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Saturday, May 23, 2020

SolderSmoke Podcast #222 Antennas, Phasing, VFOs, 2-Bs, 6 years of N6QW, MAILBAG

After 46 years, finally a dial skirt

SolderSmoke Podcast #222 is available:  

No travelogue but… SolderSmoke Almanac!

Memorial Day in U.S.

End of Ramadan so Eid Mubarak! 

#222 marks SIX YEARS of Julian-ismo.  He started on SS 161.  Thanks Pete. 

Thanks to all who sent good wishes on Billy's graduation.  He heads to Boston and the lab in a week or so.  Very proud. 
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Bill was on Ham Radio WorkBench Podcast  
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PETE'S WORKBENCH
-- Antenna Ideas -- Don't Buy that $165 dollar dipole!  It is just wire!   
-- THE PHASING RIG. Does this point to a need for meditation?  Or at least some temporary disengagement? Tribal wisdom from Pete. 
-- DEAN KK4DAS's rig.  The Furlough 40.  Troubleshoot.  Tribal knowledge. 

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-- SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:   AMAZON BOX -- SEARCH FOR ANYTHING OU WANT THERE.  
-- PLEASE PUT COMMENTS ON THE SOLDERSMOKE BLOG POSTS. 
-- PLEASE CHECK OUT THE SolderSmoke YOUTUBE VIDEOS. 

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BILL's WORKBENCH
n  Shortwave dials and exotic locations.  Java!  
n  Galaxy V VFO Project. Series-tuned Colpitts.  
n  DRAKE 2-B.  Hayseed Recap. Put the skirt back on the old rig.  Reduction drives?   

SHOPPING BAG: 
I got a replacement for the Xtronics 4000 soldering station.  Yaogong worked! 
Ordered screws and stuff from McMaster -- Came very fast! 
Working on a resistor kit from Mouser. 

MAILBAG: 
VK2BLQ's Phasing RX with an HRO dial.  Cool Retro.  
Adam N0ZIB -- Cool station.  TFT screen Aluminum welded box. FB. 
Karl G7AFT    BITX 40 doing USB and LSB by changing the VFO freq.  Pete's trick! 
Jerry KI4IO  out in nearby Warrenton.   Hope to be able to meet up soon. 
Keith N6ORS's Hot Mustard Phasing Board. 
Mike N5GTF'd FULLY INDOOR Quarantine Receiver.  Need a slogan for the antenna!
Nick M0NTV's Bread Bin 80 Quarantine rig
Bruce KC1FSZ   Quarantine 10 -- Brave man in solar minimum. But I hear 10 is opening.
Talking to Grayson Evans KJ7UM  TA2ZGE about Collins 9.9 MHz transformers.
Talking to Alan Wolke W2AEW about Drake 2-B stuff  Was there a reduction drive?
Paul VK3HN about Ceramic filter spurs.
Peter VK2EMU notes no animals were harmed in the making of my videos.  But many electrons were agitated. 

N6QW Phase Shift Success -- It aint over 'till the fat lady sings



8 comments:

  1. Just listening to the podcast. You mentioned scope setting for 10x probes - LOL - my latest video talks about the top 5 reasons your scope readings might be wrong - and that is reason number 1!

    Pete's experience in looking for precise 10nF caps is not uncommon. If the manufacturer also sells 2% or 1% tolerance, then they're often screen out of the population, so the 5% units will have a double-humped distribution with a hole in the middle - kind of like Mount St Helens.

    In one of my videos on the Gilbert cell, I show how DC bias means the difference between AM and DSB-SC.

    In addition to the reduction drive issue, I'm wondering if anyone has a donor unit that has a good meter in it? The meter movement in mine seems to be a bit gummed up...

    Regarding watching youtube on the big TV - if you have a smart-TV, you can "mirror" your laptop or smartphone display on the smart TV. On the iPhone, swipe up from the bottom and select Screen Mirroring. On your PC, go to the Display Settings and select "connect to a wireless display".

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  2. Bill, Pete, Alan - Fantastic information as always. To complicate matters with the 1X/10X confusion -the Rigol probes are 1X/10X switchable. There is a 10X - 1X slide switch right on the probe, and the Rigol does not have a way of detecting which probe is attached. I've found that it slips to 1X sometimes when I am just attaching the probes to the measurement point.

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  3. Dean: I recommend Gorilla Tape. Tape it to 10X! 73 Bill

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  5. Simple starting point answer to this please..we can go from there...
    What is a GAIN dipole? I am intrigued with the idea of the 40/20m 'gain' dipole as a good thing for the current band condx.. as well as maybe as a 15m antenna for when 15 comes back for regular service.
    I do have books etc and will consult.. but Dr. Google (to get a start with) says nada about a gain dipole. Signed- Riley Wannaknow

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    1. Riley: You can make a 1/2 wavelength dipole. It will have two lobes, one off each side. But you can add additional 1/2 wavelength elements -- you make the antenna longer. Each time you do, you add lobes. Signal strength is stronger in the lobes. Thus the gain. If one of your lobes is over say, Europe or Japan, you are in luck. Hope that helps. 73 Bill

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  6. Bill, I bought some of these 100 ohm carbon resistors, make great 50 ohm loads for circuits

    https://www.bgmicro.com/9Z1771.aspx

    Get them while you can.

    Ed KC8SBV

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