Headed to Placerville,CA from Brainerd,MN, Monday.

[Snowizard]

Yup, driving there via I-94 across ND, MT, Bozeman, thru W.Yls, Island Park, Idaho Falls, and down to Salt Lake, and points west.
Leaving Monday Oct. 5.

Maybe I'll stop in and bug some Snowesters if I know in advance. Like Gimp in Bismarck, for example. LOL.

Should I drive thru Hardin, MT and take pics? Well maybe not a good idea.

I will have my laptop along,and if I find some open wi-fi I'll login to the 4M, and check this thread.

I may take a different route back, dunno yet.
Looking to get back home around Oct. 20th +/-

The car is loaded with a lot of my son's stuff, including a lot of his childhood toys. He never broke anything. Now he's a kid of 42.
Now the grandkid can play with the Tonka trucks, and the Tyco electric train.

Now the geek-tech part. Hello Mule? lol/jk
I've been working 2-days wiring up a lot of ham (amateur radio) gear.

You can track my whereabouts on http://aprs.fi/

APRS means Automatic Position Reporting System. This isn't new, law enforcement agencies , and fleet vehicles use something like this to follow squad cars on a map.

The system I'm using resides on 144.390 MHz, across the country. This all volunteer and financed by individual ham op's.
Data output from my GPS is fed into a VHF transceiver on 144.390, and is sent every 5 minutes via a "a packet data burst."
If you were listening on a scanner or ham radio it would have a short raspy buzzing sound.

Log into "aprs.fi" (yup, the website is in Finland! there are others, but this is most user friendly) it will show my position on a Google map. There will be a little red car icon, with my call sign next to it. A colored line will show my route.

But you will have to enter my station call letter in the search box on the right side of the screen. " W0WUG-9 " note the "0" is a zero, not an "oh."
Also in the "time search" box, enter something like 12 HRs, or 24 HRs to get a better view of my route.

There could be gaps in my path line on the map, caused by my mobile signal not reaching a terrestrial gateway station.

You may also see other mobile stations on the map as well, but will be tagged with different call signs.


I also will have HF(High Frequency 3-30MHZ) capability (separate from APRS). I got the ICOM-706 MKII/G installed today, and have a trailer hitch mount HF antenna.
It was a struggle finding a way from the battery thru the firewall of the Camry for #10 wire for the HF radio, but got the job done.

Questions, PM me or post here.
I hope to be in Placerville next Friday.

 

[Blu Du]

have a good trip wiz. stop in vegas and get a hooker or 2 on me

 

[Snowizard]

have a good trip wiz. stop in vegas and get a hooker or 2 on me

At my age, I recall I'm 'sposed to do something with a hooker, but can't remember what?

 

[XC700116]

Taking that route you'll have some great views once you get to about livingston, MT. And if you've never been through Jellystone park, instead of going through Bozeman, I suggest dropping down from Livingston and going through the park to West Yellowstone. Lotsa buffalo and swing by old faithful. If you've seen all of that then continue on the planned route.

Have fun and drive safe.

 

[Ex-Member]

Just #10 wire?

I ran 8ga for my VHF/UHF rig

Nice setup though. One day I'd like to get APRS on teh moto/sled.

 

[Wolfrun]

Yup, driving there via I-94 across ND, MT, Bozeman, thru W.Yls, Island Park, Idaho Falls, and down to Salt Lake, and points west.
Leaving Monday Oct. 5.

Maybe I'll stop in and bug some Snowesters if I know in advance. Like Gimp in Bismarck, for example. LOL.

Should I drive thru Hardin, MT and take pics? Well maybe not a good idea.

I will have my laptop along,and if I find some open wi-fi I'll login to the 4M, and check this thread.

I may take a different route back, dunno yet.
Looking to get back home around Oct. 20th +/-

The car is loaded with a lot of my son's stuff, including a lot of his childhood toys. He never broke anything. Now he's a kid of 42.
Now the grandkid can play with the Tonka trucks, and the Tyco electric train.

Now the geek-tech part. Hello Mule? lol/jk
I've been working 2-days wiring up a lot of ham (amateur radio) gear.

You can track my whereabouts on http://aprs.fi/

APRS means Automatic Position Reporting System. This isn't new, law enforcement agencies use something like this to follow squad cars on a map.

