On The Road Again – Photo Day at The Lubee Bat Conservancy!

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On The Road Again – Photo Day at The Lubee Bat Conservancy!

 

  I had been looking forward to Photo Day at the Lubee Bat Conservancy all year.  Not only was it a chance to get out of the house, return to the Lubee Bat Conservancy to hang out with some delightfully batty bats but also to get back into my photography hobby which has been put on the back burner for way too long!

  Due to some personal issues that came up, it was a tossup of whether or not I was actually going to go through with the trip!  Though Thursday afternoon I decided to kick the blues and get my butt in gear!  I made the meal preparations, went to the store and for once in a very long time actually had the car loaded the night before departure!  Now it was down to a sleep and a wakeup!

  7am came early, and I was able to make it out the door and get on the road on time!  Man! This drive turned into a slog!  For some reason even with a full night sleep, I had to fight myself to remain awake.  I was stopping at almost every rest area to keep from dozing off!  I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get there!  Fortunately, I was able to reach a fellow traveling radio amateur on the 2-meter National Simplex Calling Frequency (146.520), and talked to him for the next hour and the rest of the trip FLEW BY!  Reaching the campground on time around 3pm.  I got the site setup, had a quick nap made dinner and was off to bed.  The bats await!

  Saturday dawned bright and early, and I stayed on the cot until about 8 then got up and made coffee and headed off to the Lubee Bat Conservancy!  For those that have not had a chance to read the blog on our VIP tour when I first arrived in Florida, you can read it by clicking here.  As their website states, “Lubee Bat Conservancy is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and awareness, with a focus on children and community engagement.”  Their annual photo day allows a limited number of guests to go into the bat enclosures for an opportunity to take close up photos without having to shoot through the wire mesh of those enclosures, which makes taking any type of useful photo almost impossible.

  I had joked in my original blog that the big gate and bigger red sign telling me to STOP!  Reminded me of the entrance to Jurassic Park!   I was able to get a photo this time.

Here is Fang, Mao, Baxter, and Steroid Bob pulling up to the gate!  (A good photographer always has stand in props)!

We arrived about an hour early, and were given permission to walk around, just not to enter any of the buildings.   So out came the bats for some B roll photos!  Besides the ubiquitous Bat Barn which we saw in the previous blog, they really do have some quaintly designed buildings.  They said I couldn’t go in the buildings, they did not say I could not go in front of the buildings!  So, I set up for a good picture in front of “The Office”, I was always being sent to the office! 

  I had seen this tree on my last 2 previous visits and thought it would make a great backdrop for a Bat Portrait!  Here is Baxter looking stoic! 

  It really does show that I have put my photography aside for too long, as this would have been a GREAT! opportunity to show a comparison between 35mm with the 16-35mm f2.8L and the 35mm f1.4 L IS prime. Or the different look in using a 50mm focal length and 35mm.  Oh well, looks like I just found an excuse to go back to the conservancy!

  Wow!  2 pages just for the plushies!  That isn’t what you came here for, you want to see the real bats! 

  We were allowed into the enclosure, and it was time to get the 70-200 f4.0L IS on the camera.  Here are a couple of Flying Foxes playing, while a third is using the distraction to get brunch all to himself.  I like the photo, but if I did this again.  I would give up getting the entire fruit kabob in the photo and cut out the dead space underneath the 2 bats.  The bats are the subject, not the fruit!

This would be a better picture frame wise, but the motion blur on the bats wing is now a bit distracting (This is where the 70-200 f2.8 IS would have come in handy.  The third bat is still chomping away!

There we  go!  Perfect photo!

2 adorable bats hanging by their own favorite plushie!  The staff call them Stink Bears, and the bats use them to leave their scent on.  Sometimes the Stink Bears are taken to the other enclosures so the other bats can smell them and leave their own scent.  As a way of providing stimuli. 

I was a bit frustrated with the 70-200 lens, I had more misses than hits, which I should not have with this lens.  It might be time to have it checked for focusing issues.

Here is a miss – Notice the eyes are not in focus (animal photos should be treated just like photos with people.  Always make sure you have the eyes completely in focus.  If they are not, it is a blown photo! 

And a hit! – Kinda..  Even though the eyes are now in focus, the subject is no longer looking at me.

As you can see, mealtime is very important, even for bats.

Interesting fact, bats do not eat the pulp, or meat of the fruit, they smash against the roof of their mouths with their lounge, drinking the juice and spitting the pulp and seeds out, which the staff call “Bat Spat”.  Their noses are actually specially shaped, so the juice runs between their nostrils, while hanging upside down.  My one question, why the fruit bat would be attracted to the corn?  Since corn kernels contain very little juice. 

This photo was almost clear enough, where you can see the shape of the bat’s snout and nostrils and the natural channel where the fruit juices can run down, preventing it from getting in the bat’s eyes and fur.

I did manage to get one funny expression out of this guy!

I did not seem to get any good pictures of the bats wings stretches completely open. 

This is the closest I got to showing a bats wing structure.  Bats are the only mammal capable of powered flight!

Their wing structure differs quite a bit from birds in that instead of having just a singular wing bone, their wings are shaped similar to our hands, with 5 distinct “finger bones”.  This allows for incredible flexibility in the shape of their wings, making them very agile aviators!

  Here is Steroid Bob getting in on the photo day action!

No! No! Really…. I was just making sure none of these humans were stealing their food!

I know it is getting time to wrap this up!  I did want to share one last thing, and that in addition to the Canon 5D MKIV and my collection of L glass. I also brought the venerable 7D and the $30 Holga lens, as I have mentioned in my other photography blogs.  Sometimes you also have to just have fun with the hobby, and the Holga has been a great way to do that!  In a way, I think I actually had a better hit / miss ration with this setup than I did with the more expensive lens.

I would like to send a special thanks to the staff at The Lubee Bat Conservancy, without whom not only would the bats no receive the world class care that they do, but I would not be able to share this great content with you.  They do an exceptional job of putting on events like this and the annual Florida Bat Festival and provide countless hours of education to our future generation.  One phrase that always stuck out at me when I worked at a marine park in High School, “You are always on stage!”, which has always been my motto when dealing with a customer, and Lubee exemplifies this in excellent public and customer service! 

