Another very busy week………………………………………………………….

As always, first the chronology:

2/25/24 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to church with Kathy.  Home, lunch and off to play POTA at Taylorsville Lake Park.  Home and unloaded the truck.  Took Kathy to Cattleman’s for dinner.  Home and got things downstairs.  Did the blog.  Otherwise usual evening routine.

2/26/24 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Missed the “Over the Hill” net.  Operator error.  I had reset my HT for 2 meter simplex and never put it back on the frequency for the Allstar Node.  Anyway, cleaned up everything from the POTA outing.  Sent some emails and did some other chores around the house.  Up for lunch.  Kathy went shopping and I went out on the motorcycle for an hour or so.  I think I’ve nailed down what the problem is.  I’m not sure how to try and duplicate it but I’ll try somethings to prove it one way or the other.  Inside and put the riding clothes away.  To the shack and practiced some more CW.  Kathy came home and I helped her put things away.  Then a short nap.  Dinner and usual evening routine.

2/27/24 – Tuesday – Up very early this morning.  Kathy had to leave the house at 6:30 or 6:45 to get to the Shelbyville Hospital for some tests.  So I got up with her.  Made the “Over the Hill” net.  Was doing some research and my friend Dave came over to pick up a code practice oscillator that I had laying here.  He took off and I did some more research.  Kathy called and said she was on her way home.  We had lunch then she went to bed.  I went to the shop and did some work on the motorcycle.  Need some parts so came in the house to order them.  Had dinner then usual evening routine.

2/28/24 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time but missed the net.  Got cleaned up and out at 8:15 to meet Bill and Gary at Gary’s place then out to breakfast.  Got back shortly before lunch.  Kathy was out getting her hair done.  I went to the shack and returned some emails and looked over the electric bill for the past couple years.  Then started working on the 110uh coil for my end fed antenna.  Did some computer work then up to get cleaned up and out for soup before church service at church.  Home and usual evening routine.

2/29/24 – Thursday – Up early this morning.  Got cleaned up before breakfast.  Made the “Over the Hill” net.  Loaded up the truck and went up to Mike and Julie’s to look at why the lights don’t work in Carter’s bathroom.  Checked everything I could think of and could not find the problem.  Spent a couple hours.  Shelby was home from school and Julie took her to the doctors.  So after she took Chloe to school she dropped Shelby off at the house and I brought her back to our house for the rest of the day.  Had lunch then took a nap.  Up and did a Zoom class.  Then computer updates and some work on my new antenna I’m building.  Dinner and usual evening routine.

3/01/24 – Friday – Up at the usual time.  Made the “Over the Hill” net.  Out to the Morton building and started the kerosene heaters.  Inside and did the first of the month chores.  Practice CW.  Kathy took Rusty to the groomers then took her Halter monitor over to Shelbyville hospital.  She made a stop at Harbor Freight to pick up a set of  nut drivers for me then to Walmart.  We had lunch when she got home.  Then I went to the Morton building and installed the new battery in the motorcycle.  Did some organizing.  Managed to blow a fuse in my meter.  Inside, tore the meter apart and ordered a new fuse.  Kathy was out to the discount tire shop to get new tires on her car so I had to go pick up Rusty at the groomers.  Home and took a shower and got cleaned up.  Kathy got home and we took a little nap.  Then out to Hometown Pizza for dinner.  A quick stop at Country Mart for more chocolate chip muffins.  Home and usual evening routine.

3/02/24 – Saturday – Up late this morning.  Ate at Hometown late last night and had heart burn all night.  Did my Saturday morning routine.  Down to the shack and tried to organize some things.  Did get all the paper work together to re-register the motorcycle and my trailer.  Vibe is due but Julie has that now as her car is going to Daugherty Monday for brake work.  Then lunch.  Then spent the afternoon fine tuning my end fed antenna with no luck.  Finally took the transformer apart and it has issues.  So, ordered a new transformer, more antenna wire and some insulators.  Then dinner and usual evening routine.

