Tramontina Bolo Machete from Baryonyx Knife Company

This week I picked up a Tramontina bolo machete from the Baryonyx Knife Company. For an extra $6.00, I paid for the "Special Grade" treatment, which involves:

• Flush the scales with the tang
• Finish the edge to a thin convex which is brought all the way to the point
• Grind the spine square for tinder shaving and fire steel striking
• Shape the tip to a fine point (as much as is possible for a bolo!)

Since machetes generally come dull from the factory, I felt that six bucks was a more than reasonable price to have it pre-sharpened, not to mention the handle and spine work.

Baryonyx performs a 7-point checkup on the knives they sell, and the owner also included a P-38 can opener as a gift.

As you can see, it came with the edge taped over, then packed in a USPS box. It did not come with a sheath, as is typical for most machetes.

When it arrived the bolo was able to shave the hair on my arm, the handle was flush with the tang and based on the smell, it appears that Baryonyx applied a light coat of boiled linseed oil to the wood.

Specs for the bolo are:

• Overall Length: 19 & 1/2"
• Blade Length: 14 & 1/2"
• Steel: 1070 High Carbon
• Thickness: 1.25mm
• Weight: 11 oz.

After my initial inspection I took it outside to trim back some branches coming over my back fence. It cut through several thin branches with little effort and this thicker one that was overhead took only a few whacks.

Putting a pointed end on a stick, e.g. for use as a spear or in a trap, or for making a tent stake was easy.

The edge handled more delicate work peeling bark, but I found the bolo awkward for this sort of task.

After chopping back several branches, putting points on a few sticks, and peeling some bark the bolo could still shave.

Since it required two hands I couldn't get a picture, but I did try using the spine to scrape sparks from a ferro rod, for which it worked well.

Finally, I used it with a baton with the bolo to split some pieces of kindling off a hunk of some well-seasoned and very hard oak. 

I will probably modify the handle further so that it better fits my hand. I'll also drill a hole and add a lanyard.

The Tramontina bolo will make a good chopper for yard work and bushcraft. Based on how it chopped through hardwood, it would make a fearsome weapon as well. The "Special Grade" treatment from Baryonyx Knife Company was absolutely worth $6.00 to get a razor sharp blade out of the box, along with the reworked spine and handle.

Epiphany Outdoor Gear Pocket Bellows

A quick video that I made last weekend.

Emberlit Wood Burning Camp Stove

Earlier this month I posted about camping stoves, including the Emberlit wood burning stove which I bought last winter, but didn’t get a chance to use it until Labor Day weekend. This is a follow up.

The stainless Emberlit weighs 11.45 oz., has a footprint of about 4.5” inches square, and is 6 inches tall. The stove walls taper so that the top is a little smaller than the bottom. I think the earliest production models did not come with the cross bars for the top, which allow you to use smaller cups on it. They also add rigidity.

On the Labor Day camping trip I used it to make coffee in my percolator and fry up some Spam.

It worked to get the coffee boiling but really isn’t ideal for use with this percolator. It really needs a wider footprint for better stability. (That’s my friend’s modified Kelly Kettle in the background. Both are sitting on top of a park-type grill he has at his place in the mountains.)

On the other hand, it worked well to fry up some Spam to go with our breakfast.

Today I decided to give it another try, this time to make some Lipton chicken noodle soup.

Here’s what it looks like unpacked, ready for assembly. As you can see, it’s still has some soot on from the camping trip but the case kept it off the rest of my gear.

And put together, loaded, ready to be lit. I wasn’t sure how much fuel I’d need to get a cup of water boiling so I prepped a good amount, which turned out to be more than required. To get the sticks going I used some dried out flower stalks from my garden, lit with a match.

Until the flower stalks burned off and the sticks ignited the Emberlit gave off quite a smoke cloud. But once the flower stalks were gone it burned cleanly with little smoke.

(This picture was actually from the second burn of the day. For the second burn I moved the stove into the shade so I could get better pictures.)

I used a 750 ml Toaks titanium pot with lid and bail to make the soup. The dimensions of the pot are 3.75” in diameter at the base by 4.375” tall, not including the lid or bail.

I’ve used this Toaks pot a few times on my last couple of camping trips, and like it a lot. It weighs only 4.7 oz. and holds a decent amount of water. If you remove the lid it’ll fit over the bottom of a 32 oz. Nalgene bottle. The bail stays upright on its own and allows you to either hang it over a fire or pick it up. The handles are robust. The lid fits well and has a little loop handle on it that can be set to stand up, so you can easily grab it, yet still folds flat.

The one cup of water took only a few minutes to start boiling.

So, I added the soup mix and in a minute or so it boiled over, even though I only had one cup of water in the pot. I took the pot off for a few seconds then set it back on the stove but off to the side a little so the soup could simmer.

I used an 8.5” long Optimus titanium spoon to stir the soup and later eat it. The long spoon is also handy for eating from Mountain House pouches.

After a few more minutes the soup was done and I had lunch. Afterwards, there were a few coals leftover in the stove. It had burned the sticks very efficiently.

As I was eating lunch my daughter wandered out and asked me to make her a cup. After finishing I was able to rekindle the flame from the coals, using some more of the dried flower stalks, some sticks, and a lot of blowing on the coals.

Compared with my first time using the stove I now have a better impression of it, based on:

1. Using a more suitably sized cooking vessel.
2. Having an adequate supply of fuel prepped and ready to go.

However, compared with my Kovea Spider canister stove, it’s:

1. Dirtier (not just the stove, but the soot left on your pot).
2. Requires more attention while you’re cooking something.
3. Generally less convenient.

That said, it’s a very viable option for backpacking and even for emergency use. For example, charcoal briquettes are a fuel commonly found in urban and suburban areas, and for which it’s cheap and easy to store a large amount. For use in an emergency, an Emberlit would be make more efficient use of briquettes than a typical grill. I need to give this a try.

Emberlit also sells a titanium version of this model which weighs only 5.8 oz., making it even more attractive to backpackers.

