Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query michigan mighty Mite. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query michigan mighty Mite. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, May 16, 2022

Some Links for the Michigan Mighty Mite and the Color Burst Liberation Army from Dave K8WPE

Dave K8WPE has been one of the podcast's best friends and one of its most loyal listeners.  Dave was recently going through some back issues of SolderSmoke.  This sparked a renewed interest in the Michigan Mighty Mite and the Color Burst Liberation Army.   Dave sent us some useful links on this subject.  (I had forgotten about the .io CBLA mailing list!)   Thanks for this Dave, and for all your support and friendship over the years.  

--------------------------------------------------------

Guys and Gals

Please listen to some of these podcasts as they are very encouraging to any ham young or old that might want to build something, even as simple as a Michigan Mighty Mite transmitter. Here are references to the Michigan Mighty Mite.  The podcasts are listed below.




Check out podcasts # 166, 167, 168 in the Soldersmoke series for an in-depth discussion on this simple transmitter:


There are many YouTube videos also regarding this neat little transmitter and even companion receivers.


Another option is to build the Cricket (a full transceiver kit) from Four State QRP Club that is available for 20, 30 and 40 meters $34.70 shipped:   


Or the 80 enter one available from the designer (when the 4SQRP Club retires a kit the designer is free to continue to sell them himself) NM0S on eBay for $26.25 shipped:


If you build one of these kits John at 3rd Planet Solar in Gaylord has bags of crystals and a four position crystal switch kit for the Cricket and Pixie. Check him out at 


Please pass this on to your friends. Have fun. Build something.  Enjoy!  One person built the kit and framed it to put on the wall of his shack to PROVE that he could actually build an electronic gadget.  

Also there are many who use easily available color burst crystals from old TV sets and joined the Color Burst Liberation Army (CBLA). Check out 



Dave K8WPE since 1960

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Return of the Michigan Mighty Mite

Michigan Mighty Mite -- N2CQR/HI8 version

Bert, WF7I, (our correspondent at UVA Charlottesville), wrote yesterday about his past and recent adventured with a little rig that got a lot of us started in the scratch-built homebrew game: The Michigan Mighty Mite. I built one in the Dominican Republic, probably in 1993. I never worked anyone with it, but was really pleased to get the thing oscillating. I still have remnants of it (sans crystal) -- see above. Bert's e-mail and AA1TJ's recent derring-do make me want to dust off that little single FET transceiver for 3.579 MHz that I built in Italy. One QSO would make me happy. At least this minimalist stuff is keeping me away from the regens...

Here's a good article on how to build one:
http://www.qsl.net/wb5ude/kc6wdk/transmitter.html

Here's a site from Dave, WA5DJJ, who built a bunch of these rigs:
http://www.zianet.com/dhassall/Michmitymite.html

Bert's e-mail:

Hey Bill.

The AA1TJ postings on your blog motivated me to unearth my old Michigan Mighty Mite (the "MMM"). For me there's a lot of history, even emotion, there. I built this little rig with my friend AC7CA when we were both finishing up high school. Neither of us knew what was really going on in this circuit, other than some vague thoughts about resonance and that a transistor amplifies.

What was important to us at the time was more the fit-and-finish of the box that it was in, and making QSOs, rather than working out the theory behind the schematic. I'll email you a photo of the box as it stands now. We got a nice, blue plastic project box from Radio Shack, and figured out that those small
iPod (used to be called "Walkman")-style headphone sockets made great crystal sockets as well (they really do). I remember vividly the two of us planning out the radio, I remember trying to work with plastic (not so easy, it tended to melt and scuff up), and attaching the air-variable capacitor (not a small feat with the limited tools available). But the end product looked like a much more impressive rig than it really was. This oversized blue box with a big tuning knob, bright colored red and black banana power terminals, the cool little crystal sticking out of the top, and the Dymo-label tape proclaiming, "Rig Master" (or "blaster", or something similar -- I have to actually go see what it said!). 1/2 W of power came out of this very simple oscillator, just as advertised. But to this day, I don't know if either of us ever even made a QSO with the thing! The thrill was in the assembly of a rig from a schematic in CQ magazine, the fellowship of the two of us working on it, and seeing the thing actually WORK as promised. Time moved on, and it ended up getting shoved to a back corner of my room, and when college and work came along, it almost got totally forgotten and collected dust.

Anyway, the blog postings made me think of low-powered QRP, and I dug it out again, dusted it off, and pulled out some crystals. The thing still works just as it did 20 years ago! I was very happy to see that. I guess one of the advantages to ultra-simple, low part count rigs is that not much CAN go wrong! And if it does, it only costs a few pennies, or nothing, to fix.


The rig went on the air on Saturday night, and it was quite an interesting contrast on the work bench. On one side, my
Kenwood TS-2000, a state-of-the-art (or nearly so) DSP rig, with the "glowing numerals" and a computer interface. Next to it, the MMM, straight key and a pile of rocks! A single "super antenna" compact vertical was erected on a tripod in my backyard, with a coax coming in to the shack to a switch (functioning as a "T/R" switch, in a way). In one position, my gazillion-transistor appliance rig would function as a ridiculously sensitive and over-the-top receiver for the task at hand. In the other position, my homemade single-transistor MMM would transmit out to the vertical.

I called CQ till my hand/wrist was sore, and QSY'd between the 4 freqs I had to choose from, but to no avail. I am not deterred however. This evening, following the W4UVA club meeting, I will hook it up to our 40 m inverted vee high in the woods overlooking the nuclear reactor. It would be fitting if the possible first ever MMM QSO came from this setup.


Late Sunday night, after I had exhausted myself from "pounding brass", I was reading more from "Solder Smoke -- The Book", and found one picture that really made my day. Sitting in front of your Tandy and just to your left, was a small blurry object. Reading the caption, I saw that it was YOUR Michigan Mighty Mite! What a fitting way to end a wonderful weekend of hamming.


72/73,

Bert WF7I

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Manhattan Mighty Mite: "Rockin' the Big Apple on 3.579"



Dave W2DAB got his Manhattan Mighty Mite oscillating nicely!  Hooray!  

Check out Dave's report on his Mighty Mite adventure: 

http://w2dab.bamford.net/

So far we have sent out 20 colorburst crystals.  Already we have two circuits oscillating (not counting Pete's and mine). 

CLA is on the march! 

E-mail from Dave: 


Dear Bill & Pete:

Thanks for all your help, I can joyfully announce the birth of my first Michigan Mighty Mite, Oscillating at the frequency of 3.579!  Yes, Pete’s sage advice to flip the coil over was a great help and also my good friend from Vermont (A Michiganian by birth ).  OK, so Bill… you remember your most embarrassing moments in home-brew? Well, here’s mostly what happened: I was reading the article I found online and somehow got 40 meters stuck in my head even though your colorburst was for 80 - So I build a 40 meter coil.  When I realized my mistake I thought - well why not build two of these so I pulled out the Colorburst and put in a Norcal 7.040 and then built a new board with a new 80 coil oriented properly and the pic below is the one you see.  Now I have two Mighty Mite’s that work, how great is that.

My next goal is to continue forward using Pete’s Build Something Video’s, so more fun to come.

I will post a video on my blog of the 80 Meter Colorburst Michigan Mighty Mite uttering it’s joyful tones, but for now I’ve put a lovely photo at the bottom.

Success is sweet when you hear the sounds of the beep!

Cheers and 73 Gentlemen

Dave
W2DAB
("Manhattan is more fun in Manhattan”)

 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Friday, November 28, 2014

Bill's Dominican Mighty Mite (1993)

If you look closely, just in front of my keyboard you can see the Michigan Mighty Mite that I rebuilt this morning (scroll down to see the previous post).  Looks like I was using a polivaricon as the capacitor.  Other than the cap, all the parts used in this 2014 version were from the 1993 effort.  Here is how it is described in "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wirless Electronics"

