SolderSmoke Podcast #248 is available for download:
Audio: http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke248.mp3
Travelogue: Trip to the Dominican Republic 3-9 August. Thinking about the M0NTV video on mixers...
Solder Smoke Shack South is almost done. I am thinking about workbenches, operating tables and antennas. How high should an electronics workbench be? Table height? Or workbench (woodwork) height?
My son and I went to see "Oppenheimer" Trinity test scene very cool. They wanted to see if the gadget would work!
Is the SolderSmoke blog completely archived on the WayBack Machine? Please check and let me know. Thanks.
Bill's Bench:
-- I've been working a lot of DX with the homebrew rigs: Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Hawaii. Lots of fun. 15 meters has been especially good. But the rigs still need work:
-- M0NTV's video got me to put TinySA to work. I found that output from dual banders could be improved. Spurs and harmonics. Yuck. I need more TinySA -- ordered the TinySA Ultra.
-- Allison KB1GMX helped a lot. EB63A amp was unstable, especially on 10 meters. Higher frequencies are harder! Tightened up shielding, negative feedback, and bypassing. This all helped, but I found that I needed to take the higher frequency LP filters out of the amplifier box. W3NQN filters are better, with steeper skirts and better 2nd harmonic rejections. NanoVNA proving very useful. https://www.gqrp.com/Datasheet_W3NQN.pdf
-- Also worked on the Bandpass filters for these rigs. Farhan's comments on skirts of different filter configurations. Some are "LSB" filters (with steeper skirt at the highest freq) and some are "USB" filters (with the steeper skirt at the lower frequency) See diagrams on the blog page. So I built USB new filters for 12 meters and for 10 meters.
-- Phase Noise rears its ugly head again. See blog posts.
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SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:
Mostly DIY RF getting ready to release PsssT kits. Target date: December 18, 2023 (E Howard Armstrong's birthday). https://mostlydiyrf.com/
Amazon Search box seems to have died. I can't get it back. Can anyone tell me what happened? (There seems to be "explanations" from Amazon about this, but they are written in a strange language that I cannot follow.) Something similar happened with the Google Ads on this blog page. Apparently you can't have ads both on YouTube and blogger.
But hey, there is Patreon for those who want to support the podcast and blog.
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Pete's Bench
An S-meter for Bill?
6BA6 Mania!
QRP SSB with 6BA6
Shirtpocket rig re-build
Mailbag:
Walter KA4KXX has a great article about homebrewing in the September 2023 QCWA Journal.
Steve KC1QAY -- Has joined the CBLA. I sent him a 3579 crystal. He built a MMM and experienced JOO. And Allison KB1GMX is in his local radio club. TRGHS.
Ajay VU2TGG in Pune, India -- launching a high school receiver effort.
Denny VU2DGR The Wizard of Kerala: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.
Joe VK4BYER working with kids a remote Australian community. FB.
Todd K7ZF -- Wants to get into homebrewing. Advised him to start small.
Dean KK4DAS: Fixing Hallicrafters Worldwide RX. Ciudad Trujillo! Got question from Mark in the VWS Makers Group: HOW DOES Michigan Mighty Mite REALLY Work. See blog.
Trevor Woods -- Info on Super Islander Mark IV made in Cuba from old CFL bulbs. FB.
Bob KD4EBM sent me some great stuff: Sony SW receiver, QCX Mini. Made a CW contact with the QCX. Felt virtuous -- it is going to the DR. Thanks Bob.
Peter KD2OMV: One of the guys I worked with the ET-2 transceiver. Great to hear from him.
Armand WA1UQO Richmond area radio museum? https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Mike WN2A -- Sent me a great care package with lots of toroids. A lifetime supply! Thanks Mike!
Nate KA1MUQ got his Doug DeMaw receiver going after 38 years! FB. Been there, done that!
Tony: G4WIF Liked Valveman video about Gerald Wells. He visited him! https://soldersmoke.blogspot.
Dean KL7MA Bill talked to him on 15 SSB. He had worked Wes W7ZOI! FB!
When you've downloaded that W3NQN datasheet, pop back to the GQRP.COM website - Technical Pages and look for "A Short Guide to W3NQN Harmonic Filters for QRP Transmitter Output. - George Dobbs G3RJV"
ReplyDeleteGeorge was a huge fan of these filters.
The first half of that page is from George, and later I thought it would be interesting to model those filters.
I used an online tool called "Quicksmith" and the datafiles are there (in a zip file) for you to grab and load into Quicksmith yourself. You can then have a play with component values without first having to draw the filter in Quicksmith.
72 - Tony G4WIF
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletere: the copper tape, that reminds me that it can be nice (at times) to have fellow travelers who like to build stuff, like musicians or robot-teers or hi-fi-ers. Would we still have die cast aluminum boxes (in all kinds of fancy colors) to purchase if not for electronic musicians ? :)
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
Chuck -- I agree, and that is why we sometimes do blog posts on the workshops of model airplane guys, woodwork people, etc. 73 Bill
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