Polish Lavvu Tent

After seeing previous posts about the Polish surplus rain cape/shelter half tents (AKA "lavvus") I decided to get one. It's currently hard to find them in the US, so I ordered a complete set from a Polish eBay seller on 9/8/15. It arrived yesterday here in Pennsylvania. Priced including shipping was about $70. (As of this writing Sportsmans Guide lists the Polish rain capes with an expected in-stock date of January 2016. I'm hoping to use mine before then, so I splurged.)

This is the Polish equivalent of the old US military shelter half tent pup tent, used from the Civil War up at least until the 1990s. I like the Polish setup better. It has more floor space and headroom, and each half is also intended to be used as a rain cape.

The two halves were unissued. One was dated 1974 while I couldn't find a date on the other. They had that four-decade-milsurp smell, so I washed them in warm water using Fel's Naptha Soap, and ran them through the dryer on medium heat. I was hoping that this would also tighten the weave of the canvas to make them more weatherproof.

I set up the lavvu in my backyard this afternoon with the help of my 11 year old daughter Amanda.

Rolled up next to a common rubber mallet for scale:

Unrolled, showing the collapsable aluminum poles and stakes. One pole in each set has the smaller end plugged, while one has a removable plug in the base. The former is used for the top while the latter is the base. One of the top poles has a small split but it shouldn't affect the function.

The stakes are curved so that when stored inside one of the pole sections they don't rattle. Unfortunately, the stakes are flimsy and don't hold well. Also, one half came short one stake so to set up the tent we borrowed a peg from my daughter's Walmart dome tent. After setting up the tent and deciding that the supplied pegs suck, we ran out to REI and bought some replacement pegs made from steel, and a bag to hold them.

The new stakes are a lot more robust, hold better, and still fit through the grommets on the lavvu. They were a buck each, plus $4.95 for the carrying bag.

To setup the tent, we first buttoned one side together and laid it out on the ground. It looks like a milsurp Pac Man.

Then stake out a couple opposite sides and then put the assembled pole up, and put in the remaining stakes. One person could do it alone but having a helper makes it easier.

Hold off on driving the stakes all the way home until you have all of them where you want them. You want the tent as taut as possible, to maximize interior space and help rain run off. It could be a little tauter in this pic.

Note that I pitched the tent with the extra cape found on each half inside, opposite of how you'd wear one half as rain cape. This way, the arm holes will be more water tight.

I also tried it with leaving the flap open.

With an 11 year old for scale.

It was nice and dark inside which is great if you want to sleep in. A lantern could be hung from the center pole. With the door flap closed there isn't much ventilation and it quickly began to get uncomfortably warm inside. (It was about 77*F and sunny.) On the other hand, this should be a great tent for cool/cold weather. A candle lantern suspended from the pole would help to take the chill off if in wasn't too cold.

I've seen several places on the 'net where guys have made small wood stoves from .50 caliber ammo cans and run the chimney through a stove jack out one of the arm holes. That would be nice in subfreezing temps but would make it a one-person tent.

The lavvu has plenty of space for me and one kid, plus some gear. I'm 5'4" and can stretch out fully even when I'm not near the center of the tent. I think the intended use of sheltering two soldiers would be pretty cramped.

One potentially useful mod that I've seen is to sew a loop at the peak to suspend the tent from an overhead support, allowing you leave out the pole in the middle, for more room inside.

I am hoping to get it to the woods after we have a couple of frosts to kill off the creepy crawlies.

Pine Tar Soap as Insect Repellent

Before the advent of DEET, woodsmen used a variety of concoctions as insect repellents. Even today, many people don't like to use DEET since among other things, it'll damage plastic.

In Woodcraft and Camping, "Nessmuk" (George Washington Sears) described his bug dope" as follows:

It was published in Forest and Stream in the summer of 1880, and again in '83. It has been pretty widely quoted and adopted, and I have never known it to fail: Three ounces pine tar, two ounces castor oil, one ounce pennyroyal oil. Simmer all together over a slow fire, and bottle for use. You will hardly need more than a two-ounce vial full in a season. One ounce has lasted me six weeks in the woods. Rub it in thoroughly and liberally at first, and after you have established a good glaze, a little replenishing from day to day will be sufficient. And don't fool with soap and towels where insects are plenty. A good safe coat of this varnish grows better the longer it is kept on—and it is cleanly and wholesome. If you get your face and hands crocky or smutty about the camp-fire, wet the corner of your handkerchief and rub it off, not forgetting to apply the varnish at once, wherever you have cleaned it off. Last summer I carried a cake of soap and a towel in my knapsack through the North Woods for a seven weeks' tour, and never used either a single time. When I had established a good glaze on the skin, it was too valuable to be sacrificed for any weak whim connected with soap and water. When I struck a woodland hotel, I found soap and towels plenty enough. I found the mixture gave one's face the ruddy tanned look supposed to be indicative of health and hard muscle. A thorough ablution in the public wash basin reduced the color, but left the skin very soft and smooth; in fact, as a lotion for the skin it is excellent. It is a soothing and healing application for poisonous bites already received.

Nowadays, I'd avoid adding the pennyroyal oil, as it is known to be a liver toxin.

However, it may not be necessary to make up a solution, since pine tar by itself can do a pretty good job of repellent biting insects. Yesterday I gave Granpa's Pine Tar Soap as test as insect repellent, during the opening day of archery deer season here in Pennsylvania.

When I took my morning shower I used the pine tar soap as both shampoo and to wash my skin.

The temps ranged from the mid-60s up to the 80s in the afternoon. There were plenty of mosquitoes and gnats flying around but none of them would land on me, except for a single skeeter that landed on my pant leg, where I squashed her (only female mosquitoes bite).

It remains to be seen if the pine tar soap repels biting flies, but for mosquitoes and gnats it works. I may even wash the sniper veil I use to break up my outline in it, and maybe some clothes. You smell like a campfire after washing with pine tar soap, but that beats getting bitten.

