After 25 years of successful PC troubleshooting, I was almost defeated last week. Almost. I finally fixed the problem. Hooray! But there goes 100 hours of my life that I won’t get back. However, I learned a few more things about PC troubleshooting along the way, and will share them with you here.
1967 was Canada’s Centennial Year. Like many other Canadians, I visited Expo 67 in Montreal, and undertook a personal Centennial project. My project was to build my first ham radio station.
Radio broadcast automation today is about computers. Back in 1970’s, it was about robots. After years of “experience” in student radio, I was thrilled to get my first real, paid job in professional radio. The thrill was somewhat tempered by reality. My job was actually to configure and baby-sit a robot on the weekend overnight shift.
Radio frequency interference was a problem fifty years ago. It is a problem today. We can actually learn a lot from this very old presentation. Enjoy!
HF radio propagation is the science and art of understanding how and when shortwave radio signals travel from a transmitter to a receiver. Beyond a short distance, shortwave radio signals travel by bounding off layers in the ionosphere. Often, there are several bounces. Here’s how to figure out how and when you can expect a signal to arrive at your location.
Calibrating a 3D printer kit can be a lot harder than building it. And, if you are not careful, you can make it even harder. Here is my experience with my Sunhokey 3D printer kit. Remember that a 3D printer kit is not a precision instrument. It’s more likely a good enough instrument. So, have reasonable expectations. Perfect is the enemy of good.
Shortwave radio listening (SWL) was my first serious hobby. Actually, I tell a lie. It was Medium Wave listening on the frequencies just below shortwave radio, also known as the AM Broadcast Band. During junior high school, a few of us joined the Canadian International DX Club, which at that time was based in Winnipeg. DX means “distant transmission” and that’s what we did: listen to shortwave radio and AM broadcast band transmission from distant stations.
If you can assemble children’s toys on Christmas Eve, you can build a 3D printer kit. And it will probably work fine. But remember this: a 3D printer kit is not a finished product. You are buying a proven design, a box of parts, and assembly instructions. There will be bumps in the road. Here is the story of my ride.
Hams like to play with different software to control their equipment, decode digital signals, record audio, operate contests or many other uses. If you are lucky, you might have a dedicated PC for your shack. Often, you must share your family or work laptop. A virtual machine lets you configure your ham applications in a special purpose computer which is separate from other uses. Here’s how.
Getting a 3D printer requires an investment of time and money. It also helps to understand your objectives. Once you get bitten by the 3D printer bug, it becomes more a matter of how than what. You know you are going to end up with your own 3D printer. It becomes an obsession. Here’s how I handled my obsession. How did you handle yours?