Author Archives: Dan

July 19, 2011
14:08
by: Dan

Jolly Jeepers Rally 2011

This past weekend, Taylor and I participated in our third “Back to Basics” rally with the Jolly Jeepers club. Unfortunately, Oregon didn’t seem to get the memo about it being the middle of July, because it rained on us the entire time. This made … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous Tagged

June 27, 2011
15:33
by: Dan

Field Day 2011

This past weekend was the annual ARRL Field Day event. It’s a contest of sorts where US hams attempt to contact as many other stations as possible in a 24 hour window. It encourages people to get out of their … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio

April 14, 2011
00:11
by: Dan

A super key for people with real keyboards

How exactly did Microsoft get their logo on a key anyway? In the Windows world, this is known as the “windows key” or the “win key”.  In Linux, it’s often mapped as the super key.  The new Unity environment (which … Continue reading →

Posted in Linux

March 20, 2011
20:14
by: Dan

A custom APRS tracker with a real screen

For those that don’t know, amateur radio operators have had something called the Automatic Packet Reporting System for quite a while now.  Most associate it with vehicular tracking, but it does a lot of other neat stuff like weather, telemetry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged

December 2, 2010
16:54
by: Dan

ACPI Events on a Toughbook CF-29

I have a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 that I use for situations where I don’t want to take my regular office-ish notebook.  I am planning to take and use it at the 2011 Eagle Cap Extreme event for digital communications.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Linux Tagged

November 10, 2010
00:05
by: Dan

A better way to process binary data in Python

One of my side-projects is CHIRP, which is an application for programming the memory contents of various radios.  Like other projects I’ve done where I want to cater to (or at least, not exclude) people running Windows, it’s written in … Continue reading →

Posted in Codemonkeying Tagged ,

November 2, 2010
23:15
by: Dan

Q89 Compressor Modification

One of the first things you need when you start into off-roading is a good compressor.  This is because you air down your tires each time before you go, and have to air them back up before you drive home.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware

September 1, 2010
14:06
by: Dan

A DNSBL and Greylisting Hybrid Approach

I have long been a critic of greylisting as a method of reducing spam.  I recently broke down and implemented it on my servers after a couple of back-to-back blacklisting issues.  The problem with DNSBL blacklists is that even the … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous Tagged , ,

July 20, 2010
14:10
by: Dan

Jolly Jeepers Rally 2010

This past Saturday, Taylor and I participated in our second Jolly Jeepers “Back to Basics” Rally event.  Unfortunately, we had firm commitments to other things on Friday and Sunday, so we didn’t camp or do both days.  This has become … Continue reading →

Posted in News Tagged

July 11, 2010
18:34
by: Dan

Kenwood TK-380 Self-Programming Modification

I recently purchased a Kenwood TK-380 UHF handheld radio on eBay.  This is a commercial UHF FM transceiver used by public safety organizations.  It will do 4W output, narrow or wide band transmission, and conventional or trunking operation. This radio … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Radio Tagged