Misc Bleating From VK4TJ

Does anyone besides me find it necessary to run a python script in order to get your linear amplifier to load up? This guy likes to snooze *inside* my valve high power linear amplifier, right next to the 2,000 volt anode connection. Why he is still alive is beyond me...

In the same vein as "Cheap Aliexpress Crystals": FREQ – KHZ STORE NUMBER 32.768 3686032 200 3686032 250 3686032 500 1931068 614.4 4657016 1000 1666382 1288.8 3686032 1544 4657016 1843.2 3686032 2000 624531 3579.545 624531 4000 624531 4096 3686032 4194.304 624531 4433.619 1920050 4915.2 1711463 5000 624531 6000 1711463 6144 624531 8000 1711463 9216 624531 9830.4 624531 10000 1711463 10240 1548016 11059.2 511081 11289.6 4072009 12000 1711463 14318.18 4657016 14745.6 4657016 16000 630494 16384 624531 16934.4 1666382 18432 624531 19660 624531 20000 511081 22184 1711463 22579 4657016 23040 3686032 24000

In the same vein as "Cheap Aliexpress Crystals": FREQ – KHZ STORE NUMBER 32.768 393 400 429 432      455      624531           465 480 500 624531 503 640 800 1000 624531 1500 624531 1843.2 624531 2000 624531 3580 614856 3640 624531 4000 624531 4190 624531 4332 624531 5000 624531 6000 624531 6500 624531 8000 624531 9830 624531 10000 624531 10700 624531 12000 624531 16000 624531 16934.4 624531 20000 624531 24000 624531 40000 624531            48000

The things you do to amuse yourself during lockdown!  Crashing around on Aliexpress, I noted that the peddlers of inexpensive piezoelectric crystals clearly don't understand how we, as buyers, look for them. More often than not, one has to hover over the item to view the extended description to find that vital bit of of information - the frequency! In way too many cases, even that is insufficient, and it is necessary to drill down right into the item. No wonder their "numbers sold" stats are so dismal!  I took it upon myself to catalog all the unique frequencies available, below. Inside Aliexpress, enquire on ANYTHING. Click on the store info at the top, and it will become obvious how to hack the URL for a different store. Within that new store, enquire "In this store only" by frequency to see if they still have any. Most rocks have multiple vendors, so shop around to for the best deal "including postage". FREQ – KHZ CASE STORE NU

SOME NOTES ON THE EBAY SPECIAL CHINESE FLAGPOLE KIT I purchased a 7.1 mtr “Aussie Flag” version, the tallest I could find. On arrival, it appeared to be quite well constructed, consisting of 5 tapered aluminium sections of approximately 1.8 mtrs each. The sections “lock” in rather the same fashion as a painters (or pool) pole. Although I did not test it, I rather suspect you have no choice over how much of it you deploy - the “twist and lock” internal connectors probably only function with every section fully extended. The first mild surprise was that there is no continuity between sections – obviously, the unseen internal “twist and lock” mechanism is plastic and insulating. Luckily, I had quite a few worm gear clamps of the appropriate size, so I made up short jumper wires and clamped them around each of the pipe transitions. One could do the same thing with a drill and self-tapping screws, but I wanted, initially at least, to ensure the I did not damage the unseen “twi

QRO From The Kitchen I truly thought I was alone in the somewhat bizarre hobby-within-a-hobby of repurposing E-waste until I tripped over AA1TJ’s (no relation) account of an 80 meter transmitter with the uber-clever moniker of “Das Derelicht”, made largely from the guts of a defunct fluorescent lamp. Dumpster diving for fun and profit requires a bit of a reversal in your way of thinking – first you acquire the rubbish, then you work out what you can build with it!   With literally megatons of E-waste bound for the landfill every year, it is our right, nay, our responsibility to divert a little of it for our own amusement. I’m really a QRP’er. Honest!   It’s a lonely life, here at the edge of the planet, made that much more lonely by the insidious proliferation of switch mode power supplies, which seriously impair most of my QSO partners ability to dig deep for the weak ones. I had a rant about this in a recent “K9YA Telegraph” article.   While it made me