Electronics Flea Market at De Anza College in Cupertino CA. A nice medium-sized show with all types of electronics & surplus, old and new! We have a few new items you may have been looking for. See some of my booth photos below.....

THIS IS THE LAST TIME THIS YEAR FOR US! I will try to be in the regular spot - booth 13/14 on the south side of the lot near one of the parking stub dispensers. It's a free show for attendees but, there is a $2.00 parking fee. ... Just listen for the Big-Band music coming from my location! I will have lots of hard to find LED products, High-Definition Cables, Component, CAT5e, USB to whatever such as: Camera, SATA, PS/2 and More at wholesale to the public prices! Also, plenty of Ham Radio Adapters and Cables too.

Wired Communications will be there for Friday night til 7PM - Sunday ending at Noon. We are inside at the right-rear of the exhibit hall! This is a good time to save money for Computer + Home Theater Cables, and lots of new ham radio connections including SMA. Come by and see the latest in Mini HDMI, DVI, Optical Digital Audio + HDD SATA Cables! We also will have our LED lighting (Strips, 1156 Towers, GU4 and GU10, PAR20-38 bulbs, Flashlights and more!) Now many are DIMMABLE! CAT5e network cables, adapters and accessories such as USB, FireWire, USB to RS232 Adapters, DB9-Pin Serial Cables for those free-to-air boxes! Wholesale to the public prices! Also, plenty of extra Ham Radio Adapters and RG8X Cable too.

Come one, come all to the San Diego, ARRL Southwestern Division Convention. It will be held at Four Points Hotel Sheraton, San Diego 8110 Aero Dr., San Diego. Play on th nine hole Golf Course. Bus stops are close by too. About 10 miles from Lindbergh Field and just ½ a block to Montgomery Field airport.. Getting here is easy. All you have to do once you get there is is have fun! A great time for the family too!

We will have vendors such as Wired Communications and many others from all aspects of Ham Radio. Guest speakers will be talking about the latest on Antenna issues. Come and see all the latest radio technology coming down the road. A Flea Market will be outside before the convention starts. Prizes will be awarded every hour from start to the very end of the Convention and if we have any leftovers like 2006 Convention at the end as well. We will also have a Grand Prize. So come on down and enjoy the fun of Ham Radio. You may even visit one of the many seminars that will be going on throughout the Convention. You may wish to get on the air at our Convention Shack located in the Exhibit Hall with some REAL Antennas! You can even take a test to get and/or upgrade your license.There is something for everyone here at the Convention or have the family take in the sights and sounds of San Diego!

Contact Person for the Convention:
Paul Rios KC6QLS
Convention Phone line (619) 593-9445
E-mail KC6QLS@cox.net

Now is the time to save money for Computer + Home Theater Cables and Ham Radio Connections. Come by and see the latest in Mini HDMI, DVI-D, Digital TosLink Audio + Component Cables! All at Wholesale Prices! We also carry LED lighting such as strip lights, SMT LEDs, UV Flashlights, individual LED PAR series lightbulbs. Also, CAT5e network cables, jacks, wallplates, couplers adapters and accessories such as USB, FireWire, USB to RS232 or SATA Adapters, Micro and Mini USB, DB9-Pin serial null-modem cables! 100's of items available at our booth!

WHERE: Northrop-Grumman parking lot S.E. corner of Marine Ave. and Aviation Blvd. always on the LAST Saturday of the month.

Location of our booth is the end-cap at the NW corner of the swapmeet lot. We are here Rain or Shine!..Remember: the swap is ONLY from 7AM to 11:30 AM! TRW Rules dictates that all sales cease at 11:30 so be there early as you can! Sorry 'bout that Chief!

Please check out these photos of the fest ...... INCREDIBLE Attendance!!

Only 30 minutes down the 405 from the TRW Hamfest is the ACP Computer Swapmeet at 1310 Edinger, Santa Ana CA. (Off the 55 Freeway and Edinger). Every "Odd" month on the LAST Sunday, we will have many new cabling products on display at the show! Come by and see the latest in HDTV, Mini HDMI, DVI-D, + Component Cables and we will also have our computer cables, adapters accessories such as USB to SATA, CAT5e, USB to IDE + SATA Adapters, + 3 types of DB9-Pin Serial Cables for those free-to-air boxes. Oh, and lots of LED lighting, Flashlights, UV, Strips and Individual chips. Please, keep in mind that this show happens the day after TRW.

Stop by and get a great deal on all your cable and adapter-connector needs. Also have the latest in compression connector tools for digital TV, network cable testers and test meters. My space numbers are F7, F8, F9 out on Edinger at the west end of the lot. The best attended outdoor computer swap bar none! - Not as HUGE as in the 1980's but, still a very nice meet for electronics nuts and enthusiasts like me!

