[{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/ai/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"AI","type":"tags"},{"content":"Every post on this site, grouped by year.\n","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/archives/","section":"Archives","summary":"Every post on this site, grouped by year.\n","title":"Archives","type":"archives"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/automation/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Automation","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/blog/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Blog","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/homelab/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Homelab","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/index/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Index","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/security/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Security","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/self-hosted/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Self-Hosted","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve spent a long time building out a home lab that, frankly, generates more security-relevant noise than I have time to personally review — firewall logs, intrusion detection alerts, DNS oddities, the usual pile that anyone running a real network at home eventually accumulates. For a while my answer was \u0026ldquo;check it when I remember to,\u0026rdquo; which is not a strategy, it\u0026rsquo;s a hope.\nThis year I started experimenting with putting an AI agent in that loop instead of me being the first responder to everything. The idea isn\u0026rsquo;t novel — \u0026ldquo;let a language model read your alerts and draft a first opinion\u0026rdquo; is something the whole security industry is talking about right now — but doing it on my own hardware, for my own network, on my own time, is the part I actually enjoy.\nWhat it does, at a high level: when something notable happens on the network, it gets handed to a small local AI agent that has access to a handful of read-only tools — the same kind of thing you\u0026rsquo;d give a junior analyst on day one: look up whether an IP is a known scanner, check whether a host is one I actually own, see if this pattern has happened before. It writes up what it thinks happened and how confident it is, and I review the verdict rather than starting from a blank page every time. Nothing gets acted on without a human — that\u0026rsquo;s a hard rule, not a suggestion.\nWhy local, not a cloud API: partly privacy (it\u0026rsquo;s my network\u0026rsquo;s data), partly cost, partly because I just like knowing exactly what hardware my data touches. Running models locally on modest hardware is a lot more viable than it was even a year ago, and that\u0026rsquo;s honestly the more interesting trend to me than the AI part.\nWhat I\u0026rsquo;m not going to get into here: the specific tools, the specific prompts, the specific stack — some of that\u0026rsquo;s just not that interesting to write about, and some of it overlaps closely enough with what I do professionally that I\u0026rsquo;d rather keep this post about the \u0026ldquo;why\u0026rdquo; and not the \u0026ldquo;how.\u0026rdquo; I work in this field, and I want to be careful that a hobby project on my own time doesn\u0026rsquo;t read like a description of anything from my employer. It isn\u0026rsquo;t — this is entirely my own homelab, built with my own tools, on my own hardware, and none of it reflects my employer\u0026rsquo;s technology or opinions.\nIf you\u0026rsquo;re tinkering with something similar at home, I\u0026rsquo;d genuinely like to hear about it — feel free to reach out.\n","date":"3 September 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2026-09-03-teaching-my-home-lab-to-watch-itself/","section":"Posts","summary":"I’ve spent a long time building out a home lab that, frankly, generates more security-relevant noise than I have time to personally review — firewall logs, intrusion detection alerts, DNS oddities, the usual pile that anyone running a real network at home eventually accumulates. For a while my answer was “check it when I remember to,” which is not a strategy, it’s a hope.\n","title":"Teaching My Home Lab to Watch Itself","type":"posts"},{"content":"This past week, my wife and I made the drive to Idaho to celebrate a special milestone—our son’s 36th birthday. Unlike some of our other road trips, this one was straightforward with no detours or sightseeing along the way. The goal was simple: spend time together as a family and enjoy each other’s company without any big agenda.\nCelebrating with Good Food # One of the highlights of our visit was, unsurprisingly, the food. My wife treated everyone to her signature chicken nachos, a dish that has become a favorite in our family. We paired that with a rich peanut butter pie for dessert—just the kind of comfort food that makes a family gathering feel special.\nOn another evening, she surprised us all by introducing a new recipe she had discovered online: a no-bake banana pudding cheesecake. It was creamy, light, and a perfect balance of classic flavors. Safe to say, it was a hit and may very well earn a permanent spot in our family dessert rotation.\nSimple Joys, No Set Plans # The best part of the trip was how unstructured it was. We didn’t make a schedule or plan outings; instead, we spent the time catching up, sharing meals, and just relaxing together. Sometimes the best visits aren’t about packing in activities, but about slowing down and enjoying each other’s presence.\nLooking Back # Driving home, both of us felt grateful for the time spent in Idaho. The birthday celebrations, the laughter over dinner, and the laid-back pace reminded us how valuable these simple moments can be. It wasn’t about the miles traveled—it was about the memories made.\n","date":"1 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2025-10-01-idaho-birthday/","section":"Posts","summary":"This past week, my wife and I made the drive to Idaho to celebrate a special milestone—our son’s 36th birthday. Unlike some of our other road trips, this one was straightforward with no detours or sightseeing along the way. The goal was simple: spend time together as a family and enjoy each other’s company without any big agenda.