My Raspberry Pi ADS-B airplane tracker project has consumed quite a bit of my time over the last few months. I've had quite a few set backs with getting it configured but have managed to over come most of it so far. I am going to chronicle over many posts my current setup and configuration of the ADS-B Tracker and everything associated with it. A lot of my knowledge I've put together from reading online, and trial and error. My ultimate goal is to configure a self sufficient ADS-B tracker that can be placed onto a friend's radio tower that sits at about 2000' elevation.
This is my list of requirements/goals.
-Run local ADS-B Tracker screen
-Feed data to a number of websites. (ADSBExchange, FlightAware, FlightRadar24, and PlaneFinder.net)
-In a compact size possible
-Mount onto a Tower
-Solar Powered
These are just some of the requirements that I've set for myself. Now that I'm further in to the project I don't know if some of these are actually practical and I may be doing something different but that will come in a further update.
The equipment that I need seems reasonably straight forward.
-Raspberry Pi
-SDR Reciever
-Antenna
-Solar Panel
-Battery
-Mobile Hotspot
-Container
All of this seems pretty reasonable. I've never worked with some of these components but that is the point of this. To learn what I need to get this project up off the ground.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Friday, March 1, 2019
Fun and Adventure...
The last post I had written was a really struggling time with my genetic condition (PKU). I had a lot of doctors visits to go through. So in this post I want to give a bit of an update, kind of start posting about some of the projects I'm not working on and things of that nature.
Health wise:
Work stress was a big cause of that but now I'm no longer a one man operation again and that's subsided greatly. It's a wonder what work stress can do to your mood and motivations. So the last post I mentioned PEG-PAL it's now Palynziq and has been on the market for a few months. I had my first injection last week and this week I will have my second. It will take me some months before this becomes effective. The hope is that I will be able to eat normal food once it is in my system fully. It is a daily injection at that point and I'm hoping that I can keep with the regimen since I suck at taking medications. I'm on another medication for PKU as well that has helped with mood and other factors that relate to pre-Parkinson's.
Now for the fun and adventure part:
I've been doing some stuff with my ham radio projects off and on. Right now my station consists of a Yeasu FT-897d, a Toughbook running kubuntu on it, and a 40m home brew dipole that is currently packed away. I've not done anything on HF in a while but I did have some fun with JT65 and FT8 about a year or more ago now. I'm hoping for a nice windless day so I can use my cheapy drone I purchased to put up my antenna. I've also got Skyloop Antenna parts to homebrew another antenna which will hopefully cut down on the noise but I've had to work towards configuring the antenna tuner. I still have not done that so that's on my to-do list.
I got an Yeasu FT-2DR as well recently after having 3 Baofeng's I decided I wanted to upgrade. The radio is great, I just need to read more of the manual and practice with it. The Baofeng's are now for other projects.
I've also been playing a lot with Raspberry Pi's
Pi-Hole (Network wide Ad Blocker):
I have a few Pi's running right now, one is a Pi-Hole (https://www.pi-hole.net) This allows me to send advertisers DNS requests to a black hole. So I surf without any advertisements, and it also blocks my SmartTV from ads and tracking. It actually sped up the response of the TV when I did that and it's great. I probably should setup one for my family.
Pi-Aware (ADS-B airplane tracker):
I'm also running a Raspberry Pi with an ADS-B flight tracker. This allows me to track Aircraft over my house at any given time. I then feed that in to a few websites online. FlightAware, FlightRadar24, Planefinder.net and ADSBExchange. I plan on doing a series of posts on this project as it is right now my most favourite with a bunch of challenges that are easy to over come and learn something in the process.
Pi-Wolf (Raspberry Pi running Direwolf):
This is a bit of a tricky one for me. Direwolf is a software terminal node controller or TNC. This is needed for transmitting packets if you're interested in doing packet radio. I currently have one configured in my testing that will allow me to do APRS packets using a Baofeng without a problem. I've been trying to configure it to be useful for Winlink and a Baofeng but having hit a wall with that I've tabled it for a little while.
Besides this my biggest time sink has been gaming which gets in the way most of the time, however I'm slowly getting bored of anyway. Anyway that's pretty much it for this update if anyone has any questions about my projects please feel free to reach out to me.
One day at a time...
This was written as a draft back in July 2016. I'm going to publish it now and follow up with an update on what I've got going on at the moment.
.. seems as thought that is all I can manage at this point. I've been struggling with sleep and not getting enough during work nights to the point I have no energy during the day. Concentration has gone out the window and trying to eat enough food and take my medication has been an issue. It always is. I just hope that at some point that I won't feel the way I do on a day to day basis.
When the weekend rolls around I end up doing absolutely nothing and it kind of bothers me because of the lack of energy I have. I worry about people getting upset with me because I can't get up and find any sort of motivation to do normal household tasks or chores. I don't feel anything emotionally. I just kind of feel numb to most everything, no real joy or excitement, or sense of accomplishment when I take part in things. So I just end up doing nothing most of the time.
Obviously it's depression and failing to take my kuvan regularly. Why taking medication is such a struggle for me I don't know it has always been that way. All I am hoping for at this point in my life is for PEG-PAL to help me get over this. I don't even care about eating normal food I just don't want to have to feel this lack of emotions. I have a lot of things that I would like to accomplish or do with my various hobbies but that drive and sense of motivation is completely lacking.
.. seems as thought that is all I can manage at this point. I've been struggling with sleep and not getting enough during work nights to the point I have no energy during the day. Concentration has gone out the window and trying to eat enough food and take my medication has been an issue. It always is. I just hope that at some point that I won't feel the way I do on a day to day basis.
When the weekend rolls around I end up doing absolutely nothing and it kind of bothers me because of the lack of energy I have. I worry about people getting upset with me because I can't get up and find any sort of motivation to do normal household tasks or chores. I don't feel anything emotionally. I just kind of feel numb to most everything, no real joy or excitement, or sense of accomplishment when I take part in things. So I just end up doing nothing most of the time.
Obviously it's depression and failing to take my kuvan regularly. Why taking medication is such a struggle for me I don't know it has always been that way. All I am hoping for at this point in my life is for PEG-PAL to help me get over this. I don't even care about eating normal food I just don't want to have to feel this lack of emotions. I have a lot of things that I would like to accomplish or do with my various hobbies but that drive and sense of motivation is completely lacking.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Time for my yearly update
It's kind of odd I go through these spurts where I don't write anything then feel like I need to update my blog again.
So this year 2016 has gone a lot better so far than 2015 has for me. Health wise I feel like I've gotten over my depressive slump but it has been a long road with that. I'm off the stupid anti-depressants and on prescription dopamine. Since I have PKU my body can't produce it so I'm having minor Parkinson's like symptoms. It's greatly improved my mood, motivation, and fatigue issues that I have. The whole point of a low pro PKU diet is to avoid brain damage. I had an MRI and my brain doesn't have any damage, which is quite important as 93% of PKU adults have some form of physical brain damage. So whatever I'm doing is going right.
I no longer where where I used to, after they asked me to watch a guy pee in a cup for a drug test when I'm IT it was time for me to go. I had already applied for another job and ended up getting that so I'm now in a much better position and the important thing is I'm working with a team doing some of the same kind of stuff I always do. I can't ever focus on one thing and end up doing a bunch of various different tasks even though I'm now a Programmer Analyst. It's more like a sysadmin position but whatever.
