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N5VLZ > ALL 12.06.24 03:00l 441 Lines 13462 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 7577_NS2B
Read: GUEST
Subj: PCL NET SCRIBE JUNE 10 2024
Path: IW8PGT<LU4ECL<VK2RZ<VE3CGR<GB7YEW<N9PMO<NS2B
Sent: 240612/0010Z 7577@NS2B.#WNY.NY.USA.NOAM BPQK6.0.24
PCL NET SCRIBE JUNE 10 2024
N5VLZ, Daryl, Arkansas (Net Control/Scribe)
KX4AC, Carl, Florida (Early Checkin)
NS2B, Bob, New York (Sysop)
K0WAV, Scott, Arkansas
VA7RBP, Rick, Canada
N3MEL, Glenn, Pennsylvania
KF5TVG, Bob, Oklahoma
**
N5VLZ:
The PCL Net will take Monday, July 1,
2024 OFF (3 weeks from tonight) for
the Independence Day Holiday (on
Thursday, July 4, this year). It's
hard to believe the year is nearly
half over. It has been a very stormy
spring in portions of the US, with
several states having had over 100
tornadoes already. Arkansas' yearly
average is 37, and we've already had
32. Hurricane season is now underway,
and they are predicting a bad one along
the Gulf and Atlantic coast. Today's
1200 UTC and 1800 UTC runs of the GFS
are developing a tropical cyclone in
the Caribbean, taking it toward the Gulf
Coast in 2 weeks. It's still too early to
tell, but if the other forecast models
latch on to it, and the National Hurricane
Center starts following it, then it's time
to take action. If you have travel plans to
the Gulf or Atlantic Coast, or have family
or friends in these areas, the time to prepare
is NOW, long before the watches and warnings
are issued. Otherwise, there may not be any
hurricane protection supplies, and all of the
evacuation routes may be clogged with traffic
or closed.
I missed last weeks net due to severe storms,
and we had severe weather in the region again
last night, but the worst of the storms went
just to my north. It looks like the heat will
arrive later this week, with heat advisories
warranted. I hope the air conditioner keeps
working. With the weather changes, I got very
little sleep overnight, with full body pain,
literally from head to toe. Even a Meloxicam
and 2 Tylenol is not doing anything for relief.
I had to take a power nap earlier today. The
home health nurses will finish their visits
this week. Then, storms are forecast next
Monday, June 17, but it's too early to know
if I'll have to take a raincheck next week,
no pun intended.
The battery on one of my UPS units, died, but
I believe I can get a replacement battery for
just under $100...that's cheaper than buying
a whole new unit. But, I'm going to wait to
see how the rest of the bills shake out this
month before I order it...I don't want to be
caught shorthanded, financially. I am on a
diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
and microwave cans of Ravioli. I wash it down
with powdered drink mix (no sugar or caffeine),
and have sandwich cookies for dessert. Not much
of a diet, but I can't afford much else. The
freezer is empty right now, but I can take a
break from that for now.
I made a Post Office Box run last week, to
mail off overnight to Pine Bluff (45 miles away)
my yearly Medicaid review and recertification.
Nothing had changed from last year, except the
Disability amount. I've been on Medicare with
disability for nearly 20 years now (they keep
finding stuff wrong with me), and with turning
65 next year, it seems the Medicare stuff is
redundant. I have the bare bones Medicaid, to
pay the monthly Medicare premium, but nothing
else, Medicaid wise (no SNAP, food stamps, etc.).
So, I can't get anything, including home health
care, unless it's ordered by a physician.
My lawn guy finally got to mow the yard (the
grass was way tall from all the rain lately),
and he also cut down some small tree sections
that had fallen over due to lightning or strong
winds, and they took them to the curb. However,
he didn't have his chainsaw with him, so I don't
know if the city will pick them up or not. But,
having congestive heart failure, and left hip
flexor tendonitis, I can't be moving that stuff
around. I have a better chance of getting struck
by lightning a third time than getting a large
amount of money...but if I had such, I'd get rid
of the trees and bushes, as well as the ivy...that
stuff is worse than kudzu. I wish that my late Mom
had never planted it.
