Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Helge LA6NCA Builds a Double Sideband Thermatron Transmitter
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Schematics for the Cuban Islander Double Sideband Transceiver (Please Send More Info)
Friday, March 10, 2023
Troubleshooting an Intermittent with Mr. Carlson. And Troublesome Tube Re-Branding.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Mr. Carlson Replaces Old Capacitors -- Bathtub Capacitors
Saturday, February 4, 2023
To Re-Cap or Not to Re-Cap -- Curious Marc on the Electrolytic Controversy in Ham Radio
Friday, February 3, 2023
CuriousMarc (AJ6JV) Goes to a Hamfest
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Hammarlund HQ-100 Misidentified in 1963 FCC Film
Oh the indignity! It appears at 7 minutes 16 seconds in this FCC film. It is clearly an HQ-100, but the FCC subtitles identify it at an HQ-110. It is clearly an HQ-100 ( the model without the clock).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzPIOfpKkRM
As the owner and operator of what must be one of the few remaining HQ-100s, I feel obligated to defend the reputation of this fine piece of shortwave gear.
How many of you have HQ-100s?
Friday, December 9, 2022
R-390s, KWM-2s, Airplanes, and Magnetic Loops -- A Really Interesting Interview with Ted Robinson K1QAR
Eric Guth 4Z1UG has a really interesting interview with Ted Robinson K1QAR.
I really enjoyed hearing Ted's inspiring story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUUzlKMMANg
https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/K1QAR
Listeners will like the discussion of the R-390 and the KWM-2. And his talk about airplanes. And the joy of repair.
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Mr. Carlson's New Lab and Workbench
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Solid-Stating an HT-37 VFO -- Advice Needed
Second, this is a work in progress. That is why my diagram (below) is a bit ugly. I am looking for your input and advice on how I might do this better. I will understand if religious principles prevent some of you from participating in this endeavor.
I am trying to solid-state this device WITHOUT major surgery, and without adding any reactive components that would change the resonance or tuning range of the original. The original circuit tunes from 5 to 5.5 MHz and that is fine with me.
Saturday, August 20, 2022
TRIGGER WARNING: Solid-Stating Old Tube (Thermatron) Gear (Including -- GASP -- R-390As)
Friday, August 5, 2022
SolderSmoke Podcast #239: Hex DX, VFO Temp Comp, DC RX, Polyakov!, DX-100, Wireless Set, Farhan's "Daylight Again" HDR rig, MAILBAG
SolderSmoke #239 is available for download:
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke239.mp3
TRAVELOGUE:
James
Webb Space Telescope. Mars returning to
opposition in early December.
BILL'S BENCH
Hex Beam K4KIO - on roof – TV Rotor – 20-17-12 Lots of fun.
Working Japan regularly, Australia, South Africa on long path 17,000
miles. 52 countries SSB since July 11.
VFOs and Temp stabilization.
Dean KK4DAS found my ceramic resonator VFO for DC receiver drifty. He
was right. So I built a real LC Colpitts
VFO. Got me into temp stabilization. A new hobby!
An obsession. HT-37 and Ht-32
parts. Ovens? WU2D’s second VFO video. Understanding thermal drift and how to
address it. Split stator caps. Cut and
try.
Built a Polyakov DC Receiver. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2010/03/polyakov-plus-dual-band-receiver-with.html Lauser Plus. Lauser = Imp or Young Rascal! DK2RS. He used a ceramic Resonator VXO at 3.58 MHz. Mine works great on 40 with VFO running 3.5 -- 3.65 MHz. See schematic below.
On 40 AM with DX-100 and MMMRX. DX-100 died.
12BY7 VFO buffer went bad. How
common is failure in this tube type? Nice QSO with Tim WA1HLR about the DX-100.
Got my Dominican license: HI7/N2CQR! SSSS on the way. Thanks to Radio Club Dominicano and INDOTEL.
Getting more active in the Vienna Wireless Society.
BOOK REVIEW:
"The
History of the Universe in 21 Stars” by Giles Sparrow. Written during the pandemic. Published by Welbeck, in London. https://www.amazon.com/History-Universe-21-Stars-imposters/dp/1787394654 Also:
From “Atoms to Amperes” by F.A. Wilson available for download. See blog.
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:
Todd K7TFC getting ready to launch “Mostly DIY
RF.” I used his TIA boards in my 1712
rig. He will have boards like this and
much more. Stay tuned.
I need more viewers on YouTube. They want 4,000 hours IN A CALENDAR
YEAR! Please watch!
FARHAN’S NEW “DAYLIGHT AGAIN” RIG. Analog.
VFO. Comments, observations. We need to get him on the podcast. Maybe two shows: SDR and HDR.
PETE'S BENCH
Time very limited. But still sharing lots of tribal wisdom.
Wireless set with tubes!
