Paul Butzi

Across the Years 2024-2024 Race Report Feb 13, 2024 ultrarunning This past December 28 thru Jan 3, Paula and I ran the six day race at Across the Years, in Glendale Arizona. What follows is my attempt to get down

Learning CW Dec 24, 2023 amateur radio & POTA I’ve been working on learning CW/Morse Code for some time, now - essentially for as long as I’ve had an amateur radio license. That works out to,

POTA Activation #1 K-3216 Oct 30, 2023 amateur radio & POTA

I’ve been making a lot of QSO’s hunting POTA activations, which is hella good fun. One of my goals was to do an activation before the end of

Parks on the air Oct 23, 2023 amateur radio & POTA I made a bunch of FT8 and FT4 QSOs recently, and they highlighted a problem I have with modes like FT8 - they’re utterly impersonal. A good example:

Antenna Lessons Part Three - Antenna Rigging Aug 10, 2023 amateur radio My home is smack in the middle of a forest, a mix of conifer (Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock) and deciduous (Red Alder, Cottonwood,

Lessons from Antenna Hanging Part Two - Hardware Aug 5, 2023 amateur radio

I live in a forest, and I’ve hung a fair number of antennas from the trees that surround my home. I’ve learned a thing or two along the way. In this

Lessons from Antenna Hanging Part One Aug 4, 2023 amateur radio

One of the lessons I learned from my recent maintenance effort on my main HF antenna (an 80m-6m OCFD) was that rope differences matter a great deal,

Antenna Suspension Maintenance Aug 1, 2023 amateur radio

My main HF antenna is a Buckmaster 80-6m OCFD. Two of my friends put it up for me just after my leg was broken in 2015. At the time none of the 3 of

Improving NMO antenna magmount Jul 31, 2023 amateur radio

I use a mag mount for the antenna on my car. I’ve run through a number of mounts, though, because I just route the coax through the rear hatch and

Get Home Bag/EDC Bag May 15, 2023 musings & amateur radio I got a good start on an EDC backpack/bag. This has prompted some thinking about what belongs in an EDC bag, and how much such a bag can weigh. So

Mt. Si 50k 2023 Apr 25, 2023 ultrarunning This past weekend I ran the Mt. Si 50k. This race, in 2017, was the first ultramarathon I ran, so it was a bit of a full circle homecoming to return

Losing Weight -- Part Two: Mid Effort Results Mar 27, 2023 ultrarunning & musings Continuing with the thread started in Losing Weight — Part One, we’ve reached the end of the caloric restriction phase of the first cycle of our

Losing Weight Part One Mar 24, 2023 As part of my efforts to improve as an ultrarunner (and advance on my goal of running 100 miles in under 24 hours) I’ve embarked on an ambitious

Auto Mechanics, Tech Support, Doctors Feb 21, 2023 musings When my car isn’t working, I can take it to our favorite auto repair place. The folks there will listen carefully to what I tell them, ask some

An Open Letter to Web Designers Feb 19, 2023 musings & www Look, I understand that the goal of most websites is to make money. I’m not opposed to commercialism. But you all are designing websites that are

Going too far Feb 17, 2023 “There’s a fine line between perseverance and failure to accept reality.” — Tim Leatherman “Only those who will risk going too far can know how

Doing Hard Things Feb 17, 2023 ultrarunning & musings Thinking more on my views on Brad Stulberg, I’ve noticed a semi-useful distinction that you can use to classify what I’ll call ‘Personal Development

Starlink part II Feb 15, 2023 We’ve had Starlink running for 4 weeks now with good success. It’s been our day to day internet service without any problems for just under 4 weeks.

Cold Showers Feb 9, 2023

Plunging into cold water at the crack of dawn is just plunging into cold water at the crack of dawn. Just like drinking coffee with sugar and cream

Running Headlamps Feb 4, 2023

Back inn 2018, in preparation for running Badwater Cape Fear 50 miler, I got a Petzl Reaktik+ headlamp. It’s a good headlamp. But it’s showing it’s