Wednesday, June 30, 2021
The (Second) Horror of the Flint Water Crisis | Walter Block
W2LJ QRP - When you care to send the very least!: Home Depot and antennas
Chameleon Antenna SKYLOOP follow-up by Julian OH8STN
Hello Operators.
Since early on June 29th, I’ve been running a test with JS8Call. Having switched from primarily operating on 40 meters with the mode, now running 20 meters during the day and 40 meters at night. This isn’t even one complete day yet however, I thought you’d get a kick out of the results so far.
I understand not everyone can put up a skyloop but it solves so many problems.
- Lower noise floor
- Higher gain
- Better reception
- Doesn’t require very much height
For JS8Call, dividing operations between 20 meters during the day, and 40 at night opens up opportunities this station never had on 40 meters alone. As you can see from some of the graphics, 20 meters indicated in yellow, shows a deeper penetration into North America than 40 meters indicated in blue.
In contrast, my station rarely makes it into Australia on 20m, while on 40m, it’s a daily occurrence.
If I were Chameleon Antenna, I would make different versions of this antenna for various bands. A full wavelength 20-meter Skyloop might not be effective on 80 & 40, but it would be effective on 20-6m. I also think chameleon antennas should consider an extremely Lite version of the skyloop for man-portable ops. Something with lighter line, smaller transformer, 50-watt capabilities, and various band options.
I don’t know guys. I keep pinching myself thinking I’m going to wake up from a sick mind-twisting dream. I’ve simply never had such an amazing antenna for HF. I firmly believed we had to have yagi antennas and large towers to get such capabilities. The horizontal loop in a Delta configuration seems to be pretty amazing. The square configuration is supposed to be even better! How it can get any better, is beyond my imagination.
More skyloop articles
- Planning an 80m skyloop for winlink https://oh8stn.org/blog/2021/04/27/skyloop-antenna-hybrid-winlink-network-part-1/
- Annual Army NETCOM QRPX Competition https://oh8stn.org/blog/2021/04/10/qrpx-army-netcom-annual-hf-low-power-competition/
- The Ultimate wire antenna Chameleon SKYLOOP https://oh8stn.org/blog/2021/06/12/the-ultimate-wire-antenna-chameleon-skyloop-2-0/
You can find more information about the Chameleon SKYLOOP at Chameleon Antenna(https://chameleonantenna.com/shop-here/ols/products/cha-skyloop ).
73
Julian oh8stn
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/oh8stn
TipJar: https://paypal.me/oh8stn/1usd
A New Brain Implant Automatically Detects and Kills Pain in Real Time
N4KGL - RaDAR: ARRL Field Day at East Bank Campground in Georgia
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
STAN EVANS’S SIX RULES FOR POLITICAL COMBAT BY STEVEN HAYWARD
Yesterday afternoon I turned in to the publisher the final, completed manuscript for my next book, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom (pre-order now!), which means I’ll be turning up more frequently here on Power Line.
One of the things it will include as an appendix is “Stan’s Six Rules for Political Combat,” and I thought I might as well share them here now, since we’re locked in a lot of political combat at the moment. Above all, he argued, conservatives need to stop playing goalie and go on offense.
As a preface, he explained what he described as “the left’s standard drill” for every issue:
In these cases, the routine is always just the same: Build up alarm about some asserted menace to public health or Mother Nature; cite “studies” or “science” of some sort the average person can’t find or fathom; bring forth a crew of activists/politicians/official spokesmen who hammer on these alleged data—all repeated at endless length in hearings, meetings and media forums. Finally, when the public has had its “consciousness raised” enough (i.e., is scared out of its wits) move to adopt the desired big spending-taxing-regulating measure.
Hence the rules:
1. Politics Abhors a Vacuum. Conservatives too often wait merely oppose a liberal proposal, which leaves the initiative always in the hands of liberals. It is important to beat liberals to the lead.
2. Write the Resolved Clause. One secret of winning a debate is to decide up front what it is going to be about. Liberals seem to know this instinctively, conservatives all too often don’t—which means they wind up discussing what solutions to adopt, or not, to problems that the liberals have selected. This permits the left to maintain the rhetorical offensive, define the scope of possible action, and wind up getting much of what they want. Conservatives must avoid the trap of simply debating issues as the left presents them, and instead define the issue for themselves.
3. Nothing Is “Inevitable.” This is one of the hoariest verbal-conceptual tricks in the liberal handbook. Usually what is called “inevitable” in Washington is something leftward activists or Beltway pundits assume or want, thus encouraging their cadres while demoralizing their opponents. Conservatives should resist this dismal counsel wherever it is offered, remembering that by their own exertions and advocacy they can change the dynamics of most political situations (and have often done so).
