Colin Finishes His BITX

Wow, that is one beautiful BITX.  Nicely done Colin.  But I must say that you are exhibiting an almost inhuman degree of patience!  Who needs a case?  Fire that thing up and make the traditional "still-on-the-workbench" initial contact. 

Hi Guys,

I loved the last SolderSmoke, it was another great episode. It really does amaze me, that a few years ago, hams were saying that it was too difficult to build your own gear that would be anywhere near to the commercial stuff, but here we are with Arduinos etc bringing powerful functionality to the masses. I couldn't have imagined building an SSB rig with a pretty and functional LCD screen when I started in ham radio.

Bill, first regens, now SDRs? Amazing! I exchanged a few words with George Dobbs about your change of heart towards regenerative receivers, he seemed genuinely pleased. :)

Pete, your Si5351 work with the pretty displays is cool, I can see me getting pretty hooked! I have the Si5351 board, Paul M0XPD advised me to buy it. I'd love to build another SSB rig in a smaller box for regular SOTA activating. I must look into the pretty little displays and have a play with the Si5351. I notice that Hans Summers has now put out a cheap Si5351 based kit, handy for us guys in Eu. http://www.hanssummers.com/synth.html

I finished building my BITX board yesterday but wanted to have a sleep before applying power! Today I carefully checked the circuit for errors and found none, phew! I fired the rig up gently, watching the current carefully. I wound up the TX bias to 50mA as stated in the MKARS80 instructions, all went well. I plugged in the mic and spoke - BANG! - Everything went off. Oops - I had used a 500mA fuse for initial safety and forgot to swap it for the bigger one! I fitted a 1.6A fuse and hey presto, all was fine. I was absolutely amazed and to be honest, rather proud of myself. I think the TX is a little bit too hot, my meter is showing about 6W on voice peaks- eek! The rig seems to be perfectly behaved though, no wierd effects seem to be happening. I can just turn the bias down a bit, right?

Anyway, I was happy with my progress so I finished for the day. I still need to investigate and probably tweak the carrier suppression.

I spent a short while talking into a dummy load, using my FT817 to monitor the transmission. My 2yr old son was interested in my voice coming out of the 817'sspeaker!

Thanks for all the guidance and help along the way, I'm elated that I've built a voice rig that works! I've attached a pic of my finished board, I only just squeezed the circuit on, but isn't she pretty? :-)

Can't wait to get the rig built into it's case and score that first QSO.

73, Colin, M1BUU

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Regen Receivers in Cuba

Hola amigo Bill:

I was able to pick up the podcast with excellent audio quality.
It is quite true that regenerative receivers are very much in use
even today... for example many if not all of the automobile RF
keys opening and closing the cars doors rely on a superregenerative
receiver circuit !!!

The radio that you copied at the blog works very well indeed
but it would be  good idea to include a 5 kilo ohms volume
control.... Very easy to do indeed.

But let me tell you that my favorite regenerative receivers are
the classic ones, using vacuum tubes, and operating them
at voltages not higher than 50 volts... As a matter of fact many
tubes work very well at the 24 volts DC voltage level.
Using the classic Hartley circuit , there is no need for a hard to
find throttle capacitor required by the Armstrong circuit, because
the regeneration control works very well by using a potentiometer
to change the screen grid voltage of the detector.

I agree that using an RF stage ahead of the detector is always
a very good idea.... In my tubes regenerative I use a triode connected
6AK5 clone.... as a grounded grid stage....another 6AK5 clone ( the
6ZHE1P Russian tube ) is the detector and I use another 6AK5 clone
as the first audio amplifier then feeding an audio output pentode
all provided from a very simple basic 70 volts DC power supply.
BTW, using regulated DC on the filaments of the detector stage,
although a luxury by my standards is very helpful to reduce
hum .... 7805 regulator recycled from a bad motherboard, with
one 1N4007 from broken Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb inserted
in series with the regulator ground pin, produces a nice 5.7 volts
regulated DC that with a brand new tube is more than enough... with old
6ZHE1P recycled from Russian TV sets, you add another 1N4007 to obtain
6.4 volts regulated DC....

As said in the podcast, it is very important to do a very good
mechanical engineering job, place the main and bandspread tuning capacitors
away from the front panel, use isolated shafts between the capacitors
and the dial mechanism and make the front panel of a a thick steel
plate if possible.

There is a Dutch Cascode Regenerative radio that several Cuban radio
amateurs have built... it was designed with the amateur bands in mind so
the information about the tuning coils and capacitors lets you
obtain a very excellent bandspread on the ham bands.
I can send you that circuit that uses very common 12AT7-ECC81
and Russian equivalent double triodes.

Keep up the good work amigo and always tell us when the next
podcast is available. BTW it lasted for almost an hour !!!

73 and DX

Your amigo en La Habana, Cuba
Arnie Coro
CO2KK
Host of Dxers Unlimited radio hobby program
Radio Havana Cuba


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"Off the Shelf" Regenerative Receiver

I call it the "Off the Shelf" Regen because the base on which it is built is scrap lumber from a recent shelf building project.  Also, all the parts came out of the junk box.  

