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Showing posts from May, 2023

Book Report: The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick

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. Most of the book deals with the Newton-Leibniz feud which I hadn't really known about.  The author  does a pretty good intro to physics and calculus.  And the history of science focusing on Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, Galileo, Newton and Leibniz among others was interesting.  Also the info on the Royal Society was interesting, especially considering that it still exists - they have many interesting lecture videos on Youtube. One item I almost missed in the book was Newton's invention of the reflecting telescope.  The author just mentions it in passing and that it was smaller than the refractor that Galileo used.  Newton's telescope is still the basis of the latest and greatest telescopes today such as the JWST. But the big takeaway from the book for me was The Royal Society method:   => experiments not lore    => share experimental results freely   Lots of echoes of those sentiments in ham radio. I have to confess that I did nod off a few times while reading it - the

This is really stupid

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                                                 . source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMvz1lFanwU Let me watch it again :) Continuing the comic theme, this is a fun song: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnzLconK4Tw familiar to anyone who has seen their share of Warner Brothers cartoons. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Had to enlist an old friend

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I read on the internet that the Ramsey FM-10 works better if enclosed in a metal box.  So I found a Swiss Colony tin in the junkbox which already had a bunch of holes from previous projects. But the Ramsey board was just a little too long for the square tin.  So I used the old friend, an Adel Nibbler which I got in 2018.  Several nibbling passes later and the Ramsey fit nicely.  The Ramsey board was the older style, single sided composition board so it notched more easily than fiberglass would have. . no no, wrong Nibbler ! I also stuck in an LED pilot light and used a cable tie to hold the 9V battery instead of the included metal clip.  It works pretty well with just a short clip lead as an antenna.  I was able to hear it well over 100 feet away from the house in both the front and back yards.  I still need to complete the setup, add a whip antenna and possibly some other mods but I am very happy with the kit as is. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

GOSS

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New acronym:  Got Off the Shame Shelf Previously blogged on the 8 gb SD card: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/05/boss-again.html But I had some inspiration: instead of trying to use a PC to recognize/format the SD card try using something else like the Sangean DAR-101 audio recorder.  I tried the card in the DAR-101 and it didn't work.  Then tried formatting it with the DAR-101 and it seemed to enter an endless loop.  After 15 minutes or so I shut off the DAR-101 power and too out the SD card.   Back on the Shame Shelf ? No, not yet, next I retried it on the PC and was able to reformat the card.  Sometimes seemingly endless iteration is rewarded :) Luckily I had done a backup of the data on the card so was able to restore everything, nice ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Ramsey FM-10a kit

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 I got an interesting surprise in the mail on Friday, a bubble pack mailer from a friend I went to grade school with.  It was a vintage, unopened Ramsey FM-10a FM transmitter kit.  This is the kit with the Rohm BA1404 stereo IC.  Apparently the kit was pretty popular, lots of search results on it.   The kit must be at least 8 years old since Ramsey stopped selling kits at the start of 2016: http://arrl.org/news/ramsey-kits-calls-it-quits I hate to open it, kind of like defiling King Tut's tomb ! Maybe I'll let it sit for a rainy day ?   We'll see. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Book Report: Red Alert by Peter Bryant (1958)

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 Red Alert is the basis for the movie: Dr. Strangelove and also possibly the book/movie: Fail Safe.  Red Alert doesn't have the humorous elements of Dr. Strangelove (especially the title character) but the movie plot does follow the book closely although the ending is different.   https://archive.org/details/red-alert-1958-by-peter-bryant The author was a former RAF pilot. Why read a book from the late 1950s and watch a movie from the 1960s ?  For one thing: Frontier internet went out after 1pm the day I read it so no chance to fool around on the internet that afternoon, so why not do some reading ?  Otherwise Ukraine would be my excuse :)  There aren't a lot of parallels but I imagine that a lot of the lethargy of the European and US response has been due to the nuclear power that Putin still commands.  People in the know are worried that if Russia loses that Putin will push the nuclear button. Is Putin suicidal ?  I hope not. BTW here is the Dr. Strangelove video: https://ar

Putin's reading material

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Extreme states of matter ?  yikes, you never get those unless a lot of energy is being released ! https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-18953-6 source (about 11 minutes into the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwqd6Wm9EPQ Stealing a line from Fiddler on the Roof:  Is there a proper blessing for Vladimir Putin ? Of course: May God bless and keep Vladimir Putin far away from us ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

The sound of Feet of Clay in the middle of the night ?

