Re: Welcome thx1138 to the HHH forum

[admin]

Ok, now I am pretty sure I know.

Me: Where are you?
You: Outside Hemköp
Me: I'll come and get you

No, there are no PM here, but you never know who is reading. I checked the 2017 stats 1st week in Jan, and HHH got 275,000 visitors (must update the homepages). This forum is only once click away.

Ok on the PSU. When I lived in Haddenham I was really lazy and made an el-cheapo PSU.

It was LEDs in series (as a zener diode), a 10K pot and a PNP darlington, using an OC16. I had 5 amperes out of it. The regulation was in fact far better than I had hoped for without controlling feedback. I fitted it in a wooden box (without holes) with the OC16 on a metal plate inside the box. That PSU powered mobile VHF rigs, bench PSU, battery charger, etc ...

Had many heavy and prolonged short-circuits without any damage. Kinda hoping it would burn so I would be forced to build a decent PSU, but it just went on, year after year after ...  Also, using PNP germanium, the BE junction drop is less than 200mV, which had a very small variation with current.

I have an Arduino here as a present from a friend. I dedicated it in a 3D printer. HHH is still on the RAPi-1, and I have a VHF spectrum analyser on the other RAPI-1. Had to de-solder the Video port because the connector prevented me plugging in a display module.

Still keeping myself really busy, too. Just building my own oscilloscope. Foolishly go rid of all my big stuff when I moved from Lunda.

Ok, hafta go now. Bed-time and a little too much Caol Ila (59.8%) single malt, from the Islay area. I just love that area: Islay Mist, Laphroaig, and of course the king, Lagavulin.

Ok then, you have a nice evening. I really have to go to bed before I fall down.

Goodnight - Harry - SM0VPO

[thx1138]

L O again Harry,
I never operated a cherry picker, I was never one to Pottle about...
Perhaps if I mention that we were sat at 4 desks in a cluster, you were opposite the metallic posterior, another 'crypto' clue is that I was known to be more red than Black...

When the penny does drop please don't advertise too much, send me an email (do you have PMs on this board, I haven't looked?).

I have considered the computer PSU, it is the recommended way to obtain a suitable 3.3V rail in the Libreboot documentation. I do have suitable units but they are in a store room several time zones away from here. I may pick one up next time I visit the local computer 'souk', but that is around an hour or so away by public transport so I was attempting to find an alternative approach. I think I will end up putting something together on a bit of breadboard eventually. I keep putting off that particular task as I suspect what looks like an hour or two of effort 'on paper' could easily become two or three days, based on the principle that if anything can go wrong, it will...

I've also been considering putting together some sort of a blog to detail my adventures in the world of Linux, ICT, Raspberry Pi, BBB, Arduino.... I've been keeping myself busy!

Recent projects for the Pi(s):
OpenWRT router on a Pi3;
Centos 7 Server (Pi2);
NextcloudPi, works on anything from a B+ onwards. I didn't bother trying it on anything earlier as my only 'original' Pi B is in use 24/7 as an NTP server for my home network, connected to an expensive GNSS receiver. I've also built NTP servers using Pi B+ before now, along with cheap and cheerful GPS modules sourced on eBay.

TTFN again
thx1138

[admin]

Hi again THX1138,
I am busy thinking about identity.

As regards the 3.3v PSU, can you not use an old computer PSU? I still use them for all manner of things. They drive my 160-channel multi-mode CB rig in Spain with 12v DC - really stable (brought the hamradio stuff home).

I use the 5v with a 25-port USB connectors to charge mobile telephones, electric razor, and even power a 6A USB hub. They were fantastic units, available from all good rubbish skips in your area.

Many years ago I though about building a simple (cheap) VHF repeater and hoisting it with a hydrogen balloon so that I could work VHF FM DX just for a laugh. I once got a strong signal into GB3BC (bristol) while working on a hilltop site outside Liverpool, using only a 2.5W handheld. Imagine a private repeater a couple of miles high :-)  I did send up an HF beacon about 20 years ago, but had no idea where it went.

Now I have an x350 drone, with GPS, 30 minute battery capacity, GoPro camera, video TX, overhead-underhang - the lot!! I could do something useful with that on a similar line :-)  Even on 14MHz  . Now there is a thought, thank you for the idea 

'Down the pit' must be citybanan. UK class B 1975 = british. So you must have been over on one of your visits from the UK. Were you driving the "cherry picker"?

BR Harry - SM0VPO

[thx1138]

Do you recall Marconi & Loomis, and a map of the Tehran subway system?

