holy crap. it's 140PM and this is up. WTF. Is it a dream?

It's only been 4 years since their last print edition or was it the last PDF release (I don't feel like looking)     Give them time!

I doubt they can pave the road back to success. Their "15 minutes of fame" has come and gone under current ownership.

Thanks. It was a fun project. Although it is a cheap Chinese thing, it is capable of some cool tricks. For example, if you have both X and Y scales installed, the microcontroller in the readout unit can prompt you to bring the quill down at the proper coordinates to make a series of holes in a perfect circle. Sort of like a CNC machine, except the operator is providing the motion.
Yes, LVDT's are cool things. I worked with them a lot, years ago, in aerospace. I think they're used more often for shorter movements, though. This sort of linear scale is basically similar to an optical computer mouse that slides along a glass scale marked with very fine increments. The "mouse" generates a pulse every time it passes over one of the markings, and the readout does the rest.
I will eventually install a Y axis scale, but the configuration of my machine will make it more involved. When I get to that point, I'll post pictures, assuming I can get into the site again. I can't believe it's up right now. at 10:45 in the morning.
I would love to have a full-sized, modern CNC milling machine, but that's way beyond my financial means at this point in my life.

Electric Radio dropping from 12 to 6 issues really disappointed me. I've enjoyed electric radio more than QST, honestly, although I still like getting my monthly hard-copy of QST. Despite the current trend, I subscribe to a number of print magazines.  As a former military aerospace worker, I enjoy my subscription to Aviation Week and Space Technology. That one's still going strong, but it can buck the trend because it's very much an "insider" publication and not as vulnerable to consumer trends.
73 Magazine, and Ham Radio Horizons, suffered a similar demise, as did Popular Electronics. I'm still holding out hope for Nuts and Volts, but it's getting harder, and they'll need to convince me.

Very nice! I would have thought you would have needed something more mechanical like an LVDT to report position. Your display has large digits which is good for those of us with 'seasoned' eyes!

This is not an uncommon occurrence with print magazines in recent times. Similar problem with Antique Radio Classified and CQ magazine. CQ slid, I think, for 6 months in a row with no deliveries of print editions to subscribed customers. They finally posted the 6 PDF versions on their web site. And then it ended.
Lack of article input, constant rising USPS shipping charges, paper and print materials also rising in cost doesn't make running a magazine very profitable. And selling subscriptions to vaporware doesn't seem right either.

I wouldn't be surprised to see QST, over the next several years to shrink the page count down to 104 pages. QST pages are bundled in groups of 8 pages. We're at currently 128 pages. Roughly about 20 years go, I think QST was somewhere over 160 pages.
Even Electric Radio has dropped from 12 monthly issues to 6 bi-monthly issues.

Working on my current project, a 3X 3-500Z amplifier, inspired me to do something I have been meaning to do for years: install a digital readout on my milling machine.
   The readout can display two axis, but for now, I installed a linear scale only on the X-axis. Due to the configuration of my machine, installing a scale on the Y-axis will require a bit more work.
   As it was, a bit of creative fabrication was required to install the scale on the X-axis. To avoid the need for drilling holes in my machine, I used the existing T-slot on the front vertical surface of the table to secure the two mounting blocks for the scale. I machined the blocks from UHMW plastic, a very versatile and durable material. To help locate the blocks securely, I made them with a protruding key that engages the T-slot, while the usual bolt threads into the T-nuts inside the slot.
   The third plastic block, to which the optical read-head is mounted, is machined with a lip which maintains its alignment with the machine, and the thickness of this block brings the mounting surface for the read-head out to the same plane as that of the scale itself, to ensure that the read-head travels along the exact center of the scale, necessary for accuracy and also to prevent the read-head from coming in contact with the delicate markings on the glass bar inside the aluminum extrusion.  A length of heavy aluminum plate and a cover of aluminum angle stock protects the scale from metal chips, dirt, and incidental impacts.
   The readout and scale are Chicom stuff, from Amazon, but I think they will do the job. After installation, I checked the accuracy against my favorite Mitutoyo dial indicator, and it was flawless.
   For the next improvement, I would like to find a suitable zero-backlash ball screw to replace the original acme-thread lead-screw. A project for another day.

Unfortunately, no. The lady I talked to on the phone back in September of last year sounded sincere, and I had high hopes, but so far, nothing has come of it. I did receive their last newsletter on the 20th of this month, so there's still some life there, but the content of the newsletter appears to be mostly a repeat of old material from the print edition. I will give them a call again, but this is starting to smell like monkey business.

Sounds like a certain website we all know and love.


--Shane
WP2ASS

According to their web site, last issue of Nuts and Volts was June 2022. Last Newsletter was July 2025.

I think they ran out of excuses. But, it looks like they're still willing to take your money with a subscription to something.