The system I'm using resides on 144.390 MHz, across the country. This all volunteer and financed by individual ham op's.
Data output from my GPS is fed into a VHF transceiver on 144.390, and is sent every 5 minutes via a "a packet data burst."
If you were listening on a scanner or ham radio it would have a short raspy buzzing sound.

Log into "aprs.fi" (yup, the website is in Finland! there are others, but this is most user friendly) it will show my position on a Google map. There will be a little red car icon, with my call sign next to it. A colored line will show my route.

But you will have to enter my station call letter in the search box on the right side of the screen. " W0WUG-9 " note the "0" is a zero, not an "oh."

There could be gaps in my path line on the map, caused by my mobile signal not reaching a terrestrial gateway station.

You may also see other mobile stations on the map as well, but will be tagged with different call signs.


I also will have HF(High Frequency 3-30MHZ) capability (separate from APRS). I got the ICOM-706 MKII/G installed today, and have a trailer hitch mount HF antenna.
It was a struggle finding a way from the battery thru the firewall of the Camry for #10 wire for the HF radio, but got the job done.

Questions, PM me or post here.
I hope to be in Placerville next Friday.

Wiz, If you come back through Wyoming I would hope to meet up this time. let me know. I am retired for sure now.

 

[Snowizard]

Taking that route you'll have some great views once you get to about livingston, MT. And if you've never been through Jellystone park, instead of going through Bozeman, I suggest dropping down from Livingston and going through the park to West Yellowstone. Lotsa buffalo and swing by old faithful. If you've seen all of that then continue on the planned route. Have fun and drive safe.

XC700116 Thanks for the tips, I have sledded in 'West' and IP areas before, and last winter when we were at Tog Lodge, I booked a guided tour of Jellystone as a Xmas present for my GF/SO.
Was a good day despite the -20F. Brrrrrrr.

I may stay a nite at the Golden West Motel, and bug Kurt and Shel . Been since 2003, last time.

I lived in Greeley,CO 1979-80 doing commercial 2-way radio work along the front range and south from Cheyenne.

Just #10 wire?
I ran 8ga for my VHF/UHF rig
Nice setup though. One day I'd like to get APRS on teh moto/sled.

Mule, I know there's a few other 'hams' on the 4M besides us, would be fun to hear from others.
#8 definitely an overkill, but won't hurt anything. 'Course if you are running a "brick" amplifier that would be fine.

The older solid state 110 Watt cop car radio's, like the MASTR II or MICOR, pulled 22 Amps on transmit. Don't remember what the 706 draws at 100 Watts P.E.P, Single Sideband mode, but intermittent duty for sure.

I got all the gear mounted on a 16" x 16" hunk of 3/4" plywood, sitting on the passenger seat. Antenna and RF connections are quick disconnect, so I can take the whole thing indoors at night.

We'll see how things go.

 

[Snowizard]

Wiz, If you come back through Wyoming I would hope to meet up this time. let me know. I am retired for sure now.

Yeah Wolf, I know where your town is. Maybe possible on my return trip. I think I have your phone number yet.
I will be checking into the 4M periodically too.

 

[kssnow987]

Have a good trip Wizard. I grew up in the Placerville aea. We had a cabin next to the Forni's. They had the redi-mix yard and snowmobile shop. What a combination. Concrete in the summer, sled in the winter. It should be beautiful this time of year. Travel safe.

 

[Snowizard]

Have a good trip Wizard. I grew up in the Placerville aea. We had a cabin next to the Forni's. They had the redi-mix yard and snowmobile shop. What a combination. Concrete in the summer, sled in the winter. It should be beautiful this time of year. Travel safe

Cool, my kid is just down the road at Eldorado. They have a little hobby farm with a couple horses. (only seen pics up to now.)

Thanks. I hope to post on here occasionally. I'm gonna be gone from home 2 weeks plus. I figger a week used in driving to/from.

 

[donbrown]

You might hit a few snow storms coming out west.

 

[NorthMNSledder]

Sounds like a fun trip man!

Take lots of pics along the way.

 

[Snowizard]

Update! I'm in Bismarck,ND, "Gimpster Ville" LOL.

Got a later start from Brain-nerd than I wanted. Got rolling at noon, after getting up at 5:00a.m..

Anyhow my daughter who works for a "big wig" in the Hilton chain, found me a nice hotel at a discount. Arrived at 6:30 p.m. 338 miles, 2 potty stops.

