Shed Building Plans

Well warmer weather has finally come and its about damn time.  The cold was starting to effect my mood.  But all is good now.  The days have gotten longer and Ive been out a few times on my bike and even back to steady commutes on the Ti General Purpose bike.  

The winter seemed extra long this year not only because of the bitter cold but late last year I upgraded a couple of my bikes rider interface components and hardly had a chance to enjoy them.  I was anxious to put some time on the Brooks B67 and really test it out so when the first warm day came around I took off on the bike trail.  I did encounter a few icy spots but most of the trail was dry and I logged 33 miles in two and a half hours.  

My Brooks saddle continues to amaze me.  It just seems unbelievable that a bike seat can be so comfortable.  I hit the trail after two months of not even touching a bicycle and sat for hours with absolutely no discomfort.  Dont worry though Im not giving up on the recumbent. 

I picked up some new tires during the winter for the Ti GP bike.  These Michelin slicks are a tenth of an inch narrower than the old rubber I was running and much lighter.  My old tires were durable yet heavy and made the bike feel sluggish but as the years past I just got used to it.  

1.40" equals out to about 36mm and on my old 26" mountain bike rims they seem to be a perfect balance between comfort and speed.  Im happy with the ride quality and the snappier acceleration from lighter tires is very welcome.  They are folding bead and only set me back about forty bucks. 

When I got the Bosco bar I wrapped the exposed alloy with old fashioned cotton bar tape. The tape has a little strip of adhesive on the backside just like modern bar tape to hold it in position.  I learned that back in the day cyclists would mix up a little shellac and coat the tape once their bar was wrapped.  At first I liked the cloth look and just left them as is.  

After some time went by I noticed the cotton was starting to fuzz up a bit and maybe starting to lighten just a touch.  It was staying tight but the more I thought about the shellac the more I realized it might be a good idea to slap a little on the tape.  At the local hardware store I picked up this little pint of premixed clear shellac. Nice! I didnt even have to mess with the raw flakes and denatured alcohol.

  

I used a foam brush to dab it on.  At first the cotton really soaked it in and once dried the appearance hadnt changed a whole lot.  After a few days I put on a second helping and the wrap picked up a little more gloss.  Now it look great but best of all the the fabric wont fuzz and those wraps will definitely stay tight.

Old man winter still has us in his icy grip but Ive been keeping warm inside at the operating position at W8MDE.  In the last week Ive taken advantage of the multi-band capabilities of my backyard antenna and worked some DX.  Besides my regular log book of all the contacts I make I  keep a list of amateur stations I work located in other countries and Ive managed to add a few new ones to the list.

As of right now the 10-meter band or 28 MHz is my favorite slice of radio spectrum.  10-meters is a great band for low power long range communications.  Ive noticed every morning just after daybreak signals appear and quickly gain intensity as the band "opens".  It is most definitely hard to tear myself away from my rig to head into work for the day.

I have been mainly using the digital PSK modes to chase DX but Ive also made a few CW contacts using Morse Code radiotelegraphy.  

PSK-31     7.040 MHz      HI8MU     Domincan Republic*

PSK-31     7.040 MHz      EA2BJS    Zaragoza, Spain*

PSK-63     7.040 MHz      F5RHD     France*

PSK-63     7.040 MHz      EH5ANT  Denia, Spain*

PSK-31     7.040 MHz      IT9CCB     Siracusa, Italy*

CW             24.902 MHz    IS0BOY    Sardinia, Italy

PSK-31     28.120 MHz    IV3JER     Italy

PSK-31     28.120 MHz    F1PKH      France

CW             28.020 MHz    E79D        Bosnia Herzegovinia

CW             28.020 MHz    YN5SU     Nicaragua

PSK-31     14.070 MHz    HR1EPZ   Tegucigalpa, Honduras

PSK-31     28.120 MHz     UR5ZD     Pervomaisk, Ukraine

PSK-31     28.120 MHz     R3FO        Dmitrov, Russia

PSK-31     28.120 MHz     ON4BWI  Merksplas, Belgium

*For these contacts I was using the 66 end fed half wave wire.  As a resonant antenna at the 40 meter wavelength the wire works much better than the short Gap Eagle antenna.

