Homebrew QRP Fun on 75 Phone

OK, I take back all of the bad things I said about the 75 meter phone band. I recently finished work on my Kick Panel 75 meter DSB rig.  Last week I took portions of the multiband antenna that Solder-Lexicographer Steve Silverman sent me and turned it into a 75 meter dipole.  It is now suspended in the trees above my house.  With some trepidation I ventured out into the 75 meter ether.  And, to my surprise I found friendly hams willing to give my 3 watt DSB signal a chance.   The first contact was with K2WS.  I had called Billy into the shack, thinking that I was just going to show him the beauty of a Direct Conversion receiver.  To my astonishment I found K2WS calling CQ!  On 75!  Who knew?   I gave him a call and -- BINGO -- we had a wonderful QSO.  Alan is at the other end of the tech spectrum -- he was running a Flex Radio.  With that rig's panoramic display he was able to SEE that I was running DSB.  Very cool.  Billy was duly impressed. 


Yesterday morning I ran into a very congenial bunch of guys from the Gallups Island Radio Club.  They welcomed me into the group and allowed me to join in the roundtable.  Thanks guys! 


Then came the icing on the cake.  This morning I heard a familiar voice calling together the Mid Atlantic chapter of the Quarter Century Wireless Association.  Could it be?  Yes indeed, it as an old friend, Ray, a guy who had brought me into the QCWA group during our previous stint in Northern Virginia. I checked into the net and had a great time. 

Above you can see the latest version of this long-evolving rig.  It has a built-in speaker.   Below you can see it with the top off. 

Three cheers for 75! 

  
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Soldering in SPAAAAACE!

Take a look at this NASA page on zero gravity soldering.   Just look at that rosin go!  

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/16aug_solder/


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Communal Shacks: TechShops

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-23/techshop-paradise-for-tinkerers#p1
We've talked about these places before.  Lots of potential here!   I'm pleased to see that one of them is coming to my area. 

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Update from the QRP Ranch

 Bill,
      Really enjoyed SolderSmoke 143, great job as always.
I wanted to fill you in on the happenings at the WA6ARA QRP Ranch. A bunch of us are doing a kit build. We meet at the QRP Ranch Man Cave for a few hours of building several times a week. Several of us are building the 40 meter SSB rig that won the homebrew challenge a couple years ago and there are a couple BTX20s and 17 meter rigs being built as well. I'd like to say they are from scratch but alas, we are building them from Hendrick's QRP kits. The first one has been completed, a BTX17, by a 15 year old Extra Class ham in about 3 days. BTW - he already had WAS and DXCC. The next project is the W6JL 50 watt amplifier that won the amplifier homebrew challenge. I am building both the 40 meter and the BTX17 rigs. The 40 meter rig, plus amp is going in a ammo can and then in the jeep for back country emergency use. I've enclosed a couple of photos, including the required chocolate chip cookies to keep the gang going and the solar oven to cook them in.

--
Mike Herr
WA6ARA
DM-15dp
Home of The QRP Ranch
 




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Two great sites from Rogier

Our Bay Area correspondent Rogier (orignally PA1ZZ, now KJ6ETL) recently sent us links to two very interesting sites.   The first is a collection of Jean Shepherd programs.   EXCELSIOR!
http://www.flicklives.com/Mass_Back/massbackpodcast.xml

The second is a collection of electronics tutorial videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Afrotechmods?feature=watch

 

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Feynman on Electricity

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Has your solder EXPIRED?

Wow, here's another thing to worry about:  Has your solder expired?  Is it past its "use by" date?

This came up in the discussion of the Heathkit voltmeter being built on the Evil Mad Scientist blog (see our post on this from a few days ago).  One commenter wrote:

If you ever look at a spool of solder-- one made for use in industry --it will have an expiration date. And that date always seems surprisingly soon, to us.

Here in Silicon Valley, we regularly purchase solder (including flux-cored 60/40) that is discounted because it is sold after its stamped expiration date-- sometimes as much as five years past. To us, this is just "a good deal." We've had some spools work better than others, and it would be very hard for us to *prove* that one is "bad" because it's old.

