Very Useful: Copper Tape with Conductive Adhesive

This copper tape is really useful, especially when doing "free style" homebrew.  At first I didn't even realize the adhesive is conductive.  This tape is great for creating a common ground among several printed circuit boards, especially when you are using a wood board as the base.  You can solder to it very easily.  You could even use it (with a wood or plastic base) in lieu of a copper clad board. Lots of possible applications for homebrewers. This stuff deserves a place on the workbench shelf right next to the Gorilla Tape and the Crazy Glue.   I'm using it in my Single Transistor Rig project. 

You can get it from Amazon -- there are many varieties and vendors.  This one is similar to the one I am using.  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I1XNY1E?aaxitk=I9X2Na8Gu23M3nrhlpSzYw&pd_rd_i=B01I1XNY1E&pf_rd_p=44fc3e0f-4b9e-4ed8-b33b-363a7257163d&hsa_cr_id=3252618550401&sb-ci-n=asinImage&sb-ci-v=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71sJrx27%2B-L.jpg&sb-ci-a=B01I1XNY1E

Workshop Tour -- Good use of older test gear (video)

This fellow is making good use of older test gear.  Very nice.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LPcLAkhdFE

http://gokarters.com/smf/index.php?topic=2549.0

Another AMAZING Homebrew Vacuum Tube (Valve)

I feel a moral obligation to put these projects on the blog every time I see one.  It just seems like the right thing to do.  Great work on the Pilotron.   Great workshop video also.  

Wow. Mr. Carlson's New Old-Time Radio and Test Gear Lab. VE7ZWZ -- Homebrew Hero

It has been a while since we last visited Mr. Carlson's lab.  As always, we found it amazing.  The awesomeness just keeps increasing. Previous visits: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=Carlson

As was the case before, this is really almost too much.  THREE DX-100s in the shelves.  A massive collection of tubes, some sorted, some un-sorted.  But don't worry -- Paul has a good memory and remembers where everything is.  I believe him. 

For his amazing shack and workshop(s) and for his willingness to repair old-time test gear, Paul VE7ZWZ clearly deserves homebrew hero status.  

Thanks Paul. 

Two Videos from Other Kinds of Workshops -- Dobson Makes a Telescope, Peter Builds an Airplane

Above you can watch a video showing the legendary John Dobson making a big telescope. Born in Beijing, Dobson is the former Hindu monk who left the monastery to show people how to make big telescopes out of shipping tubes and port-hole glass.  Think of it as the BITX of amateur astronomy.  Dobson is the founder of the "sidewalk astronomy" movement -- that's when you set up your 'scope on an urban sidewalk and show the wonders of the universe (or at least the solar system) to passers-by.  We did this in London with Saturn.  (Some of the cynical Londoners couldn't believe it was real -- they thought I had a transparency in the scope tube.) Dobson developed a very simple and popular method of mounting telescope tubes -- the "Dobsonian" method.   

More on Dobson here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dobson_(amateur_astronomer)

Below you can see a short update on Peter's homebrew airplane. 

Rockets and a Microcontroller -- Videos

https://bps.space/

Peter's New Airplane

Again.  Amazing.  What a great workshop.   Note his comments on the importance of DESIGNING FIRST, THEN BUILDING.  Words to live by my friends, words to live by.  Read and heed.  

Peter Sripol Takes Off In His Homebrew Airplane

Woz with Soldering Iron; Wooden Enclosures for Electronics (Video)

The Woz scared me for a second -- I tought he was going to leave a hot iron on the desk amidst paper and other flamable items.  But no -- he put the soldering iron in its holder. 

Later we hear Woz talking about the need to update schematic diagrams.  And I was esepcially taken by the use of wooden enclosures for electronic projects.  My BITX rigs have followed the Apple example. 

Building an Airplane in the Basement with Insulation Foam, Tape, Glue, Poplar...

But this one is not a model RC plane.  This kid intends to pilot this plane while actually sitting in it.  

As a parent, I must say this is really nuts.  Stick to the models Peter!  Or maybe put some goggles on the big dog and let him fly it!  

Nevertheless, this is an inspriational look at what can be built in a basement using stuff from Home Depot or Lowes.    

