The Umarex Buckmark Pellet Pistol

Picture above, my results of the first set of pellets fired from the Umarex Buck Mark pellet pistol. Disregart the 1000 feet per second, this is what my taerget is rated for with the vinyl inserts used inside.

The Umarex BuckMark is a spring powered pellet pistol that I recently added to my airgun collection. This was a Big 5 Sporting Goods sales item that seemed to be a good stand in for the real powder burning version. This 0.177 caliber pellet pistol feels good in the hand, is reasonably accurate and looks almost like the classic 0.22 Long Rifle version it copies. Umarex has made another great replica pistol.

Umarex came on the scene with some very good replica pellet pistols a few years back. I have other Umarex products, and they have all been well made, reasonably priced and accurate. Some are made to look like the real thing, but may not function realistically. Others are made to function like their powder burning version, but may lack the power or accuracy. This replica looks like the real deal but does function a little differently. It is after all a spring air pistol.

Being a spring air pistol means that the barrel is "broke" down to cock the pistol. With the barrel broken down, you place a 0.177 pellet into the chamber. A small lever piece can be seen under this barrel when it is ready to fire. The grip is a soft rubber that feels good to the touch. A fake slide lock lever is on the left side. Behind it is an automatic safety that engages when the barrel is cocked.

My first shots through this spring air gun were very accurate. The pistol grouped very well firing offhand. The soft rubber grips helped with this a lot. Flipping down the safety for every shot was a bit for me, but for new shooters, this does force the safe use of this pellet pistol.

For a replica of a Browning Buck Mark pistol, for indoor or discrete use, this is highly recommended.

Icom Mobile Radios

Icom of Japan has made some good mobile radios over the years. Most of mine have held up to the

test of time. Here are two that I have owned for a while that have done well. The first is the IC-

2100H 2 meter amateur radio. The other is the Icom IC F-1020 commercial mobile. These two Icom's

have lived in a mobile environment for many years, and are now being retired to basestation use.

First the IC-2100H will be discussed. This was my first ham radio after completing my Technician

license test in 2005. I bought this through Ham Radio Outlet, and also ordered a magnet mount

antenna for it as well. The selling point for me was that it was only about $150 dollars, had three

power levels and the backlight could be changed from green to yellow. The hand mic seemed to be the

weakest part of the radio. It felt light and all of the buttons sometimes got in the way. Over

time,there was some audio noise with the radio. Of course this came up after the warranty had

expired. Looking online, people said it may be the lack of ground screws inside. Opening the top

cover showed 5 holes for the main circuit board to be secured to the metal heatsink/chassis. Only

two of these holes had screws in them. I placed three more screws inside, and the noise went away.

It seems many people had this problem with the Icom IC-2100H. Some said this was worse if you

actually mounted the radio inside of a car, rather than using it stationary. Even though mine was

used in a car, it had stable power and didn't get jostled too much.

At that time, I was driving a 2000 model SUV and this seemed to fit one of the crevices under the

dash alright. With the magnet antenna, a Larson, it picked up a lot of traffic in my part of the

country. The scan feature let me listen to a lot of radio nets. This radio rode in the SUV until

2004. This was when I switched out vehicles. My new vehicle, was a mid size sedan that did not have

a good spot for a radio of this size and shape. The microphone even aged well, I never had the Push

to Talk button problem others said they had. Supposedly, the spring could fail and the button would

stay keyed on. My only issue was sometimes getting it caught in the area between the console and

seats of the SUV. My Icom F-1020 had a similiar life.

In 2005,I took a job with a company that was consolidating hardware and had merged with another

company. Both companies had a fleet of ships and vessels with VHF and UHF radios on board. I was

given an Icom IC F-1020 VHF mobile to use for myself, as these were being replaced with Motorola

radios to standardize hardware. These had been used in company trucks and vessels for several years

before I started. This radio was stacked with my amateur radio.

In 2016, both of these Icoms are still running strong, in a basestation use now. I now let them

monitor local traffic. The commercial F1020 listens to weather stations and the 2100 is still

working 2 meters. Both are now connected to a Comprod antenna on the roof, and have RG-213 coax

connecting them. A generic antenna switch lets me determine which radio is connected.

After about 16 years, both have strong and bright backlights to their LCD displays, the buttons all

still work and the speakers have loud and crisp audio. They show some tarnish on their bare

aluminum heat sinks from use, but seem to have held up well. Either of these would work well for a

fleet of vehicles or vessels as used radios. They have both been replaced by newer models. The IC-

2100H was replaced with the 2200 and then 2300. The IC F1020 and 2020 UHF version have had several

replacements as well. For me they have been great mobiles and I intend to use them until they

actually fail to function.

Kniper Multitool - with Tobacco Pipe!

