Tuesday, May 31st – Morning at Barstow KOA. A quick breakfast consists of coffee and oatmeal. The girls have either cereal or oatmeal. Drive over Tehachapi Pass. This was my first time taking the travel trailer over Tehachapi Pass. The pass was a pretty easy drive. Up I-5 to Los Baños. Drop the trailer at KOA. Drive to Los Gatos. Stop for gas in Los Gatos… $53 to fill up the tank with California gas! Wonderful dinner with my sister Lisa and her family. We were also able to celebrate my dad’s birthday.
Category: Uncategorized
2016 Summer Trip – Day 3
Monday, May 30th – Morning at Meteor Crater RV Park. Up early to leave the RV Park by 7am to see “the crater“. The crater was impressive. I am betting that was one loud noise.
Drive through Flagstaff. Horrible delay on I-40 west of Kingman, AZ and border crossing. Californians have not mastered the ability to merge. Arrive at Barstow KOA. Girls go swimming (which they have been looking forward to since Texas). It is hot and I am thankful the travel trailers air conditioning is working well.
2016 Summer Trip – Day 2
Sunday, May 29th – Morning in Dalhart, TX. Up early and on the road by 7am. Easy driving through Texas down into New Mexico. We had a second breakfast (early lunch?) at Denny’s (I-40 junction). Emily orders pizza. I spill chorizo skillet on my shirt. Long drive through New Mexico; keeping speed at ~60mph. Time change into Arizona is two hours based on Arizona’s funny timezone rules (or maybe the rest of the country has funny rules and Arizona does it right). Ends up being a 12 hour day of driving? I’m confused of what the actual time is. There are a million stars in the Arizona night sky.
2016 Summer Trip – Day 1
Saturday, May 28th – Morning comes early and I run around the house like a madman trying to get the final pieces packed up. There is no reason for this – I should have had everything organized days ago. Departed Lansing, KS at ~10:00am. Easy driving on I-70 to Topeka. Take I-335 to Wichita. After Wichita, it is a US highway. We pass a grain silo about every 10 miles. Pass through Oklahoma, then into Texas. Quite a bit of dead bug build up on the station wagon. We arrive at the Corral RV Park in Dalhart, TX around 7pm. I am smoked. I keep the trailer hitched to facilitate an early get away. No water hook. Just sleep.
2016 Summer Trip – Day 0
Friday was busy and exhausting. Unfortunately, not with trip preparation but with packing up my classroom for the move to the new school. I am in no mood to get done what I need to in order to get an early start on Saturday.
Notes From The Shack
Friday, November 27th
Had a good day in shack. Was able to get a good portion of it cleaned up. Filled up a trash bag and a big box of “stuff” I just do not need.
Fired up the HF rig and ran it through it’s paces. Had a Phone QSO with a station down in Costa Rica and worked a few stations around the US on PSK-31. Enough to let me know the rig is still working. Listened to my favorite bunch of old timers who meet weekday mornings (8AM) around 7.140 MHz. I’ve never joined in, but used to listen to them all the time from my mobile when my work hours were a bit different. Nowadays I don’t get the opportunity to hear them.
For the last few weeks I have been trying to square away my VHF/UHF setup. My embedded EchoIRLP node has consistently suffered from pulsing. I have tweaked about every software setting and radio setting possible but was unable to fix the issue. It looks like the pulsing generally correlates with my APRS signal. I use a Kenwood TM-D710A in the shack. A computer with UI-View32 is driving the left half of the TM-D710A, sending and receiving APRS data. The right side I usually dedicate to the EchoIRLP node which is normally set to a simplex UHF frequency. I started to notice that everytime UI-View32 sends out my position or weather report, my EchoIRLP node would pulse. I honestly think the rig is the issue.
What I like best about the TM-D710A is that I can use my one antenna that I have mounted off my chimney. The TM-D710A allows me to use both the APRS and EchoIRLP at the same time. But I think that pulsing issue will keep me off IRLP reflectors or Echolink conferences unless I disable UI-View32 and the TM-D710A’s TNC while I am using the reflector/conference.
