Bad news

So it looks like I'm still off the air.  One of my HF rigs is dead and the other has issues working with my computer.  A new HF rig is going to be in my future someday.  With ICOM suddenly discontinuing my beloved IC-718, I'll be looking for a used rig.

Almost there!

I'm nearly complete getting my station set up but I still need a few more items and to permanently mount my antenna...

Slowly returning

It has been a very long time since I have provided an update.  A lot has happened since my last update.  I'm now medically retired and living in a small apartment which presents its own unique challenges to operating on the air.  I recently purchased a good used HM-103 mic for my IC-706MKII rig which I am hoping to get up and running soon.

Installing Pat (open source Winlink client) in FreeBSD

I decided to tinker around today and installed Pat, an open source Winlink2000 client written in Go, on my FreeBSD 13-powered desktop.  It's quite simple.  The directions to install Go under FreeBSD do not exist on the Pat website so I'll put them here for you.

The three-step process:

1. Install Go:
   # pkg install go
2. Set up needed paths in ~/.profile:
   export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
   export GOPATH=/$HOME/goprojects
   export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$GOROOT/bin:$PATH
3. Run this command to download the code and compile it:
   go install github.com/la5nta/pat@latest 

Note on step 2: you can use whatever name you want for the directory.

Your binary will be hiding out in the bin directory in the GOPATH path.

Then configure Pat and you should be good to go.

Webpages used for this little FAQ:

• https://github.com/la5nta/pat/wiki/Building-from-source
• https://www.jeremymorgan.com/tutorials/golang/how-to-install-go-freebsd/

I hope this helps!

Still off the air

 I haven't been on the air since April 2021 when I lost my IC-718 to lightning.  I'm still waiting on Social Security as I can't work anymore.  One of these days and hopefully soon I'll get back on the air!

Waiting patiently

I'm still around...just off the air.  Since my radios got hit by lightning April 9, I've simply not had the money to fix them, sadly.  I have also moved into Johnson City in a small one-bedroom apartment and can't put an external antenna up so once I can get a radio going, I'll figure out a way to get back on the air.

New QRM

So I have found that there is some sort of new RFI bleeding into my receive signal.  I'm not sure what it is exactly but it sounds like some sort of 60 Hz tone.  It's a rough, pulsating tone and I am wondering if it's from some sort of wallwort in my shack.  Unfortunately, I have all of my computers and everything plugged in my shack but I am hoping that, with the purchase of a "new to me" used HP Z210 workstation to put the BBS on, I can put it outside of the shack or that with a newer computer there will be less RFI.  I will just kill the electricity to the entire shed and run my IC-718 on a battery to listen to what might be causing the issue.