Category Archives: Technology

Gaming, Technology

First Week with the Rokid Max AR Glasses

NOTES ON ROKID MAX AR GLASSES:

1. While the glasses appear to be darkly tinted, your external vision is still quite clear and just fine when wearing the glasses. The transparency is so great that it’s actually distracting to see both the environment and the display if you don’t have the brightness higher than the ambient/environmental lighting.

2. The USB cable that connects the AR glasses to your device appears to be proprietary. None of my USB 3.1, 3.2, or 4.0 cables will work with it, but it might be due to cable length. Rokid tells us that the power consumption of the glasses means the cable cannot have too much resistance. I would think USB 4.0 (240W) cables ought to work with it, but they don’t. I’m awaiting an update and a couple more cables from Rokid this week or next.

3. The audio is very decent, supports Dolby Atmos, but still doesn’t compare to dedicated earbuds or earphones. I recommend a good pair of ear buds if you want high-fidelity sound with Dolby Atmos or THX certification.

4. The brightness is superb. At 600 nits, full brightness is enough to overpower bright ambient lighting. Keep it set between 3-4 to match ambient brightness or turn it up to 6 to have a bright display that stands out against the environment.

5. You’ll quickly learn to look “past the display” when looking through the glasses to talk to others or interact with your environment, refocuses your eyes on the display when watching, reading, or gaming. Sometimes the environment can be distracting, but you can correct for that by turning the brightness up or putting the dark shades over the translucent lenses.

6. 120Hz display, color gamut, brightness, dynamic range, and performance are all outstanding. Gaming, watching movies, surfing the web, reading, and coding has been so much fun these past few days.

 

COMMENTS

Mike Bargeron
I have monocular vision (little to no vision in my left eye), I wonder if they’d work on me.

Ken Foreman
Mike – With my prescription and fairly large difference in prescription strength between my eyes, I was able to use the diopter dials above each lens to adjust it, so it matches my prescription.
I’m not sure how much you can adjust it by, whether you can adjust the diopter on the left eye to such an extent that you’d get some good use from it or whether you’d need to primarily rely upon your right eye.
For reading and coding, I found I really needed to adjust the diopters for my vision so that it didn’t look blurry, out-of-focus, or double-vision. While wearing it, I slowly adjusted each dial, periodically closing one eye and then the other, and then seeing how the image looked through the eye alone, and then both eyes together. Once finely tuned, it was quite nice and very useable.
Ham Radio

QotD for Monday, 22-Aug-2022 0700 EDT

K3KBF (Sterling, VA) — QotD for Monday, 22-Aug-2022 0700 EDT

WA4TSC (147.300 MHz, Bluemont, VA)
K3KBF (Sterling, VA) — QotD for Monday, 22-Aug-2022 0700 EDT

QUESTION:

In what year was the Cadillac Automobile Company formed, and who was it named after?

ANSWER:

Cadillac was founded in 1902 by Henry Leland, who named the company after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who happens to be the founder of Detroit.

Just six short years later, Cadillac brought the idea of interchangeable parts to the automotive industry and laid the groundwork for modern mass production of automobiles.

As a result, Cadillac became the first American car to win the prestigious Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club of England. After earning such high praise Cadillac adopted the slogan “Standard of the World.”

Gaming, Technology, Valve SteamDeck

Remote Management and Copying on the Steam Deck

Since SteamOS on the Steam Deck is an Arch Linux variant, you can set up sshd and remotely log into your SteamDeck to copy games, apps, data, gamesaves, and screenshots.

Gaming, HOW-TO, Technology, Valve SteamDeck

Upgrading the Valve Steam Deck from 1TB to 2TB

Upgrading the Valve Steam from 1TB (2x512GB) to 2TB (2x1TB)

I upgraded my Valve Steam Deck from 1TB (2x512GB) to 2TB (2x1TB) using a 1TB Samsung NVMe 4 M.2 SSD and a 1TB Sandisk Extreme Pro microSDXC.

The Steam Deck uses ext4 as its filesystem, which you can mount under Linux natively, or mount under Windows and MacOS using the proper drivers or kernel extension.  While there’s multiple solutions like MacFuse for the Mac, I prefer Paragon Software’s LinuxFS for Windows and extFS for MacOS to provide ext4 filesystem support under Windows and MacOS respectively.

