I give up.. MS they win…
  I installed Windows today on my computer.  I was trying to program my scanner and you have to have a program to do it and I paid for one that runs only on Windows.  Also I love Windows Live Writer and they just came out with a beta version.
  Plus there are some other reasons… Well one is that I do not own a radio or TV but I am signed up with Netflix and I can watch live streaming movies but I have to run IE. 
  So I give up.. forgive me father for I have sinned… take me back.

  Well I am going to start programming my (radio) scanner with ham repeaters in Fort Worth.  That will keep me busy for a few days.  Smile

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  Next year I am going to have a great view of an air show right from my patio.  I am on the second floor and my apartment even sits on a bit of higher ground than apartments around me.

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  I filled out the online application for the apartment in Fort Worth.  They wanted a lot of information.  I expect to be approved.  I am sure there is going to be more that I have to do.  I am sure they will send me a printed form to fill out and want a deposit.
  Russell and I plan to move about the middle of next month.
  
  We have lived in Texas.  Jimmy and I moved from Orlando (FL) to Carrollton (TX).  Then Darlene, Russell, Jimmy and I moved from Carrollton to Hillsboro (TX).  Then Ken and I moved to Miami (FL).  Russell moved here later to join us.
  We have been in Miami for about  five years.

  I did think of one good reason, other than family being there, to live in Fort Worth.  I am a amateur radio operator (“ham”) and they have an excellent D-Star repeater network in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

“D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) is a digital voice and data protocol specification developed as the result of research by the Japan Amateur Radio League to investigate digital technologies for amateur radio. While there are other digital on-air technologies being used by amateurs that have come from other services, D-Star is one of the first on-air standards to be widely deployed and sold by a major radio manufacturer that is designed specifically for amateur service use.

D-Star compatible radios are available on VHF and UHF and microwave amateur radio bands. In addition to the over-the-air protocol, D-Star also provides specifications for network connectivity, enabling D-Star radios to be connected to the Internet or other networks and provisions for routing data streams of voice or packet data via amateur radio callsigns.

The first manufacturer to offer D-Star compatible radios is Icom. As of December 30, 2008, no other amateur radio equipment manufacturer has chosen to include D-Star technology in their radios. Kenwood re-brands an Icom radio and distributes it in Japan only…”  Wikipedia

  I am not sure there is even one D-STAR repeater in the Miami area.  Now, of course, there is one little problem for me.  I do not own a D-Star radio.  It would cost me $500.00 to get the radio above and that is the lowest priced radio they sell.  I am not sure when I can afford one.

  If you can think of any other good things about Fort Worth PLEASE send me an email or post a comment.  My email address is:  showmeblog@gmail.com

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  Today is the Miami Amateur Radio and Electronics Show.  It is at the Miami Mahi Shrine Temple (1480 NW North River Dr., Miami, FL 33125) from 0800 to 1700 hours. 
  I would like to go …but I would want to buy things… And I do not have the money…  I need to save money during the year so I have money when something like this event comes around.
  Plus it is almost 0300 hours and you want to get their early to get the good deals. 
  I have this place in my GPS unit from last year.  I did not attend last year because I did not have the money. 
  There is 2010 and 2011 that I can attend.  Now I do not think I can attend in 2012 because that is the year that the world is going to come to an end.

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  This month is almost over…I started to make a little money from Google this month.  It looks like my earnings are starting to improve.  ShowMeBlog, Howard’s Notebook and even Show Me News are making a few dollars.  I am sure I am thinking small but $3.00 a day would be an extra $100.00 a month for me and that would feed me for two weeks.
  OK OK my life is an open book, because of the blog, you know I will spend it on computer stuff.

  Speaking of computer stuff…I been wanting a finger print reader.  I get so tired of having to enter my password information for sites. I am thinking about getting the Eilon Digital Privacy Manager finger print reader.  It is on sale right now at Amazon for $39.99 and as poor as I am it would be worth it. 

  I did not check for rentals yet for Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island.  I am not sure how many more launches are going to take place from Kennedy but their is a USAF base next to it that does launches.  In a few months I could be sitting in my new place, at the computer, and watch a satellite go into space. 

  I found a website that has everything for doing blue screen videos.  The site is www.tubetape.com
  I have attempted to do blue screen videos but have had no luck.  I think I need a couple of 500 watt work lights to light up the black ground.  Well I guess I need a blue back ground as well. 

  There is going to be a hamfest on October 3rd.  I want to go but I know I am going to be broke and it is no fun for me to go if I can’t buy some stuff.  I should have been studying for my General test.  If I had been studying I could take the test on the 3rd.