---

Now the specifics (And probably more than you want to know):

A friend of mine that goes to the HAM club in Shelbyville needed to get out of the house on Sunday so I met him up at Taylorsville State Park and we did POTA for a couple hours. Managed to let the wind catch my canopy and bent the frame all to hell. It was an expensive canopy with sides and all the goodies so I really wanted to just replace the frame. I found one online made by the same company but a much cheaper model so I ordered it and sure enough, it had the same frame. So, this week I will write the company and see if I can get a couple of frames for it as they are both nice canopies.

Spent time Monday cleaning things up and putting them away.

Monday the weather was great so I decided to take a ride on the motorcycle. While out I think I figured out why I was having electrical problems. It doesn’t have a very big battery (10Ah) so I think the increased current draw from the navigation and cell phone chargers that the bike keeps alive are enough to drain the battery. I disconnected all that but in the mean time I think I ruined the battery I bought new in June last year. So Tuesday I spent some time working on things and then ordered a new battery and some other miscellaneous parts. They arrived Thursday so I spent time on Friday putting things back together. As a side note I order filter and parts to change the oil myself this year. I’ll see what else needs done before I tackle that job.

Wednesday morning I went over to Gary’s place and met him and Bill. Bill has the handicap van so we are able to wheel Gary out and into the van and get him out for breakfast. We went to our usual place, Cracker Barrel. I enjoyed chatting with Bill and I’m sure Gary appreciated getting out.

Wednesday afternoon I spent time winding the coil for my portable end fed antenna. That should make it possible for me to work down to 80 meters when I go portable since the vertical I use will only go down to 40 meters. It’s just a coil with about 8 additional feet of wire which still makes the antenna manageable. However, Saturday afternoon I spent time trying to tune it and it was acting very strangely. Then I discovered a problem in the transformer I made to feed it. So, I stopped the tuning and went to work on the transformer. It’s still not as good as I’d like so I ordered another kit. I’ll put that together and see if it performs any better.

Julie called me last week to explain that the lights don’t work in Carter’s bathroom downstairs. So Thursday morning I went over to look at that. I checked everything I could and found no problems. I have no idea how the electricians wired that place. They must have been high on something the way things were done. As a result, I have no idea where the power comes from for that switch and since I don’t have a tracer (They are very expensive), I had no way of figuring it out. So I reluctantly suggested to Mike that he call an electrician.

At the same time, Shelby was sick. Kathy took the day off from her volunteer duties at the VA hospital so she could take her to the doctors. But Julie was able to get her in early. So about the time I finished up looking at the light issue in Carter’s bathroom, Julie swung by with Shelby. So I brought her to our house so she didn’t have to stay alone at her house.

Kathy expressed concern about the electric bills we have been getting so I spent time this week looking over the past couple years. It seems the bills go up and down but the average per year is steady. So I made a spread sheet with the monthly usage and charges. I’ll keep track of that awhile to make sure things stay the same.

Kathy had an issue several weeks ago with an irregular heart beat. She went to her regular doctor who said she should see a cardiologist. She did that and the cardiologist set her up with all these tests which included a Halter monitor for 48 hours. She did that from about mid day Tuesday to mid day Thursday. At the same time they did a stress test and echo. So far everything is coming back OK. So we will see what the Halter monitor reveals.

I’ve been neglecting my CW practice but I’m making the CW traffic net on a regular basis. Also did some CW on our POTA outing last Sunday. I need to get back to that. I am keeping up with the beginning intermediate zoom class on Thursday afternoon. I think I’ll try and start the 2nd intermediate class this week. We’ll see how much time allows.

Only other things I have in the fire are getting the motorcycle and my trailer re-registered this coming week. The Vibe is also due this month but Julie has it while her car is have the brakes looked at. I also need to get an appointment for the RSV shot soon. Perhaps I’ll schedule that for this coming week.

Well, that was a long one. As always, hope this finds you safe and well. Stay that way and I’ll blog at you again next week.