8FORMAT

This is a follow-up to my previous article about connecting old 8″ drives directly to a PC equipped with a classic floppy disk controller. Since there is a way on how to do it on a hardware level without paid or proprietary equipment, there still needs to be a free and available software solution that enables the OS to interface these drives, as they were not officially supported… [more]

Degen DE1103

This is a great little battery powered PLL-tuned LW/MW/SW/FM receiver with support for single-sideband reception. I got it off eBay one year ago, for approx. 49 EUR including shipping. Receives 100-29999 kHz AM with SSB and FM 76-108 MHz, has 255 station presets, a backlit faux-analog display and small power consumption. I did a full review of its features on  Priyom.org as a member… [more]

Using 8-inch diskette drives with a PC

I have once stumbled upon an interesting article from 2018 published on retrocmp.de, discussing about provisions on connecting an 8″ floppy disk drive to a PC. You know, those huge “boat anchors” that accept flexible disks just four inches shy of an LP record, in exchange of a couple of hundred kilobytes data storage. That sort of type.… [more]

Yaesu FT-857 CAT/interface cable

Recently I have been drawn before the commission of a local telco bureau, to take part in an amateur radio examination, by a fellow attendee. The motivation?  Well, each time I tinkered with a radio, I always skipped scanning of “ham” bands as I never really found debates regarding signal reports, the weather or their next planned doctor’s visits to be of particular… [more]