A Direct Conversion iPhone!

Well, really a DC receiver in an iPhone box.

I think the Apple iPhone boxes have great potential as project enclosures.  They are cardboard, but they are very rigid and solid.   I decided to use them for a Direct Conversion receiver project I've had in mind.  

This is a 40 meter DC receiver.  No chips.  Ceramic resonator VXO tuned by a varactor diode. 9V battery as the power source.  Ear buds as the transducer.  Passive, two diode, singly balanced detector.  It sounds great -- so great that I may have to add a gain control. 

The nice fit is no coincidence -- I cut the board so it would fit in the iPhone box.  

Take a look at that top cover.  It is all, well, empty.   I could put another board in there, right?  Maybe a balanced modulator,  a mic amp and an RF amplifier.  Then this thing would be a Double Sideband transceiver.  We could even make use of the little microphone that comes with most of the ear buds.  

I'm thinking that this might be the kind of project that people would like to take on this winter.  Build the VXO first.  Then the AF amp.  Then the product detector and front end. At that point you've built a receiver.  For extra credit you could go on to the transmitter.  No need to use Apple boxes (but they are cool...)  I will try to get the schematic done soon.  My nephew John Henry will test the prototype. 

Another LM373 Rig - Pete Is Not Alone!

Bill,

Thanks for coming back to my call. It was a thrill to finally catch you on the air.Like I said my Soldersmoke marathon was amusing and kept me in great company on my round trip drive from Murphy NC to Chicago. While I was in Chicago I emptied my storage garage of goodies that have been there for 12 years, it was like Christmas in June. I uncovered treasures I didn't know I even had and yes I found the box of project boards that kind of or didn't work at all. I now have these treasures to play with and see with renewed eyes what I may have done wrong, or burned up. It looks like a few of these modules can be made into rigs.

I also found a couple of antennas that I traded for that never made it up.

Also the bigger surprise was how many parts I had kept especially the ICs that were intended to beused in rigs like the LM373's that Pete has talked about. I have one test circuit board to test the LM373 that just needed the oscillators so with my SI5351 breadboards I have what I need to get this going.

Now that I'm settled into my new QTH in the wilds of western NC I will noodling and tinkering moreto get my little DSB rig on the air and an LM373 based SSB rig too,  using mostly or all obsolete/vintage parts. This is something I have been noodling about for sometime now.

I also will get my MMM finished.

Thanks again for the QSO and I look forward to working you again. Now to melt some solder.

73,

Skip Davis. NC9O

---------------------------

Pete's LM373 page: http://www.n6qw.com/LM373.html

More DSB, from Belgium and Spain

Frank ON6UU writes:

Hello Soldermelters,

 

Maybe some interesting news for you as there are some new kits at hand from EA3GCY (http://www.ea3gcy.com)

 

I’ve made the MFT-40 DSB without any problem,  all parts were provided with the kit,  only things to buy were a microphone connector,  a speaker and an antenna plug.   The box was taken from my attic and was a VGA-selector in his previous life.

Kit came together in a few evenings,  I followed the very well written manual,  all was well pointed out,  which resulted in a working kit.  After aligning the kit I could start making qso’s.   The microphone was made from a piece of tube,  a simple switch and a electret microphone,  it doesn’t look pretty but the microphone works.

 

Rx-Tx 7.066 – 7.133  (With DDS the complete 7MHz band)

Pwr :  some 3W peak.

Double Side Band

 

Made some You-tube films about it.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPREwd1FowM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T2dxnTmF7I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHoPdhmbZz0

 

Easy to make,  no SMD,  easy alignment without necessity of expensive material.   Fine for someone who never made a transceiver,  hence the name...My First Transceiver,  MFT.   As soon as the weather permits I will take the TRX out in the field and activate a SOTA with it.

 

Now working on the MFT-20 DSB.   I’m hoping for an 80mtr version to come available too.  :-)

 

All info is on Javier’s site. (http://www.ea3gcy.com)

 

72, 73

Keep the solder melting !!

