Thursday, October 30, 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Survivor Library

This site has a ton of old books on everything from farming to Boy Scout manuals, engineering, chemistry, education, and radio. They can be downloaded as PDFs or ePub files.

http://www.survivorlibrary.com

Monday, October 27, 2014

Kovea LPG Adapter

About a month or so ago I got a Kovea LPG adapter to use with my Kovea Spider stove. The little butane canisters that the Spider is intended to run on are handy, but sometimes they aren't available locally. In contrast, 1 lb. propane bottles are available pretty much everywhere, including stores like Target, Walmart, and local supermarkets. This weekend, I had the chance to test the LPG adapter for the first time.

Friends and I went on a camping/hunting trip in Tioga County, PA. The temperatures ranged from the upper 30s to the 60s. Most of our stove use was probably when it was in the 40s. I used the Spider with the LPG adapter to make coffee in my percolator and warm water for dish washing.

When using butane or butane/propane mix canisters, the stove makes a noise a bit like a jet engine. When using the 1 lb. propane bottles through the adapter, it sounds like an jet with the afterburner kicked in. When using the adapter the stove's flame needs more attention to prevent flare ups. I may need to tweak the pressure adjustment, which is done with a very small flat bladed screwdriver.

I didn't do any scientific testing to see if the stove boils water with one fuel or the other. My reason for getting the LPG adapter was to improve the stove's versatility, and in that it succeeded quite well. For that purpose I recommend it, even though I expect that going forward, I'll probably use the butane or butane/propane mix canisters for convenience, and keep the LPG adapter in reserve.


Wednesday, October 08, 2014

ARRL Web Server Breach

10/07/2014

Late last month, a security breach occurred, involving a web server at ARRL Headquarters. ARRL IT Manager Mike Keane, K1MK, said that League members have no reason to be concerned about sensitive personal information being leaked.

Link.

If you have a login at arrl.org, I suggest you go change your password.

Friday, October 03, 2014

Free Book: Radio Monitoring A How To Guide

N2EI has made his book, Radio Monitoring A How To Guide, freely available under the Creative Commons License. Go download it here.

{Hat tip to Sparks.}