Dayton is coming up and I'll be going to it again this year, I wasn't sure if I wanted to and I'm hoping my joints all function so I can avoid some bone pain. I'm looking at getting a proper antenna, rather than a homebrew since I can't seem to make them quite right and don't have the tools to do so. Then I'm also looking at an antenna tuner as another option.
Anyway signing off for now.
Friday, May 29, 2015
It's been a year since my last post O_o
Update: I have no idea what happened to the formatting but correcting it.
It has been a while since I've posted, over a year now. I'll try to give a brief update but I really kind of miss writing on this medium. It has been rather difficult to pry myself away from the computer games. Like Kerbal Space Program, plus dealing with my medical issues I've just let this slide.
It's kind of hard to think back and remember what you've done over the past year and post anything positive and entertaining. Mostly it's lost in a mental fog due to depression and my PKU which causes/contributes to my depression. I have lost two of my uncles with in the span of a few months from each other. Both due to complications for medical issues. Which really upset me quite a bit to be honest. Since I'm from Wales and live in the US, and grew up here I feel disconnected, out of place, when it comes to my family and family history.
Well I got back from Dayton again this year. So that's my second time I've gone. My wife and I had a good time we started at the Columbus Zoo, and then Dayton. Ended up walking around for about 3 days. Due to a tailbone injury my right hip was killing me by the end. However when I went to pack away our new tent my hip popped and it hasn't felt really bad at all since. At Dayton I had a pretty good time this year, went to a lot of forums, met up with a few friends to socialize but I didn't pick up much of anything. Only got a MFJ Discone which is what I was really after anyway to work with some SDR projects. I really need to get my station sorted out, but one project leads to another project and so on and I still haven't gotten my station sorted out the way I would like it to be. I've been made Field Day Captain for doing satellite work. Which should be kind of interesting but I don't have an antenna yet so I'll have to build one. I don't think it will be too hard.
I have not done a thing with Bitcoin in the last year than bought at random $10 worth of btc on coinbase. I've been more involved in Amateur Radio than anything else. I probably won't be doing any more Bitcoin videos on youtube anymore but they have been my most successful videos by far. Perhaps I'll do a final update video or something.
Anyway I'm going to sign off from here now. I will probably be posting a bit more frequently but they will more than likely be strange dreams that I have. From time to time I get extremely interesting and vivid dreams, that I really would like to write down. So I'll post them here.
It has been a while since I've posted, over a year now. I'll try to give a brief update but I really kind of miss writing on this medium. It has been rather difficult to pry myself away from the computer games. Like Kerbal Space Program, plus dealing with my medical issues I've just let this slide.
It's kind of hard to think back and remember what you've done over the past year and post anything positive and entertaining. Mostly it's lost in a mental fog due to depression and my PKU which causes/contributes to my depression. I have lost two of my uncles with in the span of a few months from each other. Both due to complications for medical issues. Which really upset me quite a bit to be honest. Since I'm from Wales and live in the US, and grew up here I feel disconnected, out of place, when it comes to my family and family history.
Well I got back from Dayton again this year. So that's my second time I've gone. My wife and I had a good time we started at the Columbus Zoo, and then Dayton. Ended up walking around for about 3 days. Due to a tailbone injury my right hip was killing me by the end. However when I went to pack away our new tent my hip popped and it hasn't felt really bad at all since. At Dayton I had a pretty good time this year, went to a lot of forums, met up with a few friends to socialize but I didn't pick up much of anything. Only got a MFJ Discone which is what I was really after anyway to work with some SDR projects. I really need to get my station sorted out, but one project leads to another project and so on and I still haven't gotten my station sorted out the way I would like it to be. I've been made Field Day Captain for doing satellite work. Which should be kind of interesting but I don't have an antenna yet so I'll have to build one. I don't think it will be too hard.
I have not done a thing with Bitcoin in the last year than bought at random $10 worth of btc on coinbase. I've been more involved in Amateur Radio than anything else. I probably won't be doing any more Bitcoin videos on youtube anymore but they have been my most successful videos by far. Perhaps I'll do a final update video or something.
Anyway I'm going to sign off from here now. I will probably be posting a bit more frequently but they will more than likely be strange dreams that I have. From time to time I get extremely interesting and vivid dreams, that I really would like to write down. So I'll post them here.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Just got back from Dayton Hamvention
So in my newest hobby of Amateur Radio I decided that I was going to go to "The" convention for Amateur Radio and that was Dayton. It was my first experience with it and the forums were pretty good and had a lot of different topics. I had a whole list of ones that I wanted to do initially but ended up just only going to two of them.
My wife and I left on Thursday and ended up tent camping. Although this year it was raining almost every day and got down to 35 degrees at night in the tent. So needless to say we were both freezing. Ended up having to buy another sleeping bag, doubling up on socks stuffed with "hot hands" to keep us warm.
Most of is it is vendors showing off their technology and selling it. However outside is the flea market. I ended up enjoying those quite a bit because you never know what you're going to see. A lot of what you see, even at some of the smaller ones, is government surplus equipment. I have to say I enjoy the flea market part a bit more because you can get some stuff you wouldn't otherwise be able to. Most everything else I can just order online and have shipped to my house.
I managed to pick up some pretty interesting gear whilst I was there. I saw a mount for my CF-19 Toughbook, except they wanted $50 for it. I should have just offered $30 for it right there because after thinking about it and going back it was gone. However, it did lead me to 3 Kontron mobile computers that were most likely in police cruisers. I got them for $10 each so if nothing else the thing will be a good project box.
The units I got were a Kontron CVX-Server Model 300-166, and so far I can't seem to find anything on them. So I'm guessing they have been discontinued. It looks like they have about a 1.8 ghz cpu processor in them and I think if I can load linux onto them then they'll work pretty well. The question is what do I want to use them for? I'm thinking ham radio something. Perhaps a deploy-able unit with a mesh node. As you can see from the picture it looks like it has some pretty good cooling methods on it. So all I need to do is sort out power to this thing and it will be up and going. At any rate, I did some more digging on these and found the data sheet on them. Which will help me immensely in figuring out what I want to do with them.
That's my adventure in Dayton and not sure if I will go next year but I can at least say I've been once. Once I figure out the state of these computers I'll make an update on what I'm using them for.
My wife and I left on Thursday and ended up tent camping. Although this year it was raining almost every day and got down to 35 degrees at night in the tent. So needless to say we were both freezing. Ended up having to buy another sleeping bag, doubling up on socks stuffed with "hot hands" to keep us warm.
Most of is it is vendors showing off their technology and selling it. However outside is the flea market. I ended up enjoying those quite a bit because you never know what you're going to see. A lot of what you see, even at some of the smaller ones, is government surplus equipment. I have to say I enjoy the flea market part a bit more because you can get some stuff you wouldn't otherwise be able to. Most everything else I can just order online and have shipped to my house.
