Hobbies and Interests

Most holy Mary, Virgin of virgins, shrine of the most Holy Trinity, joy of the angels, sure refuge of sinners, take pity on our sorrows, mercifully accept our sighs, and appease the wrath of your most holy Son. –Amen

Amateur Radio

I am a fully licensed amateur radio operator (ve6ux and ve6rux). I like to design and build my own equipment, and usually try to be active in events like ARRL's Field Day (in June), RAC's Canada Day contest and ARRL's November Sweepstakes. My preferred modes of communication are morse code and various digital text methods. Currently I am working on SDR (Software Defined Radio) for Mac OS X operating systems, as well as Echolima (a focus group for the improvement of radio linking software).

Combat Robotics

I design and compete in combat robotics, in the 150g, 1lb and 3lb class. I use robotics to instruct STREAM to youth.

Photography

Mainly artistic, sometimes journalistic. I love black + white, I love the process of getting an image from the camera to the enlarger. Currently I am experimenting with digital. I started with a Nikon D3100 and after giving that to my daughter traded up to a D7000. I am now using a Nikon D7100. I am looking at various video formats, and I have a couple of DJI drones that I like to use as a photo platform.

Music

I play bass guitar, flute, bagpipes and keyboards, and I am trying to learn electric guitar. Over the years I have participated in several amateur bands, mostly Christian Contemporary, Jazz or Blues. I have done some recording for other people's albums as well.

Computers

I have had an interest in computers and computing since I built my first machine in 1972. I am proficient in assembly and C language programming for low level projects (mainly in amateur radio communications), and capable of object oriented programming in a few other languages. My OS love is Unix, and my home system consists of an Mac Studio running OS X and Parallels to run Windows and Linux.

Make

I love to build things. It doesn't matter what materials I am using, from silicone to wood. I have a natural attraction to well designed tools. Life is better when I have something to make.

Chess

I play chess, especially when I am unable do anything else. I have taught my grandchildren the game, one of which can defeat me regularly. I like playing around with programming chess engines to defeat other chess engines.

Current Projects

My current projects include a Mac based SDR (Software Defined Radio) for the amateur radio bands, and a combat robotics system using an RP2040 based controller. I am also working on the Echolima project which is a combination of hard and software.