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One day I happened upon amateur radio equipment manufacturer Palstar Inc. based right here in Ohio.  What caught my attention was two models of communication speakers made and sold by this company.  External speakers have been around as long as radio but since most modern ham transceivers have built in speakers I never gave the idea much thought.  As predominantly a CW and digital operator the tiny on board speaker of my Icom 718 always seemed to work fine.  If I am sitting down for an extra long session or weak signal copying I usually use a pair of headphones.

After reading a few favorable reviews of the speakers at eham.net I decided the smaller of the two units would fit my needs nicely.  At the time I had a couple of days until I would be operating in the Straight Key Century Clubs Weekend Sprint so I called up the company and purchased the SP30B.  The service I received from Palstar was excellent and the speaker arrived well packaged the Friday before the sprint.

Three different ways to connect your audio in.

The online reviews I read all had one thing in common and that is exceptional build quality.  Like any reasonable person I took this with a grain of salt but as soon as I lifted the speaker out of the box I noticed that indeed it was well built and heavy.

Heres a description from the Palstar website:

The Palstar SP30B shortwave speaker is a custom engineered shortwave radio speaker. To truly enjoy the radio listening experience, you need a high quality speaker.

After completing the R30A shortwave receiver to rave reviews among users, the Palstar team saw the need for a compact shortwave speaker that is tonally matched to the R30A and designed to put out clear, low-distortion reproduction of the frequency range of broadcast human speech.

The key to quality speaker sound is magnet size. The SP30B has an 8 Ohm speaker with a hefty 6 oz. magnet, a frequency response of 60 Hz to 8 kHz, and a 5 Watt power rating in a custom-built wooden cabinet (black or cherry). The SP30B is the speaker that will bring back good sound to your listening experience.

I chose the black cabinet to compliment the rest of my equipment which is also black and it does look great on my desk.  The real test though came when I found a patch cable in my spare parts and connected up the speaker to my rig.  I am truly impressed with the sound that comes out of the SP30B.  The natural background noise and harshness of the HF spectrum seemed to be reduced and the sounds I want to hear pop from the grill more clear and loud than I ever experienced before with my amateur gear.  The tone of received CW signals now have a much warmer and pleasant quality that really does enhance my listening.

Next I tuned in some amateur single side band voice transmissions and discovered sure enough this is where the speaker really shines.  Ive never been a fan of side band audio and the Donald Duck like sound of transmitted voice.  With the Palstars response tuned to the frequency range of human speech it was as if my receiver had been transformed.  The voices I heard had a clarity and warmth that the stock speaker in my radio cant even begin to touch.  I noted the same outcome later that night when I checked out the shortwave broadcast bands.
   

The joinery of the hardwood cabinet is very well done.

 Im very pleased with the performance of this new piece of gear and happy to support a local business. Had I known what I was missing in the audio department I would have bought this thing years ago.  The volume is plenty loud and if its turned up a bit I can easily hear Morse code signals or voice from anywhere in my house.  Kudos to Paul Hrivnak, N8PH the Captain of the Palstar ship and the rest of his crew.  Thanks guys for a great American made product.


   

For a tutorial and pictures of the process, click HERE. 

Progress on the chicken house has been great! I feel like we are almost done now and that is a huge relief. We began trimming it and have two sides done, two to go. We still have to build the pop doors but the holes are framed and ready. We also have to put gravel in the run on top of the hardware cloth bottom. And then we need to lay the linoleum and build the roosts and droppings table. The coop is wired for electricity and so close to done. I will still need to paint but the siding came pre-primed and the fresh milled trim and battons can wait a while too.

Late last year I was looking for a way to more conveniently carry things while on my commuter bike.  I found what I thought was a great bargain; the Sunlite Handlebar Basket. Since I wrote that post eight months ago a few readers have inquired about how the basket was holding up.  I was going to wait until the one year point to evaluate the long term durability of the product but since another commenter recently asked I thought I would go ahead and address it today.

