End of an era and a new way of life

[KC9ECI]

Kind of a bittersweet weekend here. After 22+ years in our home, raising 3 children, and a grandchild here, we are starting to break things down to move to a new home. We're moving out west. About a mile west of where we live now, out of the city and in to the country. My wife and were married in the back yard here. I probably won't break the shack down until later in the week as I like to get up a little early and work a few QSOs in the morning before leaving for work. We close on Friday at 3 and will have the trailer loaded and ready to go. We will move the essential so we can spend the night and in the morning I'll get the straight truck with lift gate from work and use that to move the rest of the household stuff in one shot. Still not sure if I will be able to get the camper in the drive or not. Not a super issue yet as we're selling the old homestead to KC9ECH and I'm pretty sure he'll let me park my stuff here for a little while.

The new place is near the top of a hill, last place on a dead end road. Good potential for antennae and a bit more room to string out some longer wires. This winter is looking up for 160M.

[KG4CGC]

Oh! That's a nice spot!
Good luck with the move and may your memories live long and prosper.

[WZ7U]

Moving on up! Looks great, I hope the move is uneventful. Congrats :clap:

[KC9ECI]

Thanks. Hopefully not going to be too eventful. Took the XYL to the Ashley Home Store over in Arcadia today and let her buy some new furniture. She in turn let me buy a new power recliner. I worked for Ashley from 90 to 97. Was fun going back over and even running in to some people I knew.

[kb2vxa]

Oh wow! That's much like my dream QTH, a bit too big for one, but I can share with my best friend, a fellow ham, and his wife downstairs. I had enough with footfalls above when I lived in a basement apartment and they're both rather heavy. Besides, shorter coax runs to VHF antennas on the roof means less loss and stronger signals. So much for my fantasy, I wish you and the famdamly the very best in the new castle, strong signals too. I just LOVE that view looking away from civilization, you know I'm every bit the savage.

[N7YA]

Thems your new digs? Nice! You did proper, sir!

Looks like a beautiful spot and a great balcony setup too. Post some pics of the inside once you get settled in. I would love to see the shack...i think we all would.

[KC9ECI]

I'd love to see the shack as well. As of this particular moment, the shack looks like this:

[KC9ECI]

A few other shots, from the realty listing. Won't look too different when we get moved in.

[N7YA]

Oh yeah! I love that kitchen and fireplace, very cool. Hey, good score, Tom, and a great view too.

[KC9ECI]

I'm looking forward to sitting in front of that fireplace this winter, watching the snow blow across the cornfield. I'm going to put a salt lick out for the squirrels, hopefully no deer use it. ;) Looking at a Polaris ATV with a blade for snow removal. Bonus, the end of the road where it enters the highway...supper club. The owner usually just gives me a glass and a bottle of Jameson and I serve myself. Now I'll be able to drive there and back on the ATV and never touch a public road. Chief of Police owns the field that I'll drive on the edge of.

[kb2vxa]

That's not a fireplace, it's a heatilator, I spotted the air inlets and outlets at first glance. It is a double wall fireplace, the inner wall steel, with a space between where air is heated and convection sends warm air out into the room. A friend on the shore of Lake Wallenpaupack, Pennsylvania near Hawley has one made of local rocks. He added fan assist, it is the sole source of heat for the cabin. It's a lovely house, the frame of the ham shack already up and with a furnace duct nearby tapping it for heat is easy. Just one thing I don't like and never did like, bricks painted white. It reminds me of the neighbors where I grew up ruining a natural brick wall and fireplace my father left natural brick.

Stating the obvious, an ATV doesn't have much muscle for plowing, you'll need tire chains of course and you'll need to be out there in the cold several times during a heavy snowfall. That's not my cup of tea, (Earl Grey, hot) I'd rather a heavy duty pickup truck (Dodge Ram?) with a heavy load in back for weight aiding traction, and of course heat in the cab. The guy in the Poconos drove a Land Rover that cleared the 2 mile road to the 3 cabins by the lake, for what that's worth mentioning.