 

ON6UU

Walter KA4KXX's "Al Fresco" Oz DSB rig with VFO Mod

A while back we ran a post about the MDT 40 DSB rig out of Australia. Walter KA4KXX liked the design so much that he built his own version and, with it, made his first homebrew phone contacts. I always say that DSB is a great way to break into the world of microphones.  Walter is obviously on the right path -- not only did he come up with a nice Al Fresco DSB rig, but he modified the VFO to get additional coverage and to incorporate a frequency counter.  FB Walter!

Walter KA4KXX writes:

Since I earned my Ham Radio license in about 1979, I have always operated only on CW since I like to build all my own equipment, but recently at the SolderSmoke website I discovered the MDT 40 Meter DSB Transceiver, and decided this was the design I had always been looking for to finally build and operate on phone.

After I made my first phone contact after only 5 minutes of trying, just a few weeks ago, I was so excited I sent an email thanking designer Leon of ozqrp.com.

Then I modified the VFO further to cover the entire 40 meter USA General Class License phone band, which is 7.175 – 7.300, in two overlapping steps.  I also added a 5K fine frequency adjustment, used a more friendly 1SV149 Varactor diode which I purchased on EBay at very low cost, and also added a high impedance buffer (found at the website listed below) to the VFO to drive a frequency counter.
 
http://www.arising.com.au/people/Holland/Ralph/buffer/highimpedanceprobe.htm

I was able to implement these modifications very easily since I always make my own un-crowded state-by-stage Manhattan style circuit boards and build first on a breadboard.
So far I am very pleased with the results.

Walter KA4KXX

Another Great DSB rig from New Zealand

So many great Double Sideband projects come from Down Under.  There are the various versions of the famed ZL2BMI rig.   And Peter Parker VK3YE has long been the acknowledged guru of DSB. In fact, Peter sent me an enthusiastic e-mail about the new ZL DSB rig pictured above -- his e-mail arrived before the message (below) from the intrepid builder.  I detect a bit of the "Tucker Tin" influence in this rig. (But perhaps this one is more Tupper than Tucker!)  Charlie's work has graced out blog posts before: http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=zl2ctm

Be sure to check out his video:   https://youtu.be/JsAuWGkyvmE   (and below).

Hi Bill.

You asked recently on the podcast for listeners to let you know what they had on their work bench. Well I’ve been working on a tramping (hiking) radio, which is now complete. It’s a DSB 5W rig designed for 80, 40 and 20m, as well as our New Zealand mountain safety radio system. I designed everything in LTSpice as was suggested by Pete, N6QW. That was great, as I could ‘desolder’ components with the mouse and instantly see what impact it had on the output. An amazing tool that’s free! I highly recommend it.

Once again I’ve used upside down strip board for each stage, which are tacked down onto an un-etched copper board (earth plane). That seems to work really well for me.

The rig uses an Arduino mini driving a small OLED screen and a Si5351 DDS. The Si5351 is going straight into a SBL-1, which seems to work fine too. The AF strip is a 2N3904 before a LM386, which has enough drive to run a speaker. The TX amplifier is a three stage one with shielding between each stage. It’s made up of two 2N2222A stages followed by a BD139. That in turn is followed by three simple filters, one each for 80, 40 and 20m.

All-in-all it works really well. I’ve uploaded a quick video at https://youtu.be/JsAuWGkyvmE

The next project will be a proper SSB rig using a crystal filter salvaged from an old Codan 7727. Like this one, it will use an Arduino and a Si5351.

Finally, I am certainly no expert in homebrew, but I hope my ‘dabbling’ will help inspire others to pick up the soldering iron and give it a go. If I can do it, then anybody can! There is certainly a great sense of achievement to operate a rig you built yourself.

Regards, and thanks to you and Pete for all your inspiration.

