Radio - Technician Class, Romanchik Manual Update

Hello, Frank here.

Hi all, hope everybody is doing well. What I want to bring you today is the update to the Romanchik Technician manual. Every
few years or so, the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, gets together with a group of ham radio operators and reviews the questions for each level of testing. This year, in July, the new questions and answers were put into effect for the Technician level exam. Now, I don't know much about this process. I would presume that it is done through some type of coordination with ARRL, the American Radio Relay League. They get rid of some of the questions and answers and add some new ones. So, if you're using the Romanchik Technician manual, which I highly recommend, then you will want the upgraded, up-to-date, ink still wet version. Here it is.

I want to send you to a post I wrote a few months back, it's called Radio - Become a Ham. It has links to many sites that will help you get your Technician's license, or for that matter, your General or Extra licenses also. Look  

around in the above mentioned site, which is Radio - Become a Ham, and it will answer most questions you have about getting your ham license. But, remember, ARRL is your best friend when you have local questions.

The FCC is the governing authority over all radio communications. There are three levels of tests, the Technician level, which for most people, with a little bit of study, is an easily passable test. The General level is just a little bit more complicated than the Technician level. The Extra class, I am told, is going to require some more work.

Some people think of ham radio as quite an expensive hobby, and it can be if that's the route you choose. There are some folks that get into the Technician class level with a $40.00 brand new, hand held radio. So, you can take it from $40.00 to as high as you want to go. Many ham operators never go past the Technician level because their goal is to work with a local ham radio club helping with search and rescue type operations. The minimum equipment required for this duty is the $40.00 radio I mentioned earlier. Then there are other folks in ham radio that want to learn Morse code and talk to folks all around the world, and this can be done also. By the way, you do not have to learn Morse code for any of the three levels of licensing. But if you want to learn it, good for you.

There are safety issues with operating a radio. You are emitting, if you are transmitting, an RF signal, radio frequency. These are things you will learn, but don't ever shortcut safety.

I have another short post I want you to read called Wanna Be a Ham? It's short, easy to read, and has some information you might want to consider. 

FEMA and Homeland Security both use ham radio operators during emergencies. As you will find in my posts, I encourage people to get their ham radio license so that they will have communications during an emergency. Who knows, there may come a day when the electricity is off. It might be a natural disaster, a hurricane, tornado, flooding, earthquake, wildfires, natural disasters come in all shapes and sizes. Ham radio can be a very handy tool. There is also the possibility of disruption from government, martial law, quarantine, use your imagination. There are lots of reasons we need alternative forms of communication. And, besides that, it's a cool hobby.

Go to "Things To Read" then, "Frank's Radio Communications". Take a look at scanners, GMRS, CB and shortwave. You may find some other interests you enjoy. You don't have to be a ham radio operator to participate in radio communications. But if you are a ham radio operator, it will extend your world of emergency radio communications a great deal. There are also radio clubs if you're the type that likes to join groups. It's a whole lot safer than bar room fighting and you may enjoy a higher level of association with ham radio folks. Read the posts. Here is the new Romanchik manual. You can get your ham radio license from start to finish at a total cost of $15.00 from the included posts under Frank's Radio Communications. That $15.00 is the fee you pay to take your test to get your license. 

That's about it for today. Here in a few days, I'm going to introduce this $40.00 hand held radio I'm talking about. I will also introduce you to some functional, commercial radios that are perfectly legal on the ham frequencies. If you're into the search and rescue thing, they're also perfectly legal there with proper permission. Take care. Safety first.

We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
 

Fire Ants & Aphids

Last summer I mentioned the discovery of the relationship between fire ants and aphids. Fire ants will protect and raise aphids to produce nectar for the ants to eat. The ants will carry the aphids to a plant that will provide nourishment, thus feeding both insects at the same time. I found this to be fascinating even though it can be devastating to my garden crops.  

I hadn't noticed any aphids at all this year until after I had planted my Cushaw winter squash. I noticed the ants were moving into one of the squash hills, so I sprinkled wood ashes and coffee grounds on each of the five hills. I started checking the plants morning and evening in hopes of keeping the squash bugs at bay that had killed off our yellow squash at the other end of the garden. That's when I noticed a few ants on the underside of the leaves. Then I realized that the beginning of an aphid infestation was occurring. I also discovered tiny, tiny little winged insects as well. From everything I've been able to read, I think these winged insects are the adult aphids, but I'm not sure. If you know what they are, please let us know.

Here is a close-up of the ants pouring out of the ground.

So I put coffee grounds on them.

Here is an ant tending to the aphids. There is one above him by one of the leaf veins.

Here is that aphid, enlarged.

Tiny winged insects. Does anyone know what they are?

Here is one of them enlarged. I think it is an adult aphid, but I'm not sure.