6-10 MHz, AM, CW, SSB, Data.   4 transistors, no chips.   


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SolderSmoke Podcast #164 Ancient Tribal Knowledge: Tube and Tube-like Radios

SolderSmoke Podcast #164 is available:

August 16, 2014

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke164.mp3

ANCIENT TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE -- TUBE AND TUBE-LIKE RADIOS

Workbench Updates: 
-- Pete's Arduino Keyer Project
-- Bill Builds (and LIKES!)  a REGENERATIVE RECEIVER
-- The Joys of Regen Shortwave Listening
-- Grayson Evan's Tube (Thermatron) Book
-- Book review:  "The Joy of X"  (It's about math).
-- Shameless Commerce:   A Plug for Bill's Book
-- Pete discusses tube projects
-- Making your own enclosures from Home Depot flashing
-- Amplitude Modulation
-- Compactrons, Nuvistors and other unusual tubes
-- BANDSWEEP:   Radio Havana on Bill's new regen 


Bill's Mate for the Mighty Midget Receiver
3 6U8 Tubes on a Benton Harbor Lunch Box Chassis


Nuvistor 2 meter down converter


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Jim, WB5UDE's Knack Story

Hi Bill! ...

Of all the Amateur Radio related podcasts I've sampled, SolderSmoke has

been my favorite.  The reason is because of the passion you (and Mike,

too, in the beginning) bring to us each and every episode.  I've been

passionate about radio since I was 10 years old, and electronics in

general since I was about 8.  Many of the other podcasts seem to lack

this quality, or worse, try to have a "how to do things in Amateur Radio

the right way" focus.  I suppose their thinking is that hams listen to

podcasts to learn, so they assume their job is to tell someone how to

get started doing this or that.  However, the result often comes off

being preachy-- that there is a Right Way to do things, and that it's

important to do things that way, so they'll work out best.  That's not

what Amateur Radio is about!  Amateur Radio is about doing something

because you're passionate about it.  Even where your own passions are

concerned (e.g. individual analog components, no chips!) you acknowledge

that the other approaches are equally valid, and that we should all

do what we enjoy.  You're not shy about branching off into your other

technological passions, about space, RC aircraft, etc., which as you

rightly observe, so many of us have in common.

We share a passion for learning and understanding about radio/electronics.

Where we differ is in the depth of understanding we crave.  Actually,

I have experienced enough of that desire for total understanding to know

exactly what you're talking about, but I'm usually content without it.

I realized back when I was a teenager that some things would click for me

right away, and some others, I'd always struggle with.  I made peace with

that very early.  Still, I have wondered more than I could find ultimately

adequate explanations for about things like, OK...exactly what ARE these

radio waves?  More often, though, I am content to gain a sufficient depth

of understanding that I feel comfortable knowing how I might achieve a

particular thing.  I have great sympathy for your struggle with "holes" in

transistor theory.  That actually clicked for me, but not immediately--I

had to chew on it just a bit, but then it did gel.  If that "?" floating

over my head had refused to disappear, I might have found that a little

frustrating.  But to me, the really frustrating thing is that books so

often begin by talking about electrons and holes and depletion zones and

so forth.  I have found that a much simpler explanation is sufficient

for my tastes--I'm content to understand that there are N-doped and

P-doped sections, and that this allows the silicon to control current

in a certain way.  Knowing how we arrange the electronics around a

transistor to get it to behave in its own useful way in a circuit is

really all I've ever cared to know.  And furthermore!... I'd rather

have the whole presentation be top-down...I'd rather start with what a

transmitter and receiver are, and what their stages are, and what kind of

circuits go into those stages, then eventually, down to what components

make up those circuits.  It's all a natural progression, for me, of, "OK,

I understand that--now, how exactly does that part work?  Give me more

details, please."  The whole thing of just learn all these fundamentals,

and we promise we'll eventually tie them together into something useful

doesn't work well for me as a way to learn.  Worse than that, it doesn't

thrill me to the core the way gaining a gradually deeper and deeper

understanding does, as I drill down into more and more detail about

things I've caught an interest in, and remain content with a shallower,

surface knowledge of things I just want to know well enough to use,

when I need them.  So, I don't have the same burning desire to get down

to the bottom foundation in first principles all around that you do,

but I do love to learn, and understand.

I got my start in electronics when I was eight years old, and read a

book my parents had bought me about electricity.  I suddenly realized

that things like flashlights and motors didn't have to be a strange

mystery, but were things I could understand, and even try for myself.

I began reading everything I could find at school about electricity.

Meanwhile, over the next couple of years, I began appreciating music.

Reproducing music was something very special that electronics could do.

Even more special, radio electronics could bring you this music from

far away.  That whole combination, bringing communication from far away,

including things I found enjoyable, and doing it with this wonderful

magic of electricity, which it was possible to actually understand, was

(and still is to this day) quite thrilling.

When I was ten years old, I realized that, lo and behold, it would

actually be feasible for the amount of money my parents would be able

to spend for a Christmas present, to buy a pair of toy walkie- talkies.

