So Much Cool Stuff on Pete N6QW's Blog

There is so much tribal knowledge, so many good ideas.  Be sure to visit Pete's blog regularly.  

http://n6qw.blogspot.com/

He needs the meter from an SBE-33.  Somebody out there must have one.  

Check out his stepper motor antenna tuner video.  

And be sure to leave some comments or to send Pete an e-mail with feedback.  I live in fear that he will think no one is reading and then stop posting.  We can't let that happen!  

Apollo 11 -- The Documentary

My wife is a kind and tolerant person.  Proof of this is that she went with me to see the Apollo 11 documentary that we recently posted about.  

I think you have to be a geek and/or have The Knack to really like a 90 minute documentary with no audio other than Walter Cronkite's reporting and the recorded dialogue among the participants.   But of course, I loved it.  Amazing video, especially of the Saturn V.  

Bob Scott KD4EBM found this great interview with the film maker: 

Video:

https://www.tested.com/science/space/869951-apollo-11-still-untitled-adam-savage-project-31919/

Audio only (downloadable)

https://d2rormqr1qwzpz.cloudfront.net/podcast/stilluntitled_20190319.mp3

Amazing New Geostationary Amateur Satellite -- LISTEN ONLINE!

Wow, quite a step forward in the amateur satellite world.  Qatar and AMSAT-Germany have collaborated to put an amateur radio repeater in geostationary orbit.  That's pretty amazing.  Read more here: 

https://hackaday.com/2019/03/18/eshail-2-hams-get-their-first-geosynchronous-repeater/

Read about a group of Norwegian students working on a satellite station for this bird: 

https://www.la1k.no/2019/02/20/getting-ready-for-e%CC%B6s%CC%B6%CC%B6h%CC%B6a%CC%B6i%CC%B6l%CC%B62%CC%B6-qo-100-part-2-how-we-did-it/

And this is really fun:  LISTEN TO THE DOWNLINK LIVE VIA WEBSDR! 

We can't hear this thing from North America -- it is flying over the Congo.  But stations in its footprint are putting their receivers online -- you can listen to the 10 GHz downlink via WebSDR: 

UK WebSDR:   https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/

Brazil WebSDR:     http://appr.org.br:8902/

DISAPPOINTED! No Takers on Mechanical Filter Question! SAD!

So, in our last podcast I asked the group to take a look at two pictures of a mechanical filter that I had recently taken out of its case.   These pictures appear above and below. After a discussion of magnetostriction,  I asked the group if they could spot anything unusual about this particular device. 

I expected many responses.  What did I get?  CRICKETS!!  What is wrong with you guys?  Are you spending so much time with software and FT-8 and lines of code that you can't deal with a simple analog question like this?  SAD! I guess I will have to answer the question myself.  Scroll down. 

The diagram below presents the conventional Collins arrangement for a mechanical filter.   Note that at the input and at the output there is a coil.  This coil creates from the signal a varying magnetic field.  Because of the principle of magnetostriction, this field causes the resonators/rod assembly to flex and vibrate, much like a musical tuning fork.  At the output, this means that inside the core of the output coil there is a piece of metal vibrating at the signal frequency.  This will produce an output signal.  

But take a look at my little mechanical resonator.  Where are the input and output coils?  

THERE ARE NONE!  See those little rectangular things at either end?  Those are piezo-electric crystals that are MECHANICALLY connected to the disc/rod assembly.  So when the signal comes in, it is applied electrically to the piezo material which then physically vibrates. This vibration passes through the filter and to the piezo device at the other end. There the mechanical vibration results in an electrical signal at the output.  

So, I think it is time for you all to hang your heads in shame. Perhaps go to the doctor to see if you still have The Knack. Ask for forgiveness from the radio gods.  

We have lost our spiritual leader: George Dobbs G3RJV, SK

Yesterday we received the very sad news that George Dobbs, G3RJV has died. 

I think it is no exaggeration to say that with George's passing, we have lost our spiritual and  philosophical leader.  The founder of the G-QRP Club and Editor of our beloved SPRAT journal, George took his strong technical skills and his talent for writing and combined it with the wisdom about life that came from his religious vocation. He was a prolific writer and speaker, and in all his work you will find a unique combination of the technical and the philosophical.  Not only did he teach us how to build our own rigs, but he taught us why we should build them.  

