Just go to http://soldersmoke.com. On that archive page, just click on the blue hyperlinks and your audio player should play that episode.
http://soldersmoke.com
Lin is in Hong Kong. What a great job she does with very simple tools. Notice how she casually mentions that for those parts that have been lost, she will make them herself. Three cheers for Lin!
This video reminded me of the people in Santo Domingo 25 years ago who rewound the transformers and RF chokes from my HT-37. These parts still work.
Chuck KF8TI recently told me that when he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines (1965-1967) he visited a transformer re-winding shop there, seeing piles of insulation and wire on the floor. Apparently business was good!
Wow, I really liked Mike's walk down memory lane. I saw several of my own dream receivers:
S-38E. Indeed, this little monster did add some danger to your life. AKA "The Widow Maker," I gave one to my cousin's husband so he could listen to what the commies on Radio Moscow were saying. He later told me that the receiver had given him a shock. I now have TWO S-38Es in my shack (two more than I really need). I have installed isolation transformers in both of them, so they have lost the one element (danger!) that made them attractive.
HA-600A. I got this one for Christmas in 1972. The A model is MUCH better than the plain vanilla HA-600. I recently got another HA-600A and found serious deficiencies in the Product Detector. Has anyone else noticed these problems? BACKGROUND INFO AND A PLEA FOR MORE INFO HERE: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=HA-600A+Product+Detector
HQ-100. Got one in the Dominican Republic. Fixed it up, repairing damages caused by radio life in the tropics. Disabled the goofy audio amplifier circuitry. I now wonder if this receiver might benefit from the insertion of a 455 kc ceramic filter.
NC190. Wow "Cosmic Blue" Perhaps this was an early influence that led to "Juliano Blue?"
HQ-180. "18 tubes and almost as many knobs!" FB!
HRO-500. Love the dial.
Transoceanic. Never had one, but built a BFO for the Transoceanic that W8NSA took with him to SE Asia during the war.
Thanks to Thomas K4SWL of the SWLing Post for alerting us to this gem. Listen to Sarah Johnston's program describing the origins and early years of broadcast radio in New Zealand.
This wonderful recording and article reminded me of a bit of ham radio history involving New Zealand, and someone who was involved who had a surname similar to mine. The ARRL book "200 Meters and Down" by Clinton DeSoto reports on page 91 that on May 22, 1924, radio amateurs for the first time made a contact between New Zealand and South America. Carlos Braggio operated rCB8 in Buenos Aires. In New Zealand, J.H. O'Meara was at the key in Gisborne.
Writing of the early amateurs, DeSoto wrote (on page 92):
"Why did they do it? None but one of them can know, and only he would know the feeling of driving ambition, the relentless call of work to be done, the gnawing discontent that hungers for accomplishment; it would be hard to put into words. The strange thing is that there were folk, everywhere on earth it seemed, who had that urge."
"The gnawing discontent..." That is what Jean Shepherd had when he couldn't get his Heising Modulator to work properly. We've all been there.
The last line in the quote from DeSoto's book speaks to one of the major themes of this blog and of the SolderSmoke podcast: the way in which people all around the world got interested in radio in much the same way. So many of us, all around the world, often at age 13 or 14, suddenly got interested in radio. We all had (and have!) "The Knack." This is really very nice -- it is something that we have in common, something that pulls us together.
The cover caught my eye. Thanks to the K9YA Telegraph for posting it. I think it captures the allure of radio that most of us felt when we were kids of this age.
Fortunately this 1922 book is available for free download:
It is all about radiotelephone. They are phone guys. Just like us.
And they were homebrewers. They had The Knack. From Chapter II:
Another thing that drew the boys together was their keen interest in
anything pertaining to science. Each had marked mechanical ability,
and would at any time rather put a contrivance together by their
own efforts than to have it bought for them ready made. It was this
quality that had made them enthusiastic regarding the wonders of the
wireless telephone.
And they correctly viewed wireless telephony as being similar to Aladin's lamp. I remember writing that my homebrew DSB transceiver was like Aladin's magic carpet, carrying my voice from the Azores to friends around the world. From Chapter III:
They had
already heard and read enough of the wireless telephone to realize
that it was one of the greatest marvels of modern times. It seemed
almost like something magical, something which, like the lamp of
Aladdin, could summon genii who would be obedient to the call.
