My VKLink node uses a PRM80 for the RF gateway, and needed a wiring harness to connect it to the Raspberry Pi.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
DIY Icom IC-208h remote head cable
I bought my IC-208h without a remote head separation cable, and sourcing them was like hens teeth, and cost a small fortune. So I tried unsuccessfully to duplicate the cable ends and gave up for a while.
With renewed interest after about twelve months, I trued again, this time successfully.
Coffee for the masses
As someone who’s more than happy to drink instant coffee, being able to pull an espresso shot and froth milk does make a lovely treat from time to time.
This morning was one such day. Just look at that latte art!
International Space Station SSTV reception
I’m super stoked. I listened to the International Space Station (ISS) pass yesterday with my kids. Lots of beeping and screeching, but it was coming from a radio on the ISS, that we were hearing in Margate, so it was exciting none the less. So this morning I thought I’d best install some decoding software (MMSSTV) to see if we could receive the images they were transmitting, which I did, and wouldn’t you know it, the ISS was due for a long pass (eight minutes) almost directly overhead as soon as I’d finished. 
Commas, full stops and Capacitor values
I bought an old pair of speakers which had a problem with the tweeters in one of them. First port of call was to check the crossover circuit, and sure enough one of the electrolytic capacitors looked like it had given up the ghost. Not surprising really considering they’re about 30 years old!![scaled_new-caps-oldcap[1]](http://lance.conryclan.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/scaled_new-caps-oldcap1.jpg)
Accessing a VKLink node via a SIP client
I’ve got a VKLink node that doesn’t get a whole lot of use, so seems a little daft to have a radio on all day just in case. Most of my “radio time” happens in my office, so I always have my computer on. Seeing as the VKLink internals uses Asterisk, I should be able to connect and monitor the node from a SIP client on my phone or computer.
I’ve only got it configured to access via the LAN at the moment, but there’s nothing stopping you accessing the node via the internet too.
This post demonstrates how to set it up for yourself.
Fixed IC-208h with no power with remote head.
It’s my fault, I fiddled.
Radio was working fine, then I attempted to DIY a remote head cable as they can’t be purchased any more.
Long story short, after trying my funky cable, the radio wouldn’t power on any more, so assume some pins shorted one of the other lines perhaps.
I left it for a couple of days, trying it again each morning, in the eternal hope that by some magic or via electrical fairy helpers, it would spontaneously start working again. I kept telling myself things like “Perhaps the capacitors need a little more time to fully drain. Yes. that’s why it hasn’t started working again.” For a hyper logical person like I am, it’s amazing the flights of fantasy we can summon in times of need. I even offered a little prayer, while all the time knowing that in the grand scheme of things, there were more worthwhile causes to which God’s attention could be better addressed.
Continue reading Fixed IC-208h with no power with remote head.
Assigning a dynamic Angular ng-model in an ng-repeat block
I had an issue yesterday where within an ng-repeat construct, I needed to bind a model property to a form input. But the property to bind would change depending on some criteria. What started out as rather difficult, proved to actually be pretty simple when using nested controllers.
Continue reading Assigning a dynamic Angular ng-model in an ng-repeat block
Automating Cordova builds and deployment
This post will detail the process I used to fire a single command on my build computer, and then wirelesly install the app on my iOS device.
I use Cordova Cli to manage my project, but rather than execute the cordova commands myself, I let Grunt automate that for me.
Of note, I currently use Cordova 2.9, so while some stuff will have changed, the basic principle will work on newer versions too.