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  I just got a card today that the Hamtoberfest (Amateur Radio & Electronics Show) here in Miami will be October 3rd (2009) from 0800 to 1700 hours.  It will be at the Miami Mahi Shrine Temple, 1480 NW North River Dr., Miami, FL 33125

  I plan to attend the hamfest.  I did not make it last year.  I hope I have the money to buy a radio at the event. 

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  I do not have a shortwave radio right now.  I been thinking about getting one.  I would like to have the Grundig Satellit 750 FM/AM/Air/Shortwave radio but it is $299.99 and that is out of my price range.
  I might get the Grundig S350 Deluxe AM/FM/SW radio one of these days.  It is only $99.00 and I could even get it at Radio Shack. 
  I hear the Grundig G6 Aviator Buzz Aldrin Edition Shortwasve Radio is also good.  In fact all three of those you can get from Radio Shack.

  The ham radio HT I would love to get does pick up shortwave… Hell it picks up everything.. But my guess is that shortwave would suck on it. 
   I want to upgrade my ham “ticket” to General Class and then I could transmit on the shortwave ham bands.  But almost any radio to receive and transmit on shortwave ham bands start at about $1K.  The only way I could come up with that sort of money would be to win the lottery.  Smile
   I still want to upgrade my license to General Class.

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  We have a tropical depression forming in the Gulf of Mexico and heading towards the Alabama and Florida state line.  Sounds like it will miss me here in Miami this time.  But there are three other storms out there and they may head this direction.
  If you are wondering if we are ready for a storm hitting…the answer is no…We have not been ready since we got here…We have no one to blame but our self…I am a big believe in being ready for everything…I am just so short of money all the time..I never have the money to get ready.
  After the bad storm season we had back a few years ago.. Florida is asking everyone that lives in FL to have a enough basic needs to last for two or three days without expecting the state to supply you with food, water and ice.  I agree that is very smart.  That way the state can take care of real emergencies and get things done faster and better.
   Last time we got hit… A lot of time and effort went into just getting food, water and ice to people.  There seemed to me to be a lot of political crap entering in the entire effort… Where some areas that were poor getting the supplies etc.  When you have to CYA (cover you ass) it just delays things and makes things not work as well.
   I just got a feeling that these storms are not going to be a problem for the United States…But you never know and one of these days…soon this area is going to get hard with a hurricane.  I hope I have a ham radio and to be truthful I hope I can afford to fly the hell out of here before it hits.  Smile

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July 30, 2009 at 1722 UTC, space shuttle Endeavour (STS-127) deployed the Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment (ANDE-2) consisting of two satellites, Pollux and Castor.

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Image via Wikipedia

  I put in  the“QRG"s of the four satellites to be launched by the Space Shuttle Endeavour.  Not sure when they will launch them but will be before they land tomorrow.  I have a scanner (radio) but I just have the small indoor antenna on it.  I wish I had an outside antenna.
  I tracked satellites in the early days of space.  I even did a column in a publication with details and QRGs and orbit information.  That was a long time ago.  I used to track Explorer 7 and would fall asleep with my headphones on and the next orbit it would wake me up.  Yes.. I been a geek a long time.
  When I started Howard’s Notebook I had some of that sort of information on HNB and that was 1982.  Lot of changes from when I tracked Sputnik 1 in 1957. 
  When I did my radio program “Calling All Shortwave Listeners” I would play each week a track from the 45 rpm “Sounds of Space.”  It was made by Elmo Melton.  I forget his call sign.  Now he had a hell of a ham radio set up and tracking station.  NASA lost one of their satellites and he found it for them.
 

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“Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman known as both "Uncle Walter" for his easygoing, measured delivery and "the most trusted man in America" for his rectitude and gravitas, has died. Cronkite was 92 years old. At the height of his influence, Cronkite’s judgment was believed to be so important it could affect even presidents.developing story …”  CNN

    Sad day but 92 years of age is a long life.  I am one of the Americans that was watching Walter Cronkite live when he give the news that JFK was dead.  That is a moment in time that I will never forget. 

  I was 22 years old at the time.  That day I had been listening to WRUL radio, “Radio New York Worldwide” on shortwave radio.  I did a weekly radio program for them but I my program was not on at the time.  They broken in to the program at the time and said they had news and said that “shots had been fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in Dallas.”  I did not even know he was in Dallas.  I turned on the TV and started watch KCMO TV and Walter Cronkite.  I saw the above video live at the time.
  The father Huber mentioned in the broadcast I knew.  He had been my pastor at St. Vincent’s Church in Kansas City.  
   
