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Shullsburg is full of Smart People
I took a drive through Shullsburg last weekend, keeping my eyes out for home antennas and towers. Unlike Platteville, I found that nearly every home I saw in Shullsburg had a bow tie reflector type antenna that I recommend. Most were the 4-way ones (DB4 and Clearstream2). While in Platteville I still recommend 8-way type such as the DB8 or Clearstream4. A quick review of tvfool for Shullsburg shows that they have 40 dBm more signal than Platteville. So I imagine that they can get away with a smaller 4-way antennas and no powered pre-amp.
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OTA Secrets
What is the secret to good TV antenna reception? Using the right Hardware and Aiming. Hardware You have to look at every part of the chain from the antenna to your TV. They all affect signal quality. – Antenna – Collect as much signal as possible – Balun – Older baluns can be less efficient – Amplifier – Low noise and mounted near antenna – Cables – Length is the important number. However, older cables can be leaky and may need replacing – Splitters & Connectors – Limit your number of splitters and connectors. Use exact cable lengths wherever possible. http://www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/basics.html Aiming The success of your antenna reception is highly dependent on good aiming strategy.…
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My Businesses
Hello, my name is Dustin Westaby. I am from La Crosse Wisconsin, currently living in Platteville Wisconsin, and am married to Katherine Westaby. I hold an undergraduate in Electrical Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, with special interests in low level machine languages and PCB design. My day job is to develop and test software for Avionic Control Panels. I am also an elected officer for Hidden Valleys Amateur Radio Club. Beyond all that, I run several small businesses. This post is a quick summary of the services I provide for my communities. Electronic Circuit Commissions Since 2008, I have designed and assembled at scale runs of many circuits. From light and sound ghostbuster…
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Ghostbusters 2016 Proton Pack
Proton Packs are special for me. A proton pack was the first costume prop I ever made and was very much a junk build. Working light and sound circuits and only the alice frame is screen accurate. I worked on mine in parallel with my brother, so we could both be Ghostbusters for Halloween 2008. I have been making props and commission circuits ever since. My original proton pack took me 3 months to research and construct, start to finish. So when my wife told me she wanted to be Ghostbusters for Halloween 2016, my reaction was to skip the proton pack for her costume. Stick to the jumpsuit and…
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Updated EMF Reader – Assembly Guide
In 2015, I did a run of EMF readers with an updated design using an upgraded sound effects circuit. This is an assembly guide for making that EMF reader. For my older EMF Reader design that is not dependent on custom parts, see here. There are two custom parts that you can purchase from me: thatdecade@gmail.com on etsy Hello Future Reader! This guide is somewhat outdated as of 2018 and is reference only. If you purchased a kit from me recently, you have the 0718 revision. Watch this youtube build video instead of following the guide on this page.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce4PJZl9T2Y&t=1s&ab_channel=DustinWestaby Part List The part list was moved to google drive so I…
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Laser Tag Take-Over
Howdy folks, quick announcement from Robert Bontrager (Windjammer) and myself (thatdecade). Windjammer recently reached out to me asking if I would fully take over our team developments. I agreed and intend to breath some life into some old projects. Details to come! Robert and I together are known for creating some amazing lasertag compatible equipment; the zombie sensor, echo base, and the handheld hosting station. I designed the circuits and Robert wrote the software. I will now be taking over the software side too. http://lt-mmo.blogspot.com/ On my own, I have designed and sold a number of LTAR display designs. I look forward to what updates I can make to…
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Software will save us
Summary: Some old insights are still true. Hardware has almost 2000 times more transistors in each chip comparing 1995 to 2015, but steadily increasing software demands of hardware have given us slower and slower systems. A basic task on a 1995 machine completes only slightly faster on a modern machine. Our computers are not 2000 times better or make us 2000 times more productive. I was reading a press release from Intel on the feasibility of chip advancements after the next gen 10nm chips. Ideas do exist, but nothing will gain the power and speed that the brute force method of “make it smaller with more transistors” approach has for the last 60 years. Got me thinking…
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OTA: Antenna Class!
Last fall, I taught an over-the-air antenna class at the local library. I broke down each step of how to receive free TV broadcasts from Madison. Over 75 miles away ! The first half of the class was a slide show, the second half was the interactive portion. I asked for addresses and we pulled up the reception maps for the attendees to discuss real world reception and aiming strategies. What is the secret to Platteville TV Reception? • Have a good aiming strategy using tvfool.com and a Sighting Compass • Choose an appropriate mounting location. • Route your coax cable through your home’s ground block for static and lightning protection. • Every step…
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Light Break Sensor for Ammo Counter
I have offered ammo counter kits for nerf dart guns for a while now. With a tweak to the ammo counter software’s min time between fire events and the addition of a photo sensor, you can install my ammo counter kit on a nerf gun and keep track of shots remaining in your clip even while full auto firing. What allows this to work is a light break sensor. The part number I recommend is the OPB100Z. It comes with an IR LED and a Phototransistor. The LED creates a beam of light, and the phototransistor acts as a switch. When the light shines on the sensor, the transistor conducts and…
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Reminiscing about XBConnect
What is XBConnect? It was an online gaming service for the original Xbox. This was before Xbox Live was popular. XBConnect used the system link mode built into many Xbox games, basically hijacking the network traffic and rerouting over the internet. XBC stayed relevant through the years due to two factors: 1. it was free and 2. it was compatible with the “new” xbox 360 which used the same system link as the original xbox. XBConnect was a great service for broke college kids who had access to non-dial-up internet. After writing several help guides, I was invited to be a moderator and eventually an admin of the forums from 2004 – 2014.…