A DIY Programming Cable for Baofeng Radios

One problem which has plagued many owners of Baofeng radios has been getting the programming cable, or more specifically the drivers, working properly under Windows. This may be a viable solution:

http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_ProgrCable.php

I mostly use a Mac to program my radio so it hasn't been much of a problem for me, but I have had to deal with troubleshooting this on a friend's PC, and it was a major PITA. Miklor's page on troubleshooting the drivers has been the best that I've found.

Camp Stove

Another piece of kit that I got to try on this past weekend's camping trip was the Emberlit stove that I bought last Winter, but has since languished in my camping gear box.

(Picture borrowed from Amazon.)

The Emberlit stove is well made from stainless steel sheet metal that takes down into a flat package, and comes with a nice little carrying case. Emberlit also sells a titanium model, and a smaller version as well.

It can burn pretty much any solid fuel and is also usable as a windscreen/pot holder for alcohol burners like a Trangia stove.

I used it Sunday morning to heat my percolator for coffee. It burns twigs very efficiently down to almost no ash, but it requires constant attention. I.e., you need to keep feeding it fuel, so you should have a good stack prepped beforehand. It also gives your pot a good, thick coat of soot.

I want to try the Emberlit out with charcoal briquets. I think it would burn them very efficiently and would probably require less constant attention.

In my opinion, it would be good as a backpacking stove if you're going into an area where there will be a lot of fuel that you can scrounge, or as a backup. For truck camping, a butane/propane canister stove like my Kovea Spider is a lot more convenient. For example, on Monday, I set my percolator on the Kovea and was free to do other breakfast prep while it was bringing the coffee to a boil. Likewise, when we needed hot water for washing dishes I was able to get it ready with the Kovea while I worked on other task. I really like the Kovea Spider.

Another stove we got to use was a butane powered, single burner unit like this one. He bought it from a local restaurant supply store for use during power outages, because it's so simple to use and the butane cartridges are inexpensive. (Many local Asian restaurants use them for on-table fondue-type meals.) The low, flat, wide design is very stable, important with a bunch of kids around.

It worked well for sautéing vegetables and frying bacon, but requires you to provide a windscreen, since it's really designed for inside use. The downside with these butane cartridges is that they'd be useless in cold weather.

There is a huge variety of camp stoves available. Evaluate your needs as to fuel and convenience, and choose accordingly.

ParaCord Spool Tool

This past weekend I was out in the woods and had the chance to use a recent addition to my camping gear, a ParaCord Spool Tool.

(Picture borrowed from Amazon.)

It's a flat piece of plastic designed to allow you to neatly keep up to 100 feet of parachute cord and has a built-in cutter. The fingers in the bottom center of the picture holds a mini-Bic lighter for melting the ends of pieces that you cut, and the slots on the left allow you to draw the molten ends through to make them neat, instead of blobs.

It is a clever and very convenient piece of gear. I needed to cut some paracord this weekend and this made it easy to do without having to fish out a knife and lighter.

Choosing your first police scanner

Sparks31 has advice on choosing your first police scanner. Read it here.

Free Book Download from Sparks 31

I've been following Sparks 31's blog for awhile now, and bought his book Communications for 3%ers and Survivalists. He's decided to make the full text of that book and his other tome, The Modern Survivalist available as one PDF, for free.

https://sparks31.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/free-book-download/

It's worth a gander.

AlexLoop Walkham Antenna

One type of antenna I've wanted to try for HF has been a magnetic loop or magloop, for short. For portable operations they have a few advantages: small size, light weight, and fast setup and takedown. The disadvantages of small, non-resonant magloops include lack of efficiency and very narrow bandwidth (although the latter can be advantageous in certain circumstances).

In particular, one that gets almost universally excellent reviews is the AlexLoop Walkham by PY1AHD. It's a QRP antenna limited to 10W PEP but for use with my Yaesu FT-817ND that's not an issue. (The FT-817ND's max output is 5W.)

I was down in Delaware for work today at a site about mile from the New Castle, DE Ham Radio Outlet, who carries the AlexLoop. One came home with me. After work I set it up out back on my patio.

I had it sitting on the same camera tripod I used with my Arrow 2M yagi antenna.

Close up of the control box:

You use the knob on the bottom to tune it. The way I did so was to tune for maximum noise. Because it is very narrow banded, if you change frequency even a few kHz, you must retune.

Although it says right there on the box that you should have an SWR meter inline, dummy me forgot to get a BNC-to-UHF adapter so that I could do so. Instead, I configured the FT-817ND to display rough SWR readings on transmit, which allowed me to fine tune the antenna.

So how's it work? I'd say it's promising. On 20M PSK31, here are the signals I received in a couple hours that Fldigi reported to pskreporter.info. I saw more than these on the waterfall, however.

And here's what I received.

Not shown were the several European stations I saw on the waterfall, including Spain, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Poland.

I completed two QSOs, one with a ham in MO about 815 miles away, and another with an operator in Italy, 4348 miles away. For whatever reason, he didn't show up as receiving me on pskreporter.info.

I also tried 40M for a few minutes but the band was dead.

The AlexLoop should be a good choice for portable operation, especially when camping. It collapses down into a small, light package, and came with a nice carrying bag. Setup is easy and quick, and unlike my portable vertical, it doesn't require any counterpoises to be laid out and gathered up. It wasn't cheap, but it's well made and should last a long time.

If you're looking for a portable antenna for QRP HF, the AlexLoop Walkham is worthy of consideration.

Creek Stewart: Make Cordage from a 2L Soda Bottle

This is really clever, IMO:

E-Book: Practical Antenna Design 140-150 MHz VHF Transceivers

Thanks to Fo Time on Facebook, I ran across this e-book on antenna construction, Practical Antenna Design 140-150 MHz VHF Transceivers, by Elipidio Latorilla. Included are a couple variations on the familiar VHF ground plane, but the details look like these would be easier to construct than most such designs.

This book is worth adding to your library.

Gun Training in Nasty Weather

Over on gundigest.com, Dave Morelli has an article in which he advocates gun training in bad weather.

I see nothing in the article with which I disagree. The author isn't advocating going out in crappy weather to learn the fundamentals. He's telling you to get out there in sub-optimal conditions to learn what your gun does -- and what you do -- when it's windy, rainy, or cold.

