User:N8vi
| N8vi | |
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| Real Name | Brad Tarratt |
| IRC Handle | n8vi |
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| Authorized to use: |
Trogdor (Kiln) |
| Certified Trainer on: | None |
Hi, I'm Brad Tarratt. On Freenode irc, I go by n8vi, which is my amateur radio callsign (and a nod to Bill Joy's classic text editor). I've been a member since 2011 but never really spent much time in the shop until recently. I'm trying to remedy that in 2015 by learning as much equipment and meeting as many other members as possible.
Contents
Hobby background
- I think I've got digital electronics down; I'm now making my first foray into analog and RF.
- I like AVRs and am a fan of the arduino bootloader. I am not, however, a fan of the arduino board itself, I like to make projects on my own boards.
- I think the beaglebone black is fantastic, and love the onboard PRUs. I've made a [software defined direct digital synthesizer] that can be used as a test signal source using BBB PRUs.
- I can write code in C and perl amoung others. I'm slowly learning to not hate (possibly even rather like) python (which seems to be coinciding with learning to not hate complex numbers). I wrote the repeater recorder for the useca amateur radio club (which I need to get back running again) in perl.
- I'm an amateur radio operator, call sign N8VI, licensed 2004.
- I've been interested in astronomy since I was 12, and built a fairly large telescope, which you may sometimes find me using outside the shop.
- ptimmins and I have a fully-redundant home network architecture (we live 1200 feet apart, have highly sensitive 802.11 radios, and work for the same ISP), because we can.
- I've been using NetBSD for years, but am coming to be quite a fan of debian and ubuntu Linux.
- I seem to have inherited the
[Toughbook Wiki](which I need to revive).
Projects
- The 12.5-inch Dobsonian telescope. You'll likely find me outside on clear meeting nights with this behemoth.
- Software defined radio direction finder using a beaglebone black and an RTLSDR. I've been thinking about doing an SDR RDF project for years now, and the technology is now cheap.
- The 2-meter window antenna in the e-room - Could stand to be redone
A 2-meter AVR-controlled double-conversion superhet receiver - ABANDONED since there are rtlsdrs in the world now
Equipment
I've put a few bits of equipment in the e-room that I encourage you to use!
- MFJ 269B Antenna Analyzer
Elenco SG-9200 audio signal generator http://www.elenco.com/admin_data/pdffiles/SG9200.pdfElenco SG-9000 RF signal generator http://www.elenco.com/admin_data/pdffiles/SG9000.pdfGW GFC-8055G 500MHz Frequency counter
Things I'd like to learn
- analog and RF electronics design (we'll see how this SDR RDF project goes)
- welding, at least better than I messily do it now. I've done a small amount of wirefeed, but I'd like to get good with mig, tig, and stick, probably in that order. I apparently own a stick welder somewhere.
- milling, also the acer lathe
- glass kiln for telescope optics? (I probably have the patience to grind mirrors)
Things I'd not mind teaching
- I love teaching. So long as you're not looking for something boring like help fixing a PC, just ask!
