In this post we’re going to catch up with what’s been going on over here at MiscDotGeek and explain the gap in posts lately. We’ve been busy, and some of it hasn’t been all good, sad to say.

I recently posted about a series of videos related to the BITX40 Rebuild project, which so far has 5 parts comprised of 10 videos, which you can watch in this YouTube Playlist . It’s slow going, but I’ve been able to introduce an oscilloscope to the bench. To make room for the scope, I had to build a shelf for my workbench. Of course I built it from scratch, using both new and recycled steel, and a 2×12 board! I also documented that on YouTube in This Playlist.

If you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube channel, please do! It’ll really help me out. I want to have 1000 subscribers by the end of the year if I can.

I recently bought The Tent Of My Dreams (Video link), the Gazelle T4. Then, I went camping and had a QRP Portable Ops total fail. I had to move my camp to get away from extremely noisy/drunk neighbors, and then I had to hurry home to solve what I thought was a successful cyber attack against some of my core accounts. I covered that in This Video. There was a cat involved- everything was fine!

Aside from all this I’ve been doing some freelance writing work. You might not be surprised that technical writing is a strong point of mine, and I’ve been able to get some jobs doing that. I really do enjoy it a lot.

Suburban Stuff

With camping season ramping up I’ve also been focusing on getting my 88 Suburban fixed up a bit. I’ve just got done installing a new window motor on the drivers door. I also replaced the window felts while I was in there, and I have to replace the rubber seals at the bottom of the window as well. I’ll have to do the other side when I have time. Of greater importance is the wobbly steering column which will also let me fix a long standing issue- burnt wiring in the windshield wiper switch. If I can’t repair it, I’ll have to replace that whole part- which is somewhat expensive.

Upcoming Projects

In the last few months I’ve picked up a number of projects that will be the source of more content for the site and the YouTube channel. A couple of them should be a “BIT” interesting. I’ve also acquired a box of goodies from Bill, K6WHP. I’ll be going through that box and looking for suggestions for QRP projects based on its contents, so keep an eye out for that. There’s also a couple of random kits, including a Direct Conversion 40m receiver from Indonesia! We should have a good time going through those together. It’s going to take me time to get through it all!

Difficult News

Long time readers might remember that in 2019 I posted that my wife was very sick and we needed help. (I took the post down later, mostly because it made me sad to see it on my site.) Her stomach had stopped working, and despite the best gastroenterologists in the world being at her side, nothing was working. Visits to World Famous Clinics during the summer of 2019 were fruitless, and even harmful unfortunately.

A few months later in November 2019, my wife’s doctor told her that her condition was unrecoverable. She entered in-home hospice care in March 2020. She was only expected to live for 3-4 months, but by her own willpower, the amazing care she received, and an unshakable faith, she lasted until February 2021. Dealing with care for the last year has been extremely difficult, and dealing with her loss is even harder in its own way. But my adult daughter (who lives at home) and I are managing, and we’re even happy on a daily basis, despite all the pain. This Site and my YouTube channel have been wonderful outlets, and they will continue to be. But, we’re making some big adjustments around here, so I’m sorry for the infrequent posts as of late. But I’m sure you understand!

With that I’ll end this post. Thanks for being a loyal reader, and thanks for your continued support. 73!