This is a reminder of how young the radio art is. This book came out just three years before my father was born. Many of us have in our shacks working rigs that are half as old as radio itself.
Yesterday I went through my novice logs from 1973-1974. I was in Congers, NY and my call was WN2QHL. Please take a look at the callsigns from my log and let me know if we had a contact. I will then let you have more details from my log.
The presentation starts at about the 4 minute point.
I think if I were only allowed to watch one YouTube video in the next year, I'd make it this one.
In this amazing RSGB video, Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE takes us back to his earliest days as a radio amateur. He tells us about his very early desire to build radios, his early projects, and his personal evolution as a designer and builder, from a simple DC receiver, to the BITX, the Minima, the uBITX and now the hybrid HDR/SDR sBITX.
There is a lot of homebrew wisdom and tribal knowledge in this video. And we learn so many hitherto unknown details about the rigs that have become so important to us:
-- Farhan had the EMRFD book with him on the famous flight from Sweden to India during which the BITX was designed.
-- We learn about the origins of the BITX oscillator circuits, and that the VFO and BFO are essentially the same.
-- I was really pleased that Farhan included a picture of my HB BITX17 rig in his presentation.
-- Farhan discusses the difficulties he faced in obtaining needed parts in India.
-- We actually see the nylon washers that Farhan used in the original BITX.
-- Farhan discusses his early system for measuring coil inductance.
-- In addition the huge contribution of EMRFD, Farhan talks about how he was helped by Pat Hawker G3VA's writing, and the ARRL's SSB Handbook.
-- Farhkan talks about his Tex 465 'scope and his building of a Spectrum Analyzer.
-- We see his evolution to dual conversion. We see the conceptual birth of the Minima and the birth (thanks Wes!) of the TIA amps. I didn't know about the HF-1. Then Farhan designed the uBITX and now the sBITX.
-- Farhan talks about his practice of taking the pictures of new rigs with the new rig sitting atop the book that was most important in its design and construction. FB.
-- I was really blown away by Farhan's presentation of how the uBITX advertisement was inspired by and in many ways based on the Heathkit ad for an HW-101. Amazing.
-- I learned a lot from Farhan's discussion of SDR theory. I pledge to spend more time with this. I really like Farhan's hybrid HDR/SDR approach.
-- But I have a question: Farhan seems to say that we'd need a big expensive GOOGL computer to do the direct sampling HF SDR. But doesn't the little RTL-SDR do just that? Without a GOOGL?
-- Great to see Wes's AFTIA being used in the sBITX.
-- Really cool that Farhan has his mind on VHF transverters when designing the sBITX. I liked use of the TCXO module to free up one of the Si5351 clock outputs. FB. And great to include an idea from Hans in this rig.
Thanks very much to Farhan (who stayed up until 3 am to do this!) and to the RSGB for hosting.
Scott WA9WFA and I have been exchanging e-mails about his Mate for the Mighty Midget receiver project. This morning I finally took a look at Scott's we page on this effort. There was a lot there that resonated. For example:
"I remember the moment very clearly. June 1966 I was sitting in a lawn chair reading a stack of QST's that I had brought along to the summer cabin. The February 1966 issue the Beginner and Novice section introduced the "Mighty Midget Transmitter", a 10 watt crystal controlled transmitter. The April 1966 issue Beginner and Novice section introduced the "Mate for the Mighty Midget" which was a three tube super-heterodyne Novice type receiver. Over the course of that summer I read and re-read those articles a jillion times. Being 13 years old, I didn't have the electrical or mechanical skills to pull off such a project so I could only dream about it. In 1970 I bought a handful of the parts. In 1976 I bought more parts. In 2021 I decided to build it while I still had the ability to do it. This project is only my second homebrew radio project so I am still learning things every second of the way...
While I am not expecting to much in performance, the 13 year old in me is ever hopeful that this 1966 Novice receiver will be the most wonderful radio ever made. 73, Scott WA9WFA"
Scott and I are now both updating the MMM RX by substituting 455 kHz ceramic filters for Lew McCoy's FT-241 crystal filter. I have my filter wired in now, and it is working well. Scott plans on soldering his in today. I will post on this mod soon.
