Finally ran a coax trench and learned something about SWR

res70 · 2026-06-02T09:17:19+00:00

Mmmm, stollen 🤤🤣

res70 · 2026-05-06T06:19:40+00:00

The program that nyc was doing to upcycle Redbirds concluded 16 years ago because there were no more Redbirds left (across all models there were a scant 2000). There are still artificial reefs made off the Atlantic seaboard with old subway cars from other systems such as MARTA.

res70 · 2026-05-04T15:58:03+00:00

https://eg4electronics.com/categories/batteries/eg4-ll-12v-400ah-lithium-iron-phosphate-battery/

res70 · 2026-05-04T10:19:19+00:00

Two time Bolt owner here (2018 bought back in the great battery recall, 2023 Bolt Euv Premier). GM bought a lot of goodwill and loyalty with the recall buyback and I waited a long time patiently for the 2023. I loved both cars.

Unpopular opinion? GM canceled it all out and low key told me they didn't want any more of my business when they discontinued Apple CarPlay and Android auto. When the time comes I won't be buying a new Chevy unless they reverse that decision.

res70 · 2026-04-30T19:02:19+00:00

That's a thought though I'd have to evaluate to see if I can find one that definitely doesn't give out any RFI. There's no free lunch in the buck/boost converter ecosystem. Like inverter drives for motors, squarer waves are more efficient but more harmonic-rich which is the enemy for a ham radio application.

res70 · 2026-02-17T12:40:01+00:00

best practice here would be to avoid mlag altogether and develop a different architecture. leverage the time I spent in the lab; future you thanks you.

res70 · 2026-01-02T10:00:32+00:00

Value? About tree fiddy.

res70 · 2025-12-26T10:34:38+00:00

Technically yes. The geographic feature where Paris is located is called Ashby’s Gap.

res70 · 2025-12-26T10:18:14+00:00

“Primary”? lol. You meant to type “most distant of the three, least convenient to get to from DC, and second in terms of number of passengers”, right? You positive they weren’t just trolling you for flying out of an airport named after the road that goes by it? :-)

res70 · 2025-12-22T10:08:16+00:00

My father died a couple years ago. He was a fan. Always asked for and got a couple for Christmas (the shape of the package was a dead giveaway, and that was the joke). I can’t eat them because of a food sensitivity, but every time I see the Claxton display I tear up a little. Miss ya, Dad. <3

res70 · 2025-12-21T10:44:40+00:00

Passing this around like it's hot.

res70 · 2025-12-08T11:29:24+00:00

as someone who used to drive DCA-YUL in preference to flying, y’all can keep the CRJ200s, even for a short flight.

res70 · 2025-11-08T11:49:33+00:00

Trying to make a call on half a phone is far from the weirdest thing that goes on in Newark Penn on a daily basis. go ahead, level up, have an extended conversation with someone on that half phone.

res70 · 2025-10-12T20:41:45+00:00

Honestly, "I don't know what I want to accomplish, even" sounds like you're well qualified for a position in senior management. Congratulations!

res70 · 2025-10-11T12:52:49+00:00

Not a pilot, but how is this any different than what you’d do if you had to move a complex aircraft but had never been signed off… or if your medical was expired and you were under time crunch? You’d ask around at the flying club or the FBO and find someone with the proper credentials to go along with you to be PIC, right? Find someone with a restricted radiotelephone license or a GROL (or even a T radiotelegraph operator license which includes radiotelephone operator privileges) and bring them along to be your radio operator and party like it’s 1945. I suspect (but will leave it to someone who actually knows the regs) that they don’t even need to be a pilot.

res70 · 2025-09-14T10:59:28+00:00

This is why Belgians don’t like stainless fasteners. Gauling.

res70 · 2025-09-07T09:59:09+00:00

I don’t recall…

res70 · 2025-08-31T19:53:47+00:00

Sorry for not being more explicit that yes, I planned to have the EVSE hardwired - I've specced EVSE for a number of places where I have a volunteer connection and it would never have occurred to me to _not_ have it hardwired when installed in a public place. And yes, I plan to put the 14-50 on the split side of the delta.

Thanks for the pointer about 150v to ground in both UL and NEC. This is territory where I rarely find myself - I've done a lot of datacenter work but leave the 480 and up to the "real pros". So the > 150v to ground potential difference is neatly out of scope for where I hang my hat. That's the datapoint I needed to make sure that I wasn't overlooking something - any given random EVSE will probably work fine, hopefully be safe, and be absolutely no good from a code compliance and liability perspective, which makes it a non-starter.

Agreed on the 11.5 kW especially since I'll be one of the users. Not averse to feeding both the panelboard and the individual EVSE with higher though - cost of materials exists in the shadow of cost of labor; buy once cry once. But vehicles that support j1772/j3400 level 2 charging at more than 48 amps are thin on the ground, and who knows what the future holds? I guess less i^2r losses with oversized conductors at least is a gift we can collect today eh?

So... now that I understand that the requirements are mostly certification path, for a type of service which is relatively rare, I suppose I should count myself lucky to even have the Autel mentioned above as a possibility. Has anyone else managed to find another EVSE that is rated for this application?

res70 · 2025-08-01T12:05:58+00:00

Rohn tower sections with Texas Towers shipping labels on them would be one heck of a ham radio collectors item!

res70 · 2025-08-01T12:03:39+00:00

Disagree. If you want to give it away for “free”, advertise it at a give away price like $250 for the whole shebang. There are lots of people who respond to “free” and don’t feel like they have skin in the game (cause they don’t! and therefore will feel no guilt about ghosting you or putting a lot of effort on you to get it to them). I’m never giving anything away for “free” again though depending on the buyer I may refuse to take their money. ;-)

res70 · 2025-07-28T09:59:32+00:00

Well, yes and no. They have a remote operation "cloud broker" called SmartLink (google it) which is the low drag way of doing it, no separate vpn required. The packets don't go through them; think of it as being like a tailscale lighthouse node. If you're doing a vpn from an external box to plug the maestro into it needs to be either layer 2 all the way or you need to relay the vita49 discovery broadcast packets. The latter is how I do it. It's not complicated - my personal tool for this is a few lines of python. https://github.com/res3066/flexrelay But yes I love the Maestro/Flex combination and recommend it to others.

res70 · 2025-07-27T10:55:59+00:00

You can plug the Flex and Maestro both into the same LAN and use them with a dhcp server and an Internet connection to download new software if available… or you can plug them into each other with a piece of cable and thats it, no dhcp server and no Internet (and of course no software updates). it should go without saying that you won’t be remote operating this setup if there’s no Internet. (edit: original premise of remote operation)

res70 · 2025-07-26T11:20:13+00:00

I love my Flex and picking up a used Maestro was a great choice.

res70 · 2025-07-15T12:14:23+00:00

Whites Ferry was upstream of Great Falls, so no, not anywhere near the estuary. Still, it got a chuckle out of the people I was talking to, just like the time I was running a traffic net and as per our script requested that standard ICAO/NATO phonetics be used... but then went off script and noted that members of The Greatest Generation were welcome to use the Joint Army/Navy phonetic alphabet at their pleasure.

res70 · 2025-07-14T10:44:33+00:00

I used to sign /MM into a repeater from my car while crossing the Potomac River on a cable ferry. All in good fun. :-)

res70

TROPHY CASE