73’s

Charlie

ZL2CTM

ZL2BMI @ AA7EE -- Possibly the Most Beautiful DSB Rig Ever Built

Dave AA7EE has a very cool blog post on his version of the famed ZL2BMI DSB transceiver (seen above).  As usual, Dave puts most of us to shame with his excellent non-ugly construction and enviable in-focus macrophotography.

Check it out:
https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/half-of-the-zl2bmi-dsb-transceiver-a-simple-80m-direct-conversion-receiver/

I especially liked Dave's discussion of how and why .1 uF caps are used in the coupling and bypass network between the two chips.

Of course, the only thing I don't like about this rig is the, well, the chips.  Can we persuade Dave to build the earlier discrete component version of this rig?

Be sure to read the many comments on Dave's post.   Our friend Rogier comments on the beauty of it all.  Edgardo LU1AR (the Argentine wizard with the gyrocopter) chimes in.  And we see  feedback from Eric Sears ZL2BMI himself.  FB. 

VIVA DSB! 

HB2HB QSO with N6ORS -- MIN-X to BITX

That's Keith N6ORS's MIN-X transceiver.  Keith explains that it has circuitry from the BITX, the Minima and even from the ZL2BMI DSB rig.  We featured the MIN-X before, when it was still outside the box:
http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2016/01/n6orss-min-x-crosses-pond-on-first.html

I was on twenty today with my BITX, finishing up a rather disheartening contact with a fellow who told me that he is a "checkbook operator." I was trying to encourage this fellow to build something simple -- perhaps a Michigan Mighty Mite?  He told me that he might give it a try, but only 16 years from now, after he retires.  It was like a case of the Anti-Knack!  Then Keith N6ORS saved the day by calling in with his beautiful MIN-X HOMEBREW transceiver.  We had a nice talk -- Keith mentioned the beauty of Pete's "Blue Rig." That's HB2HB (phone) QSO #5 for me.  Thanks Keith! 

Bill,
That was great fun!
I was just tuning around and heard you mentioned the Michigan Mighty Mite
so I stopped to listen and realized it was you!
Well here was my chance for a homebrew to homebrew with 'the man' himself.
I wanted to record it but missed the chance.
Here is the Min-x boxed up. the case is made from thrown away computer cases.
It runs about 70watts on 160,80 and 40 meters and about 35watts on 20 meters.
I promise to write it up, maybe even draw a schematic. hihi.
73,
Keith N6ORS 

Here' a short clip of the MINX in action:

Oz QRP2QRP From Mt. Bullfight, Pyramid Hill, and Melbourne's Chelsea Pier

Paul VK3HN has obviously made an admirable effort here, and a visit to his very nice blog shows that he has a lot of true homebrew gear available.  We hope that he will haul some of that HB stuff up the mountain, perhaps to find Peter Parker operating from the Melbourne pier with a Beach-40.  As I type this I am listening to VK3IO on 40 meters, coming in nicely on my Barebones Superhet (kit version).

Dear Bill and Pete,

I would like to claim an entry in the SolderSmoke Homebrew To Homebrew
(HB2HB) log. Here's the story. On Sunday 24th April 2016 I drove two
and a half hours north east of Melbourne into the edge of the Great
Australian Dividing Range, to climb two summits, for the fun of
operating my 40 meter SSB QRP (5 watt) rig in a beautiful, RF-quiet
setting, and to activate two Summits Of The Air (SOTA) peaks.

My first summit was Mount Bullfight
(http://www.sotawatch.org/summits.php?summit=VK3/VN-002), in the
Rubicon Ranges, at 1,490 meters ASL not high by American or European
standards but a good heart-racing climb through thick Australian bush.
After a successful activation with good signal reports into Tasmania
(VK7), around Victoria (VK3) and New South Wales (VK2), I descended,
and drove about 2 miles up the valley to an adjacent SOTA summit,
Pyramid Hill (1,314 meters) where the activation also went well. Just
as I was finishing up with the chasers, Peter Parker VK3YE called me,
operating portable from his beloved Chelsea Pier, and we had a very
pleasant beach-to-summit ragchew QSO. The RF path is about 62 miles.