On his QRZ.com page, Scott notes the need to fight the temptation to further soup-up this simple receiver: "I did have to resist the temptation to add another audio stage, a mechanical filter, AGC, 2nd IF amplifer stage, etc..."
Exactly right Scott. Resist the temptation. Simplicity is a virtue. I do use an outboard, powered computer speaker, but I justify this by telling myself that I just don't want to use headphones. But I could use headphones, so this is OK. OK?
I must add that I think the yearning of Scott's inner 13 year-old can be fulfilled by the MMM RX. I think it is pretty wonderful. It is -- in my view -- not as good as a Drake 2-B, but it is FAR better than an S-38E, and it is better than a Lafayette HA-600A (wjm).
In response to my blog post about Rob Sherwood, Todd K7TFC sent this very thoughtful comment. It is so good that I wanted to put it up as a more visible blog post. Thanks Todd.
Todd wrote:
Several of 4Z1UG's recent interviews have either hinted at or clearly expressed pessimism over the future of technically-oriented, homebrew ham radio. Of an age myself (another IGY baby) in which disgruntled cynicism is endemic, I nevertheless found their pessimism exaggerated and perhaps a little-too conventional.
Not that there's little evidence to back them up: recent retirements at QST and the magazine's thin technical coverage have not improved matters, and even QRP Quarterly recently found it necessary to spend more pages on UFOs in New Mexico than on VFOs in their readers's hamshacks. Even podcasts whose names might suggest otherwise--I'm thinking of Ham Radio Workbench--actually spend more time talking about store-bought black boxes, antennas, and cool things they've purchased (or want to purchase) than melting solder or winding coils. To be sure, HRWB, QRPQ, and even QST, make important contributions , but they do reflect the *proportional* decline of hands-on electronics.
For me, though, that the *proportion* of homebrewing, technically-oriented hams has declined is not as important as the actual numbers of hams so oriented. If their proportion is down to, say, five-percent of the total number of hams in the world, that's still *a lot* of homebrewers worldwide, and now that we interact in a truly-global theater of enthusiasts, we've never had it so good when it comes to the numbers of people who share our enthusiasms.
This question of actual numbers versus proportions can be seen in the most common modes of operation as well as on the hardware side. SSB long ago passed CW as the mode-of-choice, and now SSB is in decline *proportionally* as the weak-signal digital modes seem to be taking over. But when the bands are open, you can still tune through the lower portions of most bands and find *plenty* of CW ops at all levels of speed and clarity. CW is not dead, and in fact it's easier to learn than ever before. I expect a proportion will always see CW as essential to ham radio--enough in fact to keep them supplied with contacts to satisfy their retro-cravings and keep the tradition alive.
I may be in the last quarter (third?) of my life, but the older I get the more I come to believe in living *three-dimensionally*. The "X" is my own time and place (a west-coast Boomer), the "Y" is my own time but other places and cultures, and the "Z" is other eras, times, and places. The "other eras and times" in the ham-radio context means I don't have to abandon tank circuits and crystal filters and vacuum tubes *merely* because other and perhaps objectively-superior technology is now at my disposal. I can use the new stuff and the old stuff, too. I'd even argue that to abandon all use of older technologies means there's been no *growth*, only "progress."
We see this clearly enough in other aspects of the human endeavor. The computer may have totally replaced the typewriter, but it hasn't replaced pen, ink, and paper. The internet may be a superior repository of knowledge than printed books, but books and magazines are still widely used and are in some ways superior to online media. Microwave ovens cooking prepackaged, processed, and *manufactured* food are more efficient, but no one denies a meal made with raw whole foods and hand-prepared is better.
I expect there will always be plenty of people living three-dimensionally as hams with whom I resonate. There's already a high SWR between me and *most* people anyway. I've grown comfortable with a more-narrow bandwidth--73, Todd K7TFC
This was a receiver built around SBL-1 mixers and 10.7 MHz filters salvaged from an old satellite receiver. It was also the first radio receiver project undertaken by Tom. His use of FPGA technology is especially interesting.