Here is Hannah the Education Directory making sure the bats have plenty of fruit and juice!

(Yeah – that is totally the radio amateur in me making sure the handy talkie did not get cropped out of the photo!)

It is well past time to wrap this up!  Please check out the Lubee Bat Conservancy Website for information regarding bats, bat and habitat conservation, VIP tours (Which I highly recommend if you will be in the Gainesville area.), special events like Photo Day, and of course the annual Florida Bat Festival! CLICK HERE!

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CQ Contest CQ Contest! – The Trials, Tribulation, and Triumph of Amateur Radio Contesting.

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CQ Contest CQ Contest! – The Trials, Tribulation, and Triumph of Amateur Radio Contesting.

  I has been over a year since I have become active again in HAM radio, one of the activities that I really enjoyed when I had an HF station was contesting.  One of the first contests I worked was the ARRL Field Day for the San Diego Yacht Club Station W6IM.  Field Day is an informal contest with the intent to get radio operators out of the shack and in the field, setting up and operating a station in abnormal conditions to simulate operating in an emergency or natural disaster.

 

 

Here I am hard at work making contacts for the San Diego Yacht Club operating their station W6IM!

  Now that I once again have an HF station, it was time to once again try my hand at some contests!  The first contest I had planned to work was Winter Field Day, which is similar to the ARRL Field Day but put on by the ubiquitous Winter Field Day Association.  Which operates under the same premise, but with less emphasis on it being a contest (They actually are quite adamant that it is NOT a contest, I disagree but… Yeah….).  To make sure my rig, and contesting software was ready to go, I also entered the National Contest Journals’ North American QSO Party – Phone contest.   Where for a 24-hour period you try to make as many contacts in North America as you can, with your contacts multiplies by each state, Canadian province, or DXCC entity per band.).  Single operators are allowed to work only 20 hours of the contest (Something I was not aware of until after the contest was over, but was saved because I took an hour to participate in my weekly trivia net!).  Remember: Read and understand the rules before participating!

  I did not feel I did that well, the signals were fading all over the place and I just did not feel my antenna system was performing all that well. On paper I made 202 contacts, and was able to get 92 multipliers for a total submitted score of 18,584 points.  Corrected for error penalties in the preliminary results I made 143 contacts with 84 multipliers for a total of 12,012 points.  Putting us in 114 place out of 552 competitors.  Breaking that down for just the entrants in Florida.  We came in 6th place out of 25 Florida stations.

  With that in mind, we did not do too bad for my first contest in over 20 years!

  Our next contest was Winter Field Day, but on by you guessed it!  The Winter Field Day Association.  We worked about 19 hours of the 24 hour contest, making 367 Contacts and receiving 5 multipliers for completing objectives such as receiving the WFD bulletin (which we did both via phone and a digital mode called Olivia.) Which you can see us receiving below.

Here is the audio from the 2025 Winter Field Day Bulletin Phone.  This was really neat because before the bulletin was transmitted, the operator sending the bulletin was making contacts, and I learned she grew up in Pacific Beach!  Here I am getting the bulliten station in the log as a contact.  

We received an additional multiplier for sending and receiving an email using Winlink2000.  This score put us in 59th place out of 1227 operators! Further breaking that down in our class and section (North Florida – NFL) we came in 2nd!  Which is something I am very very proud of!  Who with the same number of multipliers, beat us by 166 contacts!  So, I feel we could have come in 1st had I either stayed up all night trying to work contacts on 40 meters, or found one more objective to complete!

This is a video of receiving email using VaraHF on 30 meters.  We are using the mailbox at the Escambia Co. Emergency Operations Center W4UC.  Winlink2000 has been instrumental in providing not passing critical emergency communications, requests for logistical support, but also health and welfare traffic in and out of areas affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes and wild fires.  When NO OTHER means of communications were available.  Imagine the relief of families finally getting word their loved ones are safe, only possible with ham radio.  This is why we prepare!

   Here is the email received  from  the  Santa  Cruz  Emergency  Operations  Center  (EOC)..  The next contest I worked was the National Contest Journal’s North American QSO Party – RTTY.  I was looking forward to this to this contest as I have not participated in an RTTY since 2003, where I worked the BARTG RTTY HF contest on from the 34 foot boat I was living on at the time!  Where I made 84 contacts, with 4 multipliers for a score of 15,552.  I was using a PK232 MBX at the time and my initial plan was to use my Kantronics KAM Plus as my modem this time.  That did not work out, and I ended up using the FLDigi and the built in sound card in the FT-DX10 instead.  I was very glad I did as I will point out in a bit.

  Setup was a pain in the ass!  After pouring through posts and YouTube video for the setup, I just could not get it working.  It was looking like I would have to sit this one out!  I finally found the necessary instructions in my logging software I was I using (N3FJP), and I was good to go!

  Working with the FLDigi software was a night and day difference from using just the modem!  With a modem if you do not just sit calling CQ you spend your time hunting the band, tuning in a single signal with the display on the front of the modem, with FL Digi you can see all the signals in your passband (In my case 3 Khz), and just click on the signal in the software’s waterfall display.  So much less time consuming and really helps with your hit rate.  It is no wonder soundcards/software have caused hardware data controller sales to tumble!

An RTTY exchange using FLdigi during the North American QSO Party – RTTY

  How did we do?  We got 202 contacts in the log, with 92 multipliers.  Corrected after errors in the final scores to 162 contacts, with 91 multipliers!  Each error removes not only the contact logged in errata, but a valid QSO as well, so watch that error rate!  This placed us 76th over all, and narrowing that down to Florida entrants, 4th out of 11 state entrants!

  The final contest that I will place in this blog, the CQ Magazine’s Worked All Prefixes contest was my favorite out of the 4!  The goal of this contest is to work as many PREFIXES as possible within the contest period.  Which gives thousands of possibilities for multipliers!  Take my callsign for instance, my PREFIX is KF6, Each iteration of KFx is a multiplier.  So, 10 possibilities!  I made some memorable contacts, such as HC8M from the Galapagos Islands on 3 Bands!  