It's hard to believe a week from Saturday is Field
Day, but I have no plans to do anything with it. I
should get the new Extra Class exam books by the end
of the month for the new pool change on July 1...my
group will not test again until July 13, but I'm sure
some folks will come in having studied the wrong exam
pool...it happens every year a question pool changes.
I saw where ARRL/VEC will no longer be printing exam
books after the 2024 Extra Class Pool is mailed out
this month. They're going "online" to save postage
and printing costs, but I had trouble with that Exam
Tools software. It could mean that my team quits
testing at the end of 2025, if I can't print my own
exams. And, I prefer to do "in person exams", so there
is less chance to cheat. I'm waiting for ARRL/VEC to
clarify that for me...I may have misread the article
in the July, 2024 e-Edition of QST. There are rumors
that the hack last month was "an inside job from a
former disgruntled employee".
**
KX4AC:
It is the local club meeting night, so I am not able
to attend the PCL tonight.
Tonight's meeting should be mostly about getting ready
for Field Day, so that should be fun. In the meantime,
I still need to finish and test my QRP linear amp ...
I kept putting off winding the transformers, but I did
get that done last night. I still need to strip the
insulation off the enamel wire (hate that!) and get
them installed.
I continue to play HAMWORD and had a couple of lucky
weeks, got the word in 2 and then 3 tries. That won't
last long, I'm sure.
I also got my beach chair fixed up with a new seat, so
I took it out for a test on Sunday. It was a beautiful
morning to be at the beach.
That's about all for now. I will be back in person next
week. Back to Net >>>
**
NS2B:
GE All!
This week seemed to fly by!
My son was in the hospital for what was supposed to be
a simple procedure - but then it got complicated, so
he's been there a few days now. He's ok, they're just
watching him, he should be home in the next day or 2.
Went down to the track Saturday and flagged the HSR
events. Was a largely uneventful day until the last
race of the day when a blown motor left oil all over
the corner I was at, and then the next half dozen
cars went for a slide. Gets the heart pumping pretty
quickly!
HF conditions continue to suck - I guess that big
sunspot keeps coming around and causing us problems.
It'll be nice when things calm down in that area.
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Bob (NY), sorry to hear about your son back in the
hospital. That bites when a routine procedure goes
awry, but glad he'll be home in a few days. I can
imagine the excitement when the cars start going
everywhere!! And, I heard more solar storms are in
the offing...wonder what it'll mean for Field Day
June 22 and 23??
GE Scott...how was your week?? >>>
**
K0WAV:
Well, it was as busy as the one armed paper hanger
joke.
We had storms and missed the net last Monday. Then,
getting things cleaned up from storms from week
before.
Gave a presentation on Winlink at local ham club. It
all ran together, and is on big blurrish of memory
snippits... LOL
This week, I am going to be with my parents... thoughts
and prayers please as my mother (92) gets a heart valve
replacement.
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Scott, I had storms here last week as well...I wish the
storms would hold off until Wednesday and Thursday, when
I don't have nets to run!! FB on the Winlink presentation;
the run together could be meeting QRN (hi hi).
Definitely prayers for your Mom with her heart valve
replacement. My late Mom had congestive heart failure
(what I have now), and atrial fibrillation. I've known
several folks who've had CHF for years.
GE Rick...good to see you back. How was your vacation?? >>>
**
VA7RBP:
GE Daryl and all on NET.
The vacation was great...two weeks of doing things and
visiting at a much slower pace than the normal whirlwind
visits where everything is planned to the second...
Once we got back, I got busy with planting our tiny garden,
demolishing the old garden shed, and prepping for the new
shed that's being built this coming weekend.
I've also been working on running sprinkler control cable,
and getting ready to resurrect the Raspberry Pi Open
Sprinkler project.
Radio play, as has been mentioned has been sucking...
I was wanting to do Field Day this year, but Arlene said
she wanted to attend a class reunion. Now, she has decided
she doesn't want to go, and of course, I don't have my FD
setup in order, so FD is off the table. That's life...
Our weather is starting to get warmer, temps in the 80's
this past week. Still getting a few rainy days, so not
too much outside work.
Bob, sorry to hear your Son is back in hospital, and Scott,
best wishes for your Mom!
