Eric Hendrickson

#HamRadio hobbyist, RF communications enthusiast in general, writer, publisher. Retired IT manager with a love for technical writing.

Visit me at w6hs.net

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2025-01-08

@K4HCK Is there a pattern of transparency issues with ARRL? I'd like to think they're doing the right thing but it is odd to make a declarative statement of this magnitude without at least some publicly-available data to back it up. If there's a "pile of data", it calls into question the methodology of whatever analysis they are doing with this pile.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2025-01-08

Winterheat Simplex Event 2025 is well under way. What a blast! A bunch of locals chasing each other around the bands. We need more participation on the West Coast. San Jose is lighting it up!

w6hs.net/winterheat-simplex-ev

The words "Winter Heat" carved in stone, glowing as if heated from within.
Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2025-01-05

@roguefoam It's the very modern form of "RTFM".

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2025-01-02

@AF0AJ I'm on 40M FT8 right now. Nice opening to entire Pacific Rim from the West Coast.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2025-01-01

@laser314 Go to work and save money so you can buy more radios!

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-31

@rdp As a licensed ham, my vote is extremely biased. It will keep your ADHD busy for a long time.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-31

@vk6flab Need a home in both hemispheres so you can enjoy endless summer.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-31

It's time to start thinking about Winter Field Day. Check out what it takes to participate in this annual cold weather event:

w6hs.net/winter-field-day-2025

#WinterFieldDay2025 #WinterFieldDay #HamRadio #AmateurRadio

A wintry sunset in a field of corn stubble. A tent along a creek in the distance. Text overlay: "Winter Field Day 2025"
Eric Hendrickson boosted:
Ben Lorica 罗瑞卡bigdata@indieweb.social
2024-12-28
Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-28

@knittingknots2 If you're going to use this crap, you really need to understand packet filtering and firewall configuration.

Much easier to just avoid this kind of stuff altogether. For what little one gains, the potential losses are significant.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-26

The "pause scanning while on mute" feature of the FTM-500 is annoying as hell. Who told you to stop scanning? For all the things Yaesu gets right, they sure like to throw some stupid shit into the mix.

Eric Hendrickson boosted:
2024-12-23
A meme that reads:

I am not a toy.
I am not a Christmas present.
I am a 40 year commitment.

Please think hard before you give someone a DMS-100 telephone switch this holiday season.

The text is superimposed over a view down an aisle of brown Nortel telephone switching equipment with green top and end caps - a DMS-100/200.
Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-23

Why are DC-DC charge controllers so pricey? I can buy a battery charger AND an inverter for the price of some of these DC-DC charge controllers. Is it just the lower demand that keeps prices high?

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-21

@LisaKalayji I'm so glad I took a moment to read your post. I'm in the same situation. Really tired of companies wanting more and more and then repeatedly demonstrating their inability to keep it safe and secure. You've inspired me to get moving on a project to put Linux on a well-equipped and fully competent iMac that is very annoyingly approaching the end of it's supported lifecycle. Thank you for putting it out there.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-21

@douglasvb I hear you loud and clear. As I pondered winter solstice this morning while it was completely dark outside, I couldn't help but think if this were summer solstice, I'd already be outdoors puttering in the garden, watering potted plants, sweeping the sidewalk, or some other minimally meaningful nonsense. I'd find some reason to stand in the morning sun and sip coffee. As it is, I'm hunkered down with heat and dehumidifier trying to stay warm and dry for the next few weeks.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-21

@douglasvb We've hit rock bottom and lived to tell about it. Within just a couple of weeks, it will become noticeable that the days are getting longer. Fantastic! I can't wait.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-21

@taekehf @m I usually run FT8 at 20 to 35 watts, sometimes 50 to 80 if I'm chasing a particular callsign, but I generally don't use much power for FT8. I was shocked when I saw Icom's website promoting their new 1,000- or 1,500-watt amplifier stating that it's good for FT8. PSKReporter makes it pretty easy to see how your station performs at various power levels. When propagation is good, I like to be amazed with five or 10 watts.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-20

@quantensalat That would do it! 😂

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-20

I sure hope the annoying 60hz buzz that now covers much of 40m goes away after my neighbor takes down their Christmas lists that have been on 24 hours a day since Thanksgiving.

Eric HendricksonW6HS@mastodon.radio
2024-12-18

@m They like a warm spot to sleep as much as they enjoy being the center of attention. You've got a little friend right there.

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