We asked Tom for more info and he kindly provided it:
Tom also sent me Firmware sourcecode that may be reusable for STM8 users, and the FPGA design file (for Quartus users). If anyone has a GitHub or similar site that can host these files, please let me know and we will send them to you.
That would have been a very different movie. And I don't think the box office results would have been favorable. That's PH2LB's "pleasure room" (shack). He has a good blog focused on homebrew:
I really hope Ciprian can get a license very soon. His homebrew projects alone should qualify him. Ciprian has The Knack. It would be great if the IBEW (especially the European branch) could help Ciprian get some more parts and test gear.
That is Homer Price, the lead character in two books by Robert McCloskey, published in 1943 and 1951. The thing in the valise is Homer's pet skunk. Of course.
I was really glad to see that Dave AA7EE has -- after a long absence -- posted another article on his blog. The article has some great personal reminiscences about his involvement with direct conversion receivers. Here is one passage:
I spent many happy hours tuning around and listening on 80M with the DSB80. It was this first experience that cemented my affinity for direct conversion receivers built with commercially available diode ring mixer packages. It just seemed so simple – you squirt RF into one port, a VFO into the other, and (after passing the result through a diplexer) amplify the heck out of the result. The seeming simplicity of the process of converting RF directly to baseband audio has held great appeal for me ever since. Unfortunately, that project didn’t survive. One day, in later adulthood, in my apartment in Hollywood, I reversed the polarity of the 12V DC supply and, discouraged at it’s subsequent refusal to work, tossed the whole thing away. Now, I cannot quite believe that I did that, but it was during a long period of inactivity on the ham bands, and complete lack of interest. If only I could go back, and not have thrown it into the dumpster of my apartment building! Hollywood is ridden with recent notable history. My little double sideband transceiver met it’s unfortunate end just 100 feet from the spot where Bobby Fuller, of The Bobby Fuller Four, was found dead in his car, in 1966, the subject of a still unsolved mystery to this day. The death of my little DSB rig was a lot less mysterious. To think that I heartlessly tossed an SBL-1 mixer into a dumpster, is a mark of how far I had strayed from my homebrewing roots, forged in a little village in England. Now, a few years later, in a city known for it’s sin and excess, I had cruelly ended the life of a stout and honest diode ring mixer. I suppose I should spare a thought for the polyvaricon but, well, you know – it was a polyvaricon!
Here is something nice to listen to in your shack...
I hadn't heard this one before. It is about Shep's teenage trip to a hamfest, but it also about his youthful enthusiasm for ham radio and electronics. Many of us can identify with this very easily.
He talks about what must have been a very early use of "blue boxes" -- the audio tone generators that allowed young miscreants (including the Woz) to make long distance phone calls for free. I wish I had gotten into this. It sounds like fun.
He talks about how painful it was to be on phone (AM phone) with just 2.5 watts homebrew, when everyone else was running a lot more power.
And wow, they played a baseball game at the hamfest. Phone guys vs. CW guys.
I won't spoil it by telling you the results of the hamfest raffle.
I suggested that Tryg once again gather the parts to build George Dobbs's Ladybird receiver. He should use the same wooden base. That would be great.
As for VOIP, I told Tryg that SolderSmoke got its start in a VOIP program called Echolink -- Mike KL7R and I used to converse from London to Alaska. Mike recorded one of our conversations, and that became SolderSmoke #1. I was using VOIP even before that -- from the Dominican Republic in the mid 90's I was connecting my Radio Shack 2 meter HT to an early VOIP program Internet Phone or I-phone. The company that made it was an Israeli firm called Vocaltech.
---------------------------
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the recent emails and podcasts. I have attached a picture of my first radio - or at least what is left of it. I plundered it for parts down through the years as you can see. It is the build from the late Reverend George's "Making a Transistor Radio", the Ladybird book that really put the hook in me all those years back. I was probably only 11 when my late Grandmother and I went to Dublin by train (300 mile round trip) to Peats of Parnell Street to buy what components my pocket money could afford in order to build the first couple of stages of the radio, The wooden base was cut for me by a worker at a local furniture making factory here in Galway. He got a great laugh out of it when I told him I was going to build a radio - he kept putting the wooden blank up to his ear and joking: "I can't hear anything yet!". I will always remember it.