For more info see:
http://hackaday.com/2017/08/14/building-an-ultralight-out-of-foam-in-a-basement/#more-268614

Here's Peter's earlier Cargo Plane project:

Ralph Baer -- Video Game Inventor

Thanks to Stephen G7VFY for alerting us to this very nice video.   Ralph Baer did pioneering work in video games.   It is fun to see him in his workshop. He obviously has a variant of The Knack.  Stephen hinted at a reference to "noodling" but I didn't hear it -- perhaps Stephen meant that the whole thing was about what we'd call noodling.  I found the box on his bench labeled "Wire Wrap Materials" kind of ominous -- remember our April 1 announcement about the launch of the new "Wire Wrap Rap" podcast?

I liked Ralph's summary comment about how these days he just has fun building things.

The Workshop at AA8V

Field Day was a big success for me this year.  I was in category "1E" which meant that I was home in the air conditioning, but doing my bit for emergency service by using a gel cell as my power source.  A SOLAR CHARGED gel cell.  So don't anyone call me a slacker, OK?

I was on my HW-8 and made a total of two contacts.  The second was with AH6AX.  I wasn't fooled -- I knew they weren't in Hawaii.  But the op gave me his home call:  WB8YYY.  Curt is a SolderSmoke listener.  In a follow-up e-mail he alerted me to the web site of AA8V.   Great stuff.  Thanks Curt.

Here is the AA8V workshop:

http://faculty.frostburg.edu/phys/latta/ee/workshop/workshop.html#electronics1

AA8V was on the QSO Today podcast not long ago. 

TRGHS! HB2HB! Homebrew Extravaganza on 40 Meters!

AC7M HB Amp and HB Power Supply

I was flying solo last night.  Everyone else in the house was out.  So I turned to ham radio for some company.  And I was rewarded.    

I called CQ with my BITX DIGI-TIA rig and was immediately answered by Doc AC7M in far-off Twin Peaks, Idaho.   Doc was running a K3 to a homebrew solid state full gallon amp.  And get this -- Doc had also homebrewed the 3 kw switching power supply.  I looked at my store-bought supply and felt like an appliance operator.  I hang my head in shame.

As we discussed solid state amplifiers, we were joined by another builder of silicon after-burners: Don K9AQ, who called in from a beautiful cabin in rural Wisconsin. Don's amp is based on the venerable EB-104 design.   

Both Don and Doc talked about the work of W6PQL.   He has a really amazing site devoted to homebrew solid stat amps, and he is selling lots of great boards and parts for this kind of project:
http://www.w6pql.com/  

As I finishing up with Don and Doc, I got a very welcome call from an old friend from the SolderSmoke community: Dino KL0S.  He as booming in from Williamsburg, Va.  Dino has an amazing workshop.  He is building a serious vertical antenna for 160 meters.  Dino is going for the DX.

Dino's Bench

At this point Mike WA3O in Pittsburgh called in.  And get this:  Mike heard me on his new BITX 40 Module.  The Radio Gods Have Spoken! (TRGHS!).  We switched up to 7.285 MHz where I fired up my BITX 40 Module for a BITX40-BITX40 QSO (albeit not at QRP levels).
We should definitely make more use of 7.285 for BITX40 and other HB QRP SSB QSOs.  1930 EST (0030 Z) seems like a good time.

Finally, just when I was thinking that things couldn't get any better, they did:  Armand WA1UQO called in from Richmond.  Armand and I collaborate on parts acquisition at Virginia hamfests.  We specialize in the contents of the musty cardboard boxes found under the tables.  We discussed the DISRUPTIVE influence of Farhan's BITX 40: All around the world, other homebrew projects are being literally pushed aside on workbenches to make room for that fantastic little module from Hyderabad. 

I was very pleased to hear that Armand is building an analog VFO for his module, using a coil in the 4 uH range, wound on a piece of cardboard tube from a coathanger.  The inspiration for this kind of coil (which I now have in THREE rigs) came from Farhan, who used sipping straws from fast-food restaurants as coil forms in a sig generator that he built years ago.  This week, seeing a Facebook picture of my daughter and me in a restaurant with drinking glasses in front of us, Farhan asked if I had brought home the straws. 

