The blog has QSY'd to here.

Temperatures have dropped here in eastern Kansas, off the Missouri and Platte Rivers. Morning temps are getting down to the high teens but we've had generally clear skies - so no snow yet.

Been having a problem with my Toyota Tundra. I had the shocks replaced about two months ago, but I am still having a suspension issues. Often when I drive over uneven pavement I hear a type of popping or low banging. I'm dropping the truck off tomorrow morning at a garage in town and I hope they identify and fix the problem.

I popped the first cap on the KC Ale this past Thursday. One word: Tasty! I was so happy with the results that I brought in a 12-pack to distribute to my small group at CGSC. We will see what kind of feed back I get tomorrow. The KC Ale batch has a great cooper color, medium head, slight hoppy aroma. The taste is crisp and smooth, no off-flavors.

The California Common batch went into secondary fermentation last Tuesday (18 NOV). I'll try to get it bottled up this coming Wednesday (26 NOV). Then it should be ready for a first by 11 DEC... a good day to celebrate my last night class for this term.

While the CGSC program here at Fort Leavenworth is considered a Masters-level program, it does not award a degree at graduation (unlike the Navy's program in Monterey or the Air Force in Alabama). Therefore, in order to get a masters, I signed up to take two night classes a week and then by graduation I'll get the degree. It is a bit of pain now, but this is really the only opportunity I am going to get to earn a master's degree.

Back to beer: I need to get crackin' and cook up the batch of Raspberry Wheat. If I am able to get it into primary fermentation today, I should be able to hit secondary fermentation by next Sunday (30 NOV) and then bottle by 14 DEC. It should be nice and tasty by New Year's Eve.

I need to put together a sample pack for my Team Jedi brethren (Team Jedi are the fine folks I spent my last year in Iraq with). So it looks like the pack will consist of ESB, KC Ale, California Common, and the Raspberry Wheat.

I've also had a request from the 7-land Inbound QSL Bureau back in Oregon. I received an email from Marc, NC7M, who let me know I had 200+ QSL cards headed my way. I need to also replenish my postal funds for the bureau. And next week - I will answer all the YI9MI QSL card request that I have... which is quite a significant pile.

KC Ale update: I racked the KC Ale to a carboy for secondary fermentation on 31 OCT. Last night I bottled it (finally figured out how to use the "wand" for filling the bottles). Bottling went well and the KC Ale should be ready to try by Thanksgiving.

California Common: cooked a batch last night. This recipe is suppose to be similar to Sierra Nevada... I've got high hopes. I'd like to get it to secondary fermentation by this weekend.

Next in line is a Raspberry Wheat - it is suppose to be similar to a version that is served at a local Leavenworth microbrew: The High Noon Saloon. After that, I've got a request for chocolate stout. That should be tasty.

Speaking of tasty... the ESB turned out pretty nice.

It took the KC Ale a while to start fermenting - I thought there might be something wrong. I had it in the fermenter on Saturday but didn't start seeing bubbles (i.e. the start of fermentation) in the airlock until Monday. Looks like it is progressing nicely now and I'll probably rack it to secondary fermentation Friday night.

I sampled one of the ESB bottles tonight. The ESB was cooked on 10 OCT, racked to secondary fermentation on 13 OCT and bottled on 18 OCT. It was pretty good, but I'm probably going to let it sit for another week.

The KC Pale Ale is in the bucket (aka primary fermentation). I want to strain from the cooking pot to the primary fermentation as well as doing some aeration. I hydrated the yeast, but I think the water I used was to hot - we'll see. Still have not used the hydrometer - I need to figure out how to take a small sample and use the hydrometer. Maybe between primary and secondary fermentation?

It took about 15 minutes to cool the wort down to 70F. I used the kitchen sink and lots of ice.

We will see if the airlock is bubbling tomorrow morning.