Peter was running his MDT double sideband rig, with 2 watts. I was
using my MST400, with 5 watts SSB. Both rigs are kit radios from OzQrp
(http://www.ozqrp.com/). Both are assembled by hams -- I built my
MST400 18 months ago and Peter was using the MDT rig that OzQrp
founder Leon, VK2DOB designed, built and kitted, the one he sent to
Peter for a YouTube review. So it was built by a ham, just not by
Peter.

Now, I know that there may be some, possibly even you Bill, who may
question the legitimacy of my claim on a coveted HB2HB log entry in
this particular case. I can assure you that we did experience the Joy
of QRP/P operation, Peter basking in the late afternoon Australian sun
on a beach and I on the mountain top. And to further add authenticity
to my HB2HB claim we discussed QRP, aerial experiments, and 'whats on
your bench' topics for a full 20 minutes.

However, I would not want to risk disturbing the wrath of the Radio
Gods with a dubious claim.

I admit that neither radio was scratch-built, on copper board
ugly-style, or had the form of a wild birds-nest of separate modules
and interconnections, with parts loosely screwed onto an Italian
chopping board or a discarded lump of wood. Indeed, neither can it be
claimed that both operators built their rigs. So I will take a
rejection of my request with acceptance and dignity, acknowledging
that you are duty-bound to maintain the highest of standards, and that
entry into the SolderSmoke HB2HB log is not to be granted without
proper consideration.

I do understand that you may feel that accepting this QSO could set a
dangerous precedent and risk opening the flood gates to a tsunami of
dubious HB2HB QSO claims from hams using minimal assembly rigs, like
some of the Elecrafts. Who knows, some individuals might even be
tempted to claim HB2HB QSOs from VHF FM hand-helds after managing to
screw on the rubber-ducky antenna. Even unboxing a shiny new
Yae-com-Wood is, to some, a form of 'handiwork'.

Bill, the decision is yours. Peter VK3YE and I look forward to your
decision. Judge wisely.

73 from down under, Paul VK3HN, with agreement to this claim from Peter VK3YE.

Details of this day of activations are on my blog at:https://vk3hn.wordpress.com/

Peter's MDT review is at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OtZeFkb1xw

Dead Chickens and Fake Transistors in Medellin Colombia: HK4DEI's Micro 40 DSB Rig

Daniel HK4DEI wrote to report that page 149 of the SolderSmoke book was providing some solace and comfort as he struggled to get his version of Peter Parker's Micro 40 Double Sideband rig going.  He was having problems with the amplifier.   He was almost at the point of sacrificing chickens to Papa Legba.  I wished him luck and told him to hang in there. 

Elisa saw my e-mail to Daniel and complained that I hadn't given him the solution to his amplifier woes.  I tried to explain to her that there are sometimes things in this universe that are just UNKNOWABLE.  C.F. Rockey W9SCH (who alerted us in SPRAT 22 to the chicken sacrifice option) spoke of transistors that exhibit "quantum mechanical necromancy."  Rockey explained that when this happens, "The transistor simply turns up its toes and dies. Not even an Atomic Physicist can tell you why!"  

But Daniel persisted.  And he won the battle:

Hey Bill

Did you kill some chickens already? If you did, THANK YOU!  If you don't, then please enjoy a nice sancocho de gallina for me.

But seriously... guess what?

FAKE TRANSISTORS!!!!

I knew I couldn't be screwing everything up so badly and VK3YE's circuit couldn't be so wrong.

I was getting nuts trying to understand why it wasn't working, changing a single inductor could fry the final instantly or not getting any power out at all (?) also my final BD139 was getting extremely hot, and many of them died with no apparent reason (Page 149!!!!).

