Solar Storms & CNN

CNN posted a video about the solar storms and the effects on our everyday living.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/weather/2014/09/11/solar-storm-explainer-orig-mg.cnn.html

The last thing we need is the power grid going off.

The weatherman (woman) is calling for rain today that we desperately need, my grass has not been green in a few weeks. A nice steady rain would be welcome, even on a Saturday.

Looking forward to checking out the bands this afternoon.

Enjoy your day!

Saturday Evening Post

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer.

Seems like it went by in a blink of an eye. I am hoping for a nice crisp fall season. A few tent camping trips are in the planning stages for September and October.

Let me start by saying I usually enjoy the nightly news and like to stay informed of what is going on around the world. But lately it had been pretty hard to watch to say the least. Things are just a mess, plain and simple. Lets just hope the leaders can come together and find a peaceful solution.

I did pick up a useful, fun read from Amazon a few weeks ago.

The Prepper's Pocket Guide by Bernie Carr.

101 Easy Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For A Disaster.

This is truly a small pocket guide with 200 pages plus of great ideas and tips to get prepared for just about anything.

Chapters:

• Getting Started
• Financial Readiness
• Water Needs
• Food Supplies
• Ready Your Home
• Personal Health and Safety
• When the Power Is Out
• When You Have to Get Out

I am half way through it and so far it's well worth the ten dollars I spent. After spending close 8 days without power from hurricane Sandy a few years ago, its nice to have a plan in place.

Weekend evenings I have been enjoying listening across the shortwave bands, music talk, etc.
A nice way to relax.

Enjoy your weekend!

Simple FM Transmitter

Here is a simple FM Transmitter circuit that is easy to build and loads of fun to play with.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Ultimate-FM-Transmitter/

This is a great way to get kids interested in electronics & building.

Please check with your local laws before hitting the on switch.

Have Fun!

New Velleman Scope Kits

Just wanted to pass along these two new Oscilloscope kits from Velleman Electronics.

Educational LCD Oscilloscope Electronic Kit - Build your own scope!

This is rated a Level 5 build by Velleman so previous kit experience is helpful.
Velleman# EDU-08


Oscilloscope Tutor Kit - A helpful kit to visualize the signals on your scope from different parts of the circuit.

Vellman# EDU06

A few cool kits to learn electronics.

I am getting back into the swing of things after taking some away time from the blog.
Between graduations and looking for a new car for a first time driver, things have been busy, real busy.
But its always nice to take a break every now and than.

On this cloudy July 4th here in NJ, the forecast is calling for a rainy day.
I am hoping for it to brighten up this afternoon and set up a patio station to get on the air.

Enjoy your day!

Learn Electronics Online

Learn electronics on YouTube.

http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=137104

5 courses and 207 videos, what a goldmine of information.

Good stuff for kids & adults.

Spy Camera Hacks

Here are a few nifty ideas for modifying a spy camera for security purposes.

I get a kick out of watching the spy camera videos and where they can be hidden. 

What ever happened to the days of just looking out the window to see what your neighbor is up to?

A common site just about everywhere these days. My friends next door neighbor has these installed all around her house. 

I guess the spy glasses are no big deal anymore when cameras are pointed at you in all directions wherever you go.

Big brother is watching all of us!

New NTE Blog / Contest

There is not much going on in my world, have not powered up a radio in a few weeks. Keeping busy with work, searching for my daughters first car, and college.

Maybe when the spring season kicks in I will start setting up in the yard and play radio. In the meantime here are a few links if your interested in checking out.

NTE Electronics has a new blog up for component education and discussion.

http://blog.nteinc.com/

Enter the J-Tron contest for a new ECG Soldering Iron.

http://www.j-tron.com

With college costs right around the corner I have been looking at part time opportunities to make a few extra bucks. I found a ideal opportunity if anyone is interested in making money with the internet.

The Wealthy Affiliate offers a complete online education for making money on the net, no matter where you live. If you have any questions or need more information I would be more than happy to get your rolling.

Enjoy your weekend!