A salt lick will definitely attract deer, you'll need a .30/30 and a Bowie knife to dress the carcass. I love venison and buckskin makes good clothing and moccasins are very comfortable. You'll like living like a modern Native American*, and come winter that heatilator will provide a substantial savings in fuel. We used a wood stove where I lived in West Creek that kept the gas furnace off a good portion of the time. One problem, living between the Pine Barrens and a salt marsh meant we had to buy hardwood for the fire and it's expensive, fuel savings were minimal. Pine is not for burning indoor, the exhaust or chimney would get loaded with creosote in short order, a chimney fire can easily set fire to the house.

* I know, I've been watching too many wilderness living shows on TV.

[X-Rated]

It's a beautiful home.

[KC9ECI]

I grew up near a place that the natives lived at one time. They were kind enough to leave some petroglyphs so we knew they had been there. I had fairly feral childhood, spending a lot of my time with a knife, single shot .22, and some fishing gear roaming about the woods, following the creeks. I don't like that white brick either and that will change at some point in the not too distant future. The firebox will need to be replaced. The wife would like a pellet stove insert, but I'm in favor of a real wood burning fireplace. I had a Dodge. Once. Never again. Current rig is a Silverado 2500HD diesel. I'll stick with the ATV. I've used them to move snow before, just never actually owned one. Plus we have a good trail system around here, I'm looking forward to getting out on.

[n6hcm]

so when are you inviting us all over? :)

that looks like a great place! i'm looking for a new rental now: i've been at my current place for three years and it's working my last nerve. it's never been perfect but for a building built in the 1850s it's been ok ... but this last year has been the worst.

[KC9ECI]

Stop by any time you're in the area. I'll take the day off work, show you around, sample some craft brews and/or Bloody Marys with you,
we'll play a little radio, weather permitting we can go out on the river with the pontoon, hell, I'll even put you up in the guest house.

[kb2vxa]

That deer is focused in on you. (;->) The firebox being worn out is a good sign, the former owner(s) got plenty of use out of it for reasons I stated above. A pellet stove insert? That takes all the fun out of tending the fire, and you may as well leave the white, one of those things can't make it any uglier. Besides, it defeats the whole purpose of having a heatilator, built on the same basic principle pellet stoves are specifically for convection or forced air heating. If you're hen pecked (:-<) maybe you can take the heat (sic) off by showing her what she's letting herself in for. https://mydecorative.com/10-vital-points-to-consider-when-choosing-a-pellet-stove-for-your-home-2018/

As for the basement ham shack, if you want to be an AM Gangsta riding in style a Hallicrafters HT-4 BC-610 spits out 600W and it mates up nicely with an R-390. I've operated both and love them, the 390 is the best boat anchor RX I've ever worked on and operated. I was reminded last evening while watching The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

1647816479

Turtle Stack??? That's as bad as Lizard Lick, if anybody remembers THAT one. I had a turtle stack once, I had turtles in a back yard pen as pets, an one time I found them all stacked up in a corner. Turtles are strange critters, I've seen them in the wild stacked up on floating logs when there is plenty of room on the log to spread out and get warmed by the sun. Bud used to be a good cheap beer until an Argentinian outfit bought Ann Hizer's Bush and let their panthers piss in it. Then Yuengling became a chaser to Jameson until I started taking MS contin for a bad back, that's when I hopped on the wagon.

I mentioned Dodge because a friend bought a Dodge pick 'em up truck and I got a ride in the beast. I don't know how it worked out, but they DO have an interesting logo. You didn't mention the Silverado until now, that pushes me even more to muscle with weight in the bed for traction, and tire chains for more traction. Maybe you plowed with an ATV, but for my money they're for trails in summer and the Chevy for plowing in winter. Being a Diesel I suppose you know about keeping them warm so the fuel doesn't turn to jelly. I remember stories of how winter gave the Allies an advantage, gasoline powered Sherman tanks kept running while Diesel powered Tiger tanks had the Nazis at a standstill.