I set a new level of obnoxiousness leaving the catalog open to the

page with the walkie-talkies, and finally, just flat out telling them

that's what I wanted.  I then exceeded that level of obnoxiousness when,

I'm ashamed to say, I absolutely chewed them out when they didn't take

the hint.  Instead, I got a tape recorder.  I actually enjoyed that, too,

but continued to campaign for the walkie-talkies, and when I still wanted

them a year later, my parents decided I meant it, and bought them for me.

(My dad knew a thing or two about radio himself, and my mother later

told me that my dad had been concerned that the walkie-talkies would be

fragile, would perform poorly, would chew up batteries like you couldn't

imagine, and would have a very disappointingly limited range.  He was

right about all those things, but it turned out I was right, too--in spite

of all that, I loved those walkie-talkies as much as I'd known I would.)

Meanwhile, I got a 100-in-1 electronics set for my birthday.  My parents

had wanted to find one that was about individual components, but all

they could find was one that was based on projects using a pre-built

audio amplifier, radio receiver, speakers, and battery holders.  Its only

component-based aspect was an apparent afterthought, an AM BCB transmitter

built on a cardboard circuit board.  This was really a bit too "appliancy"

for me--I would rather have been learning how to make components work--but

I still learned a lot from that.  I also bought an AM clock radio for

less than a dollar at a garage sale.  It didn't work very well, but this

was really good, because I learned that I could make it work much better

by wrapping a few turns of wire around its built-in loop antenna, and

attach that to various antennas I got to experiment with.  Months later,

I found a very nice tube-type AM/FM Zenith table radio at another garage

sale, and bought it for $5.  That radio went home with me strapped to

the back of my bicycle, then went on the bookshelf on the headboard of

my bed.  I learned to work its knobs backwards, reaching behind my head.

I listened to AM radio stations from all over the US until all hours of

the night, and my addiction to radio grew even deeper roots.

Then, when I was 13, I found a Zenith Transoceanic portable at a

garage sale, for $15.  I raced my bicycle home as fast as I could.

(This radio was a little too big for the bicycle.)  I got my mother to

drive me back there (urging her to hurry!  before someone else bought it),

and brought that one home....  then spent that whole evening driving my

parents nuts by running into the room where they were every few minutes,

excitedly exclaiming something like, "and NOW I'm getting a station from

GERMANY!" and then running back to see what I could get next.  Of course,

I had even more fun with it after I put a decent outdoor antenna up.

When I was 16, I finally met an Amateur Radio operator.  I'd read an

ARRL book about becoming a ham, and building one's own station, but the

books were a little expensive, and I wasn't sure how to go about it all.

Pat Barge, WB5OEB, about one year older than me, had earned his license

about a year before, and was eager to pass along the favor of showing

the ropes.  I got to listen as he operated his station, and he told

me which books would give me the specific knowledge I'd need to pass

the tests.  I was 17 when I got my first license.

While I was learning what I'd need to get my first license, I got my

next great receiver--this time, an RAL-7 regenerative receiver.  You and

I very much see regenerative receivers differently, but then, I had

the pleasure of learning on the best regenerative receiver ever made.

Back in those early days, I'd sometimes hear the opinion that the RAL-7

was not merely the best regenerative receiver ever, but the best receiver

ever, period.  I think all those old-timers have died off, though.

I've enjoyed building a bit over the years, too.  I haven't found nearly

as much time for it in my adult years, so I think to this day, about

half of my building was done as a teenager.  I haven't done anything

impressive, but I have made contacts using things I've built myself, and

what a thrill that is!  I've built more than a dozen projects (but fewer

than two dozen).  The most fun I've had was several years ago, following

the advice of a post to the Glowbugs list, I began experimenting with

crystal radios, then slowly began to ramp the circuits up, adding tube

amplifiers, tuned circuits, etc.  My favorite successful project was

a SWL converter to feed a car radio.  I built a doubly balanced diode

ring mixer and a crystal oscillator.  I used a 3-gang air variable

as the foundation for a 3-stage front end filter.  I had an 8.x MHz

crystal that put signals from (depending on where I tuned that 3-gang

air variable) either the 49 m or 31 m shortwave broadcast bands in the

tunable IF provided by the AM car radio, which fed a nice 3-way speaker

from a stereo, for the most beautiful sounding SWL listening of my life.

Like all my projects at that phase, it never left the breadboard stage,

but it stayed on the breadboard for a long time, while I paused in my

building to enjoy listening for a while.

I serve as one of the net control stations for a local two meter FM net

that meets weekly to discuss technical topics.  We got our start back

before most folks had Internet access, and served a very useful role as

the place where hams who had a problem to solve or wanted to ask how to

get started in a new phase of Amateur Radio could come and get answers to

their questions and ideas about how to do things.  In these days where

it's easier to Google for answers, we've morphed into more of a general

discussion session among a small, dedicated group, but it's still a lot

of fun.  It gives me a chance to do what I enjoy the most consistently

in Amateur Radio, which is to understand, talk about and explain things.

In fact, that's often all I find time for.  Other than the weekly net,

I sometimes go a long time without actually getting on the air.

When I do get on the air on HF, it's almost always CW.  I've always

struggled with Morse, which has never come easy to me, but I enjoy it.