Although I've not yet sampled the fruits from my initial Kansas brewing efforts (the ESB batch), I'm going to get another batch going. Each batch is 5 gallons, of which I plan to give away a good portion - assuming it is potable. This batch will be Kansas City Pale Ale. I've had a taste lately for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. So I'm attempting to see if I can replicate the Pale Ale goodness here in the basement.

As I prepare for the cooking, there are three things I want to accomplish this time that I failed to do during my last batch:

(1) Actually use the hydrometer.
(2) Filter and aerate the wort prior to fermentation.
(3) Hydrate the yeast prior to pitching.

Next week I'll do my first taste of the ESB and see how it turned out. This batch of Pale Ale should be ready before Thanksgiving.

We get many interesting guest speakers at the Command & General Staff College (CGSC)... and a few that aren't so interesting. However, today we had the privileged of hearing the Deputy Supreme Allied Command Europe (aka the 2nd in-command at NATO). General Sir John Chalmers McColl is from the British Army and has served in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His main point was NATO is not just a military organization, but also (and most importantly) a political organization. Every decision (if made at all) is a compromise. And like all political decisions, the best way to reach a compromise is through face-to-face discussions, rather than through the media. He noted that "Megaphone Diplomacy" was more often than not counterproductive - that it usually ended in the recipient nation's public opinion turning further against whatever issue was attempting to be pressed.
An example might be how the US has pressed in a public forum that our NATO partners need to send more combat troops to Afghanistan. Attempting to address this issue through the media or other public forums will not, in the end, result in the desired outcome of getting the commitment of more troops. The best way to gain results is to work with each country and take advantage of what resources they're willing to provide. Overall, public opinion in the other NATO countries is against sending forces to Afghanistan. The US needs to understand this - and also understand it is not something we are going to change.
We've had some other great speakers within the last three months: the President of Uganda who gave an excellent talk about how to wage an insurgency, GEN Petraeus, and Dr. P. W. Singer. Dr. Singer is from the Brookings Institute and spoke about the role of the contractor and the military - he was probably the best guest speaker we've had. We also had a panel of reporters that included Noah Shachtman from Wired magazine. Noah represented the new media: blogs.

My Dell Mini arrived! I'm using it for this entry. I like it so far, but there are draw backs. The keyboard is tiny. Performance is a bit slugish, but it plays video without issue. I've been able to configure it to access my network drives, that went fairly well (... once I remembered the Linux commands).

It is small! And light weight. So far the battery is doing well. The screen is sharp and the speakers are pretty loud when you crank them up. There's an SD card reader on the side. I also opted for the webcam, which seems to work nicely.

Now I need to stop procrastinating and write my history paper that's due tomorrow. :-)

I've got no frequency display on my TS-930S! I've had this problem since I arrived in Kansas (note to self: I need to pack in rig myself next move). From what I can tell, the display is probably not broken but the PLL needs to be adjusted. The problem - how do I adjust the PLL? I've been unable to find the service manual and I'm hoping I can find someone who has the knowledge of how to do this. I've popped the top, but I'm not seeing anything that looks like I should be adjusting. While I don't need this rig to operate (I have my Icom IC-7000), I really like this this Kenwood rig. It has a wonderful sound and great sensitivity. I hope I can bring it back to life.

I started reading this book, by Ken Wells, on my Kindle. Great read that covers the history of beer - which I knew started in Iraq but ironically you are not allowed to drink it there now. The story follows beer to America, the development of the brewery system, the ascendancy of the big breweries, and the explosion of microbrews. The backdrop for the story is Ken Wells journey along the Mississippi River, from north to south, in his attempt to locate cool beer joints.

Wells even mentions the first recognized microbrew in the US - Bert Grant's place in Yakima, Washington. I've been there and was a big fan of Bert's brew. I think it is closed now and been replaced by the Yakima Craft Brewing Co. Grant's was a great pub with wonderful brew. Although my favorite Washington microbrew is the Ram Big Horn Brewing Company.



I'm really enjoying Ken's roadtrip but it's making me thirsty.

