A Crummy Commercial

I usually check Worldradiohistory.com everyday to see what is new: http://www.americanradiohistory.com/American-Radio-History-Updates.htm Today I saw an issue of Budget Electronics magazine: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Elementary-Electronics/Elementary-Electronics-Budget-Electronics-1978.pdf This was published by the same people who produced the yearly 101 Electronic Projects series (mentioned before): https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/02/101-electronic-projects-magazine.html Budget Electronics had fewer than 101 circuits in an issue but each one was presented more in depth rather than just a schematic and a parts list.  The one that caught my eye today was this light meter on page 79: Not so much for this particular design but just the idea of building a light meter rather than buying one. Why would I want or need a light meter ?  I have a Nikon D40 digital SLR camera which is quite nice.  Originally I bought just the used body on Ebay and was planning to...

Continuing with the quest to turn OTR scripts into audio (see previous effort: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/09/tryout-of-google-notebooklm-as-podcast.html Next item up is:   https://ttsopenai.com This is a site that will turn text into speech although not really quickly or easily.  Here is about a minute of audio from the start of the Washing Machine is on the Fritz script: http://wb9kzy.com/wash.mp3   source:  http://www.genericradio.com/show/189032465c4e0d44 Generating audio is probably easier if the paid version is used and I might be able to customize the voices to clone the original actors but whew, too much work for such a disappointing result.  I spent several minutes trying to get the word emphasis but it just sounds weird.  Also Gook should rhyme with Cook not an ethnic slur. That podcast might have been just as unlistenable but at least it was quick and easy :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

 I saw this ad from 1937 for The Candler System (thanks to the Worldradiohistory.com site of course): I figured the dots and dashes were like:  BY PROHIAS (every kid reader of Mad Magazine had decoded that) So why not decode the dots and dashes in the ad.  Starting on the left side it has: SEND THIS COUPON but then above the coupon it continues: QNUOT FINM Whut ??  That's not right - then Ohhh, I get it !  it's printed backwards - upside down, it should be: MAIL TODAY People were just as sloppy in 1937 as they are today :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I found this board while poking through the junkbox: But the problem is that I don't know what it is or why I built it.  No date on the board - that's not good, that means no easy reference to a notebook with more info on the board.  So the second step was to look at the notebook index file I have - unfortunately I don't know what to search on. Looking at the board there are some clues though.  That orange electrolytic cap is probably from that SWTP Lil' Tiger audio amp that I blew up - that means it's probably a pretty old board, before I started using the notebooks in 1990 or so.  Also those white box polyester caps are from bags I purchased from Poly Paks - again an indication of an early project.   Seeing those caps around the socket gives a clue that this is some kind of analog type of a project although there is that digital part.  Unfortunately that green socket is empty - but I dimly recall that this might be a 567 PLL board - probably for turning M...

I found this page with some Vic and Sade scripts: http://www.genericradio.com/series.php?tag=vicandsade This one is a classic, unfortunately all we have is the script: http://www.genericradio.com/show/189032465c4e0d44 So I tried using Google NotebookLM with the washing machine script as the only input: https://notebooklm.google.com Here is the resulting audio (yes there is an operator error, a weird extended pause towards the end if you make it that far): http://wb9kzy.com/L0925E01.MP3   I wish NotebookLM would just have AI actors read the script instead of making the comments about the script but I guess "free" will be what it wants not what I want. It's like a lot of these new internet thingies, remember those caricature generators ?  Upload a photo and it spits out a cartoon version.  Weirdly fun for about 2 seconds and then boredom sets in and/or the server overloads :) Bernardine Flynn (Sade) and AI interpretations Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.ht...

