Happy New Year, not much else exciting………………..

As always, first the chronology:

12/31/23 – Sunday –  Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to church with Kathy.  Home and had lunch.  Down to do the blog.  Took a nap.  We were planning to leave for Mike and Julie’s around 5PM to go up and have dinner then a little New Years Eve celebration but Julie called her mother for help as a bunch of people that hadn’t indicated they were coming called and said they would be over.  So she took off early to stop and get some goodies at the grocery store.  I left the house around 5:15 and headed up.  We had dinner and I decided to get out of there before the crowd arrived and parked me in.  I was back at the house by 6:15.  I took care of the dogs and looked for some things to watch on TV.  I let them out for the last time and was in bed by 9PM watching TV with the dogs.  Kathy got home around 1:30AM.

01/01/24 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Spent most of the day in the shack on the computer closing out end of year things and creating new files for 2024.  We had Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes for dinner.  Kathy had pork chops and I had Knockwurst with mine.  Helped Kathy take down some Christmas decorations.  Otherwise an uneventful day.

01/02/24 – Tuesday – Up a little early today.  Made the 8AM net out of Altoona, PA.  Then replaced the filter in the furnace.  Kathy was late getting up so I went to the shack and did some computer work.  Kathy got up and I went out and brought the humidifier in and got it ready.  Used the last filters so I order some new ones.  Kathy took off for some shopping.  I had lunch.  Back to the shack to work on my QMX project.  Did a Zoom class at 3PM.  Up for a nap.  Kathy came home and I put things away for her.  Had dinner and usual evening routine.

01/03/24 – Wednesday – Up a little late today.  Missed the net.  Downstairs and started trouble shooting my QMX radio transceiver.  Worked several bugs out of it but got it all working and in the case by the end of the day.  Took a nap before dinner.  Usual evening routine.

01/04/24 – Thursday – Up a little early today.  Made the Altoona Net.  Kathy was off to do her volunteer things at the VA hospital.  I spent the day in the shack.  Having a receive problem with 80 meters on my new QMX transceiver.  Downloaded some documents and looked over the user groups and discovered there is an issue with the transmit receive switching circuit on the version I got.  They suggest installing a diode to fix the problem.  I found one of the diodes and will get to that soon.  Also checked some battery supplies and decided on using a DC to DC converter to regulate the power into the QMX.

01/05/24 – Friday – Up at the usual time and cleaned up.  Out to get the truck than took Kathy over to her Physical Therapy session in Shelbyville at 10:30AM.  I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a small 10AH battery to use with my QMX rig.  Then got the tank filled on the truck and down to a friends shop in Shelbyville to pick up a couple speakers she had for sale.  Back and picked up Kathy and off to my Cardiology appointment.  They did an EKG and everything look great.  I told Christi the story and she suggested a heart monitor.  So that is what we are doing to 2 weeks.  Then to Red Lobster since we were in that area to finish using up a gift card we had for a late lunch.  Home, put things away.  Had some dessert then a nap.  Up and snack for dinner.  Usual evening routine.

01/06/24 – Saturday – Up at the usual time.  Spent the day in the shack working on my QMX transceiver.  I put a diode in it that was suggested by the designer but that killed the receiver so I removed it and did some trouble shooting, now everything works as it should.  Charged up all the batteries and started building the power supply for the new radio.  Usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

Well Happy New Year to one and all. We were suppose to go up to Mike and Julie’s for dinner then a quiet New Year’s Eve celebration. Kathy and I had decided early that we would take two vehicles so I could come back home after dinner and she could stay and play cards. We were suppose to be the only one’s coming. But Julie got some phone calls and three other groups decided to come as well for the party. So, I went up for dinner and politely (Well, almost) excused myself and got the hell out of there before the crowd arrived. I was home, had things put away and animals tended to and in bed asleep by around 10:30PM. I vaguely remember hearing some noise that I assume was fire works and guns being fired at midnight. Then Kathy got home around 1:30AM. So, I guess everyone had a good time.

Monday I did the end of the year routine. Closed out a bunch of files and started new ones for the new year. Some for tax purposes and others associated with this blog. Some things I did just because I’ve been neglecting them for a long time and the end of the year was a good time to catch up.

