The Knack in Mexico, Engineer and Inventor

Our correspondent in Guadalajara, Roberto XE1GXG, had earlier posted a comment on Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, an inventor who worked on color TV. This morning I had the chance to check out the Wikipedia article on OM Guillermo. I was struck by the telltale signs of The Knack. This is further proof that the phenomenon is truly global. Excerpts from the Wikipedia article:

Guillermo González Camarena (February 17, 1917 – April 18, 1965) (aged 48), was a Mexican engineer who was the inventor of a color-wheel type of color television, and who also introduced color television to Mexico.

Born in Guadalajara in 1917, his family moved to Mexico City when Guillermo was almost 2 years old. As a boy he made electrically propelled toys, and at the age of twelve built his first Amateur radio.

In 1930 he graduated from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (ESIME) at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) with an engineering degree; he obtained his first radio license two years later.

He was also an avid stargazer; he built his own telescope and became a regular member of the Astronomical Society of Mexico.

González Camarena invented the "Chromoscopic adapter for television equipment", an early color television transmission system. A U.S. patent application (2,296,019) states:

“

My invention relates to the transmission and reception of colored pictures or images by wire or wireless...

”

On August 31, 1946, González Camarena sent his first color transmission from his lab in the offices of The Mexican League of Radio Experiments, at Lucerna St. #1, in Mexico City. The video signal was transmitted at a frequency of 115 MHz. and the audio in the 40 meter band.

He died in a car accident in Puebla on April 18, 1965, returning from inspecting a television transmitter in Las Lajas, Veracruz.

A field-sequential color television system similar to his Tricolor system was used in NASA's Voyager mission in 1979, to take pictures and video of Jupiter.^[1]

In 1995, a Mexican science research and technology group created La Fundación Guillermo González Camarena (The Guillermo González Camarena Foundation), which benefits creative and talented inventors in Mexico.

At the same time, the National Polytechnic Institute began construction on the Centro de Propiedad Intelectual "Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena" (Guillermo González Camarena Intellectual Property Center).

SolderSmoke #88

July 19, 2008

http://www.soldersmoke.com

My walk to work in Rome
The BEST Jean Shepherd ham radio episode
My talk with Jean Shepherd
NR5A's beacon
200 Knights
QRSS of .3 wpm = 1.3 Hz bandwidth
IZ4BFA in stereo CW
K1JT - The Knight with the Nobel Prize
WSPR
Drain cap audio popping filter
Help ID a BC-348 
Dan's Small Parts to return 
The British Amateur Television Club: Knack to the Max
ADVERTS:  N3ZI's Freq Counters, Gadgeteer Books
MAILBAG: Home Counties QRP Club, LU1CBL's BA Beacon,
I2NDT's Thailand Beacon, KI4UZI listens at Cape Kennedy, 
KD0BIK's podcast, AF4UI's LC meter, KD4EBM on Coherent CW,
ZL3TKA IS NOT CRAZY,  7J1AWL reading "Crystal Fire," 
M0JFE wants HB phone, VK7AX rebroadcasting SolderSmoke in 
Tasmania, M0NDE caught The Knack at age 6.  

KO7M's Two Cubs (Piper and MFJ)

Jeff, Ko7M, travels around in this very cool Piper Cub. He has floats for it so he can land on water. He sometimes listens to SolderSmoke as he flies. Which brings us to his second Cub:

KO7M has built his first QRP rig!

Thursday, February 19, 2009 4:11 AM

From:

jeff

To:

n2cqr@yahoo.com

Bill, what have you done... You are killing me out here... :) You may recall, I am ko7m out in the Seattle area and I wrote recently about flying around with soldersmoke playing over my aircraft audio system.

Well... I have been systematically listening to every soldersmoke episode from the beginning... Not a small task... :) I am currently up to episode 80, so I am closing in on the prize of being current.

BUT!! You have completely afflicted me with the need to build something... Most of my ham life however I have been mostly an appliance operator it seems though I built a lot of tube equipment in my younger years, burned a lot of fingers and once launched myself across the shack when I took hold of a 750 volt plate circuit.

Therefore, I am not up to the task of designing something from scratch, but ya know... I just HAD to build something and NOW, so I went with a kit. So, not exactly knack-ish but ya gotta start somewhere, eh?

I went with the little QRP transceiver from MFJ called the "MFJ Cub". I picked up a 40 metre version of this little gem, plugged in my MP3 player with my current episode of soldersmoke and started GENERATING solder smoke! This little kit went together very easily during moments when I had a few minutes to work on it.

