A busy week but not much got done……………………………………………..

As always, first the chronology:

6/18/23 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to church with Kathy.  Home, lunch and down to do the blog.  Back to the kitchen and helped with peeling potatoes and slicing them for scalloped potatoes.  Then a nap.  Loaded things in the car and off to Mike and Julie’s for Father’s day dinner.  Home, unloaded things, down to the shack and usual evening routine.

6/19/23 – Monday – Up a little early today.  Cleaned up and down to pick up Mike, my son-in-law, at the car shop.  He took his car in for an oil change.  We went to Lynda’s for breakfast then back to the house to chat awhile.  Took him back to the shop and dropped him off.  Came home and did some chores.  Then out to pick up Mike Craycroft and head to the hospital where Gary was.  We saw him for a short time.  He was in one of his rare moods.  Got Mike back home and came home myself.  Put the truck away and came in for a snack.  Then a short nap.  Up for dinner and usual evening routine.  Didn’t stay up long.

6/20/23 – Tuesday – Up very late today.  Had breakfast then Kathy went off to her woman’s meeting at the church.  I went to the shack and started work on the Allstar node for the repeater.  Took a break for dinner.  Back downstairs and usual evening routine.

6/21/23 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time.  Spent the day in the shack getting things ready for field day and doing some work on the allstarlink nodes.  

6/22/23 – Thursday – Up at the usual time.  Shelby stayed with us last night so we had a big breakfast this morning.  Did some chores and gathered things for field day.  Kathy and Shelby took off to drop some things at Goodwill then a quick stop at Kroger for shopping.  I got dressed and was out to visit my friend Gary at the rehab place he is staying.  Home and did an online zoom class.  Dinner and usual evening routine.

6/23/23 – Friday – Up at the usual time.  Spent most of the day packing for Field Day this weekend.  Kathy and I went to the Morton building awhile this afternoon.  She was cleaning the inside of her car while I put the cover on the truck bed and started loading up with equipment.  In and cleaned up.  Then out to Cattleman’s Steakhouse for dinner.  Stopped at Country Mart for some last minute items to take to Field Day.  A stop at Dairy Queen for dessert.  Then home and usual evening routine.

6/24/23 – Saturday – Up a little early this morning.  Cleaned up and packed my stuff for Field Day.  Got setup and ran fine for several hours.  Then the radio stopped transmitting.  I think it’s the serial interface unit.  Anyway, packed up and came home.  Unloaded everything, had a shower and started cleaning up.  Otherwise usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

Sunday was father’s day. Went to church as usual. Kathy made green bean casserole and scalloped potatoes. We took everything over to Mike and Julie’s for dinner. Had a good time.

Mike brought his new BMW over to Daugherty’s for service on Monday. The good thing about that was he bought breakfast at Lynda’s which is always fantastic. The bad thing is I had to listen to him for several hours while we waited for his car to get done. It’s an ongoing saga. In Kentucky the only time you have to have a car inspected is when you first get it and it’s brought in from out of state. Then they inspect it to make sure the vehicle is what’s on the title transfer paperwork. Anyway, Mike actually bought the car in Indiana. So, it had to be inspected. When he took it to the Sheriff’s office (Which is where you get it inspected) they told him the windows were tinted to much. So now he has to find a way to lighten the tint on the windows. It’s always something with him.

After he got his car back I got ready and went over to pick up Mike Craycroft and we went over to the hospital to see Gary. Gary acted like it was an imposition for us to be there. If were me I’d have just turned around and come home. But since I had Mike, we stayed a little while. Then I took Mike back to his house and I came home. Later in the week he got transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility. I went over to see him there on Thursday. He seemed to be in much better spirits. A mutual friend Bill was there visiting as well so it was good to see him. I’ll have to make it over a couple times this week. But it’s not going to be everyday like the last time he was in a facility.

My friend Jim in Pennsylvania went in for his operation on Friday. He wife texted me to let me know everything had gone well. He was apparently feeling much better with this experience as he called me Saturday. I’m glad things are going well for him. I need to make a trip up to see him and my cousin some day.

Shelby came over Wednesday evening and stayed the night. The twins are volunteering at the VA hospital and ride in with Mike and Julie. So we have to watch Shelby on Thursday, so to save Kathy from getting up early and going over Thursday morning, we just go pick her up Wednesday evening and then keep her during the day Thursday. She is at the age were she is a delight to keep.

The rest of the week was focused on Field Day preparation which was this weekend. In the process of getting ready I found a damaged control on my USB Signalink. I tore it apart and temporarily soldered in a fixed resistor to make it work for Field Day and order a replacement. The replacement should be here next week and I can permanently fix it. However, after getting over to the site, setting up and operating for several hours, my radio would not key. I lost control of it with the computer. ICOM has a proprietary control configuration and I’ve been using a device that converts the serial protocol used by the computer to the proprietary protocol used by the radio. I think that converter is what died. Needless to say I was rather pissed off and very embarrassed. So, I gathered up my stuff about 6PM and called it done. When I got home I ordered a $20 cable that should do the same thing. I also took the device apart and other than some electrolytic capacitors the only active device is a MAX232 chip. I may consider rebuilding that as well. Of course the ultimate fix for the problem is to go buy a new radio. I’ll keep you posted on that.

I’ve been working on setting up some Allstar nodes. I got the one for the house put together and it seems to be working well. That was the learning process. I’ve got most of the node for the repeater setup but I have to take us offline to the internet to configure the rest. Then I need the IT guru that handles the repeater site to set up some port forwarding for me and that should be done. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Well that’s about it for this week. Didn’t get to the yard work as it’s been too wet. I expect we’ll do that Monday or Tuesday next week. As always, hope this finds everyone safe and healthy. Stay that way and I’ll blog at you again next week.