Free entry for buyers. Free Parking. Swap pretty much ends about 2 PM. See You There!

Frequently asked questions about LED Lights!

1. Question: What is an LED?

Answer: A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when electrical current passes through it, it is a special kind of diode.

2. Question: Can LEDs be used to replace conventional incandescent and florescent light bulbs?

Answer: Yes and no. LEDs have increasingly been used in many different applications to replace old incandescent light bulbs. Examples include LED indicator lights for all kinds of electronic devices such as cellphone, calculators, automotive dash panel, LCD back-lighting, etc., LED seasonal decoration lights for Christmas and holidays, LED traffic signs and other LED direction signs, LED flashing lights, etc. Currently LEDs have limited brightness, but this is increasing as better technologies are developed to make it brighter.

3. Question: What are the advantages of LEDs compared with conventional incandescent lights?

Answer: There are many advantages that LEDs have over traditional incandescent light bulbs:

· Low power consumption: Saves you money and energy!
· Long lasting
· Cold lighting
· Ruggedness
· Small size and weight
· Simple to use

More detailed explanation about the advantages of LED lights:

LEDs are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs. You can save money & energy by using LEDs instead of equivalent incandescent decorative bulbs.

The rated average working life of LED is 100,000 hours compared with 1,000 hours of incandescent bulbs.

LEDs emit cold lights as working LEDs generate very small amount of heat, so LEDs are much safer than equivalent incandescent light bulbs in terms of danger of fire. LEDs don’t have filaments to heat up in order to emit lights like incandescent bulbs. Lights are emitted from LEDs as a result of energy exchange occurring in the different semiconductor materials an LED is made of.

LEDs are usually shielded with solid transparent plastic materials so they are more rugged than incandescent and florescent bulbs that are usually sealed with glass.

LEDs can be powered by either AC voltage or DC voltage. The circuit that is required to appropriately drive LEDs is much simpler than that for florescent bulbs.

4. Question: What are the disadvantages of LEDs compared with incandescent or florescent bulbs?

Answer: LEDs emit limited amount of lights at a relatively small angle range, while incandescent and florescent light bulbs illuminate in all directions.

LEDs are more expensive than equivalent incandescent light bulbs. This is why some customers still hesitate to buy LED products even though LEDs have so many obvious advantages over incandescent bulbs and people actually can save money by using LED products in the long run.

5. Question: How do the LED light strings and incandescent light strings in terms of reliability?

Answer: LEDs are more reliable. However, in the case of light burning, an incandescent light bulb will always burn open, namely, the filament of the incandescent bulb breaks, so the whole string will always fail, while an LED light may either burn open like an incandescent light bulb or burn short where a short circuit is formed inside the LED, so the burned out LED will stop lighting, but all the rest LEDs in the string still light normally. And LEDs usually burn short, therefore, LEDs are more reliable than incandescent light bulbs.

6. Question: Why are LEDs of some colors are more expensive than LEDs of other colors?

Answer: Different semiconductor materials are used for different color LEDs, and some semiconductor materials are more expensive than others. Also manufacturing costs are different for different colors. For example: White LEDs are the most expensive because red, green and blue LEDs are combined together to make a white LED.

We offer many of the products that are here in the Webstore catalog on eBay as well. Get a great deal plus increase your feedback! Super fast one-day service - Same as on our site wiredco.com. Please browse our listings today. Cables, Connectors, adapters for HDTV, HDMI, Digital Audio and More!

See all of the great Computer, TV Cables, Network, Home Theater products we offer! Items such as: DVI cables, iPod, HDMI cables, USB adapters, Audio cables and Digital Audio. We also have super prices on Ham radio RG-8X Jumper Cables and inter-series adapters for BNC, N, UHF, SO-239, RCA, SMA, Male, Female!

Sources of interference

Since natural interference phenomena do not really affect the modern equipment, the actual problems today are generated accidentally by the actual operation of the equipment. Basically, the radiated interfering signals are classified in a narrow band and broad band. Narrow band signals occupy a small portion of the radio spectrum and have the energy concentrated in a single frequency wave. However, when modulation is introduced, the narrow band signal may generate side bands of energy which may cover hundreds of kilohertz. Examples of sources for narrow band signals are radio & TV transmitters, radio transceivers, cellular telephonic equipment and Doppler radar. These sources start out with very low harmonic frequency outputs but can cause harmonic frequencies to be generated if they are used in areas which can present non-linear conditions to the RF energy through secondary transmission of these signals.