\n","title":"A Relaxing Trip to Idaho for Our Son’s 36th Birthday","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"1 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/birthday/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Birthday","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/family/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Family","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/idaho/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Idaho","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 October 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/travel/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Travel","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"7 June 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/2025/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"2025","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"7 June 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/rv/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Rv","type":"tags"},{"content":" Kicking Off the 2025 Camping Season – 3,400 Miles, 7 States, and a Whole Lot of Memories # Our first big trip of the 2025 camping season took us through seven states—New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming covering more than 3,400 miles in total. Along the way, we hit a few major highlights that made this journey unforgettable:\nAttended Overland Expo 2025 in Flagstaff, AZ Visited family in Cottonwood, AZ Spent time with family in San Diego, CA Explored Yosemite National Park and added a new stamp to our National Park Passport Reunited with long-time friends (practically family) in Phoenix, OR What made this trip even better was the timing late May gave us ideal weather: not too hot, not too cold, and just right for travel. Of course, we had our trusty eBikes with us: Kelly’s trike and my XPeak. They came in handy more than once.\nOverland Expo – Flagstaff, AZ # Our youngest son and his wife are passionate about overlanding, and the Flagstaff expo had long been on their radar. We joined them and spent two days exploring everything the event had to offer. Kelly’s trike, hitched to our Costco wagon, served as the perfect gear hauler lugging our cooler and any goodies we picked up along the way. The setup drew plenty of compliments.\nDay one was all about seeing the entire expo; day two was for circling back and picking up the gear we had bookmarked (assuming it hadn’t sold out). Even though we’re typically RVers, I found plenty of smart, compact gear ideas that gave me a fresh perspective on our own packing approach.\nYosemite – Using Fresno as Base Camp # Visiting Yosemite was a key goal for this trip—not just to see the park again but also to collect our National Park Passport stamp. We made Fresno Elks Lodge #439 our home base while exploring the park. It’s a well-located and comfortable stop for Elks members traveling by RV, offering full hookups and a convenient location for day trips into the Sierra foothills. Highly recommended if you\u0026rsquo;re looking for a solid place to stage your Yosemite adventure.\nFamily, Friends \u0026amp; Reunions # The journey was filled with meaningful connections. While in Flagstaff, we caught up with my dad for dinner he lives just over an hour away in Cottonwood, AZ. San Diego gave us a chance to reconnect with family, and I even had a lunch meetup with a few co-workers I hadn’t seen in person for years. One of the most special stops was in Oregon, where we visited one of Kelly’s oldest friends—someone we hadn’t seen in over a decade.\nBeing able to share time with loved ones across several states added a deep layer of connection and meaning to this trip. That, more than anything, made it one to remember.\n","date":"7 June 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/first_trip_2025/","section":"Posts","summary":" Kicking Off the 2025 Camping Season – 3,400 Miles, 7 States, and a Whole Lot of Memories # Our first big trip of the 2025 camping season took us through seven states—New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming covering more than 3,400 miles in total. Along the way, we hit a few major highlights that made this journey unforgettable:\n","title":"Two and a Half Weeks and 3400 miles","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"29 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/administrivia/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Administrivia","type":"tags"},{"content":" GRAV to Hugo Migration # I know it has been quite awhile since I have posted anything here on my website but I am hoping to change that. When I decided on diving back in I was not happy with the performance of my page loads even from my local network. This was the main driver for this migration.\nSome of the key factors in switching were:\nportability performance automation With hugo all I needs is hugo and go installed on any computer that has access to my webserver. Right now I am writing this post from my macOS system using VSCode. I have added a couple of simple tasks to VSCode to ease the creation of a new post and to deploy updates to my web server.\n","date":"29 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/migration/","section":"Posts","summary":"GRAV to Hugo Migration # I know it has been quite awhile since I have posted anything here on my website but I am hoping to change that. When I decided on diving back in I was not happy with the performance of my page loads even from my local network. This was the main driver for this migration.\n","title":"Migration","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hi, I\u0026rsquo;m Ron — I\u0026rsquo;m only human, just a Cyber Security professional, Mac Advocate, and Amateur Radio Operator, so who knows what you\u0026rsquo;ll find here.\nI got my amateur radio license (KF5JRA) on January 26, 2011 and upgraded to General that March. If you want the full rundown of my station setup, it lives here.\nOutside of work and radio, you\u0026rsquo;ll usually find me on a road trip or camping with my wife, chasing down family gatherings that somehow always end up spanning four generations, or just tinkering with whatever\u0026rsquo;s plugged into my network this week.