Based on my own experience in shooting practical rifle matches at my club, operating your gun in extreme weather conditions stresses the shooter in ways not experienced when it's 75 and sunny. If it's humid, lenses (both eye glasses and scope lenses when you accidentally breathe on them) get fogged. If it's snowing ice can form on your gun while you're waiting to shoot, rendering it slippery. When it's hot, your sweat gets in your eyes and on the gun.

Or step in a 10" deep puddle of ice water while your waterproof boots are only 8" high, then go on to finish the stage.

In cold weather your clothing limits your movement and makes working fine controls more difficult.

Get the basics down in good weather. Then go see what happens when it's shitty out.

It was about 12 degrees out when this pic of me was taken back in January.

Under stress you will default to the level of your training. If you train easy, you will fail get life gets hard.

Got Comms?

Sparks has recently posted  about Internet service interruptions, some of which are the result of intentional action. See this post, too (and my readers may recognize the picture of the FT-817).

Today, I ran across this story on Ars Technica, reporting a fiber optic cut near San Francisco which was the twelfth such interruption in that area this year.

A sufficiently motivated party could cut several such fiber optic lines, or take out a colo facility in which many such lines pass through, and thereby cut off comms for a large number of people for a significant period. Given our current dependence on the Internet and telecommunications, this could be disastrous for those affected.

BTW, from the viewpoint of someone who's worked for an ISP for nearly 15 years, if somebody takes out a colo facility, Shit Just Got Real.

The Internet was designed to route around breaks but as it has grown in the past 15 years, the level of overall redundancy has dropped in many areas. Too many parts of the infrastructure are vulnerable to intentional disruption. With Islamic terrorism happening more frequently on US soil, I am concerned that at some point they'll go for infrastructure.

This is why I highly recommend getting at least a General Class amateur radio license. The General Class license gives you operating privileges on most of the frequencies allocated to ham radio operators in the US, and isn't much more difficult to get than the entry level Technician license, now that there is no Morse Code requirement.

There's a lot of overlap in the Tech and General exams, but you get a lot more privileges on High Frequency (HF) with the General ticket. HF is what's needed for long distance communications, or certain kinds of regional comms (see, NVIS).

The ARRL maintains a web page with info on getting licensed, including training and finding an exam, here.

You need to get licensed now, before you need comms, because you need to know how to operate your radio, and understand on-the-air procedure. You cannot expect to be able to turn on a ham radio, press a button, and talk to someone like you're using walkie talkies. Just like having an AR-15 doesn't make you a Navy SEAL, having a radio doesn't make you a competent operator. It takes practice, and the only way to get it is to get on the air.

If you're not licensed, don't expect to be able to get on the air with a fake call sign. Not only will licensed hams not talk to you, they may very well track you down and sick the FCC on you. The penalties for unauthorized transmissions can include $10,000 fines.

It's not a bad idea to have unlicensed communications options available, as well. FRS and GMRS* are good for local comms, as is CB Radio. See Dialtone's posts on the "Jungle Telegraph," here and here.








* I know, GMRS requires a license. However, I'll bet that 90% or more of bubble pack FRS/GMRS radios are operated without one.

The Revenant

Over on Arfcom one of the members started a thread about the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, coming out this December. Here's the trailer:

The movie is based on the story of real-life mountain man Hugh Glass, who was mauled by a grizzly bear, was left for dead without a gun or even a knife, and then crawled 200 miles to the nearest white outpost, making Glass' tale one of the most amazing and enduring survival stories ever.

Glass' saga was also told in the novel Lord Grizzly, which I read years ago. It was a best seller when released in 1954, and is a classic. I decided it would be worth rereading, so I bought a new copy to read on Kindle.

Programming the Uniden BC996XT Trunk Tracker IV Scanner

This morning, I've been working on getting my new Uniden BC396XT programmed to search frequencies in my country, the surrounding counties, and a few nationwide radio services like CB, FRS/GMRS, and NOAA weather. To start out with, I am using FreeSCAN, which is very full featured and of course, free.

I've also downloaded the demo of  ProScan, which has a 30 day demo.

Both ProScan and FreeSCAN feature rig control, which given the highly menu-driven UI of the Uniden scanner, is nice to use if you have a PC handy. Unfortunately, both are Windows-only.

Compared with programming an amateur radio, as a scanner n00b this is more complicated, which came as a bit of a surprise. Part of it is the new interface but aside from that, there are a lot of frequencies to monitor and organizing them is a challenge.

Uniden includes an RS-232 serial cable for programming the unit. C'mon guys, it's 2015. How about a USB programming cable? Yes, Uniden sells one, but it's about $50 after shipping. (There are clones out there on Amazon and eBay, but I have no idea if they are any good or not.)

For several years, most computers haven't come with serial ports, so you'll probably need a USB-to-Serial adapter if you want to use the supplied cable. I already have a Keyspan USA-19HS USB-to-Serial adapter, which I've found to be one of the more trouble free such units when working with things like network routers and switches. It works with Windows, Mac, or Linux computers. Amazon has a less expensive TRENDnet alternative.

If you're serious about scanning, then a Premium subscription to Radio Reference is a must. Having the Premium membership allows you to enter your credentials into your programming software and have it download groups of frequencies into your local database, then upload them to the scanner. Given the number of frequencies you'll want to monitor, this is necessary so you don't have to spend days manually entering the info.

Note that to programm the CB, FRS/GMRS, and MURS frequencies, you need to use FreeSCAN's EZGrab function, that lets you copy a table from a web page and paste it into the program. Radio Reference doesn't have these frequencies in their database to download. It would be nice if FreeSCAN could have these as a menu item, similar to what is found in CHIRP, which a lot of us hams use for programming amateur radios.

Another valuable resource is the Easier to Read Manual from Mark's Scanners page. I may buy a hard copy from Scanner Master.

Uniden BC396XT Trunk Tracker IV Scanner

I've been wanting to get a better picture of radio activity in my locale, and have a way to pick up official transmissions in the event of an emergency, so I bought a Uniden BC396XT Trunk Tracker IV scanner from Amazon.