Every time I return to HF after having been away for a while, I think,

"This time, I'm going to do some SSB" but every time I actually sit down,

I think, "But tonight, I'm going to do CW."  I can't explain why I like

it better, but it just seems to me to be a particularly special part of

the magic of radio.

Before closing, I'd like to finish by responding to something you

mentioned in episode 162.  You told about a member of the audience at a

talk you gave, who was asking about how much time it had taken you to

build a particular radio, seeming to suggest there was a price to pay

by investing all that time.  I love to explain to people that there is

a whole different economics to Amateur Radio.  In my professional life

in IT, I'm always promoting the idea that we should deploy and install

systems so that we will expect them to work trouble free throughout

their anticipated lifespan.  People balk at the expense of doing it

that way, but it's my job to remind them that the cost of having it

fail, in lost productivity, is far greater than the expense of doing

it right in the first place, not to mention the fact that coming along

later and remediating an inadequate deployment usually costs more than

it cost to do it wrong the first time, let alone the incremental cost of

doing it right.  Similar ideas prevail with radio.  We see professional

radio installations where many thousands of dollars are spent doing

things that we hams rarely even consider.  For many of us [raises hand]

we must do Amateur Radio out of a meager budget for entertainment,

or not at all.  But even more importantly, if we enjoy doing these

things, then the time spent laboring at our projects--transmitters,

receivers, antennas, etc.--is not a liability at all; it is an asset!

If assembling a kit, or planning and building some unique project, or

putting up a different antenna every six months, is something we truly

enjoy--even LOVE doing--then that time spent is no hardship at all.

Thanks, Bill, for the time and effort you put into providing us with

an episode of SolderSmoke from time to time.  All my life, I'd wished

for TV and radio shows about Amateur Radio, and now, they're finally at

my fingertips.  Your gift to the hobby is deeply appreciated.

73,

Jim  WB5UDE

Video: Regenerative Receiver Project!!!

Pete Juliano and Grayson Evans are luring me back into the world of tubes and (gasp!) regen receivers.  

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Jason's WBR Regenerative Receiver

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SolderSmoke Podcast 160: Special Four Days in May (FDIM) issue

   

George Dobbs, G3RJV

SolderSmoke Podcast #160:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke160.mp3

Bob Crane, W8SX, was out at the Four Days in May event and did an excellent series of interviews with the guys who made presentations:
 

Harold Smith, KE6TI
    Many Ways To Homebrew
 

Chris Testa, KD2BMH 
     Battery Powered Software Radios:
   Having your cake and eating it, too
 

George Dobbs, G3RJV 
    The Classic World of the Regenerative Receiver
 

Gary Breed, K9AY 
     Why Does My Rig Have a Receive Antenna Jack ?
 

Craig Behrens, NM4T 
    The Great Arduino, JT65 and Rebels Caper
  High adventure with new radio paradigms
 

Dave Cripe, NM0S 
     PoW QRP

 
-------------------------------------
 
VIDEOS OF THE PRESENTATIONS ARE HERE:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/47599691


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The Ladybird TRF (Regen!) Receiver

http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/trfradios02.html

My feelings about regenerative receivers and their possible connections to the nether-world are well known.  But the receiver described on this beautiful British web site is almost enough to make me change my mind.  Thanks to Stephen, G7VFY, for alerting me to this (and to so many other great sites!)   I also find myself forced to give regens another chance because George Dobbs, G3RJV, was the original source of this design.  It comes from a book he wrote in 1972.    I love the wooden bread-board construction.  Thanks Stephen!  Thanks George!



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C.F. Rockey, W9SCH, Homebrew Hero, SK

In podcast # 148 I recounted how I had turned to one of his articles, "Prolegomena for QRP Transmitters" for inspiration.   Just Monday Brian,  N1FIY,  e-mailed asking for info on how to find the article.  Today, Mikey,  WB8ICN,  let me know that on December 23, 2012,  QRP Hall of Famer C.F. Rockey,  W9SCH, had become a Silent Key.  

I've been a big fan of Rockey's writing and projects for a long time.  I was sad to hear that he had passed away, but I know that through his writing his influence will be felt in workshops and on the airwaves for a long time to come.  

Here's a sample of Rockey's writing:  http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/QRPp_Vol01_No03.pdf

Here's Rockey's obit:


Charles Franklin "Rock" Rockey, Jr.,
Whitewater, WI (1918 - 2012)
June 21, 1918 - December 23,2012
Charles Franklin Rockey, Jr., known as "Rock", age 94, of Whitewater, died on Sunday,
Dec. 23, 2012, at Fairhaven in Whitewater. Rock was born in Oak Park, IL, on June 21,
1918, the son of Dr. Charles F. and Ada (Nichols) Rockey. At an early age, he became
interested in ham radio, earning his amateur radio license at age 16. Operating as W9SCH
for more than seventy years, he made contact with ham radio operators all around the world. In 1996, he
was inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame. Rock graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School in
1937. He enrolled in Elmhurst College, but interrupted his studies in 1942 by enlisting in the U. S.
Navy. He served as an aviation electronic technician in Port Lyautey, French Morocco, and in Naples,
Italy. After World War II, he returned to Elmhurst College, graduating in 1947.
Rock worked at Walhenius Institute instructing brew masters, then in the early 1950's, taught at
Milwaukee School of Engineering. From 1955-1979, he taught chemistry, physics and electronics at
New Trier High School in Wilmette, IL. He was also the faculty sponsor of the student radio station
WNTH.
On retirement, Rock and his wife (the late Frances) moved from Deerfield, IL, to Albany WI. Rock
became friends with the local farmers in Green County as a milk tester for the Wisconsin Dairy Herd
Improvement Association. In addition to contributing many articles to radio and scientific magazines,
Rock wrote two books: "Electrons, Atoms, and the World: Chemistry for the Young in Heart" and
"Secrets of Homebuilt Regenerative Receivers." He greatly enjoyed playing polkas on the accordion.
Rock is survived by his son, Joseph (Jane) of Highwood, IL; and two grandsons, Jonathan (Meghan) of
New York City, and William (Alexandria) of Esparto, CA.
A Memorial Service was held at Fairhaven in Whitewater. Memorial contributions are requested to
Fairhaven Senior Community, 435 Starin Road, Whitewater, WI 53190.



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Sputnik Party 2012 Soapbox

Poster by Steve "Snort Rosin" Smith

3 October from AA1TJ:

Here's an admittedly late reminder that the Sputnik Party begins
tomorrow (4 October). I've been preoccupied with non-hobby concerns in
recent months but I did manage to throw something together for the
event.

My transmitter follows the lines of the 10mW, battery-powered, RF
beacon that was carried into orbit in 1958 by "Vanguard 1." You may
recall this is the one Premier Nikita Khrushchev characterized as "the
grapefruit satellite."

My present build uses essentially the same circuitry and componentry
as did an earlier, 20m version; details of which can be found at

http://aa1tj.blogspot.com/2012/06/vanguard-1-satellite-transmitter.html

The 15m version drives a 44m end-fed wire with 30milliWatts.

The receiver that I built for the event is essentially a "Q-multiplier
-> detector" type regenerative job. However, the Q-multiplication is
accomplished by a parametric amplification using a quartz-crystal
controlled pump. I thought it would be historically appropriate given
that parametric amplifiers were all the rage in the late 1950's.

I put together the keying and R/T changeover circuitry this morning.
When it appeared that "all systems were go" I began sending CQs on
21.060MHz. The band, or at least that portion of the band (the
receiver only tunes from 21.060 to 21.064MHz), seemed rather quiet,
but my 6th call netted a "dit dit dah dah dit dit." Resending my call,
I was very pleased to hear HB9DCL come back to me from just outside of
Zurich. The reports were 579/339. Frank was running 5W to a log
periodic antenna. I sure hope this is a sign of things to come!

I hope to be at the key by 1300Z tomorrow. Although my little
"grapefruit" only puts out 30mW, folks running "Sputniks" made from
ex-Soviet subminiature "rod tubes" should be at least two S-units
stronger. A number of European stations will be operating this year
and at least one station that I know of will be QRV from Japan. Just
listen for the beeps and give them a call!

Thank you,
Mike, AA1TJ

.......................

04/10/12  ( first day)

dear friends &Sputnikers

today a Belgian "sputnik clone" crossed the pond

first hit

15:22 with N0UR a 2 x sputnik "solid" QSO

Jim wrote: Thanks QSO, here is how you sounded in MN

( in attach)

16:00 second hit with AA1TJ , Mike "the inventor of all this Sputnik madness" hix 3 

this time a bit more difficult but at last we could manage to exchange reports,

between the QRM and noise at last got confirmation , 

Mike's sigs  here where 339 but still copyable

all OK with my 559 sigs then suddenly some other sputnikers came on the scene and I lost Mike

nevertheless

with my 60 years again excited as a young boy

as we made some history today hi x 3

will take a picture

for the moment a complete mess as the DC/DC invertor inside the sputnik  broke down

lost the very early contact with UA1CEG suddenly no more power in the SPUTNIK-cabine LOL

had to drag my new testbench power supply (still under construction )

or  lot of things to fix for those lausy 700 milliwatts hahahaha

73 to all

Jos

ON6WJ

.................................

News flash...Sputnik worked Vanguard across the pond. I just sent this
letter to some of the guys

Dear Friends

I won't forget this morning's QSO with ON6WJ anytime soon! As he
beeped/called CQ I could hear him riding on waves of QSB. I kept
hoping he would end on the top of the wave. It happened one time and
Jos sent "AA1TJ?" but by the time I re-sent my call we were back in
the trough of the wave. He started calling again and once again I
crossed my fingers. Finally it happened, he ended on top of a
particularly strong peak...and sure enough, he copied my callsign. It
took more effort to exchange the reports but we eventually did it! He
confirmed my 559 and I did the same for my 339 report. It must be true
that anything worthwhile doesn't come easy, because the more difficult
the QSO the more I seem to enjoy it! I copied Jos' info: "SPUTNIK PWR
700mW = ANT 3EL YAGI" perfectly on my tiny receiver. Just as amazing,
he copied my 30mW transmitter made from one PNP Germanium transistor
dating from September of 1959. Needless to say, I'm a happy camper
today. Merci Beaucoup, Jos.

