Well, it's been almost a year since my last post and, well, things have been happening. In fact, so many things have been happening that telling about it has been more than I could contemplate. That's why it has been a year.
So, first things first. About three months after I made my previous post I (finally!) managed to get a job. I'm a programmer for a company called Odyssey Space Research. They're one of those little companies that you've never heard of that do the vast majority of the work in space. I'm really happy here, I just wish it hadn't taken seven months to get on board. Buy me a beer, sometime and I'll tell you the whole story.
The big thing about Odyssey is that their Houston area office is located in Nassau Bay, Texas, and I am living in Katy. What that means is that it takes me somewhere between four and six hours to get to and from work every day. That's why I didn't get hired here in 2023, but I'm here now and so I'm moving.
Now, I'd been planning to move even before getting hired on here. With all the kids gone from the house and a desire for an actual antenna farm, I'd been meaning to trade a big house with a small yard for a smaller house with a much bigger yard. I was also thinking I wanted a single-story house because negotiating those stairs at all hours and for all reasons has gotten really old.
Anyway, my fiancee and I have found a place near to work that has everything we want so assuming we can do the deal it will be awesome. I don't think I mentioned that I'm getting married, but I am. Buy me another beer, and I'll tell you that story, too.
My gear is all working well, but I found out the reason I wasn't getting much DX through that HF J-Pole I bought is because it's really intended for NVIS work, so I'm looking forward to setting my DX Commander or, maybe, even a tower with a hex beam or something. We'll figure it out. In the mean time, I've been doing the odd bit of FT8 through my Hermes Lite 2, just to keep my hand in. I've concluded that I'm going to have to replace the CPU in my FT-847, but that will have to wait until after the move.
Anyway, that's all the news there is so far. If you want to comment, drop me a line at ka8kpn at ka8kpn dot org and I'll set up an account for you.