    I decided to start off slow, with small projects that seemed likely to succeed.  The secretary in our office in the Embassy, Mady Bullen, had an interest in ham radio that had been sparked by service in far-off places where short-wave was the only way to talk to home.  She would pass me old issues of CQ magazine.  It was in the March 1992 issue that I found the Michigan Mighty Mite.
    It was originated by Ed Knoll, W3FQJ and developed by Tom Jurgens, KY8I. It is about as simple as you can get in a radio transmitter: just one stage, a crystal controlled oscillator.
    An oscillator is basically an amplifier in which some of the output signal is fed back into the input.  If you provide enough feedback in the right way, the amplifier will “take off” and begin generating a signal.  The howl you hear when the microphone of public address system gets too close to the speaker is this kind of signal.  The speaker (the output) is sending energy back to the input (the microphone) and what was an amplifier turns (annoyingly) into an oscillator.  In this case it is an audio frequency oscillator because all the filters and tuned circuits in the PA system are built for the audible frequencies.  But the same thing will happen at radio frequencies.  That’s what the Michigan Mighty Mite is all about. 
    I put the thing together using parts obtained from the Santo Domingo Radio Shack store. The resonant circuit used a coil that was just some wire wound around a discarded plastic 35mm film container.  Homebrew radio projects rarely work the first time you power them up.  I had to fidget with this thing quite a bit—obviously there wasn’t enough feedback.  I had my Drake 2-B on and tuned to the crystal’s frequency.  As I poked around on the little circuit board, I suddenly heard a little chirp from the 2-B.  There it was!  The little device that I had put together was producing radio frequency energy on the 40 meter band.  Hooray!  The joy of oscillation!  Now I felt like I was truly in league with Faraday and Marconi, with Shep, Stan and Bollis, and with Serge! Hilmar would have been proud of me (but he still would have been horrified by my sloppy wiring). 

    I never was able to talk to anyone with that little device—the power output was very low, and my antenna for the 40 meter band was very poor.  But it didn’t really matter.  I had had my first real success at homebrewing a piece of ham radio gear.


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

W2UO's Michigan Mighty Mite -- Made a Contact!

Hi Bill,

I found SolderSmoke about six months ago, and it's quickly become one of my favorite podcasts.

I've been a ham since I was 11, but never tried my hand at homebrewing anything.  I've always heard how hard it would be, and how a project like a SSB transmitter is just too far out of reach.

You and Pete are inspirational, so I set out to build a simple starter project, the venerable Michigan Mighty Mite.  However not just any mighty mite, a usable one, not just a proof of concept.  One intended to sit on a desk and look good doing it.  Complete with built in low pass filter, tx/rx switching, and an internal dummy load.

I don't know if I accomplished all that, but I did make a contact on it this afternoon.  Next logical step I suppose will be to build a DC receiver to sit next to it.

Please find pictures attached, I've learned a lot about what not to do with project, so criticism is welcome.

73!
-Jim W2UO



My response: 

Wow Jim, that is really wonderful.  Congratulations on the build.   I've built many of them, but I don't think I ever made a contact with a MMM.  FB.  

It looks great to me!   Indeed, you should do a Direct Conversion receiver next.    Maybe do a receiver for 40, then do a version of the MMM for that same band.  Then you could 
make a completely homebrew QSO.   I did this recently on 40:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/02/first-qso-with-high-school-receiver-100.html    It was a real hoot!  

Our friend Dean also built a MMM as his first project:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2019/12/dean-kk4das-puts-michigan-mighty-mite.html

Please keep us posted on your progress. 

Again, congratulations!   73  Bill N2CQR

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Overcoming the Complexity of the Michigan Mighty Mite: Walter's Sunrise Net Special


From Walter KA4KXX
June 21, 2020

Michigan Mighty-Mite:  Why So Complicated?

The April 2020 issue of QRP Quarterly magazine featured an article by Bob Rosier K4OCE which included a schematic for a “Ten Minute Transmitter” by G4RAW (SK), which apparently first appeared in SPRAT 82 in 1996. 
It is even simpler than the Michigan Mighty Mite, so this transmitter can truly be built on a solderless breadboard in about 15 minutes, because a complex coil is not required.  
The only tuning needed was for me to establish the correct value of the output series capacitor. 
This rig allowed me to check-in to the Sunrise Net (see details in blue text on my QRZ page) today on my very first attempt, and landed me a 549 signal report from 250 miles away.
The first photo shows the transmitter connected to a Transmit/Receive Switch mounted in an Altoids box. In the Transmit position the antenna is disconnected from my 1979 Heathkit HR-1680 receiver, which then coincidentally supplies a sidetone at an ideal volume level.  That little black pushbutton which can be seen in the second photo serves as my key, and works just fine for a five-minute daily QNI on the Sunrise Net.
Of course, part of the secret is having a crystal exactly on the Net frequency, and I have a few left, free to whomever in the Eastern U.S. is interested in building one of these simple Sunrise Net Special Transmitters and participating in our Net. 