  Another contact that stood out was working Indonesia on 20 Meters late at night.  I was getting bored on 40 and decided to go back up to 20 Meters to make a sweep.  You can listen to me make the contact here!

   How did we score on this one?  We made 333 contacts (Not counting error penalties), claimed 231 multipliers, for a submitted score of 165,858 points.  Corrected after errors, we scored 163,990 points.  That put us in 569th place worldwide out of 3402 entrants! In North America, we scored 190 out of 1091, and in region 159 out of 943!

  Contesting is a great way to test your stations capabilities, hone your operating skills, and try new modes!  It is also a LOT of fun!  I learned that while working more local stations with my antenna is often frustrating the setup does work, and works well!  I encourage all amateurs to try participating in at least one contest, you might find you have more fun than you previously thought!  To find out what contests are coming up, the WA7BNM contest calendar is a great resource!  https://www.contestcalendar.com/index.php.

  I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog on Brent’s World!  Please come back next weekend for more great content.  If you wish to be notified by email when new content posts you can register by clicking HERE!

On The Grill – Sea Pak Moreys – Grilled Steakhouse Salmon

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On The Grill – Sea Pak Moreys – Grilled Steakhouse Salmon

 

  Maxim’s….  I love Maxim’s…. “Of all the plans of mice and men…. Are wont to go astray…”. I had planned on reproducing the recipe of the Grilled Mahi Mahi that I made while camping on the Orlando trip.   Life intervened and I ended up not only with 2 lbs. of Mahi Mahi filets I needed to discard but without a blog!  Then I got to thinking…. I normally plan the first night of a camping trip to be one of the easiest meals to prepare!  Why not cook and review a meal using frozen pre-marinaded fish?   I used to by Sea Pak Morey’s frozen fish from the Commissary at Kunsan AB and always liked it.  So why not?

  Tonight, we are using the Wild Salmon filets with Steakhouse marinade.  The box comes with 2 5 oz frozen salmon filets with marinade in individually sealed bags.  You can prepare them frozen, or thawed (I am grilling so I thawed them by placing them in the fridge for 2 days.).   Choses sides was Wild Mushroom & Herb Rice Pilaf by Near East and Green Giant Simply Steam Southwestern Style street corn.

  Preparation could not be easier!  I removed the filets from the packaging and placed them in a baking dish.  Meanwhile preparing the charcoal grill.  I allowed 10 minutes for the coals to be ready, then began cooking the rice on the stove top.  I think arranged the lit coals properly in the grill and covered to preheat for an additional 10 minutes.   These sides would be very easily prepared on a camp stove!

  Once the grill was properly preheated, I cleaned and oiled the grill and placed the filets skin side down on the heated grill, allowing them to cook for 5 minutes before flipping over.

At this time, I began microwaving the corn for 6 minutes.

Once the corn was done, I plated the fish, rice, and corn.

Bon appetit!

The fish came out excellent!  Very moist and flavorful, and went well with the chosen side dishes.  I highly recommend this for an easily prepared meal camping, or at home.  The fish can also be baked.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog, please be sure to come back next weekend for more great content.  If you wish to be notified when new content is posted, consider registering by clicking HERE!

Blast From The Past – Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival

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Blast From The Past – Jinhae Gunhangje (Cherry Blossom) Festival.

  The Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree of Prunus semulata is a harbinger of spring in many countries in Asia, after the bitterly cold winters in Korea, many cities in Korea celebrate week long festivals to celebrate the blossoming of the Cherry Tree’s and the first sign of spring.   The festivals include parades, souvenir booths, Korean traditional and pop performances. While there are spring festivals all over Korea Chinhae hosts the largest and most popular.  I had wanted to check out the festival since my arrival but until this year never had the opportunity.

  We booked tickets from Yongsan Station direct to Masan on the KTX, Korea’s high speed rail service.  We then took a city bus (# 162) to downtown Chinhae.  We got off the bus after about a 45 minute ride and went straight to our Hotel.  The Hotel French Code.  The room was spacious and had a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath.  

  After a short nap it was time to go exploring!  It was not hard to locate the festivities, I just had to let my ears be my guides and follow the sounds of drums!   

Here are marching bands from various districts of Chinhae opening the festivities.  It was really fun to watch, and the bands encouraged the bystanders to participate, I was even pulled into one of the processions to dance with entourage,  I cannot dance on a good day, trying it with 20 lbs of camera gear on my back made it even less of a coordinated spectacle.

  The Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 is one of my favorite lens, and it’s versatility really shown here.  It was a lot of fun being able to walk unhindered through the parade.  You almost got the sense you were in the middle of a protest.  I am not exactly sure what this guy was supposed to be representing, but It certainly made me take notice!

and here is a bystander dishing out some Jinhae justice.

  Though we are here for the Cherry Blossoms, and here is a picture of the “Romance Bridge” with the cherry blossom trees in full bloom.

    After Sundown around 7pm we were presented with a fireworks display, marking the opening of the 2017 Jinhae Gunhangje.  I attempted to get some creative photo’s of the fireworks through the cherry trees but was only partially successful.  Providing a quick photography hint.

 

  • Try and be aware of EVERYTHING in the view finder. If it does not ADD to the photograph, then it is a distraction.  The light post in the middle of the photo here is a total distraction.  You need to move and get it out of the picture.
  • Move around, even if you think you got the perfect photo, try the photo with a different perspective, angel, and location.

  Here is a photo that I shot of the fireworks.  That may be the same light post, but it is covered up partially by the cherry tree’s,  the cherry tree’s are not much of a distraction in this case, because after all we are at the Cherry Blossom Festival!. The big distraction here is the powerlines.  The only way to have gotten the perfect picture in this case would have been to find out ahead of time where the fireworks were going to be shot from and scouted it out ahead of time, which was not possible for us.

  Mi Jung got some pretty good portraits,even though for the most part she was shooting without a flash.  I have cropped this to a 1:1 aspect ratio.  Mi Jung does have a good eye for composition, If she was not impeded by not having a Speedlight for a just a tiny bit of backfill, very little in the way of exposure correction would have been needed, and it would have removed the motion blur.  The other option here would have been to crank up the ISO, or use a higher speed lens (Mi Jung was shooting with the Canon 24-105 f4L). 

