https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUQA2uNskEs
I liked Rick's story about his early days in radio electronics. Taking old TVs from the street -- been there, done that! FB Rick,
Rick points out that he has never used a commercial ham radio rig, so he is unfamiliar with some of the "features" of such rigs. Sometimes, I think, the lack of experience is a good thing.
I really like the display that Rick uses, showing the operating frequency, the VFO frequency and the BFO frequency. This might help with our struggle with those who complain that we are 40 Hz off. Rick then notes that he used 15,000 lines of code for this display. Wow, that shows the benefits of being -- like Rick is -- both a real software wizard and a hardware wizard.
Rick describes how he uses tin-plated steel boards in lieu of copper clad boards.
I liked his approach to schematic drawing -- we benefited from this in the SolderSmoke Direct Conversion receiver project.
When Rick talks about taking pieces of schematics from other rigs and making them work in new rigs, Charlie notes that, "this is the ham radio way." Exactly.
There is a lot of really sentimental stuff in this podcast. SolderSmoke is mentioned frequently. They mention Pete and Dean. This starts at around 22 minutes. Rick talks about Farhan at around 26 minutes. And he talks about Wes W7ZOI.
Rick talks about some of his early projects. I have a sentimental attachment to his Lakeside DC receiver:
Then, a few years later, we had our first HB2HB contact. Homebrew rigs on both sides:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2015/10/hb2hb-n3fjz-n2cqr-si5351-and-bitx-tias.html
Finally, I agree with the last sentiment expressed by Rick in his conversation with Charlie: The Red Summit podcast -- especially with its focus on homebrew -- is exactly what this hobby needs. Anything that encourages hams to experience the fun of homebrewing is a good thing. Three cheers for Rick and for Red Summit.