I posted this picture last year - but as we are in the midst of football (and contest) season again, I thought it would do some good to post it again.


From the ASU website:


(Seated: KC7MOD and KD7LGH. Background: Six members of the Sun Devil Dance Team.)

While gathering before the upcoming football game, a group of ladies from the ASU Sun Devil Dance Team stopped by to watch W7ASU operate in the 2004 Collegiate QSO Party. No doubt impressed by our smooth (contest) operating techniques, we expect these ladies will be licensed in the near future. We just can't wait until they join our club!

.... ..- -... -... .- .... ..- -... -... .-

note the expression on the face of KD7LGH - you can tell he is enjoying the contest!

We had an offsite for class this morning at the Santa Fe Station in downtown Leavenworth, KS. Great breakfast and great discussion.

I've got the wort in the bucket, should be done with primary fermentation in a day or two. This was the first time I had a hydrometer and I need to figure out how to use it. I've got to get a good bottle count. I have about a dozen with the rubber seal and stopper. I think I may need to get new rubber seals.

I have to decide if I want to do a secondary fermentation with the carboy.

I turned on the HF rig briefly and heard stateside stations talking with a station on Guantanamo. Then I heard a familiar voice, K4STW, Stew in Virginia Beach. Stew probably doesn't remember me, but we chatted now and again on the 2M repeaters in Hampton Roads. It was great to hear his voice.

I got Ubuntu working with my Linksys print server. This will make my life much easier.

Looks like we'll have good weather this weekend.

I hooked up my Morse key to my Icom IC-7000 and it appears to be working fine. Also hooked up an external speaker which is working nicely. I tried to connect my SM-20 microphone but realize now that a need a connector that I don't have. I don't want to hook up my Heil headset with the boom mike just yet. I was able to have a QSO with an Italian station and again with TI8II (Costa Rica), except on 20M this time.

More stuff I'm going to get done tomorrow:
- gather up my old (digital) logs
- back up my current Kansas log
- load up my YI9MI logs and prepare and organize the remaining received QSL cards
- order the adapter for the SM-20 mic
- find my weather station software
- have a CW QSO

I'm prepping to start a batch of homebrew beer. Tomorrow I'm going to start the process. Maybe have some fresh beer by Halloween?

I -finally- got my HF rig working here at the Kansas QTH.

Since arriving here back in July, I've been super busy. School (the Army's Command & General Staff College (CGSC)) kicked in at the beginning of August. The last formal schooling I had was eight years ago - so I was a bit rusty at getting into the swing of things (i.e. reading, reading... and more reading). I'm also taking a complementarity master's degree program in International Relations through Webster University (two nights a week). The good news is I was able to talk the XYL into taking the master's courses with me. The bad news is that sometimes the master's stuff chews up more time than my school work for CGSC.

CGSC can be intense. September was packed with wall-to-wall learning, usually from 0830 to at least 1530. The schedule is starting to lighten up a bit.

Today I was able catch my breath a bit... out of class at 1130. The sun was shining, a beautiful day. I had some antenna maintenace to do. A little bit of time on the roof and the majority of my HF problems were fixed. I'm now up on HF, except for 80M. I think a little work on my counterpoise will fix that.

Back in the basement (aka The Scud Bunker) I hooked up my Icom IC-7000 to the new and improved HF antenna - bingo... all the problems I was experiencing in the past were gone. A QSO with KC2PBX, Pierre on Long Island, NY on 20M and then TI8II from Costa Rica on 17M, later with Ray, W1RAA from Tampa, FL. It felt good having some HF QSOs. I did a little more work with my station setup; hooking up the RIGtalk and RIGblaster Plug&Play. There's more work to do and I should have time later in the week.

