[{"content":"I have done absolutely nothing related to ham radio over the past couple months. For logistical reasons, the Red Cross volunteer opportunities didn\u0026amp;rsquo;t pan out. (I\u0026amp;rsquo;ll keep an eye out for upcoming, non-summer events. And frankly, the heat makes the fatigue worse so I\u0026amp;rsquo;ll probably be more useful at other times of the year anyway.) My QDX kit is currently sitting across the room, still unassembled, mocking me. I have given zero thoughts to an antenna. I haven\u0026amp;rsquo;t read forums or …","date":"2026-07-22","permalink":"/posts/2026-07-summer/","summary":"I have done absolutely nothing related to ham radio over the past couple months. For logistical reasons, the Red Cross volunteer opportunities didn\u0026rsquo;t pan out. (I\u0026rsquo;ll keep an eye out for …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio"],"title":"Summer"},{"content":"After this month\u0026amp;rsquo;s licensing exam, the VEs had two handouts. One was a printout with a bunch of useful info and links to ARRL-affiliated clubs, eHam.net, the FCC license manager, and QRZ\u0026amp;rsquo;s Jumpstart program. (I actually wasn\u0026amp;rsquo;t aware of the program until a little while after I\u0026amp;rsquo;d passed my Technician exam; a friend happened to mention it on his blog. I may take advantage of the discount that puts the transceiver in my \u0026amp;ldquo;I don\u0026amp;rsquo;t have to care too much if I drop it …","date":"2026-04-24","permalink":"/posts/2026-04-getting-started-with-amateur-radio-repeaters/","summary":"After this month\u0026rsquo;s licensing exam, the VEs had two handouts. One was a printout with a bunch of useful info and links to ARRL-affiliated clubs, eHam.net, the FCC license manager, and QRZ\u0026rsquo;s …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio","reference","repeaters","Ellwood Brem","K3YV","zines","recommended"],"title":"Getting Started with Amateur Radio Repeaters"},{"content":"On Monday, I took the exam to upgrade to a General class license. I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve now ticked off one of my 2026 goals.\nI have not actually spent much time using a radio. I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve tuned into the repeater a few times, listened in on a couple nets, and taken advantage of PLOTA after my exams, but that\u0026amp;rsquo;s it so far. The license upgrade will doubtless filter through the FCC\u0026amp;rsquo;s system before I have to identify myself as KD3CPY/AG (though I did, gratuitously, on the repeater during PLOTA last …","date":"2026-04-21","permalink":"/posts/2026-04-general/","summary":"On Monday, I took the exam to upgrade to a General class license. I\u0026rsquo;ve now ticked off one of my 2026 goals.\nI have not actually spent much time using a radio. I\u0026rsquo;ve tuned into the repeater …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio","general class","licensing","QDX","goals"],"title":"License upgrade"},{"content":"I wasn\u0026amp;rsquo;t entirely certain where the \u0026amp;ldquo;mobile\u0026amp;rdquo; portion of the Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club\u0026amp;rsquo;s name came from. I guess I had assumed \u0026amp;ldquo;mobile\u0026amp;rdquo; was more of a stand-in for \u0026amp;ldquo;the rig is small enough it can be removed from the shack,\u0026amp;rdquo; but nope. The \u0026amp;ldquo;mobile\u0026amp;rdquo; was for hams who very much wanted to be on-air while on the go, not just after having moved from point A to point B.\nNow, gentle reader, I invite you to accompany me into the 1950s.\nOne section …","date":"2026-04-10","permalink":"/posts/2026-04-mobile/","summary":"I wasn\u0026rsquo;t entirely certain where the \u0026ldquo;mobile\u0026rdquo; portion of the Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club\u0026rsquo;s name came from. I guess I had assumed \u0026ldquo;mobile\u0026rdquo; was more of a stand-in for …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio","PMRC","1950s","history","jim spencer","silent keys"],"title":"So that’s where the “mobile” comes from"},{"content":"Touching grass The Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club does Parks on the Air throughout the year, but the last weekend in March was the Spring POTA Fest at Fort Washington State Park (US-1352). Though I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve lived in the area for a few years, I had yet to visit the park and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I needed to touch grass (even if the grass was mostly mud).