Author Archives: BoB

Summer ’22 Projects – Part 2 (HAM)

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The big project this summer has been advancing my skills in amateur radio. After my Christmas visit to my family last year, I caught Dad’s amateur radio bug (fortunately, I didn’t catch any COVID bug). I obtained my general license in February and was able to pick up a used Kenwood TS-570S radio. After drilling a few holes in my office wall and tossing fishing line into nearby trees, I was up and running with an antenna that will tune to all the amateur bands (more or less).

I’ve already documented some of my early summer adventures like building a key for Morse code operation and having fun sending QSL cards. I finished off the summer with a trip back to my parents and an opportunity to do some combo work.

Combining HAM and Chemistry puns? What’s not to like?
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Summer ’22 Projects – Part 1

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Well, today is the official last day of summer for me, as next week faculty return to school to prepare for the semester which starts the following week. The summer went by too quickly, but I was nonetheless able to get a few projects completed. Here’s one of them.

Use the Force – BoB

A couple years back, I started building my own lightsaber according to Adafruit’s instructions. As with many Ruiz Brothers builds, I found it fun yet a bit frustrating, as there always seems to be some part of the build that isn’t quite beta-tested. Of course, as makers, we should be able to handle such challenges, so maybe Ruiz intentionally includes small goofs in his designs – perhaps.

Anyway, here’s a video summarizing the build, including my modifications to the original design.

Watch, Like and Subscribe! (Please)
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Presentation at BCCE

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I’m giving a research talk at the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, which is being hosted by Purdue University. The presentation is on developing a curriculum for analytical chemistry based upon building scientific instruments using the M4 Express microcontroller. I mentioned a few links in the talk and here they are for those who snapped a picture of the QR code:

Some pics and other relevant info will follow the talk.

CW Contact

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So I’ve been learning Morse Code throughout the summer and felt comfortable (or daring) enough to try my hand at making some contacts. Now, when I acquired my radio (a 2nd hand Kenwood TS-570S that is treating me real nice), it didn’t come with a paddle or key, so I decided to make my own.

My DIY paddle
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