Other news:
- I'm switching from Windows to Ubuntu Linux. I WILL NOT UPGRADE FROM XP TO VISTA. Vista is a tool of the devil and I will have no part of it. My Toshiba laptop has been dual boot between XP and Ubuntu for a while, but had rarely been using the Ubuntu. I ordered a Dell Mini 9 (very tiny netbook) to help with school (writing papers in the library rather than goofing off in the Scud Bunker). The Dell Mini is coming with Ubuntu pre-loaded. Sweet. The next step will be setting up one of my towers as an Ubuntu server. Goodbye Microsoft.
- I've gone Kindle. Both the XYL and myself have the Amazon Kindle. I like it a lot better than my Sony eBook. Getting the Washington Post first thing every morning is great. The battery life is a little to be desired. The best part is that I can read KE9V's blog right on my Kindle.

Ok - back to the books. I will get better at making frequent updates here.

http://rsinventionlab.com/

What stuff have you done?

The tag line from a RadioShack contest and website called The Invention Lab. And they are partnered with MAKE! How cool is that?

There's also a blog and different sections talking about various projects.

I think it's great that RadioShack is trying to inspire the builder. RadioShack has had a pretty bad reputation over the past few years with most hams looking down there nose at the businesses drift into cell phones instead of their previous focus on radios and component parts. I believe the biggest difference between the RadioShack of yore and today's 'Shack is the sales people. Back in the day, the man behind the desk knew electronics inside and out. He also knew where every diode and every transistor was in the store. Today's sales clerk does not know any of the electronic components the store carries, much less where to find them in the actual store. But this shift in the dumbing down of sales clerks is true across all lines of business. Have you been to Fry's Electronics lately? The sales clerk at Sears in the hardware department can't even tell you anything about the Craftsman tools they carry. So I'm a support of RadioShack - if you look hard you can usually find one that's close that carries what you need. After you hunt and peck around the store, you'll know where everything is and will only need the clerk to ring you up.

The pack out went as well as can be expected. Not the best I've had, but not the worst. The packers started last Tuesday (8 July) and continued on Wednesday and Thursday, although Wednesday was the only full day of packing. The moving trucked showed up Friday and loaded everything up - that took all day. We got to have dinner Friday night with Margot and Joel as well as their neighbors, Nan and Pat. I worked with Margot when I was at Fort Monroe, she has since retired. Margot and Joel looked after the XYL (Christa, KI4ODI) and Sarah while I was gone last year - having them over to dinner, babysitting Sarah (our 2 year old), and about a million other things. It was a wonderful dinner and Sarah got a bunch of presents for the road trip from her fan club (Margot and Nan). Friday night we spent on air mattresses - cat, dog, Sarah, Christa, and I all camped out by the fireplace.

Saturday morning came early - we had to load up the car and truck and do a final cleanup prior to the arrival of the landlord at 0800 for our final clearing of the Hampton house. Cleanup was quick (as the house was empty) and all the stuff we elected to take with us for the road trip fit either into the trunk of Christa's car or into the bed of my truck. A quick breakfast at McDonald's and we were off: Christa with Sarah and the constantly meowing cat (not at all enjoying the ride in his cat cage and somewhat drugged with kitty Valium and me with the dog riding in the front passenger side on the floor (without issue - the dog loves riding quietly on the floor).

Day One (Saturday): we had an nice drive to Charleston, West Virginia, arriving around 5pm. We lucked out with a bottom floor room near the side entrance. Our criteria for the hotels we stayed at on the road trip was that it had to allow pets and it had to have a pool (for Sarah). After a takeout dinner from the Texas Roadhouse (I had an appetizer of jalapeños stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon, with a touch of BBQ sauce - amazing!) we hit the pool. Sarah is becoming quite the swimmer. She's not soloing yet, but she is making great progress.

Day Two (Sunday): a little bit of rain as we traveled west between West Virginia and Louisville, Kentucky. The weather cleared and we had a nice drive through Indiana and into Illinois. We stopped an hour east of St. Louis in western Illinois. This time it was a 2nd floor room, but we were able to use those wheeled baggage carriers to move are stuff upstairs (with Sarah riding aboard). We hit the pool after an early dinner and Sarah swam without her floaty vest, doing a few laps with some help.

