Ramblings of yet another nerd…
I don’t have any witty sub-headings here…. I don’t want to post a bunch of partial postings, so this post has several dates and sub-entries… 23 July 2021 So, with multiple station accessory devices (Headphone audio splitter, DSP unit, multiple radios, just to name a few) powered from 12V, I had a realization. There’s a …
Read More Semi-Smart 12V Power Panel
I’ve been an electromagnetic interference (EMI) engineer for… well… a bunch of years at this point. As such, I’ve learned a lot about how to tackle problems, and how to solve the underlying issues. That said, I’ve seen a lot of different forums and message boards (unrelated to EMI, RFI or EMC) where people have …
Read More EMI – some basics…
Just like any other tinkerer, I want a completely instrumented workbench with scopes, analyzers, generators and power supplies… but there’s generally a tradeoff. Space, cost, accuracy…. Older equipment is less expensive (usually) – but it’s bulky, and can be out of tolerance (thus inaccurate). Smaller, more modern equipment is generally more expensive… and let’s face …
Read More Gear Junkie: My Digical workbench
So, I hang out with a bunch of gear junkies. This means every problem has some unique solution – sometimes with a little MacGyvering included. In this case, this is a solution just looking for problems to solve.. .and it’s quite effective. While either cleaning his garage, or working on his truck, my friend Tom …
Read More Gear Junkie: Lithium Drill Battery AdaptorI enjoy contesting…. and often do so with a second person as a logger. A couple years back, I picked up a behringer HA400 to split audio between 2 sets of headphones. It worked great except for one thing- it disconnects the speaker when I plug it into the headphone jack. I tried running a …
Read More Behringer HA400 mod
So… I am by NO means an expert… but I’ve had some thoughts on DMR programming before, and I have some additional thoughts to share. Contacts The radio can support a boatload of contacts – and there’s a number of places to download the US-only or US database. I load the entire US Database. It …
Read More Some DMR programming thoughts (a draft post)so it’s been a little while since I posted anything, but it’s been slow going. Using the citrus gel stripper that was recommended by the others in the facebook group, I took what seemed many layers of not only varnish, but also 75 years of dirt and grime. It took several applications, and several days …
Read More RCA 56×3 – WrapupSo, my 12 year old fixed a 26″ snowblower by himself. Well, OK, i helped re-mount the parts on the auger shaft, because they were a bit tough to get mounted, but overall, he did the tear-down and reassembly of the auger assembly, and the 2-stage portion. My neighbor gave me a TroyBilt Storm 2620 …
Read More If you don’t try anything, you’ll never succeed…So, after reading how the real experts do restoration (see previous post on this radio), I decided to pick up some citrus stripping gel to give it a shot. I also picked up a stripping tool, which is a step above a putty knife, but seemed well suited for the job, and some steel wool, …
Read More RCA 56×3 – Exterior Work Part two…So, the radio I bought was obviously not in the greatest shape, though I have seen some amazing restoration work by others on far more damaged radios. This one was primarily dirty, and had the normal scratches and paint splatters for a 76 year old radio. Given my original stated goal of making this unit …
Read More RCA 56×3 – Exterior Work