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Tenergy 9V batteries have been mentioned before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/01/our-friend-9-volt-battery.html Yesterday I decided to change the Tenergy 9V in the downstairs smoke alarm with a freshly charged one.  However in the middle of the night I started hearing the alarm do the battery low beep about every 40 seconds.   I don't know if it's the new battery or the charger or both.  I hate it when good stuff stops working - especially when I was trying to be proactive ! I've got a different charger, no smarts, doesn't try to sense delta V or any of that, it just puts out a constant 16 mA, maybe that'll work better.  So I recharged the removed battery for a couple of hours.  Terminal voltage is well over 9V.  One good thing about the other charger: no RFI, the Tenergy is terribly noisy. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Professor Robert von Neumann

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. the professor with his wife in the background I was watching the Antiques Roadshow Extraordinary Finds episode: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbSQlEggkcA I do remember that 1/2 million dollar table. Watching made me wonder about some of the art work that the folks collected.  One item is a self portrait by a somewhat famous artist (at least in the Milwaukee Wisconsin area) of the 20th century: Robert Von Neumann I remember my Mom (she studied with Professor von Neumann) saying a few things about the portrait: 1) he painted it in 15 minutes 2) the eyes follow you everywhere 3) the professor wanted to buy the portrait back from the folks but they kept it As far as comment 1, did he really paint it in 15 minutes or did it take 80 years ? (or whatever age he was at the time :) Here's my one story about the von Neumanns. The von Neumanns lived in a nearby suburb, Glendale Wisconsin, on the Milwaukee river.  One time in the 1960s or 1970s the von Neumanns came over to our Fo

Another thing I missed at the movies

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I was watching a clip from the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdbhZBpqNPM Right at the start we see a fellow in a suit (plaid coat with pants to match ! - I imagine that if a moonbase is ever established that everyone will be wearing matching khaki pants with a polo shirt like they wear on the ISS :). He is using a pistol grip item which looks like a monocular kind of instrument thingy but which is a camera.  I completely missed this when I saw the movie but a Leica using friend of mine mentioned it once - that was the director Stanley Kubrick's notion of what a photographer would use in the 21st century - Kubrick used to be a photographer for Look Magazine before becoming a film director.  Note that the camera has a subtle Leica like click rather than the fairly loud mirror slap noise played by a cell phone :) Anyway, an interesting moment from the movie - a prediction gone wrong.  Not only the fact that we have no Moon bases but if we did eve

3D printed item magically changes color

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Previous blog on 3D printed coil form: original color https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/03/elcie-rides-to-rescue.html I was cleaning off the workbench top and came across the 3D coil forms - no I haven't done anything further except saw off the brass bolt head.  But the weird thing is the color: the side is also more original What happened there ?  They were sitting on the workbench under some paper and other junk.  Judging by where the color kinda went rusty it must be light related.  The workbench is next to a north facing window so there is only rare sunlight. 3D printing is now weird for me. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Attack of the anti-static foam

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I needed a 2 digit, 7 segment LED display for a prototype.  While I will probably buy something different eventually I thought I might as well use what I have on hand. Unfortunately the black anti-static foam has messed up the leads of the green display I wanted to use.  I tried using a voltage source/resistor to check the segments, only could get one segment to light.  I had put the displays in the foam more to protect the pins than to prevent static damage. Luckily I also have some of these National 2 digit displays that didn't have pins so no problem - they are golden :) Bottom line: Leaving a part in the junkbox untouched for decade (or longer ?) may result in that part turning into actual junk. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm 

Film still used by NASA for Artemis 1 launch

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 Per an update from Curious Droid: NASA used film to document the Artemis 1 launch.     So film is not dead yet! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm                

