Jul 5th, 2010
by Michael Martens.
Pizza Night is a long time Friday evening in our house. I have a few beers and make pizza from scratch. Anything goes for pizza toppings but the first pizza will usually have pepperoni on it, since that’s the kids favorite. The second pizza may have Italian sausage, ham, goat cheese, or anything else that is handy in the refrigerator.
This year the 4th of July fell on a Sunday. I was out of town on Friday, so we had Independence Day pizza on Sunday the 4th. The theme was Red, White and Blue, so the second pizza had roasted red peppers, caramelized white onions, and crumbled blue cheese. I also threw on the fresh basil and mushrooms. Everyone devoured the second pizza; it made a great finish for the weekend since the 4th ended up to be a rainy night.
Continue past the break for my pizza dough recipe.
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Posted in: Food and Drink.
Jan 2nd, 2010
by Michael Martens.
New Year’s day is usually a pretty relaxing holiday the family. The stress of the holidays is over so New Year’s is about relaxation and slowly getting back into the regular work/school grind. After getting up at a reasonble time, I put together our traditional New Year’s Day brunch. This year’s meal featured: Belgian waffles topped with Bananas Foster, Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon, and mimosas.
Follow the links for the recipes, continue reading for the Mimosa recipe. Continue reading →
Posted in: Food and Drink, Fun Stuff.
Nov 7th, 2009
by Michael Martens.
The consummate skill of any Boy Scout is to start a fire without matches. One of the Second Class requirements is to properly prepare and light a camp fire, but you no longer need to light the fire without matches. None the less, starting a fire without a math is a fun and very rewarding experience.
There are scores of methods for starting fires without matches. One method involves using a hot spark or swedish fire tool and some char cloth. here is a great video on how to make your own char cloth.
Posted in: Camping, Fun Stuff, Scouting, hiking.
Oct 31st, 2009
by Michael Martens.
This weekend I gave a short presentation on bicycle mobile amateur radio at the Wisconsin ARES/RACES Leadership Conference. Ever since I’ve been an active cyclist I’ve carried a small HT with me. I’ve also ridden in several Bike Wisconsin rides across the state as a member of the SAG team and a bike mobile ham. Cell phone coverage can be very spotty while riding in rural areas, but I’ve never had an issue making a contact using amateur radio. If I’m riding locally, I’ll use the duck antenna on the radio. But for longer rides, I’ve got a half wave end fed 2 meter antenna that I built out of coax and a bicycle flag. This antenna’s performance is outstanding and I highly recommend it over any other type of antenna for the bicycle. My presentation notes and antenna plans are below.
Bicycle mobile amateur radio
2 meter end fed half wave antenna
Posted in: Emergency Communications, Fun Stuff.
Oct 7th, 2009
by Michael Martens.
Inattentive driving is a big concern in today’s society. Recent traffic accidents that are the result of texting while driving has brought the matter to the state legislature. Assembly bill AB429 focuses on this issue by outlawing the use of any type of wireless communications devices. Unfortunately amateur radio is also caught in this net as the bill does not exempt licensed amateur radio operators from using their equipment while mobile. Please read the following analysis of the bill by the ARRL Wisconsin Section State Government Liaison Jim Lackore, AD9X:
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Posted in: Emergency Communications.