Yes, I do remember Marconi, Loomis and the Tehran underground system. There is an axel connecting all three of those ;-)

I also remeber an old SciFi film where everyone had three letters and four digits, instead of names. If I remember rightly it was THX1138 who worked in a factory producing robot policemen.

So in which which area did you work? Was it in the Healthy Village Mountain (Sundbyberg)? or one of the other offices?
I have recently worked with Pierre (from Korea), and now working with Siamak and Lassa'ad.

BR Harry

PS - Is that you Lassa'ad? You may give your name, I will not tell the police ;-)

Hi Harry,
I first met you in Sundbyberg, I don't know who Lassa'ad is. The last time I saw you was in Kista.

I recall arriving back at the Sundbyberg office from working 'down the pit' and finding you in a Skype call with a former collegue, we had both worked with him but at different times, in a place much warmer and sunnier than Sundbyberg (also a much drier place, in more ways than one!)

Some more info, although I haven't been active 'on air' for many years, my first licence was a UK Class 'B' in 1975, I became a Class 'A' licence holder in 1977 after learning morse at 20wpm+.

In the last 5 years or so I have done a lot of work with GNSS and SDR stuff, I have a couple of HackRF Ones here but I haven't done much with them in the last 6 months or so, I dabbled with them as a sig gen / spectrum analyzer combo, it worked. My objective was to couple them up to a Raspberry Pi but I doubt that anything less than a Pi3 will provide the functionality I was looking for. I ended up using the Hack RFs with an Intel i3 NUC instead. I would like to try a Beagleboard X15, but I haven't got a round tuit yet!

I've also been dabbling with Bosh humidity, temperature and air pressure modules. I had a cunning plan to build an automated microwave link survey setup, using drones to provide the required elevations at the 'A' and 'B' ends but I wasn't happy with the GPS elevation results, multipath isn't a big deal for moving vehicles but it becomes significant for a stationary device, which is where the air pressure measurements came in. It was an interesting past time for a while but events have overtaken me and there are organisations using similar setups for survey work nowadays.

More recently I've been doing such things as reviving old ThinkPads (Core2Duo era), they don't have a problem with Spectre / Meltdown and the Intel ME 'backdoor' can be eliminated on such machines. My X60 works very well, I have a couple of X200s in need of the Libreboot bios, as I mentioned the other day. I need a stable 3.3V rail to power the chip while I flash it with a Beaglebone Black (oo err, missus!). The BBB rail isn't up to powering the chip. I attempted using a Raspberry Pi to provide the 3.3V but that didn't work out too well.

Nowadays I live in a land where the people speak a strange language and drive on the wrong side of the road - no, it isn't Manchester...

Ok, that should narrow things down a bit, 
TTFN
thx1138
(Correct, THX1138 was Donald Pleasenccce, iirc)

[admin]

Do you recall Marconi & Loomis, and a map of the Tehran subway system?

Yes, I do remember Marconi, Loomis and the Tehran underground system. There is an axel connecting all three of those ;-)

I also remeber an old SciFi film where everyone had three letters and four digits, instead of names. If I remember rightly it was THX1138 who worked in a factory producing robot policemen.

So in which which area did you work? Was it in the Healthy Village Mountain (Sundbyberg)? or one of the other offices?
I have recently worked with Pierre (from Korea), and now working with Siamak and Lassa'ad.

BR Harry

PS - Is that you Lassa'ad? You may give your name, I will not tell the police ;-)

[thx1138]

Welcome, thx1138, to the Harrys Homebrew Homepage forum.
You account has been activated and you have full access to post pictures, links and all the other members services.

Please feel free to ask anything you like and also give others the benefit of your experience.
I hope you have fune here and that we can all learn from each other.

Very best regards from Harry - SM0VPO

How the devil are you old chap?

Do you recall Marconi & Loomis, and a map of the Tehran subway system?

Those are some clues to be going on with, and here's a quote from Dad's Army:

"Don't tell them your name Pike!"

I have a requirement to construct a 3.3V regulated supply, I have a box of discrete devices including many zeners, leds, transistors and so on so I found your article about alternatives to the 78XX series devices interesting, I suspect that I will be taking some of your ideas on board shortly. I need the 3.3V rail so that I can flash the Lenovo BIOS on a ThinkPad X200 and replace it with something far more interesting (Libreboot).

I hope you are well,
I'll be in touch again soon!
Take care
thx1138

[admin]

Welcome, thx1138, to the Harrys Homebrew Homepage forum.
You account has been activated and you have full access to post pictures, links and all the other members services.

Please feel free to ask anything you like and also give others the benefit of your experience.
I hope you have fune here and that we can all learn from each other.

Very best regards from Harry - SM0VPO

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