Last thing I wanted to do on my holiday weekend was defrost my frost-free freezer. Seems the thermostat that controls the defrost heater is a little…busted. It’s time either for a surreptitious repair (by locating my own replacement part) or to file a maintenance request (since I don’t own this fridge). Really, it depends on […]
Tag Archives: project
With Prayer and Bailing Wire
So I consulted my handyman oracles and solved my broken antenna problem. We discussed using Lock-Tite, lock washers, even going so far as to drill and tap setscrews in the side of the receiving bolts. Ultimately, the best solution offered is to drill holes through the base of the hamsticks and use lockwire to prevent […]
4 Meters Up, 2 Meters Out
The store-bought 2m/70cm groundplane antenna I’ve had mounted on a broomstick inside my apartment now has a home outside where it can reach so many more places. After some brainstorming sessions in the hardware store, thinking of methods to mount 3 sections of military surplus fiberglass poles to my balcony railing, I figured out how […]
Lessons at Terminal Velocity
The joy of failure is that I am forced to learn from my mistakes. It feels joyless now, but really it frees me from the burden of choosing to learn. Either I learn and improve, or I will no longer be burdened with finding joy. Work began this weekend to implement a portable 40′ tower […]
Fat, Thick, and Dirty
I finally did it. I soldered a pair of PL-259 connectors (screw-on type) onto a 28′ (8m) length of scavenged RG-8 cable. And it works. It really, really works. Of course, they’re really, really dirty. And it took me 2 hours to f’n do it. But it works.