\nLast Saturday was a lovely day, brisk and sunny, and while I might\u0026amp;rsquo;ve been a bit happier with a sweatshirt at least I got …","date":"2026-04-03","permalink":"/posts/2026-04-potafest/","summary":"Touching grass The Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club does Parks on the Air throughout the year, but the last weekend in March was the Spring POTA Fest at Fort Washington State Park (US-1352). Though …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio","POTA","POTAMANIA","Spring POTA Fest","PMRC","Fort Washington State Park"],"title":"Spring POTA Fest"},{"content":"I earned my Technician\u0026amp;rsquo;s license last month and since then I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve accomplished a few minor ham-related things:\nImmediately got on the air after passing the exam Sorted out the FCC and new socials and logbooks and this site Ordered an introductory radio to play with (Baofeng GT-5R) Ordered the General Class License Manual Joined some mailing lists Joined some organizations: PMRC, YLRL, and AARN Attended an in-person meeting of Phil-Mont, the local club I have some reasonably solid …","date":"2026-03-26","permalink":"/posts/2026-03-goals/","summary":"I earned my Technician\u0026rsquo;s license last month and since then I\u0026rsquo;ve accomplished a few minor ham-related things:\nImmediately got on the air after passing the exam Sorted out the FCC and new …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio","making","POTA","ARES","Red Cross","goals"],"title":"Goals for 2026"},{"content":"tl;dr Anything you read on this website is written by me, a human person. I don\u0026amp;rsquo;t use so-called AI tools. No generative AI, no LLMs, no ChatGPT, no Midjourney, no Grammarly, none of it. (I\u0026amp;rsquo;m using these terms somewhat interchangeably, to indicate a certain type of product deceptively marketed as \u0026amp;ldquo;AI\u0026amp;rdquo; since around 2022. I\u0026amp;rsquo;m not touching on the much more complicated, interesting, and appropriately-named AI.)\nThis stuff is really, really bad Data centers are really …","date":"2026-03-24","permalink":"/posts/2026-03-ai/","summary":"tl;dr Anything you read on this website is written by me, a human person. I don\u0026rsquo;t use so-called AI tools. No generative AI, no LLMs, no ChatGPT, no Midjourney, no Grammarly, none of it. …","tags":["AI","generative AI","GIGO","LLM","planet-destroying plagiarism machines","slop","spicy autocorrect"],"title":"Brief thoughts on so-called AI"},{"content":"When last I posted, I was discussing the upcoming\u0026amp;mdash;and doubtless straightforward\u0026amp;mdash;process of getting this site actually online. The local copy worked, everything looked good, there existed documentation to move things from point A to point B, where point B is GitHub.\nSuffice to say that this has been more of a learning experience than I hoped. I established that the Neocities CLI push option was good for nothing but generating errors and having issues with Ruby (and ruby -v and …","date":"2026-03-20","permalink":"/posts/2026-03-argh/","summary":"When last I posted, I was discussing the upcoming\u0026mdash;and doubtless straightforward\u0026mdash;process of getting this site actually online. The local copy worked, everything looked good, there existed …","tags":["github","neocities","CLI","hugo","submodules"],"title":"Argh"},{"content":"Introduction I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve had a number of different websites\u0026amp;mdash;handcoded (pre-CSS), self-hosted Movable Type and WordPress, hosted WordPress, idle play with Drupal, handcoded (with CSS) in a recent spate of nostalgia, etc.\u0026amp;mdash;and decided I\u0026amp;rsquo;d try a static site generator. It\u0026amp;rsquo;s been a while since I\u0026amp;rsquo;ve Learned A New Skill, and I guess I was in need of a new distraction/hyperfocus.\nWell. \u0026amp;ldquo;Need\u0026amp;rdquo; is perhaps a strong word.\nEspecially since the impetus for a new website …","date":"2026-03-16","permalink":"/posts/2026-03-hugo/","summary":"Introduction I\u0026rsquo;ve had a number of different websites\u0026mdash;handcoded (pre-CSS), self-hosted Movable Type and WordPress, hosted WordPress, idle play with Drupal, handcoded (with CSS) in a recent …","tags":["hugo","obsidian","zed","markdown","github"],"title":"Adventures with Hugo"},{"content":"Sometime in 2024, a person I follow on social media mentioned they were considering getting a ham radio license. This was a direct reaction to recent hurricanes, which had prompted this person to wonder what they could reasonably do in the event of natural disasters.\nThat got me thinking about the same thing, and I came to a similar conclusion. Lots of practical tasks are outside of my wheelhouse or beyond my capabilities. But running comms? I could learn that.\nSo I ordered The ARRL Ham Radio …","date":"2026-03-15","permalink":"/posts/2026-03-first-post/","summary":"Sometime in 2024, a person I follow on social media mentioned they were considering getting a ham radio license. This was a direct reaction to recent hurricanes, which had prompted this person to …","tags":["ham radio","amateur radio"],"title":"First post"}]