A Crummy Commercial

In the olden days of the 20th century, headphones were sometimes called: cans.  Well here is a 21st century version of high impedance cans (really can, a single element): It uses the headband from a defunct Gemini headphone - the dynamic elements and padding were removed.  Cable ties were then used to attach the Altoids round tin lids (actual cans).  Then a piezo telephone sounder, a CPE-6080, was wired to a 3.5 mm jack.  Then a standard 3.5 mm cable can be used to connect to a radio.  I did try these with the Elecraft K2 headphone jack and they are usable although not super comfortable.  I could add another piezo to the other can in the future but for now this is it. I also tried it with the old crystal set but no luck, the antennas currently in place are too small to be of use or some connection has broken over the winter - I'll try them again in the spring when antenna time returns. High impedance ?  Yes, although there is a peaky response: the CPE-...

No, no, not that Astro, he was an early 1960s phenomenon. There you are, the CIR Astro 200, a late 1970s ham radio, one of the first synthesized HF rigs.  Here is an interesting blog by KA7OEI: https://ka7oei.blogspot.com/2025/05/refurbishing-cir-astro-200-hf-amateur.html Notice the price: Not cheap considering a ham could get nearly four Heathkit HW-101 rigs for about the same money.  The thing I noticed wasn't so much the price but those six panel mounted switches: The switches look a little amateurish (maybe appropriate considering the market?) - CIR should have bought 6 extra hex nuts and properly mounted the switches.  Previously blogged on here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/09/panel-mounting-switch.html Maybe it was a question of cramming it all in there and there was no room to accomplish proper mounting ?  A rig which was supposedly a subsequent version of the CIR Astro 200 was the Swan Cubic Astro 150: Here they ditched the panel mount switches for the m...

I was using this needle nose pliers recently: "Omega" the last letter of the Greek alphabet, that should have been a warning.  I also used to have a matching diagonal cutter but stopped using that due to poor performance.  I got both tools at a True Value sometime during the 1980s.  Unfortunately these pliers don't always hold that well, the stiff piece of copper wire slipped and I ended up pinching my index finger: it hurt like crazy, luckily the skin wasn't broken Doesn't look like it's that bad but this is the umpty-umpth time this has happened.  So I've finally decided to replace this finger mangler with something of better quality.  Probably I'll get a Klein, Xcelite or Channellock - some brand I've heard of.  I'll see what I can get on Ebay (the only place on the island with tools happens to be a True Value so forget that !).   Has it really taken me 70 years to learn something so basic ?  Buy cheap tools at your own peril ! Best Regard...

I remember seeing this one a while back: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqVhuAWyxc But this one is new to me: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbOCkhhTs2w I assume they are both part of the Russian tradition of sad art ?  I shudder to think what the Russian version of Snow White would be like ! And of course the Carl Sagan television program: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3fXtsHNJdA BTW, COS/MOS is what RCA called their CMOS logic IC products: I used to use the subsequent versions of that book a LOT at GTE. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

Saw this: Thanks Supremes for waiting a year - I've only had to discontinue some products and jack up the prices on others.  And no way to claim on lost opportunities. I'm just saying: we are already in the dystopia portrayed in fiction - endless novelty coupled with authoritarianism - a mishmash of 1984 and Brave New World - sorta: Cowardly 2026 And then there was this: 10 percent Federal sales tax, this is another way of telling me to shut down the kit business. update 2026-02-22: make that a 15% import tax for 150 days - will it be 10,000% tomorrow ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

I started using my old Kodak Easyshare CX7430 camera more.  It's a lot smaller than the Nikon D40 SLR.  AND the Kodak has an optical viewfinder unlike many other cameras (cellphones et. al.) so you don't have to rely on a dim screen outside held at arms length. But I discovered a flaw today - the date setting won't go above 2025.  I guess Kodak figured that people would ditch a 21 year old camera ?  Not me ! I went to take these two pictures (Mann's had more Paczki on Thursday):   But the camera wouldn't power up, no juice, the last time I changed the Nimh cells was later 2025.  So I had to take out the cells and replace them - I did this quickly hoping that the date might be kept but nope !  I should have gotten an AC adapter (coulda, shoulda, woulda, but dint, Chuck).  So I ended up setting the year to 2025 (and 4 AM rather than 1600) as can be seen from this directory: everything was fine until yesterday afternoon Then I tried an experiment: se...

Judging from a sample of one (my Mom), Japanese people like spicy food.  I was never much for spicy food although it is a little like diving into cold water.  Once you get used to it, it's not that bad.   Anyway I bought some of these snacks on Ebay: It was gonna be a twofer.  A snack that while good is resist-able - I won't finish the entire can in one sitting, that's for sure.  But also, I remembered that the plastic lid from a Hapi Wasabi Peas was perfect for sealing up a partially eaten can of Campbell's Chunky soup.  Negative lesson learned: that is no longer true: The Hapi cans are bigger now, the plastic lid will fit tightly on a can of tuna though.  One other thing:  these peas will last a LONG time past the expiration date.  I found a can years after my Mom had died that I popped open and the peas were fine. The Ebay seller also included these freebies: I learned something positive:  a little chocolate eaten after a hot sna...