A Visit to Texas

We are on our second visit to Texas in a month.  This time it is for the marriage of my grandson Jacob.  The two day trip was fraught with overcast skies, rain and a horrific accident that closed I-40 for two hours.  Now the rain is coming down here in College Station in large quanties and is supposed to persist until late tonight.  We are just hanging in the La Quinta after having lunch with my son who works nearby. The sound of thunder constantly peals in the background as I write.

We ate lunch at a place called Freebirds Burrito and it was good.  I had the box size and you get to chose what goes on it.  I went light on the beans and had no cheese but went heavier on the corn, sauteed veggies and fresh veggies.  It was good & I would like to return.  SAM had a traditional burrito and so did my son but they were custom made to each individual's specifications.

Moore later.

IRLP 9050: Tech Net

I spent the day in the Amateur Radio room moving over the radio gear from the previous spot to the new "Ham Shack".  All is working ok as of this afternoon.

The big deal is my new installation of the HF radio which is a Icom IC-7200 with an AH-4 tuner.  I had a lot of work, beyond the cosmetic issues, to add an earth ground and wire halo around the shack. Also was populating the GE cabinet with the IRLP 8891 and Allstar 42119 nodes.  As of 1600 hrs today all was operational. Yea!!

I am now listening to the TechNet on reflector 9050 and the ham radio stations all over the world.

My HF Rig

The weather here in NE Indiana has been cold, overcast, dreary and wet.

Right now I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can mount the Icom AH-4 long wire antenna tuner on the tower.  Today I connectorized the RF cable and added the 4 wire control cable for the AH-4 antenna tuner.  Tomorrow is supposed to be good so I will bring the feed lines and control cable into the radio shack.

I just finished the connector that will go to the inside of the radio shack and connect to the HF radio.  The HF rig is an Icom IC-7200 and is more or less ruggedized and spray proof.  I think it will work on the boat pretty well since the tuner can connect to the long wire backstay or a halyard that has a wire embedded in it.

The only thing I don't have to make a viable sailboat HF rig is the KISS counterpoise and that I can get at the last minute.  In the mean time I will run soe tuned radials out on the ground under the antenna tower. Perhaps I will make a block diagram of the setup and attach it to this blog later.

HF Radio Stuff

This is an Icom IC-7200 in camo color.  This is the radio I wanted to put on my boat Inspiration II when I owner her.  Alas, she is no longer mine but I have changed my focus slightly - to RV & Sailboats.  SAM seems to like the RV idea, I think, as main living quarters and less time on a sailboat.  This means I need to get a boat that is smaller and single hand-able.  With this expanded focus I need to get a tuner or tuners.

My first idea is to use a dipole at home and on the RV and a long wire on the boat.  Translated this means that we must use two different tuners.  The long wire tuner is an Icom AH-4 and the dipole tuner is like LDG Electronics IT-100 Automatic Antenna Tuner. However, it may be best to just use a long-wire for all applications except fixed base home and maybe even there too.  If I do use a long wire then I will get the KISS tuned counterpoise and move it around as well.

OK, In the end I did buy the AH-4 and will run a long wire for the boat, Rv and at home.  Starting with a 72' longwire and a few 11- 17' radials for the counterpoise at home and for RV and boat the KISS gets the nod.

My little contribution of today

♪♫♫ Back Home Again in Indiana ♫♫♪

The whirlwind tour of the FL & Texas is history. We are back in Indiana, boatless, and we are tired.  The search for a new, more appropriate boat, will commence soon.  Right now I am leaning towards a Pearson 35 or a Sabre 34 and SAM is non-commital but likes semi-planing hull Trawlers.  The future boat should be an interesting quest.  Our daughter now works in CT so I will start the search this summer out east.


The Pearson 35 is a well built boat, available and at affordable prices .  One of our friends has a very nice one and this is the basis for our liking that boat.
The Sabre 34 was recommended to us by our mechanic in FL and it has the same availability, price point and build characteristics.  I like the Sabre cockpit layout and the cutter configuration so that may limit availability somewhat.

Not so nautical

This blog post and subsequent ones, until we get a new smaller boat, will only be loosely related to nautical adventures.  That said, we left Indiana last Tuesday and made it to AR near Memphis where we stopped for the night.  The next day we drove to within 3 hours of Austin, TX which is where we are now.

Tonight will be the rehersal dinner for my niece and tomorrow the wedding.  Sunday we will turn around for the trip home to Indiana.  It has been an action packed last two weeks and the trip down was filled with adventure too.  This included finding a hospital to take a look at a rash I was having.

We are staying in an RV Park cabin near our wedding venues and it is raining pretty hard with thunder now.  Temperature is 59°F and barometer is 992.6 and trending +.  The crew went out to shop, eaat and have hair done while I stayed at the cabin to take care of Abby and take a much needed shower.  I sign with you now but may add some later if anything interesting happens.