Just above my operating frequency I heard PA0PJE sending "CQ Sputnik."
You had a beautiful signal here, PJ! It was easily S6 on the peaks. My
transmitter frequency trimmer adjustment is buried in a rat's nest of
wires which I didn't dare stick my hand in so early in the day.
However, if I hear you again I will definitely risk it.

Thanks Carlo/IZ4KBS and congratulations on your Russian QSO. Any
contact all with this simple stuff is reason for a celebration!

...and now back to the Hobbit Hole for another dose of QRPp.

73/72,
Mike, AA1TJ

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

AA1TJ -- As always, in the Vanguard

Here is a recent e-mail exchange between Michael, AA1TJ, and Dale, W4OP.  (Dale happens to be the fellow who built the W1FB Barebones Superhet that I am currently using on 17 meters. Details on this caper appear in SolderSmoke -- The Book). 


----------------------------------------------------
From AA1TJ: 


Wahoo...Dale, you amazing!

You are my first QSO with the Vanguard 1 reproduction satellite beacon transmitter. My circuit is a fairly close copy of the one shown on the lower left-hand corner of the 1959 CQ Magazine article (notice the output signal pick-off shown in this schematic is incorrect, or at least incomplete). My circuit uses link-coupled output impedance matching, which is similar to the only other documentation that I was able to dig up. The attached image "Early_Microlock_Bcn.jpg" was snipped from an original NASA report on the transmitter used in early airborne and sub-orbital tests leading up to the Vanguard flights. 

Yes, you heard correctly. I'm using a Philco 2N504 surface-barrier transistor, but please let me back up a bit. 

Roger Easton (a native Vermonter...and still resides here!) was at the helm of the communications development for the Vanguard/Minitrack project. Of the Vanguard "grapefruit" satellite beacon transmitters, he wrote in the May 2008 issue of High Frontier magazine

"We tried subminiature tube transmitters first. They worked marginally. Finally, Bell Telephone/Western Electric developed a very nice transistor for the task, and the problem was solved." 

However, that leaves out a small detail. They first tried Philco surface-barrier transistors, which worked fine on the bench, however two problems were discovered. They were found to be too temperature sensitive; the RF output power from the one-stage transmitter dropped excessively at elevated temps. Secondly, there was some issue with the packaging that produced erratic operation when the transistor was rotated positionally. The Western Electric devices proved better on both counts. 

The WE transistor appears to be "unobtainium" these days. That, plus the fact that my circuit won't be flying up to space anytime soon, prompted me to settle on a Philco 2N504. Although my device was manufactured in September of 1959 (Vanguard TV-4 - re-Christened "Vanguard 1" - first orbited on March 17, 1958), the 2N504 was an off-the-shelf item on the launch-date.

The only other obvious difference is the Vanguard 1 beacon circuit operated on 108MHz, whereas mine is presently working on 14.0596MHz. I recently had it running as a beacon on 10m for 48 hours but I had no luck given present band conditions.

The receiver is a simple, 0-V-0 regenerative set using a single Raytheon QF721 (fabricated in February 1953). I heard little activity on 20m when I started up my auto-keyer this morning. I had it looping 3X1 CQs whilst I worked on another project. To make matters more difficult, the exhaust fan was running in my shop and it happened to be raining heavily when you called. Worse yet, the receiver had drifted off my calling frequency by the time you called. I barely discerned a high-pitched CW "1" or "J"...which prompted me to quickly switch off the fan and re-tune. You were subsequently a solid 579. 

Of course my heart jumped when I heard you calling me...how I love that feeling! And it was a fabulous QSO so far as I'm concerned. Following our contact I opened my metal index card file box and pulled out the QSL that you sent to me following our "Code Talker" QSO. To think I now have another happy memory to add to that one! Thank you once again, Dale. It figures you'd be the one to pick-off my unannounced presence on the 20m QRP calling frequency with 25mW. Well done, OM. 

Also, you might enjoy this video of the actual launch, including some interesting control room audio banter. It may be found here: http://www.nrl.navy.mil/vanguard50/index.php. The way at least one of them nervously repeats, "Keep going baby!" gives some indication of the pressure these guys were under...having failed so spectacularly on two previous occasions. 

All the best,
Mike, AA1TJ    
        

On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 11:51 AM, Dale Parfitt wrote:

Hi Michael,

That was fun!

I first heard you on my SG-2020 rig, but did not have a paddle handy, so I fired up the K3. I don't ever recall having QRN on 20M, but it was  bad. Without it, you were 579 and even with it, 569 towards the end of the QSO.

I just happened to be QRV on 060 listening when I heard your CQ's. Not bad for a 25mW signal from (I think you said) a Philco transistor.