I ordered a "good" deal of BD139's and BD140's combo for an incredible low price from [A WEB SITE], I've ordered many *apparently good components from that site with no problems so far... mainly resistors and capacitors. Having tried everything to get my circuit working and after some quick online search about fake transistors from china my suspicions grew considerably and I remembered some -other- BD139's I had ordered from Amazon some time ago.

I proceeded to solder the new transistors in place in my PA and Bingo! No more heating of the final and about the expected 0.5W out from my first DSB homebrew rig. I quickly reported to a fellow homebrewer in a local net and the report was amazing! 59 +10, the final transistor was comfortably warm to the touch and my mind could finally rest... lesson learned! What an electromagnetic achievement!

Just wanted to share my success Bill and thank you again for you book and you kind response.

Please say hi to Elisa and the Cristalinhos from a fellow Latin friend.

Clear Skies.

73/72 from Colombia!

Daniel

HK4DEI

ZL2CTM's New Zealand Double Sideband Success

New Zealand and Australia seem to produce an amazingly high percentage of the world's double sideband transceivers.  Charlie ZL2CTM adds to the count.  He took inspiration and circuitry from DSB  hams in both countries and produced this beautiful DSB transceiver.  It is obviously -- as Charlie notes -- chock full of soul.  I definitely identify with his comment about "taming some kind of  electro-mechanical machine" and also, of course, with his remark about the feelings that come with putting a homebrew rig on the air.  So follow the advice of Charlie!  Build a DSB rig and put it on the air!  Make this your ham radio resolution for 2016!  Give it a go!    

Hi Bill:

I have been following you and Pete Juliano for many years now, and thought I would send you a photo of my 40m homebrew rig that I finished yesterday. Hopefully, it will help encourage others to melt some solder and make their own rigs. The rig is based on ideas and designs from Eric Sears ZL2BMI, Peter Parker Vk3YE and of course Pete N6QW. The aim is to make the final version relatively compact so I can take it tramping/hiking here in New Zealand.

The VFO is an AD9850 being controlled by an Arduino Pro Mini. The output is amplified to provide sufficient drive for the balanced modulator. I was using a nice 1” OLED screen to show the frequency, but that generated a huge amount of noise, so I changed to a LCD. Changing frequency is simply a matter of moving the curser left and right then using the up and down buttons to change the number. Very quick and easy. I was contemplating a rotary encoder, but I find those always seem to skip and jump every now and then. Must be the way I use them...   

The balanced modulator is a 4148 diode ring. I do have some SBL-1s lying around, but I thought I’d go with the discrete diode ring for something different. I’m using a standard electret mic and a simple single stage amp. The switch above that switches between phone and CW.

The PA is two stages; the first a 2N3053 and the second a BD139. At this stage it puts out just over 1W into a 50ohm load. I might look to add another stage and get that up to 3-5W.

The audio amp is a simple LM386. I am not running it hard out as per the datasheet as it generates quite a bit of high frequency hiss in that configuration.

Unlike Pete, I don’t have access to a milling machine to make squares to mount the components on. Instead, I use vero/strip board upside down and solder directly to the strips. This works really well for me on HF. I cut tracks with the twist of a small drill bit.

Last night I made two contacts with the rig. The farthest was 527km according to some well known mapping software. Both reports said the audio was ‘very nice’, which was great to hear. The receiver worked surprisingly well too, and I managed to hear stations in Europe.

As for user controls, you will notice that the pots, switches and plugs are all over the place. I did that to keep leads short. I like it as i feel like I am taming some kind of electro-mechanical machine to generate and receive RF.

Anyway, this little rig has a ton of soul in it and is really fun to use. There is something different about making a contact with a rig you built. I really encourage everyone to give it a go!

The next iteration will be a SDR using a Teensy. Rheslip over at Open Emitter has done some great work with that.

73s

 Charlie

ZL2CTM  

Peter Parker Reviews a DSB Kit and Presents Cool Mods (3 Videos). Also: Why DC Receivers Don't Work with DSB sigs. (It doesn't seem fair!)

