@Stormgren@obsidianmoon.com
@Stormgren@obsidianmoon.com avatar

Stormgren

@Stormgren@obsidianmoon.com

Hacker. Network and Optical Transport engineer. Ham radio operator. Owner of cats. Queer AF.

Builds big networks for a living FOR SCIENCE!

I am speaking only for myself, not any group, client, or employer unless specifically stated.

Will be talking about hobbies, radio stuff, politics, professional issues, sometimes trans stuff.

Interest tags:

#Networking #OpticalTransport #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #Photography #InfoSec #Trans #TransFemme #Cats #CatsOfMastodon #IOT #Makers

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MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

A friend of my parents gave them a whole box of pieces of glass for doing stained glass, and they don't want it, so I grabbed a few pieces and I am grinding them up in my rock tumbler to try an experiment for ceramics class.

The rock tumbler is pleasantly quiet when full of glass versus when it's full of rocks

video/mp4

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online Making your own frit then?

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online You devise the best experiments. I look forward to seeing how it turns out!

Stormgren, to random
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The fact that there are QSFP and OSFP pluggable EDFAs somehow feels sorta wrong. I really don't want to know how noisy those things are, and yet, I can see how useful they might be for datacenter interconnect types. I hate to lose switchports to something better handled by a 1U combiner/amplifier shelf in that application.

Though the fact that this means that the CS connector has gained traction as a result is also not making me happy, because what we needed was something even SMALLER than LC, said no one ever. Like, seriously? At least it's push-pull instead of locking tab.

Stormgren,
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@azonenberg QSFP or OSFP, but yes.

I am waiting on my arista account to be activated again and permissions granted, to confirm,but it also looks like there's likely I2C/CMIS access to adjust amp gain and read optical parameters off the module as well.

The SERDES aren't specifically needed because no data is going through them at all.

I've been looking into 400G ZR+ "bright" (read up to 1dB launch power) optics, and fell down an Arista datasheet hole. :P

Stormgren,
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@azonenberg As someone who has done a lot of switch deployment engineering and does optical transport mostly these days, they're offensive on so many levels, and there's a bunch of companies doing this sort of thing,

Solid Optics has a QSFP-DD EFDA pluggable, for example. There is also so many colorless splitter/combiners that are just fanout cables. It's like they're doing everything to make a spaghetti mess of fiber cables just to avoid doing stuff in an additional 1-2RU.

Maddening.

Stormgren,
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@azonenberg The power limits might get ya first, but then again, there's all those wacky linux plugs and self-contained PON OLT pluggables out there that show otherwise. :)

Do you have a link to summarize what LATENTRED is supposed to end up doing in the end? I've been following your design work with great interest, but have missed what the goal is supposed to be. :)

Stormgren,
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@azonenberg thank you for the write up!

Damn, I need this, but two ports of QSFP-DD and 400G for testing... I'm very much paying attention to your work now!

Geojoek, to amateurradio
@Geojoek@mastodon.hams.social avatar

On air #POTA 3.960 MHz just to see if it will work.

As always, check my QRZ page to see which frequency I am on In case it does not get updated here

Stormgren,
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@Geojoek Alligator = "all mouth no ears"?

ve3qbz, to random
@ve3qbz@mastodon.radio avatar

Inspired by late night mastodon.radio conversations, I put in a low-ball best offer on a TRS-80 Model 102, not expecting it to be accepted, but it was. So I guess TNC field packet is a go? What have I done? 😜 🤠

Looks minty. I will order a replacement RAM backup battery and a re-cap kit just in case (battery certainly needs to be replaced), that's like $20 in parts. And a DB-25 to DB-9 RS-232 cable.

TRS-80 model 100 and that glorious RS-232 port
TRS-80 model 100 closeup of the monochrome screen

Stormgren,
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@croyle @ve3qbz Darn it, I may resemble that remark. :P

(The worst part is that I have a reason to go into that box a couple of times a year for legit purposes)

ai6yr, (edited ) to random

Pay $49.95 to the nonprofit group which owns the Little Free Library trademark to make my almost-Little Free Library official, or not. Hmm... (apparently quite the charity moneymaker).

Stormgren,
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@ai6yr Obviously you need to start a creative-commons licensed LibreLibrary org, then! 😁

Stormgren, to random
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I think one of the things that I have been having a lot of fun with is being the reason that someone ends up being one of the lucky 10,000 in a given day.

https://xkcd.com/1053/

MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

Shecules/Hercules

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online Isn't Shecules just otherwise spelled "Xena, Warrior Princess?" :)

ai6yr, to climate

WaPo: Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/04/22/california-solar-duck-curve-rooftop/ #climate #solar #duckcurve #power

Stormgren,
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@ai6yr "problem"

Stormgren, to random
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I think my favorite thing about 3d printing is still being able to arbitrarily print enclosures for all of these modules and boards I have aorund here, because someone else had the problem at some point as well.

MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

We had a potluck for Critique in ceramics class today. Last class, our instructor passed around a sign-up sheet for foods to bring.

Five people signed up to bring chips. So, naturally, I thought to myself it would be good to bring some dip or salsa to accompany the overabundance of chips.

I brought salsa. Another classmate made five-layer bean dip.

No one actually brought chips.

Stormgren,
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@vxo @MLE_online This is why backup chips are so important!

MLE_online, to random
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It's going to be Flea Market Morning pretty soon here. I haven't been in the better part of a year. I wonder what I will find.

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online I found the article online, the transistors mentioned can have 2N2222 or 2N3904 subbed in for them, they're fairly low-gain germaniums from back in the day. The coils and ultrasonic transducer is going to the trickier bits, I think. It's some sort of tuned circuit, but unless one found a cross-reference for the coils, it'd be hard to know what the inductance would be. Really neat find though!

MLE_online, to random
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Still no sign of my Hobie. My heart is breaking

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online So glad he came home!

recursive, to random
@recursive@hachyderm.io avatar

oh, neat, this UHF RFID tag I clipped out of a new bra matches this datasheet
https://www.sml.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GB14WU9-2207A.pdf

Stormgren,
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@recursive Okay...how did you know it was there in the first place?

I'm now side eyeing most of my clothing...

MLE_online, to random
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I got myself some fun purple shoes

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online Your posts are always such a delight to read.

MLE_online, to random
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Does anyone on here know a lot about analog telephones? I am trying to figure out how to wire this telephone up for a friend of mine and I am stumped because there are only three wires and I am used to phones having four wires.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

image/jpeg
image/jpeg

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online just caught this, can fill in missing pieces tomorrow, was just heading off to bed :)

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online So for this one, you'd want to wire it for "metallic ringing", this is the line setup that you'd expect to see for a "normal" telephone.

Grounded ringing is where the ring voltage would be imposed on one of the wires only and use an earth ground on both sides to provide the return for the ring voltage. My limited understanding of this is that it provided a separate ringing path for party lines such that the ringer could be operated independently of the speech path, or to provide backward compatibility with old cordboards / exchanges in certain areas.

(For those PBX nerds out there, this is not the same thing as ground-start vs loop-start, but is related, sorta.)

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online Yeah, the "newer" coil mechanisms were a lot more efficient than the older ones are, the old ones require some serious current to move that little clapper around.

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online depends on how that phone was constructed. For example, I've seen some odd arrangements in some phones where some of them used a MOV, where they wouldn't pass voltage to the ringer coil unless it exceeded 60V. MOVs have a habit of breaking down over time as they fire, so who knows?

(Which is also why surge suppressors should also be replaced from time to time, but that's neither here nor there)

MLE_online, to random
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A couple of fun thrift store things

image/jpeg

Stormgren,
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@MLE_online Pretty sure I have that model of answering machine or one very similar to it waiting some restoration so I can put it back on as a dial-a-song machine.

Geojoek, to random
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Reading all the lovely tributes to Bob Heil has me testing out using software EQs to improve HF SSB audio / legibility on a webSDR, wondering if I should buy a cheap 12V car audio EQ to put in the shack.

But it occurs to me, I could run the audio through my Linux shack computer and use a Pulse or ALSA equalizer, plus maybe DNR software: it's probably a lot more bang for 0 bucks. I'm concerned about latency and ground loop hum, though.

Folks' thoughts on software vs. hardware EQs for this?

Stormgren,
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@N9DRB @Geojoek @ve3qbz @KC8JC When I was out with @kc8pun and @jevidl doing a three operator activation, I was calling CQ with "Three operator POTA, one low price!" at one point.

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