Serving the worldwide community of radio-electronic homebrewers.
Providing blog support to the SolderSmoke podcast:
http://soldersmoke.com
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Just go to http://soldersmoke.com. On that archive page, just click on the blue hyperlinks and your audio player should play that episode.
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Happy Arduino Day! Pete's Belthorn III Transceiver (with cool color display) Bill's BITX 20 (that used to be a BITX20/40) AD9850 DDS added to Barebones Superhet Jean Shepherd on Parasitic Oscillations, Obsession, and Madness Simple Test Gear for the Homebrewer Digital Oscilloscopes and their amazing capabilities Dongles and other great stuff in SPRAT 162 The BIG St. Patrick's Day Solar Flare VK6MV's Amazing Rhombic (+) VK7XX (Dos Equis!) A Bit of BITX History Pete going KX3 QRO
A good IF is 8.192mhz with a 15.360Mhz LO can be done using crystal for LO (Use two in super VXO).
Order of equipment obtainium...
Decent soldering iron/station Good multimeter (ohms, Volts, amps). AADE LCII parts is not parts.. measure them. Frequency counter simple is good, to 50mhz atleast Scope, a good one. Rigol adds a lot to capability.
Oh a spec analyser is just that if you add a tracking generator now you can do SNA(scalar network analyser).
However... The one device I use is dirt simple. A 50 uA meter, two diodes in voltage doubler and two caps. Whatsitdo, RF detector. The diodes are right on the back of the meter. One cap is across the meter and the other is from the diodes as a "probe". If the meter can be moved there is RF, if an amp with no input moves the meter its oscillating, if the oscillator doesn't move the meter its defunct. It was my first RF measuring tool some 50 years ago and I still use it.
I am a longtime listener and look forward to your podcast each month! I had to comment on Pete's crystal radio project. When I was six or seven in the fifties, my dad and I built a crystal radio and had the same issue... not enough gain. Dad suggested we build a transistor amplifier. As you told the story, somehow I knew that you too would say you used a beautiful metallic purple-blue Rayteon CK722! My amp was in a clear plastic box and I loved showing my friends the cool, magic "transistor". Now, back to my K2, KX3, Raspberry Pi and Arduino!
73, Mike, W8NWA (My dad's first call from the 30s)
In response to popular demand, "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.
Here's the site:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW
***************************************
For the print version:
For shipping from a printer in the U.S. (probably better for N. American buyers) Click here: SolderSmoke USA Version
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For shipping from a printer in the UK, Spain, or the USA (probably better for UK and other European buyers)
Click here: SolderSmoke EU Version
The two versions are identical, except for a minor difference in the paper used. That's why the prices are a bit different.
Norwich - NOT amateur radio
-
In our minds, Norwich is one of the nicest cities in the UK. It has a
Norman cathedral and castle, some very old streets, fine shops and a good
market amo...
ZS9V and KPA-500
-
Several hours before our sunset, ZS9V was workable (had I not been on QRP)
If there was no one else calling them and if it weren’t so noisy, perhaps I
coul...
Weak Signal Volume Levels
-
*The following blogspot was originally published in July, 2016. Hopefully
some will find this of interest as the topic is still very relevant.*
********...
Dabbling in tool restoration…
-
I’ve been watching too many YouTube views lately about tool restoration,
and as part of my ongoing efforts to equip my home workshop with more tools
it mea...
A Homebrew Stereo for the Shack
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There are times when it's nice to listen to a little music while working at
the bench. For years, I've used a number of different vintage radios for
thi...
Cutting the Cord
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A few days ago my wife noticed that our local CBS station was missing from
Direct TV. It seems that Nexstar, the troll that owns distribution rights
to CBS...
Another new toy Update 8/8/19
-
After FDIM and spending some time visiting my daughter, I came back and
thought about some of the on-going projects. At FDIM I had a chance to
spend some ...
A New Look for your uBitx!
-
Adding a "Cool Blue" Display to your uBitx!
The standard "green background" with black lettering frequently reminds me
that I suffer from Chronic seasicknes...
Posts
hi, pete, and juliano
ReplyDeletei would love to add aerial analyzer like one designed by VK5JST in the list of test gear
nice treatment of soldersmoke #174
regards
sarma from India
Bummer of the Bitx40.
ReplyDeleteA good IF is 8.192mhz with a 15.360Mhz LO can be done using crystal for LO (Use two in super VXO).
Order of equipment obtainium...
Decent soldering iron/station
Good multimeter (ohms, Volts, amps).
AADE LCII parts is not parts.. measure them.
Frequency counter simple is good, to 50mhz atleast
Scope, a good one. Rigol adds a lot to capability.
Oh a spec analyser is just that if you add a tracking generator now you can do SNA(scalar network analyser).
However... The one device I use is dirt simple.
A 50 uA meter, two diodes in voltage doubler and two caps.
Whatsitdo, RF detector. The diodes are right on the back
of the meter. One cap is across the meter and the other is from the diodes as a "probe". If the meter can be moved there is RF, if an amp with no input moves the meter its oscillating, if the oscillator doesn't move the meter its defunct. It was my first RF measuring tool some 50 years ago and I still use it.
Allison
Sinc L/C = VFO and Crystal = VXO..
ReplyDeletehow about DDS chip = DXO?
Bill & Pete,
ReplyDeleteI am a longtime listener and look forward to your podcast each month! I had to comment on Pete's crystal radio project. When I was six or seven in the fifties, my dad and I built a crystal radio and had the same issue... not enough gain. Dad suggested we build a transistor amplifier. As you told the story, somehow I knew that you too would say you used a beautiful metallic purple-blue Rayteon CK722! My amp was in a clear plastic box and I loved showing my friends the cool, magic "transistor". Now, back to my K2, KX3, Raspberry Pi and Arduino!
73, Mike, W8NWA (My dad's first call from the 30s)