Thursday, December 17, 2015

Modulated Michigan Mighty Mite?


This suggestion from across the pond is a bit "out there."  In fact, for me it brought to mind the famous line from the Noel Coward song about who goes out in the mid-day sun...  This does seem like an endeavor for our stoic British cousins.  You'll need a very stiff upper lip to AM modulate a Michigan Mighty Mite!  Peter's observation about the "SSB kilowatt nerds" resonated with me and reminded me of the reaction I got when I tried to put a DSB rig on the air in London.   But hey, go for it Peter!   Please let us know the results.   For those who are rock-bound in the CW portion of the band (like 3579) this might be something fun to try using a dummy load -- just to see if you can send an AM  Mighty Mite signal across the shack.

Hi Bill,

Your recent Soldersmoke thoughts re. MMMites have been niggling my imagination; I think radio should be fun, educational, simple and cheap, to encourage young folks to get a license and "appliance users" to melt some solder.

Mike Rainey (AA1TJ) and Jim Kearman (KR1S) have done superb work in reducing RF circuits to a functional minimum... so egged on by a certain Mr. Bill Meara, I'm looking at modulating a MMMite Tx on 80m and building the simple Rx to go with it. I chose 3615kHz as it's a frequency UK VMARS (Vintage Military Amat Rad Soc) use for A.M. - the SSB kilowatt nerds who think the sky will fall down if A.M. corrupts the ionosphere have accepted a few enthusiasts firing a watt or ten of A.M. skywards. I
blame you want to say thanks for setting my mind in this direction.

See how this sounds: modulate a MMM by inserting an electret mic capsule (2 terminal type) between the transistor base and ground,  not forgetting the RF choke from the electret capsule output to the base bias 10k resistor, to avoid the xtal feedback signal being absorbed in the electret...

Yep, that's it: job done, the MMM now produces A.M. as the base current, fed by 10k from the +ve rail in the original MMM, is now partially shunted to ground by the electret capsule. I'll adjust the base bias resistor to get 50% "no speech" carrier and good mod. depth. I'm trying to avoid a mic amp stage; keeps it simple & sweet. If I can get 500mW in total, that's ~ 100mW in each sideband - on a good day with a following wind, on 80m that should go a mile or twenty.

Which leaves a drop dead simple Rx to design - somebody has done similar,
HERE, You got it: an LM386 audio amp as a regen Rx. I had considered the ZN414 TRF Rx, or it's modern equivalents, but they are nowhere near as common as an LM386, or as cheap. IF it works on 80m...! Or, I could try an xtal controlled regen Rx, as per Mike / Jim's designs. Either which way, I'm sure I can find a cheap, simple and effective Rx - but if you know of any.....?

Cheers Bill, TTFN!

Peter Thornton G6NGR

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

N0YUD's Mighty Mite (complete with harmonics)


Bill  N0YUD built this really nice Michigan Mighty Mite.  I like the wood base (with little feet!). And the classic black 35 mm film container.  And the Vero board.  Fancy connectors too!  Nicely done Bill.  

Bill has also wisely left space for a low pass filter.  As you can see in his 'scope picture below, the MMM produces a lot of harmonics.  With a low pass filter, that mess will turn into a beautiful sine wave.  We'll be talking about harmonics and low pass filters in the next podcast. 





Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Alan Wolke W2AEW Builds a Michigan Mighty Mite (Video)



We are honored to induct Alan Wolke W2AEW into the Colorburst Liberation Army.  And for his valiant effort to build and explain a MMM Low-Pass filter, he is immediately promoted to the rank of CBLA Two Star General.  Congratulations General Wolke.

As is the case with all of  his videos, this one has already had an impact far and wide.  Ian writes from far-off Western Australia:

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Psst... I know a guy with some caps.... Variable caps... Real beauties.... But only for Mighty Mites.


Feast your eyes my friends.   That is 400 micro-microfarads of variable capacitance.  (400 picofarads for you sophisticated young folks.)   A benefactor interested in expanding the ranks of the Color-Burst Liberation Army has stepped forward to make us an offer that is hard to resist:  He will send ELIGIBLE recipients one each of these fine electronic components for the cost of postage (approximately 6 bucks in the USA). 

He has specified that ELIGIBILITY is limited to those who need this part to build or complete a Michigan Mighty Mite.   And I have been appointed "Grand Poobah and Chief Arbiter of Capacitor Eligibility." 