Here is Mi Jung and I near the entrance to the “Bridge Of Romance”.

The event did allow me to get some portrait practice, which I desperately need more of!  This is a great portrait, I like the good separation of the subject from the background, but I should have asked the couple to take just a couple of paces to the left as the two street lights behind the man’s head complete ruin the picture!  Though I will try and remove them later in Photoshop.  This was taken with the Canon EF-50mm F1.2L lens.

This picture is a little better, but again not paying attention to the background lighting, introduced a ton of lens flare on the man’s chin and the side of the face.  The lens flare would have been hard to pick up on the LCD at night, but I should have seen the big globes of light in the first picture.

The next day we took the festivals free shuttle bus to the closed Gyeonghwa station, as they have a famous static railroad display setup that I have always wanted to get pictures at.  They had another live cultural perform that Mi Jung took pictures of while I photographed the train.  Sometimes it can be difficult to get a good portrait with all the crows, but if you and your subjet are both patient you will finally get one that works out.

 That afternoon there was a scheduled performance and fireworks show down by the harbor that we went to.  Here are some photo’s of the afternoon practice session.  The performance turned out to be a disappointment due to poor planning and lack of security at the event.  There was no elevated stage setup, and security did not keep the late comers who did not heave seats from standing in the isles, completely blocking everyone’s view.  We gave up as we could not see anything.   So we walked around, took some pictures of the harbor, then went back to the hotel.

Here is a reflection portrait of Mi Jung taken from  a puddle of water.

It was time to wrap things up Sunday, take in the last couple of attractions and then head back to Seoul.  Our first stop was the Chinhae Post office which had a really interesting Korea Postal system museum.  One of the exhibits allowed you to press print historical Korean postage stamps.  This was a lot of fun! 

Our final stop was Jehwangsan Park located on stop of the mountain of the same name.  To get there we had to take this bizarre looking mono-rail.  It would almost be considered a funicular, but there is no second tram to offer a counter weight.

The view from the park was amazing.  Here is Downtown Chinhae, with all of the festival tents setup.  Here is the main downtime parade ground with the protected harbor in the background.

The park and observatory where peaceful (When I was not being pressed into being a mobile phone photographer..) 

Then it was our turn.

There was some really nice topiary characters that I had a great time taking photos of.

Our final stop for the afternoon was the Korean dancing display.  I thought it was a good performance, but Mi Jung was quite bored.   Though to be fair, she has seen more Korean dancing then I have.

I also cannot claim I was paying attention to the performance the whole time either, was I began to talk around, taking random pictures of other things going on in the background, like the police officers directing traffic.

Or these officers having a chat.

I would like to say that the Chinhae Cherry Blossom festival was all that I expected it to be.  I did have a good time, it was great to get away from Seoul for 3 days.  Our hotel was nice, and within walking distance of the festival.  Maybe because I have been in Korea so long that I am festivaled out.   They all seem to offer the same things!  

Chinhae looks like a great place to visit even outside the big cherry blossom festival, so if you are looking for a weekend getaway I would recommend checking Chinhae out!  Though the window of the Cherry Blossom festival is over, there is always next year.  The festival usually takes place the first or second weekend of April.

How to get there.

KTX from either Seoul, or Yongsan Station – Masan.
Then take bus # 163 from Masan Station (This is an additional 48 Minutes)

From Gunsan
Traveling from Gunsan involves a bit more transfers, but easily ticketable on the KoRail website www.letskorail.com!  I was unable to find routing (even as a transfer) from Gunsan Station, but if you search from Iksan Station to Masan being sure to select the transfer option (Not direct!)  you will be able to book tickets to Chinhae!   You can either book separate tickets from Gunsan to Iksan, or take the free shuttle from Gunsan station!  Once you arrive in Masan take the #163 bus to Jinhae.

 

Where To Stay

I recommend checking out Hotel French Code. 

It does have quite love motel in appearance, but they have large bathrooms with Jacuzzi baths and is centrally located to downtown.  As the name has recently changed, you will not be able to locate the hotel address on the internet.  I had to search for Chinhae Pasta Hotel which is right next door.   Another word of caution.  The GPS signals seem not be accurate, when I pined the hotel before leaving it put me almost a half a mile off course!  So, use with caution.

Mappable Phone # 055-547-9812

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On The Road Again – HamCation 2025

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On The Road Again – Hamcation 2025

  I think it is about time to wrap this up!  So I will concatenate Day 1 and 2 into a single blog instead of breaking down day 1 and day 2 of Hamcation.  I had not been to an amateur radio convention for about 25 years, so I was excited to be going to one again.  Which is interesting since I really did not get a lot of photos ( only 44 )!  I guess I just do not do very well wondering around trade shows.. 

  I repeated the theme of not being able to get out of the cot at my self appointed time, but still managed to get to the fair grounds and pick up my ticket at Will Call before the gates opened.  I was able to meet Gary Wise W4EEY who is primarily responsible for me being able to pass my Amateur Extra upgrade test!  Which was very exciting.  If you are studying for your first amateur radio license or an upgrade please stop by his web page https://w4eey.com/index.html and YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@W4EEY you will not be sorry you did!  His online classes hosted by himself and Dave Ivey KE4EA are informative, easy to follow, and entertaining and will walk you through everything you need to get or upgrade your amateur radio license!

  Once inside the convention grounds I headed off to my first forum (These forums were hit and miss, mostly because 1) Bad time management as you will read about in a second, 2) I assumed the forums I selected would be something they were not.  As evidenced by the first two forums I attended 1) AUXCOMM in Florida, and 2) Things have changed, choosing a new radio. 

