Category: Hardware

Better modulation for the Baofeng UV-5RA

2015-05-10 rolfje 16 Comments

Undoubtedly the Baofeng UV-5Rx delivers a lot of radio for your buck. However some models in the range have a bad reputation for the transmitted audio sounding soft and muffled.

In 2013, Remco PA3FYM obtained the schematics of the radio and devised a modification where transistor Q17 of the VOX is re-purposed as preamplifier in the microphone audio circuit. It works wonders for your radio. For people needing a bit more visual guidance, below is a walktrough of how I did this to my Baofeng UV-5RA.

Hardware

Arduino and the QVGA 2.2″ TFT SPI screen

2014-11-17 rolfje 5 Comments

I went through all the struggles everybody else seems to be going through to get this screen connected to my Arduino Nano. I had the 5V to 3.3V voltage conversion problem, and the “only works with software interrupts” problem which makes the display run slow. The solutions are not complicated but not very wel documented. Until now.

Hardware, Software

IARU Region 1 Bandplan up to 500MHz

2014-11-02 rolfje 2 Comments

For some reason I have trouble finding a document which lists the complete IARU Region 1 Band Plans. To end my “can I transmit here” quests, I’ve combined the information from several resources into a usable graphical representation of all Amateur Radio bands and modes up to 500MHz. I’ve not listed bands above 500MHz, please post links to those in the comments if you have them.

Exact use of a frequency may differ in your local region, so always listen first.

Hardware

Shoot salt at flies

2012-08-07 rolfje 1 Comment

Lorenzo had a great idea. In stead if being one of those “having fun at the bar” ideas that never actually see the light of day, Lorenzo followed through. Did you ever have that urge to just take a gun and shoot that fly that is constantly buzzing around your head or food? Well now you can. Check out his invention at www.bugasalt.com.

Seeing his gun, I remembered making pea-shooters at high school from a roll of tape and a party balloon. I adjusted the idea for flies (smaller nozzle), and it works beautifully. It only holds one shot, and it looks not nearly as cool as the shotgun idea of Lorenzo, but if you can’t wait to start shooting those flies, here’s how to make your own low-budget, one-shot salt shooter. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjI9rTNCRqs]

Fun, Hardware

Toyota (Corolla Verso) iPhone Bluetooth connection

2012-08-04 rolfje 24 Comments

My sisters in law bought a beautiful 2006 Toyota Corolla Verso. They could not get the iPhone to pair with the car’s Bluetooth system. The dealer told them that this was an iPhone problem, but after some fiddling, it turns out there is a simple workaround. If you want to pair an iPhone to your car, and the car says “pairing failed” as soon as you tap on your iPhone, this simple trick might help for you. This article contains detailed steps for the Toyota Corolla Verso, but on other cars this might work too.

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Apple, Hardware

How to make customers blog about you

2012-05-02 rolfje 2 Comments

An informative article for webshop owners this time, all about how to make people blog about your company. Everything you need to know about online customers, the power of the internet, and how good old moral values still work and can be leveraged to your advantage. Or not.

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Apple, Hardware

Drobo FS Lion Time Machine Fix

2012-01-07 rolfje 10 Comments

Many Drobo FS owners out there who upgraded to Lion were unpleasantly surprised by the fact that their Drobo no longer behaved like they used to. After months, drobo released new firmware, but it didn’t improve things all that much. With the new firmware, the Drobo FS:

is slow or entirely unresponsive, Time Machine backups don’t finish at all or take days
doesn’t show up in the Finder of Lion Macbook owners connecting through wifi
has a transfer speed of 20MB/s, even when connecting through GB Ethernet, regardless of OSX version (tested with Snow Leopard, Lion)

If you have one or more of the problems listed above, you will be pleased to hear that there is a “fix”, although it may not be what you were hoping for.

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Hardware

The Pan Rant

2011-12-26 rolfje 1 Comment

You may have seen recent tweets from me ranting about my frying pans. I’ve ruined a few (very expensive) pans and replaced them with dirt-cheap pans which are actually much better. I would like to share my experiences and solutions with you, so that you can buy the right (cheap) pan without having to go through the same thing. Links to all the pans are in the article below.

Review: Lamy Pico pen

2011-12-23 rolfje 6 Comments

A few weeks ago I saw this amazing pen design by Lamy, the Pico. I’m a heavy computer user so I don’t do much handwriting, but I do like nice tools so I thought I’d get this. Particularly the small form factor when retracted and the sleek design attracted me.

There are some things about the Pico that nobody is telling you, so I thought I’d write a little review.

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Hardware

Catnip Watering System

2011-12-04 rolfje No Comments

Here’s a one minute how-to on growing catnip without having to water your plants every day.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jyqNzNeQeE]

Fun, Hardware, Workshop