Hulcher specialty film cameras

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I was watching Curious Droid's video about the NASA launch film versus the latest digital launch footage: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2t-lEoN2HM The executive summary:  film still has some advantages including dynamic range in high light levels and better image capture for subjects in motion. For some reason the article brought the Hulcher cameras to mind, one was recently sold on ebay : https://www.ebay.com/itm/145000906726 An interesting article here on Hulcher: https://www.wired.com/2012/08/hulcher-high-speed-cameras Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Farewell Facebook

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I finally deleted my account - hopefully this will provide more time for ham radio and electronics. That's me on the right, and shazam !  I'm gone   source:  http://gardendrown.com/content/images/2017/01/unperson.jpg Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm            

Callsign Area Changes After the War

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I never realized that the ham radio call areas changed until I saw this pre-war map: source: https://www.qcwa.org/w0gfq01-sk.jpg BTW, W9GFR the next fellow in the 1929 callbook: after the famous Leo Meyerson W9GFQ (later W0GFQ) was a fellow named Myron E. Kluge whose company was mentioned in a previous blog post: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/05/california-kluge.html Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

Lincoln knew

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While listening to recent Ukraine war podcasts concerning the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive I thought of this quote: Ukraine is currently sharpening those axes. Announcing that there would be an offensive was kind of like seeing a road sign like this: From then on you are kind of wondering:  "was that it ?  was that the bump ?"    Ukraine is getting the enemy to spend time on planning for the offensive and having them question each event:  "was that it (the start of the offensive) ?" Apparently there is a military phrase for this: shaping operations.   But I'll just think of ax sharpening and road bump signs. :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Liverpool ?

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I heard that the Eurovision 2023 song contest was being held in Liverpool - don't really know much about Eurovision other than there is some kind of ABBA connection.  Also don't know much about Liverpool although The Beatles were popular when I was a kid.  I remember seeing HELP ! multiple times one summer at the Brown Port Theater.  But while I knew the Beatles were from Liverpool it never occurred to me to wonder why Liverpool was named Liverpool. Here are some ideas: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/why-is-liverpool-called-liverpool-13364843   also - molecular electronics ?   https://www.eetimes.com/liverpool-researchers-take-on-molecular-electronics Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

BOSS again

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Unfortunately the Westclox has gone BOSS: Back On the Shame Shelf. After the first 18 hours or so it was working fine, keeping good time with the WWVB clock.  But after about 30 hours I noticed it had lost 10 minutes. So the Westclox is now BOSS and I'll replace it with something more reliable. In addition I also "bricked" an 8 gb sd card while trying to do a format.  It's been a bad time for stuff here recently :( Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

B.O.S.S. ?

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BOSS => Back On Shame Shelf ?   One of the items that I've had trouble with was an Westclox analog quartz clock from the mid 1990s (it actually says made in USA on the front/back, that's how old it is).   It had suffered an alkaline cell leak.  I tried cleaning it up but there was some kind of bad contact so I just wired in an 2 cell AA holder and bypassed one of the cells. It still didn't work quite right so on the shelf it went. (BTW N6QW owns the trademark on "Shame Shelf" :) At the end of March 2023 I decided to re-try it, and it worked !  However during May it had begun to gain time, over 15 seconds.  Then it lost over an hour on May 10 to 11. I took it down intending to get a new clock but realized that I had installed a NiMh cell at the end of March.  So I decided to recharge the NiMh (it was a little low on the VOM battery tester) and retry it. And it works !  So only a month or so of operation with a NiMh cell but that's  OK. Best Regards, Chuck, W

I tried asking google's bard AI: Why do ham radio opzerators use lower sideband below 10 MHz and upper sideband above 10 MHz ?

