A Crummy Commercial

I excavated an old all-in-one, a Lexmark X3350: But wasn't able to try it, none of the old machines seem to have drivers installed.  So I searched on Lexmark X3350 and found this page: https://support.lexmark.com/en_nz/drivers-downloads.html?q=Lexmark%20X3350 But the weird thing is none of the 22 languages for the drivers were English !   Lexmark is an outgrowth of IBM but International must also include England (and Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand - you get the idea).  Lexmark used to be in Kentucky, not sure where they are now. So I just used the Spanish Vista 64 driver and sorta figured the install out, but weird, man, weird ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Two Words:  Kuba Komet source: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52376107250_164269f638_b.jpg more info: https://www.earlytelevision.org/kuba.html a video of a Kuba Komet which will be restored:   source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldI8MmaQybM The semi-obligatory inflated price: As the web site above and the video above state the pointy part (the sail) swivels on a turntable and has many speakers. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was combing through the various junkboxes and came upon this: battery is 2.93 volts It's a watch from Texas Instruments but it is meant as a development platform for their MSP430 microcontroller and wireless applications - it's from over 10 years ago now.  I never really used it as either a watch or to develop microcontroller designs - it's just been sitting around. One nice thing, those lithium coin cells don't leak even though they are completely discharged.  That Sony coin cell was in the watch. I didn't have any fresh CR2032 cells so I put in one taken out of my digital scale.  One kind of neat thing about the TI Watch is that it can measure and display the battery voltage which is 2.93 volts.  So it's pretty close to dead but not quite yet. I was thinking about using the watch while walking - it also has some kind of way to sense motion so it might be sorta like a primitive Fitbit.  But I wasn't able to even set the time - I don't know if it&#

I tried this Peltz oscillator circuit: source: https://wiki.analog.com/university/courses/electronics/comms-lab-peltz-osc I made a couple of changes, used generic PNP transistors rather than NPN so a positive 5 volt supply could be used (suggested on the EDN site in the comments for a Design Idea).  Also added a series resistor to the 10k ohm in the emitter leads with a higher value (240 k ohms) so that the oscillation would cease.  Then this 240k ohm resistor could be shorted out with a key (for keying).  I also used larger L1 and C1 values to shift down into the audio range.  The inductor is a winding of a small audio transformer. It works but nothing spectacular, the distortion is visible but it sounds OK and the parts count is low.  Just a quick tryout on a solderless breadboard. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I've heard from another islander that there have been a lot of mice on the island this year.  And they might be just as bad or worse on Rock Island (the state park).  Unfortunately I can confirm this increase of the mouse population - I've trapped well over a dozen mice this fall. This reminded me of the 1983 movie: Never Cry Wolf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Cry_Wolf_(film) Charles Martin Smith portrays a wildlife biologist studying the wolves in the Arctic and their prey.  Without spoiling the movie let's just say that there are a LOT of mice in the movie. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map This site allows the user to map hams local to them, very neat  Also a way to bypass sign-in requirements of those callsign lookup servers ! Here is the island (54246 but zoomed out a little): source: https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map/z/54246 And here is where I used to live in Northlake, IL (60164): source: https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map/z/60164 Finally here is where I grew up in the Milwaukee, WI area (53217): source: https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map/z/53217 Hams are everywhere !  I've seen a few silent keys showing up on these maps, the FCC must depend on non-renewals to purge their database which might take 10 years ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I have a fair bit of Teflon wire, the better part of 1000 feet on one roll.  I also have some cables with Teflon insulated wire from the Hughes Aircraft PDEC.  Everyone likes the non-stain nature of Teflon and of course the silver plated wires.  The Teflon insulation won't melt or shrink when soldering either. But the fly in the ointment is stripping that Teflon cleanly without nicking or cutting strands.  Also the slippery nature of Teflon makes it hard to grip without oversqueezing (using pliers) and damaging the insulation.  I understand that heat is often used in a industrial situation - softening the Teflon makes it easier to strip ? I usually use diagonal cutters and end up losing a few strands.  So I did a search on stripping Teflon wire and found this: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkxNT7Q7dm0 Here is the tool on Digikey: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/knipex-tools-lp/12-12-06/10451358 $206.72 !!   I guess I will continue with the diagonal cutters for