Saturday, April 18, 2015

SolderSmoke 175 Mellow Audio, Pete in China, JBOM&BITX, ArduinoWoe, BFOVFO Chip, Chuck Adams, Mailbag


SolderSmoke Podcast #175 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke175.mp3

18 April 2015

-- Some enhanced audio testing (Mellow, with Presence!)
-- Pete's trip to Fake-shu-out, China
-- My visit to the National Academy of Sciences
--Bench Reports:
   Pete's JBOM Re-born
   Bill's plans for a new SSB Transceiver
-- Arduino Woes   BASTA!!!!!!!!!!!
-- Si5351 VFO/BFO development 
-- Chuck Adams, Tribal Knowledge, and Muppet boards
-- KX3 QRO?
-- What antenna for Pete?
MAILBAG

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

4 comments:

  1. Good on you for the hifi 40m audio snark!

    If you doing a bock design radio standardize on 50 ohms and use 50 ohm connectors (BNC or more compact SMA).

    Note the use of large open connectors will be nice for easy
    but tend to radiate. The later thing will increase blowby
    and lower the ultimate rejection at the band edges.
    I'd suggest SMA connectors, they are a good 50 ohm
    connector that is robust.

    SBL1 is good or TUF-3. If you need to use a balance pot the SBL1 (balanced modulator). ADE-1L is alos ok.

    Hint: put the DBM in a tiny Pomona box with SMA connectors for all ports. Then its a interchangeable component.

    NE602, a good part and offers the same performance
    as a SBL1 with 15db of gain before it. That's what people
    forget is the NE602 has gain. Ne6o2 is good to 8V and voltage regulation is simple as its only a few MA.
    Another difference is the Ne602 is roughly 1.5Kohm in and out (OSC port is around 10Kohm) so using it requires adjustment to those impedance as needed if everything is 50 ohm.

    Use a mic amp to both control levels and control bandpass.
    Its also needed as the TX control point.

    SI5351... its not a direct replacement for the 570. comes close but for optimum performance radios, not so much.

    If it seems easy your missing something.

    Note the first error message is the only one to pay attention to as likely all the others are a result of it. Fix that one first!
    Then try again. If it fails compile do not try to down load that, its broke.

    IDE versions. I use Linux and create virtual box systems
    that are unique to each need. If I need for some insane reason to run the latest version I create a new virtual system and install on that so if it fails I still have an older virtual version where sanity was. With winders use a VMware or other visualization to create special use machines. This is what Pete calls a second (or third or
    fifth) computers.

    The IDE version thing is what I call language growing pains.
    IDE is the environment and it carries the user abstraction from the machine level minutia that is seriously involved.
    I go back to the first IDE Boralnd Pascal and a few Emacs!

    Never mix libraries unless. BASTA! Libraries are those little bits that do things like connect a pin to a function in Arduino, or do 32bit math. Libraries are version sensitive.

    The other thing is that programs are created in temporal space and likely worked in the environment libraries of the time yet time moves on and so do the support and as such old programs need to be updated if they are to work in the current time and tools. this is a very old (45years I know of personally) thing. Its a old computer thing that we (computer folk) understand and work to improve.

    There is such thing as portable programing that works on all
    similar systems. This requires a higher level of discipline in
    program writing and structure. That is the sensing the environment (IDE, Libraries end device) things will run in.

    Allison/KB1GMX

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Allison! Great advice and info, as always. 73 Bill

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  2. You guys are so funny! I couldn't get past the first few minutes without cracking up. Great show!

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  3. Haven't listened to the podcast yet - lining it up - but the cover shot? Not sure it's a good idea to solder to a pin while it's in-situ on a solderless breadboard. Clue's in the name, man, clue's in the name! Also, check out http://www.eevblog.com/2015/04/26/eevblog-737-worlds-biggest-collection-of-electronics-components/ for what must be the biggest and most insanely-well organised stash of what proved to be salvaged components...

    ReplyDelete