I found Peter's recording of the DSB signal being received by a DC receiver to be very interesting.  We've long been warned about the very ironic incompatibility of DSB rigs and DC receivers. 

In "W1FB's Design Notebook," Doug DeMaw wrote (p 171):  It is important to be aware that two DSSC (DSB) transmitters and two DC receivers in a single communication channel are unsatisfactory.  Either one is suitable, however, when used with a station that is equipped for SSB transmissions or reception. The lack of compatibility between two DSSC (DSB) transmitters and two DC receivers results from the transmitter producing both USB and LSB energy while the DC receiver responds to or copies both sidebands at the same time."     Bummer.

In essence, we've been warned that the simple DSB/DC rigs we've put on the air cannot communicate satisfactorily with similar rigs.  We are, it seems, doomed to only speak with SSB/Superhet rigs.

The later portion of Peter's second video allows us to hear just what happens when we try to listen to a DSB signal with a DC receiver:  It sounds, well, unsatisfactory.   I was trying to figure out why.  Here are some ideas:

Simplify things by assuming we are transmitting only a single audio tone of 1000 Hz through our DSB transmitter.  The rig's VFO  is at 7100 kHz.  The 1 kHz tone results in signals at 7101 and 7099 kHz.  Along comes somebody with a Direct Conversion receiver. If he were able to put (and keep) his receiver oscillator on EXACTLY 7100 kHz,  he would end up (by taking the difference products from the product detector) with  a 1 kHz tone resulting from the 7099 kHz signal AND a 1 kHz tone from the 7100 kHz signal.  But there would be phase differences between these two signals, so you would end up with a less than pure 1kHz tone. (Did I get that right?)  And if -- as is likely -- your local oscillator is a bit off frequency you'd get a real mess.  If for example the local oscillator was at 7100.1 kHz, you'd have tones at   900 Hz (7100.1 - 7101) and 1.1 kHz (7100.1 - 7099).      Yuck.  

You might think you could just use the local oscillator in your DC receiver to replace the carrier in the DC receiver, turning it into an AM signal, then use an envelope detector as you would with any AM signal.  But not so fast!  For this to work your local oscillator would have to be not only at the same frequency as the original carrier, but also in the same phase.  That is hard to do. (Hard, but possible -- that is what they do with synchronous detectors using phase locked loops.)

I think you can actually hear many of the DC-DSB problems as Peter tries to tune in the DSB signal of VK7HKN using the DC receiver in the MDT transceiver.  It is indeed unsatisfactory.    But don't worry.  It is highly unlikely that when using a DSB rig you will encounter another DSB rig.  I speak from experience on this.  Pity.



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Finally! An Award for QRP DSB! VK3YE's 40-40 Award

Brilliant!   Great stuff!  Lots of fun! 
Another great idea from Peter Parker, VK3YE.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

A Thatched Roof, Some Palm Trees, A Dipole, and a Homebrew Rig

 

Look at the drawing above.  That is the banner logo of Rod Newkirk's column in QST magazine.  For many years Rod regaled us with exciting reports on the activities of intrepid foreign radio amateurs, transmitting from exotic locations using ingeniously devised homebrew radio equipment.  Look at the picture on the left side.  See the palm trees?  See the thatched roof shack with the dipole antenna?  Well, that's pretty close to what it was like for me out on the Samana Peninsula in the Dominican Republic last month. 

I set up the station under the thatched roof in this picture:

The red pins mark the spot:

Here I am, tuning the rig while looking across Bahia Rincon: 

The rig was my Azores-built, oft-modified, NE602-based, ceramic resonator DSB transceiver with a recently added India-designed BITX IRF510 RF amplifier chain.  A little article I wrote about the ceramic resonator VXO was featured in SPRAT 127.  My antenna was a half wave dipole strung up in the thatched roof. Power came from 10 AA Batteries.  So this was the Double A, Double Sideband, Dipole DX-pedition.   

