What we do?
- Suppling kits and parts to the amateur radio and electronic DIY hobby markets.
- Computer Systems:
- Local computer repair – We make house calls!
- IT Consulting
- Custom software programming
- C#, Visual Basic
- C, C++
- PHP/MySql
- C and Assembler for AVR & Arduino
Why 3rd Planet Solar?
About a decade ago I started looking into the alternative energy business concentrating on areas where commercial electricity wasn’t available (off-grid). The good news was that I found a niche market in the outback of places like Panama. The bad news was that the finances were not available to purchase and ship solar panels in volume to those remote areas. Even worse news was living part time out of the country and quitting my regular good paying job. My wife had no interest in that! So the business never got off the ground………..
Now years later I have retired as a corporate IT guru and began my retirement repairing the odd computer here and there as well as building my own amateur radio equipment. Local word has caught on and repairing has gone from family and friends to all of their friends now calling and asking for computer help. I typically charge less than the local computer stores and do the one thing the stores don’t do…. I make house calls!
In addition to being the local computer geek, I decided to share my amateur radio home brew experiences by offering kits with easy to build instructions. The kits came into being when I had my own PCB’s manufactured to make the final project look clean. It turns out many PCB houses sell you 3-10 boards at a time, and even cheaper when you order in quantity. So what to do with those 7-9 boards I don’t need? Share the fun, of course! I don’t make a ton of money, mostly to pay for costs and a cup of coffee (the $.99 McD’s, not Fourbucks!).
Recently both “Jobs” have been fairly successful and I have been inquiring on custom items (like cases and custom made bits and pieces) and buying more and more parts (part orders are now getting into the hundreds of dollars each!). Since I kept the 3rdPlanetSolar domain all these years, it was time to bring it back combining “John’s computer repair” and “Kits by KC9ON”.