  Walter Cronkite dead at 92.  Walter Cronkite was an amateur radio operator (KB2GSD) and so is a “Silent Key.”

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  My grandson found out today that he is going to start getting un-employment money again.  He will get it until October.  I am not sure if this means that FL did accept the federal money or not.
  Russell is talking about going in the military.  He wants to go in for a number of reasons.  One is that he can not find a job and one is that he wants some of the benefits of going in the military. 

  I am feeling a little better now.  I did not take the Doxazosin Mesylate last night.  I said I was not going to take it anymore but I am worrying about Sunday.  Sunday I will  have my first CERT class and it is 8 hours.  I have to get there by bus without a bathroom visit and then I will be in class for 8 hours and I do not want to be running to the bathroom all the time.

  I am not in CA, I am in FL, but here is a little video that gives you a little idea of CERT training.

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  I was a member of the Ground Observer Corp for years.  After they did away with the GOC our post all became weather observers. 
  Now I lived in Kansas City (Missouri) and KC is right in the middle of the United States so I am not sure it made much sense having us watch for Soviet bombers.  Smile

  But I found the following on the Gizmodo site:

“…Here's a transcript of a panel about SAGE that occurred at the Computer History Museum in 1998. I found this passage, about why they couldn't use human spotters to warn of invasions, fascinating:

"And they saw lots of things! [Laughter] They saw airplanes — many of them were civilian; they saw birds; they saw all kinds of things, and most of them they thought were Soviet bombers. I mean, this was a scary period. They would then telephone the nearest air base, which would then have to figure out if this information was worth anything. And pretty much none of it was worth anything. So, it very rapidly became obvious that despite the huge size of this program — there were 8,000 observation posts, and at the peak of the program 305,000 volunteers staffing these things 24 hours a day — the information was pretty much useless. So, commanders just ignored it. For one thing, by the time it had been verified, the bombers would already be there. So, what was the point?

The reason I'm telling you this story is that the purpose of this program was not really air defense. It was public relations. It was saying to the public, "We are doing something about this problem — we see it." At the same time, the Air Force started looking everywhere for ideas from scientists and engineers, and [referring to the slide presentation] now we're restarting, and I'm not sure what's going on.

What's the modern equivalent system that we'd use to defend ourselves against North Korean nukes? I don't know. I just hope its more than just a PR stunt…”

   I do not know who was making that statement but I guess it was very funny.  I wonder if there was anyone there to tell the speaker that he was full of shit and did not know what he was talking about.  I wish I had been at the meeting to show everyone that the  clown did not know his ass from a hole in the ground.

  We did NOT report Soviet bombers.  We reported ALL airplanes.  We did not call the nearest air base.  We dialed the operator and said “Aircraft FLASH – Aircraft FLASH” and the operator connected us with Air Defense Command. 

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  I am a lazy slug.  I should be on my way to Skywarn training.  But I just woke up and am here nude in front of the computer checking my email and playing with the design of Facebook.  I do not even like Facebook.
  I do not even have a ham radio right now.  The last HT I had I sold and my plan was to get a new one but I have not had the money recently.  My plan was to get a Yaesu FT-60R.  It is a very good radio and is only $200.00 for the radio and a couple of things you need for it.  Well now Yaesu just came out with a new HT (Handheld Transceiver) and it is the Yaesu VX-8R.  It does everything but cost $400.00 and now I want it.  I am never going to have $400.00 for it. 
  When it comes to geek tech type toys I always want the top of the line stuff and I never can afford those items.  Well not since I retired in 2000 and moved to FL. 
  So my excuse for not going to the training is that I do not have a HT.  Plus the idea of taking a bus, then the rail and then a bus to get to the event in this heat just does not turn me on today.  I would have to repeat the trip home in the afternoon sun.
  I also hate going anyplace broke.  Last month when I went to the doctor’s office I had money in my pocket so after the doctor’s office visit I went to MetroPCS and got a new cell phone ($300.00) and got something to eat.  I walked home from the doctor’s office.  It all took hours but I did not care I had a new toy, my cell phone, and I got to eat out, KFC, and I had a Coke.  It was a great day.  It does not take me spending $300.00 a day to make me happy.  I do think spending money makes me happy.  That is not good. 
  I feel guilty for not going to the Skywarn training.  Sort of like I used to feel when I was in high school and I would not go to school.

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  I been playing with Howard’s Notebook.  I went to bed about 0030 hours and woke up at 0300 hours and I am still up at 0545 hours.  I started to work on HNB and I am still up.  An old man like me should be sleeping at night.  Smile
  I put a Google map on the Amateur Radio section of HNB.