Day Three (Monday): the truck driver told us that he'd arrive in Leavenworth between 0830 and 0930. Therefore I had to get up very early (0300) and hit the road with the dog. I was able to move quickly through St. Louis not getting tied up in commuter traffic, past the Arch , across the Missouri River and into Missouri. The local news on the radio was buzzing about the selling of Anheuser Busch (based in St. Louis) to InBev, a Belgium company. It was also the topic of conversation at the McDonald's I stopped at for breakfast around 0530. A quick fill up of my gas tank ($87... ouch) and the dog and I continued west, passing through Kansas City around 0800. By now, Christa had rounded up the cat and Sarah - making her way through the St. Louis Monday morning commute. I arrived at our rental house in Leavenworth at 0845, wondering if I'd see a big truck out front. But our cul-de-sac was empty. The driver had had mechanical issues east of Kansas City and now would not arrive until noon.

The moving truck did finally show and the unloading commenced around 1230. Who'd ever thought we'd have so much stuff - box after box... it seemed like the boxes never stopped coming off the truck. Christa arrived with a bag full of hamburgers and Cokes for everyone. This was good because (1) we were hungry and (2) Christa could direct were the boxes went in the house instead of me (up to this point, I'd been funneling most of the boxes into either the basement or the master bedroom... I don't really know why, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time). Problem: the dryer would not fit through the door into the laundry room. I set about disassembling the back in an attempt to get it through. Still wouldn't fit. We were able to swap our fridge with the existing fridge (ours has a water dispenser) and put the existing fridge in the garage. We finished with the unpackers by around 7pm, exhausted.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Unpacking, boxes, up and down stairs. The house here is two stories with an unfinished basement. Upstairs are three bedrooms (Sarah's, guest bedroom, and Christa's office). Downstairs is the master bedroom (big bath and walk in closet = happy XYL), dining room, family room, kitchen (bigger than our last), and laundry room (I did finally get the dryer in after the use of a hacksaw and some more disassembling... I still have a few extra bolts). There is a small deck off the kitchen and a small fenced yard up against the oldest cemetery in Kansas (...spooky!). The unfinished basement is huge and is where my ham radio and office stuff is. Lots of work down there to do.

Today - Sarah gets to visit her preschool, which she starts on Monday. We're continuing the unpacking... even hope to get Christa's car in the garage today. I have this next week off to continue getting the house in order before I need to show my face over at Fort Leavenworth. Saturday we'll hit the local famer's market and head into the big city (Kansas City) for some shopping. Next week our new couch and Christa's desk arrives. Lots more to do (like setting up the ham shack)... but I am looking forward to the arrival of the couch!

I don't think it is possible to make moving a pleasant experience. I have been in the Army since 1991 and this is my 10th major move. Today is the last of three days of packing and tomorrow everything gets loaded in the moving van.

Thursday is our weekly trash pickup, so last night we gathered up every bit of what we didn't want and hauled it out to the curb. All kinds of stuff. Stuff that didn't sell at the yard sale and we hadn't given to the Disabled American Veterans Thrift Store. Old, deteriorating particle board shelving from the garage. A wobbly desk that had been cobbled together from two desk sets long ago. The wood dowel connections had been reinforced over the years with L brackets. A really old plywood shelf that came from my Mom's house that was made probably before I was born. Those popup shelters everyone uses (especially on Field Day) with the one support that snapped when trying to open or close it. Tons of trash... empty Sears laundry detergent box, frozen food from the fridge (to include the bag of Gino's Pizza Roles that I impulsively bought just two weeks ago at the store, thinking that it was something that I had been deprived of during my last year in Iraq and that I must, must have but never even was opened), old and expired medicine (some unused and never opened... once it was all piled together in the bag I felt like a hypochondriac), extra coffee mugs that I've carted around for almost two decades that never get used. The particle board 2-drawer filing cabinet that's missing one of four casters and top drawer that never closed correctly (and it went with another desk set that got tossed about two moves ago). An MFJ HF balcony/window antenna (used once or twice). Lots of pieces and parts for various ham projects that never quite got off the ground (the attempt to make a 2M/70cm beam for satellite ops), painter poles (plural) used in various implementations for field operations to raise up wire antennas. But before we went to bed last night, a good portion of all the stuff we hauled out to the curb had been picked through and hauled off by some of the locals, prowling the neighborhood trash piles for good finds. More power to them. I wish I knew who they were ahead of time, so I could of handed the stuff directly to them... maybe even nicely boxed. What wasn't hauled off by those folks was picked up this morning by the huge trash truck with the large iron claw. I love those guys!