(My Icom 7200 is peeking in from the left, and my Motorola Talkabout FRS/GMRS radios on the top right.)

In order to more easily program it, I downloaded Freescan and upgraded my account at radioreference.com to a 180-day Premium one. A Premium account allows you to configure Freescan to directly download from the Radio Reference database, and then upload it to your scanner.

The user interface of the scanner isn't what I'd call intuitive. However, I was able to program it with Freescan and have managed to pick up transmissions from a local fire/EMS group, police, SEPTA, and a couple hams conversing on the W3EOC UHF repeater. All this was using the stock rubber duck antenna while sitting in my house. An external scanner antenna is on my to-buy list.

Learning how to maximize the value I get from this scanner will take awhile, but I think it'll be a valuable addition to my radio capabilities.

"Technical Glitches." Uh huh.

Unless you were under a rock, you know about the following three things:

1. The Chinese stock market dive.
2. "Technical glitches" grounding all United Airlines flights in the US yesterday.
3. "Technical glitches" causing all trading to be halted for several hours on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

On Tuesday, this was tweeted by Anonymous:

Unless the network and system admins at UAL and the NYSE are totally incompetent, they have major redundancy in place to prevent shutdowns like this from happening. There's simply too much money at stake to have single points of failure.

Now, was Anonymous responsible? Perhaps it was someone looking to divert attention from the Chinese stock market meltdown. Whatever really happened I doubt that the powers that be would share the truth, for fear of upsetting the apple cart.

My tinfoil hat feels a bit warm. It would be a good time to revisit your emergency preparations.

How To Make an Off-Center Fed Dipole AKA Windom Antenna

On Arfcom, here.

Plans for an Arrow Antenna

Over on Bushcraft USA, another member linked to this PDF version of an article from the April 1992 issue of 73 Amateur Radio Today by KA0VFF and N0IMW on how to build a 2M Yagi antenna using aluminum tubing and aluminum arrow shafts for the elements. In the thread discussing it, the poster mentioned being able to check into a repeater on Greens Peak in AZ, from Flagstaff, a distance of about 150 miles using 50 watts. Pretty damn good, IMO. (The thread is here, but I think you need to be registered with BCUSA to view it.)

As a 4-element design, it should have a little more gain than my 3-element Yagi from Arrow Antennas. This will manifest itself only under extreme conditions, however.

With suitable weather sealing, it looks like this design would be a good choice for a permanent mount.

Finally, N5DUX's site has a good collection of ham-related PDFs. It's worth checking out.

Nifty Ham Radio Guides

An accessory that I find indispensable for all of my ham radios is the appropriate Nifty Ham Radio Operating Guide. The Nifty guides are produced on laminated paper. For the more complex rigs like my Icom 7200 and Yaesu FT-817ND, they are spiral bound. Those for the HTs are foldable cards. Each of them contains the most important functions of the radio in an easy to find format. They aren't as comprehensive as the OEM operator's manuals, but they are a worthwhile supplement, especially for field use.

The Other End of my 2M Yagi Test

As I mentioned in a comment to my original post on testing the Arrow Antenna 2M Yagi, I was able to have a QSO on 2M FM simplex with a friend using this rig. Distance was about 22 - 25 miles. 5W on my end, while he was using 50W into a Kenwood 2M mobile with a home Yagi on his end. (He would've lowered power but forgot how and didn't have his rig's manual handy.) Here's a pic of his setup, with a very post-apocalyptic vibe going on.

We also tried it with a Baofeng HT connected to his tape measure Yagi, but all I could hear was static when he called me, even though he was able to hear my 5W transmissions clearly. 

At some point I'd like to try 2M SSB, which should punch through better than FM, but don't currently know anyone else relatively nearby with a 2M SSB capable rig.

A Ham Radio for SHTF Only?

My post yesterday, Testing the Arrow 146-BP3 Yagi Antenna, got picked up by a couple sites, including Sparks31 and Amateurradio.com. Thanks, guys! It also generated the following question:

Can you recommend a ham radio for emergency use only (hand held if available)?

There really isn't a good, quick, "Buy this radio," type answer.

Obviously, ham radios are a valuable addition to your preps, otherwise I wouldn't write about them so much. However, being able to effectively use a radio is more complicated than unboxing it, turning it on, speaking into the mic, and expecting someone to answer with useful information. You must learn something about radio operations and get some practice in before the SHTF. To do so, you must get licensed.

Piccolo summed up very well on Arfcom, here, why you need to get your ham license before the SHTF.

Getting a ham license is not hard for most people. Kids get licensed. Morse code is no longer required. The entry level Technician license requires you to pass a 35 question multiple choice test. This allows you to operate on VHF and UHF frequencies, which are good for local communications. The next level up, General class, gives you access to most of the HF (shortwave) frequencies, which depending on your setup, can give you regional to global communication capabilities. This is a second 35 question exam. There's a lot of overlap in the two exams, so it's not uncommon for someone to pass the Technician exam and then take and pass the General exam in one sitting, for one $14 fee.

The American Radio Relay League has info on how to get licensed, here.

After you've read some of the Technician level study material you'll have a better idea of the capabilities you need/want in your commo gear.

Now, if I've convinced you of the need to get licensed, I'll mention that no license is required to purchase a ham radio, and you can listen as much as you want. Just don't key the transmitter until you're licensed.

Testing the Arrow 146-3BP 2M Yagi Antenna

I tested out the Arrow 2M Yagi antenna that I got a couple weeks ago, by hitting the Pottstown repeater on 2.5 watts from my yard. The repeater is about 25 to 20 miles away. I spoke to another ham who said I had some background noise but was intelligible.

To attach the antenna to the camera tripod, I made an adapter from a piece of 5/8" aluminum rod. I turned one end down to fit into the antenna boom, and then drilled and tapped a 1/4"x20 hole in the other end.

There's about 2" of rod in the antenna boom, while there's about 1/2" of engagement with the mounting screw on the tripod head. This is a temporary, light duty setup, but it's easily portable.

