Believer in Jesus Christ, Manufacturing Engineer, Amateur Radio Operator
Fairhope, AL
Joined October 2022
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- Following3.6K
- Followers4.4K
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Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
i have been steadily banging the drum on domestic transformer production since 2023, and now, we have resolute grid. the last time an american company fully designed and built these was in the late 80s. so excited to see this come roaring back. incredible work!
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Stanford researchers have developed thermal noise communication, a wireless transmission method that encodes data by manipulating the natural background static produced by oscillating electrons in electrical conductors, rather than generating an active radio signal. A transmitter switches between two circuit states, one absorbing and one reflecting ambient noise, which a receiver amplifies to distinguish as zeros and ones. The system uses up to 1,000 times less energy than conventional radio-frequency transmission. After deriving a mathematical channel model to understand the system’s fundamental behavior, the team improved data transfer rates by 100 times. Potential applications include medical devices and astronomy observatories where electromagnetic interference is a concern, as well as low-power environmental sensors. The research is published in PNAS.
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Pushing Bluetooth out to 12 Kilometers ift.tt/fNbw2BF
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
MIDDAY - Base camp during the lunch break
Portable radiosport includes something permanent stations often hide: the operator needs food, water, shade and recovery time too.
Plan the operator with the same seriousness you plan the radio.
73!
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Should you back-drill your vias? It's an extra fab step, and most boards skip it.
I simulated a via on MNT Reform's 6-layer laptop board. The 0.94 mm of unused barrel throws back 13% of a fast pulse.
Answer: on a 1.6 mm board, not until ~25 Gbps. On thick boards, from 10. 🧵
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
This exceptionally rare photograph was taken by an Airbus Plaiades satellite on 30 November 2024 over northern Texas. The Plaiades is itself photographing *another* satellite (Starlink?), sitting much lower in orbit.
The reason for the different colours is totally fascinating.
The Pleiades satellites record images in multiple spectral bands: blue, green, red, panchromatic, and near-infrared. It takes the photos a split-second apart and combines the colors to generate a representation of what the human eye would see.
That's fine for stationary objects like trees and buildings, but not so good when the subject is travelling around the Earth at five miles (eight km) per second!
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Notice: Upcoming HAARP ionospheric tests from Alaska - 20th to 24th Oct 2026... ei7gl.blogspot.com/2026/10/n…
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
WALTON COUNTY ANNOUNCES MULTI-AGENCY RESOURCE CENTER TO ASSIST RESIDENTS WITH STORM RECOVERY
WALTON COUNTY, FL — Walton County is coordinating with state and local agencies and community partners to establish a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) to assist residents and business owners as recovery efforts continue following recent storm impacts.
The resource center will provide residents with opportunities to connect directly with representatives from agencies and organizations offering recovery assistance, guidance, and information about available services.
Participating organizations will address a variety of needs, including insurance and financial recovery, small business assistance, rebuilding resources, consumer protection, legal services, veterans’ services, elder affairs, agricultural support, and other community resources.
Expected participating partners include the Florida Department of Commerce, American Red Cross of North and Central Florida, U.S. Small Business Administration, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Hope Florida, veterans’ services representatives, legal aid providers, elder affairs representatives, agricultural agencies, county departments, municipalities, and other organizations serving Walton County residents.
Further scheduling of the Multi-Agency Resource Center will be disseminated once scheduling and locations have been confirmed.
Location:
• 361 N 10th St, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433
Resource Center Schedule
October 19–24, 2026
Monday, October 19th, 2026, 1:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Tuesday, October 20th – October 24th, 2026, from 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.
The State of Florida will assist with the resource center setup, including tables, chairs, designated spaces, and internet access to help participating agencies provide services efficiently.
Residents are encouraged to monitor official Walton County and Walton County Emergency Management communication channels for updates regarding locations, operating hours, participating agencies, and available services.
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Here’s everything to know about the newly launched @Tesla Roadster:
• Created to be the Ultimate Driver’s Car.
• Deliveries actually begin in 2028, built in Texas.
• Three configurations: Performance, Thrust, and Rocket.
• >300 miles of range for all trims.
• 0-60mph per configuration: <1.6s (Performance), <0.9 (Thrust), <0.59s (Rocket)
• Cold-gas thrusters (@SpaceX-derived, adapted for atmosphere).
• 10 nozzles fed by 600 liters of compressed air allow the car to move forward, upward, and rotate.
• Thrusters generate 4–5x force the tires can handle.
• Multi-mode suction/fan system can hold the car upside-down even when stationary (up to 2G). The car can go upside down.
• Design is inspired by SR-71 and F-35.
• Concealed headlights
• Ano White paint (aerospace coatings: UV, cryogenic, electrostatic, corrosion protection)
• Gold Glazed tinted glass (spacesuit-visor style) + titanium accents
• Ultrawhite interior cabin with gray microsuede detailing and seat bolsters.
• Seats are molded into the chassis.
• Steer-by-wire Yoke
• Made with magnesium, titanium, carbon fiber.
• Height-adjustable spool-valve dampers, which allows the car to raise or lower.
• Can drop up to 1.6 inches (40 mm) in Track Mode.
• Three modes: Road Mode, High-Drag Mode, and Low-Drag Mode.
• Top speed more than 230 mph, but Elon said Tesla is working toward a longer-term goal of 380 mph (Mach 0.5).
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
1/16 You can see inside a circuit board without cutting it open.
Send a fast step into a USB port and listen for the echoes. Every bump is a spot where the layout changes, and its delay says where.
That's TDR, radar for PCBs. I simulated it on a real Raspberry Pi board 🧵
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
The LiteBeam makes a difference - stable WLAN connection to the HAMNET Node in ZRH
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
I plan to connect my home QTH to HAMNET via a 27-km-long 5.8-GHz link (red line). I was just barely able to establish a connection using the NanoStation 5AC Loco. I'm going to replace it with an AirMAX LiteBeam AC 5-GHz long-range antenna.
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
No…MFJ and Vectronics are still in business in Starkville. Some items are still in stock (e.g., I recently bought a 33’ fiberglass mast). Check the website or call…Kevin is the guy who may answer or call you back if you leave a message. The other companies have been sold.
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Should you cut a hole in the ground plane under the pads of a USB-C or HDMI connector? Some engineers swear by it, others say never.
I simulated it 327 times to settle it.
Answer: yes, when the pad is wider than the trace. And make the hole exactly the size of the pads. 🧵1/12
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Many of you are seeing this in the sky over Alabama this morning. No need to panic… it is the vapor trail from the Falcon 9 SpaceX launch this morning in Florida.
Matthew Foutch AE4JC retweeted
Turned a WiFi 7 router into a 320Msps SDR.
Custom firmware on its MediaTek MT7996 streams raw 14-bit IQ from 2.4/5/6GHz over 10GbE without dropping samples. It's not a snapshot mode, the waterfall is just one thing reading the stream.
github.com/h0m3us3r/w1700k-s…
