CoreyPunches.net blog

Five months ago, I took the plunge and opened DC Tech Workshop on Etsy, merging my two passions: ham radio (I'm AF5QH) and 3D printing. What an exciting journey it's been! Running this little corner of the internet has taught me more about my hobbies, my customers, and entrepreneurship than I ever expected.

The Surprise Bestsellers

You know what's funny about retail? The products you're absolutely certain will fly off the shelves often gather dust, while items you almost didn't list become your top performers. I spent weeks perfecting my cable organizer designs, convinced they'd be the star of the show. Don't get me wrong—they sell—but they weren't the breakout hits I anticipated.

Meanwhile, my simple $1 articulated octopus keychains? They've become steady sellers. These little fidget toys that I thought might be “too basic” have brought smiles to customers and consistent orders to my shop. It's humbling and exciting to see what resonates with people.

The Items I Almost Removed

Here's where it gets really interesting. About a month ago, I was reviewing my listings and seriously considering removing two products: the octopus flexis and my NFC-enabled call sign keychains. They'd been sitting there with minimal activity, and I thought maybe they just weren't what customers wanted.

Guess what happened the very week I was about to delist them? Orders started coming in! First one NFC keychain, then another octopus, then more. It was like the universe was telling me, “Not so fast, buddy.” That taught me an important lesson about patience and not making hasty decisions based on short-term data.

Mixed Feelings and Unexpected Joy

Running this shop has been a rollercoaster of emotions. There's the anxiety of waiting for orders, the thrill when that notification pings, the satisfaction of packaging up a custom call sign keychain with someone's exact specifications. Every 5-star review (we're sitting at 4.9 stars with 19 reviews!) feels like validation, and every order feels like a conversation with a fellow ham or maker.

By the Numbers

Since launching in May 2025, we've hit some milestones I'm proud of: – 30 sales and counting – 4.9-star rating from 19 customer reviews – 14 active listings ranging from $1 octopus keychains to $25 cable management systems – Products shipped to hams and makers across the country – A growing catalog of antenna accessories, organizational tools, and fun 3D printed items

The antenna wire winders and dipole insulator kits have found their niche among field operators, while the desktop cable organizers appeal to those of us with crowded shacks (guilty!).

Looking Forward

As I look toward the next year, I'm filled with hope and excitement. My goals for DC Tech Workshop include:

• Expanding our product line with more practical ham radio accessories
• Developing better packaging and presentation
• Building stronger connections with the amateur radio community
• Experimenting with new materials and printing techniques
• Reaching 100 sales by this time next year
• Maintaining our high customer satisfaction rating

The journey from that first nervous listing to where we are today has been incredible. Every order teaches me something new, every customer interaction reminds me why I love this hobby community, and every design iteration brings me closer to creating products that truly serve fellow hams and makers.

To everyone who's purchased from DC Tech Workshop—thank you. Your support means the world to this full-time RV'ing ham operator. Here's to growing together over the next year!

73, Corey (AF5QH)

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Visit DC Tech Workshop on Etsy to see our full catalog of 3D printed ham radio accessories and fun items!

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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I've been exploring something pretty interesting lately – Perplexity's Comet browser and its built-in AI assistant capabilities. As someone who enjoys tinkering with technology (and ham radio!), I thought I'd share my experiences with this fascinating new tool that's changing how we interact with the web.

What is Perplexity Comet?

Comet is Perplexity's next-generation web browser that integrates AI assistants directly into the browsing experience. Unlike traditional browsers where you have to switch between tabs or open separate AI chat windows, Comet brings intelligent assistance right into your workflow. It's like having a knowledgeable co-pilot who can help you navigate, research, and interact with web content in real-time.

Key Features That Stand Out

Integrated Web Search

The browser includes Perplexity's powerful AI search capabilities built right in. Instead of just showing you a list of links, it can synthesize information from multiple sources and give you comprehensive answers with citations. This is incredibly useful when researching technical topics or trying to solve problems.