Edit 6/22/15: Also see this post for details on the other end of my 2M FM simplex test.

Stanley Cooker and Nesting cups

A couple years ago on Bushcraft USA I first read about the Stanley Cooker and Nesting Cups set. A few months ago I was at Target with my daughter and saw that they had them in the camping department, and each bought a set. Cost was $14.95 each, plus PA's 6% sales tax.

The cookset consists of a 24 oz. stainless steel billy pot with a lid, a handle that folds over the top when not in use, and two plastic cups that fit inside the pot. The billy handle locks in place and if you keep it out of the flames stays cool to the touch.

The billy has fluid measurements stamped on one side for 8 oz./237 ml, 12 oz./355 ml, 16 oz./473 ml, and 20 oz./591 ml. This will be handy for boiling water for dehydrated meals.

The diameter at the top is about 3.75" and it's about 6" tall. After a couple inches it steps down in diameter to approximately the same outside diameter as a 32 oz. Nalgene bottle. One side of the lid has one vent hole while the other has six. You could use these to strain out water if you've cooked something like noodles in the pot.

The lid's handle is a folding plastic tab. If you will only use the pot on top of a stove this will work OK and it stays cool to the touch. However, if you're going to put the pot in a fire it'll burn off. (There are pics of this on BCUSA.) So, I removed the plastic handle with a set of dikes and replaced them with stainless steel split rings.

The original handle and now the split rings are held to the lid with a strip of stainless steel that is spot welded to the lid. Unfortunately, each end of the strip is held with three tiny spot welds. I managed to break the welds on one end of the strip on my set, so I'll need to reattach it with either a rivet or stainless steel nut and screw. Keep this weakness in mind if you plan to suspend the set by the ring. (You can lock the lid on with the handle and hang the whole thing over a fire from the split ring.)

Aside from this one shortcoming the set is very well made, especially for under $20 retail.

The two plastic cups each have a line inside near the top, which marks where 8 oz. of fluid reaches to. I like the cups. We used a set to boil water for hot chocolate and the cups were comfortable to hold with the hot liquid. A few guys on BCUSA don't care for the cups and said that it made their drinks taste like plastic, but I did not notice this. The Stanley pot will nest inside a GSI Space Saver cup, as commonly used with a Nalgene bottle. Combining the two gives you more flexibility in your cooking and eating arrangements.

As seen in various threads on BCUSA, if you take out at least one cup you can store a folding butane canister stove and small fuel canister inside the billy bot. Or, if you keep both cups, there is still plenty of room for food or drink you can prepare with this set, such as tea bags, bullion cubes, or oatmeal packets.

One thing to be aware of is that because of its shape (tall and narrow) it will take longer to boil an equivalent amount of water than a pot that is short and fat, if you're heating it from the bottom. Less surface area on the bottom means that there's less surface area to absorb heat from your heat source. However, if you put the billy in a fire, e.g., next to burning wood, the tall/narrow shape may actually allow it to absorb heat faster. This shape may also fit in some backpack pockets better than a short/fat pot.

The one real downside of this pot is that if you have large hands it may be difficult to reach into the pot and clean the bottom well. In that case you may want to use it just for boiling water or get something else.

Baofeng Battery Test Results

Over on amateurradio15.com (home of the Fo Time! podcast), the results of battery life tests for Baofeng BF-F8HP performed by one of the listeners is posted. This is good info both for that model of Baofeng radio, but also to compare different batteries.

Check it out.

A Little More Backyard Digital Work

I played around with the FT-817ND and digital some more today. I wanted to try my 20M MFJ-1620T hamstick antenna with the same base as my telescoping vertical. I figure that the hamstick would be good for situations where you need to be a little stealthier, or need to set it up more quickly. The hamstick is about 7' tall, in contrast to my MFJ-1979 telescoping whip, which is about 17' tall.

However, I got the high SWR warning on the rig when I transmitted. So, if I want to use it I'll need to tweak it some to reduce SWR, or use my LDG Z-817H tuner.

It's very difficult to get a clear picture of the hamstick when deployed in my yard. It blends very well into the background. Note that the antenna is nowhere near the power lines in the background.

Even with the high SWR and low power, my PSK31 signal got out as far west as Missouri and as far south as Florida.

I changed over to the MFJ-1979 telescoping vertical whip, which gives better performance and lower SWR.

Transmitting PSK31 on 20M using 5 watts, my signal was heard 2285 miles away in Washington state, and ~2100 miles away in Venezuela. I didn't have QSOs with those guys, but their PSK software uploaded the reception reports to pskreporter.info.

Pretty decent for QRP, IMHO.

Configuring Fldigi on a Mac for use with an Easy Digi Radio Interface

In my prior post I mentioned that I used my mid-2009 MacBook Pro with my Yaesu FT-817ND for digital mode (PSK-31 and Olivia 16/500) operation. I used an Easy Digi USB-to-RS232 interface from Clifford Wareham, KF5INZ.

Here's what you need to get this working. This is specific to Mac laptops and the Yaesu FT-817ND, but setup for other Yaesu rigs should be similar.

1. First, setup the radio to SSB mode and transmit using VOX. See page 28 of the FT-817ND Operating Manual for how to set it to SSB, and page 29 for how to set it for VOX. VOX is needed with the Easy Digi interface because we're not using the rig control features of Fldigi.

2. The Easy Digi USB-to-RS232 interface uses an FTDI chipset. KF5INZ includes a driver disc for Windows with the unit, however, it's a mini-CD. Do not put a mini disc into a slot loading optical drive! It'll get jammed. Anyway, I needed the Mac driver, which I downloaded from FTDI, here. (That is a direct link to the .dmg file containing the driver installer.) Before you run the installer, download and read the installation guide PDF. Follow the directions in the install guide and make sure to reboot the machine after installing the drivers.

3. After rebooting, plug the Easy Digi interface into your Mac's USB port. Then, open Terminal.app, and type in cd /dev. Then type in ls -l | grep usbserial. You should see something like the screenshot below.