\noneinsane dot org # \u0026ldquo;oneinsane dot net\u0026rdquo; was registered in 1996. As you can see from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine link, it has had many faces over the years — from a simple site sharing links of my friends and family, to whatever my current interest happened to be at the time.\nThank you for visiting my piece of the Internet.\n","date":"27 October 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"About","summary":"Hi, I’m Ron — I’m only human, just a Cyber Security professional, Mac Advocate, and Amateur Radio Operator, so who knows what you’ll find here.\nI got my amateur radio license (KF5JRA) on January 26, 2011 and upgraded to General that March. If you want the full rundown of my station setup, it lives here.\n","title":"About","type":"about"},{"content":"","date":"14 May 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/2022/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"2022","type":"tags"},{"content":"This was our first trip of the year for 2022 and was the first time we have gone camping on the early shoulder of camping season. In Colorado camping season kicks off Memorial day weekend. This trip also served as a shake down for the mods and additions that we had acquired during the winter.\nMods:\nUpgraded thermostat to Micro-Air Easytouch. Added a Maxxair II to the front vent. Blackstone 22\u0026quot; Griddle for outdoor cooking. ","date":"14 May 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/first_trip_2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"This was our first trip of the year for 2022 and was the first time we have gone camping on the early shoulder of camping season. In Colorado camping season kicks off Memorial day weekend. This trip also served as a shake down for the mods and additions that we had acquired during the winter.\n","title":"2022 First Trip","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"30 July 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/2021/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"2021","type":"tags"},{"content":" This was our first major trip taken with our travel trailer (TT) where we were totally dependent on the trailer and the campsites we chose. The time span of this trip was fourteen (14) days and covered over two thousand five hundred fifty (2550) miles. The header image of this post shows the route that we took. When traveling on vacation we try to keep the driving to about three hundred (300) miles per day. In doing this we get the following benefits:\nDo not have to get up at the crack of dawn. Do not have to setup in the dark. Do not have to drive in the dark. Our first stop of the trip was in Goodland, KS where we stayed Goodland KOA Journey. The park was clean and the staff was friendly. The next stop was in Chapman, KS at Chapman Creek RV Park. Campground was very clean and our site (Deer Bluff 18) was almost dead level both side to side and front to back. Bathroom and shower facilities looked brand new. They even had soap, shampoo, etc available if you forgot yours. Definitely a good place for an overnight stay to recharge your batteries and would stay here again if it crossed my path in our future travels. Below is an image of our site.\nThe last stop before reaching the destination was in Nevada, MO at Osage Prairie RV Park. Like the first two stops the park was clean and the staff was friendly. The only downside is this is close to an intersection that is on a truck route.\nOur final destination and one of the major reasons for taking this trip was for my family reunion in Eureka Springs, AR where we stayed at the Eureka Springs, Journey KOA.\nThis is your typical Journey KOA campground with plenty to do around the campground and was very clean and well maintained.\nBelow are some pictures I took using my drone of the two cabins the family stayed as well as the spectacular view it provided.\nThis family reunion had over four generations and we came from coast to coast. Good food, good times, and good company was had by all. Like all good things they must come to an end, until next time.\nDuring the reunion spent some time with my Mom and promised that we would swing down and see their new place in Flint, TX. Since the drive was a little over 550 miles from Eureka Springs we had made reservations at Hot Springs National Park Holiday KOA. We took the arkansas scenic 7 byway between Eureka Springs and Hot Springs, AR which was just breathtaking. If you have never done this you should add it to your bucket list. Like the other KOA\u0026rsquo;s we stayed at this was very clean and well kept\nWhile visiting we stayed at Bushman\u0026rsquo;s RV Park in Bullard, TX. This RV park is where my godparents stay when they are in the area and visiting my mom.\nThe RV park was within two miles of my moms house and there was a Whataburger on the way. After visiting with my mom for a few days we started our trek home, this included three uneventful stops. They were in Norman, OK, Amarillo, TX, and La Veta, CO.\nWe had a really good time and were lucky that we never hit any \u0026ldquo;dips\u0026rdquo; on this trip. The addition of adding Timber Grove airbags made a positive impact on how the trailer pulled. During the trip I wish I had only one thing to make my life easier and that would have been a bedslide which I am hoping to have installed before next camping season.\n","date":"30 July 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/vacation_2021/","section":"Posts","summary":" This was our first major trip taken with our travel trailer (TT) where we were totally dependent on the trailer and the campsites we chose. The time span of this trip was fourteen (14) days and covered over two thousand five hundred fifty (2550) miles. The header image of this post shows the route that we took. When traveling on vacation we try to keep the driving to about three hundred (300) miles per day. In doing this we get the following benefits:\n","title":"Vacation 2021","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"15 March 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/our-home/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Our Home","type":"categories"},{"content":"The weekend of March 13 2021 and the following Monday (3/15/2021) are ones for the history books. The official total for Loveland, CO was twenty-nine point one inches (29.1\u0026quot;) Kelly and I have lived in Colorado now for almost eight years and this is the most snow accumulation we have had ever.