I upgraded my version of fldigi. I made sure my log and settings were backed up and the upgrade went without significant issue. I was able to setup the WX macro function, which I have been meaning to do. The macro pulls the latest WX from Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and allows me to slide that into a PSK-31 QSO via macro. I wish it could pull the data right from my WX station. Not sure how to do that.
I setup my D-Star DV Access Point Dongle – hadn’t done that in a while. I am consistently unimpressed with the audio quality that I get listening to the D-Star reflector on my ICOM IC-92AD. The audio is very metallic and tinny.
APRS has taken up a bit of my time lately. I enjoy playing around with my Yaesu VX-8GR. I am amazed at the different ways you can send a message from the APRS system to an email address. I have improved my ability to work the VX-8GR to input text for a message.
I figured out how to get my UI-View32/TM-D-710A setup to only digipeat APRS packets from either my callsign or the XYLs. That comes in handy when I have the HT. One thing I have not been able to figure out is how to get my UI-View32/TM-D710A setup to digipeat packets destined for my HT’s SSID. For example, if I send a message from my HT, it is digipeated out through my UI-View32/TM-D710A setup and picked up by a nearby real digipeater. But when the “Ack” packet comes back, my HT won’t hear it and I am not sure how to get my UI-View32/TM-D710A to recognize that packet and digipeat it.
Did I mention the humidity sensor on the Davis Vantage Pro2 is not working properly?
I checked into a net tonight! We have an awesome daily email called Larry’s List that contains all kinds of interesting information about the amateur radio goings on in the greater Kansas City area. From swap and shop, to license testing, and opportunities to volunteer in support of public events to various club activities and nets…. Larry’s List is one stop shopping for anything you would want to know about what is happening. The list mentioned a net conducted from a repeater setup on top of the VA hospital in Kansas City (KC0VA). I decided to check in and was privileged to partake in a very interesting discussion about how to handle an emergency if it occurred during a net. I also learned about the Q-signal “QRRR”… which I had never heard or read of before.
Toyota Transition
This blog started in conjunction with my return to the United States in 2005 and purchase of a Toyota Tundra. After being away from the US for four years, I celebrated my return by the purchase of the new truck and a (mostly) circumnavigation of the lower 48. My first encounter with Toyota was through my friend Robb and a 1980s Toyota 4×4 he had. Robb was going to school at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Robb was fond of taking his truck to Pismo Beach and enjoying the beach and dune experience. Robb loved his truck.
After spending a year in Monterrey, CA learning Russian at the Defense Language Institute and a few months honing my listening abilities at Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, TX, I got my follow on orders to Fairbanks, Alaska (Fort Wainwright). I didn’t have a car. I was an enlisted Army soldier making not a whole lot of money. Heading way, way up north. I figured I needed a 4-wheel drive vehicle to make my life a bit more comfortable. My first thought was a Ford Ranger. But it ended up being too expensive. The most reasonable costing 4-wheel drive vehicle was a Toyota 4×4. It was 1993 and the Tacoma had not come along yet. 1993 Toyota 4×4. Manual locking hubs. Manual windows. AM/FM radio. Bench seat. No A/C. 4 cylinders. That truck was to go on to perform flawlessly in Alaska, transported me from Alaska to Georgia and several cross-country trips. Arizona. Washington State. Texas. And California. For seven years, that truck never let me down. I was heading off to Korea for a year to be followed by three in Germany. I sold the truck.
When I was planning my return to the US, I knew I wanted to get another Toyota. I settled on the Tundra. But instead of the minimum package, I was able to swing a 2005 Toyota Tundra Limited Double Cab 4×4. This truck offered to support a newly forming family. I broke the truck in with a trip around the US. I continually upgraded my ham radio installation in the truck, further enhancing my mobile enjoyment. The Tundra performed flawlessly. Never an issue.
