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• Sushi for Beginners

This Weekend in Hedonism (Segment 2)

• Cheryl’s Recipe Corner!

• Baja Grilled Chicken Tacos

• Description

• Summer is a great time to fire up the grill and make a tasty dinner… and what’s any better than chicken tacos fresh off the grill?

• Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

• 1 teaspoon sazón seasoning*

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs

• Canola oil cooking spray

• 1 (10 ounce) package corn tortillas, or as needed

• Directions

• Combine cumin, oregano, sazón, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Add lime juice and olive oil and stir to make marinade. Add chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 12 hours. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate. Grill marinated chicken until no longer pink at the bone and juices run clear, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a bowl and shred chicken with forks. Spray canola oil onto tortillas and heat on the grill approximately 45 seconds per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with a paper towel to keep warm. Serve with shredded chicken. Tips: As an alternative to grilling, heat 1 tablespoon of canola or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add seasoned chicken and sauté until cooked through. Heat tortillas per package directions and serve with chicken and garnishes of your choice. This dish pairs well with a black bean and corn salad. If you don’t have Sazon on hand, combine equal parts of ground cumin, ground coriander, garlic powder, and onion powder. This blend will provide a similar flavor profile to Sazon seasoning.

• Cheryl’s Mixed Drink Corner

• Grilled Grapefruit Paloma Cocktail

• Description

• Since you’ve already got the grill going to make the Baja chicken tacos, here’s a fired up twist on a traditional Mexican cocktail. You’ll grill the grapefruit and lime to caramelize the fruit and give the juice a subtle smoky edge. Stir it up with tequila or mescal and top with club soda for a refreshing drink that’s perfect all summer long.

• Ingredients

• 2 limes

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 1 red grapefruit, halved widthwise

• 1/4 cup kosher salt

• 1 cup ice cubes, or as needed

• 4 fluid ounces tequila

• 2 tablespoons simple syrup, or to taste

• 4 fluid ounces club soda

• Directions

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Cut limes in half widthwise. Cut 1 half into 3 wheels. Pour sugar into a shallow bowl. Dip lime halves, 2 of the lime wheels, and grapefruit into sugar to coat thoroughly. Place limes and grapefruit cut-side down on the hot grill. Cook, turning lime wheels occasionally, until browned and grill marks form, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet to cool. Rub remaining lime wheel over the rim of 2 highball glasses. Dip rims in kosher salt. Fill glasses with ice. Juice grilled lime halves and grapefruit into a small pitcher. Pour in any juices that accumulated on the baking sheet. Stir in tequila and simple syrup. Divide mixture between glasses and top off with club soda. Garnish with grilled lime wheels. Cook’s Note: The limes will cook more quickly than the grapefruit.

• Russ’s Drink Corner

• Old Pepper Straight Rye Whiskey

• Description

• The ‘Old Pepper’ label was proudly produced by Colonel James E. Pepper during his lifetime and marketed as ‘The Oldest and Best Brand of Whiskey made in Kentucky.’ Through Col. Pepper’s advocacy on behalf of the bourbon industry, it was the first label in Kentucky to be bottled at the distillery, and his invention of the ‘signature strip stamp’ was later incorporated into the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, assuring consumers of the quality of the whiskey in the bottle. Our label today incorporates historic fonts and designs from the 1880s through the turn of the century, including the signature strip label—once again giving consumers valuable information about where and when the whiskey was made and bottled. This version is a barrel proof single barrel special release.

• Details

• Mashbill: 100% rye

• Region: Lexington, Kentucky, USA

• Proof: 116 (58.0% ABV)

• Color: Deep amber

• Nose: Chocolate, toasted oak, vanilla sweetness, rye grain

• Taste: Chocolate, peppermint, anise, floral honey, pepper, soft grains, honeysuckle

• Finish: Long and warm with hints of rye spice, toasted oak, wintergreen and chocolate

• Price: $65 (750ml)

• Rating: 89

• Bill’s Whatever Corner

• Rossville Union BOTTLED IN BOND STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY 6 Year

• ROSSVILLE UNION’S MASTER DISTILLER, IAN STIRSMAN, HAND SELECTED THIS BOTTLED-IN-BOND, SIX-YEAR-OLD RYE WHISKEY. THIS MASTERFULLY CRAFTED, 2023 LIMITED-RELEASE RYE WHISKEY IS CARAMEL AND MOCHA-FORWARD WITH A RICH, CANDIED FRUIT BODY AND A SLIGHT GREEN APPLE, MALTED CHOCOLATE, AND CINNAMON FINISH. Comprised of 51% rye and 49% barley.