I had given some thought to building an SSB rig for this trip, but because of the efforts of Peter Parker, VK3YE, I felt compelled to take a DOUBLE Sideband rig with me to the beach. 

Here is an old (2006) video on the rig.  The power amplifier has been significantly modified: 




Here is some more information on the rig, including a schematic for the receiver and the SPRAT article on the Variable Ceramic Oscillator:

http://www.gadgeteer.us/PORTABLE.html
 
Here is the log book for my contacts.   

17 DECEMBER 2014

W1JPR PAUL MT. DESERT ISLAND MAINE

8P6AE (BARBADOS) COULD BARELY HEAR ME, BUT GOOD QSO

18 DECEMBER 2014

N4USA DAVE IN FLOYD, VA. FAIRS NET. (KK4WW.COM)

KE4UGF DON ALSO FAIRS, NICE GUYS. FUN CONTACTS!

KA4ROG ROGER NORTH OF ORLANDO

19 DECEMBER 2014

WB2HPV GUIDO TALKING TO ITALIANS EVERY MORNING FROM WAYNE NJ.  HE HAD TROUBLE HEARING ME.   

CONDITIONS SEEMED POOR, BUT I WAS HEARING AUSTRALIAN STATIONS

W8GEO GEORGE IN THE INTERCON NET.  HEARD ME.  ALSO ON INTERCON: KA4AOQ AND 6Y5MP (JAMAICA) ALSO HEARD ME.

N4PD PAUL

W3JXY/4 NAT IN KEY WEST

N1FM TOM, NORTH OF MIAMI SOLID QSO.

KM4MA PAUL IN ORLANDO WITH MARITIME MOBILE NET.

20 DECEMBER 2014

NA2LF LLOYD IN NY

WB8YWR JIM IN DALLAS 

KM4MA.

W1AW/3 IN MARYLAND (TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET HIM)

21 DECEMBER 2014   NICE 4 WAY SPANISH LANGUAGE QSO:

KI4PZE MIGUEL

CO8OT JUAN IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA

WA4RME RAFA IN CHARLESTON S.C.

C08KB MARCO IN CUBA

Here is a short video showing the station and the location.  Note the little birds (Golondrinas or Swallows) flying by.  They nest in the thatched roof.   They often got confused and flew inside the house.  Billy and Maria rescued many of them.  Whales breed in this bay in January and February.  There are also  manatees.  It is really a beautiful place. 

There were obviously other attractions (!) so I didn't spend a lot of time on the radio -- just a half hour or so every now and then.  But it was really very satisfying to carry this little homebrew device with me, set it up in this amazing place, and use it to send my voice across mountains and hundreds of miles of ocean.   I built this rig in the Azores and have used it in the UK, France, Italy and the Dominican Republic.  It contains circuits devised by members of the British QRP club and by my friend Farhan in India.  The ceramic resonator circuit is something I cooked up on my own.  The microphone is from my old Sony Walkman and the pen that serves as its support is from that wonderful magazine "Electric Radio."  In short, there is a lot of soul in this little machine.  And it was a lot of fun to take it to the beach.  

Thanks to Elisa for finding us this wonderful place.  And to Rod Newkirk and QST for the DX inspiration. 


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SolderSmoke Podcast #168 Software Inefficiencies! DSB Blues! Schematic Errors! QRO Confessions!

SolderSmoke Podcast #168 is available. 
22 November 2014 

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke168.mp3
The benefits of software inefficiency.
Don't throw a wet blanket on computer baby steps.
DDS-ing Pete's old boatanchors and Bill's BITX. 
Bill's DSB amplifier woes: a JBOT unfairly scorned.
Getting ready for solar-powered beach DSB.  
Michigan Mighty Mite Crystal Offer -- FREE ROCKS!
Tribal knowledge: Beware of mistakes in published schematics!
QRO update: Working Japan on 17 meters. 
Happy Thanksgiving! 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

N2CQR WINS ARRL SWEEPSTAKES! AGAIN! (video)

We did it AGAIN!   Winners in the Homebrew Double-Sideband QRP Northern Virginia Category!  Sweet!  I can't wait to pick up the trophy!   

