A Crummy Commercial

I bought another solar panel since this one: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/03/solar.html This second one has similar specs and cost about the same but it was just a panel.  It didn't come with all the little cables and clips. I like solar panel specs, right on the back, easy to test, nice ! One thing I added was a series diode to prevent the battery discharging through the diodes of the solar panel at night.  I might change out that diode later for a MOSFET circuit but I'll have to research that to see what the pitfalls might be.  One problem is that the solar panel puts out 18 volts or more in full sun and that much voltage would probably zap the gate of a MOSFET.  So a circuit is required to protect the gate.  Another thing is that as I've encountered before, MOSFETs can conduct in both directions (unlike a diode).  So maybe it's best to just live with the voltage drop across the diode for now. The other thing I'll need is a cable which can easily be c...

The story that keeps on giving: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKlOY5wPS9U Milwaukee Journal article from 10 years ago:  https://archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/15-minutes-of-fame-for-welcome-to-cleveland-sign-lasts-37-years-b99627742z1-360471381.html/   Every time a local Milwaukee TV station, newspaper or a blogger somewhere finds out about the story it lives again - I love it !  There's too much serious in the world but not enough silly.   If you punch "welcome to cleveland" into Google it'll take you to this: Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm 

After using the lamp for negative copying a while (mentioned here):  https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/04/new-lamp-for-negative-and-slide-copying.html I started to get tired of having to lean over to turn off the power at the wall socket.  So I broke out the old sheet metal punch and added a little C&K 7201 switch (also a ground screw): Here it is with the lamp ON: This should be a lot more convenient.  The now unused Leviton 1470 outlet switch at the lower left seems to be expressing alarm :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was watching the  Summer's End video for the gazillionth time: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEFTv9zr0 It's a nice song with a lot of hope - the video is sort of a downer but it ends with John giving his son an affectionate touch on the arm - tears and grins, people. But as usual when you watch a video on Youtube the algorithm strikes, served up this one: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOvC5v6s3-E Several items were new to me: meat and threes:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_and_three John liked Dairy Queen (who doesn't ?).  When Fats asked: "what's good here?" John's wife, Fiona, replied: "nothing"  :)  John had a subscription to Archie comics (as an adult) ?  :) And why is the fellow being interviewed (Mr. Kaplan) have the name: Fats ? John Prine wiki:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prine When I moved to the Chicago area John Prine had already become a success.  But I knew guys who were en...

What appears to be an AI voiced video about Heathkit: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUQOG1hp54g I think the video was interesting but it really overstates the value and historical impact of Heathkit.  It also says that surface mount was the first killer of kits.  I don't think I'd go quite that far.  They rank cost as factor 2 but really surface mount was a part of driving cost lower. However I do think that Heathkit was important in my pursuit of radio and electronics as both hobby and career.  Ironically the trouble I had building the HW-16 was actually a boost: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/hw-16.html The HW-16 was really a receiver-transmitter.  There wasn't a lot of circuitry shared between the two halves.  The receiver was built on a circuit board and worked first time.  The transmitter was three tubes and built point to point - and much simpler than the receiver - but it didn't transmit right.  Thanks to the Heathkit m...

Cerro Autana, a tepui in Venezuela source:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DWXqIkkDbm_/ Recently Youtube served up this video:  source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NfhaosoR3E That triggered a memory of watching this NOVA from 1986: Skydive To The Rainforest source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnmwf2jTi3w Served up in glorious 240p :)   And in the mid 1980s the DC-3 was still routinely flying: A wiki on tepui in general:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepui Here's the wiki on Cerro Autana which mentions the NOVA in passing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Autana Why skydive instead of using a helicopter ?  Obviously in hindsight they should have used a 'copter (or stayed home).  But probably the people footing the bill for both the expedition and the film were the skydivers and skydivers like to skydive !  :)  But that woman breaking her leg like a green stick, yikes !  The fellow who was injured was more fortunate...

I was looking at some pictures and negatives for scanning candidates when I found this: just fill in W46XW9512N on your Sears order form ! This is the Sears ad for the fridge that my Dad bought for our old A-frame cottage on the east side of Washington Island - that's his note in red on the left.  And guess what ?  I STILL use that fridge over 50 years later.  It's pretty small, less than countertop high, about counter deep and not that wide.  It's the perfect size for one person.  Imported from Italy !  Mamma mia ! :) I don't have the receipt for the fridge at hand so I assume he paid that full price which inflates to: almost $900 ! Wow !  I haven't priced a fridge in a long time but I'd bet they are cheaper than that.   I had thought about using a mini-chest freezer as a fridge.  There is a company called INKBIRD that makes a thermostat that can accomplish this repurpose of a freezer to a fridge.  As I understand it the solar...