73,

Dale W4OP

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

Comet Hits Sun, SFI up, Report from San Vito

The SOHO spacecraft caught some great images of a comet crashing into the sun. The YouTube clip above is from July. Here is NASA video of one that took place just last week:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/comet-cme.html

Coincidentally I'm sure, the solar flux has increased significantly and the upper HF bands are working again. My 17 meter rigs still need final amps -- I am ordering parts for Farhan's JBOT circuit. (I plan to build three or four.) But because I had the 2B on 15 meters for the Sputnik event (still no Sputniks heard here) I noticed that DX was coming on that band. Using my HT-37 and a 40 meter dipole I easily worked several Europeans on 15 meter SSB. Especially nice was a long rag chew (using my rusty Italian) with Gianfranco, IZ4NPE, in beautiful Ferrara, Italy (a bicycle city).

Somehow tying this all together, I got an e-mail from Walter in San Vito, Puglia (the heel on Italy's boot). Walter has one of those "dream jobs" for a radio amateur: He tracks sunspots!

Hi Bill,

Walter here from San Vito, Italy. Just wanted to drop a note to say hi and let you know that I'm enjoying your book. Thanks for making it available as a Kindle version. While reading, it brought back similar experiences with me as a youngster. I too was fascinated by airplanes and would ride my bike to the local airport and watch for hours as the planes would take off and land. My mom gave me my first airplane ride as a birthday present when I was 11. I have to admit that I was scared when we made our first airborne turn. I didn't realize that a plane banks in the turns. I was also fascinated with shortwave radios and my best Christmas gift was a Radio Shack Globe Patrol (regenerative... hi hi) receiver kit. The gift from by grandparents was a Weller soldering gun (140 watts) to put it together with. Again, great job on the book.

The Sun has been keeping us busy at the Solar Observatory. I'm monitoring anywhere from 4 to 12 flares a day, 2 regions popped out of nowhere yesterday. The radio bands have been favorable with all the activity. I've got several projects in the works, a Genesis G3020 SDR rig is about 1/3 completed on the workbench now. It's probably me when you see Puglia show up on the website spinning globe. Take care and keep the podcast's coming. Ciao for now.

- Walter

I7/AC4IM

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

More Homebrew Tubes -- This Time from Poland

That's a homebrew triode built in an apartment workshop by the intrepid Polish radio wizard Aleksander Zawada. The last line in the blog post really got to me:

"All is needed now is to solder a socket to the base of the triode, and use it to make (for example) a regenerative radio receiver!"

Check it out: http://lekernel.net/blog/2011/09/prywatna-wytwornia-lamp-where-diy-meets-vacuum-electron-devices/

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

Homebrew Hero: John Rollins, W1FPZ

Ted, AJ8T, alerted me to the life and work of John Rollins, W1FPZ. As you can see from the text below, John was definitely part of the International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards. I especially like the bit about his taking license exams in foreign languages, and about winding his own transformers in Madagascar. Great stuff. The videos about John and his workshop are really encouraging and inspirational. I laughed out loud when I heard John admit that he was surprised when one of his rigs worked the first time he fired it up. He said that he usually had to spend 3-4 months struggling to get his creations to work! Be sure to listen to the story about how John caught a Navy helicopter with his Vee beam. Thanks Ted, and thanks to Bruce, W1UJR, who took the time to make these wonderful videos.

Here are videos:

http://youtu.be/EV9ljdHLqLg

http://youtu.be/9qG6i8uvPhY

http://youtu.be/6eNze2nhmb0

From John's QRZ listing. This was written by Tim, W1GIG. (Thanks Tim!):

John passed away on March 18, 2008. It was 11 years ago that Bruce Kelly asked John to take over the Amateur Radio column in the OTB as Bruce himself was winding down. John was a man of many talents and had a most interesting life. Because he was always so busy helping others, he rarely took time to talk about himself, so I am going to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about him.

John was born in Guatemala of American parents where his father worked for United Fruit Company (think bananas). At an early age, his father died of malaria and his mother moved the family back to New England. He also lived with an Aunt and later with his much older brother, an airline pilot, who lived on Long Island. As a teenager John discovered radio and his brother bought him a $5.00 two tube regenerative radio kit to build. John built the kit, but it was another 6 months before he got another kit for the power supply. With the help of a ham who lived nearby, he got the radio working which opened up a whole new world for him. John was in High School when his brother went with him into NYC to test for a ham license at the FCC Field Office. For the next couple of years he was active on 40 M. CW using the regen receiver and a Hartley oscillator.

At this point, WW II got in the way. John enlisted in the Army and was trained in radio repair, shipped off to New Guinea, and assigned to be a telephone lineman. The Army moved John steadily North to the Philippines and then to Japan where he was finally sent back to the States for discharge. John enrolled at the University of New Hampshire where he discovered his love of geology. He liked it so much he went on to get a Masters at the University of Nebraska and several years later, a Doctorate also from the University of Nebraska. He continued to work for Chevron exploring for oil in Africa, Madagascar, Spain, Denmark and many other countries including the US.

While he was in college, John remembered his love of radio, but unfortunately his ham license had expired, so he went back in 1954 to test again receiving the call W1FPZ which he held ever since. Later, he tested for his ham license in Madagascar (in French) and in Uruguay (in Spanish). Not many of us have tested for our licenses in three languages! While he was in Madagascar he built many of the transmitters that are still in use at his home. He even wound his own power and filament transformers to get the voltages he wanted.

