Retro Gadgets: The CB Cell Phone
There was a time when one of the perks of having a ham radio in your car (or on your belt) was you could make phone calls using a “phone …read more Continue reading Retro Gadgets: The CB Cell Phone
Author Archives: Al Williams
Inside a 1940’s Spy Radio
The RCA CR-88 was a radio receiver made to work in top-secret government eavesdropping stations. As you might expect, these radios are top-of-the-line, performance-wise, at least when they are working …read more Continue reading Inside a 1940’s Spy Radio
The Times they are A-Chaining
If [Bob Dylan] had seen [Pgeschwi]’s bike chain clock, it might have influenced the famous song. The clock uses a stepper motor and a bike chain to create a clock …read more Continue reading The Times they are A-Chaining
Better Macro Images With Arduino Focus Stacking
If you’ve ever played around with macro photography, you’ve likely noticed that the higher the lens magnification, the less the depth of field. One way around this issue is to …read more Continue reading Better Macro Images With Arduino Focus Stacking
Toxic Telescope Makes You Mad as a Hatter
[Hank Green] posted an interesting video about the first liquid mirror telescope from back in the 1850s. At the time, scientists were not impressed. But, these days, people are revisiting …read more Continue reading Toxic Telescope Makes You Mad as a Hatter
I’ve Been Printing on the Dragon Railroad…
We know many people who put much effort into building model train setups. But [Rambros] has an entire set 3D printed, and the files are open source, so you can …read more Continue reading I’ve Been Printing on the Dragon Railroad…
Old Ham Wisdom Leads to Better Aluminum Painting
When [bdk6] tried painting aluminum for electronic projects, he found it didn’t tend to stay painted. It would easily scratch off or, eventually, even flake off. The problem is the …read more Continue reading Old Ham Wisdom Leads to Better Aluminum Painting
Bend it Like a Carpenter
We’ve always known, in theory, there are ways to bend wood, but weren’t really clear on how it worked. Now that we’ve seen [Totally Handy]’s recent video, we’ve learned a …read more Continue reading Bend it Like a Carpenter
Arduino is out to (Rocket) Launch
It looks like an ordinary toolbox, but when you open up the Arduino Launch Control System, you’ll find a safe method for triggering model rocket launches. The system uses two …read more Continue reading Arduino is out to (Rocket) Launch
Listening to a Flashlight — Lunar Flashlight
If you’ve been looking for a practical example of using GNU Radio, you should check out [Daniel Estévez’s] work on decoding telemetry captured from the Lunar Flashlight cubesat. The cubesat …read more Continue reading Listening to a Flashlight — Lunar Flashlight