New Menu!

If you have been to this site before, you might have noticed that the menu on the left side of each page is gone. The menu is not really gone. It has just been replaced by a menu that is easily manipulated by a mobile device. Note the symbol in the upper-left corner with three horizontal hash marks. In the computer world this is know as a "hamburger" and is commonly used to indicate an option menu on cell phones and devices with touch screens. The "hamburger" is used to access the top level of the menu. It also is used to back out of a menu selection.

When activated, by touch or mouse click, the "hamburger" will move to the right, about 200 pixels, and a top level menu will be displayed, between the left edge of the page and the "hamburger". Menu entries that have a right facing arrow next to them are section headings and contain other menu items. Clicking on entries without a arrow will take you directly to a page. There may be other section headings under some of the top level headings.

It took a lot of work to replace the original menu with this new one. And, there have been a lot of updates to my drawing library. So there may still be some pages that are not fixed.

Introduction

The main focus of this site is what I call my JavaScript^® Electronic Notebook, accessable from the menu on the left. It consists of a group of JavaScript^® driven web pages that are intended for use as a quick reference for Amateur Radio operators or just anyone interested in electronics. Use the popup menu bar on the left, to access any one of my pages.

This web site does not use Java, Flash, or any Active-X controls. However, it does make extensive use of Javascript®. If you get a warning about restricting this web page from runing script, you will need to click on "Allow blocked content". Or, in the "Options" menu, you will need to allow JavaScript®. If you don't, nothing on my web site will operate, including the menu. Javascript® is used for operating calculators and rendering drawings. There is nothing in the Javascript® that would cause any problems.

Except for that small icon that alternates between "Best Sites" and "AFS Analytics", there is no advertising on my web site. That small icon is just a way for me to collect statistics on my web pages. Beyond that, there shouldn't be any annoyances. I fund this web site completely on my own.

It is now the year . I started my web site on June 5, 2004 and has it evolved as time moved on. What you see now is a rewrite. I rewrote the entire web site for many reasons. My original web site seemed to work well, but it was a little problematic for maintainance and adding pages. So a much simpler format has been adopted.

Note: Even though this rewrite is not complete, I am publishing it anyway. It has be come too big and too clumsy to keep in a test mode. So you may find some pages incomplete and other still in the old format. I am still working on the site but I don't have any real finish date. Part of that is because I get an idea for a new page, and get distracted. My original web site will be available for a while, but as new pages are completed, redirect pages will take their place.

Conventions Used: To keep consistancy between pages, there are certain conventions that I have adopted.

Calculate Buttons: While all of my pages perform some kind of calculations, there are no buttons that say "Calculate" on any of my pages. Each time you change a input, and then click any where else on the page, the entire page is recalculated. This may seem like a lot of calculating, but even the most complicated of my pages recalculates in a fraction of a second and is not noticable.
Input Data: Input data is prompted for using HTML <input> tags. Often there are cases when some <input> data is not required, fixed, or simply not wanted. In those cases the <input> will be "grayed" out. User input will be disabled.
Output Data:
Data Dimensions:

Browser Compatability: When I write my web pages, I use Google Chrome as I am developing. Then, from time to time, I go back and check the operation of my pages with Internet Explorer 11, Firefox and Edge. All of which are usually the latest versions. Beyond that, I don't do any other testing. During development, the most problematic browser has been Internet Explorer 11, but I think I have figured out most of my issues. I have found that Internet Explorer 11 errors out on some relatively simple Javascript constructs. However, Since Microsoft is trying to replace IE with Edge, all of my compatability efforts might be in vein.

Printing: Most of the pictures on my site are not pictures at all. They are drawings that are created dynamically, when the web page is loaded. However, if you try to print some of the drawings, like schematics, you might discover a problem with the text being offset. The offset causes some of the drawings to be unreadable. I have tried Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Firefox and Edge and they all do the same thing, just to different degrees. The only effective way I found to print say, one of my schematics, is to do a Screen Capture with IrfanView. I tried other tools for a screen capture but they didn't work. But, I don't have the time, or inclination, to do an exhaustive search of every Screen Capture tool available.

IrfanView is a free graphics tool that contains, among other things, the ability to do a Screen Capture. Once the image is captured, the background color can be removed/changed. Removing or changing the background color must be done before the captured image is saved.