k8gu.com

Life, Radio, Photography, Engineering, Education, etc

Archive for May, 2014

Getting off Windows XP

May 18th, 2014

With the impending end-of-life of Windows XP a few weeks ago, I found myself with a bit of a predicament: My shack PC is a dual-core 64-bit system (3.0-GHz Pentium-D) so it’s not really a slouch performer. But, it had only 1 GB of RAM, which was fine for XP. I could upgrade my RAM and upgrade Windows, or I could upgrade the RAM and dispense with Windows altogether.

I opted to drop Windows.

My almost-3-year-old son helped me install 4 GB of RAM last weekend. (Actually, he spent more time asking about the capacitors on the motherboard. Kids these days.)

I’m a long-time GNU/Linux user (just over 15 years, actually) and fan. However, as I wrote once in the past, I’m also fan of getting things done. So, I kept using Windows 95 / MS-DOS for many years on my hamshack computer, with a brief several-year foray into using Windows XP when I moved to TR4W logging software. Linux finally became ready for prime time in my hamshack when Kevin, W9CF, ported TR-Log over a couple of years ago. After ensuring it wasn’t a fad, I was ready to jump. Over the past week or so, I’ve been tailoring the setup of everything to bring back the functionality I had previously.

So, what broke?

I have an nVidia graphics card for my second monitor. Failure. Not sure how much I care. Maybe I’ll look for an old ATI card or something else with drivers? Anybody have a plain PCI video card with VGA or HDMI kicking around?
Windows-specific software that I’ll probably just quit using: AVR Studio and SH5. Didn’t really use these much anyway.
Now, for the truly bizarre: My Elecraft K2/100 throws an ERR 080 on power-up if I disrupt communication between it and TR-Linux (does not matter if the K2 goes off first or TRLinux quits first). I have to disconnect the RS-232 cable at the back of the K2 for a while and then it comes back OK.
ARRL’s Trusted QSL software version 2.0.1 didn’t compile immediately without dependency problems. Further study indicated.

And, what works?

TRLinux talks to both the K3/100 and the K2/100, as well as the YCCC SO2R+ controller.
Made some QSOs and uploaded the signed log to LoTW.
Pretty much everything else…

Comments Off on Getting off Windows XP »

Posted in computing, radio

Tags: gnu/linux kids say the darndest things re-use repair

More paddle work

May 16th, 2014

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve managed to steal away to the machine shop and continue to work on mounting the Schurr Einbau mechanism. I found a piece of polycarbonate in my scrap bin to make the interface between the Einbau and the base. It turned out that the mounting holes are tapped M3-0.5 so I had to make trip to Ace. While I was there, I picked up some brass screws also. Total cost of the project is 52.99 USD. I bored the holes in the base today with the milling machine and tapped them when I got home. Couldn’t resist putting it all together even though I haven’t finished polishing the base or the polycarbonate plate…

Comments Off on More paddle work »

Posted in radio

Tags: joy of homebrew portable

Paddle project

May 1st, 2014

Over the years, I’ve fancifully imagined that I would build a set of keyer paddles. I even went so far as designing a couple concepts and collecting materials…but, inevitably I moved on from the institution with the machine shop and sucker machinist who was showing me the ropes. About a week ago, Mike, W3MC, posted a bunch of goodies for sale, including a Schurr Einbau key mechanism. Since I love my Profi 2, I snapped it up, recalling also that I had a nice hunk of brass for a base. Today, I cut and milled a little base for it. Lots of finishing and some acrylic work remain, but for now, there’s something special about a freshly-milled hunk of metal.