We talk a lot about tribal knowledge -- George was definitely the source of much of that.  But he went beyond that and also became a major source of what we can call tribal wisdom.  He was one of our tribal elders. Instead of speaking to the tribe around a roaring fire, George spoke to us through SPRAT, through articles in other ham magazines, through his books, and through his talks at rallies and hamventions, many of which have been preserved in YouTube videos.  George's friend Tony Fishpool sent us the one embedded below. 

We are of course very sad to see George go, but we can all take comfort in the fact that he will -- through his writings and through his recorded talks -- remain with us. For years to come people who feel a strange urge to build their own radio equipment will find themselves reading George's work or listening to recordings of his melodious voice.   They will find there not only the needed technical information, but also the encouragement and tribal wisdom needed to carry on.  There will be a bit of George Dobbs in all their rigs.  In that way G3RJV will stay on the air.  And I know that George would be delighted by that.  

73 G3RJV.     

Viking Rigs Save the Day!

I attribute the success to the Times Sequence Keying.  And, of course, to the analog VFO.  

Thanks again to Jeff Murray. 

SolderSmoke Podcast #210 Boatanchors, Magnetostriction, VFOs, AM, CW, SSB, Mailbag

2 March 2019 

SolderSmoke Podcast #210 is available: 

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke210.mp3

Alexa, Marie Kondo, berets, and ham radio

Bi-Coastal Boatanchors
BATTLE CRY: The Vintage SSB Preamble! "We are NOT ashamed!" 
Bill's HT37 and Drake 2B 
Pete's National National NCX-3  TRGHS
Mechanical Filters
Magnetostriction
Why did Collins go with mechanical vice crystal filters? 
The foam deterioration syndrome in mechanical filters.  Sad. 
Please send any unwanted Mechanical Filters to Bill. 
BONUS QUESTION:   Look at the filter below.  What is different/special about this one?

Pete's antenna trouble
Pete's FB amplifier troubleshooting
Recent improvements in the uBITX finals
Pete's design for a VFO for Bill (and an indoor antenna tuner!)

Bill's VFO for Pete:  HRO dial and gearbox driving a rotary encoder

Guido PE1NNZ puts the QCX on SSB
"The Secret Life of Machines -- Radio"
HB HRO dial from DL6WD
WA1QIX's USB D-104
"The High Frequency Oracle" 
DeMaw's LC filter receiver
Godzilla and Ham Radio
Bill's poor quality SSTV images from space (what happened?) 
Listening to AM on an SSB receiver
Mixed feelings about CW 

MAILBAG
M0KOV's mom took him to the doctor due to THE KNACK. 
M0JGH getting married (ALWAYS LISTEN TO PETE!) 
Jac's FB Receiver

What is different/special about this one?

An Update on Jac's Homebrew Receiver

About four years ago we posted a report on the FB homebrew receiver of Jac KA1WI     Here is the original report:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2015/09/jacs-homebrew-receiver-video.html

As most of us do, Jac has continued to work on his creation.  He sent me an update:

Bill:

Basically I have finished it, from a tentatively working model to a more definitive set. For example there are three IF filters, LSB, USB and CW switched by relays grounding the un-used filters.  The AGC was optimized for a good sound. So was the multistage audio circuit, avoiding unnecessary filtering which in my opinion masks the sound of some very good sounding transmissions, not to mention the terrible ones.

The front end works very well, with a SBL-1 DBM terminated with a low noise 2N5109. You notice it when a strong signal is nearly covering the weaker one you are listening to and it remains readable without loosing strength! No many receivers can do that, either because poor front end, noisy LO or bad AGC or all of the three. Not with this receiver!  

The BP filter bank is not my design but removed from a German receiver from the early 1970’s I had to align it to specs and it works pretty well, although I would have preferred  to use a tunable pre-selector. I am planning another set with three IF 9mHz filters which will include a pre-selector for optimum image rejection. I hope. 

In general I am happy with the set, despite the birdies of the DDS, most of them well under the level of most received signals. I wsh I could build a simple PLL to clean up the DSS LO signal. It is worth exploring issue as I see new VCO designs are available. I could try at least one ham band for starters, a PLL covering 350 kHz locked to the DDS,  instead of 2-30 mHz covering, should be feasible. 

Have more videos of the set I will send to you. 

