Meanwhile back in Finland...

[AK-Gunner]

A mini-update for a change... I did buy me an another Olight Valkyrie which arrived today, this time model PL-Mini2 since the original is out of production. But then again, 600 lumina (I really like this plural form of lumen, it's so classic Latin) vs. 400 lm is an OK feature. 400 lm is quite enough indoors unless the 'indoors' is the Saturn V launch vehicle Vertical Assembly Building, on the other hand 600 lm isn't way too bright to make you half blind the moment you turn it off in the dark.

The light isn't one solid piece of aluminium like its predecessor, but as a two piece construction it has a lengthwise adjustment with which you can make it sit rigidly against the trigger guard. Alas, knowing how much Glock frames flex during recoil I'm a little bit concerned, but then again the light is under warranty...
I will report for sure if anything or nothing unpleasant happens

The older OL-Mini is now proverbially glued on my G22 since the pistol actually runs with that WML! An unexpected turn of events, but I'm happy with it.


Yes, I painted the white texts black again. Cue: Rolling Stones...

[CorditeCrazy]

Let us know how it holds up

[AK-Gunner]

Let us know how it holds up

I will. Round count thus far: three! Just went out and checked that the pistol cycles normally by shooting three shots...

[AK-Gunner]

Just the other day I almost shot at myself with my CZ85. It wasn't intentional, didn't even pull the trigger, but it was a series of events which almost lead to a catastrophe.

https://www.gunsite.co.za/forums/sho...=1#post1260048


Remember this incident when I almost shot myself? There's sort of an epilogue to this story.

Not so long ago my wife looked at my MultiCam pants I was wearing that notorious day and asked "Has somebody shot you on your calf, looks like there's some bullet holes?"

Looked at my pants and I went 'OOOOPS!' in my mind, laughed and said "Yeah, looks like it, doesn't it..."

So that's where the bullet zipped right through the wrinkles on my pants punching seven holes on its way barely missing my calf...



Like I've said: luck is a factor.

[StanCT]

Wow - who needs a razor with that kind of luck?

[AK-Gunner]

Yes, a close shave indeed...


Today has been the first day of summer in southern Finland: sun is shining, temperature is still above +22°C and the nature is 'bout to bloom. Tomorrow at this time it will be all green everywhere. At last, I'd say...

Had a lull in action today, so why not do some draw and double drills at five meters. 57 repetitions, 114 shots fired after which I felt like wanting doing it all again. Sometimes you have enough energy to focus on more repetitions, alas I had to re-focus myself on more labour oriented tasks. The Olight Valkyrie PL-Mini2 seems to hold its form not breaking to pieces like the early Olights tended to do with just a few magfuls of punishment, so I'm cautiously hopeful with this rather nice little WML.


114 shots later the paper plate looks a bit torn... Pushed some shots under the the target, but most found their mark.



Also today I got a package from our local Glock importer: all of them bits and pieces you need for your empty Glock 17/22 frame. Or almost all...


While packing my order somebody made a mistake with one part, the extended slide release lever which is for a Gen 5, not Gen 3 pistol. I sent the company Asetalo an email and they were extremely apologetic and told me to keep the incorrect part while they'll send me immediately the correct one.

As I've told before my Glock 22 is a Gen 2 pistol for which I bought an empty receiver to which I simply moved all them internal parts from the original frame. Now I have one fully refurbished Gen 3 frame plus the old Gen 2 as backup after I get the missing part later this week

And now, hit the road Jack: got to go fetch some ammo for next weekend. Just bought couple of thousand rounds and now I'll get my first batch of the lot... The people in the USA have bought the whole European ammo production for two years from now, so if you want to shoot, now is time to buy. And buy a lot.

[AK-Gunner]

Yesterday was the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ which is a national holiday here in Finland. That said, no mercy for a self employed man like I am, two days ago one of my clients suffered a catastrophic error in their SQL database system and early yesterday morning was the obvious moment to save their business. Then again, the glitch halting their operation was caused by incompetence of their software provider, so I was correcting somebody else's faux pas plus it was a holiday, therefore my services are valued notably higher on my bill than they normally would be.




Since the day was going to be hot and sunny (hot back in Finland is at or above +25°C) I planned to do the long overdue cabling and installation of a discone aerial I bought months ago. Something to give me multi frequency capability with my computerized SDR comms system and my future high power tranceivers.

After drilling yet another hole to the roof of my study, sticking a plastic tube through and securing it immobile, plus pushing about 15 meters of low signal loss H155 coaxial cable through it I crawled in the attic pulling the cable to the centre of my house where I was to install the antenna pole... The temperature up in the attic was closer to +50°C than the mere 25 and the insulation material causes lots of dust making breathing a tad difficult: an Africa simulator at home!



The outside of my worksite before the fact.


When installing aerials/antennae there are things to consider: is there any other transmitting aerials close by causing interference or antennae your transmission will interfere with? Are there obstructions you should be able to clear to obtain minimum signal attenuation and reflections? Are you able to attach guylines for your long pole if you want to go full retard with your pole or keep the pole short enough not to need any?

With a load of 1 kg aerial with maximum wind rating of 40 m/s I came up with my calculations with the maximum length of the pole of four meters either steel tube with 2 mm, or an aluminium one with 5 mm wall thickness. Two days ago I managed to find a suitable one from a junk yard, paid 10 € for a 9 kg four meter aluminium tube plus some never before used drill bits, plug taps and some other necessities for a DIY oke. The owner of the place prefers our moments of conversation to charging me the full price of materials, the aluminium itself being three euros per kilo...



The 5 mm wall thickness gives enough torsional and bending strength for this application. The torsional forces are easily overlooked as irrelevant, but with a wind catching structure like the discone aerial it is a factor to be considered.



For the pole installation I had all details figured out, calculated, drawn to paper, planned the work flow knowing my son will be helping me when I should have to be on the both sides of the wall when tightening bolts securing the pole brackets. The cable is ready, let the installation begin.

Except I didn't after all have those six bolts I needed for the job. There are lots of proverbs on assumptions for a reason.

Bugger...

Grab the wallet, jump in the bakkie and drive a one hour round trip for them bolts. Nicely planned, captain!

After all the extra fuzz we were finally able to attach the brackets...



My son had the pleasure of staying outside and just keep them bolts from rotating as I was tightening the Nyloc nuts on the other side of the wall. When I ask people to help me, I'd rather do them shitty tasks myself...


...and assemble the aerial with a drop of medium strength Loctite on the threads.



Japanese Diamond D3000N PRO discone aerial assembled and ready to be affixed on the pole...



And with the help from my son, there it is with no material or personnel losses.



You could install the whole shebang by yourself, but the risk of breaking something or someone is a bit too high without a helping hand or two.



Note to self, I should remember this myself since I keep repeating this mantra during tactical classes: PPPPPP Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. This time it was 'just' the bolts, but they were an actual and efficient show-stopper. Lucky the nuts 'n bolts store was open during a holiday. The devil is always in the details regardless of the task.

Now I need a long wire aerial for a HF transceiver. This is just another never-ending path to travel





P.S. for those interested in RF tech: a Wikipedia article of what the heck is that discone thingy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discone_antenna

[Epsilon]

Quite some bandwidth!

[Grobbie]

Ah. Are we gonna try some long range comms soon?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AK-Gunner]

Ah. Are we gonna try some long range comms soon?

Sure, just send me your pigeon and I'll send you mine!



Edit: not a real antenna farm yet, but it is one in the making...