  The playbook that works is pretty much the opposite of what the government is doing now.

Vintage Rifles at the Range

 Spent some time at P2K shooting a 03 Springfield and an M1 Garand.  The Springfield shot very nicely at 25 yards but the sights on the M1 were low.  I didn't stick around long enough to fiddle with so that will have to wait for the next trip.

03 Springfield

M1 Garand

San Diego DA Admits Protests Infiltrated

In a town hall style meeting, the San Diego city district attorney Summer Stephan, admitted that she had information that the peaceful protests were infiltrated.

According to the DA, the infiltrators were organized enough to remove license plates from vehicles and bring generators.  These were the ones responsible for the violence.  Ms. Stephan declined to mention any other details of the group but it was obvious that she had more information.

Hopefully more will come out about this "movement" and its members.

Adventure Weekend at Mammoth

 After having many trips canceled, we finally got out of town and headed up to Mammoth Lakes for a long adventure-filled weekend.  The drive up was uneventful but the view of the Sierras from 395 where obscured by haze and smoke.  We got to the Devils Postpile and drove and found there were plenty of campsites still available.  We found a great one at Red Meadow right next to the creek.  After setting up camp, we hiked to the resort for a milkshake and headed to Rainbow Falls.  We then hiked back to camp and went to bed.

Next morning, we woke up, broke camp and made the short drive over to the Devils Postpile overnight parking lot.  After packing our packs, we headed.  The trail started with a steady uphill of the west side of the river valley.  We got a great view of the basalt formations on the way up.  It then dropped into the King Creek drainage.  Then the real uphill started for a few miles before leveling out before reaching the Fern Lake outlet.  At the lake, we poked around for a site and found one just barely 100 feet from the water.  The lake was very nice and spent time on a small beach near our camp watching some anglers.  Another early night for us as we read before going to sleep.

We were awoken by somebody walking nearby and talking loudly.  It turned out to be a rather grumpy old guy patrolling the lake and complaining about the other campers.  He was particularly upset about the folks camped right along the water. Pretty odd.  The hike back was mainly downhill but with a butt kicker climb out of the King Creek.  Jyoti's IT band really started to hurt but she made it back to Devils Postpile ok.  We drove over to Minaret Falls campground and found a nice picnic bench to have lunch with views of the falls.  After eating we headed into town to await our check in time.

There is tons to do in Mammoth during the summer time.  Here is a digest version of our activities:

• Took the gondola to the top of the mountain.  On the way down, we stopped at the halfway point to checkout the information displays.
• Checked out the earthquake fault.
• Drove around the lakes with a stop at Horseshoe Lake; it was pretty crowded.
• Drove down Old Mammoth Road to see some of the old mining stuff.
• Visited the Mammoth Museum.
  
• Took the bus to Twin Lakes and rented a row boat.

 

Jo along the trail

Atop Mammoth Mt

Fern Lake selfie

Fern Lake camp

Peaceful Protests

Here are some examples of "mostly peaceful" protests:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins

The stuff going on now is something different.  Certainly many supporters of the cause are peaceful and law-abiding.  But there is obvious influences that cause things to spiral out of control.  It is shameful that few people, regardless of their chosen team, can talk about it factually.

 

Guatay Mt. Hike

 I braved the heat and headed out to Cleveland NF to hike Guatay Mt.  This has been on my short list for a some time.  Although it was hot the weather was very tolerable and I had plenty of water.  The trail was pretty step, eroded and rocky in many place.  But it was worth with great views from the summit.

View to the north and the peaks of Cuyamaca

Tecate Cypress