4. Fighting Is Better Than Not Fighting. A self-evident proposition, one would think, but apparently it isn’t. Nothing can more certainly assure the victory of leftward causes than the failure of conservatives, Republicans, businessmen, et al., to oppose them. This doesn’t mean every battle can be won, or that all battles can be fought at once. It does mean that, generally speaking, a vigorous, sustained resistance well-grounded in the facts can drastically change the feedback from the polls and focus groups that are so much relied on.
5. Washington Is Not America. Republicans for the most part come to DC repeating this mantra to themselves, but once more there seems to be a memory problem. The enveloping atmosphere of the city, the hugeness of the government itself, the clamorous interest groups, the TV talking heads—all of this is hard to ignore or overcome. In these precincts, many liberal ideas are regarded as a done deal, something no sustained or decent person could oppose. Opinion surveys often reveal, however, that things look quite different outside the Beltway, especially after the opposition finally starts to oppose.
6. Taxes Are Trumps. As all of the above suggests, the question of high and rising taxes remains what it has ever been—the gold standard of Republican issues. This is the great trump card of the GOP, a solid, powerful and intelligible topic that can be placed over against all the standard liberal promises of something-for-nothing from the federal larder. Whenever the GOP has been able to use this issue in credible fashion—most notably under Ronald Reagan—it has emerged the winner. Whenever it strays from the anti-tax position—as under George H.W. Bush—it gets itself in trouble.
This all seems pretty obvious when you write it down, but given the powerful forces arrayed against it, it can stand a good deal of repeating.
The Daily SA for Tuesday, 29 June 2021 by BY MIKE SHELBY
Good morning. Here’s the Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 29 June 2001. You can receive this brief by email by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
INFRASTRUCTURE: Progressive Democrats continue to push for a partisan infrastructure bill that includes climate spending, a pathway for citizenship, and funding for immigration programs, among other non-infrastructure special interests. While a bipartisan infrastructure bill is still being hammered out, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) warned, “Let me be clear: There will not be a bipartisan infrastructure deal without a reconciliation bill that substantially improves the lives of working families and combats the existential threat of climate change. No reconciliation bill, no deal. We need transformative change NOW.” – M.S.
PORK: China is reporting rising infections of African swine fever (ASF) on pork farms. The Chinese government started adding to its national strategic pork stores, although increased foreign imports have also bolstered supplies. While ASF does not infect humans, it is highly contagious among pigs and can lead to high mortality rates and mass cullings. The USDA is on “high alert” for a potential spread, and has developed contingency plans for an outbreak. The U.S. hasn’t experienced outbreaks of ASF, however, increased pork purchasing from China, where pork is the main source of protein, could affect pork prices domestically. Smithfield Foods, for instance, is the largest domestic pork producer, is also wholly owned by the Chinese, and also exports large amounts of pork to China. Meanwhile, a new strain of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is mangling pork production in the United States. High construction and feed costs are prohibitive for hog farmers trying to expand domestic production. – M.S.
SEIZED: Cargo inspections by US customs are being credited with added delays in shipping operations. So far this year, nearly 700 loads were seized because the US suspects products were made with forced labor in China. Retailers are tasked with understanding their supply chain and complying with the new regulation ahead of the Christmas shopping season. – D.M.
In today’s Early Warning, we look at the most recent developments in Far Left radical and militant activity. Tomorrows’ Early Warning focuses on Chinese and Russian activity in the United States. You can get our full Early Warning briefing by becoming a subscriber here: https://forwardobserver.com/early-warning
FIELD REPORT: LET’S BUILD A SUPER SIMPLE ANTENNA ON-SITE AND ACTIVATE THIS PARK! by THOMAS WITHERSPOON
Until 2016, I had never purchased a commercial field antenna; I built all the ones I had ever used.
These days, I take a number of commercial antennas to the field and use them in my real-time videos and I really enjoy deploying and using them. My buddy Eric (WD8RIF) reminded me, though, that I hadn’t actually used a homebrew antenna in ages. He was right!
You see, while I believe commercial field antennas can be incredibly durable and compact, it’s important to note that antennas are one of the easiest components of an amateur radio system to build yourself. They require only the most simple of tools and are very affordable. And the best part? They can perform as well as those that are available commercially.
I also get a great deal of pleasure out of building things.
A simple goal
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I often set a little goal that runs in the back of my mind for each park or summit activation I make.
On Monday, June 14, 2021, I made a simple goal: buy my antenna wire en route to Lake James State Park, build the antenna on site, and complete a valid Parks On The Air (POTA) activation.
