Squirrels are taking a few but I think the thorns are doing their job. 3rd year for this bush if I remember right.

Home page and live version. The CWT was all too fast for me to follow, but seeing the transcription actually is helping me pick up on some of the "TU" and repeated call signs, aside from the "CQ" and "73"s that already stick out. Unfortunately my K1 doesn't have digital audio I/O or SDR capability but my laptop mic picked this up well enough.

I just got a Yaesu FT-60R and Arrow 10WBP (off Craigslist). Used satfinder.ca to track SO-15 and was able to hear some folks, just barely. Recorded my spot on amsat.org. Very cool to tap into this invisible world!

I also tried to hear the ISS, but no luck yet. My kid and I have been having fun seeing it go over, so hearing the automatic would be very cool.

If you're just listening, is there a reason not to hold a yagi by the center of the beam? It didn't seem to reduce sensitivity, and is much easier on the wrist.

I've done climbed at the gym including belay training, but am getting ready for my first outdoor climb, with someone else more experienced. After talking with some at the climbing store and watching videos including from Summit Seekers , my plan is:

• bowline off a bight around tree 1 using static rope, safety overhand from the free end of the bight around one side
• stopper knot (double overhand) on the loose end to make a tether through my grigri while working near the cliff edge
• bowline off another bight around tree 1, again overhand safety knot
• BHK (overhand in a bight in the center to form the master point, just past the cliff edge
• opposed quick draws off the BHK to connect the top rope to the BHK

Here's the mockup in my living room:

The white rectangle is my cliff edge / the towel or bag I would put between the rope and the sharp edge.

I've seen opposing locking carabiners used off the master point instead of quick draws, though I see quick draws used off hardware anchors. Is it important?

Is it important how close/far the safety knot is from the bowline? I've used bowlines for years so I'm aware of how they can turn into slip knots if you're not careful.

Any critique of the overall setup, individual knots, use of equipment etc very welcome!

Events in Porter, Watertown, Medford, Arlington, Harvard, and others.

Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Eating locally would only have a significant impact if transport was responsible for a large share of food’s final carbon footprint. For most foods, this is not the case.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation make up a very small amount of the emissions from food, and what you eat is far more important than where your food traveled from.

For most foods — and particularly the largest emitters — most GHG emissions result from land use change (shown in green) and from processes at the farm stage (brown). Farm-stage emissions include processes such as the application of fertilizers — both organic (“manure management”) and synthetic; and enteric fermentation (the production of methane in the stomachs of cattle). Combined, land use and farm-stage emissions account for more than 80% of the footprint for most foods.

Transport is a small contributor to emissions. For most food products, it accounts for less than 10%, and it’s much smaller for the largest GHG emitters. In beef from beef herds, it’s 0.5%.

The voting rights our parents and grandparents marched and fought for are being dismantled — right now, state by state. On May 16, thousands are converging on Montgomery, Alabama for the National Day of Action for Voting Rights. Let's show up in solidarity with our southern siblings.

Please join True North Boston, Activist Evenings Brookline, Mass 50501, APIs CAN, Boston Indivisible and Indivisible Mass Coalition this Saturday at The Embrace on Boston Common at 1:00 PM. Bring signs. Bring friends. This is last-minute — so share this everywhere, right now. Every person that shows up sends a message.

Same fight. New generation. Unfinished business.
🔗 Learn more about the national action: Black Power | War Room

A core principle behind all True North events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.

[The company] says it has made Portland cement from silicate rocks like basalt—at the lab scale. Basalt contains a mix of minerals that include calcium, aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, silicon, and oxygen. (Note the absence of carbon from that list.) The basic idea is that you don’t need limestone to get calcium oxide.

The process of freeing these components from basalt looks more like a refining or recycling process than the toss-it-in-the-oven simplicity of the limestone process. Acid can be used to leach elements like calcium out, then a chemical or energetic process precipitates that calcium as calcium hydroxide. Toss that in a kiln with additives of your choice, and with less heating than you need for limestone, you’ve got Portland cement, with only water vapor released.

