Career Chat!

[Ol' AtomicTech]

Lot more exciting than me. I'm just a high school science teacher. But do I have stories.

Woah hey! There's very, very few things more important than teachers! Let's hear some of these stories!

I've got my general class ham license, but no HF radio to use it with... Doesn't help that I'm broke and unemployed . I've thought about building my own CW transmitter, but we don't seem to have any crystals of the right frequencies around.



Huh, I didn't know about MTT-S, looking it up it seems to be about microwave communications research?


I've been to a couple hamfests, and they all had so many connectors, adapters, and cables I've never seen before, along with lots of vacuum tubes, and stuff like $20 analog oscilloscopes and network switches! Good times.

I'd look into homebrewing something with an SI5351 clock generator. You could get one of those hooked up to a transistor-based relay and use that to drive a simple Class C Amplifier (can replace the tank circuit with a resistor). Be sure to add a bandpass filter at the output. Also, you can then throw in a balanced mixed at the output to generate Dual Sideband (DSB) with an audio input. Possibly could run you under 50 bucks depending on what you have on hand.
Additionally, you can use something like and RTL-SDR for a reciever.

 

[Kiwi Shark]

I'd look into homebrewing something with an SI5351 clock generator. You could get one of those hooked up to a transistor-based relay and use that to drive a simple Class C Amplifier (can replace the tank circuit with a resistor). Be sure to add a bandpass filter at the output. Also, you can then throw in a balanced mixed at the output to generate Dual Sideband (DSB) with an audio input. Possibly could run you under 50 bucks depending on what you have on hand.
Additionally, you can use something like and RTL-SDR for a reciever.

I feel like I've heard this somewhere before...

 

[SSDeveloper]

I feel like I've heard this somewhere before...

So glad they prevented side-fumbling. That would have been a nightmare to deal with... XD

I'd look into homebrewing something with an SI5351 clock generator. You could get one of those hooked up to a transistor-based relay and use that to drive a simple Class C Amplifier (can replace the tank circuit with a resistor). Be sure to add a bandpass filter at the output. Also, you can then throw in a balanced mixed at the output to generate Dual Sideband (DSB) with an audio input. Possibly could run you under 50 bucks depending on what you have on hand.
Additionally, you can use something like and RTL-SDR for a reciever.

Thanks for the advice! The good news is I already have an RTL-SDR Blog V4 (the one with the builtin HF upconverter) and we've got a shortwave receiver around that does ham bands. If I go through with something like this, I'll probably skip the mixer at first and "just" learn some Morse code instead.
By "transistor-based relay", I assume you mean a MOSFET or similar set up on the output so I can control when it's transmitting?

 

[SSDeveloper]

Also I found the Class C amplifier on Wikipedia and man, that's a simple amplifier circuit if I've ever seen one:

 

[Infinite_Spaces.]

Dinosaur here, was already an adult when the internet was invented, before that i was already in to PC's with my first CPU being a 80286sx. This early knowledge of the PC space helped secure me a job at a big software company known for its operating systems. Which I left of my own accord after some years when (between moving and an explosion of traffic) what used to be a 40min commute turned into 4hrs each way.

Throughout all this, i had maintained a keen interest in Art as well as Astronomy/Cosmology, i had been teaching myself 3DSMax since v2 and PhotoShop since its first PC Iteration, there were no tutorials when i started since there was no internet, and while i did do the occasional illustration on request, i had only really considered myself a hobbiest at best.

All this changed on a friday in 1997 when i sat at a cinema and watched the movie Contact based on the book by Carl Sagan, im sure everyone in this forum will know of it and like it, for me though it had a pretty profound effect on me, my love for it at the time made me realise how much i enjoy space and science in general and so it played a key factor in me deciding to go full time as an indepandant illustrator, and i have been one ever since!

I mainly specialize in complex 3D models (see: 1, 2), and am generally very obsessive about details, I can also paint in 2D thanks to years of being forced to make my own textures in Photoshop. I have also been pretty active over on DeviantArt over the years as one of its earliest users, since it was the place i first found to share my public facing work like wallpapers, stocks, etc some 23years ago at this point.

A few years back while searching for a reference of a rocket engine, i came across a Scott Manley tutorial on KSP, i hadnt played any games until that time but it seemed KSP was something else altogether, fell in love with it immediatley and since i knew 3D modelling, i had always intended to make some parts for it myself, sadly for me, mods for KSP where made with Blender, or at least all the guides were for Blender. So i decided to take a side track and learn Blender instead, with the plan to be ready to make parts for a KSP2.

Currently i am a Blender semi-noob, planning to make parts for KSA eventually. As you can imagine i have had a pretty wild ride already and as i am now older and my health is beginning to fade, and since i am unable to take on anything too serious, i intend to use the rest of my free time to help good communities and projects like KSA with whatever i can do best to help, and im hoping i will be doing this in between saving stranded kittens that i may/may not have been the cause of, in KSA.

 

[seehpcod]

Also not so young: My first computer was an Atari ST, later a 386 PC, built all my following PCs from discarded spare parts until I could afford to buy components myself. I fell in love with my Handspring Neo and Palm TX and really miss them. (They still work fine, but are really not of much use anymore. But the concept, man, real buttons, I was absolutely fluent in hand writing on them...)

KSP wise, I am also an old dog. I am with it since its very, very early days.

Professionally I am a bit of a mixed bag of Physicist, Mathematician and Programmer, at some point side stepped into IT management, freelanced as a software developer. Much later, I became a high school teacher for CS, Phys & Math and have used KSP as a teaching tool in school, where we had a go at kOS as well in a school computer club and MINT club. I also collected a bit of experience as a type setter, which will not help me with KSA a lot...