If you’re running Apple Silicon (M1 or M2) rather than Intel on your Mac, you’ll need to boot into Recovery Mode by rebooting your Mac, press and hold the fingerprint scanner / power button until it displays the “Loading Startup Options” screen…

  1. Press and hold the power button until you see “Loading Startup Options”
  2. Click Options.
  3. Click Continue.
  4. In the menu bar at the top, Select Utilities > Startup Security Utility.
  5. Select the startup disk.
  6. Click Security Policy.
  7. Select Reduced Security.
  8. Reboot and continue with Paragon Software’s extFS for MacOS installation.

Once you can mount ext4 filesystems on the Mac, you can use your Mac to either `dd` or copy (using Finder) your steamapps and gamesaves from the old storage devices to the new (SSD or microSDXC).

Since the SteamOS 3.x (Holo) is effectively Arch Linux, you can also switch to Desktop Mode, enabled sshd and either cp or scp files to/from your Steam Deck using your local secure shell or Terminal.  This is very useful for absolutely everything, allowing remote management and copying to/from your Steam Deck.

extFS for Mac by Paragon Software

 

Copying from the old Steam Deck storage to the new
As an Aside, Gaming, Ham Radio, Social Media

Updating my Banner Pictures (Social Media)

1500×500 pixels at 72ppi is the current “optimal size” for banner pictures in Facebook, Twitter, and Mastodon, so these are the current three pictures I’m rotating between for:

The intent is capturing my current interests in the banner picture, trying to include our Shelties, my amateur radio operations, and my love of gaming.

K3KBF (Loudoun County, Virginia, US)
K3KBF (Loudoun County, Virginia, US)
Gaming on the Valve Steam Deck
3D Printing, Dremel 3D45, Gaming

First Couple Weeks with the Valve Steam Deck

3D printed an insert tray using Acrylic Green PETG using the Dremel Digilab 3D45. It carries the charger, cable, and memories for our Steam Deck.  It fits perfectly into the side pocket of the carrying case.

Arch Linux and SteamOS 3.0 (Holo) on the Valve Steam Deck

Family, Gaming, Technology

Comparing Handheld Gaming Consoles (Switch, Steam Deck)

Comparing Heldheld Gaming “Consoles”


COMPARING HANDHELD GAMING “CONSOLES”
1) 1TB Anbernic RG552 (2x512GB, Android 11, RetroArch)
2) 512GB Nintendo Switch OLED (1x512GB, Nintendo Switch)
3) 2TB OneXPlayer 1S (2TB NVMe 4 SSD, Windows 11, SteamOS)
4) 1TB Valve Steam Deck (2x512GB, SteamOS)

They’re all excellent handhelds, and have their niches:

The Nintendo Switch OLED is definitely has most color gamut, depth, and brightness with its HDR OLED screen.

The OneXPlayer 1S has the highest resolution and best general performance as a handheld Windows gaming PC.

The Valve Steam Deck has a lower resolution screen (similar to the Switch), but a fast AMD processor and dedicated AMD RDNA 2 GPU, so it tears through graphics, textures, and processing on the 1280×800 screen. It’s really the “best of all worlds” for handheld/portable gaming since it runs most of the Steam game library at 40-60fps with medium→ultra graphics (depending on the game).

Sachiko, the Sheltie Gamer
Technology

Getting Started with the Rotrics Nextube

Rotrics Nextube Clock with WiFi

When I tweeted about the Rotrics Nextube, a couple people asked me how I set it up.

While it’s a beautiful clock with configurable displays, WiFi, and widgets, it came with absolutely no documentation.

I funded it nearly two years from Kickstarter, but just got it last week due to the pandemic, technical issues, and production delays.  It was well worth the wait.  It’s a beautiful clock with “faux Nixie tubes” (LCD panels in glass tubes) that can be configured to custom display different fonts, colors, and styles.

While it’s no longer at Kickstarter prices, the production Rotrics NexTube clock can be ordered from:

If you’re looking how to configure it:

  1. you’ll need to download Nextube Studio from rotrics.com/pages/downloads,
  2. plug it into your PC via USB,
  3. set up WiFi on it,
  4. and it’ll connect via WiFi after that first setup.

