W6KME

Ham Radio and emcomms, musician, tinkerer. CVARC, VCARC, VCARS, Instructor, ARRL & GLAARG VE and ARES/ACS. Ventura County BORED Net, µExpo and µField Day Administrator. CVARC Field Day coordinator (25A in 2026).

ARRL Santa Barbara Section Manager. This is NOT an official ARRL account however-all views are mine only.

Mostly ham radio stuff. Some social and political, based on sanity, not partisanship.

PeerTube:
https://peertube.tv/c/w6kme_channel/videos
http://theborednet.net

Public Key

npub157ywq5fzgq8trxklm6g6kajw028xcluzctse5z0a3j5kdqawwh5qmdnrkn

NIP-05 Address

W6KME@mastodon-radio.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs20z8q2y3yqr43nt0aaydtwe884rnv07pv9cv6p87ce2txswh8t6qpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qgem0k7

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

Author Public Key

npub157ywq5fzgq8trxklm6g6kajw028xcluzctse5z0a3j5kdqawwh5qmdnrkn

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Last Notes

2026-07-23 18:47:31 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v yes, quite different from a tack hammer, which is another complete family of tools. The basic feature of a tack hammer is being magnetic (to hold tacks for setting), so one end will be split. The "claw" end of this head is for shaping and forming leather.

2026-07-23 18:39:10 UTC

Starting a new tradition, highlighting interesting old tools I own and use. No schedule, no order, just fun stuff.
This is a saddler's hammer, used for leatherwork in general. Some say it's an upholsterer's hammer due to the tack puller; I've never found this exact hammer in an Osborne catalog. Similar to the #55 with the puller added. Note the grooved head for pulling stitches tight.
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#CoolTool #AntiqueTool
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2026-07-23 01:43:24 UTC

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@nprofile…xwug I don't recall, and they've left that business anyway. But you always knew it was Saturday when you turned on the radio, because you always knew what everyone was going to say next.
And hey-the penny just dropped...I KNOW YOUR VOICE! 👍
Lest it sound like I was complaining about CBS News Radio...KNX was the soundtrack to the better part of my life, always present for decades.

2026-07-23 01:14:04 UTC

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@nprofile…xwug CBS News, in the form of KNX in Los Angeles, routinely used recycled news stories all weekend long. Even if the stories used words tying them to a point in time; they didn't care.

2026-07-09 04:11:27 UTC

50% of the people who bought tickets over the years to see The Cure actually saw a band called The Placebo, and they enjoyed it just as much.

2026-07-02 17:49:01 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v Seeing a King is rare enough; that one is spectacular

2026-06-23 18:22:47 UTC

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@nprofile…fzdt @nprofile…eqsh If there is going to be a day where they will say the Great American Experiment died, it's today.

2026-06-23 03:44:11 UTC

I haven't made a "social media" post here about my club's Field Day efforts...so I'm gonna brag for a bit.
I'm the Field Day Coordinator for Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club. 2 years ago, we fielded 21 stations. Last year, 23. This year, we'll have 25, possibly one of the largest (legitimate) Field Day efforts ever, anywhere.
Where? 377 W. Potrero Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA. When? Starting June 27 at 11:00 for 24 hours.
Come by. Really. It's a hell of a show and always an amazingly good time.

2026-05-21 16:38:23 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v That's a name I haven't thought of in ages...in the 70s there was a water slide attraction there, visiting was a big deal.

2026-05-12 22:45:37 UTC

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@nprofile…dd8r A cautionary tale based on my friend's mistakes...if ordering from Amazon, don't expect the dimensions to be related to reality in any way. He recently placed FOUR orders to get project boxes of a specified size. The first three SAID they were that size on the order form, but weren't.

2026-05-12 22:42:45 UTC

Uh-oh, we all know what "5M" means in cat language.

2026-05-08 16:17:33 UTC

One thing I have really enjoyed on Mastodon is seeing really cool people I know join, and hook up with other cool people I already know from completely unrelated worlds.
The internet hasn't been this much fun since the usenet heydey of the 90s.

2026-05-07 21:44:03 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v Yes canula, no to constant flow. Most concentrators (which get their O2 from room air) deliver it on demand when inhaling. The flow rate depends on how fast you are breathing. There are ballpark equivalencies to LPM, but they are just that-ballpark.
I think of it like a scuba tank, only it's my battery capacity instead of compressed gas I'm using when I breather harder.
It's funny-people see the machine and assume something is wrong now. It's the opposite; now I can breathe.

2026-05-07 21:37:49 UTC

I gotta say, having oxygen support at last 5 years after covid, it's absolutely AWESOME. Everything about being alive is better. But the machine is a PITA to haul around.
Considering just keeping my house filled with a pure oxygen atmosphere, and just being REALLY careful not to generate sparks.
#longcovid

2026-05-07 19:13:17 UTC

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@nprofile…eqsh And the farmer paying the super-low cash price likely knows exactly what is going on.