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[N8YX]

That's a nice layout.

In several years, I'm looking at a slightly (south)westward move - the next county over, and to a place higher in elevation than my current digs. Lots of deer and other critters out there too.

[KC9ECI]

55-22 on the gelled fuel. I left it parked for a few of the colder mornings last winter and walked in to work. That might prove to be a little more difficult this winter.

[WZ7U]

It's worth the extra $$$ for #1 diesel when the weather warrants it, IMO.

[kb2vxa]

Yeah, but where can you get #1 Diesel? All I've seen at filling stations are gasoline regular and premium, Diesel, and in some areas K1 kerosene. Truck stops maybe?

When I worked as a plant electrician for a custom kitchen shop I noticed the straight trucks were Diesel when the weather turned cold. Before they went out in the morning they had electrical cords run to outlets on the building. That's on the same latitude as New York City, but when you run a business you can't afford trucks that won't start, and older motors get temperamental. Heaters only work where you can plug them in, all things considered it would be wise to trade the pick 'm up truck for a gas buggy. Then invest in a hygrometer to keep track of the battery's condition, cold is a battery's worst enemy. Consider Alaska where they have a saying, "When it's 20 below it's cold. When it's 40 below it's damn cold. When it's 60 below it's G_D DAMN COLD!"

[KC9ECI]

I like the pulling power for my camper. Also, love to hear that turbo spool up when I get on the pedal.

[WZ7U]

Yes, truck stops sell #1. You can buy anti gel additive too, but #1 works more consistently. Availability is certainly a local issue, best figure it out ahead of time.

[kb2vxa]

"Also, love to hear that turbo spool up when I get on the pedal."
That being the case you missed your calling, an engineer for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad back in the day. Their Alco locomotives could be heard coming a mile away with their characteristic whine.

I would imagine #1 Diesel resists jelling better being lighter than the usual #2, and being lighter ignites more readily making that first start with glow plugs on easier. Then like Eric said availability is an issue, like finding Diesel itself is an issue, fewer filling stations sell it since Diesel prices went through the roof. Being more expensive than gasoline discouraged use, and why is a mystery. If you look into the crude oil refining process you'll see that gasoline, the lightest liquid off the top of the pipe still is not enough to meet the demand, most comes from catalytic cracking towers where heavier oil molecules are cracked into smaller gasoline molecules. This is an expensive process compared to Diesel that comes straight off the still at a level between industrial heating oils and kerosene.

As an aside just for general FYI, while gasoline is the lightest liquid off the top of the still gas comes off the very top. Some of this gas is separated into its components like propane and butane, the rest was burned off with torches atop towers, that is until refineries discovered cogen. Co-generation is an internal combustion turbine spinning an alternator that supplies the plant's electricity needs and back feeds the power company that buys power. For what it's worthless, when I lived up north I saw an amazing display, the torches at the Exxon Bayway refinery in Elizabeth were never dismantled and normally burn excess gas at a very low level. However, for New Year at the stroke of midnight they light up full blast and can be seen for miles.

[KC9ECI]

It's been an adventure so far. Less than a week in and we've had the float in the septic system go bad and need to be replaced. Then a couple nights ago we had some high winds and the next afternoon while the plumber was here I noticed some shingles in the yard. I put the drone up to get a look and in the process of discovering how much damage there was I had what can best be described as a 'senior moment' and flew my drone at speed in to a tree. Then I broke a tooth. Oh, and when I mowed the lawn for the first time, I got too close to the corn field, dropped the tires in to the dead furrow, and laid the mower over on its side. My wife is thinking of getting me a caretaker at this point.

[KG4CGC]

Oh my! What a day! You should have bought a lottery ticket!

