-- This is the first podcast from SolderSmoke Shack South: Eastern tip of Island of Hispaniola. Cap Cana, DR, 70 feet up, 1 mile from Mona Channel. Seventh floor shack with view of the ocean. Antennas: Dipoles for now, maybe Moxons or Hex later. STARLINK
- The San Francisco case against me. One guy thinks we DESERVE prosecution! Get off of my lawn!
Like the library cop on Seinfeld: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9tP9fI2zbE
But one fellow wrote letter to the mayor asking for leniency. Proposes "Bill Meara Day in SF." FB! I fell victim myself this year: Mike WU2D got me with WA1HLR on SSB video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLvCNJ_OnEc
-- Dean: Fighting a spur in the sBITX. Filters?
-- Dean: Exploring Class A, Class AB and the RD06HHF1
-- Dean: Extensive work on getting flat gain from FETs up through 10 meters.
-hh- Dean and Bill: OIP3 measurement and setting the bias on an RD06HHF1
-- Pete: Discovers for all of us "RF Man" In spite of all the CB stuff, he is the THE MAN! On YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@rfmanchannel6915
-- Pete fixes Dean's relay chattering problem: SUBTHRESHOLD CONDUCTION! Yikes!
-- Pete's refurb and rejuvenation of the Drake Twins,
-- MXM news. New docs, and ads from WD5L. All on the blog. 7030 crystals. Why MXM? Chuck Adam's mods, Joh DL6ID's questions about VFO. Yes! VFO from RX. Was Bruce Williams an early Swan Designer?
-- Weird paradox with 25 MHz filter: Low profile xtals have higher Q, but produce more rounded passbands. Why? I note that Minima's 20 MHz filter also had curved passband.
-- Allison's wisdom on filters at higher frequencies. The importance of physical layout. Diodes in the dark! It is indeed more difficult up there. But don't let the perfct be the enemy of the good!
-- Is Bill the only one to ever build a 10-15 Dual Bander using a 25 MHz crystal filter. Why? Farhan's Minima has a 20 MHz 6 pole QER crystal filter. And it too had a rounded passband. But it tooc WORKED.
-- Did my receiver sound tinny due to rising frequency response of uBITX Rev 4 amp? Yes! So I put in a TJ DC RX Af amp.
-- Bill BLOWS UP a Tiny SA Ultra. Ooops. But quickly got a new one from R&L Electronics. Very, very useful. I knew 25 MHz IF rigs were inferior, but by how much? How much was the carrier suppressed? Which filters worked better? What was the opposite sideband rejection. TinySA permitted measurement and comparison.
-- Bill quit 15 meter SSB (for a moment) and went to the 1.22 nanometer band with a Wilson Clound Chamber. Videos on the blog.
SHAMELESS COMMERCE: Thanks to new Patreon sponsors. I am sending some additional video content to the sponsors.
MAILBAGg
-- Thanks to Bob Crane W8SX for FDIM interviews. I will get them out!
--Wes -- W7ZOI has a new TIA amp with variable gain on his web site: https://w7zoi.net/
-- Geoff N6GWB's Rad Receiver https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-rad-receiver-from-n6gwb.html
-- Dave K1KA sent Ensemble RTX SDR parts. Thanks Dave.
-- Chuck Adams AA7FO provided good background on my MXM rig, including the meaning of MXM (1990) . Again, great to hear from Chuck, a true homebrew hero.
-- Gerardo HI8P collecting info on the other HI8P, my friend Pericles (SK)
-- Alvin N5VZH picked up a Silktronix CB VFO. What to do?
-- Jorgen SM4WWG listening from Sweden, and making PCBs. FB!
-- Mike WN2A Wondered about opposite sideband rejection of MXM. Not great.
-- George WB5OYP loaned me a book from Elmer Bucher. THE Elmer? https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2020/01/24/on-the-origins-of-elmer-a-reasonable-theory/
-- Wes W7ZOI, Farhan VU2ESE -- Thanks for help on filter issue. Thanks too to Alan W2AEW and G3UUR
-- Josh G3MOT -- Nice message of support in our "struggle" with SF authorities. Going portable to Vancouver island in August. VE7/G3MOT
-- Paul VK3HN -- Antipodean solidarity. Thanks Paul.
-- Rogier PA1ZZ -- great input and help. Thanks
-- Tony G4WIF reminded me of G3ROO's parasets. See Blog
-- Pavel CO7WT His experiences (building, freezing, heating) the VFO in the Jaguey DSB rig.
-- Grayson KJ7UM Sent latest ER with his Collins 51S-1 story. Thanks Grayson.
-- Allison KB1GMX Commiserating on higher freq crystal filters. Thanks Allison
-- Wes W4JYK Notes that Dewey, Cheatam and Howe are based in SF. Can they help with sticky sticker problem?
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Great Podcast, guys! DX location, via Starlink, no less! Bill, can you read the part number on the Lafayette dial? Many of them where made by Yamada as YN-5,6 and 7's. They are nice in that you can have calibrated scales for a multiband rig, not taking up too much space.
ReplyDeleteMike: 274-388 I was just unhappy with the backlash (really just the dead spot) in the tuning of the QF-1 cap I had. So I kind of shoe-horned or KLUDGED in a different variable cap and this old dial. The dial had been knocking around in my junk box for 30 years! 73 Bill HI7/N2CQR
ReplyDeleteMike: Turns out this was NOT a Lafayette dial. It is marked "Archer" -- that was Radio Shack as I recall. This dial was given to me
Deleteby Pericles HI8P sometime in the early 90's. I thought it was fitting to bring it back to the DR. 73 Bill
Yes, Bill (thanks for the email note, I lost track of this blog thread-oops!) . On the "muy grande" YN-5, it is the kind of dial that you reserve for that Mega-Receiver project you have in mind. The stay-at-home receiver, maybe not POTA. I have been toying with the idea of illumination. It isn't the most adaptable dial for that, but wouldn't it be cool!
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