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Honey...., I might need that part!

7/16/2015

2 Comments

 
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Now that the summer is beginning, we have decided to remodel the basement where I have my office, ham shack, and storage. For the XYL, this remodeling is a code name for asking me to get rid of my accumulated junk that I have gathered over the years for my ham radio projects. This includes but is not limited to rolls of coax and hard line, boxes of circuit boards that I have removed from gear fished out of the trash can. It also includes old computer chassis that I can't bear to get rid of including my Toshiba T1000LE laptop that I purchased in 1986, with its built in 1200 baud modem. I was sure that I could find a use for it, even now. I can't tell you how much stuff I fish out of the trash, just for the hardware, bolts, flanges, and other assorted stuff, just in case I have to fix something and can find the part that I need in my assorted junk. This is an inherited trait that I got from my dad.  I like him can fix just about anything, if I have the stuff. And I have the stuff. Lots of stuff. All of it junk. 

On the other hand, maybe its time to reduce the amount of stuff sitting around waiting for a project, that may or may not ever happen. I have been inspired by the many hams that I have interviewed who are taking their gear into the field, to the mountain tops, and to the beach. Very small stations that take up little space, use little electricity, and cause the XYL to think that I have gone QRT on the hobby. Stealth mode amateur radio. Maybe that's my future.

I interviewed Budd Drummond, W3FF, in episode 48, creator of the Buddipole portable antenna system. I did not get a chance to ask him how much stuff he has in his garage - maybe I should ask him and report back here. But as you will hear from our conversation, he operates up to 500 watts, HF from a fancy tricycle with a trailer. He gets his exercise, does not upset the neighbors, and his XYL is not stepping over his stuff to warm up his coffee.

2 Comments
Eric 4Z1UG
7/16/2015 12:47:58 am

I got this response from Bill, W8LV:

I never get rid of parts, Ever, and I hope your Wife doesn't talk you into that! I think I learned this from my Dad, who grew up during the Great Depression (and ignored my Mom telling him to get rid of the stuff) And besides radio parts, I keep "basic" repair items at the ready: Not just Duct Tape. Also, glues and adhesives of all kind, random lengths of PVC, (good for plumbing OR antenna repairs) Spare wire.... An old tattered outside "orange cord", sans ends for safety, yields lots of durable stranded copper wire, jacketed in it's own weatherproof outdoor covering, an old 50 foot piece gives you a 150 foot dividend... hot cold and ground..see? Toilet parts. Washers. Rope. Paracord. Dental Floss. String. Velcro ties (wonderful! ) and also Velcro with adhesive backing. Eye hooks. Zip Ties, the outdoor rated ones! GOOD electrical tape the 3M 33+ brand.(not the cheap assed stuff.) PL and SO connectors..
coax, big and small!
Poop Sheets, i.e. "Manuals" are kept on Google Drive AND an offline flash drive. Solder. A Bernzomatic soldering iron and gas cartridges, to make outside antenna repairs. And a Month's worth of food and water. No prepper here.... but that will get through a job change, illness, snowstorm or tornado with plenty to spare. But I digress. . The parts I used to strip them out of everything. I found that too labor intensive....why pull a 365 pf variable capacitor out of a set, and ziplock and label it, when you already know it's in that old set for the taking, and actually takes up LESS space and will actually be EASIER to locate when needed by just setting that old set on a shelf?
Other parts, the loose stuff? Ziplock and tag the non-static sensitive stuff or no tag if self-explanatory by sight ...put in a clothes basket, which is placed into an identical clothes basket: So you just separate the two baskets, sort through what you want, move stuff from one basket to the other, and then stick them back together again...you'll be surprised at how quickly you can hunt and sort with this method, and it works so much better than spreading everything out on the floored then having to put it all away. Four laundry baskets (okay, eight) take up very little storage on cheap plastic utility shelves. They don't get dirty. Or corrode. Or get soaked if the sump pump goes to Hell. Proudly, I am carrying on the tradition of ignoring any female advice to the contrary, and these emergent repairs have either saved me completely from a repair bill, or at least put off an expensive weekend or "on call" repair or plumber until either cheaper hours or a more reasonable plumber or repair guy could be called, or until I had a day off (or two) and could make the repairs myself. To which my wife never complained about when it saved us money...you get used to these mixed marital messages: Your washroom would be less crowded if SHE merely kept ONE bar of soap, ONE container of shampoo, and ONE container of conditioner in there. But that's never going to happen, either. Ever.
P.S., I'll bet you have spare batteries about. But do you have spare FUSES for your power supplies, and how are you going to use your MULTIMETER to do ANYTHING if you blow a fuse in it and don't have ANY replacements?
And while one GOOD multimeter is nice to have, do you keep some cheapie SPRARES? Like at least TWO so you can measure voltage AND amperage simultaneously? How about in the car with a SPARE set of tools IN the car also?
Sure those cheap meters are crap: but NO PAIR OF METERS (or even one, I ALWAYS carry two, again for simultaneous volt and amp readings) means you don't have a meter at all!
Just thoughts, in hopes of keeping you on the RIGHT Male Path.... ;-)

73 DE Bill W8LV

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Phil KD2HTN link
7/21/2015 01:44:05 am

If you get back to bill you can ask him about transmitting that 500 watts. I wonder about this to with the HFPack folks... Transmitting that pwoer level so close to the head... 500 watts with the antenna right at the back of the head.... Maybe this would be the time to wear a tin foil hat lol..

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    Eric Guth, 4Z1UG / WA6IGR, is the host of the QSO Today Podcast, and an amateur radio operator since 1972.  Eric has lived and worked in Israel since 2000. 

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