          $145 Knife and Multitool

While reading about survival tools in the October issue of Popular Science, I came across a knife with some other tools built in. This knife is called the Kniper Multitool. This knife is listed for $145 and balanced to be thrown. It was at this point that I thought it was not the knife for me. Then I read that it also has a tobacco pipe too.

Kniper Multitool picture - www.urchinsky.com

Per the website www.urchinsky.com, "The Kniper is an ultra-sophisticated weaponized lifesaver that'll easily replace every piece of survival gear in your bag" - Supercompressor.

This made me wonder, is this something that there is really a market for? One of the things I learned a long time ago, was that you do not throw your knife, and if you do, it had better be a cheap one. This is why throwing knives are usually sold in sets and not made to look all that nice. This knife is an avocado green color and made to look large and intimidating.

To be honest, it looks a lot like one I saw at the Dollar Tree store the other day. Kitchen knives in assorted colors and one was green like this one. However, I could buy a whole case of 36 of these knives for $36.

Royal Norfolk Cutlery Stainless-Steel Colorful Paring Knives with Sheaths
SKU 164532 - Dollar Tree

Do we really need a survival knive with a tobacco pipe in it? The screwdriver, fork and wrench can be believed, but a tobacco pipe. Is that so essential for survival. If this had been in the April Fool's edition of the magazine, I would have accepted it. I'll use a better knife to make a fork, spoon and spear tip.

My last thought on this knife is, who would buy this? I have spent a lot of money over the years for knives, but most of them have one purpose, to cut things. Some also have a couple of tools, or folding accessories like a Swiss Army Knife. Others have a whistle and some have a screwdriver. But none of them are meant to be thrown or used as a pipe. My guess is that the type of person that buys this knife, will not be using tobacco in it, it will be something else.

Use Road Flares Against Gophers

 Use Road Flares to Get Rid of Gophers

Do you ever get mounds of dirt in your yard from those little critters known as gophers? You know the rodents that make all of those ugly mounds of brown dirt pop up overnight. It always amazes me that a small rodent can make such a mess in such a short time. This year, I tried something different than my usual road flare solution.

In previous years, I used road flares to keep the gophers away. Each hole got one road flare. My yard once looked like a mini war zone, with red flames and smoke coming out of holes in the ground. Well this year the solution was supposed to be "Gopher Bombs". These were sold in packs of 8 at a local big box store. They were meant to be used specifically for ridding your yard of gophers. I thought this may work better than road flares, as their use is to be a bright light for road emergencies.

After placing one in each hole, and taking a few pictures to note the occassion, I hoped this would work. Well it did not. More holes came a few days later. In a couple of the holes, there was evidence that the gophers moved the "Gopher Bombs" out of their holes. I also noticed that they did not burn all the way down like a road flare.

So short story, use road flares. Road flares work as gopher repellant. Road flares burn all the way down and do not leave half a stick un-burned. Bought in bulk they may even be cheaper. I will be sticking with road flares in my future.

Used Briggs and Stratton Engines

Well Used Briggs and Stratton Engined Generator

Have you ever been offered some cast of item with a Briggs and Stratton gas engine? Perhaps someone left an old lawnmower by the curb. Ormaybe a relative had a weed wacker or generator they no longer wanted.

About ten years ago, I was given an already well used Briggs and Stratton engine generator. It was an old 6000 watt Craftsman from Sears. It was in rough shape and did not run. The previous owner gave it to me for that reason.

Looking it over, it had a clogged fuel filter and possible a dirty carburator. Seeing that it had sat outside,and was covered in rust and dog hair, I figured maintenance was not adhered to. The fuel tank was filled about a quarter of capacity.

Unlike many peole who store their gas engines dry, I usually keep them totally filled to the brim. About a cup of Stabil and a topped off tank later, I changed the fuel filter. The carb was primed and I gavethe pull start some pulls.

The choke was leaking a bit of fuel and the carb was trying to let fuel flow. After a few pulls, there were some chugs.Flipping the choke off, the engine started. All this thing needed was good fuel and a new filter. Stabil has saved many a gas engine for me. Craftsman used to warranty everything they sold. But this did not apply to generators. Luckily Briggs and Stratton engines have been made forever. They are usually fairly easy to work on.

Fuel filter, eventually new fuel hoses, and cleaning some corrosion is about all this engine has needed. Corrosion forms in the pull start mechanism. Small ball bearing use centrifugal force to act as a clutch to engage the pull rope to the crank. Compression and a spark plug then do their work to fire off the engine. Thisengine probably has many years left in it now, with just minimal maintenance.

For all two stroke gas engines, make sure you use some sort of fuel treatment to keep water sepration and shellac from forming inside the carb. This is why I prefer to keep all fuel components "wet" instead of running them dry. Ran dry, shellac can form from the ethanol gasoline sold today. Next, checking and adding oil as needed is about all you should need to do for maintenance.