We really enjoy the Cushaw squash and hope to have a decent harvest. It looks like we will have plenty of competition from the squash bugs (I have squished a few each day), ants and aphids. I just hope we win the battle.

Until next time - Fern
 

Making a Shirt

Sometimes, when you can't find things to buy that are just the way you want them, it is better to make it yourself. I find that to be true with most shirts and dresses. I haven't been sewing much over the last few years, but I have plenty of patterns, material, thread, zippers and buttons. They are all part of my storage, along with a sewing machine that can be used with electricity or with a treadle. I have everything I need to make most garments without going to the store. All I need is the motivation, and time. I have two store bought shirts that I like to wear that are comfortable, fit well, and are long enough for my taste. I am tall. After a while, you get tired of wearing the same thing over and over, right? So, it was finally time to make a few shirts, my way.

I started this shirt a couple of months ago, but set it aside, a couple of times. When I got back to sewing, it only took a few hours to complete the shirt, all except the button holes. One reason I put off finishing the shirt was that I had not made button holes on this new machine. It doesn't have the button hole attachment that pretty much makes them for you, so I hadn't sat down long enough to practice and learn how to make them. It's easy to put some things off that require a little more time and effort, isn't it?

Sewing is something I watched at my mother's knee as a young girl. I would sit beside her and watch as she made my clothes. What a blessing this has been my whole life. Not only did I benefit from the clothes she made, and the time I got to spend with her, I learned that it's easy to make things for yourself. Little did she know that she was teaching me a very important aspect of being self-reliant. Then, when I was about 12, she took me to a Singer sewing store during the summer for sewing lessons. When we were sewing in our Home Economics class in high school, the teacher threatened to give me a speeding ticket for sewing too fast. Most of the girls were just learning to sew, but by then, I had already been sewing for three or four years and had made a number of outfits.

After sewing for so many years, and having a machine with a buttonhole attachment, I figured this machine would be like the old Montgomery Ward I originally had, that my mother gave me, that she made my clothes on. You had to manually create the buttonholes and it was a little difficult. Boy, was I wrong about this Necchi. These were the simplest buttonholes I have made in 40 years. And to think I kept procrastinating because I thought it would be difficult. You have heard of paint by number, right? Well, this is buttonhole by number. You start at number 1 on the knob and when you get to number 4, your buttonhole is finished. It takes less than 30 seconds. Amazing.

We invested in this machine a number of years ago because it can be used with electricity or with a treadle. So far, I have only used it in the electric mode. It is a very sturdy, commercial grade machine. It mends jeans with a breeze, much easier than my Kenmore. I have been very pleased with the ease at which it tackles the tasks I have given it. Originally, I wasn't even going to mention it in this post until I made a buttonhole. Even if you have never made a buttonhole in your life, you can with this machine. It's that easy.

 
So, now I have a new shirt and the motivation to make a few more. I have everything I need in my 'sewing room', which also doubles and triples for a few other things. Sewing, mending, knitting and quilting supplies are part of our everyday storage. Over time, I have collected quite a few buttons. Some were on sale, some are old and have been passed on to me from relatives, like my mom. Any time I want

to sew a new project that has buttons, Frank and I get out the canister (yes, I have some sewing supplies like buttons and zippers in a canister set that I don't use in the kitchen), and we pour out the buttons and find the ones we like the best.

You see, Frank and I do everything together. For example. Even though he is our radio communications man, he still talks to me about it all the time. Through those conversations, I learn a lot. Even though I don't use the HF radio to listen to stations around the country and in different parts of the world, when he does, I am usually sitting about 15 feet away, listening.

The more you can demonstrate to your family, the essence of being self-reliant, regardless of the task, the more they will internalize the endless possibilities of independence. Children are never too young to learn, even if they are just sitting by your side watching. Just knowing that someone else, someone important, can do things on their own, brings on a self-confidence that cannot be taught by words or writings. Share with your family and friends those things that you know how to do that will foster their self-reliance and self-confidence. You never know, it may just change their life.

Until next time - Fern

The Nutrition of Potatoes

One of our more successful crops this summer has been red potatoes. We have gradually been increasing our skill, we hope, at growing enough to see us through the winter until another crop is ready to harvest. With this in mind, and my curiosity about what kind of balanced nutrition we are growing, here is the latest in my series of posts about the nutritional content of our garden crops.

