Sunday, February 15, 2026

Saw the Hubble Space Telescope Again this Morning

›
Skies were brightening at 0626 local.   And there were a lot of clouds.  But HST appeared right on  schedule, and I saw it between the cloud...
Friday, February 13, 2026

The Mahbood Radio Service Company of Hyderabad, India

›
Our friend Farhan sent this today.  It is really beautiful and captures very well the magic of radio.  Thanks Farhan. and thanks too to Moha...
1 comment:
Tuesday, February 10, 2026

A QSO with Dean KK4DAS (Northern Virginia to Dominican Republic)

›
Dean KK4DAS was checking out his new homebrew solid state 100 watt amplifier.  We were talking about it on the phone, then we decided to giv...
3 comments:
Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Early Hacking with an IMSAI 8080 -- "War Games" (1983) Scene with Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy

›
Some computer history here, and it is old enough (1983) to fit into the SolderSmoke theme.  Plus it appears that the young fellow has a shac...
Thursday, January 29, 2026

Attempting 2 meter contact, Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico

›
It is about 100 miles across the Mona Channel.  That is a longshot on 2 meters, but I got the idea when, this past summer, I regularly hear...
12 comments:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Watching the Hubble Space Telescope (an old friend) from the Dominican Republic

›
  A recent article about the possibility of an early demise of the Hubble Space Telecope caught my eye.  I first saw HST as it came overhead...
1 comment:
Sunday, January 18, 2026

He's Back! The Dos Equis Man -- The Most Interesting Man in the World -- RETURNS!

›
Memes with this guy appeared in many SolderSmoke posts.   Examples:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2022/10/worlds-most-interesting-man-on...
7 comments:
Friday, January 16, 2026

MIT Technology Review on Why AI LLMs are So Strange and So Alien

›
Until recently, I thought that the AI LLMs were just sort of fancy, souped-up search engines.  Google on steroids.   But then they started g...
3 comments:
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Why is it that AI-provided electronic circuits often don't work in the real world?

›
Like many, I have turned to AI for circuit ideas.  And like many, I have been surprised by how many of these ideas just don't work.  I h...
19 comments:
Saturday, January 10, 2026

SolderSmoke Homebrew Direct Conversion Receiver Hall of Fame Update: 108 Completed + 7 Honorable Mentions: Total Receivers Built: 115 (As of February 20, 2026, 1503Z)

›
Please let us know if you spot any errors, or if we have inadvertently missed anyone.  Don't worry about being late to the game -- the c...
1 comment:
Friday, January 9, 2026

Artificial Intelligence Not So Intelligent! AI Flunks the Parallel Resistor Test!

›
So this morning I asked this of AI:       How should I make a 50 ohm dummy load capable of handling 5 watts from 330 ohm 1/4 watt resistors?...
7 comments:
Saturday, January 3, 2026

More on Spark Transmission and Reception -- From Germany. Spark Transmission using a Piezo Fire Starter

›
More spark today.  I really liked how Robert Dalby demonstrated spark transmission and reception.  He used a simple Piezoelectric flame star...