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kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Kelvin n0mql EN35ld
@kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
21 followers 2 following 150 posts
Grumpy ol' codger. Ham since '92 or somethin'.

I'm not the Elephant Man; also not an elephant, man.

It's not that I don't WANT you to follow me. It's […]

[bridged from https://mastodon.hams.social/@kelvin0mql on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Read the ALT text (of the 2nd pic), that's where the real story is.

Considering battery replacement on #iphone 8 Plus. But wondering if LTE is getting phased out soon enough to make that a bad bet.

I like the idea of the #runbo E81 but I think it […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Screenshot from iPhone Settings: Important Battery Message Your battery’s health is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity. More about service options... Maximum Capacity 74% This is a measure of battery capacity relative to when it was new. Lower capacity may result in fewer hours of usage between charges. Screenshot of iPhone's Battery Level graph over the past 24 hours. Shows a slow drop from about 80% to about 70% from 6am to 2pm. A bit after 2pm, we got in the truck to pickup groceries, and I plugged it in at that time, so for 20min or so it was charging, jumped up to over 80%. Another gradual decline to 75% by about 6:30, then off the cliff it goes. Sitting next to me, dark, doing nothing, it dropped below 25% in less than an hour. I got a TXT from my wife, which caused me to pick it up at 7:45, saw it was at 1%, plugged it in. It charged up to 98% over the next 90min. To bed at 10pm-ish, nearly fully charged, shut off all apps, dark, on the nightstand overnight doing nothing. Then from 3am to 6am it dropped from 75% to 25%.
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Waiting in truck for wife’s hair appt, knocked out several #cqww #HamRadio #contest QSOs. 10m is pretty hot today! #hamstick doing a respectable job from this #ft991a
Screenshot of #HamLog on iOS, with un-interesting details of 7 contacts.
October 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
https://youtu.be/5XhFuCJuyTk

At 2:50 in the video, Kevin shows a special set of nipple clamps made just for me!

#HamRadio #electronics
YouTuber’s hands during an unboxing video, holding a set of gray cables. At one end, there are big alligator clamps, one with red handles, the other with black. At the other end, there’s a black box with white markings, & it’s titled “KELVIN CLIP”.
October 25, 2025 at 1:08 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Another weekend, a bit more progress on #flrigwebremote #python #javascript web app. The morse paddle interface was too glitchy. Good timing is too important for morse code to be not horribly annoying. This is what the #winkeyer was designed for. So I […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Screenshot of top portion of the flrigWebRemote web app as seen in Safari on iPhone. Big freq display. Tune & PTT buttons. PWR:15 BAND:[20m] [CW ] [Connected (Opus)] [Disconnect] [Connect Mic] [Disconnect Mic] CW Keyer [MyCall] [TU5n] [TU55] [TU53] [73..] [..] Screenshot of the rest of the screen, “below the fold” as they used to say… [24WPM] [20WPM] [18WPM] [15WPM] User-Defined Buttons (A) [Ant1 ] [ Ant2 ] [ DNR On ] [ DNR Off ] [ 5W ] [ 15W ] [ 50W ] [ 100W ]
October 19, 2025 at 5:57 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Well... I don't think I'll be doing much of that anymore.
This morning, at least, the SSTV crowd is disappointingly very MAGAtard.
October 17, 2025 at 1:49 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Aw, what the hell? Let's try #sstv for a change.
#HamRadio
Screenshot of Black Cat SSTV transmit screen. The prepared image is a very purple sunrise shot on the Two Harbors Breakwater on Lake Superior. The text reads... CQ TEST de N0MQL EN35LD
October 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Well, THAT’s not gonna work.
40M #HamStick antenna, snapped at the base, just above the hex-shaped part that threads into the tri-mag-mount atop a light grey truck roof.
October 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Got an email from #youtube touting, among other things, their AI creation tools.