\nFront Yard Back Yard We had over a dozen power blips but Internet (Comcast) and TV (Dish) was stable through the whole storm. We had one branch on a tree in the front yard break off and the supporting fiberglass mast for my 40m endfed antenna snapped in half.\nUPDATE 3/22/2021: Still had a lot of snow on the ground/yard but street was finally clear enough were you did not need four wheel drive engaged\nUPDATE 3/27/2021: Yesterday (03/26/2021) we had enough snow melt in the backyard that I was able to assess the actual damage of the fiberglass mast. Two sections had split where the inserts go to slide the poles together. No breaks for of the wire antenna discovered. Today ordered new guy rope and ground anchors for re-erecting tentatively planned for next weekend. Instead of putting the 40m endfed back up I am going to instead raise the Palomar Engineering\u0026rsquo;s Bullet in an inverted \u0026ldquo;L\u0026rdquo; configuration to see if it will play on 80m, 40m, \u0026amp; 30m. Wish me luck.\n","date":"15 March 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/snowmageddon_2021/","section":"Posts","summary":"The weekend of March 13 2021 and the following Monday (3/15/2021) are ones for the history books. The official total for Loveland, CO was twenty-nine point one inches (29.1\") Kelly and I have lived in Colorado now for almost eight years and this is the most snow accumulation we have had ever.\n","title":"SNOWmageddon 2021","type":"posts"},{"content":"This was our first year with our 2020 Forest River Micro Lite 21FBRS, and so far no issues. My 2018 EcoDiesel got a set of airbags with onboard 100% duty cycle air compressor from Timber Grove to assist the rear coils and improve the ride.\nWe only got to make two (2) camping trips this year due to the the pandemic (COVID-19).\nOur first trip was to Mount Rushmore were we got to relax and take in the sites for a well deserved long weekend. The second trip was to attend our son\u0026rsquo;s wedding in northern Idaho in late June. We have made this trip multiple time with and with out a trailer. On this trip we decided we were going to take our time getting there and getting home. Because of the pandemic we did not site see anywhere but we just relaxed and enjoyed the surroundings. With the leaves turning and the nights starting to dip into the below freezing numbers my wife and I decided to go ahead and winterize Escape Pod along with deactivating wally (dish receiver). It was a very sad Sunday.\nWe are waiting patiently (NOT) for 2021 camping season to get here and are prepared for the challenges to come.\n","date":"10 November 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/end_of_2020_camping_season/","section":"Posts","summary":"This was our first year with our 2020 Forest River Micro Lite 21FBRS, and so far no issues. My 2018 EcoDiesel got a set of airbags with onboard 100% duty cycle air compressor from Timber Grove to assist the rear coils and improve the ride.\n","title":"End of 2020 Camping Season","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"10 November 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/escapepod/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"EscapePod","type":"categories"},{"content":" The picture above is me settling in our new travel trailer (TT) nicknamed \u0026lsquo;EscapePod V2\u0026rsquo;. It is a 2020 Forest River Micro Lite 21FBRS.\nFor those that know me this is our second TT. Our first one was totaled in an accident ((Truck, TT, and me) and ice) in October 2019 on the way home from Idaho. We had some good memories and vowed it would be replaced.\nWaiting patiently (NOT) for camping season to get here.\n","date":"4 January 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/escapepod-v2/","section":"Posts","summary":" The picture above is me settling in our new travel trailer (TT) nicknamed ‘EscapePod V2’. It is a 2020 Forest River Micro Lite 21FBRS.\nFor those that know me this is our second TT. Our first one was totaled in an accident ((Truck, TT, and me) and ice) in October 2019 on the way home from Idaho. We had some good memories and vowed it would be replaced.\n","title":"Escape Pod (v2)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"27 February 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/allstar/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Allstar","type":"tags"},{"content":"I have had this on my someday todo list for over a year now and finally pulled the trigger last week and ordered all the parts from amazon except the URI interface. As a guide I found AllstarSetup.com Starter Node quite easy to follow. It all went together quite easily and showed how much more practice I need on soldering very small components.\nSmoke test will occur today (02/27/2019) around 00:30 UTC.\nI will try to to post pictures of the build once I get it a little more cleaned up.\n[UPDATE: 03/04/2018 around 06:00 UTC] Smoke test never occurred because I had a soldering issue when I originally posted and the 888 was not getting any power. Yesterday attempted again and used my spare radio to start fresh and had same issue. Woke up this morning to look at my connections where the board is soldered to the battery connectors. That was the root of all my issues once I took the time to seat the board and make sure those pins were properly in place everything started working.\n","date":"27 February 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/allstar_node_40201/","section":"Posts","summary":"I have had this on my someday todo list for over a year now and finally pulled the trigger last week and ordered all the parts from amazon except the URI interface. As a guide I found AllstarSetup.com Starter Node quite easy to follow. It all went together quite easily and showed how much more practice I need on soldering very small components.