John also discovered that he was an excellent pistol marksman, but that his results could be substantially improved by reworking the guns themselves, so he taught himself to be a gunsmith. His skills at woodworking, carving, machining, precision casting of bullets and loading target shells were such that this became a major hobby business for him which he pursued right up to recent months.

John was a survivor. While in the Army he survived a major brush with a 3,300 volt power line and later a plane crash while in Africa. Since small planes were the only way for John to get to his job sites, he decided that he’d rather trust his own skills as a pilot than rely on the brush pilots that the oil company had hired. Back in the States, recuperating from his injuries, he got a private pilot’s license, then went on to a multi-engine commercial license with full instrument ratings. Just before he retired, he was working out of Denver and flying his own twin engine Queen Air to Maine to work on his retirement home. He even flew from Maine to the AWA conference one year picking up Marshall Etter, W2ER from Long Island on the way.

Preparing for retirement, John and his wife Liz doubled the size of their new home in Maine. As part of the project, John wanted reliable ham communications with his friends around the world. Limited by normal power regulations, he decided to build a BIG antenna. His final choice was a horizontal V beam aimed at the Southeast. The beam legs were 1,100 feet long and supported on three 100 foot towers. Looking for wire strong enough to span the distance he ran across an ad for #6 phosphor bronze wire run by Marshall, W2ER who had salvaged the wire when he was closing the RCA site at Rocky Point. The two men became fast friends and co-conspirators. Marshall provided quality parts left over from RCA and John, using his metal and woodworking skills, customized the parts to suit his projects. The result was a long series of radio projects that he gave to friends with the caveat that they were required to use them on the air in AWA events.

John always had a fascination with the products of Jerry Gross of NYC. He built a Gross replica transmitter for Marshall who used it for many years. Parker Heinemann, W1YG found an original Gross and had John restore it along with the receiver, station monitor and antenna tuner. They set up an entry in the 1991 AWA contest that exactly duplicated a Gross add from the 30’s and took first place. After the conference, John got a call from Bill Orr who offered John his Gross if John would restore it. That transmitter is part of John’s home station.

Not satisfied with the Hartley oscillator, John discovered that if he used the Colpitts circuit with a split stator condenser and grounded rotor, he could eliminate the hand capacity effect. One of his last projects was to set up the tuned circuit for me and share several of his other construction secrets. The circuit is rock stable on 40 meters.

Thanks for the opportunity to fill you in on some of the less well known aspects of John’s life. It was an honor to know him and he will be missed by all.

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

W4HBK's QRSS Grabber: The Amazing Pensacola Snapper

When we were in Italy, ON5EX provided my "go to" grabber. Because we were just one ionospheric hop away, and because Johan had a really excellent receive system, it seemed like my little signals were visible on his screen from dawn to dusk every day.

Now that we are back in the States, W4HBK's grabber is playing a similar role for me. His grabber consistently seems to pull in more sigs than most of the other North American grabbers. The above image is a sample of what you will see when you visit his grabber web page. (I'm also a big fan of the W1BW and VE1VDM grabbers -- thanks guys!)

My signal is the "shark-fin" pattern just a little below the middle of the screen. That's 20 mw to a 50 foot piece of AC line cord about 12 feet off the ground. And it is making the trip from Northern Virginia to Pensacola Florida very consistently. Thanks Bill!

Try taking a look at the Pensacola Snapper and see if you can spot my QRSS signal. My frequency varies from day-to-day (sometimes intentionally!). And lately Bill has occasionally been parking his receiver on 40 meters :-( But most days you will be able to see his 30 meter screen, with my shark fins menacing Pensacola. Please let me know if you see me.

Here is OM HBK and his bio:
Born: 1939, Pensacola, Florida

I was first licensed in 1954 as WN4HBK and upgraded to General in 1955 acquiring the call sign I've used to this day. My dad is responsible for my favorite suffix moniker. the Hot Biscuit Kid. I could really put away my mom's scratch biscuits!

My first station I built myself and consisted of super regenerative RX and a 6L6 TX.from designs in the ARRL Handbook. My dad was a radio mechanic for the Navy and taught me how to read schematics and solder. Later stations consisted of Hallicrafters S-38C, National NC-98, HRO-5 recievers and several Heathkit and Globe Scout transmitters. Boy, those were the days!!

After high school I entered college intending to become an antenna engineer but eventually gravitated towards a degree in Physics. This was pretty cool because it led to a career with NASA where I worked on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle projectsall thanks to my early interest in radio.

Today I'm fully retired and living in Gulf Breeze, FL. just across Pensacola Bay from my hometown. My XYL (Anna) and I enjoy the local beaches in a variety of wayssurf fishing, beachcombing, hiking, painting (her) and photography (me). We are also enjoy gardening and winemaking.

My Amateur Radio interests are CW, DX, contests, antennas and digital modes.

Presently I am experimenting with QRSS and have a 250 milliwatt MEPT station on 10.140 MHzsend me an email if you copy my signal. I now have a grabber to present a spectral display of QRSS activity for other Hams worldwide to watch for their signals http://www.qsl.net/w4hbk/w4hbkgrabber.html