Well, this evening (it is now 01:00 PST) I finished up with my last little bit of solder smoke generation and the little rig is done. Now for the REAL smoke test...

Since I don't have a current limiting power supply, I went with a little nine-volt battery for the smoke test. The little power LED lit up and I heard a pop in the headset, nothing was getting warm, so things looked good. We went to the full 12 volt supply and I went through the alignment process by first setting the product detector's operating frequency to fall within the CW filter passband. I then used my Icom receiver to set the VFO operating range since I don't have a frequency counter. I then peaked the receiver bandpass filter for best sensitivity and lastly set the BFO to the correct sideband.

For the transmitter, I first set the carrier offset to about 600 hz from the received signal and peaked the transmitter bandpass filter for maximum RF output. I only have a simple SWR bridge for indicating a relative output level forward and reverse. Lastly, I set the power output level to about what I estimate should be about one watt.

Whoo hoo! Pulled off the dummy load and plugged in the G5RV and antenna tuner and started tuning around the low end of 40 metres and there were signals everywhere. Nice receiver in this rig. The tuning is a little fast, but managable. Seems to be very sensitive. I happened to catch the end of a CQ call as I was scanning around the band and when he signed I gave him a call.

To my complete surprise, he came back to me and gave me a 459 report... From Japan! I bagged a JA1 on my first QSO on a rig I built myself (or at least assembled). There is nothing better, I tell ya! I attached a screen shot of the Solar Flux level for my first QSO.

So... I am afraid to say you have reinstilled the need to melt solder in me after an absence of over 30 years. It is a disease I tell ya! I have located copies of both Solid State Design and Experimental Methods, which are both on the way and I am eagerly looking forward to figuring out what the next project will be.

The knack is returning...
Kind regards,
Jeff Whitlatch - ko7m

Knack Book News: New Blog, 25% off Sale

Our friend Grayson has launched a blog related to his new book Hollow-State Design:
http://hollowstatedesign.tumblr.com/

Over the 4th of July holiday you can save 25% on two of Lulu's GREATEST Knack-related books.  Just use the coupon code FIREWORKS when making your payment. 

For SolderSmoke:  http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

For Hollow-State Design: http://www.lulu.com/shop/grayson-evans/hollow-state-design/paperback/product-20987562.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

WONDERMARK! (Comics with the Knack)

As part of our occasional series on Knack-related comic strips, today we present Wondermark. This link will take you to the first page: http://wondermark.com/tink1/ From there, look for the little "NEXT" hand on the right of the comic. There are eight. All of them are gems. Also, be sure to check out the author's bio:
http://wondermark.com/about/

Job Opportunity: MAKE needs THE KNACK

Sounds like the folks at MAKE are looking for someone with THE KNACK. Check it out:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/03/awesome-opportunity-to-work-with-make.html

Lasers. Big Scary Lasers. And a guy with THE KNACK

Here is another young fellow who shows all the signs of having "The Knack." I think his findings would be very useful for those involved in light beam communication. 

Portuguese Knack: Balloon Launch May 30

I don't think they are radio amateurs, but these guys seem to have The Knack. That's an edge-of-space balloon payload they built. They plan to launch on May 31. You will be able to follow the event live, on-line. They have a very interesting web site: http://spacebits.eu/

Another Lightwave Communication Knack Story from the UK

Hi Bill,

I've been following your podcast since you started and enjoy every episode. I've been licensed here in Scotland since 1970 as GM8EUG.

I thought you/others might be interested in how I got into radio/electronics and how I feel I may have the 'Knack'. 

The above reference reminded me of some experiments I carried out in 1967 as a schoolboy. There were no ready sources of parts locally for me.. I lived  in a rural area so the nearest electronics parts shop was 50 miles away so it was all done by letter and mail order.

My first audio link was driven by a tube broadcast receiver with a 3 volt torch bulb connected instead of the loudspeaker. (I hadn't heard of impedance matching!)  This flickered nicely on speech/music peaks. The bulb was positioned at the focal point of a parabolic car headlamp reflector from a scrap car.  I now had a beam of light with audio on it.
Next step was the receive side...I didnt have access to a photo cell but had a Cadmium Sulphide photo resistor. Connecting a pair of low impedance headphone in series with this cell and a 1.5 volt battery gave me recognisable audio when the cell was in the beam...no amplifier needed!

Next step was greater range...this was achieved with a 6 inch shaving mirror to focus the beam onto the photo resistor. This gave me the length of the street (100 yards when it was dark outside )with the flickering beam shone out of my schoolboy bedroom window resulting in puzzled  looks from passers by.

Next problem was the frequency response.. all bass and no treble. Some research indicated that the photo resistor had a slow response so that was part of the problem but I had a hunch... How fast does a filament bulb react to audio? Biasing the bulb with a 1.5 volt cell so that it glowed  dimly with no audio improved the audio response greatly.

So what got me into radio...my father was a Chief Radio Officer in the Merchant Navy during WWII and my schoolboy bedtime reading (the only technical stuff I could find ) was his textbook ...the 1939 edition of the Admiralty Handbook of Wireless Telegraphy. Capacitors  were called condensers and they were measured in 'jars'!

That was the start of a career. I've now moved through testing international telephone exchanges, installing 2 way radio for the whole of Scotland for British Rail (paid for my hobby!) and finally 32 years in IBM writing manufacturing test software from the original IBM PC to Thinkpads.
Now retired I am active on WSPR and am writing Android apps to keep my brain in gear.

I just can't leave this stuff alone!

Hope this of interest/amusement.

73s

Neil Roberson GM8EUG

UK Amateur TV: KNACK TO THE MAX

You will really like the video archive of the British Amateur Television Club. Start out with the "Bob and Brian" show. It is as if "60 Minutes" did a segment on THE KNACK. Don't miss the excellent antenna lecture by Dud Charman, G6CJ. He used small-scale antennas at UHF to demonstrate the principles behind directional antennas. All of the videos in the archive are very good. Thanks BATC!

Here's the link: http://www.batc.tv/channel.php?ch=1

Early Radio in New Zealand, and "The Knack"

 

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. 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/smart_talk/audio/2018821216/voices-in-the-air-sarah-johnston-on-100-years-of-radio

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. 

M0KOV's Real Life Dilbert Moment -- His Mom Took Him to the Doctor

M0KOV's BITX

Dilbert's mother took him to the doctor because of ham radio.  Jean Shepherd's date said that Shep's mother should "take him to a doctor" (he was obsessing over his Heising modulator.)  And now we learn that Steve M0KOV was hauled into the doctor's office because of his "obsession with electronics."  You are in good company Steve.  The Knack diagnosis is confirmed. 

From Steve M0KOV: 

Just watched young Dilbert at the doctor's surgery.

Although I was late getting my ham licence, I'm sure that I fit the standard knack victim mould. I built my first radio at the age of 10 and even before then I preferred to be bought batteries, switches and lamps rather than sweets. Within a couple of years my small bedroom comprised of a bed, somewhere to throw my clothes and an electronics work bench. The bench and  floor were completely covered with half built electronic projects, ex military radios, tools, my beloved old Heathkit oscilloscope and the rest. 

Now, my true Dilbert moment. I remember being in the family doctors surgery and my mother was discussing my inability to get to sleep (a perfectly normal ailment for a 13 year old male). She was voicing her concern that it might be my obsession with electronics,  and it was all going round in my head and keeping me awake. Funny, later in my life she never seemed to be bothered if the worry of studying or exams kept me awake.

Thanks for another great podcast.

73 de Steve M0KOV

James West, Inventor of the Electret Mic, has THE KNACK

 

James West (r) with Gerhard Sessler (l)  Bell Labs 1976

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/17/james-west-began-40-years-at-bell-labs-with-world-changing-microphone-tech/

For many reasons, this is a really nice story.  It is about a kid with The Knack, a kid who, like young James Clerk Maxwell, wanted to understand how things work.   It is also a technology story, the story of the invention of a device very important to us: the electret microphone. (Remember the earlier carbon mics in telephones?  I'll bet more than a few of our readers are guilty of stealing a few of those mics from pay phones.)  And it is a reminder of the benefits of helping kids who might need a mentor... or and Elmer.    

Thanks Hack-A-Day.  And three cheers for James West. 

Video of Colin's First Contact with his Homebrew Scratch-built BITX20

I love this video.  Colin finished his BITX a week or so ago and has been waiting for an opportunity to test it.  Over the weekend he braved the winter of Northern England and, with his son,  set up his new rig out in his snow-covered garden.   Appropriately for a first contact with scratch-built rig, the circuitry was unencumbered by any kind of case or box.  That's the way it should be done!  Well done Colin!  You are well and truly a member of the International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards, and the diagnosis of "The Knack" has been confirmed (a severe case, it appears). 