Im pleased to report come hell or high water the Sunlite Handlebar Basket has served me well.  The powder coat paint is still glossy and black with no cracks or peeling.  Welds are all solid and the basket has retained its shape.  Now after many months of use I would not hesitate to recommend this carrier.

For average daily use the usual cargo is my lunchbox and my jacket and gloves if it warms up later in the day.  Occasional trips to the grocery to pick up items for the days meal or a six pack is another area where the basket shines.  I am always curious and looking for other odd things I might be able to portage while leaving the auto back at home in the driveway.  Earlier this spring when it came time to start mowing the grass I hopped on my bike and peddled down to the gas station to fill my can.

One concern that was brought up on numerous online reviews and even here on my blog was damage to the head tube area where the lower bracket makes contact with the bicycle.  On my bike I have never pulled the black nylon hook and loop strap off to look underneath so I did this morning on the way to work.

I thought I better make my garden blog look like I have a garden instead of only a chicken house or two. Here are a few current pics of the raised bed garden.

If Jesus were around today I think hed like bicycles.  Recumbents especially; they would go fine with his beard and sandals.  I bet hed ride on water too.

Heres a shot from a week ago while I was riding the flatlands of Marion County. Note the water in the field.

Last Monday I wanted to stretch my legs a bit and do a longer ride.  I mapped out a route that utilized the B&O trail that Ive ridden countless times but to add something new I added a 13 mile loop off the southern end of the trail.  

 Sometimes I ride east from the trails end at Butler, Ohio a short distance to Mohican State Park and enjoy a big helping of hill country.  But I wasnt feeling like covering the same ground Ive been over before.  Luckily its hilly in every direction from Butler so I struck out east and then headed south on a country way called Bunker Hill Road that travels through southern Richland County .

On that ride I finally accomplished something that Ive always struggled with.  The first 25 miles of the ride was smooth sailing on the bike trail.  On the relatively flat surface of a rail trail its always tough to hold back and not get rolling too fast.  I occasionally glanced down at my cycle computer and backed off the effort every time I drifted up over 14 mph.  I havent used a heart rate monitor in years but Im sure my system was running a pretty low BPM.

That all changed when I hit the hills.  Contrary to the rumors recumbents can climb hills just fine.  They dont climb fast but theyll climb.  The first few miles didnt feel so good but after a while I got into my groove and started even to enjoy the climbs.  And of course climbing big hills has a sweet payoff; thats descending down the other side.  On the decent into Butler on the last hill I hit a top speed of 45 mph.

Back on the bike path I noticed I had plenty of gas left in the tank and held 16 mph for the last 12 miles.  This was another benefit of the conservative effort expended during the first part of the ride.    

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 This morning with coffee I was watching the second to the last stage of the tour.  I wasnt planning to ride today but needless to say watching the riders racing the stage that determines the winner of the tour in the Alps struggle along a route culminating with a climb up the Alpe dHuez I had to go ride my bike.

Periodically I like to do a time trial style ride where I put it all out and go as hard as I can for time. Kind of a test to gauge my fitness over the long haul.  Usually I ride my road bike when doing and all out effort but Ive not even got on my road bike this year so I said hell with it and loaded up the recumbent.  

I headed to the B&O trail which even on a Saturday isnt terribly crowded and provides the greatest distances between automobile crossings.  I decided the distance would be 30 miles and started from the northern end of the trail.  This time instead of holding back on the southern slightly downhill leg of the trip I easily managed 20 mph cruising speed and even with the crossings and slowing down for safety around other trail users I managed 18.3 mph average speed for the first 15 miles.

Of course I knew the going wouldnt be so easy going the other way but I persevered and contemplated on the spectacle I had just witnessed on the tour and figured my ride would be a simple warm up or the equivalent of a ride to the store for those guys.  But the inspiration payed off and I logged the best time Ive ever ridden on the recumbent even bettering many of the times I set on the road bike.

 30 Mile Time Trial
Ride Time:  1:43:43
Distance:  30 miles
Avg Speed:  17.3 mph