Believer in Jesus Christ, Manufacturing Engineer, Amateur Radio Operator
Fairhope, AL
Joined October 2022
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Interesting turn of events ...
Holy crap that was wild. I’m so grateful for the magic of AI today.
Driving my family back to Texas from the Bama game, munching on a sandwich.
Suddenly I see a radial saw blade upright and rolling in my lane. I can’t stop or swerve safely, so I make sure it avoids my tires and I straddle it.
We hear a crash and all stop breathing as we brace for the repercussions.
No flat tire. No weird noises. We’re good, right? Wrong.
A minute later we smell gas. Uh oh. Well we had just filled up RIGHT before then. Maybe I spilled on myself?
Nope. This was too strong. We rolled the windows down, took the next exit and pulled into the Dollar General in Cheniere, Louisiana.
GAS WAS DRIPPING EVERYWHERE.
Crap crap crap. It was 100% full, too. The leak was right on the edge of the tank, making it even more tricky. It was a puncture and a gash. How do you stop a leak as it’s leaking? Whereas flextape when I need it? Lol
What to do? Say a prayer and then ask Claude.
Claude told me to rub a bar of soap into the hole.
Huh?? Soap? Ok bro.
So I got the same soap I showered with this morning and rubbed it all up in the openings as gas dripped down into my elbow.
It stopped. Just like that.
Then go get JB Weld from inside Dollar General. So I got that plus duct tape, a couple towels, sandpaper, paper towels and duct tape.
I mixed the putty together, scratched the surface of the tank for better bonding, dried it all off and applied the putty with a plastic knife. Then let it dry, then another layer, then let it dry and harden.
Then covered it with duct tape, for good measure.
It’s been bone dry ever since. I’ve been stopping periodically to check and we’re almost home.
Tomorrow it goes to the Toyota dealership.
Today I’m grateful for prayer, and AI.
One of the things about ham radio is the unexpected. Just spoke with KK4BLX about 21 miles away. Report was S2 on his meter and I had him 59+ here in the garage through an HT and a N9TAX Slim Jim through about 30' of coax in a tree in the front yard. 146.520 simplex. 73!
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Pushing Bluetooth out to 12 Kilometers ift.tt/fNbw2BF
Something similar happened to me when I was racing GNCC ATVs at Loretta Lynn's in Tennessee. I absolutely knew (my experience was a strange and instant moment of knowing - not a voice) during the race to pull over and quit racing. Did just that. I believe in acts of God.
👻 the absolutely true tale of a disembodied voice that convinced a future NASCAR Hall of Famer to park mid-race and leave the track.
Yes,Talladega is absolutely haunted.
read here -> nascar.substack.com/p/the-di…
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
MIDDAY - Base camp during the lunch break
Portable radiosport includes something permanent stations often hide: the operator needs food, water, shade and recovery time too.
Plan the operator with the same seriousness you plan the radio.
73!
Here's the backstory ...
cullmantimes.com/2009/10/29/…
The way it acted ... I heard well through the repeater last night and at the first of the morning. But then about two blocks from the house I started hearing intermittent signal ... I check it about once a month. It is never loose. I think it fell off somewhere close to my work.
How it became loose is a mystery. I checked it about two weeks ago.
Grok Bot just sent me a heart emoji. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I'm still going to express my gratitude when it does something great. 🙂
Time to fire up the radio! Meteor Scatter incoming! ...
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Should you back-drill your vias? It's an extra fab step, and most boards skip it.
I simulated a via on MNT Reform's 6-layer laptop board. The 0.94 mm of unused barrel throws back 13% of a fast pulse.
Answer: on a 1.6 mm board, not until ~25 Gbps. On thick boards, from 10. 🧵