The Tundra proved to be the hero of the 2015 Summer trip. Five national parks. From Kansas to Montana, Wyoming, out to California and back. Pulling a travel trailer. No issues, no problems. Over 120,000 miles.
It was time to think about the future. A future of summer travel. Exploration of national parks in the west. Colorado. Arizona. Utah. Maybe an upgrade to the travel trailer. The 2005 Tundra had an older drive train and a towing capacity topping out at 4,200 lbs. Comparing the aging 2005 Tundra to the current available 4x4s… the 2005 had a hard time measuring up.
I wanted to find something that was as reliable and dependable. Offered increase towing capability. But maybe smaller? Truth be told, I often had difficulty parking the Tundra. The turning radius was… challenging. Was there something available in a smaller package, yet offering increased performance and towing capabilities? Oh… did I mention that it has to be a Toyota?
Sunflowers!
We had the opportunity to visit a nearby field of sunflowers here in Kansas. The field seemed to stretch across the horizon.
Friday, June 12th – Bridge Bay Campground to West Yellowstone, MT [Day 9] (60 miles)
Pack up was pretty smooth. My oldest, Sarah, was very helpful. I had become adept at backing up my truck (a bit at a time) and hooking up to the trailer by myself. In the past, my wife would back me up which made the hitching up process go much quicker. Bridge Bay has a dump station, which made made use of. Then we were on our way to West Yellowstone to pick up Christa. We drove north, back through the Hayden Valley (buffalos all over the place) and then headed west at the Canyon Area. A turn south and we headed towards Madison Campground where we would again turn west and head out of the park and into West Yellowstone, MT.
We were to pick up Christa, who was linking up with us. We would all spend the night at Grizzly RV Park to refit from our last few days away for civilization. Grizzly RV Park was nice – a big, modern affair with large sites, super-clean bathrooms, and nice laundry facilities. We checked in and were greeted by a staff of what appeared to be semi-retired, semi-nomatic senior citizens. I quickly found my pull-through site, dropped the trailer, hooked up the electricity, and headed to pick up Christa.
West Yellowstone is a tourist town. Let there be no doubt. Lots of shops to sell you stuff you really don’t need. We zipped through the small town, heading a short distance north to the airport. Christa had already landed! We linked up at the airport restaurant and enjoyed a great meal.
Back at the Grizzly RV Park we were able to shower and do laundry. We also continued our trend of eating out for dinner. We were ready to start our trip north to Glacier National Park.
Monday, June 8th – Livingston, MT to Yellowstone National Park [Day 5] (120 miles)
I woke up early and had my first laundry session. The campground had one washer and one dryer, but it served its purpose. I was able to get showered and the laundry done before the girls awoke.
The couple that owned the RV campground provided a flyer with a map of the local area. After a close inspection, I noticed an Albertsons grocery store just up the road (I-90 and US-89).
The campsite was a pull-through, which makes life easy. I left the truck hitched which made packing up and getting underway easy. A quick trip to Albertsons and I was restocked with food and sundry items.
US-89 is an easy drive into the north entrance of Yellowstone.
Drove through Tower Falls area to get to the Lake Area. Encountered a ton of visitors blocking the road to take pictures of animals. Many people were being very dangerous, standing in the middle of the road. This is clearly stated in the information visitors receive when they enter the park as being against the rules. Visitors are allowed only to use turn-outs to park cars, not to simply pull over on the road’s shoulder. This is for good reason because the roads tend to be narrow. If a visitor sees an animal off the side of the road and wishes to get a closer look, they need to find the closet pull-out, park their car there, and then walk to where the action is. Despite these simple rules, many visitors were unable to follow them.
Arrived at Bridge Bay campground and was initially assigned a camping site that was way too small. Almost hit other RVs trying to fit in. Went back and was assigned another site.
Visited the Visitors Center at Fishing Bridge and got two Junior Ranger books.