A New Journey 001

Regrets... we all have them. Somewhere in your past you made a decision, or two, that you regretted. I had a few and most people I speak to also have.

A big one for me was not staying in Israel when I first visited the country in 1987. I should have stayed there, done national service and become an Israeli Citizen. I can't change that now, but when major opportunities come along, I must grab them, pursue them...

Well one major opportunity has come along and now "we" are at a cross-roads in our life. I believe this is a God given opportunity. Doors have opened and things are happening that just confirm we must do it. Not all things are positive, but they just confirm that we are going in the right path.

I say we as "we" are a family now. It's not just about me any more, it is about all of us together.

We have been talking about the changes and last night we had the big family meeting to discuss the opportunity and now I can say we have a resounding "Yes"! I think a lot of weight has come off my shoulders... I think the boys are more excited now, and Jolanda is very positive.

Thanks to all the people who know about the opportunity and have been praying for us. Let us see where God is leading us!

Using Twilio to send an SMS and get status feedback using PHP

I've been playing with Twilio for a while now. Twilio is an API that allows you to send and receive SMS messages and telephone calls.

Now that I've reserected the project, I have re-coded all the Twilio code, using the lastest php library. They have brought out many helper libraries to use with your favorite code. http://www.twilio.com/docs/libraries

I'm using the Official PHP Twilio REST API and TwiML library php code to send an SMS. It was super easy to send an SMS but to get the status of the SMS was always a mystery to me, so I started to experiment a bit with the code. In the end I have code that sends out a single SMS (Multiple user SMS code is available on the Twilio website at http://www.twilio.com/docs/quickstart/php/sms/sending-via-rest

There are two parts to the code. The page to send the SMS, sms_send.php, and a separate page to read the SMS status feedback, sms_callback.php.

sms_send.php



$sms_message = "Test SMS with feedback status";

// Install the library via PEAR or download the .zip file to your project folder.
// This line loads the library
require('twilio/Twilio.php');

$sid = "AC25xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";  // Enter your own AccountSid here
$token = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";  // Enter your own AuthToken here

$client = new Services_Twilio($sid, $token);
$message = $client->account->sms_messages->create( '+1xxxxxxxxxx', // From a valid Twilio number '+278xxxxxxxx', // Text this number $sms_message, array('StatusCallback' => 'http:///sms_callback.php')); $sms_id = $message->sid;print $sms_id . "
";


?>

You need to add the standard html headers and coding etc


Here is the complete callback file. You can add code to update the database or to send you an SMS when the status of a sent SMS is updated.



session_start();

error_reporting(0);


$SmsSid      = sanitiseString($_POST['SmsSid']);
$SmsStatus   = sanitiseString($_POST['SmsStatus']);

// Add your code here to process the information received here...

?>

Amateur Radio - Easy to Build Pixie 2 CW Transceiver

The Pixie 2 is a easy to build, cheap CW (Morse Code) Transceiver. The frequency is determined using a crystal.

The Pixie 2 appeared in the NorCal QRP Club Newsletter on Page 47, Vol.1, #3. It is an outgrowth of RV3GM's similar circuit published in the UK QRP Club, G-QRP Newsletter, "Sprat". 

The circuit is simple! It has a two transistor transmitter, using 2N2222 transistors. The oscillator transistor is always going, it supplies injection for the direct conversion receiver, and the first stage of the transmitter. An LM-386 integrated circuit provides the audio output that will drive a small speaker or headphones. The output circuit is a pi type with #26 wire wound around a T-50-2 torroid. This output network becomes the front-end L/C of the receiver. The output of the transmitter is about 250 milliwatts. 3.5 or 7.0 mhz versions may be built.

Components

Exact Values for QRP Frequencies.

Band CW SSB
---- --------------- ----------------
160 1.810 1.910
1.843 (Europe)
80 3.560 3.985
3.710 (Novice) 3.690 (SSB EU)
40 7.040 7.285
7.030 (Europe) 7.090 (SSB EU)
7.060 (Europe)
7.110 (Novice)
30 10.106
20 14.060 14.285
17 18.096
15 21.060 21.385
21.110 (Novice) 21.285 (SSB EU)
12 24.906
10 28.060 28.885
28.110 (Novice) 28.385 (Novice)
28.360 (SSB EU)
6 50.060 50.885
50.285 (SSB EU)
2 144.060 144.285
144.585 (FM)Both filter caps (C6 & C7) are the same. 