2026-05-04 17:51:16 UTC

I like California. Just got notified via text that my ballot has been sent by mail, and to notify officials if it isn't received by a certain date. They also notify us of receipt of ballots, whether by mail or a ballot drop box, or at a polling place on election day.
Making it easy to vote. And making it easy to verify that some asshat hasn't "purged" you from the rolls.
#vote

2026-04-13 17:59:33 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v Nailed it. In every aspect.

2026-04-07 21:02:57 UTC

My old friend Clint Baker runs the Teagarden jazz Camp in California for young musicians...take a look!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx4clSeCfCk
#traditionalJazz #tradjazz

2026-04-06 19:01:48 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v I quit using anything from Adobe about a decade ago, when I had to give up astrophotography and no longer needed photoshop. Or at least at the time, believed the myth that I needed photoshop.
Adobe is one of the worst companies out there for installing crap you know nothing about that runs all the time, watching every key click and mouse motion.
My last challenge was replacing ThumbsPlus, not a great image manager, but I'd used it for 30 years with millions of images. Lots of inertia.

2026-04-06 18:27:15 UTC

The more I play with image manager digiKam, the more I like it.
Between digiKam, OpenShot and Gimp, I can't imagine ever missing Windows again. And especially won't miss anything from Adobe.
#linux

2026-04-05 16:43:38 UTC

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@nprofile…zvpa
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2026-03-23 04:50:15 UTC

Sunsets are no less beautiful when they aren't spectacular. From Rancho Conejo, the former Olympia Horse Farm in Ventura County, CA
#sunset #VenturaCounty
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2026-03-22 23:47:56 UTC

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@nprofile…eqsh Through my life I have been more liberal on some issues, more conservative on others, and my opinions have even changed. But one belief I have always had is that energy needs to be socialized. Completely. All of it. It's never been more obvious than it is now.

2026-03-10 16:50:01 UTC

What a difference a single digit can make, incremented by one. In back a Singer 211, in front a Singer 221. Both mid-1950s.
#sewingmachine #restoration
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2026-02-27 17:18:23 UTC

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@nprofile…qkd4 @nprofile…k95v I love that station, or at least the hams that keep the radio on. When no one is operating they still leave it running as a beacon. I have them on four bands now (all FT8), most exciting was 10m from California 👌

2026-02-27 17:15:14 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v That's industrial levels of lying, and undoubtedly coordinated.

2026-02-27 16:58:07 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v @nprofile…qkd4 I think that the ARRL list of continents considers it part of Oceana so that all of those scores of Pacific Island entities still belong to a continent. Calling Antarctica Oceana makes more sense than calling Pitcairn or Australia Antarctica I suppose.
As we all know, DCXX is a game, not a reflection of the real world.
I just checked and I DID get one SSB contact in Antarctica, from a Korean research base. LOTW counted it as Korea 😜

2026-02-08 04:40:36 UTC

It's bothersome how often I have to tell people no, I won't be joining their Discord or Slack group. Period.
If a group of ten of us needs to chat, I'll set up an IRC channel. It's not obsolete. It's not a dinosaur. You were told that by people selling you something that is bad for you.
#IRC #discord #slack #brainwashing

2026-02-05 17:52:40 UTC

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@nprofile…npfd For all it's flaws, Wiki still is and always has been the best source of information. No textbook ever written has footnotes that update in real time where a statement can be challenged, or a source or other evidence be demanded. That alone is priceless. The real value is at the bottom of the page-all the references that DO back up everything in the article.

2026-01-28 03:31:35 UTC

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@nprofile…2ch3 Let's not forget that everything the GOP and ICE were doing up until last week was perfectly fine with this guy. It's fun watching their party argue with themselves, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking it makes any of them less evil.

2026-01-18 04:48:09 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v I didn't know much about it (or any Singer industrial machines) but the specs are kinda scary...3500 stitches per minute with a walking foot triple feed, with quarter inch stitches. No wonder there are stories about people sewing their fingers and thumbs in these things!😮

2026-01-13 04:56:26 UTC

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@nprofile…k95v We have an Extreme FT8 DX club, made entirely of people who live within our ten mile wide area here.

2025-12-22 22:31:57 UTC

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@nprofile…r3k9 Very nice! My dream has always been to find a good sized leg vise cheap in a garage sale. Hasn't happened yet.