Note that you will not see the drivers listed unless you have the Easy Digi connected to your Mac. They are dynamically loaded and unloaded when needed.

If you don't see the drivers listed you'll need to troubleshoot your installation.

4. Now open Fldigi. Go to Configure > Sound Card. Under Devices, select PortAudio. For Capture, select Built-Input. For Playback, select Built-In Output. Click Save.

5. Next, go to Configure > Rig Control > Hamlib. Select your radio from the drop down menu. For Device, use /dev/tty.usbserial-A103OP5V, and make sure the Baud Rate matches your rig. Don't forget to click Save.

6. Now you need to connect the physical parts.

• Connect the white RJ45 mic cable from the Easy Digi to the mic port on the radio.
• Run a 3.5mm audio cable from the Easy Digi's Radio SPKR JACK to the rig's headphone/speaker port.
• Run a 3.5mm audio cable from the Easy Digi's RX AUDIO TO PC to the audio input port on the Mac.
• Run a 3.5mm audio cable from the Easy Digi's TX AUDIO FROM PC port to the audio out (headphone/speaker out) port on the Mac.

Note that on newer Macs with a single 3.5mm audio in/out port, you'll need some sort of splitter/combiner adapter cable.

At this point, you should be able to receive signals in the Fldigi waterfall, and if you transmit, it should activate VOX on the radio to send out your signal. You may need to fine tune volume levels on the Mac and the radio to prevent overdriving your output or to prevent overloading the input.

Edited to add:

If you would like a PDF formatted version of this guide to keep handy, I have it available here on my Google Drive.

Backyard Digital Radio Practice

Earlier this week I received another Easy Digi interface from Clifford Wareham, KF5INZ. This one is to allow me to use digital modes on my Yaesu FT-817ND using a laptop, rather than my iPad. This Easy Digi interface has a built in USB-to-RS232 serial adapter based on the FTDI chipset. It connects to your laptop using a USB port, along with 3.5mm audio cables from your audio input and speaker output ports. It connects to the FT-817 using the RJ45 microphone port and the 3.5mm speaker/headphone port. You do wind up with a bit of spaghetti but with some twist ties it's manageable.

Juice for the rig was supplied by the small 12V sealed lead acid battery in the background. Although lithium ion batteries are great for supplying power while being light, and I'll use one if I ever take my rig backpacking, SLA batteries are nice because they are cheap and use more common chargers.

The primary advantage of using a laptop rather than the iPad is that I can run pretty much any digital mode, not just PSK-31. The downside is that the laptop is a lot bulkier and the iPad and uses more power.

We have a chance of some thunderstorms today but I decided to give it a try out back, using my portable vertical antenna.

As you can see, I used my 15", mid-2009 MacBook Pro, which is running OS 10.9.5 and Fldigi. I did a separate post on configuring it.

I first tried calling CQ on 20M PSK31. Nobody came back but checking pskreporter.info showed that my signal was getting out as far as Montana.

I then posted to the AR15.com ham forum and switched frequencies to our forum's digital mode channel, and had a nice, extended rag chew with a member in Missouri, using Olivia 16/500. I was running 5 watts, while he ran 10 watts into a G5RV at about 35'. We both had 100% copy over a QSO that lasted a good 15 minutes.

This was a great proof of concept. I'll be bringing it with me camping in Tioga County, PA, next weekend.

CZ P-09 Initial Impressions

Over on Blog O'Stuff I put up a post with my initial impressions of the CZ P-09 9mm pistol that I bought the other night.

Go check it out. I really like this pistol.

External Battery Pack for Phones, Tablets, and GPS Units

Most of us rely on cell phones, tablets, and maybe a GPS unit in our daily lives and out in the field. Smart phones are basically pocket computers and it's easy to become reliant on them to augment our own knowledge. Unfortunately, they eat electricity and many of the most popular models don't have replaceable batteries. That's where an external battery pack comes in.

External battery packs range in size from units the size of a lipstick to large blocks. Modern battery technology is allowing manufacturers to cram more amp hours into smaller units, but if you want more than one phone recharge, or need to recharge more than one device, you're going to have to buy one of the larger units.

Last Fall I picked up an EasyACC 15,000 mAh pack from Amazon, and used it on my Fall deer hunting trip. It's about at the limit of what I'd call pocket-sized. The two USB ports can theoretically be used to simultaneously charge two devices, although one port puts out 1.5A and the other puts out 2.1A. However, if one of your devices requires a 2A minimum input then you'll be limited to charging one device at a time.

Aside from the big pack, I also have a smaller unit from Duracell that I picked up when I bought my first iPhone. I carry this one in my EDC bag to and from work, just in case there's a foul up during my commute and I need to give my phone a boost.

New Commo Blog

Here's a new commo-related blog worth checking out:

Communications Tradecraft

Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle

One type of rifle missing from my arsenal has been a centerfire bolt action with a proper southpaw bolt for deer hunting and informal target practice. I have a slew of military surplus bolt actions, but of course the bolt is on the wrong side for me. My club has an annual World War II-themed practical rifle match in which I usually shoot my 1944 Fazakerly No.4 Mk.I, with which I can hold my own against the Garand shooters, but reaching over the top to work the bolt gets tiring after awhile.

Therefore, back on March 5th I ordered a left handed Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle from Bud’s Gun Shop, specifically the stainless model 6821 with an 18.7” barrel. It finally arrived at my FFL yesterday so this morning I played hooky from work to go pick it up, then took it to the range.

To me the Ruger GSR is sorta a 21st Century No.5 Mk.I Jungle Carbine -- a short, full power bolt action rifle with a detachable mag, and a flash hider. Additionally, it has a threaded muzzle to allow you to attach your choice of flash hider, muzzle brake, or suppressor.

I have a No.5 Mk.I (a real one, not a converted No.4) and while the concept was great, the execution was horrible. The stock design is an absolute abomination. I don't know what kind of dope the designers were smoking, but the recoil pad acts as a recoil enhancement pad, because its dimensions are smaller than the wood part of the buttstock. The No.5 handles superbly but recoil is vicious.