Art Van Harvey, Bernardine Flynn, Paul Rhymer and Bill Idelson of Vic and Sade I was listening to this Soldersmoke podcast: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-new-experimental-podcast-about.html and I didn't care for it (see my comments on Soldersmoke).  But it is probably done with something like Google NotebookLM: https://blog.google/technology/ai/notebooklm-audio-overviews/ I was thinking that something like Google NotebookLM might be useful for turning Vic and Sade scripts into actual performances ?  As has been mentioned before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/02/new-time-radio.html the original travesty was that Proctor and Gamble threw out almost all of the transcription disks for earlier Vic and Sade shows from the 1930s.  BTW, this happened before the war so P&G can't really use wartime scrap drives as an excuse.  Recently two new Vic and Sade shows from 1934 turned up on archive: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/09/weird-noises-and-rare-sounds....

This site: https://smd.yooneed.one/ was mentioned on the Piclist email list.  I tried it with a couple of parts on the SMT Grandson of Zerobeat kit: http://wb9kzy.com/smtzb.htm The voltage regulator is marked F5 8B  although it is hard to see, the series protection diode is marked: M7 I *sorta* found them in the database but you kinda have to know the package type and the part type to pick from all the choices. Still it might be handy when looking at a commercial board that needs fixing. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was watching the second episode of Moonflower Murders (mentioned before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/06/i-was-wrong-yet-again.html The main character, Susan Ryeland, is driving her beloved red MG sports car here: and here: and it occurred to me:  is the right lane the fast lane or the slow lane in England ?  so I asked the all-knowing oracle: Isn't it hard to merge or exit from the passing lane ? I remember driving to Spectronics (a ham radio store in Oak Park, IL near Chicago).  On the Eisenhower (expressway) the exit for Spectronics was from the center lane.  That rattled me a little the first time as an inveterate right lane driver.  Having to swoop across a couple of lanes to exit left was not something they taught in drivers ed in Wisconsin !   Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I never would have thought that Ernest Lawrence, the famous experimental physicist (of the Lawrence Livermore Labs) was connected (a tenuous connection) to the famous Sony Trinitron television.  But these two interesting videos from the IEEE and Asianometry provide details: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxvVO9LLG_w source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOh3jEJGynA I actually have a Trinitron stored away somewhere - a 12" one with a broken rod antenna - as I recall it cost over $400 (at Marshall Field !) in 1977 - that's over $2000 today ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-announces-partnership-with-grouper Maybe it's the name: Grouper - sounds like a large fish with a bad attitude.  But really it sorta sounds like a member is getting paid to take part in ham radio.  And as the top of the page shows: The ARRL is the national organization for Amateur Radio - NOT professional radio. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was watching this video: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1LPmAF2eNA After about 5 minutes I fell asleep - in the middle of the day ! Just like our old friend, the PBS science program  NOVA: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-most-reliable-and-safest-sleep-aid.html NOVA took about 20 minutes but this new video about locks for nuclear weapons knocked me out in only 5 minutes. I am getting old, no doubt about it. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Another interesting picture on Shorpy: source and detailed view: https://www.shorpy.com/node/27552 Per a friend: the key is probably screwed to the table top.  The wires to the key are routed through a hole in the table top.  The cutout in the desk is probably for a typewriter.  The space may be a little too tight for a swivel chair but one is certainly justified.  The tin on the sounder makes it louder. the tin on the sounder looks like a Big Ben tin that has been cut down Which reminds me of a Novice incident I heard about:  a Novice ham radio operator is copying a QSO and writes this down:  SO LID CPY  which he took as an insult (so LID copy) but really just a matter of incorrect spacing either in sending or writing  (SOLID CPY ?).  I guess if you put a lid on the tin, the sounder isn't quite as loud which is handy if the sending operator has a poor fist. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

