Printing and COVID tests

 I received the new 3D printer late last week.

It took a couple of hours to get it assembled and start on a test print.

I learned a lot with the subsequent prints - namely that I should have ordered the auto levelling kit at the same time, as I need to keep levelling it. 

I also learned how touchy they are about their environment, and that I really should have ordered an enclosure for it. Lack of adhesion on the heated bed, warping and so on are all issues, and I discovered them all. 

None though are as bad as the roll of filament that jams up - where the thread is under layers of thread causing it to jam up. This doesn't stop the printer printing. It'll keep going.. sans filament. When it starts pulling filament again, it'll just wind up making a mess. 

I had dropped the spool at one point. I'm hoping that somehow caused the pain that this spool has become. I have some long prints planned (ie 24 hour+), and I really need a spool that I can rely on. I've been caught out multiple times already with this spool jamming up and wrecking long jobs. 

As yet, I still have printed the G90's fan stand. It's one of those big jobs. I did print a stand though for the little audio mixer that handles both radios, a new VFO knob for the small OEM knob on the G90 and some other bits and pieces to deal with other problems I've been eager to address.

Over the weekend I started getting sick - in no small part thanks to one of the harmonics who'd been home all week unwell, but still doesn't get the concept of social distancing. COVID test bookings were all too easy to get into  - the first available was so soon that I wouldn't have made it on time. The expected negative result arrived just over 24 hours later. 

It wasn't a great long weekend being unwell and all (especially as the XYL is a couple of days ahead with this bug), but I managed to poke at the printer intermittently. 

The levelling kit and some more filament should arrive in the next day or two, so I should be able to push on with those big jobs. 

Looking forward to the ISS SSTV activity next week. Hoping that with the IC706 and the upgraded V/UHF antenna, I might get substantially better results. The SDR gives me better control for handling doppler, but it's not reliable enough over any period of time. I may need to do some research between now and then for an app that can track the ISS and drive the IC706 while it happens.