  I thought the AUXCOM would give me guidance about how to join and participate in the various emergency communication grounds in Florida.  What I discovered was that the landscape of volunteer emergency or EMCOM operators has changed since I dropped out of the hobby in 2010.  Instead of just the Radio Amateur Emergency Services R.A.C.E.S (Which was run by the County in San Diego and the US Civil Defense.). and the Amateur Radio Emergency Services, which worked with both City, County, and Federal agencies and was sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).  Which was largely Amateurs working with their professional counterparts.  AUXCOM seemed to be more professionals working in law enforcement, EMT, Fire Fighter roles, who also happened to be amateur radio operators.  I was just as at a loss on how to get involved in one of the local groups leaving the forum as when I entered.

  The second forum of the day “Receiver and Transmitter performance, what has changed in 10 years?” almost led to quite a bit of embarrassment  as I had to do everything, I could think of not to fall asleep.  I thought the forum would describe continuing advances in Software Defined Radio or SDR and what innovations our VHF and HF radios might have in the future.. Instead, it was mostly a 45 minute talk on comparing the features on current lineup of HF radios, and how to use their features.  As I just bought 2 new radios in the last year, I was NOT in the market for a new rig, so I tuned most of it out.

  Needing to take a break from the forums, I headed over to the East Coast Reflectors booth,  I had promised Dick the Godfather or W2JPQ that I would stop in, check out their portable repeater and go to dinner with them later in the evening. 

  Here is the W2JPQ East Coast Reflector portable 70cm repeater. 

I had to joke with Dick if he has ever tried carrying that on to an airplane.  I then confirmed directions on where we were all supposed to meat for dinner that evening and headed off to take a break until the next forum at 1300 “ ARISS Future of Amateur Radio In Space.  “, 

  Which talked about an upcoming capsule mission that will involve Slow Scan Television “SSTV”, amateur radio, and school kids around the world called Fram2Ham.  I am always interested in spaceflight, amateur radio, and introducing students to ham radio.

 

I walked around the vendor booth, checking out the new offerings from the main 3 ham radio vendors, Yaesu, ICOM, and Kenwood.  Checking out their latest products.

Here is Baxter at the ICOM booth.

We stopped by the Boy Scouts Of America display, which had an interactive Morse code display, which Baxter had to check out!  Baxter being a No Code General has often heard of my tales of struggling to pass the 13WPM code test to get my General License in the late 1990’s.

 Baxter was also really hopeful that we would win one of the many Hamcation prizes, but alas.  We came away empty winged.

 I then stopped by the ARRL Special Event Station W1AW / 4 to sign up for an operators slot the following day!

  I finished thing up around 5pm and headed over to Miller’s Ale House to meet the East Coast Reflector Gang.  I got there early and waited at the bar to rehydrate with a couple of Cokes and lots of water.  The dinner was great!  I had the Prime Burger and fries.  I really enjoyed the burger, which was flavorful and cooked a perfect medium rare!  The camaraderie and conversation of the fellow users of the ECR was the reason I went to the convention.  After dinner it was back to the camp site for a shower and good night’s sleep.

   Once again!  I was slow getting out of the sleeping bag and to the event.  Which made me think I missed the forum I really wanted to go to, “ARMY and Air Force MARS: Joint Mission to Support the Troops.”  Had I taken time to read the forum schedule I would have realized it did not start until 1030, and I had plenty of time to attend!  I did make it to a really good forum on emergency communications called, “Calm Voice in the Storm, Amateur Radio Relevance in Disasters” with N4RFI David Craig, KK3S Ribert Carrol, KQ4PZC Christopher D’ Hedouville, Kj4SFM Howard Bennet, and K2DMG Dan Gitro.  Which covered the importance of amateur radio during Hurricane Helene and Milton and how amateur radio was responsible for the rescue of 17 people in North Carolina from a single radio call on a hand held VHF/UHF transceiver.

   I did make it to the discussion about the Statewide 70cm repeater network called SARNET, and then it was time to head to ARRL Special Event Station to make our 2:30pm slot!

  I had fun operating W1AW/4 and would really love to go to the actual W1AW station in Newington, CT! I made several DX, and a few stateside contacts and it was time to let the next operator have their turn.  There was one awkward moment where another ham, monitoring a Parks On The Air operation from their station in North Carolina said I was calling CQ right on top of them.   Which I had no idea was on the same freq. because I could NOT see them on my scope, and more surprisingly I did not hear not see any stations replying to them before I started using the Frequency.. 

  I also found it awkward using someone else’s callsign.  You become so accustomed to various precures using your our callsign, you find it is just second nature and  say something like, “QRZ KILO FOXTROT SIX HOTEL DELTA.. Ohh Ohh Sorry..  Whiskey One Alpha Whiskey Portable Four!”

  Wrapping up our time at the convention and stopping by to say goodbye to the folks at the ECR booth, it was time to head back to the campsite for an early dinner and campfire. 

  Sunday morning it was time to tear down the campsite and get on the road!  Had a great time at Disney, camping, and the ham radio convention. I have mixed feelings about not having an RV and being able to stay at the event site, as I feel I missed out on being able to camp, play, and talk radio but the experience and peace at Moss Park was so positive I think I want to stay there when attending next year! 

  Thanks for stopping by Brent’s World to follow this series of blogs!  It has been a few years since I have published an event or travel series!   Please come back next week for more great content.  If you wish to be notified when new content is posted consider registering by clicking HERE!

On The Road Again – Day 3 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

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On The Road Again – Day 3 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

 

   We made it through days 1 and 2, and are headed into our final day of Disney!  Once again waking up fighting with the snooze button!  Out to the camp stove for the required morning cup of coffee and on the road to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Hollywood Studios opened in 1989 and is an idealized representation of the Golden Days of Hollywood.  When choosing my 3 parks, the 3rd park was a toss up between going here or Animal Kingdom.  Since I will be going back to see the bats at the Lubee Bat Conservancy in April I decided on Hollywood Studios.  I cannot compare the two to validate or regret my decision as I have never been to Animal Kingdom.  The bats were tired for the last 2 days, so they stayed to rest at the campsite. 

 

  My first stop was Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, were we dodged the presence of the storm troopers to get in line for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.

Just my luck that even at a theme park I have to ride OBS.