Agreed, there was ZERO documentation or support.  The internal WiFi works great for RSS feeds and updating the widget apps, but terribly for configuration.  You’ll need to plug it into your USB any time you want to configure (or re-configure) it.

 

Ham Radio

K3KBF — Morning net and QotD on WA4TSC

K3KBF — Morning Net with WA4TSC (Bluemont, VA)

Joined the morning Net on WA4TSC (147.300MHz, Bluemont, VA) as they discussed the current heatwave, SOTA (Summits on the Air), and the Question of the Day (QotD).

Today’s QotD:

How many times was Hank Aaron selected to play for the MLB All-Star games during his 23 MLB seasons?

25 times in 23 years?! … Explain, please?

Hank Aaron was voted to, or selected for, his league’s All-Star team 25 times during his 23-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Perhaps you are wondering how he managed that in a 23-year career. This: MLB played two All-Star Games each season for four years, 1959–62. The rosters were compiled separately for both Games (though there was a lot of common overlap), so being named to both teams (as Aaron was) in a single season counted as two selections.

He had additional opportunities. Between 1959–1962 (4 seasons), MLB, trying to generate more money for the player’s pension fund, played 2 All-Star games per year. Thus, Hank played 8 All-Star games in the 4-year period, rather than 4 games.

Stan Musial and Willie Mays also took advantage of the extra games, ranking second to Aaron, each playing 24 All-Star games.

Musial holds the MLB record for most home runs (6) in All-Star games. This includes the 1955 ASG, where Stan won the game for the NL with a walk off HR in the 12th inning.

Ham Radio, Technology

Updating the HackRF One with PortaPack H2+ (Mayhem 1.5.4)

Updating the HackRF One with PortaPack H2+

The HackRF One with PortaPack H2+ is truly an outstanding handheld Software Defined Radio (SDR) with an incredible amount of features and support.  Since many of the vendors are Russian or Chinese, I see that a number of people are having difficulty with the hardware, firmware updates, or support.  Here is what I used to research, update my firmware from Havoc/Mayhem 1.4.0 (stock/OEM) to Mayhem 1.5.4, and document mine:

For a much better in-depth explanation, review, and detailed step-by-step instructions for updating the firmware or using the HackRF One with PortaPack H2+, check out MAYHEM Firmware for the HackRF Portapack Installation / Overview – YouTube.

I highly recommend the Diamond SRH320A 144/220/440 MHz Tri-Band Handheld SMA Antenna for the best use and reception with the HackRF One when using it for HAM Radio.

“WARNING” / NOTE:

Seeing a black screen on reboot or power up of your HackRF One with Portapack H2+ …me too!

  1. Press the UP button on your H2+ while it powers up so it loads LCD Driver 1 and configures your H2+.
  2. Wait a few seconds (up to 10 seconds), the LCD driver will load and you’ll see the Mayhem 1.5.4 boot screen or GUI.

GALLERY:

Updating the HackRF One with PortaPack H2+
Updating the HackRF One with PortaPack H2+

See More Flipper Zero Goodness! for news and updates about the Flipper Zero, which I also updated today…

Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Ham Radio, Technology

More Flipper Zero Goodness!

Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac

Continuing the earlier Travels with Flipper (“my Cyberdolphin friend”), Flipper Zero has more updates, discussions, and apps.  Flipper Zero now supports MacOS and iOS, with wireless Bluetooth pairing in addition to USB-C wired.

LINKS:

GALLERY:

Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
Updating Flipper Zero using a Mac
iOS app for Flipper Zero (using Bluetooth)
iOS app for Flipper Zero (using Bluetooth)
Ham Radio

K3KBF — morning net for Thu 23-Jun-2022

1 Comment
K3KBF — morning net for Thu 23-Jun-2022

K3KBF — morning net for Thu 23-Jun-2022

Listening to WA4TSC discuss the QotD as they ask “who was the first nation to create vehicle license plates, and in what year?” as I enjoy my coffee.

Photo Gallery (Thu 23-Jun-2022)

K3KBF — morning net for Thu 23-Jun-2022
K3KBF — morning net for Thu 23-Jun-2022

Seeing LZ2CFW’s bootscreen that includes his callsign, I really need to come up with a graphic that includes my callsign and a picture of one of our Shelties.

