[{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;m Aron - a ham radio operator (KJ5PEJ), Meshtastic tinkerer, and budget-minded builder.\nThis blog documents the projects I\u0026rsquo;m actually working on: SDR experiments, mesh networking builds, Raspberry Pi homelab setups, and ham radio adventures. Every post aims to teach the concepts behind the project, not just list the steps. If you want to understand why things work, not just copy-paste commands, you\u0026rsquo;re in the right place.\nI\u0026rsquo;m not an expert. I\u0026rsquo;m learning in public, on a budget, and writing up what I find along the way. If that sounds useful to you, stick around.\nYou can find me on GitHub or reach me at aron@fromthebench.dev.\n","permalink":"https://fromthebench.dev/about/","summary":"Who I am and what this site is about.","title":"About"},{"content":"The Short Version Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This never influences what I recommend — I only link to products I actually own, use, or have thoroughly researched.\nThe Longer Version From The Bench is a participant in affiliate programs including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I may also participate in other affiliate programs from retailers and manufacturers relevant to the topics I cover.\nWhat this means in practice:\nWhen I write about a project and mention hardware I used — an RTL-SDR dongle, a Heltec LoRa32, a Raspberry Pi — the link to that product may be an affiliate link. If you purchase through that link, I earn a small percentage of the sale. The price you pay is exactly the same whether you use my link or not.\nWhat I will never do:\nRecommend a product I haven\u0026rsquo;t used or wouldn\u0026rsquo;t use myself Let affiliate commissions influence which products I recommend Promote a product just because it has a higher commission Hide the fact that a link is an affiliate link Why I use affiliate links:\nRunning this site costs money (not much — it\u0026rsquo;s a static site on Cloudflare), and the projects I write about cost money (more than the site). Affiliate revenue helps offset those costs and keeps the content free for everyone. If the blog eventually earns enough to fund new projects, that means more content for you.\nHow to support this site:\nIf you find a post useful and you\u0026rsquo;re going to buy something I recommended anyway, using my affiliate link is the easiest way to support From The Bench. If you\u0026rsquo;d rather not, that\u0026rsquo;s completely fine — I\u0026rsquo;m glad the content was helpful regardless.\nThis disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission\u0026rsquo;s 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.\nLast updated: April 2026\n","permalink":"https://fromthebench.dev/disclosure/","summary":"How this site earns money and my commitment to honest recommendations.","title":"Affiliate Disclosure"},{"content":"General Disclaimer From The Bench is a personal blog documenting DIY projects in amateur radio, software-defined radio, mesh networking, Raspberry Pi, and hobby electronics. The content on this site is provided for informational and educational purposes only.\nI am not a professional engineer, electrician, or licensed consultant. I\u0026rsquo;m a hobbyist documenting what I learn. While I strive for accuracy, I make mistakes. If something I wrote seems wrong, it might be — verify critical information independently before acting on it.\nDo Your Own Research Any project, tutorial, or guide on this site is documentation of what I did and what worked for me. Your situation, equipment, and environment may differ. Before building, modifying, or operating any equipment:\nVerify that you have the appropriate license for any radio transmission (FCC or your country\u0026rsquo;s equivalent) Follow all applicable electrical safety practices Understand the risks of working with electronics, RF equipment, antennas, and power systems Double-check wiring, voltages, and polarity before powering anything on Assumption of Risk If you follow a project or tutorial from this site and something goes wrong — you fry a Raspberry Pi, blow an SDR dongle, short a battery, fall off a roof mounting an antenna, or anything else — that\u0026rsquo;s on you. I am not liable for any damage to equipment, property, or persons resulting from the use of information on this site.\nRF and Radio Compliance Amateur radio operation requires a valid license from the FCC (in the United States) or the equivalent authority in your country. GMRS requires a separate license. Transmitting without a license or outside your authorized privileges is illegal. Nothing on this site should be interpreted as encouraging unlicensed transmission.\nAccuracy I do my best to verify technical information before publishing, but errors happen. If you spot something wrong, I\u0026rsquo;d genuinely appreciate an email at aron@fromthebench.dev so I can correct it. Blog posts may be updated over time as I learn more or as software/hardware changes.\nAffiliate Links and Product Mentions Some links on this site are affiliate links. See the Affiliate Disclosure for full details. Product mentions and recommendations reflect my honest opinion based on personal use. I am not compensated by any manufacturer for reviews unless explicitly stated.\nCopyright Unless otherwise noted, all content on From The Bench is © Aron, all rights reserved. You\u0026rsquo;re welcome to link to any post and to quote short excerpts with attribution. Reproducing entire posts without permission is not okay. If you want to use my content in some other way, email me and ask.