Tuesday I did the first of the month routines around the house and I decided to get the humidifier out. Perhaps that will make it feel a little warmer in the house. After a couple days running it seems to have helped. Or perhaps that’s just in my head. 

I spent quite a bit of time this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) working on my QMX rig.

Here’s what it looks like. As you see it’s very small. I had to use my magnifying glasses every time I worked on it. I had it semi-working on Thursday but had no receive on 80 meters. I did some research and discovered there was an issue with parasitic oscillations on the 80 meter band that would blow one of the transistors and it was recommended that a diode be installed to deal with that. I spent a good 3 hours getting that accomplished without destroying anything. However, with the diode in place I had no receive at all. I removed the diode and dressed up some solder joints and everything started working as it should. The device is very sensitive to input voltage. It must not exceed 12 volts and since a fully charged battery can be upward to 13.8 volts I’ve decided to put together an external box with a regulated DC to DC converter in it that will keep the voltage at no more than 12 volts. Of course as the battery discharges that voltage may sag. But it should never go below 10.5 volts and that is well above the lower limit of 9 volts. So probably more than you wanted to know. Simply put, I should finish up the power supply for it Monday then I’ll put it on the air and see how it does in real life.

I got a neat Christmas present from my Son-in-law. It’s an Ember heated mug.

Here is what it looks like on it’s charging saucer. It has an internal battery that will keep beverages hot at whatever temperature you set it to. You do that with an app on your cell phone. The white light indicates the liquid is at the set temperature. If the light is blinking slowly it means the liquid is not yet at the set temperature. If it’s red it means the internal battery needs recharging. The internal battery lasts about an hour and a half. So, I would make my coffee in the kitchenette and take the cup over to the office/shack area and if I didn’t drink it fast enough the battery would go dead. So, I bought another charging coaster for my desk and when I’m not drinking I put it back in the charging coaster and the short periods of time I’m at the work bench or the radio, the internal battery keeps things hot. A really nifty device. I like it.

Well Friday was a rather busy day. We got up and cleaned up and out of the house at a little before 10AM. I took Kathy over to Shelbyville to where she has physical therapy and dropped her off. Then went to Harbor Freight for a small 10Ah battery to use with my QMX radio. A quick stop at the gas station to fill up the truck. Then stopped at a ladies store there in Shelbyville for a couple speakers she had for sale. Chatted with them awhile then back to pick up Kathy. Went into southern Louisville for my Cardiologist appointment. After we left there we made a stop at Red Lobster over there to use up the remaining money we had on a gift card. That was a late lunch. Then we headed home to rest.

At the Cardiologists everything looked great. They did an EKG and all the stuff that normally happens when you go to the doctor’s office and it was all good. The gal I see came in and I explained about the problems I’ve been having including the ones I had earlier that day. After she looked at everything and evaluated things she concluded that it was probably the cold (or whatever I had) over the holidays along with all the medicine I was taking for the symptoms that caused extra stress on the heart. She thought that dehydration could have also been a contributor. So, she told me to drink a lot of fluids but suggested I wear a heart monitor for a couple weeks just to make sure they were seeing everything. Well that was good news but I really didn’t want to wear one of those things. I remembered long ago I wore one for a couple days. Had several electrodes on my chest with wires to a box that I had to wear on a string around my neck. I couldn’t shower or bath etc. Well, guess what. The new ones are all integrated into a circle about the size of a half dollar and about 3/4 of an inch thick with electrodes extending about 4 inches out on either side. They put this thing on in the office for you. You can shower after 24 hours and it doesn’t bother it. All enclosed with no wires. After 2 weeks you peel it off, put it in a box and mail it back. Amazing how technology has advanced. So, the bottom line is that I’m in good health. Just the cold or whatever and medication caused extra stress that resulted in heart issues. I am very happy about that. And thanks to all the folks that have been keeping tabs on me with this.

OK, well that’s all probably more than you want to know but you got it anyway. As always, hope this finds you all safe and healthy. Keep a vigil eye on things. With the terrorist stuff in the middle east and the open borders we have here, the powers to be are stressing the likely hood of more terrorist type events here in the US. Here in Kentucky we have had several issues with false bomb threats at schools, Courts and the state government offices. Keep your eyes open. Continue to stay safe and healthy and I’ll blog at you again next week.