On another front I wanted to thank Pete and yourself for an entertaining and informative couple of podcasts. I made the leap a couple of months back and bought a set of boards for a uSDX (W2CBA version) but I may just use it as a receiver if I ever get around to building it. I don't know yet. The kit that Pete mentioned in episode #228 really got me excited. I expect you can imagine that my imagination is running riot at the moment.
Finally, I would be interested to hear about your take on half duplex VOIP apps such as Peanut. I realise that it is not 'real' radio to many but I have enjoyed several contacts with operators around the world with it and it has been quite satisfying. These ops that I have spoken with have often been infirm, elderly or have mobility issues. There are also a couple that are under HOA restrictions. One OM in particular lives in a retirement village and is a full-time carer for his wife. I think it is a good thing that they can still be involved in radio without all of the physical demands it might make on them or annoying their neighbours. It might, at least, it might be a worthwhile topic for discussion. Thanks again for an excellent Podcast. BTW, I am a bit of a guitar nut too - is that a Stratocaster that Pete is holding in the picture on the Soldersmoke Blog Page?
Right ho, time to put the kettle on. Tea is a vital component for operational efficiency in my radio world!
"SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.
Here's the site:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW
Re: NEAR-Fest - The Inside Story!
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I second the thanks and gratitude for what you did in the past and as well
as the new team and what they are doing.
Nearfest IS the best hamfest in the Nor...
May 1, 2024. More output from your IRF510!
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Every time I think or mention Mary Jo, somehow the 57 VW Beetle comes to
mind. So, it is with the IRF510 and homebrew QRP rigs. They indeed are
found frequ...
Change Is Good
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by Matt (W6CSN) Recently, OM Witherspoon (K4SWL) wrote a blog here and
shared a POTA activation video in which he described the benefit of
changing up your...
Frans puts his new KiwiSDR2 on the air and online
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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Frans Goddijn, who writes: Dear
Thomas, Last week I bought & installed the new KiwiSDR receiver and shared
it on th...
An Inline RF Step Attenuator for QRPp Work
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I don’t need to explain the attraction of low power operation; if you’re
reading this, the chances are that you are already a convert. I’ve been
operating ...
A 51S-1 Restoration Story
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I came across my Collins 51S-1 in a big junkyard in Ankara, Turkey around
2012. It was in a pile with a lot of other electronic scrap, probably from
one o...
New QRP Cluster Online From OM0ET and OM6APN
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By DX EXPLORER
DX EXPLORER
Paul OM0ET and Peter OM6APN recently launched a new cluster dedicated to
QRP operations. Have a look and I hope you will enjoy...
3D Printing The Hadley 114mm Newtonian Telescope
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Yes, we’re building a 3D Printed Newtonian Telescope called Hadley. It’s
being printed in PETG and in the video below, I give a quick tour. My build
isn’...
3D printed project boxes
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I have been busy with some other things that have kept me away from
electronics projects for quite a while. Now I can get back to them, but
realize I n...
Daylight Again – An all Analog Radio
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What’s all this? In 10 seconds, A high performance, 7MHz, 5 watt SSB rig
Draws just 24 mA of current 90 dB dynamic range, 80 dB close-in dynamic
range 3D ...
Adding Enclosure to your sBitx Boards Order
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The early buyers of the sBitx board set who bought it for $270 USD might
want to also add the enclosure (box) for in the kit. What you will now get
is a f...
Digi-chirp! Digital synthesis of ‘nostalgic’ CW
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The bottom ends of 80, 40 and 20m are not what they used to be. For
starters, the busiest part is the digital segment where computers talk to
computers – l...
-
A Simple Speech Processor
(For QRP/SSB Homebrew Transceivers )
Over the last few weeks I had been thinking to build a small AF speech
processor to add to...
A New Look for your uBitx!
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Adding a "Cool Blue" Display to your uBitx!
The standard "green background" with black lettering frequently reminds me
that I suffer from Chronic seasickn...
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