Their response was interesting:
Generally, the reviews are processed every couple week or so. Reviews are posted once reviewed/resolved. If the customer has concerns/issues with a product it may take longer as the issue is reviewed and investigated.
As far as I can tell, that means in practice that they won't post negative reviews.
That said, they also said that Intellitron have agreed that there is a quality problem that they are fixing, and that they want to replace them. I didn't ask for a return and they are still asking me to return for replacements with the quality problem fixed. Yay! Responsive customer service. Now I have to decide what to do.
But I now feel that I have to ignore the contents of reviews on their site, because they are explicitly biasing them.
After sleeping on this, I'm very torn here, in two ways.
I enjoy machining projects. On the other hand, machining stainless is less fun than many other metals, and this project would end up actually taking a couple of hours. Probably the smart thing is to take the replacements that GigaParts is offering, and go back to my original plan to machine a ⅜-24 to m10x1.5 adapter.
I am glad GigaParts is taking customer satisfaction seriously. I'll definitely be happy to order from them again. But having learned how they moderate reviews up front, that they aren't just moderating for spam/abuse but also for content, I am a little bit uncomfortable with my name showing up on any review on their site. I don't think this is malicious on their part; I just don't think they are thinking through what it looks like to customers.
The 21mm x 25mm stainless "capillary" tube is indeed a close match. It's a tighter fit than the finished base but it's within lapping range. This plan has legs.
Meanwhile, GigaParts still haven't approved my review (nor told me that they have rejected it), and today spammed me with a CTA email asking me to review it.
I suggested that they integrate their marketing automation with their platform.
Their response was interesting:
Generally, the reviews are processed every couple week or so. Reviews are posted once reviewed/resolved. If the customer has concerns/issues with a product it may take longer as the issue is reviewed and investigated.
As far as I can tell, that means in practice that they won't post negative reviews.
That said, they also said that Intellitron have agreed that there is a quality problem that they are fixing, and that they want to replace them. I didn't ask for a return and they are still asking me to return for replacements with the quality problem fixed. Yay! Responsive customer service. Now I have to decide what to do.
But I now feel that I have to ignore the contents of reviews on their site, because they are explicitly biasing them.
I bought a pair of 25' Intellitron stainless steel whip antennas from GigaParts while they were on sale ("two is one and one is none" and the second one tipped me me into "free shipping" making its marginal cost pretty low). On removing them from the packages, however, loose roll pins fell out, and the bases fell off the antennas. Both of them.
A roll pin is an inappropriate fastener to use to connect two concentric thin-walled tubes, so this is a design failure. And the roll pins are junk.
I'm waiting for GigaParts to approve my 3-star review.
But the more I look into this, the less annoyed I am. Just being able to look inside is cool, and I haven't been able to do that on the other whips I have where the thread stud is swaged in place.
I've learned that 21mm ID, 25mm OD is a standard size of stainless tube, and matches the outside dimensions quite well. The base is about 5mm thick not counting the thread stud. I think that they probably press fit / welded a threaded plug into standard stainless tube, turned it to a taper and milled sides flat for looks, and drilled it for the roll pin.
I really wished I could buy M10x1.5 instead of 3/8-24 for the end to match my other whips, so I've ordered some 25x21mm stainless tube. I think I'll make a brass plug. And I'll probably use a custom staked rivet in place of the roll tube to attach the pieces, though I haven't decided for sure.
Anyway, if someone who doesn't mix up ham radio and machining as hobbies buys these antennas, a few turns of electrical tape around the base will probably work around the design flaw and hole the roll pin in place.
#HamRadio
The 21mm x 25mm stainless "capillary" tube is indeed a close match. It's a tighter fit than the finished base but it's within lapping range. This plan has legs.
Meanwhile, GigaParts still haven't approved my review (nor told me that they have rejected it), and today spammed me with a CTA email asking me to review it.
I suggested that they integrate their marketing automation with their platform.
I bought a pair of 25' Intellitron stainless steel whip antennas from GigaParts while they were on sale ("two is one and one is none" and the second one tipped me me into "free shipping" making its marginal cost pretty low). On removing them from the packages, however, loose roll pins fell out, and the bases fell off the antennas. Both of them.
A roll pin is an inappropriate fastener to use to connect two concentric thin-walled tubes, so this is a design failure. And the roll pins are junk.
I'm waiting for GigaParts to approve my 3-star review.
But the more I look into this, the less annoyed I am. Just being able to look inside is cool, and I haven't been able to do that on the other whips I have where the thread stud is swaged in place.
I've learned that 21mm ID, 25mm OD is a standard size of stainless tube, and matches the outside dimensions quite well. The base is about 5mm thick not counting the thread stud. I think that they probably press fit / welded a threaded plug into standard stainless tube, turned it to a taper and milled sides flat for looks, and drilled it for the roll pin.
I really wished I could buy M10x1.5 instead of 3/8-24 for the end to match my other whips, so I've ordered some 25x21mm stainless tube. I think I'll make a brass plug. And I'll probably use a custom staked rivet in place of the roll tube to attach the pieces, though I haven't decided for sure.
Anyway, if someone who doesn't mix up ham radio and machining as hobbies buys these antennas, a few turns of electrical tape around the base will probably work around the design flaw and hole the roll pin in place.
#HamRadio
I spent quite a few evening hours this past week modeling the production Morserino M32 Pocket case in FreeCAD. The original had basically been forked in a mesh editor, which made it hard to work from. Hans (of QRP Labs) kindly released his STLs, which made this work easier and the resulting objects better.