I managed to pick up some pretty interesting gear whilst I was there. I saw a mount for my CF-19 Toughbook, except they wanted $50 for it. I should have just offered $30 for it right there because after thinking about it and going back it was gone. However, it did lead me to 3 Kontron mobile computers that were most likely in police cruisers. I got them for $10 each so if nothing else the thing will be a good project box.The units I got were a Kontron CVX-Server Model 300-166, and so far I can't seem to find anything on them. So I'm guessing they have been discontinued. It looks like they have about a 1.8 ghz cpu processor in them and I think if I can load linux onto them then they'll work pretty well. The question is what do I want to use them for? I'm thinking ham radio something. Perhaps a deploy-able unit with a mesh node. As you can see from the picture it looks like it has some pretty good cooling methods on it. So all I need to do is sort out power to this thing and it will be up and going. At any rate, I did some more digging on these and found the data sheet on them. Which will help me immensely in figuring out what I want to do with them.
That's my adventure in Dayton and not sure if I will go next year but I can at least say I've been once. Once I figure out the state of these computers I'll make an update on what I'm using them for.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Feild Day Mesh Network - Antenna, Distance, and Checking signal strength
I recently went out to our site, where Field Day will take place, with a few of our club members to see about how we are going to setup logging. A few of them are bringing RV's and things like that and so we need a way to network our systems together.
The preferred logging software is N1MM Logger which works rather well on PC, and seems to do "ok" under wine on Linux. The challenge is getting the data feeds from the internet and sharing them out amongst our dispersed stations. So I thought this is a great place to show case mesh net, and play around and see how it works in a real test environment.
To run my test I brought with me my laptop running a linux program called iwScanner that works in python. It works amazingly well, if you're looking for something on windows then I recommend ViStumbler. Unfortunately it doesn't work on Linux.
I also brought with me two routers to test out and the first one looked like the signal was going up and down. I ended up switching to the other one. We got out to probably about 300 or 400 yards with a -80 or so db in signal. Which I think would still put stuff through just not very fast. This was however just a router with it's stock antenna, chucked into the rafters and through light trees.
I think that's pretty promising that we will be able to connect these together. So when I got home I decided I was going to build a Omni directional Collinear antenna. Following the directions from Marty Bug's website (Which is a great resource for all wifi antenna design) I set out to build one. I wanted to get the most db gain possible so I just cut a super long piece of wire and started with that. It's about 5' long and I had a bit of trouble placing it into a electrical conduit (pvc). As a result the loops on the antenna probably got shrunk and I wouldn't be surprised if it is a bit twisted up inside.
With the stock antenna on my mesh node I got about -17 to -22 db. With the one I created I get a steady -33. Now this is only preliminary tests and I have some modifications to the end of the antenna to try out. Also because it is a lot bigger the vertical beamwidth is smaller. So I probably have to try it upright and a bit farther away. Otherwise I'm back to the drawing board on the omni wifi antenna.
The next antenna that I'm going to build is either a bi-quad antenna or a quad-quad antenna, which can also be found on Marty's website. Also with this design at some point I plan to install it onto a dish to give it a bit more gain and direction.
Field Day isn't until the end of June so I definitely have quite a bit of time to get these solutions up and going. Of course it doesn't help when I plug in 48 volts power supply into one of my only 2 12volt rated nodes and just about catch it on fire.
At some point I'll post some pictures.
The preferred logging software is N1MM Logger which works rather well on PC, and seems to do "ok" under wine on Linux. The challenge is getting the data feeds from the internet and sharing them out amongst our dispersed stations. So I thought this is a great place to show case mesh net, and play around and see how it works in a real test environment.
To run my test I brought with me my laptop running a linux program called iwScanner that works in python. It works amazingly well, if you're looking for something on windows then I recommend ViStumbler. Unfortunately it doesn't work on Linux.
I also brought with me two routers to test out and the first one looked like the signal was going up and down. I ended up switching to the other one. We got out to probably about 300 or 400 yards with a -80 or so db in signal. Which I think would still put stuff through just not very fast. This was however just a router with it's stock antenna, chucked into the rafters and through light trees.
I think that's pretty promising that we will be able to connect these together. So when I got home I decided I was going to build a Omni directional Collinear antenna. Following the directions from Marty Bug's website (Which is a great resource for all wifi antenna design) I set out to build one. I wanted to get the most db gain possible so I just cut a super long piece of wire and started with that. It's about 5' long and I had a bit of trouble placing it into a electrical conduit (pvc). As a result the loops on the antenna probably got shrunk and I wouldn't be surprised if it is a bit twisted up inside.
With the stock antenna on my mesh node I got about -17 to -22 db. With the one I created I get a steady -33. Now this is only preliminary tests and I have some modifications to the end of the antenna to try out. Also because it is a lot bigger the vertical beamwidth is smaller. So I probably have to try it upright and a bit farther away. Otherwise I'm back to the drawing board on the omni wifi antenna.
The next antenna that I'm going to build is either a bi-quad antenna or a quad-quad antenna, which can also be found on Marty's website. Also with this design at some point I plan to install it onto a dish to give it a bit more gain and direction.
Field Day isn't until the end of June so I definitely have quite a bit of time to get these solutions up and going. Of course it doesn't help when I plug in 48 volts power supply into one of my only 2 12volt rated nodes and just about catch it on fire.
At some point I'll post some pictures.
Monday, April 21, 2014
So many projects time to give a status update.
Ok so I have a bunch of radio projects that I am working on all at the same time. I have a tendency to bounce from one project to another without actually completing them. This will most likely just be a rambling list of projects and status updates on them.
Antenna - My first project I started was to build myself a dipole antenna. All I have to do is solder the right length of cable for the frequency I want and I've got it going. I've already created a feed point connection. I'm not sure why I haven't just got this out of the way.
Mesh Net - My second project is a Meshnet for field day. I'm specifically working on it being a portable type of setup. Tripod I have is an old art easel that I think will work perfectly. I just got some LMR400 for it, db loss on it is going to be about 1 or 2db. However I want to make a bi-quad dish antenna, along with an omni directional.
Car Setup - I need to setup my car and wire all the cables in. I think I've got enough cable and sufficient access to some of the areas like under the seat to wire everything. I want to get some black flexible tube to hide the wires though as I most likely won't be able to run them behind the trim etc.
Backpack - I want to setup a backpack radio for my FT-897D. I just got an alice pack frame and the right kind of straps so everything works well in that regard. The metal part of the back still touches my back a bit however I suspect when I have weight on it I will not have a problem. I'm also looking at batteries to put on the pack, along with a place for a mesh node, an area to hold some logging tools (paper, pen, possibly raspberry pi/toughbook?) and also some pouches to hold on to some of my HTs. The idea being for emergency use of course.
APRS - I use a program called Yet Another APRS Client as my primary aprs client on linux. It works really well and works well with my GPS unit. If anyone is interested please send me a message to say hello on APRS I'm on as KK4URZ-15.
Most of these I'm hoping to have finished by end of June for field day but we will see how that goes. The other thing on my plate is I'm also taking part in some of our club's events. We're currently teaching a Tech class to the local Civil Air Patrol and I'm going there for some practical experience. Tonight is our monthly club meeting and they will be doing a test session before hand so I will be going to that as I'm looking at becoming a volunteer examiner.
Antenna - My first project I started was to build myself a dipole antenna. All I have to do is solder the right length of cable for the frequency I want and I've got it going. I've already created a feed point connection. I'm not sure why I haven't just got this out of the way.
Mesh Net - My second project is a Meshnet for field day. I'm specifically working on it being a portable type of setup. Tripod I have is an old art easel that I think will work perfectly. I just got some LMR400 for it, db loss on it is going to be about 1 or 2db. However I want to make a bi-quad dish antenna, along with an omni directional.