Segment 3 (Announcements & Feedback)

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Segment 4 (New Subscribers, New Supporters & Live Participants)

• Live Chat

• Tony, K4XSS

• Steve, KJ5T

• Jill, K1TTZ

• David, W4DPE

• niemandem

• Mike, K6GTE

• Ted, WA0EIR

• Danilo

• Alexander, N7SM

We’re back with our 10th year anniversary show!

Bob G0FGX demonstrates the Groundstation 2 from DX Patrol in the first of a two-part feature on operating via the QO-100 geostationary satellite. He looks at the hardware and software needed to achieve your first QSO at home or out mobile.
We visit the new QTH of the Sidmouth Amateur Radio Society in South Devon, UK and meet Dave Lee G6XUV who helped SARS to secure a derelict former sports social club from the local town council and renovate it into a community hub and club QTH.
Bob reviews the latest mobile transceiver from Yaesu – the FTM-500D and demonstrates the many advanced features of this versatile FM and digital rig.

Watch now via our website: txfactor.co.uk

Since the previous blog post got out and syndicated via AmateurRadio.com, I’ve had inquiries about how to go about building an effective relationship with a local library system. Some clubs have already done this but focusing on emergency communications activities. The ARRL tends to call these “served agencies.” This may be with a local Emergency Management Agency, hospitals, area Red Cross agency, or local governments. As I’ve written here before, why not think of other organizations as educational “served agencies”? That might be a good start!

Back in January (2024), I led a Forum at the Capital City Hamfest in Jackson MS on developing strategic partnerships with public libraries. We had representatives from the Madison County (MS) Library System and the Director and Vice Director of the Delta Division of the ARRL on the Panel. Here is an updated slide deck of that Forum discussion. The interested reader might use this as a jumping-off point to take the ball and start dribbling (see last slide!).

Download PDF here.

ARRL made a comment in an update yesterday about some members “believe [ARRL] should be openly communicating everything [emphasis added] associated with this incident.” That’s not what this member has been suggesting. The update goes on saying “[authorities] […] have directed us to be conservative and cautious with our communications.” I really hate to belabor this, and I’m not trying to Monday morning quarterback the event nor sound condescending, but this is really a teachable moment for ARRL, for whoever may be listening. Here’s my advice, carefully outlined:

1. Post updates daily, even if it’s a short update. Anything.
2. Put a human face with the response effort. This can be quite simple: just post a two minute video every other day with someone on the leadership team or someone tasked with public relations to say “hello”, “this is what we’re doing today”, “these are the challenges we’re facing”, “we got this!, ” and “be patient”. Even add some snarky humor. This is not that hard to do, but it maintains and builds reputation capital and a rapport with the community and stakeholders. I’ve been amazed over my career and in my personal dealings in the online world how far a face, humbleness, self-deprecating humor, and falling on your sword goes in a bad or challenging situation. This isn’t going to silence irrational critics, of which there are plenty, but for 95% of the people out there, it works.
3. Technical details which, if made public, may compromise the investigation are separate from details regarding the restoration efforts. Don’t stand behind an investigation, it just gives a sense of secrecy and a lack of transparency and frankness.
4. Service restoration ETAs should be communicated from day one, and with each update. Even if an ETA is “we don’t know yet” or the ETA is in weeks, rather than hours or days, it’s much better than nothing.
5. Enumerate what services are affected, as soon as the scope is known, and track them throughout the ongoing communications. Initially to the outsider this appeared to be just an LOTW outage. It turned out this also affected the phone system and various administrative systems used to provide other services and publishing of periodicals.

I honestly hope this is my last post on this. For ARRL leadership there are takeaways from this event beyond technical issues. Technical issues can be fixed with expertise, money, and time. Cultural issues are much more challenging.

This article was originally posted on Radio Artisan.

I don’t need much but I do need a reason to get on the air. This can take many forms as I wrote in this blog post some time ago. I see quite a few new hams struggling with the problem of “I got this license but now what?”

