Another Word for Nerd

I’m in the market for a used solid-state HF (shortwave) receiver, a proper “tabletop” model, but unfortunately Houston doesn’t seem to have much of a local amateur radio “scene” that I can find.

The last time I hooked up my 2-meter transceiver, I heard ONE active repeater in the area, and that was after about half an hour of searching. As for any kind of local “swap meet” or forsale/wanted list, none seem to exist. There are some clubs down around NASA, but that’s a way from here. There’s Houston Amateur Radio Supply, but they’re a half-hour drive away and don’t have anything used for under $300.

I’ve tried eBay, but keep getting outbid by a dollar or two at the last minute for the last three auctions that I have bid on. One for an Icom 720A, one for an Icom R-70, and one for a Radio Shack DX-300.

Anybody reading this have (or know of) a solid-state HF/shortwave receiver sitting in someone’s closet that needs a new home? I have a budget of $150.

(I’m trying to rebuild my “ham shack” in the process of upgrading to a General-class amateur radio license from my current Technician-class)

I recently came across a 4-volume set of the Popular Mechanics Illustrated Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide (from 1961) in the bargain bin at a local used book store. Of course, I grabbed them - for less than $5 total!

The ~4000 pages of projects are amazing - it’s basically your grandparents’ equivalent of today’s MAKE Magazine; with a lot of projects that wouldn’t be printed today due to liability concerns.

They’ve got everything from planning/building/remodeling a house, woodworking, metalworking, making your own boat/go-cart/children’s playground equipment, indoor shooting ranges, to radio repair, electronics, photography, gardening, farming, and equipment to make handling your farm animals easier.

Over the past four days I’ve taken pictures of the title pages and illustrations for the most interesting articles, and put them up on Flickr. I’ve also contacted Popular Mechanics to see about getting permission to break out the scanner and make proper PDFs of the best stuff.

The Flickr collections page, with one set for each volume, is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/collections/72157603639900790/

JANUARY 14th UPDATE: I’ve received permission from Popular Mechanics to make PDFs of the articles and put them online! That’s coming soon.

I took some pictures of my “Every Day Carry” stuff.

My Blade Runner 5-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition DVD set arrived today, and I took pictures of the contents.

I’ve been waiting on this for about fifteen years - BR has always been one of my favorite movies, and the 1992 “Director’s Cut” wasn’t really that great. Now I have every single version of the movie ever produced, as well as tons of extras and a 3.5-hour documentary about the making of the film.

Now I just need to order a copy of the new second edition of “Future Noir” (the “Blade Runner Bible”) from Amazon UK, since it’s not available in the US yet.

The Stag Arms upper arrived last week, so now I have a complete AR-15.

Without adjusting the sights, I managed to put 40 rounds in a 3″ group at 25 yards.

I ordered the upper (a Stag 1H with carry-handle sight) for my AR15 from AR15Sales on Friday. I should have a completed gun within a week!

I’m looking forward to taking it down to Top Gun and giving it a workout.

I bought a slide rule on eBay today.

Sometimes I think I was born 10-15 years too late; I have a strange affinity with 1960s and 1970s technology.

Wired’s Threat Level blog used this picture of mine to illustrate this entry from the 25th.

Amy and I visited Houston’s 1940 Air Terminal Museum today, and I took a lot of pictures. I really love the architecture and look of the place, and am glad that it wasn’t bulldozed and is instead being restored for people to enjoy.

The museum is housed in The Houston Municipal Airport Terminal, an airport terminal that was constructed in 1940. The terminal building is an example of classic art deco airport architecture from the 1940s. Designed by architect Joseph Finger (who also designed Houston’s City Hall), the terminal was built to meet Houston’s growing role as a center for air commerce in the 1930s. The terminal served as the primary commercial air terminal for Houston until 1954.

Edit: here’s some of my favorite pictures. Click a thumbnail for the Flickr page.

I’ve not had time to work on it in almost three months, so a friend is on his way here right now to take the Amiga hardware (two A2000s and an A4000) off my hands. He’s buying the A4K, but I’m giving the rest of it to him for free.

I’ll continue to work and play with the Amiga via emulation, but I’ve had to realize that I just don’t have the room and the time to work with actual hardware nowdays.