73s de Sac

KA1WI

Note how well you can hear the band's noise floor when the antenna is reconnected in the third video.  

The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive

Dig out those old tapes and make a contribution to the archive. Lots of good stuff in there.  The Sandinista recording from 1979 was quite something.  Radio Moscow's Mailbag brought back Cold War memories.    Check it out: 

https://shortwavearchive.com/

An Awesome Radio Painting from Germany

Awesome radio art.  Thanks to Jeff Murray and K9YA Telegraph for the alert.  Info on the artist here: 

https://weimarart.blogspot.com/2010/06/max-radler.html?fbclid=IwAR3FNwwrH6aTOzA-8hG9KGJm4pbbTE_cK7McD9QnYV7TD9Ha0F-rAVHusMs

Shortwave Radiogram

On 18 Feb 2019 I talked to Kim KD9XB on 40 meter SSB.  Kim -- who is retired from the Voice of America -- told me about a really interesting retirement broadcast project of his. "Shortwave Radiogram" uses a variety of amateur digital modes to transmit what are essentially text and image bulletins.  The really cool part is that Kim uses commercial shortwave broadcast transmitters to get his programs out. He uses transmitters in the U.S. and in Europe.   Listeners around the world tune in via shortwave (sometimes through WEB-SDR receivers) and then use FLDIGI or similar software to read the messages. You can see one of the radiograms being received in the video above.  There are more like it on YouTube.

Kim's site has more information, including his broadcast schedule on his web site:
http://swradiogram.net/ 

All of this reminded me of our old idea about putting the SolderSmoke podcast on a commercial shortwave transmitter.  I have my eye on the Bulgarian station... Stay tuned.  

Thanks Kim! 
  

RE-RUNS OF VINTAGE SIDEBAND NET -- To fill those lonely hours between SolderSmoke podcasts...

I really enjoy listening to these guys, and I suspect SolderSmoke listeners will too.  Like the SolderSmoke podcast, it is the perfect thing to have playing in the shack while you are working on something.  

Mike N9MS has recorded and placed online many of the net's sessions, some going back to 2015.  FB OM.  We thank you.  Please keep doing this.  

Back issues are available at the site below.  Just put the letter V in the search box and click.  The back issues will then appear. 

http://vintagessb.net/wimpy/mp3list.php# 

My message to the group: 

Vintagers:

I have now listened to the mp3 recordings of three of your Saturday morning sessions.  They are really great.  I tried to listen via the airwaves, but I am too far east.  To whoever is recording and posting these sessions:  please keep up the good work!  These recordings allow the FB ham spirit of the net to reach a GLOBAL audience. Please make the older sessions available -- many of us only recently learned of the net and would like to listen to earlier episodes. If server space is a problem, maybe I could help.  Let me know. I don't know if you realize it, but you guys are producing a very cool podcast every Saturday morning.  

My buddy Steve N8NM tried to check in with his S line last weekend but you guys couldn't hear him.  I'm sure he will try to somehow get more fire in the wire.  Please be listening for Steve. 

As for myself, I find myself plotting the use of one of those WEB-SDR sites to check-in.  But I fear the wrath of the brotherhood.  

DEATH TO THE VIOLATORS! 

73  Bill N2CQR  

http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com

SSTV from SPAAAAACE! International Space Station Sends Images

The crew on the space station have been transmitting SSTV images.   This morning I threw together a receiving system:  I used my four element refrigerator tubing quad feeding the an RTL-SDR Dongle with HD-SDR software in the computer.  For the SSTV decoding I downloaded a program from Japan: MMSSTV (very nice).  To get the signal from HD-SDRto MMSSTV I just plugged a cheap little electret computer mic into the computer and taped it to the speaker.  

At 0838 local today ISS flew almost directly over me.   I aimed the quad south-west, and almost as soon as it was above the horizon very strong signals started pouring in.  They produced the first picture (above).  

ISS went silent as it passed over head. I swung the quad to the north-east hoping to catch another image as the station moved away.  That is the second image (below). You can see that I was losing the signal about halfway through.  

The distortion in the video image may be the result of me manually adjusting the receiver for Doppler shift. 

Here is a little video of the action in the shack during the first half of the pass. 