  I been playing with it.  If it works out I may put it on a page for for the map and that data. My concern is that the page may load slow with the map on it.
  But it is pretty neat.  I put it on the ham radio page so I can post SkyWarn training, meeting locations, training, testing, hamfest and the field day events. 
  There is SkyWarn training tomorrow.  I bet I am the only ham at the Skywarn training that does not have a radio.  I am not sure if I can afford to order one this month or not.  I will act like I just left my radio at home. Smile

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“Analog shutoff, atmospheric conditions spur phenomenal distant-market reception for New Orleans, other local stations

By Glen Dickson — Broadcasting & Cable, 6/15/2009 7:07:07 AM MT

DTV Transition: Continuing Coverage

One of the early findings from Friday’s analog turnoff was that some stations which had switched their digital signals from UHF to VHF, such as ABC-owned WLS Chicago and WPVI Philadelphia, were now experiencing reception problems. But there were also reports from broadcast engineers of freakishly good VHF reception on Friday, for both analog and digital signals, with stations being picked up in distant markets hundreds of miles, or in some cases even over 1,000 miles, away.

For example, a Canadian viewer 75 miles north of Toronto who had been watching Ch. 4 out of Buffalo, WIBV, found an unusual replacement for that station when it signed off at 9 a.m EST Friday–Belo’s WWL New Orleans, still broadcasting on analog Ch. 4.

"She called the station, and said, ‘I live in Canada, but I’m watching your morning show in my house with an indoor antenna," says Belo VP of technology Craig Harper. "So our GM in New Orleans, Bud Brown, sent her a bunch of tchotchkes–WWL mugs, t-shirts–for being our furthest viewer on the last day of analog."…”

  It is an interesting story in Broadcasting & Cable. 
I did not know about “Nightlight” stations.  I guess a major city has one station that just broadcast a screen for people to tell them about the change.  I guess they just broadcast at night.  They are going to do it for two weeks.
  That would make it pretty neat for “DXers” that want to see what stations they can pick up now.
  

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  I made a video for YouTube but I do not think people will be interested in it.  Hams might would be interested but I think we already know about the site.

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  It is not that I just do not want to admit that I was wrong…  smile…
I think that the news media is missing a number of big stories that have to do with the switch to digital TV.
  If I was in the news media I would be doing a number of different stories.

  #1  I would check and see how many people on the Southern border of the United States are now watching only TV from Mexico.  They would be  Spanish speaking people, poor, living on the border of Mexico.  
        Another story harder to cover would be how many people, in Mexico, used to watch U.S. TV stations that were broadcasting in Spanish but now they can not get them and watch only their own TV stations.
  #2  On the border with Canada a little different story…How many people in the United States that did not make the switch or can not for some reason are now watching TV from Canada.
         In addition there is a story that the news media in Canada might want to cover and that is how many TV viewers have they lost.  That would be people in the United States that could get TV stations in the United States and Canada but since they had to switch to digital they can not watch the TV stations in Canada.
  #2   The other story how many Americans, United States citizens, turned on their TV sets on the day the switch took place and did not find only static but found TV stations from other nations?
          I am not sure how good conditions were on that day for “DX” reception but I bet a lot of people found they were getting very distance TV stations.
          Many years ago when I was a kid back in Kansas City and TV had not been around very long…The few TV stations in Kansas City did not broadcast 24 hours a day AND on Sunday because it was the Lord’s Day they would start broadcast late in the morning…I think it was 10 or 11 AM.  I would be up and I should have been going to Mass but instead I would often turn on the TV set that just had simple rabbit ears on it and I would turn to the different VHF TV channels.  I would pick up TV stations from all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and even Cuba.
         Just think of the story now…  Cubans living in FL wake up on the day of the tv switch here and turn on their TV set and find they are watching a TV station in Cuba.
         I think these are stories.

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“I’m looking for a AM/FM TV band radio that will get the new DTV

audio.  Lots of stuff called digital radio receivers but that doesnt

mean they’re setup for the new TV audio signal. They use the word

digital to mean digital tuning versus the old manual tuning.

I’m not sure anybody’s selling  a DTV radio receiver.   So put the

HNB clan to work on finding me a DTV receiver with AM/FM and WX band

would be a bonus.

I’d guess Sony or Sangean will have one soon if not already.  The

nomenclature is tricky since most radios are termed digital now and

the new tv signal is called digital so big confusion factor.

Dick”    Leave a comment here for Dick or post an email to me and I will forward the email to Dick.
             hnbbs@usa.net

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