Adventures

March 29th, 2022

I am super excited. I enjoy my handheld ham radio so much that I got myself a Yaesu FT2980 single band transceiver capable of 80 watts. I bought a Nagoya mobile radio antenna and set it on a 18 inch field disc acting as a ground plane. I currently have it in the condo and can easily hit a repeater 30 miles away. I can do that with 50 watts to spare. I also transmitted to the Minnetonka and Burnsville repeaters this evening. The power supply that I picked up at the ham radio fest in Buffalo, Mn works very well for powering my new radio. The highlight of this evening was checking in to the Minnetonka Tuesday night net. This was my first net check in. The middle picture shows my ham radio case for transporting the radio.

March 27th, 2022

Amy, Cass, and I spent the weekend at my parents. It was fun seeing everyone again. It's been awhile. I completed my trailer project today. I have a couple pictures highlighting the storage ability and led lights I used for tail, brake, and turn signals. I also included one picture of a weld bead I laid with my welder. The catch is I was powering it with my new generator. I finally have a generator with enough power to push that wire feed welder. More projects to come!

March 20th, 2022

I had a very busy weekend. I stayed at the shack Saturday night and dismantled the little room that I mostly used as a storage/changing room. The idea is that I will install a wood burning stove in that corner. I ordered a couple of cast iron pieces (door and flue collar) that I don't want to make. I purchased the steel for the body last week. Soon I will begin cutting and welding my wood burning stove. I also purchased a 6 Kilowatt generator off of Craigslist today and a small trailer that I will use to pull the generator and my kayak. I am in the process of putting the trailer together. Finally things are starting to move for this summer. I gotta get going...I have a lot to do.

March 19th, 2022

I purchased the last wheel assembly I will need to move the shack this summer. I have all four now. I found this last assembly on Craigslist last night. I purchased this power supply for a ham radio at a ham fest in Buffalo, MN this morning. I took a couple more pictures at the ham fest.

March 16th, 2022

I shall no longer be known as Lauren....I shall be known as Kilo Foxtrot zero India India Bravo. I got my general license today and made a couple contacts. One transmission was to a repeater over 30 miles away. I did it with my new Nagoya antenna and it works!

March 13th, 2022

I took a day trip to the shack and land today. It was a beautiful day. I took a few pictures and one video. I stopped and talked to a couple of local neighbors, Hippie Chuck and Trapper Steve. They both live within a couple of miles of the new 20. Between the two of them I don't think there's much they haven't done or couldn't do.

March 12th, 2022

I went to the MN State High School Hockey Tournament Thursday night and today. It was incredible. The caliber of play and desire to win was so high. MN High School Hockey is a blast. The class AA championship was this evening. Of course I stopped at Candy Land in downtown St. Paul on the way to the game.

March 9th, 2022

I took two ham radio tests this evening. My intention was to only take the Technician class test, but this last Sunday I decided to take the General class test as well. I aced the Technician test and got one wrong on the General test. So I passed them both and will receive my call sign soon. I wanted to take both tests to open some more high frequency privileges. That's where the fun is.

March 5, 2022

My ham radio test is on Wednesday. I am prepared. I can hit a handful of repeaters with just the rubber duck antenna sitting in my living room. I am able to hit a net just about every night. My favorite is using Echo Link with check ins from around the world. Last night we heard from Canada, England, Japan, different states within the USA, and Australia. I have been using a sun clock so I have an idea where the check ins are from and what time of day it is.

Land Map

DNR Map