FT8 from Texas to Europe was frustrating most of the day - lots of busted QSOs. Finally toward the end of the day snagged Wales and South Africa to boost my DXCC count.👍🏼

It was a good day for FT8/FT4 on several bands today. One of the best I’ve had this year. I logged 38 QSOs which included about a dozen POTA.

Being a nerd I was excited when my Prusament PC Carbon Fiber filament arrived early enough to fire off a couple of prints. I really like the look which matches parts on newer Prusa printers.

Pictured at top is the PCCF print made on a satin sheet and below it a PETG CF print from a textured sheet. The PCCF was a breeze to print and when the build plate cools it slides right off.

Also its cool this filament was made in CZ on the 21st and is in my hands 6 days later!

In the “how come nobody told me” category: YouTube let me know that Amy Lee of Evanescence performed “Bring Me to Life” with the Japanese Wagakki Band back in 2020. Love the band and the song so it was a blast to watch it. Also feelings. I just wish they’d done a better job on the audio mix.

youtu.be/hk1GtYK7BJM?si=3Wqfte

Early this year I bought 6 different Jessie filaments from printedsolid.com. Having used a lot of them up I can say with some confidence they are excellent. I really like the colors which generally have a uniqueness with nice depth and tones, they are well spooled and print wonderfully. They’re also cheaper than Hatchbox et al, made in the US (yeah, sensitive subject now but a plus to me), and the free shipping threshold is low.

A couple of websites I’ve visited for years have started forcing autoplay on rather large videos amidst news stories.. Even if I scroll away a little pop-up version follows me and keeps playing. I have yet to find a way to prevent this so I will have to stop using the sites. It is annoying and completely distracting. I guess this is progress💩

Severe storm season has arrived so I needed to refresh my memory and check the setup for cross band operation on my Icom ID-5100. This mode allows me to use a HT around the house during a storm while still have the benefit of transmitting with the higher power 5100 if needed. As always a few mental cobwebs needed to be removed but all is in working order.👍🏼

I’ve never been fond of benchy but this dancing benchy really appealed to me and broke down my resistance. Printed using Jessie’s Brad’s Orange Glitter filament.

Dancing Benchy by phildesign3d | Download free STL model | Printables.com https://www.printables.com/model/1213590-d

I wish the iPad Air keyboard announced today had a metal case like the iPad Pro’s. I really dislike the current material. The addition of function keys is useful but the metal case would have sold me on upgrading. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I’m checking out Prusa’s EasyPrint slicer on my iPad and it definitely seems usable even in its initial state. I can browse Printables.com for one of my models or a 3rd party model and there is a button in the Browser to open it in EasyPrint. It will be fun to do a test print when I get back home.

Ht/ @kr1st when I opened the MFJ power supply I found & tweaked a pot for the voltage meter so it reflected the true output voltage. Then I adjusted the actual output voltage pot bringing it back up to the specified 13.8V. I didn’t do a “soak” test so I don’t know if would stay there stably.

I noticed yesterday testing the dummy load with RTTY is when transmitting a full duty cycle signal the MFJ voltage slowly crept up. Nearly a half volt. Just don’t trust it.

Replaced my 5 year old MFJ power supply with a new Samlex. It is nice to have a power supply putting out 13.8V. The Samlex has a unique, at least to me, connector on the back for DC powe thatr is positively attached rather than just the typical push-on Anderson power pole. I like it.

Also, the QSOs are rolling in after the switch. 👏🏻

I got a 100W dummy load and the max power output I could get from the Icom 7300 was 75-80% using RTTY.

Next I checked the output of my MFJ power supply. Lo and behold the voltage out was only 13.0V with no power draw even though the knob was on the 13.8V detent. It is a fussy knob but I managed to raise it to 13.7V and test again - sure enough full power output on the 7300.

I think I’ll replace the power supply, I just don’t trust the voltage knob to stay put out of the detent.

Does anyone have a small-ish watt meter they like for the HF bands (up to 100W)? My IC-7300 seems to be down on power and I’m looking to check on it.

Prusa: slicing on my iPad…👍🏼 bots.defencegeeks.net/@prusa3d

The temperature is 14F and the wind chill is -7F (nearly -22C). A hibernation day.

Entertaining myself this morning by 3D printing a washi tape dispenser and writing samples of 15 new Sarasa Nano pens (.3).

I might do some FT8 later. Also the parts I need to finish my initial DigiPi setup should arrive today via Amazon). But I wouldn’t be shocked if they don’t make it today.

During my week+ virus battle I didn’t have the energy to even think about a project or a build. In fact I spent nearly one entire sleepless night being tortured by this nightmare about trying to 3D print a set of houses and being especially frustrated tying to attach the roofs. That just kept running in a loop all night.

Very grateful I can now at least contemplate a small project. Probably setting up digiPi for my radios. And no more nightmares 👏🏻

Covid

I have finally been admitted to club Covid. I’ve been sick for 4 days with no fever so thought it was something else. Finally tested today and oh well, engaging hibernate mode.🦠

Viral

In today’s news, I haven’t felt this sick since I got the second Moderna Covid vaccine. No fever though.

But being super-dad I still went out with my daughter to find and buy a car. She’s happy with it.

Into the lion’s den tomorrow.

AKA going car shopping with my daughter 😠

OK, time to get your art on mastodon.social/@kagihq/113958

In contemplating a future Prusa Core One purchase I was asking myself if it would feel justified. It dawned on me one metric would be to check how much I use my MK4S. It turns out so far this year I have used it all but 2 days. I don’t print items for sale just for things we can use. Over the past 90 days usage is only slightly less. Seems a favorable metric.

My first real PETG carbon fiber print. These are parts to replace some existing ones on my MK4S. Very happy how easily it printed and how well it turned out.

I sent the transcript of my chat with Prusa support to myself for future reference. When I looked at it in Mail Apple Intelligence offered to summarize the lengthy chat and did a great job. First time using it and impressed, for now.

Today in 3D printing:
I used a hardened Obxidian nozzle for the first time. And printed a carbon fiber filament for the first time.

Lesson learned: the default infill pattern in PrusaSlicer is no bueno with my CF filament because it is more susceptible to patterns crossing themselves. Gyroid FTW.

Otherwise, like everything else, drama free on my MK4S.

P.S. Prusa’s chat support is soooo good.👍🏼