A very simple antenna
I also decided to employ my Xiegu X5105 since 1.) it’s one of the most affordable general coverage QRP transceivers I own and 2.) it has a built-in antenna tuner (ATU).
One of the cool things about having an ATU is that, if it has the matching range, you can allow it to do the “heavy lifting” in terms of matching impedance.
Although I’d never put the X5105 to the test, I suspected its internal ATU would have the matching range to forgo building a 4:1 or 9:1 transformer and simply pair it directly with a random wire.
All I would need was a 28.5 foot length of wire for a radiator, at least a 17 foot length for a counterpoise, and a BNC to binding post adapter.
The antenna would benefit from multiple 17′ counterpoises, but I really wanted to keep this setup dead simple to prove that anyone can build an effective field antenna with a very minimum amount of components.
Even though I have plenty of wire lying around the house to build this simple antenna, I wanted to pretend I had none to prove that any wire would work.
And to add just a wee bit more challenge, I also limited myself to shopping for antenna wire between my home and the park without making a serious detour from my route. That really limited my options because there isn’t much in terms of commercial areas between me and Lake James State Park.
The wire
As I left the QTH, I decided that the best spot to shop was a Walmart in Marion, NC. It would only be a four minute round-trip detour at most. I had a hunch that Walmart would even have speaker wire which would be ideal for this application.
In my head, I imagined I would have at least three or four choices in speaker wire (various gauges and lengths), but turns out I had a difficult time finding some at Walmart. We live in such a Bluetooth world, I suppose there isn’t much demand for it these days. A store associate helped me find the only speaker wire they had which was basically a 100 foot roll of the “premium” stuff for $17 US.
While I would like to have paid a fraction of that, in the end it’s not a bad price because once you separate the two conductors, you have double the amount of wire: 200 feet.
Although the frugal guy in me cringed, I bit the bullet and purchased their speaker wire. To be clear, though, I could have found another source of wire in that Walmart, but I preferred speaker wire for this application. And $17 to (hopefully!) prove a point? That’s a deal! 
Lake James State Park (K-2739)
Once I arrived on site, I found a picnic site I’d used before with some tall trees around it.
I cut 28.5 feet of the speaker wire and split the paired wires so that I’d have two full 28.5 foot lengths.
Next, I stripped the ends of the wire and attached banana jacks I found in my junk drawer. Although these aren’t necessary as the binding post adapter can pair directly with the wire, I though it might make for a cleaner install. In the end, though, I wasn’t pleased with the connection to the radiator, so dispensed with one of the banana jacks.
Next, I deployed the 28.5 radiator with my arborist throw line, and laid the other 28.5 half on the ground (the ground of this antenna would pair with the black binding post, the radiator with the red post). I only needed 17 feet of counterpoise, but once it couples with the ground, I don’t think any extra length makes a difference (although less than 17 feet likely would).
The antenna was essentially set up as a vertical random wire with one counterpoise.
Gear:
- Xiegu X5105
- CW Morse “Pocket Paddle”
- Arborist throw line
- Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag (affiliate links)
- Tom Bihn Large Travel Tray
- Rite In The Rain Weatherproof Cover/Pouch (affiliate link)
- Jovitec 2.0 mm Mechanical Pencil (affiliate link)
- Muji A6 Notepad (affiliate link)
- Monster Standard Speaker Cable 100ft (Walmart)
- BNC to Binding Post adapter
- Tools: Wire cutters/strippers, Tape Measure, Banana Jacks
On The Air
I’ll admit: I was a bit nervous putting this antenna on the air. Although I felt the X5105 ATU *should* match this antenna, I had no idea if it actually would.
Fortunately? It did.
At this point, if you don’t want any spoilers, I suggest you watch my real-time, real-life, no-edit, no-ad, video of the entire activation (including buying and building the antenna!).
Click here to watch the video.
Otherwise, scroll for my activation summary…
I was very pleased that the X5105 found a match on the 40 meter band.
I started calling CQ in CW and validated my activation by logging 10 stations in 13 minutes.
Honestly: it doesn’t get much better than this.
I logged three more stations on 40 meters CW, then moved up to the 30 meter band where the X5105 easily found a match.
I worked one station on 30 meters before heading back down to the 40 meter band to do a little SSB. I logged three SSB stations in five minutes.
Mission accomplished!
In the end, I logged a total of 17 stations including a P2P with K4NYM.
Not bad at all for speaker wire!
After the activation, I tested the X5105 ATU by trying to find matches on other bands–I was able to find great matches from 60 meters to 6 meters. Most impressive!
