In those dark days of February 2015, when all the members of the SDR ESSB Panoramic Spectral Police were on my case over some imperfections in my 40 meter homebrew SSB signal, Rick, N3FJZ came to my rescue by sending me a great YouTube video of his reception of my new rig. Rick was using a wonderful homebrew Direct Conversion receiver with a really cool PTO. Here is my blog post on Rick and his receiver:
Then, yesterday, I received this e-mail:
Bill, Pete,
I want to share my excitement with you.
After 32 years as a ham, I finally had my first ever HF QSO on October
16, 2015, and on a homebrew rig no less! Oh the Joy of Emission!It was on 7.242MHz, 8:00 a.m. eastern on the "Woodpecker net".
- Rig was based on the Bitx, using ZIA bidirectional amps.
- 20 Watts into a 80 meter full-wave loop up at 20 feet.
- 600 ohm homebrew open wire ladder line.
- Balanced antenna coupler inspired by the Annecke and Johnson matchbox
units.
- and most importantly, the Arduino controller software and use of the
Nokia display were derived and inspired from Pete's "Let's Build
Something" code presented on his website, and the carrier
oscillator(BFO) & L.O. are generated by an Adafruit SI5351 clock
generator board. Thank you Pete.
See my N3FJZ look-up on QRZ.com for photos of my homebrew rig. I have
also put links to the SolderSmoke blog and to Pete's web page and blog.
I just want to tell you both that your podcasts, websites, circuit
diagrams and stories were a huge part of my success. They were the
inspiration I needed on many dark days when my amplifiers would
oscillate, and my oscillators would simply smoke. At times I thought I
would never get on the air, but an hour listening to SolderSmoke podcast
would give me the drive venture on. Thank you!
***VERY IMPORTANT!!!!
Bill, during my first QSO, I was getting 5x8 and 5x9 signal reports
(with 20 watts!)from North Carolina, up-state New York, Michigan, and
Indiana, and I know we are only about 50 miles apart (I'm in north
central Maryland), so I believe we could probably achieve a successful
HB2HB contact if you want to try.
If you want to, and have the time, you could join me on the Woodpecker
net any Friday, Saturday or Sunday on 40 meters 7.242MHz 8:00 a.m.
eastern, or we could set-up a prearranged contact on a General class 40
meter frequency of your choosing. Let me know - making an HB2HB
contact with you would mean the world to me.
Pete, I also extend this invitation to you as well, but with only 20
watts on my end, it may be a stretch, but we could try.
Thank you both again for the joy you have given me with your pod-casts.
73
Rick - N3FJZ
I want to share my excitement with you.
After 32 years as a ham, I finally had my first ever HF QSO on October
16, 2015, and on a homebrew rig no less! Oh the Joy of Emission!It was on 7.242MHz, 8:00 a.m. eastern on the "Woodpecker net".
- Rig was based on the Bitx, using ZIA bidirectional amps.
- 20 Watts into a 80 meter full-wave loop up at 20 feet.
- 600 ohm homebrew open wire ladder line.
- Balanced antenna coupler inspired by the Annecke and Johnson matchbox
units.
- and most importantly, the Arduino controller software and use of the
Nokia display were derived and inspired from Pete's "Let's Build
Something" code presented on his website, and the carrier
oscillator(BFO) & L.O. are generated by an Adafruit SI5351 clock
generator board. Thank you Pete.
See my N3FJZ look-up on QRZ.com for photos of my homebrew rig. I have
also put links to the SolderSmoke blog and to Pete's web page and blog.
I just want to tell you both that your podcasts, websites, circuit
diagrams and stories were a huge part of my success. They were the
inspiration I needed on many dark days when my amplifiers would
oscillate, and my oscillators would simply smoke. At times I thought I
would never get on the air, but an hour listening to SolderSmoke podcast
would give me the drive venture on. Thank you!
***VERY IMPORTANT!!!!
Bill, during my first QSO, I was getting 5x8 and 5x9 signal reports
(with 20 watts!)from North Carolina, up-state New York, Michigan, and
Indiana, and I know we are only about 50 miles apart (I'm in north
central Maryland), so I believe we could probably achieve a successful
HB2HB contact if you want to try.
If you want to, and have the time, you could join me on the Woodpecker
net any Friday, Saturday or Sunday on 40 meters 7.242MHz 8:00 a.m.
eastern, or we could set-up a prearranged contact on a General class 40
meter frequency of your choosing. Let me know - making an HB2HB
contact with you would mean the world to me.
Pete, I also extend this invitation to you as well, but with only 20
watts on my end, it may be a stretch, but we could try.
Thank you both again for the joy you have given me with your pod-casts.
73
Rick - N3FJZ
.................
Rick and I got together on 7.288 MHz yesterday evening. It was a really amazing QSO. Rick made a video of it (see above) and I recorded the audio on my side. My old tape recorder didn't do Rick's signal justice -- it sounded better than this. But here is the full QSO:
Be sure to listen closely at around 21 minutes when Rick describes a software feature that allows him to switch -- with the touch of a button -- from high side VFO to low side VFO. The BFO frequency also changes to account for the resulting sideband inversion. Very cool.
Rick's Digital Board
Ricks Rig as it was during our QSO
Crystal Filter
Rick's Dual HEXFET Power Amplifier
Check out the N3FJZ QRZ.com page for more info.
CONGRATULATIONS TO RICK!
fantastic ....bravo guys .i m very happy when i see homebrew equipment ....9a3xz,Mikele
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