Possibly the Best Ham Radio Interview Ever: Farhan on "QSO Today"

Stop what you are doing.  Run -- don't walk -- to the "QSO Today" website of Eric Guth 4Z1UG.   There you will find his interview with Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE. 

There is so much great information, inspiration and wisdom in this interview.  I was so captivated by it that -- even with the availability of the pause button -- I was unable stop listening even for the time it would take to walk to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup.  But at the same time, listening to Farhan describe the joy of bringing a new receiver into operation compelled me to go over to the bench -- in mid-podcast -- to tweak a receiver that I am working on.

In this podcast you will hear about how Farhan got started in ham radio, about his Elmers about the origins of the BITX, about the Minima and the new HF-1 rig, about Farhan's spectrum analyzer project and about a new goodwill effort to send BITX circuitry to aspiring hams around the world, especially in developing countries.

Throughout you will hear Farhan speak of the importance of the book, Experimental Methods in RF Design. 

I really do think this is the best ham radio interview I have ever heard.  Congratulations and thanks to Eric and Farhan.

Here is the link:

http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/vu2ese

Lee Snook W1DN's Amazing New Rig

Wow, I feel myself being pulled into the digital vortex.  What a cool combination of digital and analog construction!   I love that small spectrum 'scope.

Lee's rigs and his workshop have been discussed on this blog before:

http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-amazing-rigs-of-lee-snook-w1dn.html
http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-amazing-rigs-of-lee-snook-w1dn.html

A Message from South Africa

Hi Bill,

 

I am Pieter callsign ZS3AOR. I came upon your E-Book at Amazon and downloaded it to my Kindle and man, I really enjoyed reading about your endeavors with everything.

 

The way you explained for instance the inner workings of transistors and mixers and problems associated with it is really  good.

 

Subsequently I downloaded the August Podcast and I am hooked with you and Pete.

 

Kind regards from the Namaqualand region of South Africa (Northern Cape Province)

 

Pieter  ZS3AOR

 

 

 

Pieter's Workbenches

The Truly Amazing Workbench and Shack of VE7ZWZ (Video)

Brace yourselves.  This is almost too much.  Prepare for sensory overload and possible palpitations.
 
Wow.  This is really amazing.   Note the very casual way Paul manages to mix Eico 430 oscilloscopes with the latest Tek touch-screen 'scope.  Heck, the doesn't even mention the SP-600s!  He does briefly note "a very large transmitter." Indeed. And he has a microscope on the bench.

This video is part of an excellent YouTube channel called "Mr. Carlson's Lab."   Great stuff in there.  Paul works on everything from old tube type receivers to modern Yaesus and Icoms.

It took me a little digging to find his ham radio call sign.  There are many Paul Carlsons on QRZ.com, but Paul's pronunciation of "solder" gave him away.  It seems our Canadian friends also (like the Brits) pronounce the "L."  VE7ZWZ. 

Check out his channel.   Lots to learn there:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqmegXoB7lA

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

Armand's Bench (and Hamfest Goodies)

 

Above is the workbench of esteemed long-time SolderSmoke listener and electronic wizard Armand WA1UQO.  Lot of good stuff on that bench. 

 

Armand made it to the recent Manassas (Virginia) hamfest.   Here is what he came back with. 

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

Star City Antique Radio's Beautiful Workshop

Dale Cook of Star City Antique Radios and Test Gear has a really nice site with great pictures of his workbenches and test gear.  Inspirational stuff.  Take a look: 

http://plymouthcolony.net/starcity/radios/pages/compact.html

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

The Amazing Rigs of Lee Snook, W1DN

Back in March 2013 we ran a blog post linking to a video of a beautiful superhet receiver built by Lee Snook, W1DN (that's his shop).   Then the video disappeared.  Today Peter Parker, VK3YE, alerted us to the reappearance of the video.  Some Googling led me to Lee's YouTube channel and many other videos of some truly amazing homebrew projects.  

Here is his YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/swradios/featured

And here are all his videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/swradios/videos

Check this out digi fans (from his QRZ page):





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