The War of the Worlds -- In CW -- By Chuck Adams AA7FO

This is for CW fans, or for those wishing to improve their CW skills.  You can now listen to the entire H.G. Wells book in CW, thanks to Chuck Adams, AA7FO. 

This seems very timely becasue my son and I are watching the NETFLIX version of "The Three Body Problem" by Cixin Liu.   This deals with an entirely different war of the worlds.  

Check out Chuck's CW version of the book.  Thanks Chuck! 

https://www.aa7fo.com/war-of-the-worlds.html

The Mars Helicopter and its CO2 Insulation

This video isn't about homebrew ham gear, but nonetheless I found it very interesting.  Of particular interest is the bit about their need to find a very low-weight insulator to protect the instruments from the cold of the Martian night.  Aerogel would have been too heavy.  So they just filled the instrument chamber with Carbon Dioxide.  That was their insulator. Think about that, especially those of you who still deny CO2's ability to heat up the atmosphere.  

There is a lot of great stuff on Veritasium's YouTube  channel:  

https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium

"The Electrical Experimenter" -- A Treasure Trove of Inspiration

Oh this is really phenomenal.  Nick "the Vic"  M0NTV is on the mend from some routine surgery.  While mending he found this 1915 issue of Hugo Gernsback's "The Electrical Experimenter."  I just spent a few minutes quickly going through it and I can see that this is a treasure trove that could keep us -- the modern day electrical experimenters -- busy for a long time.  

-- We see Signor Marconi in Italian military uniform (I never saw that before).  

-- There is mention of successful DX reception of the station in Arlington Va. (just down the road from me).  

-- There is a an article about the radio station of T.O.M -- Hiram Percy Maxim.  

-- There are detailed maps of Mars, complete with the canals. 

And there is a lot more.  

Above all, I think what stands out from this magazine is the homebrew spirit,  the notion that we can and should build our rigs ourselves, and seek to understand them. 

Below is the whole magazine.  Please take a look and use the comment section below to point us to passages of interest to the electrical experimenters of today.  

Thanks Nick.  Your e-mail came during a discouraging period filled with a few "tales of woe."  The magazine really lifted my spirits.  

Here it is: 

http://soldersmoke.com/EE-1915-10.pdf 

SolderSmoke Podcast #242 Mars, New Hams, Direct Conversion, SDR Console, Proficio, PSSST, 8 meters, A BIG MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #242 is available

Audio podcast:  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke242.mp3 

Video:  (362) SolderSmoke Podcast #242 December 3, 2022 - YouTube

Travelogue: 

Mars at opposition.  Not as good as 2020 (see charts below)

SSSS Prep

Hearing aids and high frequency loss.

AirPods as hearing aids.

Out in the Shenandoah with a Baofeng.

Success among TJ High School students.

Satellite in space?

 

PARTSCANDY

 

Bill's Bench:

Direct Conversion Receiver:  IT IS ALIVE!  EVEN IN LTSPICE

PTO works very well.

Diode ring -- really needs a diplexer, Radio Marti.

AF amplifier simplicity.

But WHY can't you listen to DSB on a DC receiver? Now I know.

How does a diode detector work?  Is the envelope real?  Is it square law?

The benefits of writing... 1967 and 1966 articles on PTOs and 2Qs.

 

Shameless Commerce Division:

-- MOSTLY DIY RF!  NEWS FROM PORTLAND! Get your free Michigan Mighty Mite. 

-- YouTube Goal Reached.  Thanks! Keep watching.  Subscribe!

-- Keep buying from Bezos using the link on the right-hand column of the blog page.

-- Become a Patreon sponsor!  Left hand column of blog page.

-- I have ads on the blog page, but I have configured to avoid troublesome ads -- dating sites, etc.

 

 Pete's Bench

-- Stepper motor, LCD and Arduino for my little DC RX?

-- SDR Console

-- PSSST, BOMS, Schematics and spoon feeding...