Car Setup - I need to setup my car and wire all the cables in. I think I've got enough cable and sufficient access to some of the areas like under the seat to wire everything. I want to get some black flexible tube to hide the wires though as I most likely won't be able to run them behind the trim etc.
Backpack - I want to setup a backpack radio for my FT-897D. I just got an alice pack frame and the right kind of straps so everything works well in that regard. The metal part of the back still touches my back a bit however I suspect when I have weight on it I will not have a problem. I'm also looking at batteries to put on the pack, along with a place for a mesh node, an area to hold some logging tools (paper, pen, possibly raspberry pi/toughbook?) and also some pouches to hold on to some of my HTs. The idea being for emergency use of course.
APRS - I use a program called Yet Another APRS Client as my primary aprs client on linux. It works really well and works well with my GPS unit. If anyone is interested please send me a message to say hello on APRS I'm on as KK4URZ-15.
Most of these I'm hoping to have finished by end of June for field day but we will see how that goes. The other thing on my plate is I'm also taking part in some of our club's events. We're currently teaching a Tech class to the local Civil Air Patrol and I'm going there for some practical experience. Tonight is our monthly club meeting and they will be doing a test session before hand so I will be going to that as I'm looking at becoming a volunteer examiner.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Picked up another set of Baofeng Radio's - Great for a new technician - Baofeng Warranty
I purchased the UV-5R+ for about $40 on amazon. For the price and what you get it is outstanding little radio. The two new ones I got have the internally upgraded components but the same UV-5R Case. So I'm able to use the same batteries. However, they are the BF-F8
An Important note if you're going to buy these buy them directly from http://www.baofengradio.us or their Amazon store
There are a few reasons for this that I found out. They can not/will not honour the warranty service if there is an issue with one. I had a bad battery ship with mine when I bought it from amazon but it was not from their specific store.
Here's a basic run down on the updated version:
This Radio Has Been The First Uv-5R Radio To Get A Full Internal Upgrade. Like The Uv-82 It Has An Expanded Frequency Range And A Stronger Antenna. It Has A Vfo/Mr Button Found On The Uv-5R Series Not Found On The Uv-82 Series. The Bf-8+ Is The Successor To The Uv-5R Series. 2013 Latest Version. This radio can be programmed with or without a PC to also work on private repeater systems. It is a compact, economical HT that includes a special VHF receive band from 65 - 108 MHz which includes the regular FM broadcast band. Dual watch and dual reception is supported. You get up to 128 memories. Other features include: 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable FM Radio (65.0MHz-108.0MHz) Large LCD Display Li-Ion Frequency Range: 65-108Mhz (FM Receive Only) 136-174Mhz And 400-520Mhz (TX/Rx)Channel Number: 128Channel Spacing: 2.5/6.25/10/12.5/20/25Khzfrequency Stability: +/-2.5Ppmantenna: High Gain Dual Band Antenna Antenna Impedance: 50 Operating Voltage: Dc 7.4Vmode Of Operation: Simple Or Semi-Duplex - See more at: http://baofengradio.us/baofeng-bff8-black.html#sthash.UyKdqcp7.dpuf - See more at: http://baofengradio.us/baofeng-bff8-black-183.html#sthash.awTdOfra.dpufAnd here's the note about the warranty:
We guarantee that your product will be 100% functional or we will issue you an immediate replacement. In addition, the product is covered by a 1 year manufacturer's warranty which will be honored by us through our office in Houston, TX. Our return policy is 30 days. All returns are subject to a 10% restocking fee and buyer pays return shipping.The BaofengRadio US warranty is only available to users who purchase directly from BaofengRadio US using our online checkout system. Protect yourself by purchasing only through the links on this page. - See more at: http://baofengradio.us/baofeng-bff8-black-183.html#sthash.awTdOfra.dpuf
So if you order directly from them you're getting warranty replacement, plus free shipping and no tax on items sold through their store.
Hope you found this post helpful.
Mesh Net for Emergency Communications (EmComm)
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| WB2IFS' Meshnode setup |
There are various types of mesh networks out there but I'm specifically interested in Broadband-Hamnet to be able to set it up locally. With the right equipment I don't think that we would have any major issues in the area I live and getting 54gbps up to 10 miles away in the right conditions. The benefit of the mesh network is that each node can talk to each other node and it can self repair so to speak. The drawback is that it can be rather bandwidth intensive as each node on the network has to know about each other.
My goals are to be able to transfer, voice, video, files, over a mesh network using a raspberry pi(s) as the server on a self sustaining node. Ideally all of this would be decentralized and self replicating but I will have to worry about that at a later date.
Here's a brief run down of the hardware that I'm investigating.
- Linksys WRT54G routers
- Raspberry Pi
- Older Scrapheap cheap PC
- Cantenna
- Omni Directional/Colliner Antennas
Software that I'm investigating.
- GetSimpleCMS - For website to contain basic information on the other services, ability to give out generalized information on events or issues
- Openfire - Openfire is a XMPP/Jabber server software that can allow for voice, video, file transfer and text chat
- OwnCloud - For setting up drag and drop file sharing functionality.
My core goal with these is to make the setup a simplified as possible and hand out the information for my club members to be able to set up their own nodes or software. Making it as simple as possible and step by step which I will be posting here also.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Dirt Simple PSK
So I'm looking at PSK31 as a mode that I might want to start playing around with.
I found a link to this post about a Dirt Simple PSK31 sound card interface cable. However, the link was dead. I'm reposting the article I found on the wayback machine so that it can still be found online easier by other Ham Operators.
Also found a pretty cool website for the various sounds the different modes make. http://www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.21/Modes/
Setting up an FT-897D for PSK31
Dirt Simple, Dirt Cheap
Digital Mode Interface
For the FT-817
Can it really be THIS simple?!? Yes, I built a Digital
Interface for the FT-817 for almost no cost and
almost no effort! As you can see from the photo,
the entire interface is built on the Xmit/Rcv switch.
I am using this with DigiPan II, but it should work
with virtually any soundcard software for PSK,
and for other digital modes also!
The Windows volume and recording levels are
used to set transmit and waterfall (receive) drive
levels, but a trimmer is also included to adjust the
transmit drive. A standard Windows Mouse plug
fits the FT-817 data port, I used a cable cut from
an old mouse! This interface does require you to
manually switch between transmit and receive,
but does not require ANY connection to the PC’s
USB or Serial Port!
Direct any questions to John, N6HI.qrp@gmail.com
I found a link to this post about a Dirt Simple PSK31 sound card interface cable. However, the link was dead. I'm reposting the article I found on the wayback machine so that it can still be found online easier by other Ham Operators.
Also found a pretty cool website for the various sounds the different modes make. http://www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.21/Modes/
Setting up an FT-897D for PSK31
Dirt Simple, Dirt Cheap
Digital Mode Interface
For the FT-817
Can it really be THIS simple?!? Yes, I built a Digital
Interface for the FT-817 for almost no cost and
almost no effort! As you can see from the photo,
the entire interface is built on the Xmit/Rcv switch.
I am using this with DigiPan II, but it should work
with virtually any soundcard software for PSK,
and for other digital modes also!