Recipe from newmexicofoodie.

My preferred way to eat them is to tear off one corner and pour honey inside.

• 2 cups flour (261g)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 T butter melted (41g)
• 3/4 cup water (172g)
• oil for frying

The key to getting a nice pocket is having very smooth dough with the right moisture level. To dry or not mixed enough, and it will form holes and all the steam will escape. It smoothes out a little during the 20 minute rest. Too wet, and it won't be strong enough to hold a bubble. It should be sticky but just starting to form a ball / climb the dough hook in the mixer, and be like play-doh or slightly softer after the rest.

• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add melted butter and water then mix the dough until it is smooth.
• Return dough to the bowl and cover with a towel for 20 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a clean surface and use a rolling pin (or sturdy cup) to roll into 1/4" thickness. Use a knife or pizza roller to cut into 6 or 8 pieces.
• Heat 4" of oil in a sturdy pot over medium-high heat, until temperature reaches 375 degrees. Add sopapillas, one at a time, and fry until puffy and golden brown, about 15 seconds per side.
• Remove from pot and transfer to a paper-towel lined bowl.

I could feel the heat coming off it when I stood next to the repaved section. They didn't repave the parking area at the edge. Opened to traffic again, seems firm enough to drive on at 160⁰F.

I have a 40m dipole that I'm trying to get set up. I have tried laying it along my 3rd story roof line and roof deck arbor. It seems to get great reception; I can hear lots of activity on 40m, including at least Tennessee (from New England) based on my minimal ability to copy call signs in CW.

But I'm having trouble getting out. I'm using an Elecraft K1 at 5-7W with the internal tuner (which gets 1.1:1). I've only gotten one response to a CQ, and the RBN shows only stations in the next state over picking me up, at 7-19dB SNR. This around 8-9PM local time.

What would you expect, at 5W? Might I be getting good receive performance but bad transmit? What factors would be affecting the performance most — contact with wood, small hooks/screws? Bends (mostly straight for one leg, 90⁰ turn halfway in the other leg)?

I also have a gutter around the 3rd floor, with two downspouts. I've been reading about downspout antennas, but I'm operating from the 2nd floor, so I'd probably need to run a ground down.

Thanks for any suggestions! 73

Boston Common

Boston: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.; MassArt May Day 2026; MassArt, 621 Huntington Ave.
Boston: 11 a.m – 1 p.m.; May Day Kick Off Rally; East Boston Memorial Park, 143 Porter St.
Boston: 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.; Simmons University March for a Fair Contract; 300 Fenway.
Boston: 2:30 p.m.; LUCE Rally for Immigrant Justice; by the Massachusetts State House.
Boston: 3:30 p.m.; Boston Teachers Union Budget Action; City Hall.
Boston: 4 p.m.; Young Workers Speak Out; The Embrace on Boston Common.
Boston: 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.; Boston May Day 2026 main rally; Boston Common, 139 Tremont St.

And many more in surrounding communities.

I got into HAM radio doing HF and now I'm interested in VHF/UHV, so I'm considering an HT. I'd like to avoid another proprietary charger/battery. Are there any HTs that use 18650 lithium ion cells?

I see that some people have made 3D-printed trays for various models, but although I'm comfortable soldering and have spot-welded nickel strips to make packs I don't have a 3D printer and would rather not have to build my own pack here. And I see some models like the VX-6R have AA trays available, but I assume with the higher Li cell voltage versus alkaline or NiMH mean you'd get more run time out of 18650s than AAs even though the mAh ratings are not drastically different.

I do like the USB-C charger on my Radioddity GM-30s (GMRS), so even a proprietary pack with a standard charge plug would be a plus.

