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!

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

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.

Finally got a chance to use a refill unit for Prusament Galaxy Black. Saved money, saved plastic and this is an American-made refill. 👍🏻

I got my hackerboard GPIO today and installed some headers then 3D printed a case to mount it to the MK4S’s frame. I’ll probably try to implement some sort of light control. Some day.

My Magic Mouse has gone belly up - mouse clicks are often missed. I'm hoping to get by without this one until Apple introduces the rumored new/improved model.

A satisfying end…

As per tradition I’m up early and first up on Christmas Day. We had a nice family dinner last night and as always used our china and inherited silver ware (which is not silver but looks kinda fancy). Usually we have a ham dinner on Christmas Day but this year we decided to go the open kitchen route.

As our kids have gotten older our best gift is they’re both still at home on the holidays. Best wishes on this Day to you and yours! 🎄🤶🏼🧑🏼‍🎄

A triangle in the sky

This is one of the best 3rd party models I've every printed. Everyone is in love with this guy.

I rarely check video events from the camera over our driveway but randomly did so today. Was greeted by one of the rare local wildlife species (coyote). Cool.

I downloaded and printed baby Groot 18 months ago on my MK3S+ using Amolen wood PLA. I thought it turned out ok. I was curious if the wood PLA was still usable so I took it out of the vacuum bag printed a larger version on my MK4S using .2 layer height and the HF nozzle. Focusing on the face the quality is much better. Just an observation. And yeah the filament is fine even without drying.👍🏼

Having printed one figure a couple of days ago I decided to see if my old silk filament was still good by printing this mermaid. Yea, aright eh?

I don’t normally print test models but after upgrading my MK4 to a MK4S a month ago I felt the urge to do so. Meet the Robo Alpaka in Prusament Galaxy Purple.

Seen in my doctor’s waiting room this morning. NGL I was a bit surprised…

This morning’s sunrise was on fire

Into the woods

Speaking of 3D printing. I used the below model to print this Nextruder case using Prusa’s Clear PETG. I’m really pleased with how translucent the case turned out.

https://www.printables.com/model/996196-ne

I’ve completed all of the electronics and mounted the front panel to the main PCB. I connected it to my Mac via USB-C, powered it on and downloaded the firmware. Note until the firmware loads there is zero sign of life. A bit spooky 👻

Fortunately no magic smoke and display and controls worked fine. I haven’t done any tests yet nor tried to operate it pending case completion.

The QMX+ board progresses with the installation of diodes, inductors, the PA transistors and the hand-wound transformer. I think the transformer looks like a stick man 😁

Note: Hans just announced a rev 2 of the PCB. This simplifies a few construction steps. He also said #28 wire can be used to wind all the toroids instead of #22 on some. This will make things a bit easier.

64 solder joints later - the capacitors are in. They look decent so hopefully they’re all correct. Done for today.

And so it begins: the main QMX+ circuit board, next step soldering in 32 through-hole capacitors…

I got two Heltec v3 LoRa devices set up for Meshtastic. After being up for a few days I have seen a few other nodes in the area (or passing by). I’m not sure how I will use mine yet. YouTube is full of videos about Meshtastic but almost none show practical applications.

I printed these nifty cases but the batteries I had on hand are too large to fit in them. I kludged together a micro-to-pico connector so I can get an idea how long this can run on a battery.

Dawn’s embracing arms…

I got my RTL-SDR.com v4 dongle today and replace the Nooelec dongle.

I keep worry thing coax antenna cable is going to eventually pull the dongle out of the USB socket. What are folks doing to secure theirs? All I got right now is to rubber band it to the Pi case.