If you want a different color, or different plastic, or to make a modification to the design, you now have a good starting point.
I did all this work as preparation for designing my own case with an integrated single-lever paddle. Now that I've finished the "upstream" work, I'm ready to start thinking about my own design. I know that I don't want to just smoosh together two models; I want to make a good integrated design and it's probably going to just be different.
https://www.printables.com/model/1550518-morserino-m32-pocket-case-for-production-component
https://morserino.groups.io/g/main/message/8220
#FreeCAD #MorseCode #HamRadio #Morserino
My friend Brad Bazemore KK4PWJ wanted a totally free — zero cost, 100% open source — comprehensive US Amateur Radio study app. His day job is in testing, and he really knows his stuff.
So he built Open Ham Prep.
I'm super grateful for Hamstudy — it's how I passed all three tests, and I contributed to a bunch of explanations, especially improving ones that were just mnemonic gimmicks. But every time I recommend it, I also say, "If you are having trouble with a question, take a note of the question ID, and send me an email describing the problem, and I'll happily do my best to improve the explanation." Guess how often people take me up on that? 👻
By contrast, Open Ham Prep has an integrated, public Discourse forum for discussing the test questions. Almost every question has an explanation, and if a question is confusing, you just reply with a comment to get help. Or, if you want to Elmer new or upgrading hams, you can subscribe to get notifications about new comments in one or more of the test levels, and help answer them! You don't need to be an Amateur Extra to help! 📣
#AmateurRadio #HamRadio
Here's the latest announcement from Open Ham Prep. It's had keyboard controls since right near the beginning, about a month ago. Brad told me he was committed to accessibility the first day he mentioned his prototype, when I asked him pretty skeptically why he was working on this. He's now improved from initial keyboard support to full keyboard navigation and screen reader support. 🎉
If you find accessibility bugs 🐛
please holler! 📣
My friend Brad Bazemore KK4PWJ wanted a totally free — zero cost, 100% open source — comprehensive US Amateur Radio study app. His day job is in testing, and he really knows his stuff.
So he built Open Ham Prep.
I'm super grateful for Hamstudy — it's how I passed all three tests, and I contributed to a bunch of explanations, especially improving ones that were just mnemonic gimmicks. But every time I recommend it, I also say, "If you are having trouble with a question, take a note of the question ID, and send me an email describing the problem, and I'll happily do my best to improve the explanation." Guess how often people take me up on that? 👻
By contrast, Open Ham Prep has an integrated, public Discourse forum for discussing the test questions. Almost every question has an explanation, and if a question is confusing, you just reply with a comment to get help. Or, if you want to Elmer new or upgrading hams, you can subscribe to get notifications about new comments in one or more of the test levels, and help answer them! You don't need to be an Amateur Extra to help! 📣
#AmateurRadio #HamRadio
I was initially skeptical when Brad first proposed yet another ham study app. But when I saw his results so far, I was convinced enough to volunteer to maintain the Discourse forum for it. I also linked up questions to the ARRL chapters. He has a lot of other ideas to keep improving it, too! It's already useful, yet just getting started.
But a lot of its potential depends on you, the #HamRadio community!
Would you like to help people study successfully?
Click the 🔔
and choose “Watching” in the Technician Questions, General Questions, or Extra Questions categories to be notified of changes. Every new question from a student will turn into a notification.
Are you trying to help someone specific get or upgrade their license?
If you both sign up on the forum, you can ↑ watch for updates for the question category/ies that they are studying for, and help answer their questions.
My friend Brad Bazemore KK4PWJ wanted a totally free — zero cost, 100% open source — comprehensive US Amateur Radio study app. His day job is in testing, and he really knows his stuff.
So he built Open Ham Prep.
I'm super grateful for Hamstudy — it's how I passed all three tests, and I contributed to a bunch of explanations, especially improving ones that were just mnemonic gimmicks. But every time I recommend it, I also say, "If you are having trouble with a question, take a note of the question ID, and send me an email describing the problem, and I'll happily do my best to improve the explanation." Guess how often people take me up on that? 👻
By contrast, Open Ham Prep has an integrated, public Discourse forum for discussing the test questions. Almost every question has an explanation, and if a question is confusing, you just reply with a comment to get help. Or, if you want to Elmer new or upgrading hams, you can subscribe to get notifications about new comments in one or more of the test levels, and help answer them! You don't need to be an Amateur Extra to help! 📣
#AmateurRadio #HamRadio
RE: https://fosstodon.org/@paulox/115819064042518517
Happy Public Domain Day 2026!
I see some favorites in here, that I already own in print but am glad to see in electrons, such as.
Dorothy Sayers' Strong Poison
Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons
And books I haven't read but might, like T. S Eliot's Ash Wednesday
I suggest you support Standard Ebooks 📚
“Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces new editions of public domain ebooks that are lovingly formatted, open source, free of … copyright restrictions, and free of cost.” ⚖
️
See what’s free to read on January 1 👇
https://standardebooks.org/blog/public-domain-day-2026
Please boost 🙏
#StandardEbooks #PublicDomain #PublicDomainDay #Copyright #Ebooks #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #Python
CC @standardebooks@mastodon.social
This might explain why I keep thinking "I could have sworn I took more pictures than that" when I'm trying to take a lot of pictures to document a build in order to create illustrated instructions. 😦
https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/google-pixel/strange-pixel-camera-bug-is-stopping-some-photos-from-being-saved
Michael K Johnson