N6QW -- Left Coast Radio

A Hiatus for The N6QW Blog I now will shortly begin an undefined period of hiatus and may (or may not ever) in the future return to blogging. I apologize to those few who daily, faithfully read the blog and are subjected to the outpouring of random comments from my weird, and slightly bent brain. [Homebrew radios and the 300-pound Mary Jo are indeed divergent subjects.] But right now, the effort to keep things fresh and relevant exceeds my capacity to do so. As Adam Clayton Powell so aptly stated -- Keep the Faith and I add don't eat your pets. [For many, Adam Clayton Powell just doesn't ring any bells, but he was a very colorful and powerful Congressman representing Harlem for decades.] But for now, we move to the final of the three-part series on the FAT display and start with a part fit check. The photo below shows a compact layout that keeps a small footprint yet provides the functionality that was the original goal. Note the 3.2 Inch display is larger than the board by a b

  This is the current display on the P3ST QRP SSB Transceiver which shows a lot of info on a 128X160 small sized screen. It is of the ST7735 form of Display. What is presented are two VFOs (A &B) that have VFO memory, but also a much smaller display of the VFO frequencies with a thought of split operation. The simulated Green LED's signal what is "hot".  The initial theory was that you could receive on the A VFO but actually transmit on the B VFO. While the logic exists in the sketch, it was never actually implemented. Albeit you can switch the VFOs with a panel switch but not split operation. We also have the Step Tuning rate and the S Meter which by the way is implemented using an audio sample. I included my call sign just in case I forget and the title under the A VFO directs me to the Arduino sketch in the Arduino directory. Lest I forget we show which sideband is selected with a simulated RED LED.   Needless to say, it took many hours of programming to get this d

A hallmark of many of the current homebrew rigs is compact size aimed at portable operation and the ever-popular POTA / SOTA events. Half Size OLEDs used as an SDR Spectrum Display are a reality.  But going the other direction for those of us whose eyesight can no longer spot a 29A from a 44DD at a half a mile, then we need bigger displays. The next couple of postings will cover the use of larger displays such as those that employ the ILI9341 scheme. Note you can see the pixels on the display.  Feast your eyes on this display using the ILI9341. I should add that I have several of these displays ranging in size from 1.8 inches to 3.2 inches. The pinouts and the code are the same for either. This is the 3.2 Inch display. ILI 9341 on a Rig Resist simply taking your current display using the ST7735 wiring and "plug er in". You risk smoking something as the ILI 9341 Display inputs like to see no more that 3.3 VDC. Thus, you need a CD4050 level shifter or a simple voltage divider,

AI is at work on my Pixel 7 when stuff shows up on the phone like the town Coober Pedy. Well, firstly Coober Pedy is the Opal Capital of the world and so that would put it in the middle of nowhere in downtown Australia. At first, I thought it might be a CIA site like Pine Gap near Alice Springs, but it is not. Other notable info is that it is so hot there that many folks live underground in what is known as dugouts. They even boast dugout motels! Dugout Motel ~ Comfort Inn Coober Pedy [Flash News: A friend in the CIA advises that CP is the home of Fred and Ethel of the AI duo. You heard it here 1st.] There is a real issue in Coober Pedy because so many of the opal mines are shallow and located not too far underground. Many of these mine shafts pass right under the city. Thus, a high risk of sink holes I grew up in Arnold, Pennsylvania and the same issue with the coal mines. One year a whole residential city block started to collapse into an old mine shaft.  But you tuned into this blog

Leave it to Google and their AI Application called Notebook LM to stir up the brain neurons. Several ham friends (N2CQR and KK4DAS) have been dabbling with this AI application -- so yes, I had to try it! But first a sewer backup. The Google App is billed as an assistant that can take your notes or documents and create a summary for presentation. It can also take a You Tube Video and essentially create a conversation between a male presenter and a female presenter that deep dives into the video. They are nameless so let's just call them Fred and Ethel* and that is what they did, a deep dive into one of my recent videos. I chose the video on the resurrection of the Swan SW140 radio that was bought as parts only, needing repair. It was a careful choice as it had technical issues aside from a dirty radio. Thus, I wanted to see how Fred and Ethel did on that part. I had to convert the soundtrack to an MP3 and then make it a video so it could be shown here. The process involved loading t

For our small band of loyal blog readers, we start with a mystery, a final exam and a real-world electronics problem. These all have an element of troubleshooting. The mystery which may have come from a logic class is as follows. A man goes into a bar and asks for a glass of water. The bar keep reaches underneath the bar and pulls out a gun which he points at the man's head. A short interlude and the barkeep smiles, the man says Thank You and walks out of the bar. So, what just happened? Pause! The man going into the bar had hiccups and with the action of the barkeep -- the man was frightened and the hiccups stopped. Thus, the smile and Thank You. A stretch and something in a thousand years you would never have guessed but plausible. At times troubleshooting a problem is the same -- think subthreshold conduction. Next, we turn to a final exam question. The course was Short Story Creative Writing. The question was: Create a short story that has three elements including a mystery, se