Chuck Penson -- Heathkits, Nukes, and QRP

Back in my days as an anchor-ologist (a fan of old, heavy "Boatanchors" radios), I frequently consulted Chuck Penson's wonderful book about Heathkits. I was glad to see that he has developed an interest in QRP and is going to speak at CactusCon. Here is what the AZ Scorpion web site had to say about Chuck:

Chuck has a background in industrial archeology and a passion of the history of science and technology, with a special interest in nuclear weapons. He recently retired from the University of Arizona and now spends his time as the historian for the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley Arizona. He is the author of two books: "Heathkit--A Guide to the Amateur Radio Products" and more recenty "The Titan II Handbook: A Civilian's Guide to the Most Powerful ICBM America Ever Built."

Penson has been a ham radio operator since 1966 and currently holds an advanced class license. His other interests include renewable energy, astronomy, hiking and pizza. He lives with his wife, Kathryn, at their off-the-grid ranch in the desert west of Tucson.

Arizona Scorpions and CactusCon

A message to QRP-L from Paul Harden, NA5N about this event almost had me seeking flight reservations. It really sounds great. Wish I could go. But wait! A virtual visit is possible, because they plan on providing live video streams of the presentations. And last year's talks are also available. Go Scorpions! Check it out:
http://www.azscqrpions.org/CactusCon2009.htm

Shep: UHF and Deep Space Communications

On this one, it takes a while for Shep to get to the radio stuff, but it is worth the wait. Or you could fast forward to around the half-way point (but in doing so you will miss the commercial for Miller High-Life, and Shep's discussions of Monolopy and the Game of Love).

http://ia310115.us.archive.org/2/items/JeanShepherd1965Pt1/1965_04_15_Radio_Signals.mp3

Shep: CW, Conrad, Lake Erie Swing, QRP ops (2 Watts on 20)

April 13, 1965. Jean Shepherd discusses Morse Code, propagation, the Signal Corps and a QRP adventure on 20 Meters. You guys will love this one. Thanks to Bob, N1BE for sending this along. More tomorrow.

http://ia310114.us.archive.org/2/items/JeanShepherd1965Pt1/1965_04_13_Code_School.mp3

SolderSmoke 112

http://www.soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke112.mp3

July 26, 2009
Jean Shepherd comments on solder smoke
Back to Sicily
Apollo 11
Hans Summers' Heroic Homebrew Grenadian QRSS Adventure
Regen progress (they ARE possessed)
Knack-related maladies
Amateur astronomer discovers scar on Jupiter
A reading from SolderSmoke (the book)
MAILBAG

Smoke on the way

SS 112 has been recorded. I'm out in the Sabine Hills right now but
should be able to upload around 2000 UTC tonight.

Homebrew Telescope Finds Earth-sized Scar on Jupiter

Wow! Amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley in Australia was the first one to see this new scar on Jupiter. Reminds me of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact back in 1994. I saw the results of that strike direct from my front yard in the Dominican Republic using a Tasco 4 inch reflector. (The story of that adventure is in the book, "SolderSmoke -- A Global Adventure in Radio Electronics.") Exciting stuff!

Icing on the cake: The discovery was made with a HOMBREW telescope! Here is the web page of the fellow who made the discovery:
http://jupiter.samba.org/
I really enjoyed reading his account of the discovery.

Here is a news article about the event:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/07/24/hubble.jupiter.scar/index.html

Apollo 11

I was 10 years-old and totally involved with the mission. Armstrong
was my hero. I kept a scrapbook (still have it). There is an
interesting Italian angle: Collins was born in Rome. His dad was with
the US Embassy. Glad to see Buzz is doing well. There is a great story
in the book Moondust about his dealings with an obnoxious reporter. I
think Buzz handled it perfectly.

No Smoke Today

I'm away from Rome this Sunday morning. We are back in Sicily. I can't
generate a podcast on this Blackberry!I hope to get the next
SolderSmoke out next Sunday. 73 from sunny Sicily. Bill

Taming the Beast: Progress on the One FET Regen Rig

I went back to work on the ET-1R, my relay-based version of the single FET transceiver (check the index on the left under Minimalist Radio for more on this). The contest this weekend (was it CQ WW DX?) gave me plenty of signals to tweak the receiver with. I finally got the RX in the right freq range, and I have a nice banset/bandspread arrangement with two variable caps. I attacked the dreaded hand capacity issue via the use of non-conducting attachments to the capacitor shafts (one is the cap from a pen, the other is a piece of wood from a clothes pin).

The slaughter of innocent MPF-102s has ended (some victims are visible on top of the SPRAT). The culprit was NOT voltage spikes from the relay coil (although that might have contributed). Instead, what was happening was that I had the gate voltage set way too high on the transmit side. Whenever I powered up the rig, it was for an instant in the transmit mode (before the relay kicked in). The high voltage jolt on the gate was enough to kill the FET.

You can see the transmitter tucked in behind the relay. It moves my SWR meter on key down, so I'm confident I can get at least one QSO (perhaps across Rome) with this rig. Then, I intend to retire it. It will probably be a few years before I forget the pain and decide to build another minimalist regen rig.