First pagers, then walkie talkies: https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/09/14-dead-as-hezbollah-walkie-talkies-explode-in-second-deadlier-attack/ This reminds me of this guy: An idea straight out of Q-branch ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was peering through my IC stock, looking for a 14 pin chip, when I found these buried in a bag inside a cardboard box: Two of the tubes had turned brown !  And all of the rubber bands had stretched out and broken.  So I put the chips into a different tube. I really need to check through my junkbox more often - maybe do a grand inventory ?   BTW, this is why I started using short pieces of hookup wire to keep the chips in tubes with the kit inventory - rubber bands and tape always seem to fail.  Not sure what to do about the tubes though. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Previously mentioned a few days ago: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/09/loss-of-trust.html This arrived in the morning Informed Delivery email: However, Informed Delivery site isn't working: So basically one step forward, one back ?  Trust stuck in neutral.  Here is the received statement: I didn't bother to open it (it was still sealed) because it is about 2 weeks stale now and I already got the info from the Fidelity web site.  Still it was good that it hadn't been stolen but in a way good because I've gotten rid of the future possibility of losing financial statements in the mail. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was looking for an IC which has been discontinued, the XR2211 / NJR2211 tone decoder / PLL.  I looked in the usual places and have found some but then I thought: "what about NTE Electronics ?" So I tried them and the site won't open.  I tried checking the is it down page: Then I tried a search and found this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/nte-no-more The site was indeed regularly backed up on Archive, the last being August 1, 2024.  So maybe the hosting / URL ran out at the end of July ? Anyway, yet another parts vendor lost for electronic parts for repair or replacement.  Bummer Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I thought this Tales from the Cube was interesting: https://www.edn.com/heathkit-transceiver-recalled-after-meeting-specs As I recall this was the HW-2035 ?  No, per Chuck Penson's book, it was the HW-2026 (I remembered that only one number changed when the new fixed model came out, HW-2036 ;)  A friend worked at the Heathkit store in Milwaukee during this period.  He said that this was a big deal at Heathkit - I believe the president then was Dave Nurse ?  Anyway he ordered the recall and Heathkit took the returned radios and destroyed them (and cut off the microphones, too) to make sure that they weren't resold - cutting off the microphone seemed symbolic to me, like ripping the buttons off a dis-honored officer's coat and breaking his sword in half :) Which of course reminds me of this opening theme from Branded: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Bp4N1PCcI Finally here is an interesting examination of the HW-2026: https://www.w6ze.org/Heathkit/Heathkit_1...

I was supposed to get this: from Informed Delivery, some numbers above address deleted last Saturday (September 7, 2024) - it didn't arrive - also didn't arrive on Monday-Thursday. Normally if it was junk mail, who would care ?  But it was the monthly statement from my broker.  Was it just mis-delivered ?  Did it jump off of a conveyor and end up on the floor ?  The worry is some bad actor gets a hold of it and does mischief. I'll probably see it eventually but I decided to switch all my financial statements to electronic, hopefully it will prevent this from happening so much. But it is a loss of trust, no wonder the post office is losing business.  And maybe it is also part of the reason for the kit sales slump - customers may not trust the USPS or me ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

Recently I've been watching these bite-sized but informative Lucasfilm documentaries from the Young Indy TV series: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFwG9lNz0cU playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxq8tinwe551mcM_kxaq_Ja-H-yeuckQN They mostly cover that late 19th through the mid 20th century history when the Indiana Jones stories were set.  When I was in school it seemed like every year history and social studies classes always started with Euro expansion and trade routes and we never seemed to reach this period :)  I think these programs are very worthwhile. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I still subscribe to the ARRL Contest Update even though I was never that interested in contesting (unless Field Day is counted).   A new comes out every 2 weeks. - I started subscribing probably due to the recommendation of another ham.  While it always covered contests and QSO parties, it also used to have a LOT of technical content.  W0AX, Ward was the editor when I first started getting it, roughly 10 years ago ?  But it has changed editors several times since then until now it has very little technical content. There is an archive going back to 2002 which I may start checking when I need some technical inspiration: http://www.arrl.org/contest-update-issues Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I thought this was an interesting video: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0BJe6l2u7c Other than a ball cap and knit cap during appropriate times of year, I never wear a real hat - had some when I was a kid (we used to attend church on Sundays).  I haven't worn a suit in decades either. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm