Today just started off good. The post came early and an expected package came a few days early, my QSL card order from Vistprint.
I’m not quite sure when I will need to send any out, but now I have them and I am very happy with how they came out. I’m also very proud of them, I spent the better part of a day working on the layout and confirming the text-safe areas around the card. The finish product is just what I was hoping for.
A couple of days ago I got a package in the post from another ham, Brad (AA1IP) and oh my, what a box it was. A medium sized USPS Priority Mail box filled to the top with stuff.
I started sorting it out that evening and last night and again this morning. Its all sorted into like or similar components. There is still a lot of sorting to do, particularly with resistors and capacitors. Among the jumble there were a few packets of resistors already sorted by value and those are my project for tonight. Get them all stowed away.
The sorting process will take a while and I’m in no rush, so bag by bag over time it will all find homes. Once I get everything stowed I may ask for another. Mmmm, a masochist, I am *in my best Yoda voice*.
A small follow up project got completed over lunch today. I finally finished the power cable for the 40 meter receiver I built. The original plan was to build the receiver and a follow up transmitter, package them together, and power them both with a solar charger / battery pack. Also in the original plan was to build out the cable from scratch.
Funny thing about plans… I dont have any good multi-conductor cable anymore. The closest I have is some cat 5 and some twisted-pair for telco work. Nether is appropriate for this project. I was waiting to go to the Electronics Flea Market @ DeAnza this weekend but I also have plans to go to a radio builders club meeting on Sunday and check things out there. I was encouraged to bring my project along, and since the build was complete I thought I should power it as planned.
Long story short, I know, too late, I decided to pull an extra USB printer cable out of my computer junk box and use an existing cable, clip an end, and install the power plug. Easy peasy. The plug isn’t quite big enough for the cable but I adapted it and heat shrunk that end for some extra stability. Thoroughly checked it for shorts and opens twisting it about and we are good to go.
The radio can now be powered by a computer, USB car adapter, or the solar power supply I had originally intended to use. Any standard USB source with the appropriate 5 volts will do.
I’m sure I’ll have more to post about after the Flea and the club meeting.
Until then, 73,
~Jon KK6GXG