Broad band signals are those whose energy is spread over tens of hundreds of Megahertz. They are generated by narrow pulses with sharp rise times, characteristic of radars, gas discharge tubes, engine ignition systems, power line discharges, computer clocking pulses, motor brushes and switching regulators. The steepness of the pulses causes problems because the short rise times mean very high frequencies and that which may appear to be a low impedance can actually have a high inductive component and be a high impedance for the rise time.

Oscillator circuits on printed circuit boards can cause energy to be both conducted and radiated. These oscillator sources may be part of the power supply (as in switching regulators) or they may be part of the logic clock circuits. Other source of radiation could be amplifier circuits with a high slew rate, which can have very fast rise times and, if not terminated properly, can cause a large spectrum of noise. Actually, every frequency source could be a potential source of interference and all interference signals can be coupled to the power line and conducted to the power mains, thus creating problems to other equipments connected close to the signal source

Using ferrite cores for EMI suppression
Based on the specific magnetic properties of the Nickel-Zinc ceramic ferrite materials, molded cores, when used as EMI filters, absorb the energy of the high frequency noise on the line and dissipate it as quantities of heat. Since the electrical resistance component of the material is reduced at low levels of frequency, the ferrite cores provide very low series impedance and do not affect the normal data signals on the line.

Cut the end of the cable off square with a set of wire cutters. Place the coax in a stripper tool, with the end flush against the side of the tool. (separate stripper is available here on our site.) Twirl the strip tool 360 degrees in both directions around the cable until the "crunching" stops. (5 to 10 turns.)

Remove the strip tool and pull off the stripped material. Fold back the remaining braid so that there is only one layer of foil left against the center white dielectric. Note that with quad shield cable, there may be two layers of braid and one layer of foil to remove. When using our stripper, adjust the blade so that it cuts through the outer layer of braid and foil. This makes the crimping operation much quicker and easier. If you do not get everything except the innermost layer of foil removed, it may be very difficult to push on the connector.

Insert the cable into the Perma-Seal connector. When inserted properly, the white insulator of the cable should be flush with the metal flange. you can see this action by looking into the connector at the threaded end. If you cannot get the coax to go in all the way, pull it out and push it in again. Sometimes the cable catches on the inner ring or the braid catches. If the cable jacket is loose, you may need to kink the cable slightly in your palm while pressing it into the connector (no more than 45 degrees).

Lay the cable-connector assembly into the crimp tool. Squeeze the handle until the top ring seats all the way into the connector. You should hear or feel a "click" as it pops into position. Remove the coax and connector from the crimper. Test the crimp by giving the cable a nice "tug", all should be fine. If not the tool may need some minor adjustments or the braid may have prevented the connector from seating properly. FYI, YOU CANNOT REUSE THE CONNECTOR. You will need to try another if the cable pulls out.

Comparison between CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6

In the context of the 100-ohm UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) type of cable used for Ethernet wiring the only categories of interest are Cat3, Cat4, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6. CATx is an abbreviation for the category number that defines the performance of building telecommunications cabling as outlined by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) standards. Some specifications for these categories are shown further down.

Up until the late 1980s thick or thin coaxial cable was typically used for 10-Mbps Ethernet networks, but around that time, UTP cabling became more commonly used because it was easier to install and less expensive. UTP CAT3 and CAT4 were used for a quite limited time since the emergence of 100Base-TX networks meant a quick shift to CAT5. By the year 2000, moves to gigabit (1000Base-TX) Ethernet LANs created a need for another specification, CAT5e. CAT5e is now being superseded by CAT6 cable.

If you're cabling a mission critical system or you want your network to be future proof, go for the CAT6 cables (and patch panels and connectors), but for the average home or small office network CAT5 or CAT5e will be just fine.

Crossover Cables vs Straight Through Cables

Ethernet patch cables can be wired in three different ways, the two main ways are called straight through and crossover. The third type is called rolled and has only specialized applications.

Generally speaking, straight through cables are used to patch between different types of equipment; for example, PCs to a hub.
Conversely, crossover cables are generally used to patch between similar types of equipment; a PC to another PC for example. Some modern hubs don't care if you use crossover cables or straight through cables, they work out what you're using and configure themselves accordingly.

As stated at the outset, the actual difference is in the wiring. Inside the UTP patch cable there are 8 physical wires although the network only uses 4 of them (the other 4 are simply wasted). The 8 wires are arranged in what's known as pairs and one pair is used to send information whilst the other pair is used to receive information.

On a PC, the pair on pins 1 and 2 of the connector send information, whilst the pair on pins 3 and 6 receive the information. To make PCs talk to each we therefore need to connect the send pair of one PC to the receive pair of the other PC (and vice-a-versa). That means we need a crossover cable. If we used a straight through cable the both be listening on the one pair - and hearing nothing, and sending on the one pair - achieving nothing.