The Ruger’s workmanship is good and the checkering on the laminated wood stock is well done. I like the look of the stock and while it won't be quite as rugged and weatherproof as one made of plastic, it'll do for my needs and is much better than a wood stock in that regard.

The rifle came with a single 10 round metal magazine, a thread protector for the muzzle for if you want to remove the factory flash hider, two extra spacers for the stock, a set of Ruger scope rings to fit the receiver's integral bases, and a gun lock. Along with the rifle I'd ordered one each of Ruger's 5 and 10 round polymer mags. Here it is with all three magazines and still wearing the factory rail and rear sight:

In the pic, the rifle is also wearing the M-1907 sling I used on my Garand, when I shot Service Rifle back in the ‘90s.

The bolt is still a bit stiff and will never be as smooth as a Lee-Enfield, but it's nice to have it on the left side. Unusually for a Ruger, the trigger pull out of the box was quite good. I'm guessing it's about 4 pounds with no creep.

Close up of the factory rear sight and rail:

Close up of the right side of the receiver with the XS rail mounted, showing the XS ghost ring BUIS:

The stainless barrel is medium weight with a step, reminiscent of military Mauser barrels. The rifling twist is 1 in 10 inches, and from what I've read in several online reviews it tends to shoot heavier bullets (e.g., 168 to 175 grain) best.

The Gunsite Scout doesn't quite meet Jeff Cooper's criteria for a scout rifle. It's a little overweight and a few inches too long. It's also missing the ability to load using stripper clips, but makes up for that IMHO by using detachable box magazines. Regardless of whether it fits Cooper's definition, the Gunsite Scout is a very handy rifle and I wouldn't want it any lighter. (As an aside, I'm not sold on the scout rifle concept, particularly the intermediate eye relief scope. I found a good critique here.)

Before taking the GSR to the range I brought it home, snugged up all the screws, and ran a couple patches through the bore.

The factory iron sights are very serviceable and the first 10 shots through the gun were with the OEM rear sight in place. However, I'm going to mount a scope in the conventional position over the receiver, so after shooting 10 rounds, I replaced the factory rail and rear sight with an XS Sight Systems rail meant for the GSR. It has a ghost ring peep sight built in, so you don't lose the BUIS functionality of the Ruger rear sight.

I got the sight on the XS rail zeroed at 100 yards and managed to whack a torso-sized gong a few times at 200 yards (all shooting from the bench with my elbows supported. I think one of my friends has my Hoppe's rifle rest).

In total, I put 40 rounds of 7.62 NATO M-80 Ball through the rifle today. With temps in the the upper 30s, 20 to 30 MPH gusts, and a crappy rest, I was doing good to keep them in the 8 ring on an SR-1 target.

Recoil is brisk but nowhere near as bad as a No.5 Jungle Carbine. The Ruger recoil pad is pretty good. I like the ability to change the length of pull by adding or removing spacers. Since I'm short, I removed the spacer installed by the factory. Ruger provides with the rifle an Allen wrench that fits the two screws holding on the recoil pad and spacers.

After trying the three different magazines, I like the 5 round polymer mag best. The 10s stick out too far, especially the metal mag. I'll pick up another 5 rounder. Ruger also sells a 3 round polymer mag that is almost flush-fit. The polymer mags are easier to load than the metal magazine and seem to feed more smoothly.

Here’s the GSR with the 5 round magazine after I installed the XS rail:

It will be getting a scope in quickly detachable rings shortly, and I'll be getting setup to handload .308, especially some reduced loads for less recoil. My father gave me a box of several hundred (at least) .308 150 grain FMJ flat base bullets originally intended for a Garand, but I also plan to try some heavier cast bullet loads.

The scope I’m planning to eventually get is a Burris Fullfield 1-4x TAC-30 in QD mounts. I have on one of my AR-15s and I’m very pleased with it. Light transmission is good, the glass is clear, adjustment clicks are precise, and the reticle is illuminated. The 4x max magnification is plenty for my needs. Plus, it’s $299 on Amazon Prime. (As an aside, why are the only scout scopes with illuminated reticles a $600 Leupold and a cheapy from NcStar? WTF? It’s 2015 fer crissakes.)

Some folks have criticized the GSR as not meeting the strict definition of a Scout Rifle as propounded by Jeff Cooper. For example, it’s a little too long, a little too heavy, and can’t be loaded with stripper clips. However, whether it meets Jeff Cooper’s definition of a scout rifle doesn’t matter for me. In fact, given Cooper’s description of a scout, one may wonder if the whole idea isn’t based on some kind of romantic fantasy of the role of a rifleman.

The likelihood of me emulating Sir Richard Burton or Daniel Boone is minimal. Regardless if the scout as envisioned by Cooper a real thing, the GSR is a compact, easy handling, and powerful rifle suitable for putting lead on target out to reasonable hunting or defense ranges. It would serve well riding in the gun rack of a ranch truck, as a hunting rifle in deep woods, or a patrol rifle for a game warden or wilderness cop.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the Ruger Gunsite Scout after one range trip. Once I get a scope on it I'm looking forward to finding out what loads it likes, and hopefully taking a deer with it this Fall.

Vehicle Safety Tip: Keep a Set of Spare Wiper Blades in Your Car

For the second time since I started driving I had to replace a windshield wiper while away from home, before I could drive anywhere.

After work and getting off the train tonight and getting back to my truck, I started to clear the windshield of a sleet accumulation. I was a bit careless and managed to hit the driver's side wiper blade with my scraper, and bent it, breaking a plastic piece. Thankfully, I had a set of spare blades in the box that I keep in the back of my Xterra. What could have been a major PITA was just a minor inconvenience.

The first time I had to change a wiper blade while away from home was about 20 years ago, during a commute to law school. I was driving during a snow and ice storm, and the driver's side wiper ripped. I had spares with me so I pulled over and changed it.

When I change my wiper blades as part of ordinary maintenance, typically what I'll do is rotate out the ones I kept as spares, then put the new blades in my truck box. That way the spares don't get too old and possibly dry rot.