There are lots of fox hunt guides so I won't repeat all the details. But A few that weren't obvious or I did differently:

• I used the earpiece from my Radioddity GMRS radio. By popping open the mic/button on the cord, I was able to solder onto conveniently labeled pads rather than having to separate out the wires. M+ = mic input, S+/- for the speaker includes S- as ground, PT needs to be grounded for PTT.
• I used an NPN transistor (1kohm resistor on the base) to connect PTT (connected to the collector) to S- aka ground (connected to the emitter). Most guides say to use a relay, but even though this still showed 26 ohms or so resistance when open, it works fine to trigger transmission.
• I used an old Trinket 5V I had lying around, since it has a wide battery voltage input (5-16v I think, accepts a 9v battery fine). However it uses an ATtiny85, which the Arduino tone() function doesn't support. I ended up using http://www.technoblogy.com/show?20MO to generate the tone, and then wrote some very simple / non-general Morse generation code (glad to share the full sketch if anyone's interested).
• A 560ohm resistor from the 5v DO pin on the Arduino worked fine to drive the line in. And I didn't have to remove the existing mic element. I was unsure what voltage range I was going for on line in.

Next step is antennas, and setting up in some enclosure with a HAM HT instead of the GMRS radio I was testing it with. I found a variety of antenna guides, but glad for other/better resources:

• simple wooden one
• lots of details, PVC boom
• also lots of details, PVC boom
  I would like to find a calculator for the dimensions based on frequency so I could potentially make a directional antenna for GMRS too.

Found via a post about current persecution of ham radio operators. This is from when Lukashenko began consolidating power in 1994..

Good to see veterans speaking out against war.

One of the interviewees is from https://aboutfaceveterans.org/ , who also had a speaker at our No Kings rally. Seems like a good organization, specifically supporting military who are uncomfortable with what they've been assigned.

I couldn't find a clear list of Artemis II mission event timestamps. The press kit has a timeline, but it's in launch-relative times like "1/2:34" (1 day, two hours and 34 minutes after launch). So, I wrote a quick script to parse that, generated a CSV, and imported.

Here's the public (but very unofficial) Google Calendar if you'd like to use it. Happy for someone to make a less Evil Corp one.

Human readable format:

• 2026-04-01 18:35:00-04:00 Liftoff
• 2026-04-02 20:12:00-04:00 Translunar injection burn
• 2026-04-03 18:00:00-04:00 Orbital Trajectory Correction Burn
• 2026-04-03 18:42:00-04:00 Orbital trajectory correction burn #1
• 2026-04-03 20:40:00-04:00 Crew CPR demonstration
• 2026-04-04 00:00:00-04:00 Communications test through Deep Space Network
• 2026-04-04 18:47:00-04:00 Orbital trajectory correction burn #2
• 2026-04-04 22:15:00-04:00 Review lunar flyby imaging plan (shift one)
• 2026-04-05 00:20:00-04:00 Review lunar flyby imaging plan (shift two)
• 2026-04-05 15:05:00-04:00 Rapid spacesuits donning and pressurization demonstration
• 2026-04-05 23:58:00-04:00 Orbital trajectory correction burn #3
• 2026-04-06 01:34:00-04:00 Orion enters lunar sphere of influence
• 2026-04-06 16:35:00-04:00 Lunar flyby and observation begins
• 2026-04-06 19:58:00-04:00 Closest approach to the Moon
• 2026-04-06 20:01:00-04:00 Crew reaches maximum distance from Earth for this mission
• 2026-04-07 14:22:00-04:00 Orion exits lunar sphere of influence
• 2026-04-07 15:45:00-04:00 Lunar flyby science debrief
• 2026-04-07 22:58:00-04:00 Return trajectory correction burn #1
• 2026-04-08 20:25:00-04:00 Radiation shielding demonstration
• 2026-04-08 22:55:00-04:00 Manual piloting demonstration
• 2026-04-09 17:50:00-04:00 Orthostatic intolerance garment assessment (shift one)
• 2026-04-09 20:45:00-04:00 Orthostatic intolerance garment assessment (shift two)
• 2026-04-09 23:08:00-04:00 Return trajectory correction burn #2
• 2026-04-10 15:08:00-04:00 Return trajectory correction burn #3
• 2026-04-10 17:05:00-04:00 Crew begins working through entry checklist, including donning entry suits
• 2026-04-10 19:48:00-04:00 Orion crew and service module separation
• 2026-04-10 19:51:00-04:00 Crew module raise burn
• 2026-04-10 20:08:00-04:00 Entry interface, while still 400,000 feet above Earth
• 2026-04-10 20:21:00-04:00 Splashdown
• 2026-04-10 20:28:00-04:00 Crew module reaction control system safing
• 2026-04-10 20:36:00-04:00 Orion Final power down