Hi Pete and Bill,

It's been a lovely fine day here in West Yorkshire, so I took a table out into the garden and set up my BITX circuit on it. I set up my SOTA dipole on a 9m fishing pole.

I heard a strong German station calling CQ, so I gave him a call and hoped for the best!

How amazing to contact someone in another country using a rig and mic you've made yourself! Do I qualify as a REAL radio ham now? Do I have a confirmed case of the knack? :-)

Although I may appear underwhelmed in the video, (besides the air punches!), I did really get a kick out of the QSO.

73 and huge thanks to both of you for the encouragement and support.

Colin, M1BUU

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

Jean Shepherd: KNACK VICTIM!

Guys, stop what you are doing. Put down that soldering iron, or that cold Miller High Life ("the champagne of bottled beer") and click on the link below. You will be transported back to 1965, and will hear master story-teller Jean Shepherd (K2ORS) describing his teenage case of The Knack. He discusses his efforts to build a Heising modulated transmitter for 160 meters. He had trouble getting it working, and became obsessed with the problem, obsessed to the point that a girl he was dating concluded that there was "something wrong with him" and that his mother "should take him to a doctor."

This one is REALLY good. It takes him a few minutes to get to the radio stuff, but it is worth the wait. More to follow. EXCELSIOR! FLICK LIVES!

http://ia310115.us.archive.org/2/items/JeanShepherd1965Pt1/1965_01_29_Ham_Radio.mp3

Some Amazing German Knack

Michael, DL4MGM, sends us this report from a country in which "the knack" has deep linguistic and cultural roots. Wow, that's my kind of hamfest! Test stations for homebrew gear. And the key-powered transmitter is a great idea. I know there is a lot of energy going into those straight keys -- as a kid, my arm would hurt after an afternoon of unanswered CQs. Thanks Michael!

Hi Bill,
I do not know how big your german listener base is but in any case I want to draw your attention to the "Amateurfunk Tagung München" on 10th and 11th of March 2012. It is a german amateur radio convention which takes place every other year at the University of applied sciences in Munich. There is one speaker track with, mostly german, talks on a wide spectrum of topics related to our hobby. The organisers did a particularly good job in getting Joe Taylor, K1JT, as a speaker to talk on "Recent Advances in Amateur Weak Signal Communication" (10. at 17:00 local time). Needless to say that I'm looking forward to this. Apart from the talks there will be booths and exhibits from various groups and also some well known commercial sources of RF/microwave components, modules and the like.

Another highlight are the lab places, including personnel, where you can have your home brewed stuff tested up into the high double digit GHz range. I always take home new ideas from just strolling around there and looking at the things people bring for testing...

The last thing I want to mention is the current "operating and construction challenge" because it so right up our alley. It is something like an "Energy harvesting transmitter key". The task is to build a 2m, 80m or 10m transmitter which is completely powered by the energy put into the key movement. In order not to stifle inovations, a lot of liberties are granted such as keying by foot. It will be allowed to pre-charge the energy storage component by keying up to to 10 "v"s with the transmitter turned off. As proof of operation, a 160 character random text message will have to be send to an adjoining room. Ranking criteria (in descending order) will be: - Peak transmitter power during transmission of the last character. - Construction and handling - Message errors - Keying speed / total transfer time - Tone quality and frequency stability Sounds like it will be a lot of fun... Here the link to the german site: http://www.darc.de/distrikte/c/amateurfunktagung-muenchen/

That's all for now.
Keep going!
Kind regards from southern Germany de Michael, DL4MGM



Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Boat Knack -- Rebuilding a 1910 yacht "Tally Ho"

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-_lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA

I present this as part of our occasional series on people with other kinds of Knack.  The young Englishman in this series of videos is definitely in this category.  Watch him acquire the 1910 yacht "Tally Ho" for 1 pound sterling, transport it to Washington state,  SINGLE HANDEDLY  build a boat shed around the huge vessel, and carry out the restoration.  Oh yea, all the while shooting videos of his work. Great stuff.  

I advise you to watch the series from the beginning.   The next video in the series will load automatically. 

Be sure to subscribe the channel. 

Thanks to Ryan Flowers of https://miscdotgeek.com/ for alerting us to this. 

SolderSmoke Podcast #249 -- Travel, Pete's 6BA6 rig, Books!, VFOs, SDR, Computers, Spectrum Analysers, Transistor Man! MAILBAG

New VFO for 15-10 Transceiver

Schematic below

SolderSmoke Podcast #249 is available:  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke249.mp3

There is also a video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/5xyaYivtOhw

Travelogue:  

HAPPY VETERANS' DAY TO PETE AND GRAYSON AND TO ALL THE OTHER VETERANS WHO ARE LISTENING. 