The APRS worked good until about Jameston, or before, when it started raining. I didn't realize that precipitation static on my 2-way antenna was creating such havoc in the data radio that it wasn't able to function.

But after I got off the freeway and slowed to city traffic it started working again in B'marck. I checked the aprs.fi site , and it shows me here! Taa-daa. (Fanfare.)
If you log into APRS.fi, set the "time" for 6, 12, or 24 hours, to get a better picture.

Also you can click more info, and see my lat/lon, and how fast I'm going.

Gonna try to make it to Golden West Motel tomorrow, in West Jellystone.

 

[Blu Du]

WTF wiz jellystone is 14 hr shot in the summer. if you left at noon you could of been there at 1 in the morn with gaining an hr on the way out. you could of caught kurt just coming home from strozzis. take it easy oldtimer keep us posted on the progress

 

[Gimpster]

Got a later start from Brain-nerd than I wanted. Got rolling at noon, after getting up at 5:00a.m..

Anyhow my daughter who works for a "big wig" in the Hilton chain, found me a nice hotel at a discount. Arrived at 6:30 p.m. 338 miles, 2 potty stops.

The APRS worked good until about Jameston, or before, when it started raining. I didn't realize that precipitation static on my 2-way antenna was creating such havoc in the data radio that it wasn't able to function.

But after I got off the freeway and slowed to city traffic it started working again in B'marck. I checked the aprs.fi site , and it shows me here! Taa-daa. (Fanfare.)
If you log into APRS.fi, set the "time" for 6, 12, or 24 hours, to get a better picture.

Also you can click more info, and see my lat/lon, and how fast I'm going.

Gonna try to make it to Golden West Motel tomorrow, in West Jellystone.

Rotten weather here dood. Cold temps too. I have not been on this site for a few days, so I missed your PM. Closed the shop at 8 last night to grab some grub. Came back in at 10:30 and worked until 4 this morning. Back in at 9 again. Been swamped here.
Logged in to help Lovesnow with some good Amsoil pricing. See if I can save him some bucks on the stuff.
Hey look, the boys turned my rep red, imagine that....
I'll shoot you my cell number in a PM in case you swing through on your way back. Shop is located on the strip between Bismark and Mandan. I'm almost always there. Have an epic journey !

Thanks my friend...

~ Gimpster ~

 

[Snowizard]

Tuesday's update.

BTW I took a pic at Hardin, MT. Was listgening to a MT radio station, and some of those city officials at Hardin have been fired, and some suspended.

Got to Golden West at 6:30 PM.
Kurt is gone somewhere, and Shel seemed too busy to talk much.

My cold is no better, and now evolving into a sinus infection. I get about 2 every year. Didn't need it right now, or ever.
Gonna check out the little clinic in W.Yls, and later maybe drive into the park.

The APRS is working as good as it can, but there aree not many gateway stations in MT, so I drove for many miles w/o logging any beacons. No biggie, its just an experiment.

My Nextel phone hasn't had service since Dickinson,ND. Paper weight.

I can post more pics later if the wi-fi works here. seems slow and unreliable.

 

[6Mile]

I like the MNUSA sticker in the back window. have a good trip.

 

[beer gut]

At my age, I recall I'm 'sposed to do something with a hooker, but can't remember what?

Ummm, I assume you'd take them golfing...

 

[oonighttrain]

Got to Golden West at 6:30 PM.
Kurt is gone somewhere, and Shel seemed too busy to talk much.

My cold is no better, and now evolving into a sinus infection. I get about 2 every year. Didn't need it right now, or ever.
Gonna check out the little clinic in W.Yls, and later maybe drive into the park.



I can post more pics later if the wi-fi works here. seems slow and unreliable.

Ya know, i guess thats the thing about owning a hotel and rental and managing numerous rental properties, those 2 (kurt and shel) are always, always on the go!! odd that your computer is working slow. mine worked great from my room or the shop while i was there.

by the way, buy kurt and shel a drink for me.. im sure i owe them one for something..

 

[swampwater]

Be carefull and don't use Twitter. Swampy

The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the government actions. "I guess if you have 5,000 police officers and a quarter-million dollars in fancy equipment, you have to do something with it," Pennsylvania ACLU legal director Witold Walczak told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Might as well go after some amateur ham radio operators in a motel room.” He also noted that police can communicate secretly, but that police radios are not secure.