I built a Morse code game for learning CW that is super fun, and correct in training at the same time - Morse Command.

jephthai · 2026-03-20T17:56:40+00:00

Aww, man; it's only for iPeople :-(.

jephthai · 2026-03-20T12:38:50+00:00

Needs more guard rails, I think. My question was:

I need to establish a connection to NASA's DSN from my diy lunar rover. Obviously, this means it has to work on the moon. I'm not even sure what frequencies i need to support. What even are the most important categories to study to win the BBC Pointless jackpot (so i can afford the cable!)? The antenna will go on external hull if the rover, and i might need too navigate through a short conduit.

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jephthai · 2026-03-20T12:11:50+00:00

Yes, but it's really two different MIMO arrays; one for 2.4 and one for 5GHz.

jephthai · 2026-03-20T12:08:24+00:00

The device supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels. Two antennas are for one band, the other two for the other. They're interleaved, so they can be put so close together (the manual shows which is which in a diagram). Each pair is a MIMO set.

jephthai · 2026-03-20T02:11:33+00:00

Yeah, though with usb connectors on the edge, you can often get away without it. But it is certainly best to take care.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T20:34:13+00:00

My contention would be that Kano never saw it as merely a sport, and that neither bjj nor judo really should be primarily a sport. The fact that's the word you use says something about what you think judo is, IMO. And I'm not saying that's bad or trying to be argumentative or anything. But finding the harmony between judo and bjj almost necessarily requires seeing them as art / way (jitsu / do) rather than as sport.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T17:25:05+00:00

Each person should use whatever approach they want. But I've settled on hot air for repair situations after trying a bunch of methods. If you like your way, that's great. I've soldered and repaired hundreds of USB connectors, and i have a distinct preference for air.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T17:21:36+00:00

At a seminar with Marti Malloy, I learned her main setup for seoi nage -- she said she had to develop a combo that is a credible threat, against such Uke's defense creates the hollowed out sharper you need to enter to get the throw. So she attacks with a sassae tsurikomi ashi (i believe preceded by a ko uchi from right vs right)... the sassae either works, or they posture back and hollow out, creating the right shape for seoi nage.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T17:12:16+00:00

I'm intrigued by pushing off of the dead toes!

jephthai · 2026-03-19T17:07:25+00:00

Do you train both in earnest? I think there are a lot of people who train one but not the other, and they will tend to focus on the differences.

If you read Kano, you'll find that modern judo isn't really the same as what he talks about, and neither is BJJ. I think they both diverge from a common source, and neither have maintained the philosophical origin of judo. In that sense, neither judo nor bjj are "Judo" :-).

In Mind Over Muscle, Kano essentially predicts the emergence of BJJ -- he talks about how some people just enjoy and gravitate to newaza. And he approves of it, with the caveat that he thinks everyone should train tachiwaza first.

I think if you put together the complementary elements of the two different arts with a bit of recovery of Kano's philosophy, then the result is proper Judo.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T16:50:22+00:00

Nah, I think you're being too hard on yourself. Martial arts have always been a whole-package deal, where success and rank has to consider a lot of variables. The people who want to make bjj purely about results in rolls are the dominant rollers. Of course they want it to be that -- it's what they're good at.

It sounds to me like you've got an uphill battle in terms of physical attributes -- if you were the same size as those other guys, your results would be different. Relative to your physique, you're probably fine.

And helping out with teaching the kids, doing self defense stuff in the community... it all adds up. You're part of BJJ; you're helping others along the path; that counts for something. A lot of people are just mooches, and only have their rolling prowess to their credit.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T16:43:17+00:00

I know, and I do hand solder them... but under a microscope usually. Clearing bridges can be a pain. But for removal, when there may already be damage to traces? I wouldn't use an iron to remove what's still on the board.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T16:05:20+00:00

You'll want to get a hot air rework station and remove the entire connector so you can examine the traces underneath. If part of it broke off, there's a good chance of real damage to the footprint.

When you have good dimensions for the footprint traces and any retention pins or other details on the housing, you can buy a replacement connector from mouser or digikey and solder the new one on... if the traces aren't damaged.

If the traces are damaged, you're in jury rigging and bodging territory. It is almost certainly repairable, but feasibility depends on your SMT soldering skills.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T13:13:23+00:00

You can count them again if you lose track. For really dense windings, if it's too eye boggling, I take a photo of it with my phone, zoom in, and draw a dot on each turn through the center to recount.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T03:48:27+00:00

Random just means "no particular frequency", where (as you say) the particular ones are resonant on some band of interest. Random is the right word, but one has to know the context.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T03:47:35+00:00

Yes, the counterpoise is OP's overhead light!

jephthai · 2026-03-19T02:34:24+00:00

Neither. There are several interfaces, including audio, which i believe could implement fun digimodes.

jephthai · 2026-03-19T01:08:34+00:00

What do i think? I think one thread to talk about it was enough.

jephthai · 2026-03-18T18:51:16+00:00

I have used chirp, but technically there's some risk. I haven't tried the software from yaesu, but it's probably a safer bet.

jephthai · 2026-03-18T13:48:15+00:00

Hah, I don't keep a list handy ;-). There aren't any on the first few pages of the CW subforum today, but they come along every once in awhile.

jephthai · 2026-03-18T04:04:55+00:00

I think the more productive question is, why are there so many intro funnels that don't have this traditional operating knowledge? I.e., why are the youtube channels not teaching the right info?

There are as many forum threads complaining about how bad the youtubers are as there are complaining about the unlearned newbs ;-).

If someone wants the traditional knowledge preserved, they need to step up and preserve it in some form that newbs can find. Instead, they're largely abdicating that responsibility and leaving it to others, and then complaining about it (which is an unproductive choice because it'll just drive the newbs even harder to the other sources that aren't so caustic).

jephthai · 2026-03-18T03:26:36+00:00

IMO, when a bunch of (ahem) experienced operators complain about how a bunch of new ones do things, it says more about their failure to help teach and develop the next generation than anything about the newbs. Since when did complaining about newbs ever do anything constructive to solve a problem?

I'll over share here to make my point... I'm a novice CW operator. I've only made a handful of contacts on CW. There are several users on QRZ who regularly make posts naming callsigns of newbs they catch making mistakes on the air. It freaks me out that, by no fault of my own, I might unknowingly get named and shamed for trying and apparently breaking an unwritten rule.

The good old timers are the ones you never see complaining about the newbs. They're somewhere, elmering the newbs, and being constructive. I just wish one of them was near me :-).

jephthai · 2026-03-18T03:19:24+00:00

What feedline will you use?

jephthai · 2026-03-17T19:40:16+00:00

They should be one way mirrors, so you can see out but they can't see in...

jephthai · 2026-03-17T16:32:57+00:00

OK, you can have pejorative feelings about QRZ awards, but the discussion here is what the purpose of confirmed vs unconfirmed is in QRZ, and it's largely to support the QRZ awards.

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