\n","title":"Allstar Node 40201","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"27 February 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/ham-radio/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Ham Radio","type":"categories"},{"content":"Christmas this year I felt truly blessed. We had all of our adult children home to visit. Activities ranged from just visiting and catching up to playing a game called \u0026ldquo;What do you MEME\u0026rdquo;. A couple of other highlights are below:\nIce Skating at Centerra\nCould not get the oldest son and his wife off the ice. They were having a good time. Our granddaughter lasted all of about 30 seconds on the ice before she got scared. Our other son and his significant other now have this activity checked off their bucket list. :) \u0026ldquo;Christmas in Color\u0026rdquo; in Thornton, CO.\n","date":"26 December 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/christmas_2018/","section":"Posts","summary":"Christmas this year I felt truly blessed. We had all of our adult children home to visit. Activities ranged from just visiting and catching up to playing a game called “What do you MEME”. A couple of other highlights are below:\n","title":"Christmas 2018","type":"posts"},{"content":"After some poking around I decided to see if I can put a new face to the site with a new theme. What you are looking at so far is what I found most pleasing to my eye. Side benefit to this one is that it also shows my @kf5jra twitter feed. If you find anything broken please let me know.\n","date":"13 December 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/theme_changed/","section":"Posts","summary":"After some poking around I decided to see if I can put a new face to the site with a new theme. What you are looking at so far is what I found most pleasing to my eye. Side benefit to this one is that it also shows my @kf5jra twitter feed. If you find anything broken please let me know.\n","title":"Theme Changed","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"12 November 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/documentation/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Documentation","type":"tags"},{"content":"This post will explain how I document all the settings of the applications that interface with my ham station. With the complexity of any ham station in interfacing both hardware and software it can get a little overwhelming to keep track of how everything is connected and or its settings. The tools that I have chosen work for me and have been real world tested (accidently).\nThe first thing to determine is what are you going to use to capture all these settings. Some criteria:\nMostly platform independent (My ham computer is the only windows based computer in my home network). Cloud aware. Handle formatted documents and images inline. With the above criteria set I found that the free version of Microsoft OneNote met all my requirements. I started by creating a notebook titled \u0026ldquo;Ham Radio\u0026rdquo; and started by creating some sections/pages. WARNING: Be careful if you have \u0026ldquo;My Documents\u0026rdquo; folder mapped to OneDrive\nAs you can see from the screenshot I have created one section for the radio and the rest are divided into various pieces of software installed. Do not make it hard a majority of this notebook is filled with screenshots using Microsoft\u0026rsquo;s SnippingTool and very little text. Also there are links riddled through out the notebook referencing resources of where I got the information.\nSince this solution is cloud aware (using my free Microsoft OneDrive account) for storage and accessibility I am able to bring it up at any time from any device that is connected to the internet.\nBelow is a make up of my ham station (hardware, software, and the documentation utilities) I use.\nHam Station Hardware\nIcom IC-7300 SDRPlay RSP1A K1EL Winkeyer3 Antenna System K4KIO Hex Beam (20-6m) Hy-Gain Ham IV rotor Green Heron Engineering RT-21D Controller Ham Station Software\nWin4Icom Suite DxLab Suite N1MMplus PSTRotator Wintelnetx CW Skimmer Utilities com0com Virtual Audio Cable VSPE Documentation Utilities\nMicrosoft OneNote Microsoft SnippingTool Cloud Drive (Synology cloud drive (could easily be dropbox, onedrive, etc)) Git (used for storing winwarbler and commander macros) ","date":"12 November 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ham_station_docs/","section":"Posts","summary":"This post will explain how I document all the settings of the applications that interface with my ham station. With the complexity of any ham station in interfacing both hardware and software it can get a little overwhelming to keep track of how everything is connected and or its settings. The tools that I have chosen work for me and have been real world tested (accidently).\n","title":"Ham Station Documentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"If this is your first time here this is will not look to new to you, but for returning visitors this might look a little different.\nBoth the front end and the back end of this site has been changed. The move removes any dependencies on having to use an external program to make these posts and allows me to just use my editor of choice. The moves also removes the dependency of having to use a MySQL for the back end.\nIf you find something that does not work please drop me a line.\nEnjoy\n","date":"7 June 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/new_look/","section":"Posts","summary":"If this is your first time here this is will not look to new to you, but for returning visitors this might look a little different.\nBoth the front end and the back end of this site has been changed. The move removes any dependencies on having to use an external program to make these posts and allows me to just use my editor of choice. The moves also removes the dependency of having to use a MySQL for the back end.\n","title":"New Look","type":"posts"},{"content":"IMG_0747.JPG We got our first snow of the season. Been falling since around 4:00 AM. Due to the previous two days being in the mid 70\u0026rsquo;s or so it has taken some time to accumulate. Streets are still clear since they have the warmth of the previous two days.\n","date":"9 October 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/first_snow_2017/","section":"Posts","summary":"IMG_0747.JPG We got our first snow of the season. Been falling since around 4:00 AM. Due to the previous two days being in the mid 70’s or so it has taken some time to accumulate. Streets are still clear since they have the warmth of the previous two days.