[PA5COR]

Should have stayed in bed....:mrgreen:

[WØTKX]

I was gonna ask about the fireplace vents and if they had fan assist. Because it's more fun than a pellet stove.
Had a few vented fan assisted fireplaces, one was quite large... 6' wide by 5' tall.
That sucker would fire up easily and coal up ginormous logs.
Put a fire resistant darker glaze over that white brick.
You know, like a sponge wall painting trick.
Alas, my recent move has no fireplace.

[KC9ECI]

The shack is starting to form. Battle station 1 is almost together. Battle station 2 I will work on over the winter. Transported the more important antennae yesterday and will get the remaining few during the coming week. Started putting the shack together today. Hoping to get some wire in the air and coax through the wall next weekend. Possibly have the 2M stuff and IRLP node back on the air before the end of October.

[PA5COR]

^ Nice set up :clap:

[KC9ECI]

Thanks. Lugged the TS-520SE and FL2100B down to the shack yesterday. Kind of thinking I should have paid someone younger and stronger to do that for me.

[suddenseer]

Beautiful sun scene, a deal clincher for me!

[KC9ECI]

Sunsets and this view from the master bedroom. Also the bay window in the living room where I first spotted her before going upstairs to get a photo.

[kb2vxa]

Well, you can forget about flower beds and a garden, young trees too, especially fruit trees. That is unless you hang urinal cakes out there, deer hate the smell of paradichlorobenzine. On the other hand you don't need to sit in a blind all day shivering. Venison tastes great, if you don't know it's like beef only a slight bit gamier. I was going to make a comment about a .22 and hasenpfeffer, but I remembered it doesn't taste right if not made with hare, snowshoe or jackrabbit in the United States. Hares are notoriously hard to find if you are not a good hunter, so do what everyone else does and make it with a weawy big waskawy wabbit. Hu hu hu hu hu hu.

16571

[KC9ECI]

We have an abundance of rabbit here. I was chasing one around the yard last night with a spotlight that I was shining for deer with from the deck. We survived a good part of the 70's on venison.

[kb2vxa]

I would imagine you have an abundance of rabbits, just as long as one isn't Peter Cottonhell from Beaster Day. It's one of the worst movies that should have never been made along with Birdemic and the Human Centipede trilogy that make Plan 9 From Outer Space look like a big budget A movie all alive and hell in my stinkers folder. I would imagine one would be spotlight shy, there are fewer raptors at night and you were blowing its cover.

When I lived in West Creek (if you don't pronounce it "crick" you don't belong) between a salt marsh and the Pine Barrens I noticed an abundance of rabbits and rodents, not by sight, but by sound. Those sounds revealed an abundance of hawks, the death scream of a mouse is a not so loud squeak, one of a rat is a lout screech, and that of a rabbit is unmistakable, it sounds like a woman's scream. I only saw the hawk when it was close and climbing with its lunch, otherwise at altitude they're barely noticable dots and they dive fast as a falling stone. Owls hunt at night so I don't know if any were in the area, any death screams or hooting would be drowned out by the loud bug chorus. I did notice loads of spring peepers, a variety of tree frog, that peep their mating calls in spring in twilight when the bug chorus is tuning up before the nightly concert.