So here is the deal:  Send me an e-mail telling me about your planned or stalled Michigan Mighty Mite project.  Include some information about your personal "Knack Story"  -- tell us why you share in this strange compulsion to build a largely useless 250 mW 3.579 MHz oscillator.   If I find your plans believable and your Knack Story compelling,  I will recommend you for a capacitor.  Purely aspirational MMM projects and obviously fabricated Knack Stories will not make the cut.

Supplies are limited, so act now! 

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Ciprian's Romanian Ten Minute Transmitter with Roots in SPRAT, KA4KXX, and the Florida Sunrise Net


It sounds great Ciprian!  It was really cool to see your video and hear you reference not only the SolderSmoke blog, but also SPRAT, the Michigan Mighty Mite, and Walter KA4KXX. Your little rig has a very fine lineage!  

I found Ciprian's video just after seeing the wonderful Herndon Mighty Mite of Jack NG2E.  TRGHS!  The Color Burst Liberation Army is on the march!   For more info on NG2E's Mighty Mite, check out his blog: https://jackhaefner.blogspot.com/2021/05/mounting-to-perfboard-and-scope-test.html 

Jack has in his possession one of the  7.123 MHz crystals that Walter KA4KXX sent me back in 2019 (during my ET-2 craze).   It seems obvious that Jack should build a Ten Minute Transmitter and use it to check into the Sunrise Net  https://qsl.net/srn/

Thursday, July 9, 2015

SolderSmoke Dreams (and Nightmares)

 
 
 
Bill,
I've just listened to Solder Smoke episodes 168-170 and I'm following your advice.  My Michigan Mighty Mite sits on my desk only lacking the variable capacitor.  I was amazed that I had everything needed in my junk box!  Including a 3.575611 crystal.  
Last night I dreamt that the incomplete breadboarded Mighty Mite was beckoning me.  I walked over to the desk and I had the palpable sense that the Mighty Mite itself wanted to oscillate, as if by arranging the components in this way I created something alive.  I touched the tank and it began oscillating by itself without the variable cap.  The universe seemed complete in that sweet moment.  
When I awoke I attempted to replicate the event unsuccessfully.  haha.  I definitely need a variable capacitor....  
Regards,
Bryan 
KV4ZS
 
 
Bryan:   You might be able to make your dream come true with a fixed value cap.  Do you have something of about 150 picofards?    Try that.   It might work.   Or do you have an old transistor radio that could sacrifice its tuning cap?   
 
I have had similar homebrew dreams.   Well, nightmares mostly.   I dreamed that in a fit of frustration I took ALL the parts off the BITX 17 board.   That was a scary one.   I'll cc Steve Silverman to see if he could help with the variable cap.  
73  Bill


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Ciprian YO6DXE Puts the Michigan Mighty Mite on AM! (video)


Excellent work Ciprian!  

Here we have a Michigan Mighty Mite being modified for AM in Romania, with input from Hungary, and inspiration from Melbourne, Australia (Peter Parker VK3YE).  With a very nice shout-out to SolderSmoke.  

I really like Ciprian's emphasis on having fun with the electronics. 

TRGHS! 

Monday, August 28, 2023

But How Does the Michigan Mighty Mite REALLY Work?

Dean KK4DAS and I were talking to Mark, a new homebrewer.  After we sang the praises of the Michigan Mighty Mite,  Mark asked us a good question:  How does it really work? 

I guess the starting point for analysis is the Barkhausen criteria (that Pete N6QW taught us):  essentially you need enough feedback to overcome losses in the circuit, and this feedback has to be in phase with the signal at the input.  The MMM is clearly oscillating, so the question becomes, "How does this very simple circuit meet the Barkhausen criteria?" 

Here goes: 

Even though it is a very simple circuit, it is worthwhile to separate out the things that it has to do: 

1) It needs to set the AMOUNT of feedback.    This is done by the tap on L1.  Too low down on the coil, and it is too close to ground through the .05 uF capacitor (not enough feedback).  Too high on the coil and you get too much feedback.  This is like an inductive voltage divider. 

