Monday, February 27, 2012

Hack a Day

Here's a very cool site for all your hacking fun and ideas.

Hack a Day

http://hackaday.com/

Nice Monday reading material.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

State Park Saturday

Had some free time Saturday afternoon to play radio so I grabbed my nap shack, hamstick, and battery and went to Shepherd Lake, which is part of Ringwood State Park in NJ.

After a quick walk by the water and a few photos I set up my car station on 20 meters SSB. Only had two contacts in my hours time before a slight drizzle of rain started.

Nice & quiet
First contact was a special event station in Germany, DM800ANH. It took me about 5 minutes of listening before I got the call correct. (I was not the only one) Next was a group of guys in Wisconsin on the air in a house rotating operators, drinking beer, eating and telling stories. Sounds like they had a great time for all. The call was WB9AZA. They plan on doing this once a year. I can't wait to see that qsl card.




View from the car
The good thing about going to the State Parks this time of year is the cost, free or a low admission to get in off season and less people around in general. I am a member of the parks on the air Yahoo group so my next trip I will work on the 5 plus contacts necessary to activate a park, should be fun.
Bear Country...Yikes!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Indoor Dipole

I was experimenting this afternoon with an indoor dipole made last weekend for 10 meters. This was hung up in the upstairs bedroom of my cape, no attic available but up a decent height on the second story.

So far no contacts for the half hour attempt calling cq with 10 watts SSB. Overall the band seem quite except for 1 or 2 stations. This set up will need some more time before I am satisfied. I also have the option for a indoor Buddi-pole but the reviews are mixed on the Yahoo board, but that will not discourage me from trying it out next weekend.

The outside temps in NJ were at a high of 28 F with a biting wind, so today turned out to be a lazy Sunday.

Anybody have any favorite indoor antennas home brewed they wish to share please let me know. Commercial antennas are an option if the price is right.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Outdoor Pictures


Small Stream
                
My view on the hill

Cold winter Sunday afternoon


A few deer on the way home
Photos from last weeks adventure in New York.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Education Links # 2

IX. Logic, Words, & MemoryX. Languages
XI. Music
XII. History
XIII. Business, Finance, & Investing
XIV. Food, Nutrition, & Cooking
XV. Survival Tips
XVI. Other

IX. LOGIC, WORDS, & MEMORY
Mind Tools - Memory improvement techniques
http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html

The Nizkor Project - List of logical fallacies
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/index.html

Wikipedia's List of Logical Fallacies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

Wikipedia's List of Figures of Speech
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech

Tool Kit for Rhetorical Analysis
http://grammar.about.com/od/rhetorictoolkit/Tool_Kit_for_Rhetorical_Analysis.htm

KnoWord - Expand your vocabulary
http://knoword.org/

Vocabulary.com - Learn new words & explore language
http://www.vocabulary.com/

Brain Workshop - A Dual N-Back Game
http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/

Argument Mapping Tutorials
http://austhink.com/reason/tutorials/

Philosophy Bites - Podcasts of top philsophers
http://www.philosophybites.com/

X. LANGUAGESBasic Composition - Reading & Writing
http://www.basiccomposition.com/

BBC Languages - Beginner courses in multiple languages
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

Foreign Service Institute Language Courses
http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php

Language Guide - Foreign language vocabulary, grammar, & readings
http://www.languageguide.org/

eLanguage School - Free foreign language lessons online
http://www.elanguageschool.net/

Free Online Language Courses via About.com
http://distancelearn.about.com/od/onlinecourses/a/freelanguage.htm

DuoLingo - Learn a language for free & simultaneously translate the web
http://duolingo.com/

Babel Nation - Learning languages online for free
http://www.babelnation.com/

Transparent Language - Language learning software & resources in over 100 languages
http://www.transparent.com/language-resources/languages.html

Survival Phrases - Learn essential travel phrases, tips, and insights
http://survivalphrases.com/

Talk to Me in Korean
http://talktomeinkorean.com/

Chinese Toolbox - Software for learning Chinese through reading
http://www.chinesetoolbox.com/

LiveMocha - World's largest language learning community
http://www.livemocha.com/

American Sign Language (ASL) University
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/lessons/lesson01.htm

Handspeak - Sign language
http://www.handspeak.com/

Signing Savvy - Your sign language resource
http://www.signingsavvy.com/index.php

XI. MUSICMusic Theory - Lessons, exercises, & tools
http://www.musictheory.net/

Ear Training & Music Theory Software
http://www.trainear.com/

Basic Music Theory
http://www.howmusicworks.org/

About.com Music Education - Music theory
http://musiced.about.com/od/musictheory/u/musiced_musictheory.htm

Teoria - Music Theory Web
http://teoria.com/

Ultimate Guitar - Lessons, techniques, & styles
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/

Justin Guitar - The best guitar instruction on the web
http://www.justinguitar.com/

Chorder - Chord fingering and guitar resources
http://www.chorder.com/guitar-chords/

Funk University - Assembly of Music's Finest
http://www.thefunkuniversity.com/

Play Bass Now - Lessons, licks, and low notes
http://playbassnow.com/

How to Play Piano
http://www.howtoplaypiano.ca/

XII. HISTORYTeacher Resources - Western Civilization (52 half-hour video programs)
http://www.learner.org/resources/series58.html

Metropolitan Museum of Art - Timeline of Art History
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/

XIII. BUSINESS, FINANCE, & INVESTING
Investopedia
http://www.investopedia.com/

Google Advisor
https://www.google.com/advisor/home

Google Finance
http://www.google.com/finance

MarketWatch by WSJ
http://www.marketwatch.com/

Main Street - Business & financial headlines & advice
http://www.mainstreet.com/

XIV. FOOD, NUTRITION, & COOKINGGood Eats Fan Page
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/GEFP/index.htm

Jamie's Home Cooking Skills
http://www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/

Chef Todd Mohr's Web Cooking Classes (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/user/ChefToddMohr

Nutrition Data - Self nutrition data; know what you eat
http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Nutrition.gov - Smart nutrition & practical tips
http://www.nutrition.gov/

Choose My Plate via USDA
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

The World's Healthiest Foods
http://whfoods.org/foodstoc.php

Calorie King
http://www.calorieking.com/

Start Making Choices - Simple ideas for living healthier on a budget
http://www.startmakingchoices.com/index.jsp

Eat Right Nutrition Tips
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=206

XV. SURVIVAL TIPSOff Grid Survival - Wilderness and urban survival skills
http://offgridsurvival.com/

Backwoods Magazine - Self reliance and self sufficiency
http://www.backwoodshome.com/index.html

Survival Topics - Your online survival kit
http://www.survivaltopics.com/

Wilderness Survival - Free info covering all aspects of survival
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/

Discovery's Worst-Case Scenario Video Clips
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/worst-case-scenario/

XVI. OTHERAdvanced Yoga Practices - Directory for Main Lessons
http://www.aypsite.com/MainDirectory.html

Creative Live - A live, worldwide creative classroom
http://www.creativelive.com/