The Windows volume and recording levels are
used to set transmit and waterfall (receive) drive
levels, but a trimmer is also included to adjust the
transmit drive. A standard Windows Mouse plug
fits the FT-817 data port, I used a cable cut from
an old mouse! This interface does require you to
manually switch between transmit and receive,
but does not require ANY connection to the PC’s
USB or Serial Port!
Direct any questions to John, N6HI.qrp@gmail.com
Friday, March 28, 2014
Lots of change
It's been a while since I've posted anything relating to much of anything so I thought I'd try to start a new series of posts.
First things first,
First things first,
- Bitcoin has had a great run the past year or so. However the largest exchange Mt Gox has gone bankrupt. I knew this was going to happen and if I hadn't been so lazy you would have seen the video "Stop Using MtGox" some months prior to this event.
- I'm now a licensed Amateur Radio Operator (or Ham Radio Operator). I have had my license since October 2013. I took the Technician test and went for the General after passing the Tech test and got both. So I started out on a good footing with it. I'm learning a whole lot about radio and how things work and giving me a better grasp on wifi and antenna design. I expect a lot of my posts will be about what I'm doing in Amateur Radio
- Servers, I've been working to shut down my hosting account and I have a grandfathered google apps for business so I'm moving everything over to that as I'm tired of the spam. I bought myself a nice IBM server that is now a VM server I run from my house. I bought it with Bitcion actually through a friend.
- Just bought my first 4x4 truck and hoping to do a lot of back woods camping with it. At some point I'll be attempting to build myself my own truck camper, but for now we're just going to settle for a tent that fits into the truck bed.
So there is a quick update as to what I've been up to over the last few months (year?).
Friday, January 17, 2014
More Bitcoin Videos
So I've been making a few more bitcon videos if anyone is interested.
This one covers the unboxing of my Butterfly Labs Jalapeno. Which was ordered at the same time as my Bitcoin Mining is Dead video.
This is a follow up to the Paperweight video.. showing another BFL my brother sneakily purchased.
This one covers the unboxing of my Butterfly Labs Jalapeno. Which was ordered at the same time as my Bitcoin Mining is Dead video.
Most Espensive Paper Weight Ever - Butterfly Labs Jalapeno
This is a follow up to the Paperweight video.. showing another BFL my brother sneakily purchased.
BFL Goodies...More Bitcoin Mining
If you're interested in more videos please comment below... I'm also thinking about doing a live q&a on google hangout if there is an interest.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Bitcoin Mining is Dead
I thought I'd write a small little blurb here. It has been some time since I made a new bitcoin video but I decided to make one a few weeks ago.
Here it is:
I enjoyed making it and hope you find it rather informative. I'm hoping to do a few more in the future. If you've got any comments or questions please feel free to post them to the video with attention to DdraigX. I would be very happy to answer them.
I hope you find the end part rather useful about dollar cost averaging and I hope to update the spreadsheet soon.
Here it is:
I enjoyed making it and hope you find it rather informative. I'm hoping to do a few more in the future. If you've got any comments or questions please feel free to post them to the video with attention to DdraigX. I would be very happy to answer them.
I hope you find the end part rather useful about dollar cost averaging and I hope to update the spreadsheet soon.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Snow
Update: I've added the relevant pictures that were taken. (Album: http://imgur.com/a/nBu4B#0)
12:50 - first entry. March 6th 2013.
So the snow has taken out our power.
It flickered all night and went out at about 9:00
The only things with power are the iPad and phones.
We weren't thinking last night as we forgot to fill the bath tub with water. But we have plenty of snow. I think the last time the power went out we were able to take a small shower, but silly me went to the bathroom and used all the pressure up in our pressure tank. So right now we have little to no running water. We have 6 gallons of water stored that we are using to make lunch right now. With the sterno and fondu pot.
We broke out our supplies for cooking from the camping equipment. However that's just a small single burner thing like this. It works really well and highly recommend it for backpacking or camping.
I will be updating this more as we go but right now it is 10 to 1 in the afternoon. I spent most of my morning sharpening my knife as I figure I will have to go look for downed trees at some point. My wife is cooking as I type this, but we have already identified some issues that need to be sorted.
Communication, we have a radio to hear that 13,000 people in our county are without power. I think they said the total region wide was over 100K. However, since the power is out and we have heavy wet snow, We have no cell phone reception. So we are unable to contact family. To be honest that doesn't bother me as we have radio, but my new job requires me to open up an emergency shelter. They have my cellphone as contact, and my home phone is out since it is vonage and over our Internet. Maybe time to invest in a single local phone line? Or maybe just get my ham radio sorted out.
Water, that's going to be an issue. Right now not so much as we have snow and maybe 2 or 3 days bottled. Longer term we need a way to pump from our well. There technically speaking is no water pressure to do anything. So that means no flushing toilets etc. However we do have the snow so we will use that melted in pots for extra water for cleaning and flushing mostly. The bottled water will be for food and drinking.
Heating is our third hurtle. We insulated the house some years ago. You can check that video on right right. That has helped to trap a lot of heat, but I can feel it getting cooler in here. It is not uncomfortable, about 69 right now and power has been out for 4 hours. We have closed doors to keep the heat in and we have blankets and hot packs on standby. Should the temp drop more outside (It's 34 degrees) then I expect it to get colder as the day goes on.
I will type more ideas as I think of them, it is time to eat.
7:04
The rest of the day has been fine. I am now writing this entry in the bedroom under candle light. The snow has melted considerably and the roads are fine to drive. After lunch we got kitted up and walked our long driveway to try and dig out the car. We did not have to do too much other than clear it off and dig around front. Ended up just driving right out without any issue. I suspect work will have a 2 hour delay tomorrow. I was supposed to go with my dad to Indiana but that's not going to happen so I may just go in. After the adventure outside we were worn out, even if it was only about 10 minutes of work. I had to haul a 35lb bag of biljack up the quarter acre drive way. Ended up falling asleep on the sofa as my wife did a crossword. Eventually I just read my book, Orbitsville by Bob Shaw. I had rescued that from my fathers collection i discovered at in my grand parents house on a trip to Wales. Pretty good so far and apparently a trilogy.
Anyway we back to the topics.
Communication still down I did manage to drive up the road to get enough of a signal to text. But I had to type the text, drive up the road for it to be sent and received as there was no good spot to pull off. Also, managed to go to where they open up the emergency shelters. Right now they have 1 person so I ended up going home. Not that I could stay as my wife was only expecting me gone for a few minutes.
Temperature in the house has dropped about 4 degrees last I checked to 65/66 and outside has warmed up.
Food right now seems to be ok it is cold enough in the fridge, but we put some snow in ziplock bags to help lower the temp. Things in the freezer are still frozen, but we do not have much if any meat due to dietary needs, that if it thaws, it won't be too bad. Cooking hasn't been that big of a problem using the sterno, but not having water or trying to conserve it is critical. Trying to minimize use of cutlery is important. Short term solution would be for us to simply have used paper plates and plastic cutlery.
Water again is something I am thinking about that is critical. We have used 1 gallon today. I expect that to increase tomorrow. We have two people, two birds, and two dogs that need water. This evening we opened the second gallon for water for the dogs. We definitely need a way to pump water from our well and then pressurize the tank. Going to the bathroom is interesting since I got too large pots of snow there is still a considerable amount of it and the toilet tank is still not full enough. Hence the need to be able to get water. If I had given it more thought I would have started a fire outside to melt the snow in the pots and dump it into the tub for toilet use.
