Nathan Eng

So apparently the loose beads on tool power cords are *not* chokes, just asset protection tag holders that wear out your cord prematurely...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9f7M-z5f_M

Radio joke of the day: there's no such a thing as a wireless network - just ones where the wires end extremely prematurely.

Conejo Valley Makerspace garage sale in full swing!

@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org is this a bike accessory you have? https://www.freecycle.org/posts/101825406

@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org we got permission, but needed commercial/insured workers to do it so were going to roll it into the ARDC application.

Conejo Valley Makerspace is moving out of the current shop space and having a garage sale this Saturday, April 25, 9am.

Lots of hand tools, power tools, some desks/workbenches (one huge 3'x8' one) and chairs too. Also some vintage test/electronics equipment (curve tracers, rack-mounted power supplies, Agilent VNA).

Some photos of items at post below. Happy to answer any questions if you're looking for specific items. https://ventura.craigslist.org/gms/d/westlake-village-workshop-garage-sale/7928827510.html
#makerspace

@grumble209 @ai6yr @W6KME @sbourne @EugestShirley Is he? We can’t see what he's using for a belt…

@W6KME @ai6yr @sbourne @EugestShirley Or go the other way and make a super-secret-squirrel radio jacket: internal upper chest pocket with just a headphone port grommet hole for a slim antenna to stick out; plus loops to run an acoustic tube earpiece. VE6SFX’s faraday cloth slot antennas as shoulder pads ... even J-pole pants! The possibilities are endless!

Surprisingly still moving around OK after yesterday's adventure with the #CVARC #RoverRoundup. Huge thanks to AB6ET(*!), K6MII and AJ6CL running it and @W6KME@mastodon.radio for coming up with it.

This was my 4th-ish go at it and all the previous year's lessons seem to have finally clicked together. One of the fun things about this contest is how simple rules create trade-offs that nudge you towards creative solutions. Last year, K6CPR won with a very different approach.

It's also got a "coziness" thanks to the active local ham community where you're also just hanging out with friends the whole time. There's room on the event channel for banter and "critical event management" (like saving sandwiches!). The camaraderie extends to club members at the edges of the contest area who check in on their radios from time to time to provide points for additional locations or helping complete QSO info. @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org helped me with one contact who described his location but didn't know his grid.

(* sorry forgot norm on first post!)

@K6KH@mastodon.radio welcome to the 1x2 club! 😉

@W2AYZ@m.ai6yr.org @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org Ages ago I asked you guys about projects that might get kids interested in radio stuff (based on your experiences with the scouts). You agreed they really got a kick out of learning to send their names in morse code and that might be a good starting point.

The makerspace is putting together an ARDC grant application that will include educational/outreach projects. One current idea is a little wood board/paperclip code practice oscillator kit they could assemble at STEM fair table and then learn to tap out their name on into FLDIGI or some code receiver app on a phone. It's accessible kit building with some instant gratification and something they can take home and keep learning on.

Any other project ideas along those lines that might get leave a fun impression at a STEM booth? Do you know anyone else on Mastodon who might have ideas?
#STEM #education #hamradio

#theborednet morning chat topics are often worth looking into a bit more. Philo Farnsworth came up in K6HHW's "today in history" blurb and this little snippet made me think of our Saturday night chat about mentors. Thank your #teachers

"In the course of a patent interference suit brought by the Radio Corporation of America in 1934 and decided in February 1935, his high school chemistry teacher, Justin Tolman, produced a sketch he had made of a blackboard drawing Farnsworth had shown him in spring 1922. Farnsworth won the suit; RCA appealed the decision in 1936 and lost."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo_Farnsworth

Follow-up to comments on the Bored Net this morning: An illustration of the difference between burning hydrogen and pre-mixed hydrogen/oxygen...as a kid who engaged in some ill-advised experiments back in the day. 😅

https://youtu.be/qOTgeeTB_kA?t=138

I sucks that disasters keep passing through Jason's (KM4ACK) area but his after-action reports on ham/radio applications are always outstanding. Here's his latest on APRS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Lha7y8xtA