So here's what I'm thinking - I prompt the #ai tool to make a short on some #HamRadio subject, then I take that and immediately make a #duet pointing out what the AI got […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
AI Playground: Your new home for gen AI creation Explore our latest AI creation tools, a gallery of inspirational examples, and prefilled prompts to help you instantly generate videos, images, music, and more.
October 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
I'd not been paying much attention, after I heard #lotw was offline for weeks last year due to a cyberattack against reportedly ancient, systems at the #arr

So imagine how unsurprised (yet disappointed) I was that they'd inform me via email AFTER THE […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Screenshot of an email I got on Sep 26... According to our records, your ARRL Logbook of the World Callsign Certificate for: N0MQL - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA expires at: Sep 18 17:09:20 2025 GMT To continue submitting log data for this call sign and entity, you must renew your Callsign Certificate. Renewal is quick & easy before your Callsign Certificate expires; if your Callsign Certificate expires, a new one will need to be requested. Instructions for renewing can be found at: <https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/renewing/> 73, The LoTW Team
September 29, 2025 at 11:04 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Ham Radio QSO From The Smoke Shack

The flrigWebRemote app allows better iPhone/iPad control of the main things needed on an HF rig to have a rag chew or check into a net. And the RX audio over Opus/ICE is very low latency and clear.

https://n0mql.com/ham-radio-qso-from-the-smoke-shack/
Screenshot of iPhone shows frequency in large fond, then Tune and PTT buttons, they're all in a pale green box.Next row displays PWR:5, SWR:0.0, MODE: USB (this is a dropdown). Next row, 3 buttons: Connect Audio, Disconnect, Mic. Next is a box with nine buttons. In the upper left the box is titled "Band", and the buttons follow: 3.5, 7, 14 18, 21, 24 28, 50, GEN At the bottom is the URL bar that shows a local LAN IP address.
September 16, 2025 at 12:52 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Kinda cool to see I’m getting signals from as far away as possible in many directions.
iPhone photo of #HamClock in my #HamRadio #AmateurRadio shack this morning. In almost every compass direction (aka azimuth), I’m getting signals from as far away as there is land.
August 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Once again, crotchety old farts reinforcing the stereotype that hams hate anything new, and bemoan that it's killing ham radio.

If you don't like it, don't use it, and STFU.

#dontbethatguy #HamRadio #AmateurRadio
Two old farts whinging about #RTQM - the Real Time QSO Manager that QRZ is working to deploy. TL;DR - I'd like to get in on this, beta if possible, for non-popular modes. Learned of this from a pair of Ham Radio Elder Statesmen in Great Britain commiserating with each other on BlueSky... and I quote... "The arrogance!" "Dumb-arse ideas are killing ham radio!" "Just another example of 'can't be arsed'.". The sort of blokes who - in another era - would bitch and moan that SSB is killing ham radio. Do I think I would "call CQ silently"? Heavens, no. But I don't give a rat's ass if someone else prefers to do so. It's built into several mobile dual-band rigs that if you're beaconing via APRS, part of the message is what frequency your other VFO is tuned to. Someone could call you without you having transmitted a CQ (or the VHF/UHF FM equivalent). Where's the harm in that? I say there is none. If you don't prefer that way of doing things, simply don't do that (then kindly SFTU about it). I would indeed like to get in on this. But not for the most-typical reasons people think... I'm thinking rarer modes like Feld Hell. A mode that will never get picked up on RBN or pskreporter. You have it set up. You're 95% sure that you're doing it right, and that your transmissions are copyable out there somewhere. Yet you can CQ until you're blue in the face, on a day when propagation conditions are fabulous, and never get a response. Why? Because thousands of other hams who could receive your signal are not monitoring those frequencies nor that mode. There's someone out there wh...
August 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
A Thing That AI Could Actually Help With

Most of the “AI” and LLM things that dominate the zeitgeist lately are not designed to help people, contrary to the hype. They are designed to make filthy rich people richer, at any cost to society. So the lies […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Cropped screenshot of #GoogleMaps route taking I-35 North through #Iowa. The section shown starts South of #DesMoines and ends North of #MasonCity
July 25, 2025 at 11:43 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Dunn Brothers Lorem Ipsum FAQ

On shop.dunnbrothers.com I went looking for help with pausing my subscription. Found the FAQ. It’s full of “Lorem ipsum” placeholder text!

