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.

We went on a hike in a wildlife refuge this morning. We started about 9:30am and thought we were beating the heat which was about 75F. This was our first hike where we weren’t properly prepared. Temps went into the 80s immediately, it was humid, and there was no shade. And the trail info we had neglected to say the 2nd half was a very hilly road hike (no side trail) which was even hotter than scrambling over the rocks.

Lessons learned and we have a tale to tell on ourselves.

My social media’s all about the poop these days. But here's another kind…

In this case my wife suggested a holder for our dog poop cleanup bags which made a quick fun project. My MK4 handles flex, TPU-like, filament like a champ so I decided to use flex for the cap material to get a snug fit with a nice feel and texture. We keep this at the exit through the back door.

https://www.printables.com/model/952199-po

My attempt to repair our fridge door was foiled.

The gold-colored screw on the left is inset into a plastic piece with insufficient gap to allow my socket to go around the head. I tried forcing it a bit but had to give that up for fear of breaking it. I also tried using pliers but although I could get a grip I could not turn it.

Any suggestions for what I could use to get this off? They obviously screwed it on at the factory so there has to be a solution. Help greatly appreciated!

Lovely sky as I headed out to exercise.

I got my new car and I’m now in CarPlay heaven. The 11.6” screen is damn stunning.

ma ma ma my mamatus… ☁️

Hamburger tacos in process. 😋😋

The sky above me. Quite a pleasant evening out back.

Well dayum this isn’t good. We were chilling watching 24-in-24 on YouTubeTV when the AppleTV popped up a “you’ve been logged out” message in the middle of the screen. This was followed by some chaos geting a personal device authenticated and with a new password. Most time-consuming was having to redo all app-specific passwords. I haven't seen this mentioned on my general feeds but others are reporting it on the MacRumors forum.

I hope no damage was done!🤞🏻🤞🏻

I’ve been wanting to try the fuzzy option in PrusaSlicer and finally remembered and had a model to try it on. The left object is without and the one on the right is with the fuzzy option enabled. Both are printed with the same Amolen Silk PLA gradient filament. The color variation is random.

I really like the fuzzy version: both its appearance and the way it feels in the hand. And it hides seams well.

Here is one of the more unusual phone photos I got just post-eclipse. Not a good photo but I find it interesting nonetheless.