The CSV data (following Google Calendar's spec , their import doesn't seem to accept zone info):

Subject,Start Date,Start Time,End Date,End Time  
Liftoff,04/01/2026,18:35:00,04/01/2026,18:50:00  
Translunar injection burn,04/02/2026,20:12:00,04/02/2026,20:27:00  
Orbital Trajectory Correction Burn,04/03/2026,18:00:00,04/03/2026,18:15:00  
Orbital trajectory correction burn #1,04/03/2026,18:42:00,04/03/2026,18:57:00  
Crew CPR demonstration,04/03/2026,20:40:00,04/03/2026,20:55:00  
Communications test through Deep Space Network,04/04/2026,00:00:00,04/04/2026,00:15:00  
Orbital trajectory correction burn #2,04/04/2026,18:47:00,04/04/2026,19:02:00  
Review lunar flyby imaging plan (shift one),04/04/2026,22:15:00,04/04/2026,22:30:00  
Review lunar flyby imaging plan (shift two),04/05/2026,00:20:00,04/05/2026,00:35:00  
Rapid spacesuits donning and pressurization demonstration,04/05/2026,15:05:00,04/05/2026,15:20:00  
Orbital trajectory correction burn #3,04/05/2026,23:58:00,04/06/2026,00:13:00  
Orion enters lunar sphere of influence,04/06/2026,01:34:00,04/06/2026,01:49:00  
Lunar flyby and observation begins,04/06/2026,16:35:00,04/06/2026,16:50:00  
Closest approach to the Moon,04/06/2026,19:58:00,04/06/2026,20:13:00  
Crew reaches maximum distance from Earth for this mission,04/06/2026,20:01:00,04/06/2026,20:16:00  
Orion exits lunar sphere of influence,04/07/2026,14:22:00,04/07/2026,14:37:00  
Lunar flyby science debrief,04/07/2026,15:45:00,04/07/2026,16:00:00  
Return trajectory correction burn #1,04/07/2026,22:58:00,04/07/2026,23:13:00  
Radiation shielding demonstration,04/08/2026,20:25:00,04/08/2026,20:40:00  
Manual piloting demonstration,04/08/2026,22:55:00,04/08/2026,23:10:00  
Orthostatic intolerance garment assessment (shift one),04/09/2026,17:50:00,04/09/2026,18:05:00  
Orthostatic intolerance garment assessment (shift two),04/09/2026,20:45:00,04/09/2026,21:00:00  
Return trajectory correction burn #2,04/09/2026,23:08:00,04/09/2026,23:23:00  
Return trajectory correction burn #3,04/10/2026,15:08:00,04/10/2026,15:23:00  
"Crew begins working through entry checklist, including donning entry suits",04/10/2026,17:05:00,04/10/2026,17:20:00  
Orion crew and service module separation,04/10/2026,19:48:00,04/10/2026,20:03:00  
Crew module raise burn,04/10/2026,19:51:00,04/10/2026,20:06:00  
"Entry interface, while still 400,000 feet above Earth",04/10/2026,20:08:00,04/10/2026,20:23:00  
Splashdown,04/10/2026,20:21:00,04/10/2026,20:36:00  
Crew module reaction control system safing,04/10/2026,20:28:00,04/10/2026,20:43:00  
Orion Final power down,04/10/2026,20:36:00,04/10/2026,20:51:00  