Browser Control

This is where things get really interesting. The AI assistant can actually interact with web pages on your behalf – filling forms, navigating sites, clicking buttons, and extracting information. It's like having an automated helper that can perform tedious web tasks while you focus on more important things.

Privacy-Focused Tools

Comet includes privacy features that help protect your data while browsing. In an era where online privacy is increasingly important, having these tools built into the browser itself is a significant advantage.

Natural Language Interface

You can simply tell the assistant what you want to accomplish in plain English, and it figures out how to do it. Need to find information across multiple pages? Want to automate a repetitive task? Just ask.

My Experience So Far

I've been putting Comet through its paces, and I have to say, it's been an interesting journey. The ability to have an AI assistant that can actually navigate websites and perform actions is genuinely useful. Here are some scenarios where I've found it particularly helpful:

Research and Information Gathering: When I need to find technical specifications or compare products, the assistant can quickly pull together information from multiple sources and present it in a coherent way.

Form Filling and Repetitive Tasks: Anyone who's had to fill out multiple similar forms knows how tedious it can be. The assistant can help automate these tasks, saving considerable time.

Learning New Platforms: When exploring new websites or services, having an AI guide that can help navigate and explain features is incredibly valuable.

How It Compares to Traditional Browsing

Using Comet feels like a glimpse into the future of web browsing. Traditional browsers are essentially just viewers – they display content but don't help you interact with it intelligently. Comet, on the other hand, is more like a collaborative tool. It understands context, can remember what you're trying to accomplish, and actively helps you achieve your goals.

Technical Implications

From a technical standpoint, what Comet is doing is fascinating. It's combining: – Natural language processing to understand user intent – Web automation capabilities to interact with sites – Knowledge synthesis to provide useful information – Privacy controls to keep your data secure

This integration of AI directly into the browser layer opens up possibilities that weren't practical before.

Use Cases for Ham Radio Operators and Tech Enthusiasts

For fellow hams and tech folks, here are some ways I can see Comet being useful:

• Research Equipment: Quickly compare specifications across multiple ham radio retailers
• Documentation Lookup: Find technical documentation and datasheets more efficiently
• Forum Research: Gather information from multiple ham radio forums and discussion boards
• License Study: Help organize study materials for license exams
• Project Planning: Research components and gather information for electronics projects

Learning Resources

If you want to learn more about Comet and see it in action, here are some helpful resources:

Demo Videos: – Perplexity Comet Browser Introduction – AI Assistants in Action – Comet Tutorial – Comet Browser Features Walkthrough

Official Resources: – Perplexity Comet Official Site – Comet Documentation

Thoughts and Reflections

After spending time with Comet, I'm genuinely impressed by how it changes the browsing experience. It's not just about adding AI features as a gimmick – the integration actually makes common tasks more efficient and less frustrating.

That said, it's still early days. Like any new technology, there's a learning curve, and not every task is suitable for AI assistance. But the potential is clearly there, and I'm excited to see how this technology evolves.

For anyone interested in the intersection of AI and web browsing, I'd definitely recommend giving Comet a try. It's a fascinating glimpse into how we might interact with the web in the future.

What's Next?

I plan to continue exploring Comet's capabilities, particularly around automating research tasks and managing technical documentation. I'll share more updates as I discover interesting use cases, especially ones relevant to ham radio operations and technical projects.

If you're using Comet or similar AI-powered browsing tools, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to reach out!

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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Taking care of business

It's been a busy month or so. I have been attempting to get a side-business off the ground and have been burning the candle at both ends for sure. I've even made a few sales. I won't bore anyone with all the ins and outs, ups and downs, but basically I am 3D printing items (hopefully) useful for amateur radio operators. I have a few items I am still designing that aren't ready quite yet, but hopefully soon. I've also discovered that my wife determined that she can sell some 3D printed trinkets to neighbors so we've been doing some of that as well.

Busy, busy, busy – more details to come.