2)  It needs to make sure that this feedback is in phase with the input signal. Positive feedback. Q1 is an inverting amplifier.  So it supplies 180 degrees of phase shift. As the signal at the base goes more positive, the signal at the collector goes more negative, and vice versa.  But we need an additional 180 degree shift to bring the output signal in phase with the input signal.  Here is the key:   The crystal provides the other 180 degrees of phase shift.  See


I tested this:  A 3.579 MHz crystal does provide the needed phase shift:  It introduces a shift of about 190 degrees.  Check out this very cool picture. The two scope probes are looking at the input and the output of the 3.579 MHz crystal with 3.580 MHz frequency coming from my HP sig gen. 

Click on the picture for a better view.

3) It needs to filter out other signals -- the 365 pf variable cap resonates with L1 at around 3.579 MHz.  This results in maximum circulating current through L1 at this frequency. 

4) It needs to match impedance to the antenna.  L2 wound over L1 forms the secondary of a transformer and efficiently moves the energy from the MMM to the antenna.  Think about the gears on your bike. 

The 10k resistor biases the base of the transistor, keeping it on.   The 27  ohm resistors limits the current through the transistor, preventing it from burning up. Note:  the 27 and 10k resistors should NOT be connected directly to each other.  There is no dot in the schematic. This causes some confusion among builders. 

The .05 uF capacitor does two things:   It grounds the L1/365pf tank circuit for RF (but not for DC).   It is less than 1 ohm at 3.579 MHz.   And it helps reduce (smooth out) key clicks (very sudden on-off changes in the oscillation). 

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Sam WN5C Builds a Michigan Mighty Mite and Takes it to Lake Thunderbird

 
Sam WN5C built a Michigan Mighty Mite and then went the extra mile by putting it on the air from a field location.  And what a great name this location has for a QRP operation:  Lake Thunderbird. 

Sam wrote up his experiences for K4SWL's QRPer blog: 


Below is a picture of the rig.  NOTE THE LOW-PASS FILTER.  FB OM. We wouldn't want that rig tearing up the electromagnetic spectrum. 

Looking ahead, Sam writes: 

Next step is a DC receiver (maybe the high school receiver?) and then a more substantial transmitter married together, I think. This is all incredibly fun.

Thanks Sam! 

Monday, May 3, 2021

A New Michigan Mighty Mite Oscillates in Northern Virginia


We are pleased  to report that OM Jack, NG2E, has successfully built a Michigan Mighty Mite transmitter, and has experienced JOO (the joy of oscillation). You can see Jack's prototype in the video below: 


Jack has his eye on more ambitious homebrew projects, but is wisely taking a step-by-step approach.  He described his plans this way: 
  1. Capture this MMM into a semi-permanent design: ie, perf board.
  2. Measure performance. What does the carrier wave look like on a scope? 
  3. Build a low-pass filter.
  4. Can I amplify the signal? Maybe add an amplifier stage or two. Transistor? 
  5. Next, let's look at receivers. Pete & Bill recommend that I build a Direct Conversion receiver. I know Peter Parker (VK3YE) has a simplified version

Sunday, July 17, 2016

HB2HB QSO with N6ORS -- MIN-X to BITX

That's Keith N6ORS's MIN-X transceiver.  Keith explains that it has circuitry from the BITX, the Minima and even from the ZL2BMI DSB rig.  We featured the MIN-X before, when it was still outside the box:
http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2016/01/n6orss-min-x-crosses-pond-on-first.html

I was on twenty today with my BITX, finishing up a rather disheartening contact with a fellow who told me that he is a "checkbook operator." I was trying to encourage this fellow to build something simple -- perhaps a Michigan Mighty Mite?  He told me that he might give it a try, but only 16 years from now, after he retires.  It was like a case of the Anti-Knack!  Then Keith N6ORS saved the day by calling in with his beautiful MIN-X HOMEBREW transceiver.  We had a nice talk -- Keith mentioned the beauty of Pete's "Blue Rig." That's HB2HB (phone) QSO #5 for me.  Thanks Keith! 

Bill,
That was great fun!
I was just tuning around and heard you mentioned the Michigan Mighty Mite
so I stopped to listen and realized it was you!
Well here was my chance for a homebrew to homebrew with 'the man' himself.
I wanted to record it but missed the chance.
Here is the Min-x boxed up. the case is made from thrown away computer cases.
It runs about 70watts on 160,80 and 40 meters and about 35watts on 20 meters.
I promise to write it up, maybe even draw a schematic. hihi.
73,
Keith N6ORS
 

Here' a short clip of the MINX in action:


Saturday, December 12, 2015

YAMMM! Yet Another Michigan Mighty Mite! From KC0ZIR in Northern Virginia


Bill,

Thank you for the podcast and the loads of tribal knowledge from you and Pete! I recently started going through the SolderSmoke backlog, and I am just getting to the Colorburst Liberation Army episodes. I had some crystals for 40m laying around, so I started reading up and winding on a film canister.

