Project MINI RACK - what have we started??
Today I set up a new DeskPi RackMate 12U model, the T2, and compared it to the other existing models (T0 / 4U and T1 / 8U)... and I have to ask: at what point are these racks not 'mini' anymore?
rtl-sdr
CaribouLite SDR HAT for SDR on a Raspberry Pi
A couple years ago, after I heard about the CaribouLite on CrowdSupply, I pre-ordered one.
I've dabbled in SDR with an RTL-SDR v3 for a few years, even using one with nrsc5 to listen to baseball games OTA because of silly MLB blackout restrictions.
But low-cost SDRs like the RTL-SDR v3 are receive-only, and have a limited frequency range, and lower quality RF filtering, so it can be frustrating if you're trying to work with lower-power RF... or trying to transmit at all!
A hospital stay and MLB blackouts led me to RTL-SDR radio
Last year I spent a lot of time in the hospital. Between multiple surgeries and outpatient visits and follow-ups (either intentional or through an unexpected ER visit), I probably spent at least a month or two in a hospital room. For a time, you could see the exact date ranges I was checked in by the holes in my GitHub contribution graph! Such is the life of an open source developer.
Despite appearances, this was not a very fun recovery!