March 31, 2016

I continued messing with the SSB radio and ended up reconfiguring the counterpoise (AKA antenna ground).  Clearly it's a dark art.  The experts not only disagree with each other, they apparently also disagree with themselves.  To wit, Gordon West said "Remember, don't be attaching this copper foil to through-hulls that have been purposely left unbonded."  (Emphasis in the original.)  But in another place in the same document he said "If your underwater metals are not connected by a green bond wire, you may wish to use a single through-hull that is isolated...as your first point of establishing an underwater ground connection."  So, I decided to ere on the side of caution and get more foil, disconnect from the through-hulls, and connect instead to the lead keel,the big stainless steel water tank, the lifelines and the small immersed ground plate.  It's a lot harder to do than write.   Since I haven't been able to test transmission at a distance, it's hard to tell if the changes made any difference.  I have been able to listen to one of the Baja nets (poorly) and heard a couple of Mexicans chatting in Spanish.  I may try the 'aluminum foil in the water' test if I get ambitious.
Had another gale blow through this week, but not quite as bad as the last one.  More dust and sand blown around than trees.  And the wild flowers are out in force now.

Play to hear USCG weather from Pt. Reyes, 500 miles away.

Easter Tomatoes

March 17, 2016

The one remaining connector for the single side band radio has still not arrived, so I have remained frustrated in testing it.  So near and yet so far!  So, I finished a shelf for the radio and turned my efforts to another project that was important to the Mexico cruise:  a manual back-up pump for the fresh water.  I got it done, but it was more involved than I had hoped.  Working under the sink was tough on the back, too.   But it was worth it for the peace of mind.
I started a beginning Spanish class that was 2/3 into the session, but having had Spanish in high school, I did okay.  A friend of mine who has been to Mexico 22 times lent me his extensively annotated "Charlie's Charts of Mexico" so I can copy his notes into mine.  Sweet!!  And spring is blossoming already, with the wildflowers coming back.  Nice!!!

Happy St. Paddy's!!!

March 10, 2016

The single side band radio installation is nearly complete.  Thank God!  My back hurts from crawling into and out of the lazarette a hundred times and endless boat yoga in the quarterberth, engine room and head lockers.  Now I'm just waiting for a special power connection plug that I had to order from a company up in Canada.  It should arrive in a few days, and then the big moment:  Will it work?  How well?  I also still need to get my station license from the FCC ($300 now!).
Had some rain and big winds this week, enough to knock down quite a lot of trees.  Once the storm and winds passed, it was delightful.

 

 

March 3, 2016

Continued with the single side band (SSB) installation.  It seems to be going well, but it's a big job and I won't know how well I did until it's complete.   Most of the radio and antenna wiring is done, but I still have the counterpoise and final power connections to do.  I'm not getting technically detailed here, but if you have questions feel free to ask by commenting.  I can see why it is a major hobby for some all by itself.