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Rick, first FB on the vacation, the gardening, shed, and
the sprinklers. The sprinklers here haven't been run in
at least 6 years, for all the rain we've had. Plus, I
can't afford to have the lawn guy coming more than once
a month. I don't go to the class reunions anymore, either...
and with as poor as band conditions have been on HF, it'll
probably still be that way on Field Day. We'll be seeing
heat advisories here shortly.
GE Glenn, how was your week?? >>>
**
N3MEL:
GE to all. It's nice to be back with you all, best wishes
Scott to your Mom, and Bob your son!
Sounds like everyone has plenty to do; we are getting ready
to go camping for a week over FD, so maybe little HF from
the camper, but we will see.
I did a presentation this past Sat morning for the Eastnet
group about the Packet HF BAckbone we have running here in
SE PA, very large turn out.
The June PKTNET will be starting this coming Sunday, and
we had a had a banner mouth in May, so we will see how
June goes.
Had dental work done today, so mouth is a little sore
tonight, but not as bad as I thought it would be.
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Glenn, FB on the FD camping...don't get your hopes up on
HF propagation, though. It'd be the luck of Murphy's Law
if every site had to go QRT for thunderstorms. FB on the
Packet HF Backbone, and on the PKTNET...hope that goes well.
Sorry to hear about the dental work, but one has to be able
to eat.
GE, Bob (OK), how was your week?? >>>
**
KF5TVG:
GE Daryl and all on the net!
First, Prayers go out to those mentioned to night with
medical issues!
Did a range test with Meshtastic on 915MHz a few days ago.
Was able to pick up a signal 3.8km from my house. Not bad,
considering it is pretty flat here. Had a 5db gain antenna
in the attic here, and a little short HT type antenna on
the remote unit. Both ends were Lilygo T-beam units with
only a few milliwatts of power.
Winds aloft have changed recently, so the weather balloons
and radiosondes launched from here in Norman, OK are starting
to land in central OK, rather than being blown all the way to
Arkansas. In face, the one launched 1 1/2 hours ago is forecast
to land a few miles form here. If I can get a "kitchen pass from
management", I may go see if I can find it.
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Bob, FB on the Meshtastic and the radiosondes...hope you can
"get that pass" (hi hi).
Before I get to the final round, I want to wish everyone here
a Happy Father's Day on Sunday...here's hoping we get more than
"another stinking necktie" (hi hi).
That's it for round 1, back to the top for final comments.
Bob (NY), thanks for the BBS...anything else?? >>>
**
NS2B:
Everyone have a good week - stay healthy! thanks for running
the net, Daryl - 73 >>>
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Thanks for being here, Bob. I'll let you know this weekend if
weather is going to be an issue for me next Monday.
Scott, anything else?? >>>
**
K0WAV:
First of all, best wishes to Bob and Son... and yeah, the
presentation was about Winlink at the club... hihi
And on the silver lining front... at least with the big solar
storm, we got aurora back scatter prop... and could make
contacts to far off place or place via some funky prop. paths...
All we need for FD is Aurora and a Meteor Shower and we can bust
out all of our wild far prop modes! hihi
All take care have a good week and tnx for prayers!!!
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Thanks for being here, Scott. With the meteor shower, bring
your own soap (hi hi).
Rick, anything else?? >>>
**
VA7RBP:
Nope, that's it for me. Everyone have a great week, stay well,
73 until next time. BTU Daryl >>>
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Thanks for being here, Rick...catch you next time.
Glenn, anything else?? >>>
**
N3MEL:
I think that it for this week, Happy Fathers Day & 73! BTN
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Thanks for being here, Glenn...take care.
Bob (OK), you get to put the ribbons on it, as it were.
Anything else?? >>>
**
KF5TVG:
Hope everyone has a great Father's Day! Thanks to Daryl and
Bob for keeping the lights on. 73 and BTU>>>
**
N5VLZ (Reply):
Thanks for being here, Bob. Catch you next time.
That's a wrap on tonight's PCL Net. I'll post the scribe in the
morning, as I have to get ready to run another net this evening,
but I probably will move its start time back 30 minutes, as this
net can run long at times. Everyone have a good week, stay safe,
healthy, weather aware, and radio active...and Happy Father's Day.
73 and GN DE N5VLZ >>>
**
Daryl, N5VLZ -- Little Rock, Arkansas
Please See My QRZ Bio For More Info
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