I will say there is kind of a cleansing-baptismal-rejuvenational feeling of purging yourself of all that "stuff" that for some reason or another you just kept hanging onto. I guess that is one reason I enjoy the Army, the frequent moving. Although I'm not crazy about the actual process, I think the end result is a good thing. And I always catch myself making the same promises and resolutions every move - this new place will be different: I will stay better organized, I will clean more often, I will not accumulate junk. But this time I mean it. Really.

One advantage of the move to Kansas will be the opportunity to redesign and implement a new shack layout. I don't have a clear picture of what I want it to look like, so I am going to start with making a list of what I want to be able to accomplish in the shack. This will be a basement shack... a big basement. I've never lived in a house that had a basement and I'm looking forward to the possibilities.

What I want to accomplish in the Kansas Shack:
- HF phone and CW operation; 80m-10m
- HF digital modes (PSK-31, RTTY, PACTOR III)
- Computer logging
- 2m FM base station
- APRS weather station, interfaced with a dedicated 2m transceiver
- Online weather page, showing current weather conditions
- Seperate, organized workbench

There are a number of tall trees to the north of the house that will support some different wire antenna options. My plan is to start out with a RadioWavz 246' End Fed Zep. We'll see how that works. Maybe try a loop before winter comes. Another challenge will be getting the feedline into the basement.

Although yesterday (5 July) was not strategically the best day for a yard sale, the XYL and I were running out of time as the movers are due to show this coming week. We've have a lot of extra "stuff" and tried to strictly enforce the rule that if it hadn't been used/touched/worn/opened/looked at since the last move in 2005 it was time to get rid of it. I'd also acquired an amazing amount of ham stuff (the XYL has a different terminology for it). I could sell it on eBay, but I didn't want to invest the time or energy... nor the trips to the Post Office. Here's what was up for sale:

Heathkit SB-220 amplifier
MFJ Versa Tuner V, MFJ-989C
Astatic D-104 microphone
ICOM AT-180, HF+50MHz Automatic Antenna Tuner (in original box, very good condition)
MFJ 6 Meter SSB Transceiver, MFJ-9406 (includes AC power supply)
MFJ 6 Meter Tuner, MFJ-906
Cushcraft 6 Meter 3 element beam (well weathered)
Ten Tec RX320 (with manual)
ICOM IC-PCR1000, Communications Receiver For Computer (with manual)
Kantronics KPC-9612 Plus (with manual)
Pakratt-232, Model PK-232 MBX (with manual)
MFJ Multi-Mode Data Controller, MFJ-1278 (with manual)
MFJ TNC 2 Packet Radio, MFJ-1274
MFJ Deluxe Code Practice Oscillator, MFJ-557
MFJ Electric Keyer Paddle with Memory, MFJ-442
Dymek DA100E, Active Receiver Antenna, 50kHz-30MHz (with manual)
Radio Shack Amplified Base Station Microphone, CAT NO 21-1173
Radio Shack SWR/Power Meter, CAT NO 21-534
MFJ-8128 VHF 114-220 MHz SWR/Wattmeter
MARS Model LE-2 Hybrid Phone Patch
Heathkit Hybrid Phone Patch, Model HD-15 (with manual)
Quad magnetic mount for antenna
Various Hamsticks and Hustler single band mobile antennas
Various amateur radio books

We did have quite a few hams show up and my prices were incredibly reasonable if not down right ludicrous. The MFJ 6 Meter SSB rig went quick, but I'm surprised no one grabbed the 3-element beam. All the three of the phone patches sold (I had two Heathkits) - that surprised me. What all surprised me was why I had three phone patches. All the Hamsticks and Hustlers went. Some of the books. Bottom line - I was able to find new homes for a lot of gear I wasn't using and got a bit of reimbursement in the process.

