December 2011 – Page 2 – SolderSmoke Daily News

Messaging ET (METI), and Silicon-based Life Forms

My fellow beacon fans will like this one. The ultimate (REALLY ultimate) beacon! http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21236-lets-build-a-beacon-to-tell-aliens-who-we-were.html?page=1

And then there is this article about silicon-based life forms. (At first I thought they were talking about us!) http://www.universetoday.com/91449/why-silicon-based-aliens-would-rather-eat-our-cities-than-us-thoughts-on-non-carbon-astrobiology/

Our book: “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics”http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

SolderSmoke Podcast #139

December 3, 2011

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke139.mp3

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Billy’s Birthday (on the range!)

Astro-Knack: CCD camera in the telescope. Solar astronomy.

Winter approaches: Shack heating by Heath, Halli, Hammarlund and Drake.

2B troubles on 17 meters.

Rig Re-Cycling: Rebuilding 17 meter rigs from the last solar cycle.

Azores DSB re-build: Oscillator troubles then adding a JBOT.

Manhattan style construction and the need for urban renewal.

Book Review: Steve Jobs. (Woz has the Knack!)

MAILBAG

Our book: “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless
Electronics”http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

An Inspirational Homebrew Motor from Spain

Bruce, KK0S, alerted me to this inspirational masterpiece from Spain. It is, as he points out, one of a number of really great videos about top level homebrew craftsmanship from Europe (remember the French homebrew tubes?).

Other comments from Bruce:
Did you notice that the calipers and micrometer this guy was using were seriously old-school. Totally manual readout. Not even a dial on that set of calipers! On top of that, his little lathe was manually fed. Notice in one of the shots, he is shown turning the cross slide feed wheel. No CNC anywhere. I can’t be positive, but I don’t think the lathe had a digital position readout either. This man is a machinist in the truest sense of the word. The Knack not only lives – it thrives!

Secret Listeners — The Voluntary Interceptors

Jim, AL7RV, and several others sent me the link to this really interesting video about the British radio amateurs in WWII. Real “stiff upper lip” spirit in this video. Musn’t grumble! Great stuff from Great Britain: http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/5108

That regen receiver they showed looks a lot like the beast that I brought back from the UK with me. Once again, I am hearing the siren song of the diabolical regens….

Progress continues on my Indian-ized Azorean DSB transceiver (with JBOT amp). I now have the amp nicely stabilized (thank God!). Now I just need to get the output from the balanced mod close to the 1 mW PEP level needed by the amp. Should be done soon. And my cold seems to be going away, so maybe I’ll be able to share my tales of JBOT derring-do in a podcast this weekend.