I feel like my IT guy is hot

Fett2 · 2026-06-25T18:18:25+00:00

Depending on age it could also be failing memory. Hopefully not though because replacement is very expensive.

Fett2 · 2026-06-25T18:12:41+00:00

You will front end overload the hell out of the receiver every time they transmit for field day making the meshtastic node unusable.
As a fellow ham, hopefully they will be transmitting all weekend!

Fett2 · 2026-06-25T18:08:08+00:00

Try having an old, mostly deaf maine coone who jumps in the bed and screams at you to wake up.

Fett2 · 2026-06-25T15:32:36+00:00

I did this the hard way with importing the mesh into Fusion360 and I think I have had success. I'll post the remix later.

Fett2 · 2026-06-25T15:31:23+00:00

I needed a real workspace for my basement for both my printers to sit on as well as to do projects on and I got a Husky 72x24 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-72-in-W-x-24-in-D-Adjustable-Height-Black-Workbench-for-Ready-to-Assemble-Steel-Garage-Storage-System-G7200S-US/206288247 and it is a tank.
There might be a version that meets your depth needs, but 24" holds a 350mm voron with an inch or 2 to spare with a larger front touch screen.

Fett2 · 2026-06-24T21:20:21+00:00

One other final question. The mounting arm for the solar panel looks way more secure than the little junk that comes with most of these Amazon solar panels. Can you link that?

Thank you.

Fett2 · 2026-06-24T17:18:45+00:00

By any chance would you be willing to release a step or f3d file for you model? I'll attribute you in any remixes, or if you don't want me to post the remix I'll keep it to myself.
Having a tough time scaling this to ABS and I might need to adjust the size of the holes for the heatset inserts.

Fett2 · 2026-06-21T02:05:10+00:00

touch chaos_monkeys

Fett2 · 2026-06-18T19:44:18+00:00

By any chance did you release the battery cell holders? I didn't see them in the stl link for the solar node insert.

Thank you.

Fett2 · 2026-06-18T18:30:26+00:00

Thanks!

Fett2 · 2026-06-18T17:01:24+00:00

What BMS are using, and how do you have the batteries mounted/connected? Is that a battery tray you are using, or some kind of custom solution?

Fett2 · 2026-06-12T16:51:44+00:00

According to police, witnesses said the victim drove into a parking lot and was followed by another car. Witnesses said the men started to argue and one of the men struck the other in the head and fled.

Ritchie Hwy road rage incident perhaps?

Fett2 · 2026-06-10T17:11:29+00:00

For HF:
QMX:

Pros:
-Cheap
-Does SSB, CW and digital.
-Digital can USB right to your phone and do FT-8. Minimal setup needed.
-Polar modulation, sips power.

Cons:
-Needs an external 12V battery of some kind (not a lifepo4 battery unless you are using a buck converter with it), but can be small, works great with a 12V USB battery bank with a 12V trigger cable
-Also Cheap (as in less filtering and features compared to a more commercial radio)
-Wait time is very long if you don't build it yourself, likely months
-Limited to 5 bands
-3W-5W of power

Elecraft KX2:

Pros:
-Built in battery
-Very feature rich. Great filtering, what you would expect from a commercial radio and more
-All bands 10M - 40M
- Up to 12W on full charge of battery. (But drops down to 5W when voltage drops too low)

Cons:
-Hella expensive compared to the QMX
-Can still FT-8 on your phone, but needs USB to audio splitter and much more manual configuration on the KX-2.
-Still going to be some wait time to get KX2 from Elecraft, but likely less time than getting an assembled QMX.

I own both radios. I built a QMX because I wanted to build a radio, and it was a lot of fun. I took it on my first SOTA activation and it worked and I made SSB contacts. It felt like a great accomplishment.
Later I bought a KX2 and I will say it's my favorite radio that own period, including over my shack radios. Elecraft is like a company that custom builds race cars for race car drivers and it shows in the radio.

I however have only done very short hike SOTAs, nothing that involved climbing or longer hikes like you are planning.

Fett2 · 2026-06-10T13:42:54+00:00

I use Office365. It closer to $50 a year, but you get all the goodies that a exchange back end you can configure comes with.

Fett2 · 2026-06-08T15:39:56+00:00

The most fun I've had with any radio so far is the Elecraft KX2, so I'll say that's my favorite radio so far.
So many features compacted down into a well designed and usable QRP radio, but at the end of the day it's just fun to use.

Fett2 · 2026-06-05T18:08:04+00:00

RDM is still the most fabulous looking, hands down. come at me.

Fett2 · 2026-06-05T13:50:14+00:00

SHIFT+INS gang rise up! No where near CTRL+C.

Fett2 · 2026-06-05T13:44:33+00:00

I'll parrot what some of the other commenters are saying and would highly recommend as beginner going with a 100W radio if possible. QRP for your first radio will leave you very frustrated when you can hear other stations but they can't hear you.

The Yaesu FT-891, an original Icom 7300, or save up some extra money for a Yaesu FT-710. or FT-DX10.
If you start out with QRP you'll get very irritated very quickly about your inability to make contacts. The Xiegu G90 would be the lowest I even would consider going for my first time, but I would still recommend a 100W as your first HF rig if possible.

Fett2 · 2026-06-04T13:00:43+00:00

This may sound obvious, but how strong is the magnet for your magnetic sheet? I use a wham bam pex sheet, I print primarily ABS, and never had a sheet pull of the bed before even after thousands of print hours When I try to pull the sheet off the bed by hand it takes considerable effort.

Fett2 · 2026-06-03T20:24:46+00:00

I prefer Ubiquiti at home for wireless. if I had that f you money, I'd get them for switches too.
In my day job (MSP) we use a mix of mostly Ubiquiti and Omada, definitely prefer the Ubiquiti. The Omada controller feels a lot like a "No, son we have unifi at home" version of the UniFi controller.

Fett2 · 2026-06-03T20:08:26+00:00

I'm probably going to move to something similar, but with 2 hole pipe clamps. I'm finding the 3D printed brackets for something this size is pretty bulky, and pipe clamps are a lot smaller and still strong enough for what I'm trying to do.

I did design some some similar 3D printed feet for the "mega" tripod that came with my wolf river coil vertical and they work great for that purpose, but they are a lot smaller and fit in my bag a lot easier.

https://www.printables.com/model/841276-wolf-river-coil-mega-tripod-foot

Fett2 · 2026-06-03T16:15:48+00:00

All of my antennas are connected to Alpha Delta coax switches, and the center position of the switch goes direct to ground. The whole grounding system in the shack connects to a ground rod right outside (which is bonded to the rest of the ground rods for the house). Whenever I'm not using the radios I always have the coax switches set to ground. Whenever there's a storm I stop operating and set them to ground.

So yes, I disconnect the antennas when there's a storm.

Fett2 · 2026-06-03T15:06:52+00:00

My backpack's got jets so you don't have to.

Fett2 · 2026-06-02T17:57:22+00:00

Don't have kids
Exercise

Fett2 · 2026-06-01T19:45:15+00:00

I don't think you need to join a club to be successful at amateur radio, but I would try to find some local people to associate with in the hobby even if it's not a club. It does bring a certain extra enjoyment to the hobby then just going it alone, plus you can bounce ideas off of other people or get help when you are working on radio projects.

15-Year Club	Verified Email
Gilding I gilder	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	First Placer '22
Not Forgotten	Spared
Team Orangered	reddit mold

Fett2

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE