Sunday, September 20, 2026

Scott K6AUS gets a Drake 2-B from Steve KW4H

›
  Serial 10219, after refurbishment by Steve KW4H, with the 2-BQ he sent as well perched on top. https://nomadiq.net/blog/post/a-drake-2b-fr...
1 comment:
Saturday, September 19, 2026

Steve KW4H's Restoration of a Drake 2-B -- Part 3 -- Alignment With a New Calibrator

›
Steve KW4H writes:   T he passband tuner realigning went just fine. To do this, I remove the audio output transformer and push it aside, ins...
Thursday, September 17, 2026

Grayson Evans' Modest Proposal: NO MORE VALVES! NO MORE TUBES! THERMATRONS FOREVER! (and a great video)

›
First, a big THANK YOU to Grayson KJ7UM and to Zeynep, his wife and video editor.  The above video is a really excellent look at not only th...
4 comments:
Wednesday, September 16, 2026

More on the Drake 2-B from Steve KW4H -- Part 2 -- Recapping. Cleaning Tubes and Sockets. Tube Tester

›
The recap is finished.  You can see the new Hayseed Hamfest cap on the chassis, as well as the other new caps.  In these receivers, I also r...
Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Wow! I Worked Steve KW4H in 1974 -- He was 15 at KP4USN. I was also 15, but in New York, using my Drake 2-B. And I STILL have the QSL card!

›
  When I recently started e-mailing Steve KW4H about the Drake 2-B and about the SolderSmoke Direct Conversion receiver (that Steve successf...
3 comments:

Steve KW4H's Notes on the Drake 2-B -- Part 1 - Excision of an Unnecessary Mechanical Filter

›
Obviously I am interested in the Drake 2-B.    Steve KW4H restores rigs of this vintage (similar to our own vintage!).  He has sent me some ...
3 comments:
Monday, September 14, 2026

Other Workshops: Zen and the Art of Model Making -- Please Comment

›
This one may seem a bit far off our normal path, but I think this fellow has a lot of philosphy that applies to ham radio homebrewing.   His...
13 comments:
Sunday, September 13, 2026

Demystification! Not Magic! How Claude and Dean made the KK4DAS -- N2CQR Video (Be Sure to Read the Report Until the End!)

›
  Many have asked how the video was made.  Dean and Claude (but not Claude Shannon! ) explain here:  https://kk4das.blogspot.com/2026/09/how...
Friday, September 11, 2026

Claude Makes a Video About N2CQR calling KK4DAS

›
Quick!  Before Claude turns us all into paper clips!    I guess this is part of a series.  First we had Notebook LLM making a podcast about ...
7 comments:

Why Chip Circuits Can Never be Truly Homebrew: ASML's Amazing Photolithography -- Please Comment

›
  As I watched this video, I had many thoughts.   Here are some of them:  1)  The complexity of the ASML machine is a reminder of how far IC...
6 comments:
Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Inside the NUVISTOR! Making a 555 Timer with Nuvistors!

›
This video is very cool.  When I saw them crack open a NUVISTOR, I should have known that this was Eric from CuriousMarc.  And it is!    Her...
1 comment:
Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Helge LA6NCA Builds a One Tube CW Transceiver -- And Makes a Contact!

›
Helge has done it again!  He has shown us the benefits of homebrew CW.  And he has done it with one tube.  FB Helge.  Of course, I really li...
3 comments: