Ron Guest

A glorious sight first thing this morning while out exercising. 📷 ☀️ ☁️

My wife and I went out to eat for the first time since the virus hit. We went early so we would be comfortable social distancing would be easy to accomplish. It worked out well and we enjoyed having time together outside the house to chat.

For the first time since the virus hit my wife and I went out to dinner. For our anniversary. We are socially distanced. 🍴 🍸

Best Buy had the Nintendo Switch Labo starter kit for $20 on sale last week so I took the plunge. We spent the whole afternoon putting together parts of the kit and playing the included games. Pretty good value so far. Can’t wait to use it with Zelda BOTW.

When I went to bed last night the whiteboard was blank. Awoke to find some sort of Kirby drawing frenzy took place. I’ll be curious to hear the story when the family wakes up.

View from our back patio tonight.

Hidey hole

After the rains 📷 ☁️ ☀️ 🌉

I got my latest Field Notes purchases today. I really love the unique Deader Prints special edition notebooks. The Bellroy pencil case is sweet too. It was time to treat myself a little.

This morning’s sky: big sun, ribbon of cloud, tiny balloon. 📷 ☀️☁️ 🎈

I wear this hat when I go out to exercise hoping it sends a “stay 6’ away or I’ll be triggered” message.

Probably people just think I must be a grumpy person. 😊

Sunshine on a cloudy day 📷

Peace. 📷

The Blue Angels literally flew directly over our house 15 minutes ago. Very very cool experience. Closer than they would be at an air show. I actually had to zoom out to get the formation in frame. 📷 ✈️

Big sky with even bigger humidity. It is only about 70F but it felt much warmer (i.e. hot).

Even our dog is tired of the whole virus thing. 🐕 📷

At least someone gets to enjoy the pool during the virus lockdown. 🦆

Another lovely day for early exercise though a bit chilly.

Big sky

Eating a mini-cini on the back porch this morning. Lovely but the background music of a leaf blower could be better. 😉

Droplets on a dreary morning. Severe weather expected later today.

Part of our backyard garden in the background. Mostly we grow seasonings for my wife’s excellent cooking. Very convenient especially during the virus crisis. 🌱

Today I used the unpaved side of the creek for my exercise. The downside is the path is narrower but the upside is almost no one uses it lately. I only passed one person. I really feel blessed to have these options in our piece of suburbia. Lovely in spite of the clouds.🌳 📷

Risen

As a new Ham (aka amateur radio operator) I was interested in HF from the start. After studying the available transceivers a bit I narrowed my choice down to either the Yaesu FT-991a or the ICOM IC-7300 .The 7300 seemed the better choice due to its more user friendly interface, superior touchscreen, some better processing as well as a larger body of community support. I definitely have not regretted the choice in the 1 month I have owned the radio.

When researching the radio, and as a newbie, I tried to find out what software was available for each brand and whether there were versions I can run on my MacBook Pro. Windows is by far the most popular platform in ham radio and most of the info (YouTube etc) is targeted there. However it turns out there are good choices for Mac users (and Linux too).

One key piece of software for HF is one that can handle contact (QSO) logging. I found two main contenders: RumLogNG (free) and MacLoggerDX ($95). Free always sounds like a good deal so I initially used RumLogNG and was happy with it. In addition to logging it can directly control the 7300 (tuning, RF power setting, noise reduction setting and so on). However I was making a lot of new contacts hence doing a lot of logging and RumLogNG is only semi-automated for uploading to QRZ, eQSL and so on. Also, RumLogNG has very limited support. I tried MacLoggerDX in demo mode and although it lacks the rig control of RumLogNG I found the logging automation, DX spotting and overal user interface implementation superior. Support email was answered within an hour so I made the plunge. As with the 7300 I’m happy with the switch though I do miss rig control. On the plus side this forced me to better set up my desk (shack in ham parlance) so everything is now more ergonomic.

The 7300 is trivial to use with the Mac. Simply plug in a USB cable and configure the software to port. Here is a screen shot of MLDX configured for my 7300. Most settings are default.

The 7300 settings need to be correct for CAT control as well. MacLoggerDX has a page with the details but it isn’t so easy to find. The details for each radio are here.

In my next post I want to document the software and settings I’m using for HF digital modes like FT8 and JS8Call.

Putting the last couple of pieces in puzzle #6