Deer, WAY too many deer! For years New Jersey had a referendum up for vote concerning a mass hunt to thin the herd, each year it got shot down (sic) by the bleeding hearts indoctrinated by Disney. Oh horrors, no no NO! Don't you DARE kill Bambi! <grrr> The ham who owned the house I lived in had young trees planted in the back yard and each one had a urinal cake hanging from it. The city boy had no idea how wildlife thinks or why, he planted nightshade around the house thinking to poison the deer. They're WAY to smart, they've been around long enough to instinctively know what to eat and what not to proving Darwin wrong. Evolution is not survival of the fittest, it's survival of the SMARTEST. That's whu homo sapiens is still around while neanderthal died out. To wrap that one up, science gave up looking for the missing link because it does not exist. There were and are many species of great ape, some extinct, and no connection to Man, two separate species. homo sapiens aka modern Man is not evolved from them or from neanderthal, they were a separate species of human. Science has rewritten what we were taught in school. Back to the subject of way too many deer, outside of urban areas one cannot have flower or fruit and vegetable gardens even fenced in, wildlife, especially deer will find a way to get at them. A little farther south is Waretown that used to be a sleepy little town off Rte. 9, if you missed the sign directing you to cut off onto Main Street you'd have never known it's there. Mum's boss who owned the gift shop lived there and had a strawberry patch fenced in with chicken wire that didn't stop the box turtles digging under it. I picked one up and said "John, it's stime to harvest the berries before this little guy comes back with his cousins by the dozens." Back to the subject AGAIN, I was watching TV in the living room when I hard a loud BOOM and the house shook. I wished I had a gun as I switched on the outside lights and went out to investigate this occurrence out in the boonies 30 miles from the nearest city, Atlantic City. I saw no damage or any sign of what happened until the next day, there was a spot under the cedars on that side of the house where there was a deer path from the pine forest across the street to the larger one behind the property where the layer of needles was scattered about. 2+2= a small herd crossing the road got spooked by a car and ran down the path into the forest, one slipped on the loose needles and crashed into the house. You can't landscape with flower beds, you can't have a garden, you can't even watch TV without the bloody deer horning in!

"We survived a good part of the 70's on venison."
More of you are needed in West Creek and surrounds where out around Warren Grove out in the Pine Barrens the land is dotted with hunt clubhouses and Rosie's diner with genuine home cooked food is a deer registration center. Now is it pork roll or Taylor ham? Debating the question with the locals can keep you occupied for hours.

[KC9ECI]

The critters have been active of late.

[koØm]

I would imagine you have an abundance of rabbits, just as long as one isn't Peter Cottonhell from Beaster Day. It's one of the worst movies that should have never been made along with Birdemic and the Human Centipede trilogy that make Plan 9 From Outer Space look like a big budget A movie all alive and hell in my stinkers folder. I would imagine one would be spotlight shy, there are fewer raptors at night and you were blowing its cover.

When I lived in West Creek (if you don't pronounce it "crick" you don't belong) between a salt marsh and the Pine Barrens I noticed an abundance of rabbits and rodents, not by sight, but by sound. Those sounds revealed an abundance of hawks, the death scream of a mouse is a not so loud squeak, one of a rat is a lout screech, and that of a rabbit is unmistakable, it sounds like a woman's scream. I only saw the hawk when it was close and climbing with its lunch, otherwise at altitude they're barely noticable dots and they dive fast as a falling stone. Owls hunt at night so I don't know if any were in the area, any death screams or hooting would be drowned out by the loud bug chorus. I did notice loads of spring peepers, a variety of tree frog, that peep their mating calls in spring in twilight when the bug chorus is tuning up before the nightly concert.

