Wow, Scott got his Mate for the Mighty Midget receiver to work and he is obviously overjoyed with the result. All of us who have struggled with a homebrew project know just what this feels like. And it is very cool that Scott got some useful guidance from Charlie Morris in far-off New Zealand. Congratulations Scott. I'm really glad you stuck with it.
Scott's success comes at a good time: Pete N6QW is building W4IMP's three tube "IMP" SSB transmitter (also from the 1960s). I accept responsibility for naming Pete's project: It will be known as "Pete's IMP" or, memorably, "The PIMP." For a look at Pete's rig go here:
Scott had problems getting Lew McCoy's 455 kc crystal filter to work. So did I. It turns out that this is a very old problem, going back to World War II. In Don Stoner's 1959 "New Sideband Handbook" on page 54 he writes of homebrew filters in the 400 to 500 kc range:
"Inexpensive crystal filters constructed from war surplus FT-241 type low frequency crystals are very popular with the 'do it yourself' hams. These CT cut crystals have been plentiful and relatively cheap for a number of years and are in the hands of many Amateurs. The general run of war surplus crystals may or may not be good. Experience has shown that one out of four of these crystals are usually defective in one way or another."
Stoner was writing just 14 years after the war. Add another six decades to the age of these crystals -- often decades spent in musty basements -- and you can imagine the percentage of bad 455 kc FT-241 crystals increasing. So I think Scott is wise to seek an alternative to McCoy's crystal filter.
Scott's original build of the MMMRX receiver is just so nice. In the video he says he plans to go back to it after he gets the expanded version fully functional. He should definitely do that -- his original version looks so good. I think it is probably very close to working properly.
Thanks Scott, and again, congratulations OM.
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Well done Scott. I'm so pleased it all worked out. FB!
ReplyDeleteCharlie ZL2CTM