2025-10-31 04:25:46 UTC

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@nprofile…r3k9 Possibly the greatest entertainment I have ever seen was in a tiny theater in LA, where Eric Idle had asked some true giants to do a cold read-through of a play he had written, What About Dick. Eric Idle, Billy Connolly, Jane Leaves, Eddie Izzard, Jim Piddock, Tracy Ulman, Emily Mortimer, and incredible foley artist. They KILLED us. They killed each other. I have never laughed harder, I'm sure no one else had either. Curry was amazing. Hell, they all were.
It was unequaled.

2025-10-31 04:13:28 UTC

All Hallows' Eve Eve. I'm shivering with antici...pation.

2025-10-27 20:38:53 UTC

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@nprofile…h5m0 Good to know about those guys; I visit my daughter in SC often and it turns out it's walking distance. Nice!

2025-10-27 18:35:34 UTC

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@nprofile…r3k9 2921 then. I overlooked that completely. IT's actually amazing how well they matched in detail...identical engines from the same foundry always have differences.

2025-10-27 18:21:15 UTC

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@nprofile…r3k9 I'm about 99.9% sure that's AT7SF 2926 in New Mexico, but I can't find any other pictures in this display setting. But if it is, that is indeed a 4-8-4.

2025-10-20 15:43:15 UTC

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@nprofile…r3k9 Virtually every other computer in my life is Mint now. But it's very hard to get away from Windows in ham radio. So many specialized apps written by hams that lack the resources to develop for multiple platforms.

2025-10-11 21:13:24 UTC

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@nprofile…9zg9 I always enjoyed reading them in order, because STP's understanding of the Discworld grew with every story, and the books became better and better for it (until the embuggerance started to show itself). Thief of Time is one of my favorites.

2025-10-11 03:29:38 UTC

This morning on a drive from Ventura County to UCLA, couldn't get cell coverage, and surprisingly, even the GPS function of my phone went wonky. Reports are of an outage caused by vandals cutting fiber optic cables. I haven't' seen any details myself yet.
The interesting thing was the failure of Google Maps navigation once the cellular network crashed, I generally have good luck with it following a pre-loaded track outside of coverage areas, so this was surprising.
https://abc7.com/post/verizon-customers-report-outage-socal-impacting-mobile-home-internet-service/17979279/

2025-10-01 22:57:22 UTC

I just had a doctor tell me I am "probably safe" to come in for a test tomorrow, even though I'm still testing positive for covid. Probably? I suspect they are thinking of their schedule more than their staff or patients. I mean, this would be at a very crowded facility.

2025-06-30 14:31:41 UTC

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@nprofile…fn2v As someone living where it is very often quite a lot hotter than that, I know how much heat tolerance and acclimatization matter. Be sensible and look after the people around you!

2025-02-22 20:14:15 UTC

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@nprofile…92y4 Here's the uncropped photo, Henri Colle and Charles Parel in Dalstein, during the 1921TdF. Stages in those days were often over 18 hours, and beer was considered a good way to get water and carbs into the body. Given the state of the art in endurance sports at the time, they weren't far off the mark. This wasn't uncommon even into the 1960s. Energy drinks have replaced the practice entirely.
https://mastodon.radio/system/media_attachments/files/114/049/354/176/702/906/original/c74393f4aebc497d.jpg

2025-02-20 02:05:01 UTC

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@nprofile…vvm4 I'm gutten that I wasn't able to see any of the last flight.

2025-02-20 02:03:39 UTC

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@nprofile…vvm4 I remember that facade from 1964 or 65 when my sister spend a couple of weeks there. Not sure I've thought about it since.

2025-02-14 18:14:38 UTC

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@nprofile…20qw I haven't been there since around 1971 or 2...when I fell asleep floating on an air mattress for 5 hours without sunscreen. I hiked out in my underwear because I couldn't get trousers on over the blisters. Still have blotchy skin. Not a high point in my "use your brains" history.
Incredibly beautiful place!

2024-02-15 03:30:04 UTC

A Long Covid story
I've met so many people since I had covid, most of my ham radio friends in fact. And most of them don't see me as disabled or sick or struggling. I recovered enough to do some wonderful things.
What they don't know is what I was before. That guy is gone. I was a world-class jazz trombonist. Now I'm maybe average, and the phone no longer rings. Now I carry piles of notebooks to record every thought in hopes of retrieving it later. The mental fight is all day.

2023-09-04 19:01:40 UTC

Sometimes, after kayaking I leave my boat on top of my car for an extra day so people will think I'm one of those "exciting outdoorsy Subaru" sort of people instead of an "old man with a Subaru" sort of people.

2023-08-31 22:29:39 UTC

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@npub1aw2…d5jy Have you looked online lately? No one just gives advice any longer; you don't need AI to write crap instructions that never get to the point.

2023-04-12 16:55:20 UTC

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#[0] FWIW, I put new cells in an HP lappy pack and IT REJECTED THE PACK as fake. Looks like the people running the printer division took over the whole company.