Climbing a REALLY tall tower

No thanks, I think I'll stick to tree-supported dipoles.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81100181/

Thanks to Brent, KD0GLS for sending along this really scary video.

Getting Settled -- Slowly. Yogi Berra on Theory and Practice

I've been getting some "Are you alive?" inquiries from SolderSmoke fans. I'm happy to report that, yes, I am still around, and doing fairly well. This move back to the states has been a bit more difficult and complicated than previous transfers, but slowly the shack is starting to come
together. Moat important: The Drake 2-B survived the journey!

It may take me a few weeks to start emitting whistling S sounds and Gong noises ("Wow, that's awesome!') but hang in there, new SolderSmoke episodes are on the way.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you a Yogi Berra quote sent to me by Brent, KD0GLS. I think this is especially appropriate because my grandfather actually played for the New York Yankees:

"As I make my way through the back episodes of SolderSmoke at a stately pace and hear you speak of Bletchley Park, I'm also reading "Secrets & Lies" by Bruce Schneier, renowned cryptographer and internet security expert. In his book, I read this timeless quote that immediately made me think of our hobby:

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."
Yogi Berra"

Thanks Brent! Thanks Yogi!

A confession

Well, I didn't actually do it, but I thought about it. As the date of our departure from Italy approached, I was -- as readers and listeners will remember -- getting deeper and deeper into minimalist QRSS beacons. During the final weeks I was running my 15 mW Hans Summers-inspired varactor-modulated FSK transmitter from our country location up in the Sabine Hills. I had it running off one of my Volkswagen solar panels. I knew that the owner of the olive grove wouldn't mind if I left my nearly-invisible doublet antenna in the trees... You guys see where I was going with this. I came close to leaving that thing on the air. Sometimes I kind of wish I had. It would have been fun. But the QRSS beacons already seemed to be pushing the regulatory envelope a bit, so the solar panel and the beacon board went into the shipping container. I hope they will soon be radiating from Northern Virginia...

All OK here. We are getting settled. Our stuff should be arriving in the USA next week. We may have a new podcast out by early September.

We are still in a temporary apartment. This week Billy and I visited the local hardware store and got some very thin magnet wire. I have about 50 feet of it going from the balcony to a tree. As I type I'm listening to SSB net activity on 40 meters with my little Sony portable receiver. Man, that recent Coronal Mass Ejection really seems to have messed up propagation. But hopefully it is an indication that Ole' Sol is coming back to life.

From Italy to Virginia: Move update

We're still in a temporary apartment, waiting to move into our new place. The new QTH has some good tall trees suitable for wire antenna support. I have my eye on a room for the shack.

Not much radio activity this summer. I do have my Sony shortwave receiver with me -- I've been listening to 75 meter AM. My Heathkit VF-1/DX60 combo will be coming out of storage, so I may soon be joining in.

My kids got I-phones and are having a lot of fun with them. As we drive along they are in multimedia contact with friends back in Italy (and elsewhere), texting, e-mailing, Facebooking, video-texting, etc. The I-phone 4 is an amazing piece of gear.

Summer reading: I kind of got bogged down in "Is God a Mathematician?" by Mario Livio. Good book, but as he gets deeper into it you really need to focus -- I'll get back to that when things settle down. I'm currently reading "Why does E=MC^2"by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. I was attracted to the book because it promises to discuss the role of special relativity in things like toroidal tranformers. (There is a section called "Einstein in the Transformer in SolderSmoke -- The Book.") I like the authors' approach to math: they actually explain where the formula for gamma in special relativity comes from.

"Wired" looks at Radio Shack

Art, KG6ZWD, sent this link to me. Looks like Wired magazine has an interesting article about Radio Shack.

http://blakegonzales.com/2010/06/30/growing-up-with-radioshack/

I always liked these stores. They were never perfectly aligned with our needs, and they seem to be drifting even further away, but over the years I picked up lots of good gear and needed parts at these stores. Ideas too! I have those "Mini Notebooks" by Forrest Mims. Great stuff!

Modular Magic from AK2B

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrDYEbRGEds

This video really made me yearn for my shack and soldering iron (all my gear is still on the high seas). OM AK2B is doing amazing modular things in an apartment in NYC. Richard Fenynman would be proud! I was pleased to see the circuits and kits of so many FB radio amateurs (including KD1JV, W7ZOI, and KA7EXM) in this rig. Thanks to Jonathan-san, KC7FYS, for sending this video to me.

Save 20% on SolderSmoke -- The Book

Lulu just announced a big summer sale, good through August 1. This is a good chance to get "SolderSmoke -- The Book" in time for that late-summer beach trip. Just use the coupon code SANTA when checking out. (U.S. buyers may find it more advantageous to use the summer-long free shipping offer.)

Find the book here:

http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm