Saturday, June 16, 2012

Long Lost Varactor Receiver Found!

SolderSmoke fans will recall that for a long time I have been looking for the radio magazine article that propelled me into a  receiver construction project that failed and left me tech-traumatized. I tried to build a solid state receiver back in high school.  All I remembered about it was that it was direct conversion and varactor-tuned.  And that I couldn't get it to work. I think the problem was in the oscillator.   

Well, I think I found it.  Chuck Adams and the qrp-tech guys were talking about a receiver project and someone mentioned the old Herring Aid Five, a receiver companion to the famed Tuna Tin Two.  That got me thinking.  The time of publication was exactly right: July 1976.  I had just graduated from high school.  This morning I renewed my ARRL membership and then immediately accessed the QST archives.  Sure enough, the Herring Aid Five is varactor-tuned.  That has to be it. 

So this one is now definitely on my to-build list.  I will finally get this receiver working.  Sometimes projects take a long time...  Thanks again to all those who helped me in this search. 

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3 comments:

Colin M0CGH said...

Glad you found your project in the end! I have looked at the 'Herring Aid' circuit quite a few times in the last couple of years since getting infected with the tuna can radio disease at Rishworth QRP convention. I have quite a selection of tuna can rigs, although no Herring Aid as yet. My receivers are 3 different versions of W1REX's Sudden Storm.

Good luck with the Herring Aid, a quick web search brings up quite a lot of information.

http://www.njqrp.org/tuna/herring_text.html#Introduction

72
Colin
M0CGH

Steve Smith WB6TNL said...

How quaint, a BJT product detector :-).

Here's a reference to the BTTF (Back To The Future) Herring Aid:



So, don't be a crab. Get hooked up and fin-ish that flounder.

73.......Steve Smith WB6TNL
"Gone Fishin'"

Steve Smith WB6TNL said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
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