Workbench Upgrade

Lots of good ideas in Todd's video. I need to do a lot of this kind of improvement.



Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Google CW!

Google announced this yesterday. VERY timely. I wish I had thought of this!



Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Murphy's Whiskers: SHAVED (with Belden 1671A!)

Brad, AA1IP, has come to the rescue and is offering Belden 1671A at prices SIGNIFICANTLY below cocaine levels. Thanks Brad!

Hello--
In response to Bill's plea on SolderSmoke #142 for an inexpensive source of Belden 1671A semi-rigid coaxial cable, I can offer it for sale at $.30 per foot in lengths up to 10 feet to 20 feet; handling longer lengths is problematical, as I don't have a good wire-respooling method at present. Postage and packaging for up to 10 feet of 1671A cable is extra and costs $3.25 for shipping via first-class mail to U.S. addresses (I honor PayPal and certain other payment methods). Note that coaxial connectors for 1671A are available (but not from me, alas). Also, the outer jacket of 1671A is best cut with a fine-toothed coping saw or a miniature tubing cutter such as... http://www.amazon.com/Pit-Bull-Mini-Tubing-Cutter/dp/B0027BBHW0

Questions welcomed as always. 73-- Brad AA1IP

P.S.: the "Murphy's Whiskers" Bill refers to are small pieces of copper braid wire that break off from RG-174/U (or other) coax braid and cause intermittent short-circuits in whatever they fall into.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

A Workshop That's Really "Out There"

Wow.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/garden/in-a-remote-part-of-utah-life-alone-in-a-hangar.html?_r=1

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Saturn and Titan

One of the rewards of being an amateur astronomer is that from time to time you get to discover on your own astronomical facts that were actually discovered centuries ago. Like the orbital period of Titan. About ten days ago I reported on my early morning observations of Saturn. Titan was in the far right of my field of view. Then, a week later I looked again and saw that Titan was now in the far left of the field of view. It looked like it it had gone to the opposite end of its orbital track in about a week. I checked and, sure enough, Titan takes about 15 earth days to complete an orbit. Neat.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

The Giant Magellan Telescope

Wow, seven 28 foot mirrors! They just started blasting away the top of a mountain in Chile to make room for this magnificent 'scope. More details here: http://www.gmto.org/index.html
For those of you who are looking, they have some job openings (link at the bottom of their site).

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

NJORP's "Chat with the Designers" Podcast

N2APB and N2CX of the New Jersey QRP Club have been hosting weekly, live, on-line technical discussions called "Chats with the Designers." They are recording these sessions, and turning them into -- in effect -- podcasts. Yesterday I listened to their session on circuit simulators and really enjoyed it. Today, I'll be listening to the one on digital modes. I think you guys will like this. Lots to learn from the NJQRP guys:
http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/TeamspeakChat.html


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20