Trip out to San Francisco. Sticker placed on the corner of Haight and Ashbury:  See picture below.  Note other sticker.  Really Groovy! 

Cuban Cacharreo! Andy CO2AFV's Knack Story  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-cuban-knack-story-and-pandemic-sits.html

Bill's DXCC-100.  DONE.   

Tribal Wisdom:  W1REX on HRWB https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/11/listen-to-rex-w1rex-lots-of-tribal.html

Pete's Bench:

Pete's 6BA6 rig

Pete's 6BA6 Rig

Pete Re-invents the Shirt-pocket SSB Rig

Pete's remake of the ShirtSleeve Transceiver

Pete Builds Two Computers 

Pete Adds a Second Band to his Homebrew SDR 

 

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:  

BEZOS BUCKS ARE BACK!  PLEASE  BUY THERE! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mostly DIY RF:  Work proceeds in the Oregon Silicon Forest on P3ST kit development. Todd is confident the P3ST will be released on December 18th.Many other kits available now:  https://mostlydiyrf.com/ 

Sign up for the newsletter:  https://mostlydiyrf.com/subscribe/ 

Bill's Bench: 

Rebuild of the 15-10 VFO (for improved Dial Spread) (with yet another QF-1 capacitor) https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/10/dial-scale-linearity-spreading-out.html

Why Building for 10 meters is harder: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/09/why-building-for-10-meters-is-harder.html

Copper Tape shielding of 15-10 rig. 

Crushing Spurs with Better Bandpass Filters (see blog post) https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/09/crushing-17-and-12-meter-spurs-with.html

Another 15-10 rig in the works... for SSSS.   Boards are accumulating... 

More problems discovered with the Herring Aid 5 Receiver . Lots of SS blog posts  Comment from Rick WD5L.  ) https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-big-error-discovered-in-1976-qst.html   Did you try to build one?  Did you succeed or did you fail?  Please let us know. 

The Basil Mahon books (blog posts) https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/11/basil-mahon-is-author-for-us-he.html

The Sunburst and Luminary book of Don Eyles (blog posts) 

The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill (blog posts) 

Spectrum Analysers:  Tiny SA Ultra https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-tinysa-ultra-spectrum-analyser-video.html  and Polarad 632C-1; George WB5OYP gave me one of these spectrum analysers  (I NEED a manual! Does anyone have a manual or a schematic? )  : 

Polarad 632C-1

Stabilizing the EB63A (with Pete recommended LP filters from e-Bay. 

MAILBAG:

TRANSISTOR MAN T-SHIRTS!  Thanks to Roy WN3F! 

Todd VE7BPO on AF amplifiers.  Thanks Todd.  

Wes W7ZOI -- Always a privilege to exchange e-mail with Wes. 

E-mail from Jay Rusgrove W1VD. About the Herring Aid 5. 

E-mail from Eamon Skelton EI9GQ!  Amazing! 

HB2HB with Denny VU2DGR https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/09/hb2hb-contact-with-denny-vu2dgr.html

Nick M0NTV on diode matching for ring mixers: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/10/does-matching-matter-diode-matching-for.html

Paul Taylor VK3HN on the new Elecraft CW rig. 

Dean KK4DAS fixed the noise in his Hallicrafters SW receiver.  A long battle, finally won. 

Dean also in contact with G3UUR. 

Ramakrishnan VU2JXN helping me set up a backup of blog on WordPress.  

Mark KA9OOI noticed that SS podcast archive appears gone.  In fact just temporarily relocated to http://soldersmoke.com/podcastarchive.html

(SS PODCAST Archive temporarily relocated to http://soldersmoke.com/podcastarchive.html) 

Andreas DL1AJG - Crystal radio video. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/10/building-crystal-set-videos.html

George N2APB on the Herring Aid 5

Grayson KJ7UM experimenting with Varactors and Thermatrons! 

Thomas K4SWL on Mattia's DC receiver. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/10/mattia-zamanas-amazing-direct.html

Bob Weaver of Dial Bandspread Linearity  fame.  Electron Bunker

Mike Bryce WB8VGE QRP Hall of famer -- he too couldn't get the Herring Aid 5 working. 