X5105 battery
You might recall that I attempted to deplete my X5105 internal battery at my last (rather long) activation of Lake Norman State Park. I wasn’t able to deplete the battery at that activation, but I finally did at this one.
All I can say is that I’m incredibly impressed with the X5105 internal battery. This was my fourth activation from one initial charge on May 16. The battery lasted for 20 minutes, taking me well beyond the 10 contacts needed to validate this park. I’ll now consider taking the X5105 on a multiple SOTA summit run!
Short Hike
Even thought the heat was intense and the humidity even more intense, I decided to take in a 2 mile hike post-activation. I snapped a few shots along the way.
Improvements
I’ll plan to add more counterpoises to the speaker wire antenna as I know this will only help efficiency.
In addition, I’ll plan to build even more antennas with this roll of speaker wire. If you have some suggestions, feel free to comment!
Thank you for reading this field report!
Cheers,
Thomas (K4SWL)
Surveillance Awareness // Lessons Learned for Preparedness BY MIKE SHELBY
Students just finished the two-day Surveillance Awareness Course through Gray Zone Activity, a training company I launched back in March. (We WILL be running this course again later in the year. Our current course schedule can be found here: https://www.grayzoneactivity.com/training)
Gray Zone Activity focuses on what I call “layer 2” solutions to prepare students for SHTF events, emergencies, and what’s likely to be a gray zone future.
Layer 1 solutions fill gaps in our immediate survival: food, water, fire, shelter, first aid, and self-defense in no particular order.
Layer 2 solutions fill operational gaps in survivability: intelligence, security, logistics, networks/tribe, and so on.
I’ve compiled a short list of lessons learned from the Surveillance Awareness Course that pertain to emergency preparedness. I hope you find them helpful.
1. Voice procedure is important. Having radios is good. Establishing local comms is better, but skill development shouldn’t end there.
During an emergency, you may be navigating complex and quickly changing conditions. Being able to quickly and effectively communicate complex details is crucial.
For us conducting mobile surveillance over the weekend, getting stopped at red lights, following lane changes and our target’s provocative routes was a constant challenge. Effectively communicating these changes to our teammates was even more crucial.
My advice is to develop a radio comms standard operating procedure with your preparedness groups. That should include standards for pre-established brevity codes and standard reporting templates.
You can be a great communicator, but if your teammates communicate poorly, key up the mic for long periods without sharing crucial details and preventing others from breaking in, step on other transmissions, and/or provide the wrong information (wrong cardinal directions, or wrong spots or street names), then your op gets sandbagged very quickly. A target skilled in counter-surveillance is a reason you’d get thrown off. Poor communications from teammates shouldn’t be.
Smooth communication don’t always lead to smooth operations, but smooth operations always have smooth communication.
2. Surveillance is a physical and mental test. Transitioning from mobile surveillance to foot surveillance — whether on city streets or ducking into a retail store — is more complex than you’d think. Not only do you have to keep eyes on target, but you have to keep your target’s eyes off you. It’s more mentally taxing than you’d think.
This course can help inoculate you against stress you’ll experience during future events. If you can perform under some pressure in this course, then you should have much better confidence in your ability during a stressful SHTF event. This is especially important if you’ll be in a leadership position during an emergency.
3. Mobility matters. Throughout the weekend, we had to follow a black Lexus SUV. Do you know how many of those are on the road between Dallas and Denton? About 20,000. It was what you’d call “extremely baseline,” which made following a single one more difficult.
Your vehicle might say a lot about you. Is it noticeable? Does it stand out? A brightly colored or out-of-baseline vehicle (a monster truck in San Francisco, for instance) is noticeable as a surveillance vehicle.
Being out-of-baseline might bring you unwanted attention during an SHTF event. Additionally, criminal surveillance is made MUCH easier if your vehicle is unique and highly noticeable.
While hearing about bug out bags and SHTF escape routes is fairly common, how often are preppers with bug out plans checking their vehicles or breaking in their hiking boots?
Mobility has completely changed my perspective on wearing flip-flops anywhere other than on the beach.
While Surveillance Awareness doesn’t sound like a prepper course, the skills you’ll learn can be used in a myriad of ways. And it’s a lot of fun because you’ll be “on the follow” with your team for much of the weekend.
We just scheduled new courses for Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, and have a course in Houston in the works. And we’re also planning to run a Surveillance Detection Course later this year.
If you’re interested in courses from Gray Zone Activity then please get in touch. You can respond to this email.
Let me know what course you’re interested in and nearest city/area, and we’ll get something on the books for later this year.
Until next time, be well.
Always Out Front,
Mike Shelby