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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Some new shoes

Recently I determined that my 3D printer might be having an issue where vibration was affecting my prints. I had read about some vibration dampening feet offered by VoxelPLA

They don't offer a set that fits my Anycubic Kobra S1, but I had run across a model on the Makeronline site and used it as an adapter to make them work. Installation was super easy, they just snap into the model from Makeronline.

I don't have any real data to prove that they've improved my prints, but it does feel like they have helped reduce some layer artifacts when printing.

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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ARISE!

I finally got the extra riser for my Anycubic Kobra S1 printed and setup. Whew that was a long print, and I'm really glad I decided to use a 0.06 nozzle instead of the standard 0.04, that extra 20% shaved a lot of hours of the total print time.

I printed all of this in PETG for extra strength. So far it's really working great to get the ACE Pro unit off the top lid of the printer, which also means I can lift that lid a little when I'm printing PLA to let a little heat out of the chamber.

The tool compartments are great to have as I was able to orgranize my 2 square foot home office (I'm not kidding...) and cram even more into a small, now hopefully better organized space.

You wouldn't believe what else I have planned for that small space. Hopefully I'll have more to say about that later.

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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My God, it's full of mods!

While I wait from my ACE PRO unit to arrive (tomorrow maybe!), I have been keeping busy by printing mods for my Anycubic Kobra S1 printer.

One of the first mods was a part I designed myself as I learn OnShape that I described in a previous post. click here

I also printed a 'poop shoot' for filament scraps so they don't just get ejected onto the floor.

It became apparent to me that I wanted to move the rear spool holder to the left side of the printer to make it easier to access and the right side is too close to a wall to make that work. So a few hours later..

All of these parts are printed in PETG.

Next I added a build plate holder for my growing collection of build plates. I can add more slots as needed.

I've also been printing covers for filament rolls that have paper spools.

And holders.

Also I decided I needed a convenient way to keep track of all the filament details for each brand and type, so I've started printing this mini 'floppy disk' samples and I have a label maker on the way to add even more data so that when I go to use a roll of filament I will have an easy way to recall all the info for settings as well as a sample of what it looks like when printed.

Next up is a riser system for the ACE PRO. But more on that later.

#3dprinting #Anycubic

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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A Voyage begins

So, now that I have a new printer with more capabilities than the ones I've owned in the past I felt like it was high time that I tried learning to design my own objects to print. I've tried several times in the past to use various CAD tools to do this, but I either found them too complicated, or too simple to create what I wanted.

I think I finally found a tool that suits me: OnShape

OnShape is a cloud hosted CAD tool with a free tier, and there is also some pretty good training courses on their learning portal to start using it right away.

I started working through one of the learning paths and learned enough after a couple of hours to create a simple part that I needed for my printer.

I needed a mod for the spool holder on the back of my printer that would allow the spools to turn a little smoother as well as lift it up just a bit to clear the garbage port mod I'd installed.

It's not very complicated but it gave me an opportunity to try out what I'd learned so far.

Works pretty well, but I found a couple of minor things I want to tweak.

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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I just got my new Anycubic Kobra S1 yesterday and after a quick unboxing and setup I was printing within an hour! Pretty cool. The quality on the first test print was impressive, it cranked out a benchy in about 30 minutes, I probably could have printed it quicker but it was fine.

With calibration done I'm starting to print some mods for the printer which is something I usually do with any new 3D printer. In this case I am starting with a much needed 'poop chute', which allows the waste ejected from the printer to collect somewhere else other than the floor..

I couldn't get my hands on the Ace Pro unit for the printer yet, but hope to have one in a few weeks. The Ace Pro allows for multi-color printing as well as has a built-in filament dryer.

Another cool feature on this printer is the internal camera that is not only doing some AI print anomaly detections, but also can capture timelapse videos of your prints.

This was a quick test print of a mod for the PTFE tube that runs into the extruder.

I got the parts for the chute completed in roughly 7 hours. The AI detection did pause the honeycomb basket print because it thought there was a spagetti problem, fortunately there was not and I just clicked resume and it completed fine.

Once the print completed just attached the parts to the rear of the printer.