Kirk NT0Z wrote about the Wayback machine.  But this former ARRL staffer he also tried and failed to get the Herring Aid 5 going.  Way back when... https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2015/03/kirks-herring-aid-tuna-tin-and-regen.html

New 15-10 VFO with schematic

Dial Bandspread (Before)

At corner of Haight and Ashbury

"The Bit Player" A New Movie on Claude Shannon

The Bit Player Trailer from IEEE Information Theory Society on Vimeo.

Thanks to Bob KD4EBM for alerting us to this.  As Bob put it, Shannon definitely had The Knack.  Check out the trailer (above)  for this new movie.   It looks like the IEEE is still working on the release plan for the film.  Does anyone have info on this? 

More info on the film here: https://thebitplayer.com/

Four years ago we reported on a video about Shannon: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2015/09/claude-shannon-had-knack-video.html 

Thanks Bob! 

H1N1? No. 72N73!

Wow, Jeff REALLY has a bad case of 72N73 (aka "The KNACK").  He's actually piping the SolderSmoke podcast into one earphone of his cockpit headset.  (I hope the gong doesn't cause any problems!)  Maybe the lady next store will start to like that strange voice from Rome coming in on 88.3 FM...
 
Bill: 
I have been a devoted Soldersmoke fan since I found it about a year ago on a new HamInfoBar application that I installed on my Internet Explorer (yes, the Dark Side!). I have started back at SS #1 and working my way up…wonderful podcasts, Bill!
Waiting to get Ubuntu installed on my shack PC so I can gleefully delete Internet Explorer!
Have been a ham for 35 years now, operating all modes from HF, digital HF (including WSPR on 30 meters) through AMSAT satellites and of course VHF and UHF. I recently retired as a sales executive from IBM after 27 years, so have more time to follow my life-long passions.
Shortly after listening to Soldersmoke for the first time, I noticed a strange feeling after sitting by my PC for a few hours. Thought it was just neck strain from peering at the PC and your Blogspot, but after a few days it remained. My medical background (Ph.D. in Neuroscience) led me to the conclusion that a nervous system virus I had contracted when I was 13 had been dormant in my nervous system peripheral ganglia for these many years, but has re-emerged and re-infected me. That virus is the 72N73 virus, or more commonly known at THE KNACK! Yes, Soldersmoke has activated that bad boy virus once again and I am on the hunt for projects to complement my Old Spice after shave with that 'other' cologne, Eau de Soldersmoke!
Since I like to listen to Soldersmoke as I walk around the house, decided to get the Weller soldering station out and I 'protoboarded' and then built a small two transistor 20 mW FM transmitter on 88.3 MHz (unused channel in Dallas) to transmit Soldersmoke through my whole house stereo system. Works great. However, my neighbor next door (12 feet away) who has a small yagi antenna for her stereo system asked my why every Friday evening the jazz station on 88.5 MHz she loves to listen to has some guy rambling on for hours about some electronics projects in Rome??? Did that jazz station change formats on Friday evenings? (Woops...............better get my frequency counter out once again!).
You will be glad to know that I listen to SS on my IPOD as I fly (on longer trips) on WWII vintage aircraft to air shows around the country. I volunteer at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Dallas (www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com) and usually fly right seat or rear seat depending on the plane.  I modified my communications headset to listen to Air Traffic Control on one earpiece and SS on the other earpiece. So, yes Bill, you do get interrupted by Air Traffic Control advising us of new radar vectors! You can view additional pictures of me flying with Cavanaugh at my www.qrz.com pages.
Just purchased SS, The Book and having a ball reading your antics of years past. BTW, I just joined GQRP and got a nice note from Tony Fishpool. I had mentioned that it was due to SS that I found GQRP and joined up. Tony sent me a nice note and indicated "Yes, Bill is worth every penny that we don't pay him for GQRP advertising!!
Other interests include flying large radio controlled aircraft, astronomy (purchasing an Orion 10" Dobsonian next week to supplement my 10x50 binoculars), satellite tracking, and weather satellite imaging directly from American, Chinese, and Soviet polar orbiting satellites. High Power Rocketry (average flights to 10,000 feet) round out my technical interests.
Bill, don't want to make this email too long, so let me say 73's, and will plan on future correspondence as I release more Soldersmoke around my shack.
Send me best to Billy (Soldersmoke Mailbag, It's Awesome...Indeed!!).
Eagerly awaiting Soldersmoke, The MOVIE!!!!!


By the way, no Chingales (sp?) in Dallas, but we do have our share of Armadillos laying dead by the roadside.


73s,
Jeff
N5ITU
In Dallas, TX.