http://www.hotsolder.com Electronics and other geeky pursuits! Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:07:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en To me, buying a PDA is like casual dating. At first, I can't wait for my new PDA to arrive. Then when I get it, I am sure that this is the one I'm going to keep using and its going to make my life simpler. Then in 2 or ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/06/use-your-pda-as-a-monitor.html We have a group of hams that homebrew that meets once a month for breakfast. A while back I noticed: the SuperProbe and thought it would be a good way to get some of the guys started with Microchip PICs. I started out breadboarding the circuit, but they will eventually go ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/06/superprobe.html I love to shop at Fry's. I used to make sure I had an extra day in the Bay Area when I traveled there to shop at a few stores including Fry's. Now we have one about a mile or two from my house. What a treat! Sort of. I decided ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/04/frys-war.html There are many things I enjoy that I can't actually do. I don't think I could write without a computer -- I'm too sloppy. The one time I tried to lay out a PCB by hand in the old days, my boss threatened to fire me if I did it ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/04/big-mess-o-wires.html It seems like I get more hits about Morse code on Jericho than just about anything else, so.... The series finale was necessarily disappointing. But you can see they are setting up for a new "Civil War" show on SciFi, I bet. Perhaps with a mostly new cast at that. ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/03/jericho-morse-code.html I've used FTDI chips to add USB to projects before. The last time I tried them, they were pretty easy to use (provided you can handle surface mount). Basically, your PC software saw a serial port and you would hook the chip up to your microcontroller's serial port. However, you ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/03/easy-usb.html When I actually turn on the ham radio, it is a good bet I'll be using a digital mode. I do try to do CW sometimes although the noise level in the house makes that hard unless I'm alone. I'd been a RTTY operator for many years, and when ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/03/ham-radio-deluxe.html I've had a TS-570D for quite some time. Of course, I always say I go through more solder than log books, so it goes a long time between uses sometimes. Lately, I'd noticed the Multi/Ch knob was "sticking" or behaving erratically. This makes it hard to do things like set filters ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/03/kenwood-ts-570d-multich-encoder-sticking.html I was recently behind a firewall and needed to FTP a file. The company has a "reverse proxy" but it always takes me a half hour to find the instructions for how to make it work. Then it came to me that a Google might find a better answer. Sure ... http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/02/web-app-ftp-client.html Looking for parts? Try Octopart. You get a variety of data and filtering options based on your search and you can build parts lists. Not as wide a reach was Findchips, but higher tech. http://www.hotsolder.com/2008/02/parts-search-engine.html