#coffeebeans #coffeesubscription #dunnbrothers #loremipsum

https://n0mql.com/dunn-brothers-lorem-ipsum-faq/
Screenshot of the FAQ page of shop.dunnbrothers.com, wherein 3 of the 5 questions have been expanded. The answer in each is identical "Lorem ipsum" placeholder text.
July 24, 2025 at 11:01 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Seems there’s a huge #sporadice opening between the NE corner of the US and Europe, but it’s not getting here to #minnesota. A bit jealous.
Screenshot of The Holy Cluster showing over 50 spots on 6m. They’re almost all from WW1L to Europe.
July 16, 2025 at 6:42 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Some mornings, the #hamclock display really shows off that #grayline truly is a thing.
The grayline is the great circle around the globe that defines the border of night and day. As can be seen on these two hemisphere circular maps, one centered on Minnesota, the other centered on the exact opposite spot in the Indian Ocean, the furthest places spotted on FT8 on 20 & 40 (& a couple 80) meters are not spread in all directions. Rather, the furthest stations I’m decoding are in the directions that follow the grayline.
July 9, 2025 at 10:57 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
I have now posted both working versions of this simple #python3 utility on #github so it would be easy to copy & use as an example to press #flrig user-defined #cat command buttons remotely to solve whatever little annoyance someone else may have […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Super simple python pop-up GUI window that shows... (title bar) Antenna Switch Monitor Current Frequency: 1.840 MHz Current Antenna Port: ANT2 Last Change Timestamp: 2025-06-22 06:36:00
June 22, 2025 at 11:39 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Well I'll be a son of a gun.

It WORKS!
On the left, a python script that interrogates #flrig on my other computer, checks what frequency it's set to at 725ms after the top-o-the-minute, and changes the antenna port, using the "Commands" (user defined buttons for CAT control) in flrig. On the right, the terminal console showing it doing its work. The last few lines of the python code, because my screen wasn't tall enough to fit it all in one screenshot.
June 21, 2025 at 3:09 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Got yet another #qslworld QSL "card" in my email, from a QSO way back in 2021.

"Learn more about sending your QSO confirmation automatically using our AI tool."

#fuckyourai

But anyway, I clicked on the link to view the card.

It did not simply show […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Screenshot of browser, in which I had clicked to download a QSL Card. Then when I clicked to open (i.e. view) it, I was warned by my browser that the file is an executable.
June 13, 2025 at 2:05 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
#aurora app alerts me that #northernlights may be visible in my area within the next hour, so I check the satellite screen for cloud cover…
Sat screen. My location dot is smack in the middle of a thick cloud deck hundreds of miles in diameter. Cropped screenshot of #HamClock showing strong aurora prediction bands very near me.
May 29, 2025 at 2:51 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Have you tried #freedata yet? If not, why not?
Screenshot from the FreeDATA Explorer, a web real time status map thing at https://explorer.freedata.app
May 18, 2025 at 1:11 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
#aurora iOS app alerts me of likely visible aurora. I check the map. Looks promising!

I check the next tab, Clouds. Yup, right smack in the toilet.
Aurora probability map. I’m deep in the green band, near the yellow. Cloud cover map. My crosshairs look like they’re in the center of a hurricane with no clear eye.
May 17, 2025 at 3:02 AM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
On spousal international travel and wee-hours #devops #jenkins #declarativepipeline testing...
Screenshot of a Teams chat wherein I mention at 2:46am that I hopeful I won't miss a 1pm meeting. My boss reminds me that the meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday), not today (Tuesday) "...you got me until 5 minutes ago thinking today was Wednesday and wondering how come I missed the implementation meeting... the drawback? now my week is suddenly longer." I apologize, admitting I have no clue what day it is at any given moment, but am loving the first full-caff coffee I've had in years.
May 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
@VeroniqueB99

Just a heads up for people who despise this crap even more than I do.

uclahealth.org is one of those sites that won't let you opt out of cookies with just a couple clicks.

You have to click into the pop-up, then click 3 different tabs […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
x /¢¥§ Health How UCLA Health uses Advertising (targeting) cookies o cookies These cookies are used to help us deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. They also help ensure that ads Essential website cookies are properly displayed, that the same ad doesn’t continue to reappear, and that the ads you see are related to your interests. Social Media Cookies Performance cookies Advertising (targeting) cookies
April 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
kelvin0mql.mastodon.hams.social.ap.brid.gy
Why You See Small Companies With No SSL On Their Website

Bluehost is cheap. That’s why I have this site hosted here. But this sort of shit is why IT folk gain a reputation for being dicks. Because all too often, they ARE. … […]

[Original post on mastodon.hams.social]
Screenshot of the Bluehost screen after I've clicked the "Security" link, where I'm supposed to click the ellipsis. There is no ellipsis on this screen.
April 23, 2025 at 12:53 PM