So right now I think I will let the dogs out one last time, maybe make a cup of tea, and see if I can get in a bit more reading. I suspect it will be an early night for sure, which is not characteristic of my normal routine.
March 7th 10:15
So last night got reasonably cold, when I woke up it was about 58 degrees. Ended up freezing until I put a hot pack behind my back to warm up my midsection. Since I was supposed to go to Indiana my dad is still thinking of going. I will join if he does. However he isn't sure since he is without power as well. I got up at 7:30 and my wife and I packed everything up to basically head over this way to see. She also needed to do work in town so she dropped me off here.
Of course whenever I decide to take a vacation of any length of time crap hits the fan at work. People panicked cause they can't get the internet, or to a specific program, or decide that 1 of the 9 public computers that has been down has got to be back and running immediately. Wouldn't have that last problem if Microsoft didn't change the way they install office 2013' and give oh so helpful error messages like "Something went wrong".
So I am just waiting and emailing as that is the only thing that will go through. To see what is going on with the power, and if we are going to go to Indiana or not. I could use the break, but it never really is one it seems.
Anyway to update it is cold as hell inside. Only a 10 degree difference 57 inside 46 outside.
Make sure that you have wet wipes and some air fresher handy to keep in the bathroom as well. I suspect that gas from the septic is coming up through the toilet making a rather unpleasant oder.
Back to my tea, and shivering.
7:18
So my dad decided not to go after much hemming and hawing. We ended up going in to town to pick my mum up for lunch and got subway. Had the wife stop by and discuss what the plans were and that is where it was decided not to go on our trip.
I stayed there for other hour or so as my wife went to get her hair done, and finish up on some school work. The importance of feeling clean shouldn't be underestimated.
Communication seems back to up to normal. I could surf with the iPad, and now call out. Watching all the alerts come in for my server equipment. I am hoping my NAS box is ok, it seems to have gone offline. Have you ever know a red light to be good, how about a blinking one? Kevin my intern seems to be working well and is holding the fort down. I may not be in tomorrow at any rate as they are saying 17,000 people with my electric company are still without power and won't be back up completely until Sunday night.
That is going to be a cold weekend for sure. However for this evening I broke out the solar blanket. Not something I wanted to do because I have no idea how to fold it back up. Although I figured if I was going to use it now is a good as time as any. We taped it to two blades of our ceiling fan and the back of a picture frame to make a reflective canopy over the bed.
My parents called at about 6 or so and said they got their power back. So I am optimistic that we will have it tonight. Another reason against the solar blanket, but that would be going against our basic need to get warm.
Food is always a challenge for me since I have PKU and makes meals an issue. I tell you what, shivering uses a lot of energy on top of things that have to get done. With that said the diet is mostly out the window tonight. I made a great omelet that my dad showed me how to do, that my granny used to make. So we both made our own. I had mushrooms in mine,and my wife had apples and cinnamon in hers.
Now mind you it isn't a typical omelet either. Two eggs two slices of bread, mixed till it is a liquid with little to no chunks. Add your bits, like mushrooms and tomatoes, peppers, apples whatever. Then fry in a frying pan with oil, preheated with works best for stainless steal. Then tease it up as your going to flip it once it doesn't break apart you know it is ready to flip. I like to posh the edges of it so it is nice and round whilst I wait.
Along with the omelet we had some sausages. All of this I should not be having technically, but I am. I have used a lot of energy so I need to replenish it. I also don't usually eat breakfast or eat a lot in general anyway.
So now that we are stuffed we are under our space age canopy, with our Aussie on the bed curled up at our feet as we wind down for the night. I have finished my book Orbitsville, and now need to get the next two in the trilogy. My dad asked where I had gotten it and I said I liberated it from your collection. I found that amusing. He is now wanting to know if I have any of his Heinlein or the two timers by Bob Saw. Apparently he had had a few of them where he used to work at his office, and before he could go back and get them the next day his replacement had thrown out all of his books. I don't know how someone like that is able to be that careless with others items, let alone throw out books!
Anyway, this is more like a mini book. I will leave at this for now. Go and check to see if I do have the books. Then call it an evening.
March 8th 8:36AM
I have been online now for about an hour or so. Our power came back at 11:00 last night so we were able to get some decent sleep and not shiver. The power flickered at about 6:00 but so far we have been stable. Looks like something is going on with my NAS box so I've been doing work on that most of the morning. I'll probably end up going into work this afternoon, or whenever the water in the tank heats backup. Last night I was mistaken. My wife said that that my parents called back and said their power had just gone out. Checking facebook it looks like the power is still out.
So ends my adventure, learned a lot of things that need to be sorted out, but many of them are minor comfort things.
(or so I thought, just as I was about to update this the power blinked out again....so we'll see how things go today. At any rate I think we're returning to a semblance of normalcy.)
12:50 - first entry. March 6th 2013.
So the snow has taken out our power.
It flickered all night and went out at about 9:00
The only things with power are the iPad and phones.
We broke out our supplies for cooking from the camping equipment. However that's just a small single burner thing like this. It works really well and highly recommend it for backpacking or camping.
I will be updating this more as we go but right now it is 10 to 1 in the afternoon. I spent most of my morning sharpening my knife as I figure I will have to go look for downed trees at some point. My wife is cooking as I type this, but we have already identified some issues that need to be sorted.
Communication, we have a radio to hear that 13,000 people in our county are without power. I think they said the total region wide was over 100K. However, since the power is out and we have heavy wet snow, We have no cell phone reception. So we are unable to contact family. To be honest that doesn't bother me as we have radio, but my new job requires me to open up an emergency shelter. They have my cellphone as contact, and my home phone is out since it is vonage and over our Internet. Maybe time to invest in a single local phone line? Or maybe just get my ham radio sorted out.
Water, that's going to be an issue. Right now not so much as we have snow and maybe 2 or 3 days bottled. Longer term we need a way to pump from our well. There technically speaking is no water pressure to do anything. So that means no flushing toilets etc. However we do have the snow so we will use that melted in pots for extra water for cleaning and flushing mostly. The bottled water will be for food and drinking.
Heating is our third hurtle. We insulated the house some years ago. You can check that video on right right. That has helped to trap a lot of heat, but I can feel it getting cooler in here. It is not uncomfortable, about 69 right now and power has been out for 4 hours. We have closed doors to keep the heat in and we have blankets and hot packs on standby. Should the temp drop more outside (It's 34 degrees) then I expect it to get colder as the day goes on.
I will type more ideas as I think of them, it is time to eat.
7:04
The rest of the day has been fine. I am now writing this entry in the bedroom under candle light. The snow has melted considerably and the roads are fine to drive. After lunch we got kitted up and walked our long driveway to try and dig out the car. We did not have to do too much other than clear it off and dig around front. Ended up just driving right out without any issue. I suspect work will have a 2 hour delay tomorrow. I was supposed to go with my dad to Indiana but that's not going to happen so I may just go in. After the adventure outside we were worn out, even if it was only about 10 minutes of work. I had to haul a 35lb bag of biljack up the quarter acre drive way. Ended up falling asleep on the sofa as my wife did a crossword. Eventually I just read my book, Orbitsville by Bob Shaw. I had rescued that from my fathers collection i discovered at in my grand parents house on a trip to Wales. Pretty good so far and apparently a trilogy. 
