This month we have 3 new SkyhubLink projects in the works. The first is the new Fusion/Wires-X repeater to be deployed just west of Cheyenne on 449.775 (Callsign soon to be KE0DNL). Daryl W3ORR will be running the node radio system at his QTH on the west side of town to link the repeater into the SkyHubLink Wires-X room 46361. The repeater will be steerable for Wires-X rooms of course. We would like to thank the members of the SkyHubLink email list who responded with donations to make this happen. Thanks also to our good friend Vic Michael for the providing the site for the repeater. More to come as it becomes available on the deployment time as we are awaiting weather and scheduling to get it on the air. We hope to be at the 100 plus foot level on this fine tower Vic has in “Granite” WY.
Second will be the 2 linked repeaters in Sterling & Holyoke. Kent Seger, who is a ham operator and tower owner in the area will be providing the repeaters, internet connection and sites (Sterling’s is just east of I-76 in the area) for this NE CO coverage along I-76 helping to pretty much fill in the coverage to Nebraska. More information and maps will follow soon.
Thirdly, the Brandmeister Talkgroup 31083 for the Colorado Severe Weather Watch NET will be moving to the SkyHubLink. More information on that will be upcoming to the SHL Email list soon.
Our good friend Steve KDØSBN who is running the Pueblo Wires-X Fusion repeater that is now on the new coordinated frequency of 447.900 -offset. Steve will also be setting up a NEW repeater soon south of the Spanish Peaks from the Weston Colorado area that will have coverage from about Walsenburg to Trinidad along I-25 in the southern part of the state. When this project is completed, and the move of the Scottsbluff NE repeater is accomplished (also this spring) SkyHubLink will have almost continuous coverage from Scottsbluff down to Cheyenne WY and on down the almost the New Mexico State line. Stand by for more news!
As I wrote in last month’s edition, I have been working full time now from the home “office/hamshack/Flight Simulator” and really enjoying it. I have everything I need right at my fingertips and with the addition of the worktable on the left I can do my personal and work projects with just the spin of the chair. The table is actually a kitchen prep all metal aluminum table that I also have now a static pad that covers the workspace.
Here is a test of the Field Fox spectrum analyzer after it had returned from service on the new worktable and interfaced with my computer on the left side of the office area. My vertical HF ham antenna and the multiband dipole made really good test subjects. The Field Fox is now ready for some real-world real work projects coming up in the next couple of months. Great setup! I have been loving this little “office” in a major way! I can monitor and control all work functions via remote facilities, test equipment and get a LOT DONE!
One of my personal projects over one weekend was the rebuilding of the Flight Sim X-plane 11 computer. The newly setup worktable and static pad grounded at the station ground made a very safe and secure way of handling static sensitive parts including the old and new motherboard, RAM memory, and hard drives.
I upgraded the computer from an Asus Z-97 to an Asus Z-490A with 16 gigs of DDR3 RAM, and the processor changed from a 4 core i5 3800 to an 8 core i7 10700 with 32 gigs of DDR4 RAM. I am still using my Nvidia GTX 1070 graphics card. But quite the upgrade! Also, with the new as of Christmas CH Products flight yoke and the rudder pedals, flying the simulator software is pretty dang realistic! I have also been adding a lot of scenery files via the Ortho4XP free software. See videos on how to do this at: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ortho+4+xp+x+plane+11 and if you need some simplified instructions on how to use the software, email me for a copy that my good buddy Jeremy N6JER put together.
Flying close to the 808-foot-tall in real life WSM Blaw-Knox radio tower south of Nashville Tennessee in
X-Plane 11 and the real-life thing! The scenery in the upper picture was generated in ORTHO4XP.
And here I am sharing the “cockpit” with my copilot little grandson Lucas, complete in an aviator jacket visiting Grandpa!
Hitting “TOGA” button Grandpa!
Many thanks to our good friend Paul WBØQMR for the repeater facilities of 146.70 in Dillon/Silverthorne. The repeater is connected to SkyHubLink full time and covers Breckenridge, Dillon, Silverthorne, Frisco, and up the valley on CO 9 towards Green Mountain Reservoir. Thanks, so much Paul for being part of the system!
And from another NETFLIX movie I watched lately, another great prop using a Zenith Transoceanic H-500 tube radio. The story was set in the 50’s and this was actually in a radio station in the movie “The Vast of Night”. And below, another radio setup with some pieces that are recognizable from the series “The Walking Dead”, also on NETFLIX. A D-104 mic and Heathkit radio? Motorola handheld?
And finally, this from my friend Evan Stone at WFLI in Chattanooga Tennessee!
What DO YOU DO with an old cart machine?
I was really happy to be able to get out on a ride this fine and WARM January day! Sure do look forward to more!
HAMSHACK ARCHIVES FILES
4 Years AGO: http://www.smpte-sbe48.org/wp/2016/01/
5 Years AGO: http://www.smpte-sbe48.org/wp/2015/01/
6 Years AGO: http://www.smpte-sbe48.org/wp/2014/01/
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