Receiver Success! Combining Computers and Homebrew Radio

Well, it turns out that yesterday was a GREAT day for a new receiver. When I got home from work 30 meters was open. I fired up the new receiver and the FLDIGI program. Immediately I started to see and decode PSK-31 signals. I quickly switched over to the WSPR program and right away I could see the little two minute WSPR sigs. Here is what my screen looked like:

The program also began to automatically upload reports to WSPR HQ. Here is the report I found on the WSPR web site this morning:

I know all this WSPR and digi stuff often seems to be very computer-centric, and very "appliance radio," but I think this little project shows how we can have the best of both worlds: This rig combines a laptop computer and some pretty sophisticated software with a VERY simple, discrete component, homebrew direct-conversion receiver.

OK. So you see that I left a lot of space on the PC board. That's where the DSB transmitter (for WSPR and possibly PSK-31) will go.

BTW: You can keep an eye on my reception reports by going to the Database section of the WSPRnet site and plugging my call (I0/N2CQR) into the "reporting station" block. I'll leave the receiver on today.

A Bad Day for a New Receiver

Here is the latest picture of my version of the W3PM WSPR receiver. You can see the Ugly Weekender AF amp in the upper left. No front end of any kind yet -- the sig goes right from the antenna jack into the RF pin on the SBL-3 diode ring mixer.
Turns out that this morning was a bad time to test a new receiver. Spaceweather.com reports that a big coronal mass ejection hit earth today, causing havoc in the ionosphere. I'll try it again later today.

G0UPL's Ingenious QRSS Circuit

Just look at that circuit! That's a complete QRSS beacon transmitter, including a multivibrator (the two transistors on the left) to generate a recognizable pattern on the grabber screens. This diagram appears in SPRAT 134. Hans Summers ran this rig with just a couple of volts from his homebrew bleach-based battery system back in 2008. I plan on putting a version of this rig into the solar powered lawn lamp I showed you two posts ago (scroll down).

In other news, I finished building the Ugly Weekender AF amp this morning, and it passed the smoke test. My WSPR system went toes up this morning, so today I am QRSSing on 30 meters. I'm running my usual upside down FSK. Please let me know if you see me.

Colpitts Mania! Two Rigs Under Construction

I'm really into Colpitts oscillators lately. I blame Gene, W3PM. He reminded me of the fact that these little one transistor stages can pump out the 7 dbm needed to drive a diode ring mixer. Gene sent me a note warning that I'd have to take special precautions to ensure stability, but I found that this circuit never strayed more than 20 hertz in the course of a full day of oscillating.

Above you can see my version of the Colpitts circuit that Gene has in his very nice WSPR transceiver. You can see the SBL-3 diode ring mixer above the oscillator in this picture. I still haven't decided on the audio amplifiers.

I'm working on a second Colpitts circuit. This one is for a QRSS transmitter, also for 30 meters. Here I took my inspiration from Michael, AA1TJ, who has been working DX with power levels similar to that of this little oscillator. Long-time blog fans might recognize this board, or at least the device that it was used in. This is the board from my "DaVinci Code" 30 meter frequency standard, so called because I used a paperback copy of the Dan Brown novel as insulation for this weird piece of test gear. With my Kempton Park Frequency counter working, I had no need for the DaVinci device. But the oscillator was a Colpitts, capable of pumping out 10 mW all by itself... I plan on building a Hans Summers-style multivibrator circuit to put a distinctive pattern on my QRSS sig. It should fit nicely on the same board. I have a case and a power source in mind: see below. See if you can figure out where I'm going with this.

Workbench/P! Taking Solder on the Road!

Sure, lots of guys carry rigs with them to the field, on vacations, etc. But how about taking your WORKBENCH with you on trips? Perhaps only truly hardcore homebrewers reach this extreme.

It may be that with summer approaching, guys are getting nervous about being away from their beloved workbenches... This week I got three e-mails related to portable workbench operations:

Jim, AL7RV, sent in a nice shot (above) of his most recent workbench location. Jim says while he does not have racks and racks of sophisticated test gear, he does have lots of fresh air (and a nice view) while working on his projects.

Nicholas, M1HOG, sent me a web page describing the portable bench he put together for use at his country cottage. While out there, he said he had "started to miss the delights of melting solder." We hear you Nicholas! Nice solution:
http://www.m1hog.com/projects/elecraft-kx1-building/elecraft-kx1.html

Finally, Rogier, PA1ZZ & KJ6ETL, reports on some very nice cabinets that seem ideally suited to this kind of work: http://www.gerstnerusa.com/

This is all great, but I think we have to draw the line somewhere. How about this: No soldering while driving!
No soldering while in flight on an airliner!

Soldering Irons to the Field! EXCELSIOR!

Success! Uganda WSPR Station On The Air!

Isn't it beautiful? Like an RF palm tree rising out of Uganda. That's a map display of the stations that have received the WSPR signals of 5X7JD in the last 24 hours. Not bad considering that Jack's rig is running one watt and that we are in the midst of a pretty massive geomagnetic storm.
This is a beautiful story for several reasons: Technically, the rig is very elegant. But even more appealing is the human aspect of this operation: This is a real "International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards" story. First, Jack Dunigan goes to Kampala to help kids who are struggling with AIDS. Then Gernot, OE1FM, jumps in and designs and builds an ingenious rig that will allow Jack to run a WSPR beacon from Uganda. For more details, check out Jack's web site: http://hamradiosafari.com/ I got a kick out of his mention of a certain station in Rome that is running a 200 mW WSPR beacon. (And I'm looking forward to Jack's article on Kampala's "Radio Row" -- I suspect it will be a lot like Santo Domingo's.) Three cheers for Jack! Three cheers for Gernot! Three cheers for Joe Taylor! Three cheers for the International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards!

SolderSmoke Book Helps With License Upgrade SAVE 10%!

Thanks to all those who are helping to get the word out about "SolderSmoke -- The Book." I put together a web page about the book:
http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Lulu is running a sale: 10% off during April. Coupon Code: SHOWERS

I got a very gratifying e-mail from OM Walter. I was very pleased to hear that the technical portions of the book helped him in his license upgrade efforts:

Bill,

Just thought I would drop you a note to let you how much your podcasts and book have influenced my life (for better or worse). I have been listening to you podcast since last summer and have all of them on CD and have listened to them all. Living in Florida for the past 10 years I have not been active because I thought I could not get a proper station and antenna setup here (HOA restrictions). Boy was I wrong. Late last year I bit the bullet and bought a Icom 703+ QRP rig and hooked it to my computer for digital modes. Antenna of choice? A PAC12 vertical antenna kit. The antenna is indoors sitting on a small photo tripod.

With this setup using PSK and RTTY I have over 1/2 of the US confirmed and 8 countries including England and Germany. I am having a ball. My wife calls it "Playing with Radio's". At least she knows where I am...

Next steps is to get my code speed up and I have a couple of kits on order (QRP of course).

Your book was instrumental in me ugrading from General (N2LTB) to Extra (AJ4UM) in Dec 2009. Read your book and used the ARRL study guide. Your explanations hit home and I believe made studing for the test easier. Also very entertaining.

Thanks again for all you do for the Ham community and keep it up.

Walter

AJ4UM

Geo-Magnetic Storm! Aurora as seen from orbit

Batten down the hatches my friends. The solar wind is blowing, and we're in a geo-magnetic storm. Well, we were anyway, yesterday. Astronaut Soichi took this amazing picture of the resulting aurora.
No WSPR spots of my little signal this morning -- I blame it on the storm.
You can see some interesting discussion of the storm conditions on the WSPR live-chat system. Here is a sample of last night's commentary:

How much AF amplification needed between diode ring and a sound card?

Progress continues on my WSPR direct conversion receiver. The Colpitts oscillator is working nicely and is very stable. Yesterday I glued an SBL-3 diode ring to the board and hooked it up. With my 'scope and sig generator I can see it turning 30 meter RF into audio. So far so good.

Now it is time to build the AF amp. Here's my question: How many db do I need? The standard 100 db DC RX AF Amp seems like a bit of overkill -- this thing won't drive a speaker or a headphone, but instead, a computer soundcard. What do you guys think? How many db?

SolderSmoke Podcast #123

Listen at: http://www.soldersmoke.com

SolderSmoke #123
4/1/2010
Spring! Equinox! Sap in Vermont! Aurora in Norway! Birds singing in Rome!

SolderSmoke on Oprah. Program Schedule:http://www.soldersmoke.com/oprah.html

Special Report from MASSCON QRP Convention by Mark, NX1K
Propagation improvingWSPR as a personal sunspot detector
Building the W3PM WSPR rig
Colpitts oscillators
Polyakov's "Russian Mixer" BANDSWEEP: A low-frequency sweep by Chris, KD4PBJ
EMRFD on Direct Conversion and Direct Aversion
Faraday's toroid diagram
NA5N's ISBN
MAILBAG
SolderSmoke--THE BOOK:
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3999032
SolderSmoke--THE STORE:
http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke