Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Still Feels Like Winter

In spite of NWS forecasts stating that it was going to be warming up, the days have continued being on the cold side. I was thinking that it was going to be Ural weather this week but now it looks like maybe not until next week.

Monday Morning - Still -20°F (-29°C). I'm guessing that I won't be riding to the Airhead get together this evening. But it's 9:10 am and the sky is all lit up on the south-eastern horizon as sunrise is in about 10 minutes. Pretty nice. Plus the daily high temperature is matching the sunshine again. In December and January, the high temperature for the day could occur just about anytime as there isn't significant warmth from the sun due to the low elevation in the sky.

Tuesday Afternoon - I finally got the correct resisters to finish the keyer to practice sending morse code. It works stand-alone but will also work with a radio. This type of key is required by the Skype class that I had signed up for starting in April. Most use mechanical switches connected to paddles. The green circuit boards sticking out are touch sensitive with the left pad a "dah" and the right pad a "di" so a very light touch is needed. The configuration is set by entering commands using morse code. Kind of an interesting way. The three of the four buttons on the front are for storing things in non-volatile memory such as your call sign. The red button is to enter command or configuration mode. The knob on top is to set the word-per-minute rate. The 9-volt battery is the box zip-tied to the right side and has the power switch. I'm glad to finally get it working.

6 comments:

  1. Brrr. That is definitely winter weather. We've been experiencing a lack of rain lately. I am not complaining but it seems odd after the winter we had last year.
    The hydrangeas are leafing out, crocuses are in full bloom. I tis early. If we get a frost everything will die.

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    1. This morning it’s -25°F. So no “warming trend” in sight. My mom mentioned that Corvallis seems so warm after spending a couple of months in the frozen north.

      Spring flowers out already!

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  2. Very impressive build, though what it is is beyond my ...
    Or it could be the most advanced motorcycle turn signal switch ever built.... lol

    Good to know you were one of the ones who stayed awake in electronics class.

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    1. Don’t give me too much credit. The circuit board was a kit that I found on the Internet.

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  3. Richard, cold here too and below average though not all that far but enough for most of us to be getting used to it.

    I see no Bakelite base on that gizmo! :)

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    1. I really should look for a black Bakelite base. It could use some mass to avoid moving around the table during use.

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