\n","title":"First Snow of the Season","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 October 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/weather/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Weather","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 April 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/dx/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"DX","type":"tags"},{"content":"With a little help from the North Dakota QSO party I was able to get the last state for my mixed Worked All States (WAS). Big thanks go out to the operator who uploaded their log so quickly after the contest.\n73 de KF5JRA\nRon\n","date":"16 April 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/was_mixed/","section":"Posts","summary":"With a little help from the North Dakota QSO party I was able to get the last state for my mixed Worked All States (WAS). Big thanks go out to the operator who uploaded their log so quickly after the contest.\n","title":"Was Mixed Acheived","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/antenna-system/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Antenna System","type":"tags"},{"content":"With me just turning half a century old (50) I made my life easier at the desk of my ham station.\nI have always eyed my dad\u0026rsquo;s (N6XT) Green Heron RT-21 so I have been on the look out for one to be had for quite some time. So a little over a week before my birthday I spotted a RT-21D posted on swap.qth.com that was almost half the cost of a new unit. Like any good ham operator I did my due diligence to verify the seller was legit. Everything was on the up and up and I became the proud owner of the RT-21D.\nA simple reconfiguration of the controller (original owner was using it with a Yaesu rotor) to work with my Ham-IV, hooking up the pigtail and I was in business. Added the rotor configuration to both DXLab\u0026rsquo;s DXView and to N1MM+\u0026rsquo;s rotor application without issue (both authors have awesome documentation on their websites. Quick test with both to ensure everything was optimal and working properly and I was in business.\nNow I have both hands free to work contacts and no longer require holing my arm to move my antenna. A big thanks go out to:\nMy dad (N6XT) for the assistance Jeff over at Green Heron Engineering for answering all my questions and dealing with my impatience. Hope to see you down the log.\n73 de KF5JRA\nRon\n","date":"9 April 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/no_hands/","section":"Posts","summary":"With me just turning half a century old (50) I made my life easier at the desk of my ham station.\nI have always eyed my dad’s (N6XT) Green Heron RT-21 so I have been on the look out for one to be had for quite some time. So a little over a week before my birthday I spotted a RT-21D posted on swap.qth.com that was almost half the cost of a new unit. Like any good ham operator I did my due diligence to verify the seller was legit. Everything was on the up and up and I became the proud owner of the RT-21D.\n","title":"Look, No hands","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/rt-21d/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"RT-21D","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"29 March 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/dxcc/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"DXCC","type":"tags"},{"content":"This short blog entry is to record that I have confirmed 100 DXCC via LoTW. Now it is time to start working toward the next step.\nHope to see you down the Log\n73 de KF5JRA\nRon\n","date":"29 March 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/dxcc_100/","section":"Posts","summary":"This short blog entry is to record that I have confirmed 100 DXCC via LoTW. Now it is time to start working toward the next step.\nHope to see you down the Log\n","title":"DXCC 100 (Mixed) Accomplished","type":"posts"},{"content":"The stars have aligned and I have found the time and the finances to be able to attend the International DX Convention. This is will be my first time attending this convention that my dad (N6XT) has been attending for quite some time. This is also the first time both my dad and I will be attending something together that we both share a passion for.\nI am looking forward to the face to face QSO\u0026rsquo;s with everyone that I have either met on the air, or have e-mailed back and forth be it directly or via one of the many e-mail reflectors I am a participant of.\nI am also hoping to have at least enough credits for my MIXED 100 DXCC (purely LoTW confirmed) before the convention. So if you have not uploaded your LoTW in awhile I would appreciate it if you can to help me get one step closer.\nHope to see you their!\n73 de KF5JRA\nRon\n","date":"22 March 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/idxc_2017/","section":"Posts","summary":"The stars have aligned and I have found the time and the finances to be able to attend the International DX Convention. This is will be my first time attending this convention that my dad (N6XT) has been attending for quite some time. This is also the first time both my dad and I will be attending something together that we both share a passion for.\n","title":"IDXC 2017","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"10 September 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/hexbeam/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Hexbeam","type":"tags"},{"content":"With the help of my good neighbor (Jay) one of my goals was accomplished. I was finally able to get my Glen Martin RT-936 roof-top tower installed. The tower is supporting a K4KIO 6-Band Hex Beam with the rotating duties being handled by a HyGain Ham-iV rotator.\nWith the rental of a 45 foot boom lift the process went smoothly. The 20m band sits approximately 32 feet off the ground. After everything was cleaned up I made three DX contacts with good signal reports. (Check either QRZ, ClubLog, or HRDLog for the date this was published.)\nBelow are a few pics from the install.