And if you'd like to tweak or find errors in the Python:

#!/usr/bin/env python3  
"""Calculate times of Artemis II mission milestones."""  
import csv  
from datetime import datetime, timedelta  
import pytz  

LIFTOFF = pytz.timezone('US/Eastern').localize(datetime(2026, 4, 1, 18, 35, 0))  

# https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii-press-kit/  
TIMELINE = (  
  (0,  0,  0, 'Liftoff',),  
  (1,  1, 37, 'Translunar injection burn',),  
  (1, 23, 25, 'Orbital Trajectory Correction Burn',),  
  (2,  0,  7, 'Orbital trajectory correction burn #1',),  
  (2,  2,  5, 'Crew CPR demonstration',),  
  (2,  5, 25, 'Communications test through Deep Space Network',),  
  (3,  0, 12, 'Orbital trajectory correction burn #2',),  
  (3,  3, 40, 'Review lunar flyby imaging plan (shift one)',),  
  (3,  5, 45, 'Review lunar flyby imaging plan (shift two)',),  
  (3, 20, 30, 'Rapid spacesuits donning and pressurization demonstration',),  
  (4,  5, 23, 'Orbital trajectory correction burn #3',),  
  (4,  6, 59, 'Orion enters lunar sphere of influence',),  
  (4, 22,  0, 'Lunar flyby and observation begins',),  
  (5,  1, 23, 'Closest approach to the Moon',),  
  (5,  1, 26, 'Crew reaches maximum distance from Earth for this mission',),  
  (5, 19, 47, 'Orion exits lunar sphere of influence',),  
  (5, 21, 10, 'Lunar flyby science debrief',),  
  (6,  4, 23, 'Return trajectory correction burn #1',),  
  (7,  1, 50, 'Radiation shielding demonstration',),  
  (7,  4, 20, 'Manual piloting demonstration',),  
  (7, 23, 15, 'Orthostatic intolerance garment assessment (shift one)',),  
  (8,  2, 10, 'Orthostatic intolerance garment assessment (shift two)',),  
  (8,  4, 33, 'Return trajectory correction burn #2',),  
  (8, 20, 33, 'Return trajectory correction burn #3',),  
  (8, 22, 30, 'Crew begins working through entry checklist, including donning entry suits',),  
  (9,  1, 13, 'Orion crew and service module separation',),  
  (9,  1, 16, 'Crew module raise burn',),  
  (9,  1, 33, 'Entry interface, while still 400,000 feet above Earth',),  
  (9,  1, 46, 'Splashdown',),  
  (9,  1, 53, 'Crew module reaction control system safing',),  
  (9,  2,  1, 'Orion Final power down',),  
)  

with open('artemis_ii_us_eastern.csv', 'w') as f:  
  csv_writer = csv.writer(f)  
  # Google Calendar import fields.  
  # https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37118  
  csv_writer.writerow(('Subject', 'Start Date', 'Start Time', 'End Date', 'End Time'))  
  for (days, hours, minutes, subject) in TIMELINE:  
    event_start = LIFTOFF + timedelta(days=days, hours=hours, minutes=minutes)  
    print(f'{event_start}\t{subject}')  
    # Set a fictional end time to keep calendar events short.  
    event_end = event_start + timedelta(minutes=15)  
    csv_writer.writerow((  
      subject,  
      event_start.strftime('%m/%d/%Y'),  
      event_start.strftime('%H:%M:%S'),  
      event_end.strftime('%m/%d/%Y'),  
      event_end.strftime('%H:%M:%S'),  
    ))  

This is its third year, hopefully we'll get some good harvest.