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Friday, May 13, 2011
Landing on Titan to the Sounds of Saturn
These are real images from the Huygens probe. And the sound is apparently from the radio signals generated by Saturn. I agree -- it sounds nicer than Jupiter!
Labels:
astronomy,
Saturn,
space program,
video
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Euro Zone: SolderSmoke Kindle-book Now Available
SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics is now available on the Amazon.de (German) web site. Payment in Euros.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B004V9FIVW
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B004V9FIVW
Monday, May 9, 2011
WONDERMARK! (Comics with the Knack)
As part of our occasional series on Knack-related comic strips, today we present Wondermark. This link will take you to the first page: http://wondermark.com/tink1/ From there, look for the little "NEXT" hand on the right of the comic. There are eight. All of them are gems. Also, be sure to check out the author's bio:
http://wondermark.com/about/
http://wondermark.com/about/
Labels:
cartoons
Friday, May 6, 2011
WSPR -- THE MOVIE!
VK2TPM made some nice videos of the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting System (WSPR) maps over time. Its kind of fun to watch the propagation shift from trans-Atlantic to trans-Pacific.
More: http://www.youtube.com/user/vk2tpm#p/u/4/U1sBGZzNv8s
Thursday, May 5, 2011
T/R Success with WSPR
Thanks to everyone who sent in advice on my WSPR t/r troubles. I now have it all sorted out. In the image above you can see the cable from the serial port that carries the RTS T/R signal from the computer. It goes to a switching transistor that controls a relay that in turn switches the three relays that actually do T/R for the rig. One question: On the Linux computer the RTS signal seems to switch between +5 and -5 volts, but on the Windows machine it was +10 and -10. Why?
I'm really pleased to have the computer interface working. It is kind of neat to bring together the complex technology of the computer and the simple technology of a DSB/Direct Conversion rig.
I'm really pleased to have the computer interface working. It is kind of neat to bring together the complex technology of the computer and the simple technology of a DSB/Direct Conversion rig.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Five Planets Visible in the Morning
The good folks over at spaceweather.com have once again alerted us to an important astronomical event: During May, early risers will be treated to a conjunction of Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury. (The fifth visible planet would be the one you are standing on!) The Moon is thrown in as a bonus. The photo above was taken by Liz Gleeson on Magnetic Island (Australia) -- what a great location!
Labels:
astronomy
Monday, May 2, 2011
More T/Rouble
I get the RTS signal when using a Windows PC, but when I try to switch over to a Linux computer, I don't get the T/R signal from pin 7. Is there some code or setting in Linux that I need to change to make this happen?
Labels:
WSPR
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