Mike's Blog

Here is an HDTV antenna that I built

2011-02-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Last summer I finally had time to build my HDTV antenna since my old antenna was damaged by ice the previous winter. In searching the internet for building an HDTV antenna, I found several HDTV antennas that used coat hangers. Since my antenna needed to be outside, using coat hangers would not work due to corrosion.

Since I live between Cleveland and Columbus, both of which are about 70 miles away, my HDTV antenna had to have high gain. I am quite happy with he performance of my HDTV antenna, which I mounted on top of my 30 TV tower.

Finally Finished Building an Electric Guitar!

2010-10-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well it has been quite a learning experience building my first electric guitar, and I am very pleased with how it turned out. Actually I should say "they" as I built two electric guitars at the same time. Here they are:

The top one I built for myself, and the bottom one I built for my son. It was a great experience building them. I will no doubt be building more electric guitars, as I already have several things that I want to try like a slightly different method to attach the neck to the body, and some other tweaks to the humbucker pickups that I built.

If you are interested in how I built my electric guitar, feel free to check out my website: www.BuildMyElectricGuitar.com.

-- Mike

Morse Code dead? Never!

2010-03-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

Back in 1967 is when I first got my ham radio license. I was only 14 years old, and it was quite the big deal. Especially when I upgraded to my Advanced class at 16 years of age. Back then, you had to go in front of an FCC official, and it was very scary! But in order to pass, you had to be able to copy (or receive) one solid minute of Morse code at a speed of 13 words per minute without error, which is pretty fast.

I didn't get my Extra class license until much later, but I have always enjoyed using Morse code, or CW, as it is referred to in the ham radio world. Unfortunately, it has been a while for me since I have actually talked to anybody using Morse code.

The other day, I stumbled on to an interesting site, lcwo.net. Which is a site for learning Morse code, as well as allowing you to practice online. Being curious, I tried a couple of the tests, and was surprised at my score! I was able to copy Morse code at 28 words per minute! Wow!

But then Mike, don't get too cocky! (yes, I talk to myself) Because my ranking was 235 on words and 769 on call signs. Yeah, there are lots of guys that are way better than me, but that's ok, I'm just glad that I still remember Morse code!

If you want to learn Morse code, lcwo.net is the place to do it.

By the way, I should also mention that if you are interested in getting your ham radio license, you don't need to know Morse code anymore. But just so you know, Morse code is still cool!

-- Mike

Photos of WVMC's Ashland antennas

2010-02-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos I took when we upgraded WVMC's Ashland Ohio 91.1 translator. I thought people might find it interesting.

There are two sets of antennas that were installed. The first pair were to replace the original ones that were severely damaged by ice falling off the cell tower. Then a couple months after that, the power divider that splits the signal between the two bays had water get into it.

This time instead of just replacing the power divider, we took the opportunity to put up circularly polarized Shively antennas that were donated to us from WCRF. I re-tuned them to our 91.1 frequency, as well as made my own phasing harness, which eliminated the power divider.

By the way, using circular polarization gives WVMC's signal in the Ashland area better coverage for our listeners at home (as opposed to our listeners in their cars) as well as gives our signal better penetration inside buildings.

OK, enough of the geek stuff, here are the photos:

How To Completely Erase a Hard Drive

2010-02-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

Recently a computer was donated to WVMC however (rightly so) the donor was concerned about the data on the hard drive. I tried my best to convince them that there are ways to completely erase hard drive data so that it is not recoverable. However they were not convinced.

So as a result, I received a donated computer for WVMC without a hard drive. I later came to find out that another person had removed the hard drive and hit the platter with a hammer and severely bent it so it was unuseable. I suppose that is one way to take care of it, but I have heard rumors that it is in fact possible to even still obtain the data off the hard drive (sorry, but I don't have a link, so I am calling it a rumor)

Needless to say, the hard drive is one of the parts of a compouter that is worth salvaging, and without it, there isn't much else worth anything. Sadly, all I really got out of the computer that was worthwhile was the memory.

There are recognized stantards by the US Government for completely and securely erasing hard drive data as specified by the Department of Defence's DOD 5220.22-M will make your hard drive data completely un-readable.

This too will help out your favorite charity, such as WVMC because they will be able to also use the hard drive that was so generously donated.

Next time a computer is donated, I will have to be more specific about accepting a donated computer.

-- Mike

Interesting Audio Processor

2010-02-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

I just found an interesting audio processor that uses an old PC. It runs on XP and not much processing power. Here is the link: Stardust VST

-- Mike

Building an Electric Guitar

2010-01-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

So now with the winter months upon us here in Ohio, I have decided to start building electric guitars. Right now I am building two of them, one for my son, and one for me. So just for fun, I also started another website on my adventure of building electric guitars.

So if you are interested in yet another one of my "adventures", just click the link above. Presently the guitars aren't finished, so obviously the website isn't either. But you can at least follow along as I build my electric guitars!

-- Mike

Anyone for a Mint?

2009-11-18T08:04:00.001-08:00

OK, I just stumbled on to this website that I am DEFINITELY going to check out. Its an online financial budget tool called Mint.com that automatically pulls your online account data. The problem I have always had with these kinds of tools is that you have to manually sit down and enter all of this stuff! Well Mint.com securely, and automatically pulls the data from your online accounts, then analyzes your spending habits.

Another thing about manually entering the data is that its too easy to fudge the data to fool yourself. Since this pulls real data of real transactions, you can't fake yourself out.

so I am definitely giving this a try!

-- Mike

How to Secure a Wireless Network

2009-11-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Recently I had a friend of mine found out that someone was using their wireless network without his permission. He asked me how to make his wireless network more secure.

Here is what I did to make his wireless network more secure. That took care of his network intruder, and my friend is feeling better that his wireless network is more secure now.

-- Mike

Adruino anyone?

2009-08-22T18:25:00.001-07:00

Yeah, check it out!

Dealing with spam

2009-08-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the ever present problem of spam. everyone hates it, yet a large part of our email habits ust cause to get even more spam, It can be a vicious circle. Here is an article on how you can reduce or even stop getting spam.

-- Mike

Satellite communication and ham radio

2009-08-17T16:18:00.001-07:00

Something that interests me is satellite communication. I have spent many exciting hours "working the birds" as they say. It's really not that difficult at all! If you have an HT, and a portable antenna, you can get started. Here is a page about how to do that. Its a bit old, but the basic info is still relevant. In it, I talk about my first satellite qso. Needless to say, I was hooked!

-- Mike

Hello!

2009-08-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

My name is Mike, and I am just getting started here. One of my many interests is Ham radio, and I hope to post some things about that here. Feel free to check out my other blog here.

One interest I have is space communications, and amateur satellite work. I actually spoke to Susan Helms on board the international space station! The audio is on my ham radio site, here.

OK stay tuned, more to come!

73 -- Mike