Thursday, September 5, 2024

Excellent New Video from Grayson KJ7UM on his Thermatron version of the Michigan Mighty Mite


Here is a really wonderful video from Grayson Evans, KJ7UM, author of Hollow-State Design for the Radio Amateur.  

I really loved this video.  Throughout we see Grayson's sense of humor.  Early on he explains the differences between a tube (what remains from a roll of paper towell), a valve (like the plumbers use) and a THERMATRON (like a 6146).  Grayson is the inventor of the word Thermatron.  We should all pledge to use it whenever possible. 

Grayson's humor also shows up when describing the parts acquistion process for the Thermatron Michigan Mighty Mite.  He puls out a coil (a huge coil) and laments that it is not -- despite its large size -- sufficiently inductive. 

There are wonderful shout outs to SolderSmoke, to Electric Radio, to the Color Burst Liberation Army, to Pete Juliano,  and to Rex Harper.  

Grayson describes the utility of Rex Harper's Thermatron ME pads.  

During the video, Grayson actually builds the Thermatron MMM.  In under 2 minutes!  He then experiences the Joy Of Oscillation, or JOO as it has come to be known.  OM needs a contact -- listen for him on 3579.  He is calling CQ.  

Grayson talks about his book, Hollow-State Design.  I have a copy with me here at SolderSmoke Shack South in the Dominican Republic.  Great stuff.   The above link takes you to Lulu, where you can order the book.  You can also get it from Electric Radio Magazine here: https://www.ermag.com/product-category/books/

Thank you Grayson for bringing us this video, and so much more over the years.  And for giving us the very useful and fun word:  THERMATRON!  

1 comment:

  1. I went to https://www.hamqth.com/kj7um and it does not show any RBN success for this rig so far, but note that this website is a great resource to easily find the RBN log of any ham. Just toggle the "Recent Activity" tab on anybody's page to see their data.

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