-- Proficio SDR by Multus

-- 8 meters?

  

Mailbag

-- Alan Yates VK2ZAY now also W7ZAY PTOs, trivial motors, a broken ankle...

-- Dhaka Jack AI4SV formerly of Cyprus, Madagascar and Northern Virginia. has moved to France!

-- John WB5OAU/K5MO An old friend.  FMLA as "Glowbugs Noir"

-- Dale Parfitt W4OP on the Homebrew 2Q from 1967

-- Nick M0NTV Glue Sticks, PTOs, DC receivers and AM breakthrough testing.

-- Todd K7TFC suggests “cool” names for DC RX  PT Cruiser? PT109? PT73?

-- Levi replacing Selenium diodes in a Globe VFO.  I am not alone!

-- Juanjo EC5ACA wants to build DC RX .  FB.

-- Dave designed a discrete LM386.  Picked up by Jenny at HackaDay.  Can you build this?

-- George Zaff.  HamRadio Workbench Spiritual Brother of SolderSmoke.

-- Alain F4IET -- Still building DC receiver.  FB.  Sorry I got the call wrong.

-- Drew N7DA Building Pixies with 3D forms.

-- Toni G6XMO in Sheffield getting a 3D printer business going: https://www.whizz3dparts.co.uk/

-- Chuck KE5HPW restoring an old SW-54.  Pete is skeptical.

-- Lex and Jesse like Colin's placement of WYKSYCDS sticker on his Homebrew rig.

-- Jim KI4THZ joined the Vienna Wireless Society -- FB  on the faculty at GMU

-- Tony G4WIF suggested mechanical counter for DC RX PTO freq readout.  I have some in the junk box.

-- Our old friend Jonathan-san in W0XO now a Patreon sponsor.  Origato!

-- Thomas K4SWL sent him video of Tiny SA watching Vatican Radio sign off for the day.

-- Farhan and Chuck Penson liked blog post about Heathkit Digital Rig SS-8000 1978!

-- Ed KC8SBV working on DC receivers -- I recently used the Peppermint Bark box he sent.

-- Old friend Bob KD4EBM on the linearization of the R-390s.  Hard to homebrew one of those!

-- George from VWS trying to figure out how (if?) Marconi got his coherer to work DX...

-- Steve EI5DD sends Connaught Radio news: https://www.docdroid.net/Q1lBoyi/crnews1222-pdf#page=36

 

Won’t have another Podcast until the new year so Happy Holidays to all!  Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! 

 

SolderSmoke Podcast #85 With Mike Herr WA6ARA June 8, 2008 WIZARD ISLAND!

When I was putting this podcast up on YouTube, I needed a picture of Mike Herr WA6ARA who was my guest on this episode.  I found a picture of Mike activating a summit... THE SUMMIT OF WIZARD ISLAND!   That is Wizard Island (above).  Mike and his wife are shown at the summit (below). 

I really liked talking to Mike, and to listening again to our conversation.  But I realize now I should have asked him about parachutes!  I'd been talking about the great picture of the Phoenix lander under canopy as it descended to Mars.  Mike made and tested parachutes for NASA!  

You can listen to this 2008 podcast here: (15) SolderSmoke Podcast #85 Jun 8, 2008 Pheonix Lander, The Woodpecker, Echolink QSO with Mike WA6ARA - YouTube

You can fire up a YouTube playlist that will bring you a steady stream of SolderSmoke podcasts here: 

(15) Videos of the SolderSmoke Podcast - YouTube

Here is a report from Mike on the Wizard Island activation: 

http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7atn/2016-november-12/wa6ara-activates-wizard-island-or-august-2014

An Eclipse, a Sunset and a Sunrise, all on Mars

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/26671/insight-captures-a-martian-sunrise-and-sunset/?site=insight#:~:text=NASA's%20InSight%20lander%20snapped%20a,or%20sol%2C%20of%20the%20mission.

https://www.space.com/perseverance-rover-mars-solar-eclipse-video

JPL, Mars Helicopter, Cube Sats, Ham Radio and more: N5BF talks to Eric Guth 4Z1UG

This morning Eric Guth has a really interesting interview on his QSO Today podcast.  

Courtney Duncan N5BF had a full career at JPL and is the current president of the San Bernardino Microwave Society.  There is a lot of interesting stuff in this interview, much of it about space exploration.  Courtney tells us about how experience with re-purposing radio gear came in handy at JPL.  For example, the helicopter that they have been flying on Mars has a very cheap and light off-the-shelf Zigbee transceiver.  He also talks about the origins of the Cube Sats.   

Here is Eric's page on this interview, with useful show notes: 

https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/n5bf

I like to listen to Eric's shows on YouTube -- here is the YouTube recording of the N5BF interview: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbr4jE11vfg

Here is N5BF's ham radio web site: 

http://cbduncan.duncanheights.com/HamRadio/HamRadio.html

Here is the club page of the San Bernardino Microwave Society:

http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/

Thanks to Eric and Courtney! 

Hi Def 360 Degree Panorama from the Mars Perseverance Rover

Put this on full screen view and set for max Hi Def presentation. 

You can stop the video around the 1:10 mark, but then still use your mouse to pan around for a full look at the area (without the annoying labels that appear at the beginning).  

To Mars in 1964 -- Building the Camera and Radio Systems

This is a really excellent video showing how JPL engineers and technicians designed, built and tested the first video camera system sent to Mars. 

-- It was essentially a Slow Scan TV system built around a Vidicon tube. 

-- Data was sent back in digital form. 

-- The first Digital-Analog conversion was done using COLORED CHALK!

-- The method used to protect the Vidicon tube from vibration was derived from the packing material used to mail the tube to JPL from Texas. 

-- During testing, JPL had all the circuitry spread out in what we would call "Al Fresco" style. 

Thanks to Dan Maloney at Hack-A-Day for alerting us to this.  Dan has an excellent article about the mission here: 

https://hackaday.com/2021/06/03/mariner-4-our-first-up-close-look-at-mars/#more-480934

Remastered! The Secret Life of Radio -- With Updated Comments from Tim Hunkin

Thanks to Stephen 2E0FXZ for alerting us to this important video. 

We first posted about the original many years ago.  We were delighted to learn that they have remastered the video and added 10 minutes of retrospective commentary from Tim Hunkin.  

Here are some of my reactions after watching the updated version:

-- The Marconi videos were amazing.   I actually met Elettra at a diplomatic reception in Rome.  

-- I was pleased to learn that Marconi was trying to "call up" Mars.  FB OM. 

-- My son Billy and I sat in that same Royal Institution auditorium where, 100 years before, Oliver Lodge had demonstrated spark gap technology. 

-- Tim's comment on the connection to supernatural beliefs was right on the mark.  We found out that the house we lived in in London was a center for occult beliefs and practices. 

-- Those square lantern batteries brought back fond childhood memories. My first power supplies.

-- The Rexophone -- used by Rex. 

-- Very cool of Tim to homebrew a coherer.  Extra credit for that.

-- One of the capacitors looks familiar.  EF Johnson? 

-- I agree with Tim -- crystal radios are a must-build for true radio hams.  And do it with galena and a cats whisker. 

-- Finally, the RCA ad introduces a term we might want to surreptitiously enter into the Enhanced SSB lexicon:  That "Golden Throat" sound.   

SolderSmoke Podcast #230 is available! Apr 1, Mars, Group Build, SDR, SSB, Mich Mighty Mites, Mailbag

SolderSmoke Podcast #230 is available for download

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke230.mp3

N2CQR was down for maintenance 

A few words about April 1

The Ingenuity helicopter

China lands on Mars

Brood X Cicadas arriving in NOVA 

Pete's Bench

The Dentron Project

The Spillsbury Tindall SBX-11A

KK4DAS and the Simple SSB Group Build

TenTec mods

Shack Mystery solved.  Maybe 

Changing the channels at age 9 

Bill's Bench

Why LSB below 10 MHz? The "SSB Legend" Rig

WU2D RTL-Dongle Up converter

Understanding the Gilbert (Jones) Cell

SDRSmart  RTL-SDR.com V3 Dongle 

VK3HN and 2 meter SSB

Jack NG2E, MMM and the 10 minute transmitter

KD4EBM sends me SST by Wayne Burdick. DX!  

A new computer 

Mailbag: 

MM0ACN

VK2EMU

N5VZH

VE3KZJ

HS0ZLQ

AD0JJ

VK8MC

KK0S

VE3VVH

KB3SII

WA9WFA

M0NTV

W2DAB

 60 Minutes Story on Mars Ingenuity Helicopter: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-drone-mars-60-minutes-2021-05-09/

Part of Wright Brothers' Airplane Now On Mars with Ingenuity Helicopter

 

Very cool.  Great idea. 

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-wright-brothers-1st-airplane-nasa.html

A REALLY Cheap Receiving Rig

Wow, lots of ingenuity in this 1921 receiver.

-- Has anyone actually made a diode out of a light bulb in the way described? 

-- The antenna coupler on the table leg is not much different from the tuner that I have attached to the wall of my car port. 

-- Note that when our hero finishes the receiver, he is able to pick up signals from Mars!  FB OM. 

Who will be the first to recreate this 1921 receiver? 

Awesome Video of Perseverance's Landing on Mars

When we watched the landing on February 18, Elisa kind of complained that they were using simulations -- like the rest of us, she has come to expect actual video of important events.  Well, now we have it.  Actual video of the parachute deployment, the decent, heat shield separation, dust from the Sky Crane rockets, the whole thing.   Wonderful!   See above. 

The full press conference is worth watching:

Here we learn that the placement of these cameras was inspired by the sports camera that enabled one of the NASA/JPL guys to watch his daughter's gymnastic back flip from her perspective.  As they discussed the images from the spacecraft,  I found myself thinking of my little Astrocam Estes rocket in the Dominican Republic, our kite-camera adventures in the Azores, and the key-chain video camera that Billy and I flew on a rocket in the Shenandoah Valley. 

We also learn that the parachute color pattern contains a hidden message... (see below for the solution, worked out by a fellow in France.) 

One of the JPL guys noted that we've all had a tough year, and he hopes that these images will bring some joy to people.  Indeed. 

And wow, there are microphones!  They show the mic in the press conference video, and they play audio of the sound of Martian wind. 

There was a nice shout out to Sojourner from 1997 (the year my son Billy was born).  

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

Someone cracked the code in the parachute coloration: 

"DARE MIGHTY THINGS"

and the JPL Coordinates

https://twitter.com/FrenchTech_paf/status/1363992051734478852

A Step Closer to the Elser-Mathes Cup? Ham Receives Signals from Mars

 

That is the antenna that Scott Tilley VE7TIL  used to receive signals from the Chinese spacecraft Tianwen-1 in orbit of Mars.  In a recent SpaceWeather article, Scott comments on the importance of SDR receivers in these deep space reception efforts.  

https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2021/02/16/ham-radio-signals-from-mars/

I've been watching the Elser-Mathes cup for a long time. I dedicated my book "SolderSmoke  -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" to my kids, Billy and Maria, noting that they were both possible future winners of this most prestigious award.  Scott Tilley's work has put us a step closer to an award ceremony for some intrepid radio amateur. 

Here is a good article on the Elser-Mathes Cup: 

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/June2016/Schoenfeld.pdf

Scott was in the news last year for finding a zombie satellite: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2020/04/quarantine-search-for-zombie-satellite.html

Observations from the Mars 2020 Opposition

 

These are some of the drawings that I made during the Mars 2020 opposition. I would go out to my back porch with my 6 inch Dobsonian Newtonian telescope.  I would look closely at Mars, making mental note of what I was seeing. Then I would go to the shack and immediately draw what I'd seen. I would then look for relatively recent images of Mars made by people with more experience and better equipment, and I'd compare my drawings with their images -- this enabled me to understand what I was seeing.  Also useful was the Mars Profiler of Sky and Telescope magazine -- you just plug in the date and time and it displays the part of Mars that is facing us. 

I was especially pleased with the drawing and image above because I'd been reading a lot about the Hellas impact crater in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy.   (SCP should be SPC = Southern Polar Cap.)  

I came to think of this as the "M of Mars."  I think it is just Mare Cimmerium, Mare Hesperia, and Mare Tyrrhenum. 

bcastropics.com made this illustration of how Mars's apparent size has changed

Mars is BACK! 2020 Opposition! Don't Miss it!

2004 

Sometimes waking up a bit earlier when the sunrise is coming later leads you to some interesting things.  

It was quite humid in Northern Virginia on the morning of 25 August 2020, but the skies were surprisingly clear.  I stepped outside at about 0500 local time, coffee cup in hand.  Venus was blazing in the east.  Then I saw this big very bright red thing high in the southern sky.   It seemed almost too bright and too high in the sky to be Mars.  But a quick check with Stellarium showed that it was in fact the Red Planet.  I pulled out my six inch Dobsonian reflector telescope and soon had Mars in the eyepiece.  

For the first time in many years I could see surface features:  It is springtime in the southern hemisphere of Mars, but the Southern Polar Cap (which recedes in the summer) was still very prominent (in my eyepiece it was near the top, as in the GIF above) .  I could also see an albedo (dark on light) feature below the icecap.

I went out again on the morning of 26 August 2020.  Again the Southern Polar Cap was very visible.  Below it, near the center of the disc,  I could make out a large albedo feature.  I am pretty sure that is Mare Erythraeum.  

Above is what Stellarium presented as Mars as viewed from Earth this morning. The Southern Polar Cap is much more prominent in my telescope (you can see it in the upper right in the image above).  The large dark thing near the center of the disc is Erythraeum.  In the Stellarium image you can see the enormous Vallis Marinaris canyon shooting off to the lower right (sadly I could not see this in my telescope). 

The GIF at the top of this post gives a much better view than I get with my little six inch telescope.  The GIF gives a good idea of what the albedo features and the ice cap look like.  

This was a great time for me to see these things.  I'm almost done with the second book in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy -- much of the story takes place in sanctuaries carved under the Southern ice cap, and in Hellas (which Robinson's colonists are filling with water).  During the 2018 Earth-Mars opposition a big dust storm made it impossible for me  to see anything on Mars; a similar storm takes place during book one of Robinson's Trilogy. And right now the Perseverance rover is on its way to Mars.  

This 2020 opposition will be the best one until 2033.  So don't miss it. 



Here is a good article on observing Mars during the current opposition: 
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-to-observe-mars/

Here are technical details on the 2020 opposition: 
http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/jbeish/2020_MARS.htm

To see what side of Mars is facing us at any time, use Sky and Telescope's Mars Profiler: 
https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/mars-which-side-is-visible/#

Here is a very informative video about the 2020 opposition: 



And remember:  The Elser-Mathes Cup has still not been won.  

Mars: Book Review, Martian Propagation, Martian Moons as VHF Repeater Sites

In SolderSmoke #224 I mentioned the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.   I found a book review in The New Yorker (see below).   In Red Mars they mention that there is no ionospheric propagation on Mars.  W1PJE and K1RID point out that this is incorrect -- there is ionospheric propagation on Mars.  K1RID provides a link to a really detailed NASA study of this question (it includes discussion of the effect on propagation of Martian dust storms -- good to know!). Finally, 2E0CHK suggests placing VHF repeaters on the two moons of Mars.  I found a good article about the overhead passes of these moons.   See below for all.  

AND REMEMBER: THE ELSER-MATHES CUP REMAINS UNCLAIMED! 


Here's a review from The New Yorker: 

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/our-greatest-political-novelist

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

Hello Pete and Bill,

Listened to your latest SolderSmoke podcast. Enjoyable as always. But you should correct the record: Mars does have an ionosphere!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/2017/04/mars-ionosphere-cold-lifeless-filled-heavy-metals/amp

The peak daytime electron density ("M2 layer") is low in altitude - perhaps 130+ km, about our E region - and density is like our E region too (5-10x lower than our F region). So for the Mark Watneys carrying their Homebrew rig and inverted V, probably only a few hundred km to the first skip zone. More NVIS flavor than anything else.

Fun to think about. You should go and test it out!

73

Phil W1PJE

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

BTW, this made the rounds in our club last year:

https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/propagation/mars/MarsPub020318.pdf

dit dit

73 de Ed, K1RID
Newburyport Electronics & Radio Society
www.K1YRD.org

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

2E0CHKAugust 1, 2020 at 4:04 PM

Hey Bill,
No skip on Mars ?
No ionosphere ?
Every cloud has a silver lining, even if Mars doesn't have any clouds ;)
Mars has two moons.
Could be paradise for Moon Bounce aficionados. No ionosphere or F layer to get in the way. VHF can get around corners after all.

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

Here is an article describing the overhead passes of the two Martian moons: 

https://www.space.com/28403-astronauts-mars-skywatching-phobos-deimos.html#:~:text=So%20an%20observer%20on%20the,and%20set%20in%20the%20west.

SolderSmoke Podcast #224: Mars. Spurs. Bikes. SDR. NanoVNA. Antuino. MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #224 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke224.mp3

1 August 2020

--The launch of Perseverance Mars probe with Ingenuity helicopter.

--China’s Tian Wen 1 on its way – radio amateur Daniel Estevez EA4GPZ is listening to it! 

--Sci Fi Books:  Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.  No skip on Mars :-(

--We have some sunspots!  SFI now 72 and the Sunspot number is 23. 

Bill's bench: 

--Conquering Ceramic Spurs in Q-31   Roofing filter -- sort of 

--NE602 for a Q-75 converter – Gilbert Cell. 

--Measuring low power levels out of NE602.  Antuino better than 'scope . 

--NanoVNA   Really cool stuff.  SDR in there. 

--Building a 455 kc LC filter from QF-1 rubble. Using LTSPICE, Elsie... 

--Reviving my bicycle AM radio – The “All Japanese 6”

--Understanding L Network impedance matching. 

--Bill’s new resistor kit from Mouser. Thanks to Drew N7DA. 

SHAMELESS COMMERCE:  PATREON, AMAZON SEARCH.  THANKS

Pete's Bench: 

--Lockdown Special 

--BPF work on SDR Rig

--I U W I H 

Mailbag:

VK3HN Summit Prowler 7

VK2EMU “The Stranger”

SM0P  HB uBITX in Dubai

AE7KI  Worked him in VK from London

ON6UU  EA3GCY’s 4020 rig

KA4KXX A Simpler Mighty Mite

W9KKQ M19 DMR

KD4PBJ Radio Schenectady

W3BBO 12AU7 Regen

KE5HPY Another 12AU7 regen

N5VZH Ne602 Converter

KY3R Wall Art

G4WIF  Spectrum Analyzer in your pocket

W2AEW  Talks to UK Club

KK0S Sent 455 Kc IF cans

KL0S Making 9Mhz filters

VU2ESE  Diving into simple SDR schemes

Dean KK4DAS  Amateur Radio Astronomy

First Audio From Mars

How long will it be before NASA starts getting critical comments on the audio quality, along with very confident statements about how to change the audio settings on the menu?  Well, at least they have "presence."

The Elser Mathes Cup awaits a winner!