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

F6FEO's BITX 20 (and DSB Rig)

This morning I was looking at F6FEO's wonderful web site (Frank, KM4AXA is building the 28 Mhz DSB rig from Michel's site) .  The drawings have a nice JF1OZL feel to them.

Check out Michel's site.  Just hit the translate button if you have trouble with the French language:
http://f6feo.homebuilder.free.fr/index.html

Merci Michel! 



Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

DSB Transceiver with Only 3 Transistors

Wow.  Looks like something Peter Parker would really like.  This one was sent to me by Stephen, G7VFY.  It comes from Japan:
http://www.cqpub.co.jp/hanbai/books/15/15061/15061_p.180-181.pdf

From this book:-

http://www.cqpub.co.jp/hanbai/books/15/15061.htm

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

SolderSmoke Podcast #156 -- Special Echolink Interview

 

Podcast #156 is available: 
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke156.mp3

Special hour-long interview with Peter Parker, VK3YE
-- Early experiences with radio
-- CW
-- DSB Gear
-- Simple gear, and gear that is TOO simple
-- VXOs, Super VXOs and Ceramic Resonators
-- Building receivers
-- Chips vs. Discrete
-- Making the leap to SSB
-- The Knob-less wonder and the BITX
-- No need for a sophisticated workshop
-- Advice for new phone QRPers


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Thoughts on DSB PSK-31

To QRP-L: 

I have a JUMA TRX-1 cw and dsb transceiver. It seems to me that if I transmit an psk signal there would be two signals generated, one on usb and another on lsb. Is this correct? It does not seem like a good thing to do to me.
Thoughts?
73 Larry WB4HLX
-----------------------------

Larry: 

I've been experimenting with DSB PSK for the last few weeks.  Sure, you are using twice the needed bandwidth,  but in this mode that means you are using only an additional 31 HERTZ! That's not a lot.  Also, if (as I am) you are using a Direct Conversion receiver, in your waterfall you will also be looking at two sets of frequencies -- those going about 2 kHz above center AND 2kHz below.  This helps you avoid causing interference:  If the frequency looks clear on your screen, you can be reasonably sure you won't be bothering anyone with your extra sideband.

This is similar to the AM question: there too you are using additional spectrum.  But it is allowed.

Doug DeMaw and other esteemed technical gurus have promoted DSB as a useful mode that -- through its relative circuit simplicity -- encourages the building of homebrew gear.  DeMaw wisely advised against using high power when running DSB.

I've been having fun with PSK DSB.  I've had many contacts.  I'm running less than one watt to a dipole.   One curious thing that I've noticed:  PSK seems to be sideband independent:  When I tune in a PSK signal on my FLDIGI waterfall, the software will decode it even if I have the FLDIGI set for LSB or USB. 

You might also want to try JT-65.

Good luck. 

Glad to hear that I'm not alone.           Center             Glad to hear that I'm not alone.

73   Bill N2CQRhttp://soldersmoke.blogspot.com

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Homebrew Adventures with JT65

My six dollar DDS board hasn't arrived yet, so this weekend I worked on the re-build of the 30 meter Direct Conversion/DSB transmitter that I built in Rome (originally for WSPR use).  I was hoping to use this rig to make at least a few PSK-31 contacts.   But I started seeing these strange looking sigs in the waterfall.  I found out they are JT65 (JT for Joe Taylor).  So I downloaded the program JT65-HF.  I got the receiver going very quickly (it is a 40675 dual gate MOSFET followed by the audio amplifier out of Roger Hayward's Ugly Weekender RX).  The transmitter is just a two diode singly balanced modulator followed by the RF chain from Peter Parker's Beach 40 Rig.   QSOs seem imminent.


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20