\nIMG_3080.JPG IMG_3083.JPG IMG_3090.JPG IMG_3092.JPG ","date":"10 September 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/rooftop_tower/","section":"Posts","summary":"With the help of my good neighbor (Jay) one of my goals was accomplished. I was finally able to get my Glen Martin RT-936 roof-top tower installed. The tower is supporting a K4KIO 6-Band Hex Beam with the rotating duties being handled by a HyGain Ham-iV rotator.\n","title":"Roof-Top Tower Installed","type":"posts"},{"content":"You have reached this page either by searching Google for my call, a fellow ham who I have worked or has worked me. I gained my amateur radio privileges on January 26, 2011 and upgraded to General in March of 2011.\nAbove is what my working conditions look like on my side of the radio (excuse the mess, still a work in progress). Below is what makes up my station:\nRadio:\nICOM IC-7300 (obtained 04/15/2016) Antenna:\nK4KIO 6 Band Hex Beam (20M-6M) mounted on a Glen Martin RT-936 with a Hygain Ham-IV rotator. Mounted on the top of my shop building. 20M is at approximately 32\u0026rsquo; [2016-09-10] Replaced Hygain rotor controller with Green Heron Eng RT-21D. [2017-04-01] Computer \u0026amp; Software\nDell Inspiron 3650 i5 running Windows 10 Pro. DXLab Suite for chasing DX and the reason why I chose it for my Amateur Radio station can be found here. JTDX and JT-Alert (JT9, JT65, and FT8 modes) N1MM Logger+ for contesting. I try to export my log at a minimum of once a month to Club Log from DXLab\u0026rsquo;s DXKeeper to keep both this page and my QRZ pageup to date with my contacts. Please feel free to use the search function in the widget below to see if we had a QSO.\n","date":"1 May 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/kf5jra/","section":"","summary":"You have reached this page either by searching Google for my call, a fellow ham who I have worked or has worked me. I gained my amateur radio privileges on January 26, 2011 and upgraded to General in March of 2011.\n","title":"KF5JRA Ham Station","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"21 April 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/ic-7300/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"IC-7300","type":"tags"},{"content":"I have finally stepped into the current age of ham radio (as far as the rig goes). On Friday (04/15/2016) I signed for my IC-7300 that was properly handled by the UPS guy. The radio is not much bigger than my IC-735 but the performance is ten fold over my old radio.\nOperating the radio standalone (without a computer) has been a blast and a joy to operate. The MFJ-939 tuner is now on the shelf since I have a LDG tuner that now handles the tuning of my carolina windom (IC-7300\u0026rsquo;s internal tuner can not get a good match). Also the signalink is also on the shelf. Pretty much everything is on the shelf except the icom external speaker. Contemplating on ordering the control cable for the tuner so I can do it in one step instead of three.\nWith having such a new radio with different technology than its predecessors I am exercising patience in waiting for the mac ham radio software developers to add full support for the radio. (You know the old saying, \u0026ldquo;Good things come to people who wait\u0026rdquo;) I have reached out to the developers of the software I use and have expressed my extreme interest in them adding full support for the ic-7300. I even went as far as e-mailing them the CI-V command section from the full manual.\nOnline social support has been awesome both in the IC-7300 Facebook group as well as the IC7300 yahoo group. Every day I am learning something new (positive) about the radio as I try new things to try and get my current version of software to work.\nCya on the bands (and hopefully in my log)\n\u0026ndash;\n73 de KF5JRA\nRon\n","date":"21 April 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/icom_ic7300/","section":"Posts","summary":"I have finally stepped into the current age of ham radio (as far as the rig goes). On Friday (04/15/2016) I signed for my IC-7300 that was properly handled by the UPS guy. The radio is not much bigger than my IC-735 but the performance is ten fold over my old radio.\n","title":"ICOM IC-7300","type":"posts"},{"content":"On Friday before the ARRL DX SSB contest I was finally able to sit down to my ham station. After getting all of the software updated and finding I had fourteen (14) Q\u0026rsquo;s in LoTW I got to turn on my IC-735 and spin around the bands. Good thing was after five months the IC-735 was still working like a champ.\nWas able to make a contact to Chile (CE3/LU8ADX) and got a 59 report with my carolina windom still in winter mode (Slacked down to about fifteen to twenty feet). After the successful contact I raised the Windom up to its normal operating height of thirty-five feet and got ready to setup RUMLogNG for contesting. This all went smoothly without any issues. I was set and ready to go.\nWhile waiting for the contest to start I got pulled away by higher priorities and was unable to participate in the contest. I at least got one contact in before the contest and all my gear checked out ok after sitting for the last five months without any love.\n\u0026ndash;\n73 de KF5JRA\nRon\n","date":"8 March 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/first_contact_2016/","section":"Posts","summary":"On Friday before the ARRL DX SSB contest I was finally able to sit down to my ham station. After getting all of the software updated and finding I had fourteen (14) Q’s in LoTW I got to turn on my IC-735 and spin around the bands. Good thing was after five months the IC-735 was still working like a champ.\n","title":"First Contact for 2016","type":"posts"},{"content":"I am still here and am highly aware that I have not posted anything to my site in quite sometime since I moved it here. It has been a very busy year and I don\u0026rsquo;t see my personal or professional life slowing in the near future.\nEven my hobbies have been suffering on how busy I have been. Trust me I miss my RF therapy (aka Ham Radio).\nHopefully soon I can break away and get some me time. 🙂\n","date":"30 October 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/still_here/","section":"Posts","summary":"I am still here and am highly aware that I have not posted anything to my site in quite sometime since I moved it here. It has been a very busy year and I don’t see my personal or professional life slowing in the near future.