New gadget measures negative resistance

If you are like me, you appreciate electronic gadgets with dials and displays. So when I discovered this "USB detector",  I thought to myself that I really always wanted to know the voltage as well as the current consumption of my USB devices. And since it is more or less impossible to connect a multimeter, this is exactly what I need.

The device fully satisfied my curiosity. Actually one surprising result was that the charger for my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has a negative output resistance.

The radio amateurs are coming! Oslo Mini Maker Faire

"Have you dreamt about sending radio signals via the ionosphere? Or what about studying moon bounced echoes? Visit the radio amateurs and you can learn about analog and digital radio communications, antennas and electronics. There are 5-6000 radio amateurs in Norway, and they probably represent the oldest maker hobby.”

This was the enthusiastic introduction that we were given on the web pages of Oslo Mini Maker Faire. It was arranged at Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology on April 6-7, 2013 in collaboration with the University of Oslo. There were close to 4000 visitors during the weekend and about 100 exhibitors. Our joint stand between the radio amateurs of the Asker/Bærum and Oslo clubs also had a constant stream of visitors.

The radio amateur who felt compelled to abandon his own call sign

If you mention that you are a radio amateur to any Norwegian who was old enough to watch TV in the mid 70's then he is bound to respond with LA8PV. This was the callsign of the fictious figure Marve Fleksnes in the comedy the "Radiot". To bad for the poor guy who actually was given that callsign some years later. I had contact with him on CW (= morse) in 2002 just after I got my license and I just couldn't believe that anybody actually was using that particular callsign.

It was in 1976 that Rolv Wesenlund (1936 - 2013) one of Norway's most popular comedians, played Marve Fleksnes. As radio amateur LA8PV he talks with his friend JA1NQ in Japan. He also speaks with TF3XU on Iceland in a mixed Icelandic/Norwegian dialect which is always a hit with a Norwegian audience. He then converses with Norwegian/American WONBF (no zero) in Minnesota. He has to handle his angry neighbor who suffers from interference (RFI) and finally LA8PV gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he hears the emergency call, Mayday, in the 15 meter band.

All I want for Christmas is a nerdy watch

As a self appointed nerd I have a special fascination for watches with binary displays or with morse code readouts. It seems as if such watches now have become designer objects. One reason may be that since everyone has a mobile phone with a clock these days, design can be promoted at the cost of functionality. Anyway, here are some nice watches to choose from for your wish list!

Personally I find the watches from The One to be among the nicest. Here is the Slim Square. The display is a bit hard to read, binary as it is. The trick is that the left-hand side shows the hours and the right-hand side minutes. Then just add up to get the hours and the minutes.