Values are for CW operation. 

160m =4.4 uH, .00176 uF
80M = 2.23 uH, 894 pF
30m = .79 uH, 315 pF
20M = .57 uH, 226 pF
17m = .44 uH, 176 pF
15m = .38 uH, 151 pF
12m = .32 uH, 127 pF
10m = .28 uH, 113 pF
6M = .16 uH, 64 pF

(Thanks to WE6W for the information)

Circuit Diagram 
Here is the original circuit diagram

A complete circuit description is available from http://www.kenneke.com/jon/pixie/pixman2.doc 


The crystals needed for the project are:

3.58 MHz crystal - ? Band
7.040 MHz crystal - 40m Band, L3 - 1.2 uH
10.106 MHz crystal - ? Band
14.060 MHz crystal -  20m Band
21.060 MHz crystal - ? Band

Notes:

10m Band

• Use 47pf capacitors instead of the 100pf (C1 and C2)
• Use 2N2222A or PN2222A instead of 2N3904

80m Band

• Use2.2uH inductor

Second Blog!

Almost a year later and here I am doing my second blog post on Blogger. Yes, yes I did have an idea but never got round to implementing it. BUT I did have a few other ideas, some never touched, some half finished, actually most not finished.

Don't you find this as well. You have some great ideas but never get to do them or only half finish them. This is that terrible thing call procrastination.

My new idea, called... actually kept under wraps until I have something online, is brewing in my mind. Every night toiling over the idea, seeing how it will work and how it could expand. Remember when Twitter came out... we thought what a stupid idea, but once you sit down and think about it, there are so many things it can do and integrate.

Before I can get going with the project I need to first sort out what language I am going to write it in. Here is some thoughts I had to wrestle with yesterday...

"It's a very sad day in my life. I have no option but to change. Change to a new programming language... Having been programming since computers were available, first in Basic under DOS, not forgetting COBAL and some assembler were learnt as school. I'm luck to have even used punch cards and slide rulers!

When I beta-tested websites, Microsoft soon released ASP (Classic ASP) and I have been using Classic ASP ever since. I could not under stand the Microsoft mentality of adding hundreds of extra lines of code when they moved to ASP.NET. My philosophy has always been to keep it simple and make it work better. I was fustrated by all the hundreds of pages of .net error pages that a person kept seeing on the Internet for websites running .net applications. If you can not program it by hand, why throw hundereds of lines of code at it to make it work.

I've loved Classic ASP. There was a lot you could do and it was simple to maintain and edit. Anyone could take any of my coding and easily see what is happening with it. Neat and tidy.

The problem came when I needed code to do OAUTH authentication. Many apps, especial;ly the social media programs, all have API's and to access them you need to authenticate yourself. I searched and searched for something. I wrote my own code, but I just cvoulsd no get anything to work. There are libraries for OAUTH authentication in all languages, but nothing in Classic ASP.

I started a Google Code page and a Google Group. No one has joined it. I have come across quite a few posts for anything in Classic ASP, but most are just unanswered. I then realised that the support base for Classic ASP is much less than what I thought. I had to rethink my choice of programming language and do it fast.

What does one choose? I suppos you bneed to see what is available and what is used. I always said go with the flow. Years ago I kept saying to people, stick to Windows. Most people use it and it is easy and cheap to get support. Some people decided to use linux in their work environments but that soon changed back to Windows. If I looka t what is abvasilable today, it looks like PHP is the language of choice. Yes there is Ruby on Rails and many others but PHO has a huge base, strong support and is even supported by Microsoft today. Yea, where is the support for all your Classic ASP programmers - dumped on the side of the road!

PHP isn't going to be a problem for me. I have used it in the past and even leactured in PHP programming a few years ago. it is just the thought of having to start collecting all the libraries, getting to know all the tricks of the trade and many other stuff.

it is a very sad day in my life - let me get back to the downloads. It is also a great day in my life as my dad is getting married again, but that is another story!"

My first Blog

Interesting thing this thing called a Blog. Telling the whole world your story and hoping someone reads it. I'm not really into Blogging but I decided to give it a go and try it out. I also want to try and see if I can create something round it. An idea I had while lying in bed this Christmas morning at 05h00!