 I then headed over to Star Wars: Ride of the Resistance, were we were captured, scheduled for interrogation by the First Order, then rescued by the resistance at the last minute.  This is a very fast paced ride, and the animatronics and special effects are second to none!   I really enjoyed this ride and definitely recommend it to guests.

I then took a break at Mama Melroe’s Ristorante Italiano for a pizza and pasta lunch.  I was not expecting much for a theme park lunch, but was very pleased with the Mushroom Pizza!  I have said several times that I am not a big fan of thin crust pizza but this culinary delight reminded me a lot of one of my favorite restaurants in Seoul 8 Piece Pizza And Beer,

The entree of Braised Wagyu Beef on Orecchiette was disappointing and I would not order it again.  I did not find it very flavorful and the dried Cherries I found flavorfully out of place and I confused them with raspberries. 

 To be fair, I think I just picked something that I did not find appealing, as the pizza was good I would not count it against the restaurant.  I would go back and try another entrée on the menu.

  After lunch it was time to head off to the haunted Hollywood Hotel for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. 

This is the tallest ride in the park and easily one of my favorites!  The ride is almost a duplicate of ride of the same name at Disney’s California Adventure park in Anaheim (removed).

I ended up going on this ride a couple of times in a row and on one of the rides I was seated with a group of young women from a local high school (Picture below is from an earlier ride.).

The person sitting next to me was very scared of the ride and she asked me if I had been on it before.  After answering the question in the affirmative, she proceeded to ask me if the ride was very scary. I answered “No”, and the look of relief on her face was palpable.  “Though I also bungee jumped off a 722ft tower in Macau.. So I might not be the best person to ask..”..  The look of dread promptly returned.  ZING 1….   She then let me know she would be using my arm rest.  “That’s okay, I won’t be holding on..”  ZING 2!  

  It was then over to the Indian Jones Stunt Show.

  I decided to make this en early day and head back to the campsite for a nice fire!

3 days of walking around Disney Parks I totaled 28,872 steps!  This is more then I get in most months.  I was definitely looking forward to my planned off day at the campsite!

 I enjoyed my time at the Disney parks, ranked in order of my personal enjoyment.  EPCOT (Which I would like to go back and spend more time, as I know there was a lot I did not get a chance to experience.)  Disney’s Magic Kingdom, and finally Hollywood Studios.  A 3 day Florida Resident package at $60 a day is a steal, but the parking for an additional $30 is a bit much.  Though again, still $10 cheaper than a VIP tour at the Kennedy Space Center!

 The next and final blog in this series will be about the ARRL South East Amateur Radio Convention known as “Hamcation”!  I hope you have enjoyed the series so far.  Please come back often to check for new content and if you would like to receive an email notification when new content is posted please consider registering by clicking HERE!

On The Road Again – Week In Orlando – Day 2 Disney’s EPCOT

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On The Road Again – Week in Orlando
Day 2 – Disney’s EPCOT

 

  Day 2 arrived a lot faster than I was either expecting or wanting it to.  With all the standing and walking around the day before, it would have been nice to have been able to sleep in!  No rest for the weary however, and it was up once again to put coffee on the stove!   Remembering the lesson that I learned the day before, I searched for and programmed EPCOT Toll Plaza into the GPS!  38 minutes and $30 later Julius and I were parked and headed for the gate! 

  I was looking forward to today’s trip, While Disney has sister parks on the west coast for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, EPCOT stands on its own.  Opened in the 1980’s EPCOT, or the Experimental Planned Community of Tomorrow came out of Walt Disney’s desire to build a futuristic community on the Orange County, Florida Property.  The park was a hybrid of a vision of what our world may look like in the future, and a World’s Fair.

 

  Our first stop was Spaceship Earth, which takes you through a timeline of the earliest forms of written communication ending with the introduction of the home computer.

  Spaceship Earth was a good ride, and I felt it covered the subject really well.  I would recommend it to anyone visiting EPCOT.

  Our Next stop was Journey of Water: Inspired by Moana, where Julius and I setup for a photo Op!  (This also kicked off an awkward encounter with a misinformed employee, who interpreted the selfie stick ban in the park to also extend to tripods..), which is  NOT the case.  The park currently allows tripods IF they can fit in a standard backpack and do not extend over 6 feet.  A quick walk to Guest Relations to get the rule clarified and we were back in action!  I did take the time to let the employee know that tripods are OK, to avoid escalating the situation once he saw I was once again using my tripod.  All the staff involved were very polite and it was just a simple misunderstanding!

  This was pretty cool.  These ‘caves’ had curtains of water made up of separate water streams, sensors would shut off individual streams in the shape of your body.  You had to “Trust The Water!”,  I did with over $3000 worth of gear on my back!

  There is a really nice statue of Te Fiti.

  Julius and I then headed over to the Finding Nemo ride.

  While we enjoyed the ride, I really enjoyed the aquarium exhibit afterwards!  Great place for photo opportunities….  Here is Julius and I posing with Chum!

 

  We then headed over to Living With The Land, which was a very nice and relaxing ride looking at the history of farming around the world, and what Disney is doing to not only find innovative framing methods for a future sustainable food supply, but how they also use these methods to produce the fruits and vegetables, in their parks and resorts. 

  If you are interested you can sign up for a behind the scenes VIP tour ( seen here!).

  I think these are the best two photo’s of the entire trip!  The first one was shot with the iPhone HIpstamatic App, which I think turned out so well I had to duplicate it with the DSLR.  Vote in the comments which you think is the better picture!

 

  It was then time to head back to the campsite, fix dinner, and get ready for tomorrow adventure at Hollywood Studios!  

  I enjoyed EPCOT, it was a nice laid back transition between the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  I know I BARELY scratched the surface of what the park has to offer.  One of these days I will do more research and have a plan of attack, so I can see more of its attractions!

  I hope you are enjoying this multipart blog, be sure to come back to read about our day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!  If you would like to be notified by email when new content is posted, please register by clicking HERE!

Technical Quickie – “Issues” after upgrading to Mac OS Sequoia

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Technical Quickie – “Issues” after upgrading to Mac OS Sequoia

Wow!  It has been ages since I have posted a Quickie!  This evening I upgraded to Mac OS 15.3.1 “Sequoia” which went off relatively painlessly.  There was one issue that popped up right away!  The second issue was related to trying to fix the first issue..