Here is the RTL-SDR Dongle Receiver in an Altoids Box: 

Here is that the programs looked like on the screen -- HDSDR on top, MMSS on the bottom:  

Here is what the orbital pass looked like. ISS was East of New Zealand when I took this picture.  ISS came up over the Eastern Pacific and Mexico before passing over N2CQR.  This display comes from the excellent Heavens Above web site:  

Listen to our Podcast while wearing a beret!

This is the official headgear of the Color-Burst Liberation Army. 

For a mere 16 dollars, you can wear the kind of beret worn by Pete Juliano, N6QW. 

Here at SolderSmoke, we are all about style, panache, savoirfair,  je ne se qua... 

If you send us a picture of yourself wearing a beret while either operating or building a rig,  you will win FOR FREE a one year subscription to the SolderSmoke on-line podcast.  ACT NOW!  Please tell them that SolderSmoke sent you. 

N8NM: Homebrew FT8 Worked All States

Congratulations Steve! 

https://n8nmsteve.blogspot.com/2019/02/homebrew-was.html

Pete's Latest SSB Transceiver -- And Lots of Wisdom on Homebrew Phone

Don't miss Pete's latest blog post decribing his most recent SSB transceiver.  

http://n6qw.blogspot.com/2019/02/2019-building-ssb-transceivers.html

Indie Documentary: Apollo 11

Thanks to Bob Scott for the alert on this.  This new Indie film promises to be even better than the recent "First Man" movie (which was somewhat disappointing, with too much focus on family drama).   Armstrong looks so young in this trailer. 

The Wizard of Wimbledon M0JGH: "Always Listen to Pete!"

Dear Bill and Pete,

Sincere apologies for my chronic lack of correspondence but life has proven exceedingly eventful of late. As a long-standing member of our international brotherhood I am aware of a reoccurring, often subliminal, theme: “Always listen to Pete!”. What follows is a cautionary tale of one humble ham following the sage advice offered to him during Soldersmoke 186’s Mailbag…

You might recall the report of my Christmas 2015 escapades from rural Italy, making homebrew CW contact with friends operating GB2RN aboard HMS Belfast, whilst trying to fend-off curious locals from tampering with the wire I’d strung through their trees. Throughout these shenanigans my remarkably-understanding girlfriend was nearby minding her own business (albeit with a certain degree of eye-rolling).

The following year we returned to the same summit above Frascati. Before setting off I advised her that, being a generous chap, there were now two miniature radios in my coat pocket: one for each of us to enjoy. She was politely thrilled by the prospect... but still faithfully assisted with antenna rigging. 

Once operational I insisted that we should try her radio first and, following Pete’s advice from SS186, I slipped the tiny red box out of my jacket pocket and knelt down on one knee... (Fear not, Pete, other sage opinions were consulted in the matter first too!).

Remarkably, she said yes! And, exceedingly generously, I was allowed me to make a few contacts too... after all, we had gone to the trouble of lugging it from London and setting up the antenna. Owing to poor telephone reception the first person to learn of our wonderful news was an unsuspecting DL on 40m CW.

We are now happily married so I’m pleased to report that, unsurprisingly, the SolderSmoke tribal knowledge offered to me back in 2016 appears to have been spot on. To return the favour here is my own life lesson to take from the story:

Should one ever need to conceal a surprise gift from a loved one, a radio shack is a cavernous world which even the most curious spouse is unlikely to dare explore.

Furthermore, if one “has previous” (as British policemen say) for smuggling tiny boxes of radio wizardry away on holiday, what better cover could there be for the unsuspected transportation of an engagement ring? 

The power of QRP knows no bounds...

All the very best for 2019 and thanks again for the life-changing advice.

Jonathan

M0JGH

Editor's note:   In case you don't remember SS186, Pete's advice -- upon hearing of the ham radio tolerance of Jonathan's then-girlfriend -- strongly advised him to "marry that woman!" 

This Weekend: The AM Rally (with trailer video!)

I liked the groundhogs.

More info: 

http://www.amrally.com/  

UK Wartime Radio -- The Secret Listeners

We had this video on the blog before, but it was seven years ago, so it it time for a re-run.  

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/5108

Thanks to Graham GW8RAK for reminding us of this. 

Listening to it again, I was struck by the claim that the nationality of the operator could be discerned purely by his or her CW sending style.  Is there really an Italian accent in Morse Code?