Bootscreen for LZ2CFW’s HT
Bootscreen on BTech DMR-6X2
Ham Radio

22-Jun-2022 — Building “Radio Shelf” (Update 2)

22-Jun-2022 — Building “Radio Shelf”

 

K3KBF — Starting my first “Radio Shelf”

I’m waiting on the new Uniden Bearcat SDS200, new antenna arrays, and cables to arrive. I’m planning to rack, stack, and cable (neatly through conduits, of course!) all of my radios on this shelf next to the window.

The Uniden, Icom, Yaesu, and Baofeng all have IP addresses and can be accessed online. I’m working on a new website and likely a new domain to host remote access, call logs, and QSOs (contacts) from all my radios.

THIS will be VERY cool once it’s complete!

73,
K3KBF (Ken Foreman)
Sterling, Virginia, USA [FM19HA]

“Radio Shelf” — Photo Gallery (Weds 22-Jun-2022)

22-Jun-2022 — Building “Radio Shelf”
22-Jun-2022 — Building “Radio Shelf”
22-Jun-2022 — Building “Radio Shelf”
22-Jun-2022 — Building “Radio Shelf”
Ham Radio

My First ̶R̶a̶d̶i̶o̶ ̶S̶h̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶ “Radio Shelf”

K3KBF — My First ̶R̶a̶d̶i̶o̶ ̶S̶h̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶ “Radio Shelf”

Building a “Radio Shelf”

Since Victoria remarked a few times “Ken, you have radios everywhere!”, rather than building a “Radio Shack”, I’m building a “Radio Shelf” to rack, stack, cable, and run antennas to my shortwave radio, ICOM IC-705, Uniden Bearcat SDS200, and various handheld transceivers.

Expect this shelf to look much more impressive later this weekend as I rack, stack, and cable my new gear.

73,
K3KBF (Ken Foreman)
Sterling, Virginia, US

Photo Gallery (our growing “Radio Shelf”)

Kiyomi beside our window and “radio shelf”
Setting up Uniden Bearcat SDS200
Building a “Radio Shelf”
Building a “Radio Shelf”
Building a “Radio Shelf”
Building a “Radio Shelf”
Nixie Tube Clock, Plasma Lamp, Vex’ahlia
Ham Radio

Callsign Change (KO4ZSY → K3KBF)

Callsign Change (KO4ZSY → K3KBF)

I got an email this morning from the FCC granting my vanity callsign request. My original (auto-assigned) callsign of KO4ZSY is now changed to my requested vanity vallsign of K3KBF.

https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=4602660

❝ Calling CQ CQ CQ
Hello CQ CQ CQ
Here is Kilo three Kilo Bravo Foxtrot
K 3 K B F
Calling CQ and Listening ❞

Time to update all of my radios, call plugs, and online accounts (QRZ, hamQTH, LotW, etc)

KO4ZSY     K3KBF
Ham Radio

Antique-Reproduction FCC Technician License (KO4ZSY)

FCC Technician License for KO4ZSY

I ordered this on antique paper with this font, typography, and my FCC license information.  While it’s not an Official License to Transmit, it’s a beautiful recognition of my FCC Technician License that I intend to frame and display alongside my Honorable Discharge from the US Air Force (DD-256).

Ham Radio

First Radio Contact over 200 miles!

Using the ICOM IC-705 with my new antenna!

KO4ZSY — FIRST 200+ MILE CONTACT!
(Research Triangle Park, NC)

With the new 2m/70cm NMO mount antennna on the ICOM IC-705, I got my first 200+ mile contact!

Had a crystal clear connection from Sterling, VA, to Research Triangle Park, NC. We talked on FM simplex (147.300 MHz) between my ICOM IC-705 and his Kenwood tranceiver.

Scenes from Today:

ICOM IC-705 SDR Control on the Mac
Sachiko as my designated Radio Operator on the ICOM IC-705
Sachiko as my designated Radio Operator on the ICOM IC-705
Using the ICOM IC-705 with my new antenna!
2m / 70cm portable antenna with counterpoise
First Contact over 200 miles on 2-meter band!
ICOM IC-705 SDR Control on the Mac