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   Stormgren (stormgren@obsidianmoon.com)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:34:07 JST Stormgren

   There is zero shame in buying preassembled boards, modules, jacks with presoldered wires attached or anything like that. Or kits with all the surface mount work done for you.

   There's a lot of great options for constructing things from modules and cable harnesses out there these days, and if it's the easiest way to build the project you're envisioning, go for it!

   This is especially true if you are unable to solder or do fine detail work well!

   At the end of the day, you still made something, and it's yours.

   (Also, if you think I solder all of my own connectors and surface mount stuff, you'd be wrong)

   Yes, this is a subtoot based on DMs and conversations that have happened over the past few months where folks have commented to me that they don't feel like they're doing real hardware hacking because they're not designing their own PCBs or soldering every wire or something.

   Just go out there and make things!

   • James Morris likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Stormgren (stormgren@obsidianmoon.com)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:34:03 JST Stormgren

     in reply to

     • Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈
     • Abraxas3d W5NYV

     @recursive @abraxas3d
     Microwave stuff is a deep art, and I have a crazy amount of respect for any nutty mofo that goes off and does microstripline on their own. I'm just gonna learn how to do all of the little box plumbing[*].

     [*] A good friend of mine once said to me at hamvention when talking about all of those microwave building blocks out there essentially described doing stuff with that as "having the knowledge which of those little boxes to buy and then plumb together with all of that teeny tiny rigid coax while bolted to backer-boards."

     James Morris likes this.
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     Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈 (recursive@hachyderm.io)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:34:04 JST Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈

     in reply to

     • Abraxas3d W5NYV

     @abraxas3d @Stormgren I'd love to see people with these attitudes change as soon as they try to do some >2 GHz prototyping entirely "from scratch" just to try out a new idea. :)

     James Morris likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Abraxas3d W5NYV (abraxas3d@mastodon.radio)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:34:06 JST Abraxas3d W5NYV

     in reply to

     @Stormgren thank you.

     Your message is important to say no matter what, but was especially relevant to me, since my non-profit just sold out of an SMD pre-soldered QRP HF kit.

     Recipients do all the through-hole parts and wind the toroids.

     Enough with refusing to leverage modern manufacturing techniques?

     I don't expect people to sew all their own clothes.

     We received no complaints about this hybrid kit. On the contrary, there were a lot of happy people thst coukd skip SMD.

   • Embed this notice
     James Morris (jmorris@social.kernel.org)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:38:11 JST James Morris

     in reply to

     • Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈
     • Abraxas3d W5NYV
     @Stormgren @recursive @abraxas3d This is where I'm at with uwaves. I built a 10 GHz amp from a kit a while back and that was a good learning experience at the next level down. One barrier is having the right lab gear for hacking on uwave circuits. It's a significant investment in older tech (or very expensive new tech), and gaining specialized knowledge to use it. Slowly but surely...
   • Embed this notice
     James Morris (jmorris@social.kernel.org)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:46:02 JST James Morris

     in reply to
     @Stormgren totally agreed, and there is simply not enough time for a normal person to do everything from scratch.
   • Embed this notice
     Stormgren (stormgren@obsidianmoon.com)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:46:32 JST Stormgren

     in reply to

     • Abraxas3d W5NYV

     @abraxas3d Hmmm, TruSDX kit run? 😀

     I spend a lot of time contemplating how to make things more accessible and blowing out the gatekeeping. Part of that is you have to meet people on their ability level, and maybe that'll trigger a deeper wanting to go learn more. I find quite often it does. And for those who it doesn't, hey, they still made a thing they can point at and say that they did it.

     One thing I'm trying very hard to do as a result of all of this is try to pull the term "appliance operator" out of my vocabulary, because it's problematic as hell in #HamRadio, and I'm realizing that it does not help build DIY spirit whatsoever.

     James Morris likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Abraxas3d W5NYV (abraxas3d@mastodon.radio)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:47:14 JST Abraxas3d W5NYV

     in reply to

     @Stormgren RFBitBanger kit. Class E amplifier and SCAMP digital mode native. Can do any FSK mode, including FT8 et al. Was very well received. Main boards will arrive tomorrow and get kitted up here in San Diego.

     We tell people "you do not have to be an expert to join, you just have to be willing to become more of one along the way".

     100% agree with your sentiment regarding appliance operation.

     James Morris likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈 (recursive@hachyderm.io)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:47:18 JST Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈

     in reply to

     • Abraxas3d W5NYV

     @abraxas3d @Stormgren some of those folks seem to have a machining hobby or know someone who does :)

     James Morris likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Abraxas3d W5NYV (abraxas3d@mastodon.radio)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:47:20 JST Abraxas3d W5NYV

     in reply to

     • Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈

     @recursive @Stormgren well said. As I recall, Tony Long KC6QHP hand-built a 72 GHz rig over at SBMS and his presentation about the construction was exhausting just to watch. And highly educational.

     We need modern techniques to pull things off. We've advanced.

   • Embed this notice
     James Morris (jmorris@social.kernel.org)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:49:15 JST James Morris

     in reply to

     • Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈
     • Abraxas3d W5NYV
     @recursive @abraxas3d @Stormgren There are also hacker spaces with mills and CNC gear, and people there who may happy to do machining for others.
   • Embed this notice
     Stormgren (stormgren@obsidianmoon.com)'s status on Tuesday, 05-Sep-2023 04:49:43 JST Stormgren

     in reply to

     • Alexandra Magin 🏳️‍🌈
     • James Morris
     • Abraxas3d W5NYV

     @jmorris @recursive @abraxas3d best investment I've made so far is a DC-Daylight (okay, like 24GHz) frequency counter from the 90s. As you say, slowly but surely.

     James Morris likes this.