#1 Address Unreachable error in Chrome when trying to access Brent’s World (Worked fine with Safari).  Okay Okay, I see what you are all chuckling about!  If you are a home user who does not run any local websites or services, this is will be a non-issue!  If you are in corporate IT.  Take NOTE!!!, and remember to think outside the box.  This may also affect on premise client server applications, so if applications are behaving in a strange manner or cannot connect to their servers, you may want to add this to your troubleshooting steps.

Issue: Apple has added additional levels of security to applications accessing resources on the local network.  You are now prompted on the launch of network aware applications, if you want to allow “The application to find and communicate with devices on your local network.”  I guess I misunderstood the question, because I had answered no.  In a broad sense, I do not want apps to “find” and start chattering with random devices on the network, but I have not yet been able to find any granularity, to say.  I want Chrome to be able to access websites on my web server, but not access file shares. 

  To make a long story short, by me answering no.  It denied Chrome access to anything on the local network, where the web server resides, and only presented this error, which made it seem like an application issue!

How to fix: Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network.

Move the slider to the right of Google Chrome to the On position.

Interesting that only third party applications are listed here..

Issue #2 : When approaching this as an application issue, I attempted to flush the DNS cache in the terminal, only to find out that I was no longer in the sudoers file.  This is the first time to my recollection that this file has been overwritten during an update. 

Solution – Switch user to the local admin account and add your username (or group) back to the suderos file using visudo.

NOTE: it is CRITICAL that you use visudo do make changes to the sudoers file, as the file is in use by the system ‘visudo’ copies the file to a temp file to be worked on.  The temp file is written back to the actual sudoer file on exit.

So far these are the only issues I have seen with Sequoia.  I have started a new thread on the forums, and will continue to update that as the need arises.

Thank you for visiting Brent’s World!  Be sure to check back weekly as new content is posted.  If you with the be notified by email when new content is posted, click HERE!

On The Road Again – Week In Orlando – Drive Out and Day 1 at Magic Kingdom

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On The Road Again – Week in Orlando

Drive out – and Day 1 at Magic Kingdom

  It has been 6 months since I have taken any type of  road trip (Not since the Florida Bat Festival last August).  The ARRL Southeastern Division Amateur Radio convention also known as Hamcation is held every year in February and I have never been to the WaltDisney World parks (Growing up in South California, and Disneyland being only 2 hours away meant that we always went to the West Coast Disney Parks.  Adding camping to the list of  things I have not done a long time.  Put all these all together and what have you got?  A week long camping trip in Orlando Florida that included the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Hamcation!  Come along for a lot of hits, some misses, but never a dull moment on a road trip with Brent!

   The 2 days before departure were filled with running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting last minute tasks done!  I had intended to be on the road around 8, but I kept hitting the snooze on my iPhone, I did not get on the road until 1130!  This would usually not have been a problem and I tend to not stick to any set schedule on road trips but the gate to the park I was camping in closes at sunset, which this time of year is 6pm!  The GPS had me scheduled to arrive at 6:15.  A call to the park, and I was able to make arrangements to be checked in by the campground host.  At one of my fuel stops I discovered the error of my ways!  I had somehow enabled the Toll avoidance mode on my iPhone and the route the Maps application chose to  get around the Florida Turnpike added an extra hour to the trip!  I ended up arriving at Moss Park at 05:57pm!  Just by the skin of my teeth!

  I wasted no time setting up camp and was tired enough that I decided to skip a formal dinner and subside on some Publix pasta salad and a Roast Beef sandwich I had made at home.  It was then to bed early and get ready for our first Orlando Adventure at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. 

  I had every intention of waking up at 0730 to get coffee on the stove and head out to the Magic Kingdom.  Exhaustion from driving and setting up camp won over and I ended up hitting the snooze button until 0800.  I was finally able to drag myself out of the sleeping bag and get going!

  Fortified by freshly percolated Starbucks Breakfast Blend, it was time to hit the road.  I made a slight mistake by programming just “Magic Kingdom” into Apple Maps, which took me right to one of the hotel parking lots.  Save yourself the headache and program in “Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza” instead.

Finally parked.  Baxter and I were in the tram to The Magic Kingdom!

  I had already purchased 3 day Florida Resident tickets, and made my reservations for 3 parks so I could bypass the ticket lines.  I had an extra stop with security due to my camera backpack, tripod, and Handi Talkie, but the screening was quick and polite, (Disney should provide training to the TSA and the number of complaints with that agency would drop to zero!).

  Our first stop was Tomorrowland and Space Mountain, I was eager to compare the ride to the one in Disneyland in California and Hong Kong.   Besides for the volume of the rides soundtrack, I did not notice much difference, though it did seem darker without some of the background effects I seem to remember form California, but that could just be due to the fact I have not ridden it in over 20 years!

  We then quickly headed over to the Tron ride, which was probably our longest line of the day (with the Jungle Cruise being the second longest!).  I really enjoyed this ride!  The G-Forces were out of this world!  I would have gone on the ride again, but the process of securing all of my camera gear in a locker was just not worth it!

  Leaving the ride, I setup for one of my first technical remote photo shoots!  I had mentally seen a couple of places I wanted to try to get ride photos.  What a technical nightmare!

While it was easy getting a great on ride photo without me in the picture, I just HAD to get a couple with Baxter in I in it!  Enter the headache.

  So, getting the Camera Connect app setup, mentally and visually counting off when a train might pass where I want it in relation to the subject (ME). I set about a lesion on “just good enough!”.  Here I am too late!

  This was the closest I could get to the perfect picture I had in my mind, and this is with 1:1 cropping in post.

I think the best picture, was this one with Baxter, though I still have the phone up, which I usually do not want, so.  I can still use it, and create the story that “Baxter was doing his best to help get a a complicated shot!”.

  One more try, and we were a fraction of a second too late.  Time to reflect on other lessons, like the Professor Falken’s lesson in War Games, that sometimes you just have to give up!

  We then headed over to the Autopia, and Baxter got to try driving a car!