Anybody need an MFJ Deluxe Code Practice Oscillator?

What's amazing is the amount of gear I still have that I'm unwilling to part with and is coming with me to Kansas.

It was good to get back behind the wheel of my 2005 Toyota Tundra - although can't say I am excited about paying to fuel it up. I've attempted to get a good HF install for mobile operations before experiencing limited success... with perhaps my biggest rookie mistake being an attempt to use the ICOM AT-180 autotuner along with my IC-706MKIIG.

I used Hamsticks and Hustler mono band resonators - it worked pretty well but I got tired of having to exit the vehicle every time I wanted to change bands.

My answer was to install a screwdriver antenna. I'd been planning this mobile install for some time, using lessons from my trials in the Spring of 2007 as well as a significant amount of reading and research (eHam, WorldRadio, CQ Magazine, websites). I decided on basing my mobile install around the Tarheel Model 75 "Stubby" providing continuous coverage from 3.7 to 34 MHz. The folks at Tarheel worked with me to get me going - responsive to my emails and questions.

The radio for this mobile install: my ICOM IC-706MKIIG. I'd originally purchased this radio when I arrived in Hampton back in the early Summer of 2005. The purchase was in part to motivate me to upgrade from Tech to General - which it did. That Summer I passed the written exam (Element 3) at a nearby hamfest for General. But I was not yet ready for the Morse (Element 1). It wasn't until later that Fall that I was ready for the Morse... and barely passed too. I've been very pleased with the IC-706MKIIG; it is a great radio for a beginner, easy to operate, solid performance, flexible to use either in the radio shack, portable, or mobile.

To mount the antenna to my Toyota Tundra, I really did not want to permanently mar the exterior of the truck. I'd admired K4GUN's install and thought his implementation of using the Geotool stake pocket on the bed of the truck was brilliant. I wrote Steve, K4GUN, concerning his install and he provided some great additional information concerning the challenges of the stake pocket mount. After working with Rick, WA6JKH, to ensure I was ordering the proper mount, I placed my order and Rick gave me a nice active duty military discount.

I decided to get N2VZ's Turbo Tuner for ease of operation. Operating HF while driving is already complicated enough and I wanted to make tuning the antenna as easy as possible. Bill was very responsive and also provided a military discount.

I had ordered all the equipment while in Iraq, so everything was waiting for me when I arrived home.

The install took two days. Perhaps the hardest part was mounting the IC-706MKIIG under the passenger's seat. Already installed under the seat was my ICOM IC-208H - my trusty VHF/UHF rig. I'd originally installed this rig during my circumnavigation of the continental US back in 2005. During that install, I only partially removed the passenger's seat. This time I pulled the seat completely out of the truck which greatly helped me successfully position both the IC-208H and the IC-706MKIIG in the limited space.

Routing the feedline from the rig to the stake pocket mount was fairly easy, making use of the rubber grommet directly under the passenger's seat and zip ties along the feedline's path to the rear of the truck. Soldering the connections to the stake pocket mount was straight forward but it was a bit tricky feeding the line up through the bottom of the stake pocket.

Setup of the Turbo Tuner was a snap; I followed the provided instructions step-by-step, making sure I had the DIP switches positioned properly.

Mounting the antenna onto the Geotool stake pocket mount was made easier by using the HI-Q's Giant Quick Disconnect. Payment was via PayPal and Charlie, W6HIQ, had it on my doorstep within the week. Thanks Charlie!

How does it work? So far, so good. More reports from the road are coming... and maybe a picture or two.