\n","title":"Still Here. . . .","type":"posts"},{"content":"Due to unforeseen circumstances caused by Textdrive closing their doors without any notice I am slowly getting data restored and my site along with others back online. Stay posted for further updates\n","date":"28 April 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/site_moved/","section":"Posts","summary":"Due to unforeseen circumstances caused by Textdrive closing their doors without any notice I am slowly getting data restored and my site along with others back online. Stay posted for further updates\n","title":"Site Moved","type":"posts"},{"content":"With the property/land cleaned up we had a shop built to be able house cars, work on projects, and to be my future ham shack/man cave. With the structure and exterior completed and the electrical wiring in process we (ian, Kyle and I) started on the following:\nInsulated walls and ceiling. Piped air to every wall and a spot in the ceiling. Networked the shop to the house network (Ethernet jack in ham shack room and Access Point in the center of the shop). Routed TV coax and speaker wires Created an 12\u0026rsquo;x 8′ room to serve as my (Ron\u0026rsquo;s) ham shack. Shop Features\nDedicated 220 circuit for Ham Radio Amplifier. Dedicated circuit for Ham Radio. Dedicated circuit for Ham Shack. Dedicated circuit for air compressor. Each wall in the shop uses its dedicated own circuit. Three light bays with three lights each (enough light for any project). Dedicated 35 amp 220V circuit for RV or possible tools Exterior light provided by Flood lights located on all four sides. High Speed Internet Access. Cable TV with Surround sound. Probably went a little overboard but wanted to ensure that I covered all my possible contingencies of what I ever wanted to ever do or be capable of doing. Shop was completed on Mar 2014. A huge \u0026ldquo;Thank You\u0026rdquo; goes to my neighbor (Jay) for all the help with hanging and texturing the drywall. Also a huge \u0026ldquo;Thank You\u0026rdquo; goes to my step-son (Ian) for doing the texturing and painting of the interior of the shop.\nBelow are some pics of our finished work:\nIMG_0356.JPG IMG_0357.JPG IMG_0358.JPG IMG_0359.JPG ","date":"1 March 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/adding_a_shop/","section":"Posts","summary":"With the property/land cleaned up we had a shop built to be able house cars, work on projects, and to be my future ham shack/man cave. With the structure and exterior completed and the electrical wiring in process we (ian, Kyle and I) started on the following:\n","title":"Adding a Shop","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"1 March 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/our-colorado-home/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Our Colorado Home","type":"series"},{"content":"","date":"1 March 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","date":"1 March 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/shop/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Shop","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 December 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/renovation/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Renovation","type":"tags"},{"content":"This blog post is being posted after the fact but backdated in hopes to provide a better flow as I feel in the gaps of things I like to write about that has been done to our home here in Colorado.\nWith being all moved in it was time to make our new home our own and the first task at hand was to clean-up the property All the work was accomplished by my family (Kelly, Kyle, Ian, and Sam) and my next door neighbor to the north of us (Jay). Believe it or not most of the listed work below was mostly completed before our first winter here in Colorado.\nBack Yard\nRemoved all discarded items left from previous owner.\nGraded and smoothed out garden area.\nFilled in DiY created root cellar on north-east corner of the house.\nRelocated chicken coop (Re-purposed as a tool shed).\nCleaned chicken coop. Repaired floors and holes in chicken coop. Painted chicken coop to match future colors of planned house trim. Ripped out the sorry excuse of a fence on the north side of the property and replaced it.\nFront Yard\nRemoved un-maintained shrubbery between the half circle and the street. Removed un-maintained shrubbery along south side of driveway attached to main garage. Removed a pin tree that should have never been planted so closely between two trees. Laid crushed asphalt on long driveway located on the south side of the property that heads back to the shop (man cave, ham shack, work area). Future Post coming soon. Laid crushed asphalt in half circle driveway Below is a Google Earth picture that pretty closely matches what we started with when we moved in May 2013.\nPuma-20120818.jpg Below is a Google Earth picture of what it looks like as of August 2015.\nPuma-20150818.jpg ","date":"1 December 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/the_clean_up/","section":"Posts","summary":"This blog post is being posted after the fact but backdated in hopes to provide a better flow as I feel in the gaps of things I like to write about that has been done to our home here in Colorado.\n","title":"The Clean-Up","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"1 June 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/moving/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Moving","type":"tags"},{"content":"After almost eight (8) years in Texas humidity is was time to find a more comfortable climate to live and enjoy life. So we packed up the family and moved to Loveland, CO.\n","date":"1 June 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/spring_tx_to_loveland_co/","section":"Posts","summary":"After almost eight (8) years in Texas humidity is was time to find a more comfortable climate to live and enjoy life. So we packed up the family and moved to Loveland, CO.\n","title":"Spring, TX to Loveland, CO","type":"posts"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/images/default/","section":"Images","summary":"","title":"","type":"images"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/images/","section":"Images","summary":"","title":"Images","type":"images"}]