25 February, 2014

Show off your project in a clear top tin

We all want to package our electronics projects in some nice enclosure. An Altoids tin is often used - and I have used that a lot myself. But for slightly larger projects, the tin shown below is a better alternative. In addition it has a clear top, so displays can be viewed and the nice layout of your electronics can be admired. 


20 February, 2014

Worst snow winter since 1958 and an indoor Yagi antenna

Norway has had its fair share of precipitation this winter. Along the coast most of it has been in the form of rain. But that is different in the mountains. Our cabin at 800 m above sea level is now about to disappear in the snow and we can hardly see out of the windows anymore. This is a result of having had to shovel the snow off the roof three times so far this winter. And there is yet more to come.

They say that one has to go back to the winter of 1958 for more snow than we have had this winter, and we are still only in February. The snow has also given us an unexpected problem. Our digital TV signal is now gone.

04 February, 2014

Ultimate QRSS kits

I'm a great fan of Hans Summers (G0UPL) and his effort in launching kits for various slow speed modes. In fact I have all three generations of the Ultimate QRSS kits up and running. That includes the original single-band kit (30 m in my case, bottom in picture), as well as number 2 and 3, the multi-band kits.

The latest version, in the middle of the picture, has a nicer two line display, and it can also be fitted with a relay board. It makes it possible to jump between up to 6 different bands.