Later, I thought I'd hop up the current episode of the podcast while I work, and I heard you guys talk about another push for the Michigan Mighty Mite. I happened to be salvaging bits from an recycling-pile VCR at the time, and I came across this crystal with a familiar label: 3.579545. The radio gods have spoken, so I will be winding a new coil for 80m.

I heard you mention the anonymous benefactor, but I have some aluminum foil, and I plan to brew the cap as well, there are a few options here: http://www.instructables.com/howto/variable+capacitor/

I thought I'd tell you a quick story anyway, because I just want to be a part of the fun. When I was little, our radios all had retractable antennas, and the TVs all had rabbit ears or loops. I would spend nights trying different materials and orientations to try and get better signal. At one point, I ran as much wire as I could in my brother's room (he had a big garage-sale cabinet tv), and we were getting channels from all over the place. We knew when each channel would be showing reruns of Star Trek, so we could catch an episode or two almost every day of the week. We even got some channels that I thought were only available on satellite. I had read in my box of Popular Mechanics magazines that some dish setups re-broadcast their signal on VHF/UHF frequencies with low power, I always suspected that's what we were picking up. 

I didn't know much (or really anything) about the theory behind antennas at the time. I'm still a bit hazy, like with the 75 ohm / 50 ohm cable thing. I thought resistance was a function of length, how can different lengths of coax be the same ohm rating?

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I'm new to homebrewing, and you guys are a big part of that!
73,
Dan, KC0ZIR
Northern Virginia (a little to the left of you, it sounds like)
..............................

Excellent Dan! 

Getting the 3.579545 MHz rock out of a dead VCR definitely adds mojo to the rig.  Indeed, TRGHS! Thanks for sharing your Knack Story.   I hope to meet up to you, perhaps at the hamfests of Northern Virginia.  In my capacity as Grand Poohbah and Arbiter of Capacitor Eligibility, I hereby deem you  ELIGIBLE for a variable capacitor.   Our secret benefactor will be contacting you.  

73  Bill   



Sunday, May 23, 2021

Michigan Mighty Mite, Joy of Oscillation, and the Color-Burst Liberation Army in Washington State

 

Perhaps its the result of a vaccine-induced relaxation of COVID tensions, but for whatever reason we are seeing a resurgence of interest in the Michigan Mighty Mite and the Color Burst Liberation Army. 

Dan AF7O describes his excellent MMM CBLA adventure here: https://af7o.campclan.net/?p=144  Extra points for the use of George Dobbs' Ladybird book technique, and for the 3D printed variable cap holder (made by Dan's son). 

Yes Dan, rebuild that antenna, build an LP filter, and get that MMM on the air.  At the very least you can get some reports from the Reverse Beacon Network.  And, as Jack NG2E recently demonstrated, it is possible to make contacts with a simple rig like this: 


LONG LIVE THE COLOR-BURST LIBERATION ARMY! 


Sunday, December 29, 2019

KK4DAS Michigan Mighty Mite Heard by WEB SDRs -- CBLA Mobilized!



Dean KK4DAS continues to do great things with his Michigan Mighty Mite.  He has been calling CQ on the Color Burst Liberation Army (CBLA) frequency of 3579 kHz.  I think I was the first one to hear him, but since that memorable moment he has been picked up by multiple Web SDR receivers, including the one at Penn State (PETE JULIANO'S ALMA MATER!)  (screen shot above, listen by clicking URL below).  He has also been heard by Web SDRs in Concord Mass,  Newport News Va, and Cleveland, Ohio.  FB Dean.  

So come on folks -- this is a mobilization call for the CBLA!  Get those MMMs on the air.  Send us reports and recordings from Web SDRs or the RBN. 

Listen to Dean's MMM as received at the Penn State Web SDR: 


It sounds great!  And nice CW Dean!  





Designer: Douglas Bowman | Dimodifikasi oleh Abdul Munir Original Posting Rounders 3 Column