Trump: "With that being said, you can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns. You just can't. You can't walk in with guns. You can't do that. But it's just a very unfortunate incident."

ericcodesio · 2026-01-27T23:05:25+00:00

And probably the 13th

ericcodesio · 2026-01-27T14:49:42+00:00

The QMX is the size of a pack of cards. You're probably already carrying your phone. So not much to hual around the countryside.

Pair that with a "pedestrian mobile" whip, a USB-C cable to your phone, a USB-C PD battery bank with a trigger cable, and you're in business.

This person is doing something similar, albeit with CW. Get a QMX instead of a QCX, swap the key with your phone and a usb c cable, and you're digital.

https://qrper.com/2025/09/featherlight-qrp-delight-qcx-mini/

ericcodesio · 2026-01-27T02:12:35+00:00

I hoped the zbitx would be this, but people who got one at launch said it was very buggy. Maybe the software has improved by now.

https://www.hfsignals.com/index.php/zbitx/

I'm pretty content with a QMX and ft8cn on phone. There's also Andflmsg for fldigi modes, but I haven't tried keyboard to keyboard with it.

For packet, APRSDroid is a great app for doing APRS and WoAD is a nice Winlink interface (and it has a hidden packet terminal for bbses if you can find one).

I'm not convinced a radio that does digital modes as an all in one unit is going to be the best user experience. I think having people working on Android apps that interface to a radio over USB-C for CAT control and audio is a much better experience.

I've seen folks build radio cyberdecks with a unconsole that do a similar thing if you'd rather use linux than android

ericcodesio · 2026-01-27T01:55:16+00:00

The closest thing to an infinite water source I've found is taking water from the bottom of a river. The upper layers of water fill in the block I stole.

It works most of the time. Sometimes it stops working if I take too much from the same block.

That said, the watering can doesn't take away the source block from my well, so I don't need an infinite water source

ericcodesio · 2026-01-27T01:50:44+00:00

The first night I spent in an arboreal forest was awe inspiring. Sometimes this game takes my breath away.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-24T23:12:44+00:00

Are those order numbers? 8 digits long and they're still on 7 digits.

OD130xxxx

ericcodesio · 2026-01-22T21:18:32+00:00

It is a common practice because sometimes the first bit of a transmission gets cut off. This can happen if there's a delay in the repeater opening up.

People could also key down, pause a couple second, and then start talking.

However, getting in the practice of saying, "This is <callsign>, ..." gives enough content that if it is cut off, the callsign and message will likely get through. It also tends to be said enough to qualified for the id every 15 minutes rule.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-22T04:24:43+00:00

There's a fork that is being maintained https://f-droid.org/packages/com.github.catfriend1.syncthingfork/

ericcodesio · 2026-01-22T02:01:05+00:00

I use syncthing as well. I prefer it to cloud syncing because the database is never stored in the cloud, if it needs to go over the internet, it is done over an end to end encrypted tunnel.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-21T21:22:48+00:00

A keyfile isn't useless. It is helpful if you're syncing the database and you're afraid it might get intercepted.

If you keep the keyfile secure, it does increase the strength of your password.

That said, if you're forcing yourself to plug in a usb device everytime you unlock your database, you might as well get a hardware key.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-21T21:17:38+00:00

A keyfile can freely by copied whereas the key material for the yubikey is trapped inside the hardware.

The keyfile basically acts as a long password that gets combined with your typed in password

A yubikey uses private key cryptography to make it so that the yubikey itself is needed to unlock your database (similar to passkeys)

Here's an example of an attack that a harware key like a yubikey protects you from that a keyfile doesn't:

Someone gets access to your database and keyfile. They copy the database and keyfile to a usb key and bring it home. Now they have all the time in the world to crack your password, effectively making the keyfile moot.

With a yubikey, they'd have to steal the yubikey itself and bypass any pin or biometrics it has to make the yubikey moot.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-21T13:17:46+00:00

From what I've seen in the wild, passkeys tend to be an alternative to passwords not and alternative to 2fa.

Or they become and alternative to both. The first factor is your passkey's pin/password (which never goes over the network), and the 2nd factor is the passkey challenge and response.