Deer, WAY too many deer! For years New Jersey had a referendum up for vote concerning a mass hunt to thin the herd, each year it got shot down (sic) by the bleeding hearts indoctrinated by Disney. Oh horrors, no no NO! Don't you DARE kill Bambi! <grrr> The ham who owned the house I lived in had young trees planted in the back yard and each one had a urinal cake hanging from it. The city boy had no idea how wildlife thinks or why, he planted nightshade around the house thinking to poison the deer. They're WAY to smart, they've been around long enough to instinctively know what to eat and what not to proving Darwin wrong. Evolution is not survival of the fittest, it's survival of the SMARTEST. That's whu homo sapiens is still around while neanderthal died out. To wrap that one up, science gave up looking for the missing link because it does not exist. There were and are many species of great ape, some extinct, and no connection to Man, two separate species. homo sapiens aka modern Man is not evolved from them or from neanderthal, they were a separate species of human. Science has rewritten what we were taught in school. Back to the subject of way too many deer, outside of urban areas one cannot have flower or fruit and vegetable gardens even fenced in, wildlife, especially deer will find a way to get at them. A little farther south is Waretown that used to be a sleepy little town off Rte. 9, if you missed the sign directing you to cut off onto Main Street you'd have never known it's there. Mum's boss who owned the gift shop lived there and had a strawberry patch fenced in with chicken wire that didn't stop the box turtles digging under it. I picked one up and said "John, it's stime to harvest the berries before this little guy comes back with his cousins by the dozens." Back to the subject AGAIN, I was watching TV in the living room when I hard a loud BOOM and the house shook. I wished I had a gun as I switched on the outside lights and went out to investigate this occurrence out in the boonies 30 miles from the nearest city, Atlantic City. I saw no damage or any sign of what happened until the next day, there was a spot under the cedars on that side of the house where there was a deer path from the pine forest across the street to the larger one behind the property where the layer of needles was scattered about. 2+2= a small herd crossing the road got spooked by a car and ran down the path into the forest, one slipped on the loose needles and crashed into the house. You can't landscape with flower beds, you can't have a garden, you can't even watch TV without the bloody deer horning in!

"We survived a good part of the 70's on venison."
More of you are needed in West Creek and surrounds where out around Warren Grove out in the Pine Barrens the land is dotted with hunt clubhouses and Rosie's diner with genuine home cooked food is a deer registration center. Now is it pork roll or Taylor ham? Debating the question with the locals can keep you occupied for hours.

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[kb2vxa]

Gleaning a corn field is not surprising with the tender shoots, apples, and other fruit on winter vacation.

The last time I created blogs was when I had a bad cold and they fell out of my nose. If my talent is wasted here there must be a dearth of great minds exchanging ideas. (;->)

Does Maury Blog count? He was a member of the ETS of NJ ARC that went sour causing good hams to quit and the K2ETS repeater became the 3-4/10-4 sewer pipe supposedly open yet chastising transient hams for using it. The "secret" 220 machine was much worse with the inner circle of elitist scum that thought they were the only ones that could use it. A friend and I would chat away for hours just to piss them off. I hope the influx of new/old blood caused the end of an era and a new way of life. I changed clubs as I moved around and noticed a curious thing. The only one I can call truly great is OBARC, the Old Barney ARC named for the light house officially Barnegat Light on the northern end of Long Beach Island guarding Barnegat Inlet. The reason is simple, they're the only club without a repeater and associated petty politics and squabbling.

16767

[KG4CGC]

Tekally kiqhoff ioshdsiu teh otherkeller fen fohlja. 20 habih assembny tu utoerod a misuhgriju pashafehed. Griswod a jabilken teh hrd skillnop. Yucya bargda ed muysfa brundewder? Tescarnet nen bitrot ot boldenca missoup.
Ginthroap sassoap teh washinjute quinono a hoap. Twitsa gud deya 4-A leanera. Saddlefaz mestopia glutenburg enguflate het wen doh.
Meh. Fazza fazza menhopellia? Nenebuta.

[WØTKX]

Tekally kiqhoff ioshdsiu teh otherkeller fen fohlja. 20 habih assembny tu utoerod a misuhgriju pashafehed. Griswod a jabilken teh hrd skillnop. Yucya bargda ed muysfa brundewder? Tescarnet nen bitrot ot boldenca missoup.

Ginthroap sassoap teh washinjute quinono a hoap. Twitsa gud deya 4-A leanera. Saddlefaz mestopia glutenburg enguflate het wen doh.
Meh. Fazza fazza menhopellia? Nenebuta.

I took the easy way out and googled that, coming up with this as the first hit.

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2014-06/9/11/enhanced/webdr05/anigif_original-grid-image-5444-1402327827-16.gif?crop=360:360;71,0

So "bit rot" and like that? I don't care if it is an anagram, I'll just leave it as bit rot. :mrgreen: