Showing posts with label Tubes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tubes. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2026

Spies On The Air? Israel's Spy in Syria: Eli Cohen and HF CW in the 1960s -- Cohen's Antenna and Thermatron QRP Transmitter

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  Eli Cohen in 1959 This week I watched the Netflix show about the Israeli intelligence agent Eli Cohen:    https://www.netflix.com/title/80...
8 comments:
Wednesday, September 16, 2026

More on the Drake 2-B from Steve KW4H -- Part 2 -- Recapping. Cleaning Tubes and Sockets. Tube Tester

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The recap is finished.  You can see the new Hayseed Hamfest cap on the chassis, as well as the other new caps.  In these receivers, I also r...
Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Steve KW4H's Notes on the Drake 2-B -- Part 1 - Excision of an Unnecessary Mechanical Filter

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Obviously I am interested in the Drake 2-B.    Steve KW4H restores rigs of this vintage (similar to our own vintage!).  He has sent me some ...
3 comments:
Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Inside the NUVISTOR! Making a 555 Timer with Nuvistors!

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This video is very cool.  When I saw them crack open a NUVISTOR, I should have known that this was Eric from CuriousMarc.  And it is!    Her...
1 comment:
Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Helge LA6NCA Builds a One Tube CW Transceiver -- And Makes a Contact!

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Helge has done it again!  He has shown us the benefits of homebrew CW.  And he has done it with one tube.  FB Helge.  Of course, I really li...
3 comments:
Monday, August 31, 2026

KW4H -- Steve -- "Knobs > Menus"

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  I really like the "KNOBS are greater than MENUS" sign.  For years we have been saying that menus are for restaurants.  FB Steve....
3 comments:
Sunday, August 30, 2026

W9TH - Jeff -- Shames Me Into Building a 6T9er -- "You Have No Excuse"

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  First off, that my friends is a ham radio shack.  Note the many books.  And the many Heathkit HW-8s and at least one HW-7. There is a ...
3 comments:
Friday, August 7, 2026

Will N5OLA (the HW-101 Guy) Interviewed by Eric 4Z1UG (Please comment!)

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 https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/n5ola This interview was a lot of fun.  I too was smitten at an early age by the HW-101.  I still have on...
1 comment:
Sunday, July 26, 2026

Helge LA6NCA Builds and Uses a Two Tube 80 meter Transceiver -- From Norway

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This entire video is really excellent.  Thank you Helge!  Once again, he shows us how to do it -- how to homebrew a useful rig, and how to p...
8 comments:
Saturday, July 25, 2026

Someone Else Used the FT-101 VFO Box -- JA9MAT in Japan

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Look at that!   The VFO from the venerable (1970s!) Yaesu FT-101 lives on, not only in Northern Virginia, but also in its country of origin,...
4 comments:
Friday, July 24, 2026

A Homebrew X-Ray Machine from North Macedonia

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It has been a long time since we saw anything like the X-ray machine described in CL Stong's classic book "The Amateur Scientist....
Friday, July 10, 2026

The Nuvistor, Thermatrons, RCA, Patents, the Rise of Asian Competitors (and my Parks Electronics 2 Meter Converter)

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Asianometry always does a great job with this stuff, although I find myself grimacing when he speaks positively about Sarnoff.  Nevertheless...
2 comments:
Thursday, June 18, 2026

The RT-6 and RR-6 Motorola "Spy Set"

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I don't know if this rig really qualifies as a "spy set" but it nevertheless is very interesting.   It is a tube rig, designed...
3 comments:
Monday, June 8, 2026

Pete N6QW's "Last Ditcher" CW Thermatron Rig -- Frank Jones would approve. A new installment of the FMLA series?

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I like this rig.  Perhaps I like it too much.  I find myself plotting to build it myself.  I mean, I have tubes.  I have a bunch of old part...
1 comment:
Sunday, June 7, 2026

Helge LA6NCA's Norwegian Paraset

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This is a very cool video.  I even liked Helge's creative use of AI for the narration.  It was amazing that this old rig still works.   ...
4 comments:
Friday, May 29, 2026

A Quick Review of "Open Circuits" by Eric Schlaepfer and Windell H. Oskay

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Wednesday's post about this book caused me to pull it off my shelf and to take another look. Highlights from the SolderSmoke perspectiv...
Sunday, May 24, 2026

CuriousMarc Repairs the French Oscilloscope of His Youth -- ACHTUNG!

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It was very cool to watch CuriousMarc go back and repair the French Oscilloscope that he used as a kid.  I was reminded of my work on a Tek ...