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...

These pictures aren't super great but I'm including them for completeness.  First, a couple from 1972 Baldings Hill: Second, a couple (from prints) from the Evans farm, 1975 mockup: Mockup: the Glen Gates Gang would often have a rehearsal two weeks (?) before the actual Field Day at the end of June.  So it was a chance for me to take some black and white shots for myself. Third (from negatives) three of the tower raising - this also looks like a mockup, not many people and the extension pipes aren't inside the tower: The winch (usually manned by Mike Millar) would have been behind me in these pictures. One thing I didn't mention about the negative digitizing: I could only scan either 126 or 35mm film or slides with the Canon scanner.  But using the DSLR and the light source it will also be possible to digitize larger format negatives - for example although the first two pictures above were from prints, the camera used was an old Ansco 620 roll film folding camera (with ...

This short video from Milwaukee PBS popped up on the Youtube feed: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8MqEDQJyqQ Quite interesting, at least to a Wisconsinite :)  When I was a kid in the 1960s we had an Evinrude outboard motor, a Yachtwin - as I recall it was light blue and white as contrasted with the camo green of a Johnson motor :)  We didn't use the motor that much so Dad would periodically run it in a garbage can filled with water.  This was in the garage where he had a small setup made of 2 x 4s nailed to the wall to hold the motor.  When the motor was fitted to a rowboat it didn't go very fast but I guess it wasn't meant to - it was for moving sailboats while in the harbor ?  I think my lack of interest in boating was kind of a disappointment for my Dad - he had been in the Naval Reserve, owned a small sailboat, loved to go fishing - me: not so much :) A Yachtwin Evinrude's 1st outboard motor patent: source:  https://patentimages.storage....

I finally got around to making a light source to use with my copy stand, DSLR and negative holder, as first mentioned here:    https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/10/light-bulb-dummy-load.html It uses an empty KLIM dry milk can - BTW the real airmen portrayed in The Great Escape supposedly used the KLIM tins from their Red Cross Parcels for various escape tunnel items, so there is a long history of repurposing old KLIM tins. source:  https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205402300     I took an unused IEC power cord from some item and cut off the female connector.  Then stripped back the wires and connected them to a Leviton keyless lamp holder (keyless means no switch).  The lamp holder is screwed to a piece of wood which is fastened to the KLIM tin. gotta connect that ground wire to the tin ! I used a rubber gasket around the hole punched in the tin and tied a knot in the cable for a strain relief.      A round diffuser from my ...

Remember the book:  Homer Price ? : https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/06/homer-price.html There was a sequel by author McCloskey:  Centerburg Tales I can't remember if I read this one as a kid - but it's a fun book - and it has those amazing drawings by author McCloskey.  The book has many of the characters from Homer Price but adds new kooky ones like the fanciful Grampa Hercules and the crusty Dulcy Dooner.  A wonderful collection of stories about people in the fictional Centerburg. One radio related story, the gang in Uncle Ulysses' lunchroom encounters a huckster named Professor Atmos P.H. Ear.  He sells them all cans of EVERSOMUCH MORE-SO which is sorta like MSG in cooking except that EVERSOMUCH MORE-SO works on everything :) this sounds like every preamp I've ever tried with a radio :) Freddy is raising one eyebrow No murders, nothing serious, just silly, I love it !  Yes, I am still 12 years old inside. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/h...

I saw these on Ebay: source:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/376955749817 This is one of the few pictures of Maple Dale with the 2nd and 3rd stories still intact.  I spent 6th grade on the 3rd floor and 5th grade on the 2nd floor. I also happened to notice this collection of links: https://mail.ldsgenealogy.com/WI/Milwaukee-County-School-Records.htm But unfortunately nothing new as far as Nicolet or Maple Dale are concerned, just my own stuff :( I have heard that the LDS folks are heavily into genealogy and that this school info and pictures are part of that ("see, that's Aunt Sara when she was a literal teen !"). The Journal has a nice page of school pictures over the years: https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/education/2025/02/20/view-historical-photos-of-wisconsin-k-12-school-life-from-1920-1980/78646872007/   Unfortunately nothing from Maple Dale and just a couple of pictures from Nicolet: The Knightskellar was in the basement . the younger students couldn't g...