Anyway we back to the topics.
Communication still down I did manage to drive up the road to get enough of a signal to text. But I had to type the text, drive up the road for it to be sent and received as there was no good spot to pull off. Also, managed to go to where they open up the emergency shelters. Right now they have 1 person so I ended up going home. Not that I could stay as my wife was only expecting me gone for a few minutes.
Temperature in the house has dropped about 4 degrees last I checked to 65/66 and outside has warmed up.
Food right now seems to be ok it is cold enough in the fridge, but we put some snow in ziplock bags to help lower the temp. Things in the freezer are still frozen, but we do not have much if any meat due to dietary needs, that if it thaws, it won't be too bad. Cooking hasn't been that big of a problem using the sterno, but not having water or trying to conserve it is critical. Trying to minimize use of cutlery is important. Short term solution would be for us to simply have used paper plates and plastic cutlery.
Water again is something I am thinking about that is critical. We have used 1 gallon today. I expect that to increase tomorrow. We have two people, two birds, and two dogs that need water. This evening we opened the second gallon for water for the dogs. We definitely need a way to pump water from our well and then pressurize the tank. Going to the bathroom is interesting since I got too large pots of snow there is still a considerable amount of it and the toilet tank is still not full enough. Hence the need to be able to get water. If I had given it more thought I would have started a fire outside to melt the snow in the pots and dump it into the tub for toilet use.
 | |
| MSR Camp Kettle..Tea is serious business |
March 7th 10:15
So last night got reasonably cold, when I woke up it was about 58 degrees. Ended up freezing until I put a hot pack behind my back to warm up my midsection. Since I was supposed to go to Indiana my dad is still thinking of going. I will join if he does. However he isn't sure since he is without power as well. I got up at 7:30 and my wife and I packed everything up to basically head over this way to see. She also needed to do work in town so she dropped me off here.
Of course whenever I decide to take a vacation of any length of time crap hits the fan at work. People panicked cause they can't get the internet, or to a specific program, or decide that 1 of the 9 public computers that has been down has got to be back and running immediately. Wouldn't have that last problem if Microsoft didn't change the way they install office 2013' and give oh so helpful error messages like "Something went wrong".
So I am just waiting and emailing as that is the only thing that will go through. To see what is going on with the power, and if we are going to go to Indiana or not. I could use the break, but it never really is one it seems.
Anyway to update it is cold as hell inside. Only a 10 degree difference 57 inside 46 outside.
Make sure that you have wet wipes and some air fresher handy to keep in the bathroom as well. I suspect that gas from the septic is coming up through the toilet making a rather unpleasant oder.
Back to my tea, and shivering.
7:18
So my dad decided not to go after much hemming and hawing. We ended up going in to town to pick my mum up for lunch and got subway. Had the wife stop by and discuss what the plans were and that is where it was decided not to go on our trip.
I stayed there for other hour or so as my wife went to get her hair done, and finish up on some school work. The importance of feeling clean shouldn't be underestimated.
Communication seems back to up to normal. I could surf with the iPad, and now call out. Watching all the alerts come in for my server equipment. I am hoping my NAS box is ok, it seems to have gone offline. Have you ever know a red light to be good, how about a blinking one? Kevin my intern seems to be working well and is holding the fort down. I may not be in tomorrow at any rate as they are saying 17,000 people with my electric company are still without power and won't be back up completely until Sunday night.
That is going to be a cold weekend for sure. However for this evening I broke out the solar blanket. Not something I wanted to do because I have no idea how to fold it back up. Although I figured if I was going to use it now is a good as time as any. We taped it to two blades of our ceiling fan and the back of a picture frame to make a reflective canopy over the bed.
My parents called at about 6 or so and said they got their power back. So I am optimistic that we will have it tonight. Another reason against the solar blanket, but that would be going against our basic need to get warm.
Now mind you it isn't a typical omelet either. Two eggs two slices of bread, mixed till it is a liquid with little to no chunks. Add your bits, like mushrooms and tomatoes, peppers, apples whatever. Then fry in a frying pan with oil, preheated with works best for stainless steal. Then tease it up as your going to flip it once it doesn't break apart you know it is ready to flip. I like to posh the edges of it so it is nice and round whilst I wait.
Along with the omelet we had some sausages. All of this I should not be having technically, but I am. I have used a lot of energy so I need to replenish it. I also don't usually eat breakfast or eat a lot in general anyway.
Anyway, this is more like a mini book. I will leave at this for now. Go and check to see if I do have the books. Then call it an evening.
March 8th 8:36AM
I have been online now for about an hour or so. Our power came back at 11:00 last night so we were able to get some decent sleep and not shiver. The power flickered at about 6:00 but so far we have been stable. Looks like something is going on with my NAS box so I've been doing work on that most of the morning. I'll probably end up going into work this afternoon, or whenever the water in the tank heats backup. Last night I was mistaken. My wife said that that my parents called back and said their power had just gone out. Checking facebook it looks like the power is still out.
So ends my adventure, learned a lot of things that need to be sorted out, but many of them are minor comfort things.
(or so I thought, just as I was about to update this the power blinked out again....so we'll see how things go today. At any rate I think we're returning to a semblance of normalcy.)
Monday, February 18, 2013
Of all the things to break...
...I lose my microphone. As you may know I play a lot of online games, and that means you're usually in teamspeak, mumble, or ventrillo talking to someone. To help coordinate or plan strategies on how to move fleets in eve, watch for neuts, or what objective to attack in BF3. So I was more than disappointed when my mic decided it didn't want to work anymore. I also have done an online podcast for a different project, which I'm not involved in doing anymore, but my start backup soon.
I have the USB version of this headset.
It's Creative Labs Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. It's a great headset and sound wise it still works really well. It has a detachable microphone so I can remove that and use them like regular earphones. The microphone piece itself actually works well, the issue is some of the wiring inside the headset. The cord has a tendency to coil up and I've been trying to leave it straightened out over night so that it will stop doing that. I think this must be an issue with wired headsets because I had a different pair of headsets do the same thing to me a few years ago.
So being the tinkerer I am I opened it up to take a look at it.
I'm not sure exactly what wires are causing the issue because it will cut in and out. So I'm thinking I might have to re-solder the connections to get it to work. Someone on reddit suggested I check it for continuity but the wires are pretty small so I'm thinking I will have some problems with that.
Anyway, I know this is a bit of a ramble but if anyone is reading this and has had to fix the mic in one of these please post a comment below with what you did. I'd appreciate the help.
I have the USB version of this headset.
It's Creative Labs Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. It's a great headset and sound wise it still works really well. It has a detachable microphone so I can remove that and use them like regular earphones. The microphone piece itself actually works well, the issue is some of the wiring inside the headset. The cord has a tendency to coil up and I've been trying to leave it straightened out over night so that it will stop doing that. I think this must be an issue with wired headsets because I had a different pair of headsets do the same thing to me a few years ago.
So being the tinkerer I am I opened it up to take a look at it.
I'm not sure exactly what wires are causing the issue because it will cut in and out. So I'm thinking I might have to re-solder the connections to get it to work. Someone on reddit suggested I check it for continuity but the wires are pretty small so I'm thinking I will have some problems with that.
