• 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.

• 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.

• 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 Club of El Cajon: http://www.wa6bgs.us
• Convair / 220 Club Club: http://www.convair220.com/
• Coronado Emergency Radio Operators: http://www.ceroinc.org
• East County Repeater Association: http://www.ecra.org
• Escondido Amateur Radio Society: http://www.earsclub.org
• Fallbrook Amateur Radio Club: http://www.fallbrookarc.org
• North Shores Amateur Radio Club: http://www.qsl.net/nsarc
• Palomar Amateur Radio Club: http://www.palomararc.org
• Ramona Outback Radio Society: http://www.roars.net
• San Marcos Amateur Radio Club: http://sanmarcosarc.net
• South Bay Amateur Radio Society: http://sobars.org
• San Diego County Amateur Radio Council: http://www.sandarc.net
• San Diego DX Club: http://www.sddxc.org
• San Diego Repeater Association: http://www.wb6wlv.com
• PAPA System: http://www.papasys.com

• Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL): http://www.arrl.org
• Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR): http://www.tapr.org
• The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT): http://www.amsat.org
• Amateur Radio Public Relations for San Diego: http://www.arprsd.org
• Rod's site is probably one of the most comprehensive amateur radio sites in cyberspace: http://www.ac6v.com
• Israeli Amateur Radio Club (IARC): http://www.iarc.org

• Assembly Line Diagnostics Link (ALDL): This is an effort I did in the June-July of 2001 to reverse engineer the ALDL data stream from a 1991 Chevy Cavalier and build a handheld monitor which enables monitoring engine telemetry on the fly
• How to reprogram your Toyota Tacoma keyless entry system
• How to program your Mazda 626's keyless entry system
• Unlocking a Toyota / Fujitsu A11712 stereo system
  

• Here is a short write-up on a Minolta RC-3 Infrared remote control.
• Various references I find useful for Redhat's Fedora Linux.
• Jokes & Humor! A collection of email jokes and funnies collected over many years, and no longer updated
  
• iConcepts has (had?) a USB to serial port "PDA adapter", but the company disappeared. If you are looking for the driver, here it is.
• The autopsy of a failed Watts 25A PRV
  
• Bob Pease articles
  

• 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)

Complete email address book