Really like this printer and I'm hoping I'll be able to finish a few projects now.

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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Most Saturday's I participate in the World Wide Check-in Net on DMR Talk Group 91.

It usually runs a few hours as Operators all over the world check-in to the net. Living in an RV has presented a lot of issues in operating my ham radios (without operating portable or mobile outside). DMR allows me to pick up the radio whenever I feel like it and have QSO's with other Hams all over the world very easily. I occasionally also utilize an HT that can operate on D-Star networks for the same thing.

I recommend DMR for any Hams looking for ease of operation in areas where standard HF, and/or VHF/UHF capabilities are limited.

#radio

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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It's a conspiracy I tell ya

I've wanted to run my own self-hosted email server for a long time. No real reason other than I want to. Like most people I have perfectly adequate email services from several providers to include Google, Outlook, and ProtonMail. I can't say enough good things about Proton, I have a paid plan with them that includes their excellent VPN, password manager, calendar, and cloud drive applications. There is a free tier for all of their applications if you want to give them a try.

So, back to my struggle to get my email server communicating with the outside world.

Almost all ISP's block port 25 outbound, port 25 is needed for SMTP servers to communicate.

Ostensibly, to prevent 'bad actors' from sending out SPAM emails. Now, I don't know about you but I get tons of email SPAM. So it begs the question of why do the internet service providers continue to block port 25? Could it be that allowing those who want to run their own self-hosted email servers would no longer be under their control and monitoring (I exempt Proton from this as they are an exception)? I mean how is it that Google and Microsoft can let millions of users send emails via their services for free? Because yet again we are the product being sold. I wonder.

To get around CGNAT I already have a VPS located in AWS, so I was going to need to send all the SMTP traffic through my tunnel between my SMTP service and the VPS. AWS doesn't really like you sending mail from port 25 either and they recommend getting an Elastic IP and setting a reverse PTR record in DNS to your mail-server.

I added an email relay host in my local email server settings that pointed to Postfix running on my VPS instance in AWS reachable through a Tailscale tunnel. I need to use a relay host as my (so called) public IP where the email server sits will not resolve to the IP of my VPS which is where all the inbound/outbound traffic magic happens.

So I send an email from my server and with some network forwarding magic it makes it's way through the tailnet from my NAS to the EC2 instance.

Where Postfix is waiting to relay my outbound email to the internet.

Conversely, when an email is sent to my local email address it arrives over the internet at my VPS address where it gets routed via some rules to my NAS at home where the email server is running.

As a prerequisite for all of this I first had to make sure the DNS for my domain had been updated with A records for the mail host (the VPS), a reverse PTR that also pointed to the A record. An MX record, SPF record, DKIM record with certificate, and a DMARC record. DNSSEC had to be enabled as well. Nothing too complicated but entirely necessary.

There were also a few forwarding rules to allow some masquerading as well. This tells the VPS to send the traffic on these ports on to somewhere else, in this case the other end of the tailnet where the NAS awaits.

# SMTP inbound (port 25)
sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 25 -j DNAT --to-destination 100.118.10.71:25
sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p tcp -d 100.118.10.71 --dport 25 -j MASQUERADE

# SMTPS/Submission (465)
sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 587 -j DNAT --to-destination 100.118.10.71:465
sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p tcp -d 100.118.10.71 --dport 465 -j MASQUERADE

# SMTPS/Submission (587)
sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 587 -j DNAT --to-destination 100.118.10.71:587
sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p tcp -d 100.118.10.71 --dport 587 -j MASQUERADE

# IMAPS (optional, 993)
sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp --dport 993 -j DNAT --to-destination 100.118.10.71:993
sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p tcp -d 100.118.10.71 --dport 993 -j MASQUERADE

Also, if you haven't already guessed, there was a good reason I have my relay listening on port 2525. If not when email was sent out from the NAS on port 25 to the VPS to be relayed, the forwarding rule for port 25 just sends it right back resulting in a loop.

With all of that complete my emails are flowing!

#selfhosting

This is AF5QH. 73 and out.

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