I was randomly tuning around tonight, testing a new antenna, when I happened upon a lil’ role playing game going down on a local 2 meter repeater. Adults, teens, even kids were playing! So blessed. This is the kind of fun stuff I’d like to see more of on the bands.
One of the things I’ve wanted to do for a year or two now is to figure out a way to share my hobby and solder antics with a wider audience. Youtube is one option, but it’s so non-realtime. Over the past year or two, Twitch has expanded a lot of their categories to include more “IRL” (as it was originally called) categories; they’ve now since expanded into various subsections like Science and Technology, Just Chatting, Etc.
Sample shot of the stream – IC-746, MMSSTV, and TrunkPCR (for the PCR1000) in view.
So, without further ado, I’d like to announce that we have started a twice-a-week Twitch stream here, on the mattyzcast. I’ve got a couple cameras and lights set up, we’ve set up Streamlabs to composite our video sources together, and twice a week we’re going to get on live, play radio, solder things up, chitchat and answer audience questions, and just generally run our mouths a bit.
So far (we’ve done one test and one real episode), the response has been great and amazing. I’m so excited and it’s really brought a bunch of energy back to the hobby – anybody that knows me in real life knows that if you bring up just about anything electronic or radio to me, I’ll run my mouth until you tape it shut. So, this is a great outlet for me, and a great source of fun and learning for everybody that tunes in!
(I will advise that it will generally be not-safe-for-kids, just due to the fact that I’ve got some salty language now and then.)
Goofin’ – built a drive-on mount and stuck a few sections of TV mast on it. I bolted an MFJ 3/8 x 24 mount on top and replaced one of the bolts with an eye bolt to hang dipoles or whatever I want from. Continue reading Drive-on mast mount fun
Here’s my tale of grabbing random parts, some junkbox components, a chunk of water pipe and the propane torch and building a mobile HF antenna to play with! Continue reading Budget bugcatcher!