Anyway, I know this is a bit of a ramble but if anyone is reading this and has had to fix the mic in one of these please post a comment below with what you did. I'd appreciate the help.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Retroshare - A decentralized, Anonymized Messaging, File Transfer Client
Retroshare is an open-source, cross platform decentralized chat, messaging, and file transfer client. If any of you are familiar with IRC it is some of the features of the chatroom. If you are used to instant messengers it has those. A forums feature which is similar to usenet. Finally a anonymous file search and transfer capability.
What makes this different than anything else out there, is that it is encrypted. It uses friend to friend method to share PGP keys so that you can create a web of trust between your friends. Links between the application and the rest of the web of trust uses SSL. Also since it is also decentralized then you don't have to worry about a server going down and not being able to connect with friends. Some of the core features:
If you need some more help please post a comment below and I can assist you. One thing to keep in mind you have to share your full keys with each other.
What makes this different than anything else out there, is that it is encrypted. It uses friend to friend method to share PGP keys so that you can create a web of trust between your friends. Links between the application and the rest of the web of trust uses SSL. Also since it is also decentralized then you don't have to worry about a server going down and not being able to connect with friends. Some of the core features:
- Serverless, completely decentralised
- Multiple simultaneous downloads / uploads
- Search Friends
- Messages
- Forums
- Channels
- Voice over IP
- Instant messaging
- Groupchat
- GnuPG Authentication
- OpenSSL Encryption
- adding downloads via website links
- Plugins support
- UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding support
- Graphical User Interface written with Qt4 toolkit
- System tray integration
If you need some more help please post a comment below and I can assist you. One thing to keep in mind you have to share your full keys with each other.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Over a year since my last post.
So there have been a lot of changes the past year or so. I am not really involved with bitcoin as much as I used to be. Getting into something else similarly related and that is RetroShare. It is a decentralized, encrypted secure communications platform. I would call it a friend to friend anonymized web of trust type of network.
Other things going on is that we are working towards self sufficiency very slowly. Our garden that we have worked on for a while has grown and produced very well. Hoping to expand to a fence at some point this year,but the process is slow on a halved income.
I am hoping to post a lot more, and update the blog with some of the other podcasts that I have done. I haven't gone further than 7 episodes. I just don't know if people are interested, as some of the streaming software I use will cost me $200 to use. Part of me would like to continue with it.but it was a lot of work to do a show on the schedule that I was. Perhaps when things start to turn around I will get back into it. But I am trying to find hobbies that cost little to no money and I am having a really hard time finding anything. Other than getting on to a computer, but I do that all day for my work anyway it is the last thing that I want to be doing.
Sill playing eve, currently director of a pretty good corporation that is developing and growing. So anyway I will leave this post here. If your reading this please let me know.
Other things going on is that we are working towards self sufficiency very slowly. Our garden that we have worked on for a while has grown and produced very well. Hoping to expand to a fence at some point this year,but the process is slow on a halved income.
I am hoping to post a lot more, and update the blog with some of the other podcasts that I have done. I haven't gone further than 7 episodes. I just don't know if people are interested, as some of the streaming software I use will cost me $200 to use. Part of me would like to continue with it.but it was a lot of work to do a show on the schedule that I was. Perhaps when things start to turn around I will get back into it. But I am trying to find hobbies that cost little to no money and I am having a really hard time finding anything. Other than getting on to a computer, but I do that all day for my work anyway it is the last thing that I want to be doing.
Sill playing eve, currently director of a pretty good corporation that is developing and growing. So anyway I will leave this post here. If your reading this please let me know.
Monday, January 23, 2012
4 Episodes and counting - Win Prizes!
We've had 4 episodes so far on New World Order Chat Radio. We've covered a range of topics that are collapse news related, and our primary disaster preparedness topics. Food and Water, and this weekend hopefully shelter. We're trying to line up a special guest for this weekends show.
Unfortunately the last few episodes have been kind of sketchy as to if I was going to have them or not. My co-host has had some internet issues and isn't able to get on to do the shows. So I'm the sole person and may have to figure out who will be the co-host or go it alone. With a co-host I think I do best, alone might be kind of scary.
If there are any specific topics you would like for us to touch on please let us know.
Our primary topics we have lined up so far.
We're also having a Name the show contest. You've got until Sunday 1/28/2012 to enter. Then we will post the submissions we have received and let you the listeners vote on them. We're giving away a medkit. To enter click Enter to Win on our website
Thanks for listening.
Unfortunately the last few episodes have been kind of sketchy as to if I was going to have them or not. My co-host has had some internet issues and isn't able to get on to do the shows. So I'm the sole person and may have to figure out who will be the co-host or go it alone. With a co-host I think I do best, alone might be kind of scary.
If there are any specific topics you would like for us to touch on please let us know.
Our primary topics we have lined up so far.
- Water
- Food
- Shelter
- Security
- Communication
We're also having a Name the show contest. You've got until Sunday 1/28/2012 to enter. Then we will post the submissions we have received and let you the listeners vote on them. We're giving away a medkit. To enter click Enter to Win on our website
Thanks for listening.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Something a bit different...
I'm the moderator of and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) chat channel called #new_world_order on EFNet. It's been around in some form for close to 10 years and I've been in it since then. I used to be heavily into IRC many years ago but have taken to just hanging out only in a few small channels. I'm also in #bitcoin on EFNet however discussion has died down there lately.
However, that's not really the point of this post. The point is that out of this chat channel (#new_world_order) we have man different people, with different unique skills. Many of them run related websites that have been rather useful and become rather popular. Whilst I've got a website for the chat channel, I decided to take a different turn.
I've wanted to for some time start a radio show but never really figured out what I could talk about. I didn't really think that I could do the show any better than anyone else. However of the past few months things seem to escalate in society to the point that many of us in the channel talk about "prepping". With that in mind I started a small radio show/podcast and last week was the first pilot episode.
If you would like some more information about it you can visit the website and download the radio show to listen to. If you enjoy it please let me know, and give us some feedback.
We hope to discuss a large number of topics that relate to disaster preparedness and right now scheduled to only do 10 episodes. I wanted to keep the goal small so it was achievable, however after doing my first show I'm actually very excited about continuing.
http://www.nwochat.info - The website for the chat channel.
http://www.nwochat.info/radio.html - Page for the radio show.
However, that's not really the point of this post. The point is that out of this chat channel (#new_world_order) we have man different people, with different unique skills. Many of them run related websites that have been rather useful and become rather popular. Whilst I've got a website for the chat channel, I decided to take a different turn.
I've wanted to for some time start a radio show but never really figured out what I could talk about. I didn't really think that I could do the show any better than anyone else. However of the past few months things seem to escalate in society to the point that many of us in the channel talk about "prepping". With that in mind I started a small radio show/podcast and last week was the first pilot episode.
If you would like some more information about it you can visit the website and download the radio show to listen to. If you enjoy it please let me know, and give us some feedback.
We hope to discuss a large number of topics that relate to disaster preparedness and right now scheduled to only do 10 episodes. I wanted to keep the goal small so it was achievable, however after doing my first show I'm actually very excited about continuing.
http://www.nwochat.info - The website for the chat channel.
http://www.nwochat.info/radio.html - Page for the radio show.
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