Of course, keeping the engine out of the weather helps a lot. I made a nice wood cover for this generator. A custom pigtail cable lets me run about 2/3 of my house off of this generator when needed. The custom pigtail was made from a section of large industrial grade generator cable and connectors from a big box home improvement store. This lets me connect the generator to a connector on the outside of my house. Briggs and Stratton engines have been used in many items, not just generators, and many of them use the same parts.

My John Deere lawnmower, even though being a smaller egnine, is still a Briggs and Stratton. They both use the same air filter, fuel filter and spark plugs. They even have the same carburator. This makes maintenance easier as you are not buying spare parts for multiple models. Thiscan be a great thing if you are needing or wanting to keep things simple.

If you find an old Briggs and Stratton engine in a lawnmower or generator. Give it a second look, it may be an easy fix. It may even use parts you have for another item. They are relaible and easy to repair in most cases.

Wood Orca

Wood Orca

Through my travels and adventures, I meet lots of people. One is a woman named Marlene. She carved a wooden orca decoration some years ago. This is a free standing native style rendition of the Orca's found in Puget Sound, Washington. It was modeled after some of the local tribes totem pole carvings. And no, it is not for sale, I already asked that question.

Even though it is not for sale, the picture shows how some people that may not be famous or have galleries make some pretty cool art work for their own enjoyment. This is one of those pieces. 

Radio Direction Finding, Bird Dog 360

Bird Dog 360 Receiver

A new toy of mine has been the Audio Intelligence Devices, Bird dog 360 Receiver. This is an old school, professional grade direction finding receiver made in the late 1980's. These were commonly used by private detectives and police departments to track suspects while driving vehicles. They came with very specific transmitter frequencies and a magnet mount transmitted that needed to be placed on the vehicle. The receiver consists of two main components.

The main components of the receiver are the receiver box and the display unit. The receiver box allows for the reception of up to 6 transmitters at a time and can look for pulsed RF signals as well as audible modulated signals. Continuous Wave (CW) and voice settings allow you to listen to more than just the transmitters included in the kit. Line lever outputs are included for headphones and connection of a tape or digital recorder. A large speaker is on the face of the receiver, and puts out some loud audio. A ribbon cable with locking connectors sends received data to a display unit that can be up to three feet away from the receiver box.

The display unit has the common circle of LED's and a center display that gives a numeric value to the bearing of the received signal. Signal strength and indications for movement alarms can be shown as well. The entire display is red and can be dimmed to a point where no light is output. This is perfect for those discrete moments when everything needs to go dark. These would have been used in a van or truck with blacked out windows or curtains most of the time, but you never know when you may need this feature. These two boxes connect to four antennas, and receive signals from a small magnet mount transmitter.

The antenna array is also magnet mounted to the roof and must be in a specific square orientation. Each antenna is the same length and uses the Doppler effect to determine bearing and distance. What this means is that each antenna receives a signal and each signal is compared. The one closest to the transmitter determines the bearing. Then the other three are used to determine strength. electrically this requires the antennas to be separate from each other physically, but with the same length of cable, and insertion loss. With four antennas, with the same cable, same resistance and other electrical factors, it is easy for an electronic circuit to determine direction and signal strength.

Then it is a matter of driving around and getting used to the unit. Neither the receiver box or display nit has any way to connect it to the dash. No suction cups, Velcro, or mounting brackets are included. These really look like they would be mounted to a shelf or desktop. Small rubber feet are on the bottom of both units. The display box being so light that the ribbon cable forces it to go where the cable folds push it. I use this system with the receiver seat belted to the passenger seat and the display wedged between my windshield and dash. The red display and background lighting match perfectly with a Pontiac or BMW back light scheme.

In 2015, many people may wonder why a hardware direction finding kit is useful. Software and computers have replaced a great deal of test equipment and radio gear. Well in the case of direction finding, even the software based systems require the use of hardware antennas and some form of interface box. The  fact that a computer is not required could be seen as an advantage or a fault. Computer based receivers could log the data better, but would require software updates, a computer to be booted and connected, and Microsoft licenses to be updated on occasion. For stand alone units, they just work, and do not need updates to work. Their is also no possibility of malicious code or corrupt software causing damage to the equipment. For the amateur user, the only other real option is the Ramsey electronics kits. these are small plastic kits that are for hobbyist use, they are not as rugged and do not appear to hold up well with permanent installation.

For those with the need to find and range a specific radio signal, look to used commercial gear to fill this need. As a better alternative to the hobbyist kits, this type of receiver can be found on auction sites and used radio locations. Seek out county auctions, police and fire department sales. Often times the hardware is older, but fully functional. It may only lack a manual or a cable. I have had great luck finding very well made hardware that has minimal usage time for cents on the dollar this way. You can build up your arsenal of radio gear quickly and it will last longer in the field. Good luck on the fox hunt, happy hunting.