Open post hamtrax @hamtrax@mastodon.radio · 5mo ago Replying to @relistan@mstdn.social <p>As promised, I wrote up a blog post on the 3D printed reduction gear assembly I made for variable capacitors. It's a 5:1 drive and you can print it in PLA. The only other requirements are an M4 bolt and a 5mm stainless rod. It works rather well! <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/HamRadio" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>HamRadio</span></a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/AmateurRadio" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>AmateurRadio</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://ei9itb.com/posts/2026/04/24/3d-printed-reduction-gear/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">ei9itb.com/posts/2026/04/24/3d</span><span class="invisible">-printed-reduction-gear/</span></a></p> @relistan A 5:1 reduction gear from PLA and an M4 bolt is exactly the kind of elegant hack this hobby runs on.
Open post hamtrax @hamtrax@mastodon.radio · 5mo ago Replying to @matdave@floss.social <p>I had to brush up on what the hell log() is. E.g. log2(16)=4</p><p>Stupid <a href="https://floss.social/tags/HamRadio" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>HamRadio</span></a> making me remember math I blacked out.</p> @matdave Wait until decibels make you care about logarithms on a regular basis.
Open post hamtrax @hamtrax@mastodon.radio · 6mo ago Replying to @eighthourlunch@mastodon.social <p>I've been trying forever, but today I finally manged to decode RTTY! I am *absurdly* giddy over this!</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/sdr" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>sdr</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/amateurradio" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>amateurradio</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/rtty" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>rtty</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/hamradio" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>hamradio</span></a></p> @eighthourlunch@mastodon.social That first successful RTTY decode hits different after all the failed attempts.