One large, raw potato with skin contains the following nutrients:

• protein 7.5g
• calories 284
• carbohydrates 68g
• fiber 8.1g
• starch 57g
• vitamins A, C, K
  
• niacin
• folate
• choline
• omega-3 fatty acids
• omega-6 fatty acids
• calcium
• iron
• magnesium
• phosphorus
• potassium
• sodium

 

 

We have cut up some of the potatoes we harvested this spring to plant for a fall crop. The interesting thing about them, is that they came from the 'potato bush' that we grew from our crop from last summer (2013). When I was planting the garden this spring, we had a few small, shriveled potatoes left from last summer that had very long, leggy sprouts on them. We figured they were done for and were going to just throw them out. Well, I decided to pile them up in the corner of the garden and throw some dirt on them. They

'Potato bush' in the corner of the garden, May 2014

grew.....and grew......and turned into a tightly clustered 'potato bush'. So, some of the potatoes we are planting now for our fall crop came from last year's potatoes. We want to continue this experiment and see if we can grow a self-sustaining crop. You can also use store bought potatoes for seed potatoes, we have used them more than once. Our feed stores have seed potatoes here in the spring, but you never see them in the late summer or fall. So, even though we have bought some seed potatoes each spring, we don't know what variety of red potato we are currently growing. 

We know from the history of the potato that many peoples have utilized this tuber as a part of their daily diet. Potatoes are high in carbohydrates and starch which are very important nutritional qualities in a survival situation. If we are sitting on the couch reading or writing blog posts, we probably don't need as many carbohydrates in our meals. Nevertheless, potatoes have been an American mainstay for many, many years. Ask Frank, the carnivore, meat and potatoes make a mighty good meal.

Until next time - Fern

Playing in the Dirt

Don't you just love dirt? Well, most people probably don't have the same affinity for dirt that I do, but most gardeners love dirt. To me, a new patch of dirt holds so many possibilities. Of course the grass and weeds will take advantage of any new ground around, but with a little work and encouragement, a tiny little seed will turn into something amazing to behold....and eat.

After the potatoes, beets, onions, sunflowers and corn were harvested it was time to till up some of the garden again for the fall crops. I have tilled the garden with the tractor exactly one time before, and since Frank's back surgery was recent, he could not do this for me like he usually does. He did stay with me for moral support and advice, like, "Watch the bucket (on the front of the tractor) and make sure you don't take out a chunk of the house or storage shed." This was very good advice. I am still very slow and awkward using the tractor between the house, fences, vegetable trellises and storage buildings. For some reason backing up and turning the wheels in the right direction just does not follow the same pattern I have in my mind for driving a car. I had to laugh at myself several times as I got the tractor all whopper jawed and not aligned at all with where I wanted to be. Frank could only just stand there and shake his head.

But the job is done, and now I have some beautiful dirt to play in. We got the tilling done just in time to plant six hills of Cushaw winter squash

before evening fell. Then along came two days of a nice, slow, soaking rain. After that, I had the terrible poison ivy outbreak. I finally went to the doctor and he said it was not my psoriasis, which I thought it was. By then it had covered over a third of my stomach, the tops of my thighs, the inside of both arms and a few spots on my neck. I was truly miserable. I am finally healing up, but I haven't been back out in the garden except to pick a few things. Today, we are getting another round of rain, which is great. When the earth has had some time to dry a little, it will be time to play in the dirt some more and plant the rest of my fall seedlings and a few more seeds.

The cantaloupe will share this small area between the two storage buildings with the neighboring Cushaw. I have broadcast some zinnia and radish seeds around in hopes of deterring some of the squash bugs that reside not too

far away. I also spread some wood ashes around the base of each plant to deter squash vine boring worms. While I was at it, I shared some of the wood ashes with the green beans to try to help their blossoms to set fruit.

I'm going to plant the cabbage over in this small area by the dying yellow squash. We were still able to pick a few squash until recently, but the plants and a lot of squash bugs have now gone to the chickens. 

 








I will plant the Brussels sprouts and carrots in the front of the herb bed so they can have lots of time to grow. That way I can till the regular garden at the end of the season without working around these two crops.

The area that held the corn will become sugar beets, both Mangels and Bucklunch. It will be interesting to see how these two crops do. If we can get a decent harvest our goal is to see if we can make some sugar. That will be a real learning experience. We will feed the beet silage to the goats and chickens if this experiment works out.

Then, next to the new beet patch we will plant another row of potatoes. We probably have enough potatoes to get us through the winter, but I would like to have some fall potatoes to store for next year's seed potatoes. Just like saving seeds from some of the other crops, I would like to grow our own seed potatoes. What if I couldn't get anymore from the store in the spring and we had eaten them all? Potatoes are a very nutritious, energy rich food that we would like to be able to produce on our own if the need ever arises.

Next will be our first crop of turnips....ever. We have heard lots of folks talk about raising turnips, both for themselves and livestock. It' time we tried our hand at it.

With the continuing discord throughout the world, we are all feeling a growing tension and a sense of dread. What might be around the next corner is an unknown at this point. The need for vigilance and determined self-reliance is more important now than ever. Do you have what you need, both in knowledge and supplies? Get with it before it is too late. Keep your family close, and to borrow a phrase from Ol' Remus, avoid crowds.

Until next time - Fern