Due to my upcoming travels to 28C3 and NYC, I will not be shipping any kit orders between December 25th and January 11th, 2012.
I plan to resume shipping by 1/14 at the latest. If there are any unexpected delays (eg. getting stuck in NY due to another snowpocalypse) I’ll post to the blog.
Yes! I will be at 28C3, which takes place in just under two weeks, from Dec 27-30th, 2011 in Berlin.
There will be Geiger Counter kits for sale in the Hardware Hacking area, and I will be giving several workshops.
If you know me from the blog or just want to learn how to build a geiger counter, come say hello!
More details to come…
PS: Conference streams will be available, see the Fahrplan for scheduled talks, and no nerd left behind means that even if you cannot go to Berlin, there might be an event in your area.
I got my amateur radio license on December 31st, 1997.
I was an undergraduate at the time. My friend and classmate Tony (KC6QHP) had been trying to convince me to get my ham license for months.
I finally decided to go for it over winter break. I picked up a copy of Now You’re Talking!
That Christmas I got a Kenwood TH-79A/D, a very modern-looking radio at the time. (I still think it looks great, but it has aged poorly, the controls are scratchy and the battery becomes disconnected easily.) I nervously waited for my new call sign to show up in the FCC database. (This was before the ULS existed, but there was a website where you could see the call signs that were issued each day.)
Imagine my horror when on December 31st my name came up listed next to the call
KF6PBP
What’s wrong with that, you say? Sound it out. K F 6 P B P. Imagine trying to make a contact on the air with that call. PBB? BPP? PPP? I have even had operators struggle with the phonetic version (Papa Papa Bravo? No, Papa Bravo Papa. Easy, right? Wrong.) I remember some old-timers trying to console me when I first got my license by coming up with clever mnemonics such as “Peanut Butter Pretzels”, which I still chuckle at.
Admittedly, my frustration level has always been kept in check by the fact that I have never been very active on the air, and most of the contacts I have made have been with friends who had memorized my callsign anyway.
This year, after having the callsign KF6PBP for over 13 years, I finally decided to do something about it. I applied for a vanity call sign.
But which call to apply for? I’m an Amateur Extra now (I tested for General and AE in 2009 and 2010, respectively), so I could have tried to get one of the much-fought over 1×2 or 2×1 callsigns (like K6RF, W6TC, etc). I didn’t see any that were worth fighting (and waiting) for. So, I decided to take a different approach and searched for an easy-to-get 1×3 callsign that reflected my personality or interests. I found a few that I liked and narrowed them down to 2 candidates (one favorite and a backup in case someone else applied for the same call and I didn’t get it).
As luck would have it, I got my first choice. Last night, I was granted the new call sign
It feels a little bit weird to be saying goodbye to the call sign I’ve held for so long, but I’m looking forward to operating with my new call with fewer corrections. (The phonetic version has a nice ring to it – Whiskey 6 Oscar Hotel Mike.)
I’m getting back into amateur radio these days, so expect to see more posts on the subject. Maybe I’ll even get to chat with some readers of the blog on the air?
(Are you a ham? Leave a comment!)
A quick update: Geiger Counter and HV Rescue Shield kits are back in stock, just in time for the holidays!
Ahh, the electronics workbench – shrine to the electron, the diode, the transistor, the soldering pencil and flux pen.
You can learn a lot about someone by looking at their workspace. Note the way that they store components (in pullout drawers or plastic organizers?), hang test leads (on hooks or wire racks, or on a nail?), and keep spools of wire at the ready for repairs and new projects.
A look at someone’s electronics workbench gives you a small glimpse into what is usually a fairly personal space – a space where visions become reality and electronics projects are brought to life.
While there are quite a few electronics workbenches on flickr, I determined after a quick search that there had been no attempt to bring all of these glimpses into a hobbyist or engineer’s soul together into one place.
And thus was born the Electronics Workbench flickr group:
Have a photo of your bench? Add it to the group!
No? Then go downstairs into your basement, out into your garage, or up into the attic and take one!
And don’t spend too much time cleaning it up first – noone will believe you that your workbench is that clean when we’re not looking.
Also, a shoutout: This group was inspired in part by the Workbench of the Week (WOTW) page over at The Amp Hour. I don’t think WOTW has been a feature on the show for several months. Maybe we can get Chris and Dave to bring it back??
Happy soldering!
– Jeff
www.flickr.com
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