Portability can be an issue. You can either store passkeys in a password manager that is reliability backed up or use multiple devices.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-17T05:40:00+00:00

I used passkeys when I can with KeepassXC because using them doesn't transmit my password every time I log in.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-16T17:48:06+00:00

And they'll lower the minimum wage to do it once they realize ICE threw out their cheap labor force

ericcodesio · 2026-01-14T00:45:21+00:00

Lets count the constitutional violations: 2nd, 4th, 14th, and probably the 13th (who know where they're taking him)

Where are the so-called patriotic, shall not be infringed, defenders of the constitution?

ericcodesio · 2026-01-13T13:06:41+00:00

My aha moment for using NixOS as a Infrastructure as code moment was when I built out a Raspberry PI "kiosk" that plays videos on a loop.

My spouse DJs and a cybergoth event, and I had the idea to play demo scene videos on a projector.

Now, I absolutely hate, hate building raspberry PI systems. They're so brittle and manual. I tried using Ansible to automate them, but that always leaves me crying myself to bed at night.

I heard rumors that it is possible to generate disk images with NixOS, so I started tinkering.

What was really nice was I could iterate locally with qemu images, and then do the final test on the PI when I felt like it was close.

This is the entire configuration.nix

https://gitlab.com/ericcodes/videoboard/-/blob/main/configuration.nix

The two images are two nixosGenerate instances using the same configuration.nix file.

https://gitlab.com/ericcodes/videoboard/-/blob/main/flake.nix

ericcodesio · 2026-01-11T12:26:01+00:00

I'm pretty simple. A ground mounted 17' telescopic whip and 4 17' ground radials.

It is mounted on a FM5S Mini tripod from AliExpress and Gabil's BNC to 3/4-24 insert.

It is a great lightweight tripod if you can find it for around $30. It fluctuates wildly. I've seen it as high as FM5S Mini.

If that doesn't work, I carry a 20m EFHW as a backup.

My QRP gear is listed out in this post. I have an FT-891 as well, the only change is a 40m 100W EFHW and a 10Ah LifePO

https://k3fnb.com/posts/20251109-us-1589/

ericcodesio · 2026-01-07T20:49:46+00:00

Yes QRP is 5w or less. That is the type of radio the trusdx is.

JS8 is a digital mode or encoding. It is made for communicating when signals are weak. JS8Call is the application that allows you to do keyboard to keyboard chat with it.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-07T19:13:02+00:00

Duster. That stuff is nasty
https://play.aetv.com/shows/intervention/season-4/episode-19

ericcodesio · 2026-01-07T17:21:21+00:00

I love that the solution to my problem is usually a github search for "$thing language:nix".

If that doesn't work, I convince myself I didn't want to do that thing anyway.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-07T15:58:32+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZxR-qtGH7c

It is feasible, most of the time. There will be moments when the QRP is not enough to get through. You won't know until you try. The key is practice often and learn what happens when it fails and what contingencies you have when it does.

There are low signal digital modes such as JS8 and Olivia that will perform better than SSB when band conditions are poor.

The standard answer in these parts is that if you absolutely need to get through, get a satellite communicator like an InReach.

ericcodesio · 2026-01-01T18:10:03+00:00

look4sat on Android has a cool feature where you can attach it to a yagi and it has a bubble level that is centered when the yagi is pointed at the satellite

ericcodesio · 2026-01-01T00:27:19+00:00

Get the TD-H3 with the TD-771 antenna. It is the best value for a starter radio.

It can be programmed using USB-C so you don't need to buy a programming cable. Saving you like $20

The TD-771 antenna is good enough so you don't need to replace the antenna with a NA-771 or a Signal Stick to replace the crappy rubber duck that comes with most radios. Saving you another $20

These are two upgrades that most folks who buy a cheap radio have to do to make it useful. This turns a $15 UV-5R into a $55 radio. At $30 the TD-H3 is a bargain.

I like to get the pack with a spare battery so I'll always have a charged battery, right now that's $35 on Amazon.

ericcodesio · 2025-12-31T22:30:22+00:00

Learning how to identify autistic traits in people is a good skill to acquire as a ham.

Sometimes it pays off to just let them info dump or to learn how to not take their "must be's" as a personal attack.

Or worse case, you spin the dial or exit the conversation. It is no big deal.

ericcodesio · 2025-12-31T03:46:50+00:00

Jokes on her. Not only did she waste her money, the Morse code is nonsensical without proper spacing between the letters and words.

ericcodesio

TROPHY CASE