Interlock is a non-profit organization that provides space for its members and the local community to develop and share their interests in science, technology, art, and culture.
Last Thursday’s Do night, JustBill brought in his HF rig to try out on our club antennas. Bill is an expert user on several digital communications modes including PSK31. PSK31 or “Phase Shift Keying, 31 Baud” is a digital radio modulation mode, used primarily in the amateur radio field to conduct real-time keyboard-to-keyboard informal text chat between amateur radio operators. After we got his rig set up and interfaced to Ham Radio Deluxe running on the club computer, we started a session on 40 meters and keyboard chatted with a guy in Spain. We also chatted with a Ham in Wisconsin and another in Alabama. We heard a Russian station but not quite enough signal to get to him with 50 watts. Here’s a link to a wiki on PSK31:
JustBill at the controls….with aliens supervising
We also got an old Radio Shack HTX-202 operating APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) with UI-View32 (an ancient client software for radio packet hosting) and the ProComm TNC to communicate to the radio. K2HAX is on the map! APRS is an important tool for position reporting, remote telemetry, text messaging anyone anyplace, and local coordination of emergency training events. For a cool view of current APRS activity around K2HAX, go here.
We’ve got a 3d printer! It’s still a bit “in progress” as far as building and tuning it goes, but anybody interested in small-scale hobby-level 3d printing should stop in to ogle as our new eMakerHuxley RepRap prints out whistles and gadgets and geegaws all night long.
The build was pretty involved, but with a group of four folks we managed to get the majority of the work done in one long Sunday, a time-lapse of which follows:
That resulted in the following structure, which just needed to have its nozzle and build platform installed (and quite a bit of wiring).
With surprisingly little calibration and tinkering, we finally got our first fully printed part last Friday, the semi-traditional whistle model. The quality is really good already, and will get a bit better once we tweak some settings and really get the machine purring.
I think the nozzle is clogged now, unfortunately. So my goal tonight is to clear that out and get plastic extruding again, and then try to print out the interlock logo, which you can see above, extruded from a DXF file in openSCAD. Come visit, and bring a model you might want to print! There’s plenty of inspiration and/or finished “things” on Thingiverse if you don’t know where to start, and we’ll have a class soon on how to go from and idea to a 3d print… so stay tuned!
It’s that time of the year, again, when families across the country are messing with long strings of electrical wire, crazy light bulbs, and LEDs plus all sorts of weird objects made of ceramic, glass, metal or plastic. I was inspired to offset some of my Grinchiness by using our put-up-the-decorations day as another opportunity to use one of my new favorite materials.
Our Christmas tree stand has this nifty tiered collection of what are, essentially, big set screws, designed to hold the trunk of the tree upright in the center of the tree stand. Problem is, over time we’ve lost the little plastic caps from the trunk end of several of the set screws. This means the set screws tear up the bark of the tree trunk more quickly, and dig more easily into the trunk of the tree.
That can’t be good.
Also, another of our tree stands, smaller, with only one tier of set screws, has a nice little conical stand-off built into the bottom of the stand, to help keep the bottom of the tree off the bottom of the stand. That way water can get into the bottom and up through the tree. The larger stand that we like to use, with two tiers of set screws, has no such stand-off.
K2HAX is on the air! With our move to the new space, we have access to the roof. On a beautiful fall day, Chris Olin and I put up a 30’ fiberglass mast on a tripod base (not attached to the roof). Then we hoisted up a trapped dipole for 10-80 meters and a G5RV. The dipole is oriented SW-NE, the G5RV is SE-NW. We also put up a 2m/70 cm J-Pole for VHF/UHF. All the feedlines were run with previously used 8/U down to our space (about 150’) and into the Ham Shack.
We initially had a Kenwood TS-530s transceiver and roller tuner setup for HF and we made a few contacts. We wanted to get the Yaesu FT-857GX out of the storage container and try it out. That is setup now along with an automatic tuner. Reception seems decent. We are waiting on an operable microphone to get back on the air. Bill, Von, Rowan, and Steve are working on that. We will be working on CAT control and a hook-up for using SDR like functionality with Ham Radio Deluxe, allowing us to get into the digital communication modes.
The Yaesu FT-8800 VHF/UHF rig is working well, K2HAX normally monitors 146.61 (N2MPE local ARES/RACES repeater) while someone is in the shack. We have cables for programming this rig on order and also have a cable for use with the PacComm TNC for packet, etc.
We also have a desktop PC with a nice monitor setup for use with the transceivers. We are waiting on a 2 port serial card to communicate with the radios. The remote programming of the radios and the option for digital mode communications (PSK, Packet, etc) opens up with the PC.
Our bench includes power supplies, frequency counters, various multi-meters and hand tools. We have a great selection of soldering tools for discrete and SMT component work. We have a variable temperature iron and a variable speed and temperature blower for re-work. On order is a Hakko 808 de-soldering tool. We have 2 antenna analyzers, a new Comet and an older MFJ. Several bench projects are already underway including Jamie’s whispering clocks, many cable hacks for the radios, and Walter’s attempts to repair blown audio equipment.
Ham radio is witnessing a rebirth in popularity. Emergency preparedness at the county/state/and national level has recognized the value of Ham radio as the most dependable means for communication during an emergency. Interlock members have participated in local POD drills, Ginna nuclear event practice response teams and are regular attendees at the local ARES/RACES meetings. Ham Radio can provide texting, TV and many other familiar forms of communication without any annoying infrastructure. We can DX with Ham operators around the world, by voice and many new and old digital modes. SDR is an emerging technology applied to Ham radio; opening up some fantastic possibilities for low power operation, contesting, and pulling weak signals out of the noise.
Ham radio is growing in popularity. Interlock Hams would love to introduce anyone interested to the hobby and answer any questions you may have.
It’s true, we’ve managed to move all of our gear and junk into a new space. We’re in the same building, but we’ve now got over twice the space, and some delineation between a workshop sort of room, and other rooms that are more office-like. Above, you can see a shot of the new workshop. It’s pretty close to the size of our entire previous space, and we’re excited to fill it up with useful tools and fun projects. The first step though, was painting:
In addition to having more space, we also finally got roof access. That, plus a particularly motivated new-ish member (Walter), means that we already have a respectable antenna farm installed up there, perfect for the roughly 50% of our membership with ham licenses.
We’ve set aside a whole room for all the ham gear and a secondary electronics workbench (although it’s already surpassing the main bench as far as sweet gear goes).
The network goons have a server closet now, so normal humans can be isolated from the constant whine of small fans and hard drives.
There’s a large room set up as a classroom or conference room, perfect for some upcoming classes that are in the works, and nicely isolated from other noisy activities in the space. I reckon we can accommodate a dozen people per class, if they all need hands-on desk space, and more if it’s just rows of chairs.
There’s more to the space that hasn’t been shown here. Three more rooms in fact… some of which we’re not quite sure what to do with. If you want to see more pictures, there’s always our flickr group, or better yet: come visit us in person! Check out our calendar for a schedule of events and open nights.
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