N8NM's Straight Key Night Rig

Hi Bill,

 

Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that I’ve recently discovered your SolderSmoke podcasts and am enjoying the heck out of them!  In fact, you and Pete have inspired me to break away from the thermatrons and delve into the wonderful world of the TIA transceiver, and after several weeks of sniffing rosin, my new rig is now receiving signals without the aid of any external life support!  It’s still a bit haywired, but I’m looking forward to pairing it with my little 6AG76L6 transmitter for a few SKN QSOs tomorrow.

 

I haven’t taken any pics of the new rig yet, mainly because, at this point, there’s not much to see, but here’s it’s little octal-based friend with its AD9850/6AG7 hybrid VFO (works a bit better than the VF-1 that it replaced J):

  

Anyway, thanks for putting forth the time and effort to do the podcast!  All the best to you, Pete and your families in the new year.

 

73,

 

Steve Murphy, N8NM

The K7DYY Solid State Class D Legal Limit AM Transmitter

I was on 160 Meter AM this morning, talking to Chet WB2AHK in New York City.  Chet had a very strong signal here.  He was running a rig that I hadn't heard about before, a K7DYY transmitter.   See above. Very interesting.   Here are the details:

http://k7dyy.com/index.html

Chet's receiver was at the opposite end of the technology spectrum -- like me he was listening on a Hammarlund HQ-100.  He told me that he had replaced the old mechanical clock with a digital "glowing numerals" device.  This got me thinking that that space on the front panel might be suitable for a small frequency counter...

Alan Wolke W2AEW Interviewed on QSO Today! And it is GREAT!

A very cool interview indeed.  But how could it be otherwise?  With Eric on one end of the Skype connection and Alan on the other, coolness was inevitable.

In this interview we are reminded of the FACT that Alan has a major case of THE KNACK.  Proof is found in the way he obtained the wire for his first SW antenna:  he unwound the magnet wire in the yoke transformer of a discarded TV set.  THAT, my friends,  is the stuff that KNACK is made of!  

Check it out:

http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/w2aew

I share Alan's affection for the TEC 465 'scope, but I twitched a bit when he said it is "easy to work on."  It scared the hell out of me!  It features both plug-in transistors and lethally high voltage -- so high that Alan had to lend me a special high voltage probe just to do the measurements.   

Alan's mention of Project Diana and the history of moonbounce reminded me of Ross Bateman, W4AO, the wizard who, in 1952 bounced the first amateur radio signals off the moon.  He did it from the town I live in now, Falls Church, Virginia. Alan provided me with the address from which the signals were launched. 

Thanks Alan! Thanks Eric!  

First Contact on 160 Meters

Hooray!  After 42 years on the ham bands I have finally made a contact on 160 meters.  And it was on AM, using John Zaruba's DX-100.  My antenna is the 185 foot wire that I mentioned in yesterday's post.  I built an L network using a roller inductor and a bread-slicer cap -- the network is at the base of the antenna.  Before dawn this morning I threw my call into a round-table on 1885 kc.  Pete WA1SOV up in Connecticut heard me and we had a short contact. Hooray! 

I hope this puts some pressure on Steve Silverman and Pete Juliano -- they have sworn A SOLEMN OATH to get on top band.  I'm especially worried about Pete's adherence to this pledge -- he seems to be going a bit wobbly on us, playing with Raspberry Pi's and things like that.  C'mon guys!  Top Band awaits!

My antenna needs improvement.  More radials might help. 

"Receiver Here is My SWR meter OM..."

Santa managed to include in his delivery some of the materials that I needed to build my 160 meter inverted L antenna.   You see, Steve Silverman, Pete Juliano and I have collectively more than 150 years in ham radio, but none of us have ever operated on Top Band.  The three of us have taken A SOLEMN OATH to correct this horrendous deficiency.   I am in the vanguard, partly due to a weather pattern that is perfect for antenna building. 

Armed with a new elastic band for my Wrist-Rocket sling shot and some perfectly shaped lead sinkers,  yesterday -- with the obvious cooperation of The Radio Gods -- I managed to get two ropes over some 70 foot trees.  Soon -- with minimal gnashing of teeth -- I had 185 feet of wire in the air. 

This morning I was messing around with L networks at the base of the antenna.  I took a coffee break, leaving the 185 foot wire and the ground system connected to the coax.   I had the transmitter off, so I was surprised to see the SWR meter jumping around a bit, up significantly from zero.   What could that be?  It wasn't coming from my station, so it had to be coming from some other transmitter. And the slight bit of jumping that I saw on the SWR meter had the familiar pattern of the human voice.  Some radio sleuthing ensued.

I flipped the station antenna switch to the  "bench" position, and connected my scope to the coax.  Wow!  I immediately saw a big strong AM signal with modulation, at about  5 or 6 volts peak to peak.  The Rigol 'scope gave the frequency:  1220 kHz.  

I tuned the HQ-100 to that frequency.  As I listened to Gospel broadcast, I could follow the voice peaks on the 'scope. 

Some Googling ID's the station:  WFAX 1220 AM.   5 kilowatts in the daytime.  1.5 miles from my house.  The vertical portion of the inverted L is obviously picking up a LOT of energy from the WFAX tower.  And the horizontal portion of my antenna is broadside to the WFAX tower.

Of course this all made me think about throwing together a crystal radio, but then I realized I'd already listened to WFAX with simple diode -- the one in my SWR meter.  That little SWR meter was acting like a crystal radio with a visual output!     

Fessenden AM Broadcast, Christmas Eve 1906? Maybe not....

Garrison Keillor mentioned this in his "Writers Almanac" today. That sent me to Google where I found this: 

http://www.radioworld.com/article/fessenden-world39s-first-broadcaster/15157

But in any case, Merry Christmas to all!

Amazing Space-X Launch. Then watch the rocket COME BACK TO THE PAD