  After going to several rides that I wanted to, it was only fair to give in to Baxter’s desire check out the haunted mansion.  So off we went to one of Disney’s most enduring and beloved attractions. 

I did not get any on ride photo’s but here is Baxter hamming it up after getting off the ride!  I enjoy this ride.  I think the ride at Magic Kingdom is a bit longer, and the dining room scene is enhanced from California.  I did not see the section where a ghost rider is projected into your “carriage”.

If you are a frequent visitor of Brent’s World, you know I make an effort to put gags into my blogs, so we had to do It’s A Small World!  So off we went to what should have been the least stressful and trouble free ride in the park.   I ended up accidently elbowing a young girl in the head getting on the boat and taking off my backpack!  Not one of my more coordinated moments, and extremely awkward all around!  Fortunately, apologies were accepted and outside of a moment of abject shame, we settled down to enjoy the ride.  I later felt guilty because I realized I spent more time apologizing to the parents than the girl I clocked in the head!

Waiting in line, I could not help feel I was beginning the Squid Game!

Baxter got a kick out of the ride though and was all smiles!

We then headed off to Pirates Of The Caribbean, which for some inexplicable reason I did not get any photo’s on!

 

Finally we hit the Jungle Cruise, which is always a favorite due to the on-ride humor.  I got a kick out of these 1940’s style mailboxes, because they are still in use in the Kunsan Air Base’s mailroom.

Here is Baxter, keeping a sharp lookout for any relatives hanging in the trees.

  Don’t know what happened here, but looks like a potentially explosive situation!

  Ahh, the pride in this photo!

Yup, this is definitely Florida!

This picture makes me feel so “ALIVE!”

 

A game of Happy Hippo anyone?

This picture reminded me of the Cambodia Temples.

What is a river cruise without some elephants?

It was then time to head back to the campsite, have dinner, and get ready for our day at Disney’s EPCOT!

Getting back to the campsite, tired but in need of real food, I baked a potatoe on the grill, and fixed up some Mahi Mahi and Rice Pilaf!  I had forgotten to bring the ingrediants for the rub I had intended to season the fish with, but desperation fosters innovation!  Wondering how the Texas Roadhouse Steak Rub would work, I decided to give it a shot!  It ended up turning out really good!

Fortified with a great dinner, and refreshed from the free hot showers at Moss Park, into the tent I went, to start my fight with my snooze button all over again!

Thanks for reading part 1 of a series of blogs documenting my trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Hamcation in Orlando!

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Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs – A look back at 2024 and looking ahead to 2025!

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Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs – A look back at 2024 and looking ahead to 2025!

  I always make the first blog of the new year about what I have accomplished on Brent’s World and what the plans and hopes for the coming year will be, as well as thank YOU my viewers, because seriously… Without you, I would just be writing everything for myself. 

   I have to say that 2024 flew by!  It seems like yesterday I was facing the challenge and uncertainty of leaving Korea and moving back to the US, with no job leads, place of my own, and realizing with the cost of putting down roots in the states again I would pretty much be emptying my savings.

  It was another shock to end up moving almost all the way to the other side of the country to Pensacola Florida, settling in to a completely new job there, and setup home, my network/website, and after almost a 20 year hiatus my amateur radio station.

   There were other triumphs along the way!  I finally was able to upgrade to Amateur Extra!  For that I would first like to thank Robert Jones, who got me bitten by the Ham Radio bug when you demonstrated the San Diego Repeater Association’s AUTOPATCH in 6th grade.  The Late Jack Dobbs (WB6AXW), for your patient pushing me to take the 5WPM and later 13 WPM morse code test.  Chris Ruggiero, for all the fun we had exploring new facets of the hobby when we were still wet behind the ears radio amateurs. The T-Hunts, Conventions, and contests!  It has been a rewarding adventure to say the least!

  So, while my energy and effort spent on the blog the past couple years has waned, as my stats clearly show, 2025 marks the opportunity for renewed energy and opportunities for more and better content!  Let’s take a look at the stats for 2024!

   In 2024 I wrote 19 posts, which surprisingly was an increase from 2023 (A lot happened in 2022 – 2023!), some of my favorite blogs of 2024 were.

 

 

On The Road Again – The Lubee Bat Conservancy – We took a road trip to Gainesville for a private VIP tour of this great nonprofit organization dedicated the research, conservation, and breeding of endangered species with a primary focus on bats.  Which are crucial to our rainforests, pollination of fruit trees, insect control, and more! 

 

 

On the Road And On The Air – Installing the Yaesu FTM-500R – Installing a brand new 2meter and 70cm mobile radio in my Bronco Sport, so I can communicate with fellow radio amateurs on future road trips!

 

 

 

Pensacola Restaurant Review – Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant – It was so nice finding a Mexican Restaurant that served food in the same style as Nati’s Mexican Restaurant in San Diego, a Hendricks family staple!

 

 

  We had approx. 2,300 views. Up 1,100 views from 2023.

 

 

 

The most popular blog was On the Road and On The Air Again – Mounting the Yaesu FTM-500

 

 

 

Our viewers were from the United States, followed by Korea and Germany.

 

 

 

 

  So, what do I have planned for 2025?

  First and foremost, I need to get back to my 1 blog a week goal, alternating between getting out and exploring Pensacola, Restaurant Reviews, Technical, and Photography.  With amateur radio now being added into the mix, it will be a challenge to vary the content between radio technical, and computer technical.  Though sometime they will be combined.

  I always joke, “I hate writing!  That’s why I have a blog.”  Which actually hits closer to home than I sometimes want to realize.  It takes a lot of time and effort to plan and develop new content!  Though the reason I originally started this blog was to force me to get outside, share my experiences with others, push the boundaries of my technical knowledge.  As documenting and sharing often reinforces your understanding of a concept.  With the added bonus of keeping my writing skills at least par.

  Though as stated earlier, none of this would be possible without the support of the people who visit my page, if my view counters always read zero, this hobby of mine would quickly completely lose its appeal!

  As I like to say, “Onward, and upward!”  Lets see what 2025 will bring to Brent’s World.

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