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here is bard's answer in text: There are a few reasons why ham radio operators use lower sideband (LSB) below 10 MHz and upper sideband (USB) above 10 MHz. * **Historical reasons:** Early amateur SSB rigs used a 9 MHz intermediate frequency (IF), and it was easier and cheaper to generate LSB below 9 MHz and USB above 9 MHz. This convention has carried on even though modern rigs can generate either sideband equally well. * **Propagation reasons:** The ionosphere, which reflects radio waves back to Earth, is more effective at reflecting LSB signals below 10 MHz than USB signals above 10 MHz. This is because the ionosphere is more dense at lower frequencies. As a result, LSB signals are more likely to be received over long distances on the lower bands than USB signals. * **Interference reasons:** There is less interference from commercial and amateur radio stations on the lower sidebands than on the upper sidebands. This is because the lower sidebands are used less frequently. As a re

Interesting video on An Wang and Wang Labs

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. source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgDZQy0nN-Y The video reminded me of what I have heard about many companies, family values sometimes gets in the way of business success.  A friend used to work in the Illinois sales office of a company that made circuit boards.  One of their big customers was the Motorola handset operation in northern Illinois (this was last century).   The circuit board company manufactured in mainland China but it had started on Taiwan.  The problem was similar to what happened with Wang Labs.  As the company grew and the founders aged control was passed to the next generation of the family who weren't as competent.  Of course this isn't just a Chinese business problem, it happens at many companies.  I'm sure that many Harvard advanced degrees have been granted to those who have studied and documented this business succession problem. I don't know what happened to the circuit board company, my friend quit to pursue other interests but their

A literal laugh out loud

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. Brett just can't help it, folks https://www.theonion.com/brett-favre-makes-amends-by-sending-photo-of-his-penis-1849598075 Sometimes it is worth looking at twitter. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

California Kluge

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I've heard the phrase "California Kilowatt" for a long time, usually after Field Day when discussing the results.  A California Kilowatt was supposedly a station that operated well above the maximum limits of power.   But I was suprised to find out that California Kilowatt was going to be a ham radio transmitter by a company called Kluge Electronics. source: https://www.qsl.net/k9fh/kluge/index.html There were some ads in a magazine called Radio News in 1946 by Kluge Electronics: source: https://www.rfcafe.com/references/radio-news/kluge-electronics-company-february-1946-radio-news.htm . source: https://www.rfcafe.com/references/radio-news/kluge-electronics-ad-january-1946-radio-news.htm Apparently that was it.  No rig ever sold.  No other ads (at least in QST around the start of 1946).  No other products that I'm aware of. Interesting that the names Kluge and California Kilowatt were entwined this way - vaporware from the mid 20th century. BTW, a short treatise on kl

Uranus

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 Still the joker of planets: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/as-many-as-four-moons-around-uranus-may-have-oceans-below-the-surface/ The next to the last line of the article was worth the read. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm             

Simpson 260

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I downloaded a scan of the 1958 Allied Catalog: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Catalogs/Allied-Catalogs/Allied-Catalog-1958.pdf and noticed the Simpson 260 on pdf page 240 (catalog page 244): Then I tried the inflation calculator (aka the great justifier): and finally looked on the May 2023 Newark site: So basically the Simpson 260 has not only been around for a long time but it is roughly the same price after inflation.  But even so I don't think I'll be buying one for several reasons: 1) no mirrored scale 2) no battery test 3) and of course I don't need another item that I touch once and then it sits there unused Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm    UPDATE:  whoops, the 260-8 DOES have a mirrored scale but still doesn't have battery test options for a 9 volt battery or a 1.5 volt cell.   So I'm still not buying one.

why I don't get snacks at the movies

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I remember as a kid in the 1960s going out to a movie with the folks.  It was the Kurosawa directed Japanese samurai movie: Yojimbo. Coming out of the movie I remember my Dad asking me what I thought of the beginning of the movie.  I must have looked at him quizzically because then he said something about the dog trotting down the street with someones hand in his mouth. is that a hand ? Yup our hero doesn't know what to think I had completely missed this, one of the coolest/weirdest parts of the movie !  I must have been stuffing popcorn into my face or ?? Anyway, no more snacks at the movies from then on, thanks, I had to start paying attention. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Bob the pheasant

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This handsome fellow has been seen and especially heard this spring.  His characteristic antique horn call and then wing drumming is often noticed in the morning. But I'll call him Bob because somehow he has lost all his long tailfeathers - poor chap. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm