Home Automation
-
Home automation has always been a topic of interest for me. In late 2011 I
finally started piecing together a number of elements to form this system.
My goal is to have an internet accessible system that is capable of data collection and control of various
widgets in my home. Unfortunatley, I have closed public access to the system to
ease security management. Maybe one day I will re-evaluate that.
Amateur
Radio
- The Station
Interface Box or SIB
was an idea for a single interface which will enable us to handle all
our toys using one standard interface, it never came to life, but who
knows, maybe someday...
- In
1997 I decided to go for Amateur Extra class license. The
theory wasn't a problem, but doing Morse Code at 20 wpm was one heck of
a challenge. After passing the exam, I decided to write a
short paper on the experience out of the hope that it will help others get up to speed.
- Callsign history: First licensed in 1992. Active callsigns are 4x1kx & kk7kx. Past callsigns were 4z7aba & kc7wsz.
Amateur
/ Ham Radio Exams
- The ARRL ham radio exam team conducts test sessions on the second Saturday of each month in San
Diego County. We also provide exams for classes around the county. If you are interested in getting a ham radio license and would like to find a class, take an exam or upgrade your license, please go to HAM RADIO EXAM information page at http://exam.kiloxray.com.
Amateur
Radio Clubs in the San Diego Metro
Worthwhile
Online Amateur
Radio Resources
Automotive
Projects
Misc
Stuff
San Diego Resources for the Electronics Hobbyists and Ham Radio
Operators
- Ham
Radio Outlet has a store off of Clairmont Mesa
Blvd.
While having a local store is great, large ticket items often cost less
from many online vendors such as AES.
- Fry's
Electronics has two stores in the greater San Diego area.
The first off of Aero
Drive, and the second is in San
Marcos.
Fry's offers a fair selection of garden variety components but nothing
specialized. As always with Fry's - never expect to receive
customer
service when shopping there, so know what you want before you go
there.
- Willy's
Electronics
is an established electronics shop from National City.
Recently they
opened up a second store off of Clairmont Mesa Blvd. to serve the
northern part of San Diego county. Willy's tries to cater
mainly to
audio/security/computer businesses but has lots of tools, wire,
connectors, enclosures, batteries and similar products. They
have
a limited inventory of discrete components but that isn't their forte.
Willy's is a nicely organized business, but isn't open on the weekends.
- San Diego
Electronic Supply was opened by the staff of the defunct Gateway Electronics. They are located
off of Clairmont Mesa Blvd. They started the business by acquiring most of the inventory of Gateway Electronics. The inventory primarily consists of surplus parts and gadgets. Towards the end Gateway was a real dump (to put it politely). Let's hope San Diego Electronic Supply cleans it up and turns it into a nice place to shop at.
08/16/2014 UPDATE: I was just told they are out of business even through
their web page is still up.
- Murphy's Surplus
isn't really an electronics store, but is a surplus place thriving
primarily off of military surplus. It offers lots of treasures for the
electronics hobbyist.
- Surplus Depot - (used to be Industrial
Liquidators) is another surplus type business. It is much better organized than
Murphy's but also much smaller. They offer many pulled parts, assemblies, power supplies, enclosures, hardware, tools, and misc. These guys
do a really poor job of updating their web page, but they have two stores. The Nancy Ridge store is mainly for big stuff including a lot of industrial furniture (benches, cabinet, etc.). The store on 6444 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA, 92121 is where they sell all the small parts.
- RF Parts specializes
in RF semiconductors and other
unique components. While they do have a store front,
they don't
have inventory out on display for customers to browse through, so its
best to check out their catalog
online and order ahead of stopping by.
- Palomar
Engineers is located in Escondido and specializes in amateur
radio parts, and products for HF work.
- Probemaster
is located in El-Cajon and manufactures quality probes and
test
leads for oscilloscopes and DMMs. It's real easy to purchase from them
online, their products are top-notch, and reasonably priced.
- Instrument
Engineers
is a distributor located in Carmel Mountain specializing in test
equipment. They aren't a retail business and work mainly B2B,
but
they also carry a few lower cost items, used, and demo units hobbyists
may be interested in. If you call, ask to speak to Jimm, he
is top notch!
- If you
know of a local resource I have missed, please be sure to drop me a
note! (email provided below)
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copyright 1993-2016
To contact me, send an email to webmaster
(at)kiloxray (dot) com
Last updated 27 March 2016
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