I hope, that KSA will run under Linux and that modding will be good under Linux, as well. And I hope something like kOS will be possible in KSA. That expanded KSP into another game, entirely.

 

[Kiwi Shark]

@Infinite_Spaces. You have a really interesting story and such a cool visual history to show off. I'll definitely be on the lookout for your parts! Glad to have you around.

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Professionally I am a bit of a mixed bag of Physicist, Mathematician and Programmer, at some point side stepped into IT management, freelanced as a software developer. Much later, I became a high school teacher for CS, Phys & Math and have used KSP as a teaching tool in school, where we had a go at kOS as well in a school computer club and MINT club.

That's pretty cool! I'm trying to expand on my efforts to do engineering outreach and early career development and I agree games like KSP or what KSA can become are great tools that student can really enjoy. You might have to share some pro tips some time!

 

[seehpcod]

You might have to share some pro tips some time!

Sure, I will

 

[Plasmawiz]

I'm a graduate student in evolutionary biology!
My main focus is on short-term (geologically, talking 200-400 years) morphological changes in birds, in response to changes in climate and environment.

 

[Captain Paul]

Dinosaur here, was already an adult when the internet was invented, before that i was already in to PC's with my first CPU being a 80286sx. This early knowledge of the PC space helped secure me a job at a big software company known for its operating systems. Which I left of my own accord after some years when (between moving and an explosion of traffic) what used to be a 40min commute turned into 4hrs each way.

Throughout all this, i had maintained a keen interest in Art as well as Astronomy/Cosmology, i had been teaching myself 3DSMax since v2 and PhotoShop since its first PC Iteration, there were no tutorials when i started since there was no internet, and while i did do the occasional illustration on request, i had only really considered myself a hobbiest at best.

All this changed on a friday in 1997 when i sat at a cinema and watched the movie Contact based on the book by Carl Sagan, im sure everyone in this forum will know of it and like it, for me though it had a pretty profound effect on me, my love for it at the time made me realise how much i enjoy space and science in general and so it played a key factor in me deciding to go full time as an indepandant illustrator, and i have been one ever since!

I mainly specialize in complex 3D models (see: 1, 2), and am generally very obsessive about details, I can also paint in 2D thanks to years of being forced to make my own textures in Photoshop. I have also been pretty active over on DeviantArt over the years as one of its earliest users, since it was the place i first found to share my public facing work like wallpapers, stocks, etc some 23years ago at this point.

A few years back while searching for a reference of a rocket engine, i came across a Scott Manley tutorial on KSP, i hadnt played any games until that time but it seemed KSP was something else altogether, fell in love with it immediatley and since i knew 3D modelling, i had always intended to make some parts for it myself, sadly for me, mods for KSP where made with Blender, or at least all the guides were for Blender. So i decided to take a side track and learn Blender instead, with the plan to be ready to make parts for a KSP2.

Currently i am a Blender semi-noob, planning to make parts for KSA eventually. As you can imagine i have had a pretty wild ride already and as i am now older and my health is beginning to fade, and since i am unable to take on anything too serious, i intend to use the rest of my free time to help good communities and projects like KSA with whatever i can do best to help, and im hoping i will be doing this in between saving stranded kittens that i may/may not have been the cause of, in KSA.

Sortoff in the same boat although just starting to learn Blender and been playing with KSP1, was wondering if there's a tutorial somewhere on how to convert Blender models -> KSA as well? Cheers, Paul.

 

[GhentZ]

Hi
I'm a physisist developing X-ray imaging systems. But I'm doing a large fraction software engineer to combine different components to a compete system and to take care that what the computer puts out at the end is really the physical property you wanted to measure.

 

[Thoteus]

Omg reading this thread is super cool. I myself work at a truck bed spray-coating company but I've never sprayed a truck lol, I work in a side department that gets contracts from the local tristate power companies to up-fit their vans and trucks. Ladder racks and storage and full lighting packages with strobes, spotlights, interior, you name it. We even hybridized a few trucks and vans for them when they received govt incentive money to go electric. Add-on battery banks and electric axles, even teeing into the A/C lines with a separate electric compressor to run A/C with the engine off.

However before transitioning to automotive electrical I went to the now defunct Becker College for programming and sound design. I knew some C#, Lua, and HTML & CSS from a brief time hosting my own games. Here's Stellarnova a project of mine back in the day that never got any further. Nowadays I'm still mostly familiar with Unity, Godot, Blender, WWise, Davinci Resolve, and GIMP, using them frequently for hobby. I've also loved building computers my whole life and tinkering with small electronics as well as making music. I tried being a musician briefly in college creating WASTEAWAY but lost interest. My recent hobbies include FPV drone building and flying as well as RC planes and cars and I started getting into photography and videography. I've also been learning Assembly to try to solve the puzzles in the game TIS-100 (highly recommend)
With KSA finally here I plan on diving into modding and learning as much as I can, so look for me around and feel free to ask me anything!

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Hi
I'm a physisist developing X-ray imaging systems. But I'm doing a large fraction software engineer to combine different components to a compete system and to take care that what the computer puts out at the end is really the physical property you wanted to measure.

Sounds very technical but probably pretty cool. Are these general purpose X-ray systems or for something specific like use on people?

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Omg reading this thread is super cool.

That's what I was hoping for!

And that's an impressive software resume for what sounds like a rather blue collar background. Computers are truly for everyone.
Looking forward to any mods!

 

[Infinite_Spaces.]

Sortoff in the same boat although just starting to learn Blender and been playing with KSP1, was wondering if there's a tutorial somewhere on how to convert Blender models -> KSA as well? Cheers, Paul.

Still waiting on this info myself, i dont follow the discord though, so might be worth looking there. Things are still in flux though so myself im waiting for them to better finalise parts, and then for someone to make a basic guide on the process.