Operating goals or awards are a fun way to keep focused on accomplishing something via ham radio. Really, it’s a specific reason to get on the air and make radio contacts. I am not big on idle chit chat via the radio (“the weather here is 65 deg and raining”) so having a reason to make contacts helps me get on the air. I’ve tended to pursue awards in a serial manner…once I hit some level of accomplishment, I usually declare victory and move on to something else.

Way back in the wayback machine, the first award I pursued was Worked All States (WAS). It does take some effort but I was pretty active on the HF bands at the time, so many of the states just showed up in my log. But to really drive it home, I kept track of which states I still needed and actively looked for opportunities to work them. Later, I pursued Worked All Continents (WAC), which obviously requires working some DX. But then I decided that if I had any DX cred at all, I needed to get DX Century Club (DXCC). Recently, the popularity of FT8 has been a game changer and I currently have about 175 entities confirmed (thank you, Logbook of The World). I don’t chase paper QSL cards anymore, which is just too much trouble for a Slacker DXer.

The VHF and higher bands have always been a passion for me, so I pursued the VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) awards. First, it was 6 meter VUCC, the easiest one to get. A really good run during the ARRL June VHF contest can produce the 100 grids you need for the award in one weekend. Later, some mountaintop activity resulted in 10 GHz VUCC. At one point, I got into working the LEO satellites and confirmed the required 100 grids for satellite VUCC. (Hey, Technicians, this is something you can do right now!) I still don’t have very many grids confirmed on 2 meters, so that one is still calling to me.

Summits On The Air

If you read my blog, you know that Summits On The Air (SOTA) is my number one activity lately, both activating and chasing summits. This is a natural fit for me as I’ve enjoyed mountaintop operating in various forms, mostly on VHF and UHF. (See my SOTA blog postings.) My hiking partner and wife, Joyce/K0JJW is almost always activating with me. Her #1 ham radio activity is also SOTA. We both achieved Mountain Goat status (1000 activator points) using only VHF and higher frequencies. (Technicians can have a lot of fun with SOTA on VHF!)

The SOTA program has a wide variety of awards, supported by a comprehensive database used to record SOTA radio contacts and keep track of the scores. It is not really a competition but there is friendly rivalry between SOTA enthusiasts as they monitor each other’s posted scores. Here are the “badges” that pop up when I check my SOTA info.

Parks On The Air

In the past few years, we have added the Parks On The Air (POTA) program. It turns out that not all regions of the country have interesting SOTA summits but they all have state or national parks. This fits nicely into our outdoor hiking/camping/4WD activities.

Many of our SOTA activations are in parks (national forests, national parks and state parks), so we usually try to make the SOTA activation count for both programs. This means that many of our POTA activations are done using VHF/UHF only, if from a summit. More commonly, we use the HF bands for POTA activations. Our standard POTA setup is a Yaesu FT-991 driving an endfed wire antenna, usually on SSB or FT8.

POTA also has a great database, good tools and plenty of awards available. Here’s what shows up on my POTA awards page. Just like SOTA, POTA is not a competition but it is interesting to see what other hams are doing and compare you level of activity.

So those are my thoughts.
What motivates you to get on the air?

73, Bob K0NR

The post A Reason To Get On The Air appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

In the realm of IT, there are best practices for managing system outages, and then there are examples of what not to do. The recent actions of the ARRL exemplify the latter. Today, HQ released an update stating that they were “the victim of a sophisticated network attack by a malicious international cyber group” and that they “quickly established an incident response team.” However, it took them 21 days to provide this detailed update.

As an IT professional, I have encountered numerous challenges and learned valuable lessons over the years. One of the most critical aspects of managing an outage is communication—clear, frequent, and transparent communication. It is essential to over-communicate during such times. Additionally, having a visible leader who represents the response effort is crucial. An effective “incident response team” should not only consist of technical experts working behind the scenes but also include individuals who manage communications, reassure stakeholders, and provide key information such as estimated restoration times.

ARRL has often been subjected to unwarranted criticism, but this situation is a result of their own missteps. I question whether the attack was all that sophisticated, sensing that it was a common ransomware attack. We await the final report for details, assuming it is made public. While technical shortcomings can be understandable and even forgivable, the poor communication and lack of transparency in this instance are not. The recurring sentiment from ARRL, echoing past incidents, seems to be, “You don’t need to know.”

This article was originally posted on Radio Artisan.