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[kirgi07]

Cool,more brass. Ought 7 

[slidemansailor]

The fire hazard to our homestead has been apparent to me since our move here 1.5 years ago. I have whittled away at it in the ensuing period, but made a major breakthrough in the last week. 

Motivated by clearing a fire break and a shooting range conspired to create a comfortable space and huge slash piles a bit too spooky to burn without adult supervision. 

My local Volunteer Fire Department to the rescue. 

Call those guys BEFORE it is an emergency.  One heckuva lot better atmosphere ... and results.

https://www.teddunlap.net/darby-volunteer-fire-department-thank-you/

[Tahn L.]

I don't have any firebreaks except the drive but I think about them, often. I need some goats.

Way To Go SlidemanSailor!

[slidemansailor]

While this could easily be posted on a ham radio thread, I do this for personal and community preparedness. 

For nine Saturdays in a row I have been teaching ham radio classes.  I simultaneously was studying for the third (top) level license exam. It was challenging to jam that level of technical knowledge into my crusty old brain.

Last Saturday was Ham Exam day.  The score:
8 new Technicians
7 new Generals
1 new Amateur Extra
Everybody who studied with me earned their license. Several of them went for the second level and earned that too.

A box of radios arrived Fed Ex a few minutes ago. I will be programming them and deliver to the new hams Saturday.  By the following Saturday their licenses ought to be published and we are scheduled to do some practicing with them.  This is the first time I added the extra hands-on portion to my class.  I'm thinking this will get them over the hump into becoming community comms assets.

[Bill St. Clair]

New ammo and an upgrade for my Ruger LCP (to an LCP II, which has better fit and finish and a hugely-improved trigger, but still fits comfortably in a pants (er... kilt) pocket).

[FDD]

I don't have any firebreaks except the drive but I think about them, often. I need some goats.

Way To Go SlidemanSailor!

got a few antelopes here you can have, Wyomings nature goat

[slidemansailor]

What seems to work in my neck of the woods are elk, deer, turkeys, mountain lions and bears. Somehow the antelope don't thrive here.

My acreage is dominated by a very wet slope ... imagine a 40-degree marsh with a relative flat space before the year-round creek at the far side... kind-of a tilted bayoo that freezes real hard in the winter.  If I live long enough I may grow berries on it.  Long ago it grew apples. The elk and deer still eat on the few remaining scraggly trees.

[slidemansailor]

I just completed a two-day Brushbeater RTO course along with 17 others.  RTO=old-school army speak for Radio Telephone Operator. 

I am not sure, but guess less than half were hams. That was not a prerequisite, nor did it make any difference at all.  We learned equally regardless of electronic, technical or radio backgrounds.

If you ever get a chance, take this class. Secure, reliable, effective communications in small groups is a valuable skillset that should be in your quiver.

https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/training-courses/

[slidemansailor]

I shared the antenna building portion of the tactical comms class with all comers .. 8 of them.  I presented the technical part, then the various pieces they could use and turned them loose building their own antennas.  With my antenna analyzer (expensive, but necessary) we tuned everybody's antenna to what they wanted to do.

It was a lot of fun for all.  Much like 4-H where the leaders learn by leading. I learned a lot.

-------

Separate subject:  I got tired of fighting a broody hen and put 4 eggs under her, then let her do her thing.  Now I have a proud mama hen with one chick. The primary rooster has taken to shepherding them around the yard.

Then another hen wanted to go broody on me.  NO! I WON'T ALLOW IT!  We fought twice a day. She first took to pecking at me, the flying at my face. I was using arc-welding gloves and winning, but she persisted anyway.  Finally I decided to quit fighting. I put half a dozen eggs in her favorite nest.  OK. More hens we keep. Roosters we eat.  What's the problem, Ted??? 

No problem.  Welding gloves are re-homed with the arc welder.

[slidemansailor]

Looking around a bit and found this old thread and photo's of Bill's .308 pocket pistol. Now THAT is a manly handgun!!!

I also noticed I was talking about my ham class that I do to create more RTOs that our community will be better equipped to collect and distribute information when normal modes break down. I am half way through another batch right now, though this one is only six students - less than half the size of last year's class - but they are very similar in many ways to myself and in it for the right reasons.

It is interesting to consider how much improved our homestead is from a year ago... and no shortage of projects I can conjure up to keep myself working in that same direction. 

I have been asked, "Will you ever be finished with your projects?"
My answer is, "I hope not."

[kirgi07]

SMS,I started my journey with a call to ARRL,got some handheld baofengs to start. Ought 7.

[slidemansailor]

Good work.  I had a BAOFENG collection, but traded that out for some labor around the homestead.  I had too many different radio platforms making it too hard for me to learn and retain all the different human interfaces.  Nothing wrong with BAOFENGS, but I like the TYT MD-390 better for speaker, mic and transceiver quality.

Today I inspired and assisted a family member to up her defensive capacities in Seattle.  High among the places in this world where such things should be considered very seriously. I sent nearly half of my 9mm supply.  I turned my 9mm collection into a .40 collection without shedding the ammo.  That stuff keeps staring at me saying, "You really ought to buy a 9mm pistol or carbine", but I keep saying, "Shut up. I don't need another gun."

I got a pickup-load of free firewood from a guy converting to propane and will be getting his nice woodstove soon - a major upgrade from my old shop stove.

[securitysix]

Got some MURS radios.  They showed up yesterday, and I was able to test them today.  All 5 channels work from one end of my property to the other (only about 200 yards, but that covers my main use case) even when one HT is inside.  We did have problems with the PTT button on one of them, but we're thinking that may have been operator error.

They're not as good as ham radios, because they're limited to 2 watts and they're limited to 5 frequencies (151.82 MHz, 151.88 MHz, 151.94 MHz, 154.57 MHz, and 154.60 MHz), but they're license by rule (you're considered licensed as long as you follow the rules) and the rules allow for removable antennas, unlike FRS (my radios don't, though).

The two higher frequencies used to be licensed business band frequencies, and some businesses do still use them, but I'm far enough away that I don't expect that to be an issue.

I also finally broke down and started using hamstudy.org to study for the Technician exam.