\nLast updated: April 2026\n","permalink":"https://fromthebench.dev/disclaimer/","summary":"Terms of use and liability disclaimer.","title":"Disclaimer"},{"content":"Everything on this page is gear I personally own and use. No fluff, no aspirational purchases — if it\u0026rsquo;s listed here, it\u0026rsquo;s on my bench or in my shack right now. I\u0026rsquo;ll update this page as my setup evolves.\nSome links may be affiliate links. See my affiliate disclosure for details.\nRadio Baofeng UV-5R — My first radio and still my daily driver for local 2m/70cm. Cheap, works, and I\u0026rsquo;ve learned more from manually programming this thing than I would have from a nicer radio with easier menus. If you\u0026rsquo;re getting your first HT after passing your Technician exam, this is the move.\nMidland Walkie Talkies — A basic pair for GMRS. Not repeater-capable, but functional for short-range family use.\nPlanned purchases: Icom ID-5100A (dual-band mobile, D-STAR), Midland MXT500 (GMRS base/mobile), Icom IC-7300 (HF, after General).\nSDR RTL-SDR Blog V4 — My only SDR dongle right now. Runs SDR++ on tkraspi for monitoring, satellite tracking with Gpredict, and soon rtl_433 for ISM band decoding. Great value for what it does. If I add a second dongle for dedicated rtl_433 use, it\u0026rsquo;ll probably be a cheap generic RTL-SDR since it doesn\u0026rsquo;t need the V4\u0026rsquo;s improved filtering.\nRTL-SDR Wideband Dipole Antenna — The antenna kit that came with the V4. Good enough for getting started across a wide range of frequencies.\nMesh Networking Heltec LoRa32 V3 — My Meshtastic node. Runs on the NWA mesh. Currently exploring getting a second one to dedicate to running Meshbot_weather while keeping one for personal mesh presence.\nmuzi.works 17cm 915 MHz Antenna — Upgraded from the stock Heltec antenna. Better range on the NWA Meshtastic mesh.\nComputing Raspberry Pi 5 (\u0026ldquo;tkraspi\u0026rdquo;) — The heart of the shack. Runs Docker with Meshtastic web UI, SDR++, Gpredict, Mosquitto MQTT broker, and various projects. Connected to an Onn Roku TV as a monitor. Currently evaluating NVMe HATs (Geekworm X1001 vs official Pi M.2 HAT+) to get off SD card boot and fix swap thrashing issues.\nWD My Passport External Drive — Mounted on tkraspi for archive storage. NTFS formatted, auto-mounted via fstab with ntfs3 driver.\nMacBook Air — My main development machine. PyCharm for coding, Homebrew for everything. This is where I write hamlog, blog posts, and plan projects.\nSoftware SDR++ — SDR receiver application running on tkraspi. Connected to the RTL-SDR V4.\nGpredict — Satellite tracking, connected to SDR++ for automated pass tracking. Used for NOAA APT satellite passes.\nDocker — Runs most services on tkraspi including Meshtastic web UI.\nTailscale — Mesh VPN for accessing tkraspi remotely from anywhere.\nHugo — Static site generator that builds this very blog.\nLicenses Amateur Radio: Technician class, callsign KJ5PEJ. Working toward General.\nGMRS: License WRYS604.\nLast updated: April 2026. This page is a living document — I update it as gear changes.\n","permalink":"https://fromthebench.dev/gear/","summary":"The equipment I actually use for the projects on this site.","title":"My Gear"},{"content":"Last updated: April 2026\nFrom The Bench is a personal blog operated by Aron. This privacy policy explains what information is collected when you visit this site and how it is used.\nWhat This Site Collects Right now, very little. This is a static website hosted on Cloudflare Pages. There is no user registration, no login system, no comment system, and no cookies set by this site itself.\nCloudflare: As the hosting provider, Cloudflare may collect basic analytics data such as page views, country of origin, and browser type. This data is aggregated and not personally identifiable. You can read Cloudflare\u0026rsquo;s privacy policy for details.\nAffiliate Links: When you click an affiliate link (such as an Amazon Associates link), you leave this site and are subject to that retailer\u0026rsquo;s privacy policy. I do not have access to your purchase history or personal information through affiliate programs — I only receive anonymized reports of clicks and commissions.\nWhat This Site Does NOT Collect No personal information (name, email, address) unless you voluntarily email me No tracking cookies from this site No third-party advertising trackers No data sold to anyone, ever Future Changes If I add analytics, a newsletter, or a comment system in the future, this policy will be updated to reflect exactly what is collected and why. I will always aim for the most privacy-respecting options available.\nThird-Party Services This site may use the following third-party services, each with their own privacy policies:\nCloudflare (hosting and CDN): Privacy Policy Amazon Associates (affiliate links): Privacy Notice GitHub (source code hosting): Privacy Statement Your Rights If you\u0026rsquo;re in the EU (GDPR) or California (CCPA), you have the right to know what data is collected about you and to request its deletion. Since this site collects minimal data, there\u0026rsquo;s likely nothing to delete — but if you have concerns, contact me at aron@fromthebench.dev and I\u0026rsquo;ll address them.\nContact If you have questions about this privacy policy, email me at aron@fromthebench.dev.\n","permalink":"https://fromthebench.dev/privacy/","summary":"What data this site collects and how it\u0026rsquo;s used.","title":"Privacy Policy"}]