Tool recommendation – Air compressor
Farhan VU2ESE – Speaking of big antennas “Whenever
I look at the huge construction cranes in Hyderabad, I always think how one
could make 160m, 4 element yagi using it as a boom..”
Todd K7TFC in Spain, spotting Log Periodics in Madrid.
Andreas DL1AJG: Can
Biologists fix Radios?
Janis AB2RA Wireless Girl.
Expert on Hammarlunds. And was my
first contact with the Tuna Tin 2. She too was HB!
Peter Parker VK3YE on Owen Duffy VK1OD
Lex PH2LB on homebrew radio
Would this really be homebrew? Mail from H-A-D article on FM receiver
F4IET a DSB rig from France
Ciprian got his ticket YO6DXE
Josh G3MOT sent us a good video about the Vanguard satellite
and IGY.
Dave Wilcox K8WPE bought Chuck Penson’s Heathkit book.
Rogier -- So many great articles and links from PA1ZZ
Bill AH6FC Aloha.
Retiring. Wants to build. Mahalo!
Grayson KJ7UM Working
on an Si5351. Gasp.
Mike KE0TPE viewing YouTube while monitoring 6 meters. He will have a lot of time to watch!
Chris KD4PBJ spotted Don KM4UDX from VWS FB
Mark WB8YMV building a superhet. Having trouble with 455 kc IF can filter.
Walter KA4KXX Great comment on the Daylight Again rig.
Ramakrishnan Now VU2JXN was VU3RDD. Found lost Kindle with SolderSmoke book on it. Building SDR rig from junk box. Trouble with the LM386.
Pete, Farhan and Tony: Shelves of Shame
Sunday, July 24, 2022
A Surprisingly Good Movie from the Late 1960s: "The Ham's Wide World" (Video)
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Details on Pete N6QW's Wireless Set
Monday, June 27, 2022
Pete N6QW's Hybrid Wireless Set -- A Thing of Beauty, with Thermatrons
Friday, June 24, 2022
W8ZAP on 40 AM with a Collins 20V3 Broadcast Transmitter
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Hammarlund and Homebrew Heroine: Janis AB2RA, HQ-100 Filter Cap Question
Dean KK4DAS is getting ready to work on his dad's HQ-170A. He too will find lots of wisdom and tribal knowledge on Janis's wonderful web site.
Her main page: http://www.wireless-girl.com/ (with a vast amount of technical info available through the links on the upper left side of this page)
About Janis: http://www.wireless-girl.com/AboutMe.html
Thanks Janis!
Sunday, June 19, 2022
A Great Book on Oscillators (Analog LC Oscillators) by John F. Rider (Free!)
Thanks to Peter Parker VK3YE for alerting us to this wonderful 1940 book. John F. Rider -- a real hero of electronic literature -- does a great job in discussing the practical aspects of oscillator circuits.
This excerpt from Rider's foreword gives a sense of the approach taken in this book:
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
SolderSmoke FDIM Interviews: A BRAVE HAM! Grayson Evans KJ7UM Presents a 50 Watt Amplifier to THE QRP GROUP!
Wow, talk about walking into the lions' den! Grayson Evans, author of "Hollow State Design" and guru of all things thermatronic, went to FDIM and made a presentation TO THE QRP GROUP on how to build a 50 watt amplifier with a 6146 thermatron. In New York that would have been called chutzpah. The QRP ARCI guys seem to have tolerated this QRO-heresy; I'm not so sure the zealots over in G-QRP would have been quite so tolerant.
Grayson gave a nice shout out to SolderSmoke's Pete Juliano.
And he offered some sage advice to those who live in fear of high voltage: "Don't touch anything with high voltage on it." Words to live by my friends. He even managed to call those who shy away from high voltage "wimps." This was all very reminiscent of the unforgettable safety advice he offered in his August 2021 interview on Ham Radio Workbench: "Try not to swallow anything, and don't sit on the thermatrons." I mean, who can argue with that?
You can listen to Bob Crane's interview with Grayson here (about 6 minutes total):
http://soldersmoke.com/2022 KJ7UM.mp3
Check out Grayson's Hollow-State Design Book 3rd Edition: tinyurl.com/hollowstatedesign3
Check out Grayson's technical blog:kj7um.wordpress.com
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Frank Jones's Homebrew Rig -- as described by Michael Hopkins AB5L (SK)
"Frank is all homebrew. His receiver is unshielded outside, but built around a central square of aluminum that houses a Velvet Vernier dial thru the front panel and some tubes I did not recognize jutting horizontally on both sides of the box where coils also plug in. The transmitter is a multi-stage affair on a piece of particle board. The tubes are vertical here, and the bench was littered with brown Hammarlund coils labeled 5, 10, 20, and 80."
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2021/07/summer-reading-for-homebrewers-frank.html
https://qsl.net/ve7sl/jones%20oscillator.html