None the less, the solder manufacturers are explicitly clear on the subject.

Kester, one of the most important manufacturers, says "Flux cored solder wire has a limited shelf life determined by the alloy used in the wire. For alloys containing more than 70% lead, the shelf life is two years from date of manufacture. Other alloys have a shelf life of three years from date of manufacture."

Source: http://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Knowledge_Base_Articles/Shelf_Life_Policy.pdf

Alpha, the manufacturer of the solder included with this kit, says of (at least one of their) flux-cored solders, "If >36 months from manufacture, please submit sample to Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials for testing."

Source: http://alphacpmd.com/~/media/Files/CooksonElectronics/TB-RELIACORE15-WRC-USAPE-SM334-9%20%2010-09-28.pdf

 What happens when it expires?  Does the smoke start to smell bad?   Steve Smith -- please help us out here.


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Sibeband Inversion: 9 MHz, 5 MHz, and the ARRL Handbook

The 2006 ARRL Handbook had it right.  Jeremiah went back and took a look: 


Bill:

I have a comment about the question of the LSB/USB convention mentioned in the most recent SolderSmoke podcast and the follow up blog post:

I checked the 2006 Handbook and there is a sidebar (page 9.27) explaining the 5/9 MHz connection with the Lower/Upper Sideband convention in use today. It explains that there was a popular rig that used a 5 MHz VFO and a 9 MHZ IF that were mixed to create the 75/20 meter RF signals. This is certainly a reasonable method, but would not result in the inversion. The article then goes on to explain, however, that other rigs used a 5 MHz tunable IF and a 9 MHz local oscillator which would indeed result in sideband inversion and thus the convention we use today. 

73,

Jeremiah, KB0OFF

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GE Ham News -- All of Them! (1946-1963)

Walter, AJ4UM, alerted us to this. Here's yet another treasure trove of ham radio literature.  I'm going to have to retire just to make time to read all the stuff that is coming on line! 
http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/GE_HamNews/ge_ham_news.htm


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EDN Article on Performance of Modern Ham Transceivers

Mike, KC7IT, alerted us to a very interesting EDN article about the performance of modern ham transceivers:
http://www.edn.com/article/521690-High_performance_HF_transceiver_design_A_ham_s_perspective.php?cid=Newsletter+-+EDN+Fun+Friday


On the phase noise, how do old fashioned LC or crystal oscillators compare to modern PLL or DDS circuits?


And congrats to Elecraft for the high ratings on their K3.



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In the Shadow of Giants (at Tektronix)

From: Dave Haupt
Subject: Club 465
To: n2cqr
Date: Monday, May 7, 2012, 1:40 PM

I work at Tektronix, in a group that designs, among other things, front-ends for our spectrum analyzers.  In our lab full of gear, the most coveted scopes are the 465, the higher frequency 475 and the ultimate manifestation of the breed, the 2465 (four 350MHz channels).  Yes, we have the more recent higher-frequency digitizing scopes in the lab, and for much of what we develop, we need the higher frequency and superior triggering capability.  But for ease of use, confidence that what's on the screen is the real signal and not some processor's guess, those of us with more gray in our hair than any other color still have warm and fuzzy feelings toward a good analog scope.

What REALLY makes me stand still in my tracks is when I comment to someone at work that I have a 465 at home, and they reply, "Oh, yeah, I remember that design.  I did the horizontal sweep circuit."  Talk about standing in the shadows of history!

Dave W8NF

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Evil Mad Scientist Builds a Heathkit

You guys will get a kick out of this:  An old unbuilt Heathkit is discovered, and is then put together by "Evil Mad Scientist." EMS obviously loves electronics, but is clearly of the digital/IC generation:    "The tubes are gorgeous!  Their exteriors are glass with electrodes extending from the bottom!"  Wow.

The Evil Mad Sci guy fears that the solder provided by Heath will have "gone bad over time" and says that he will use "more modern solder."  Hold your horses Frankenstein! Don't you dare put that Heathkit together with lead-free solder!  That could tear a hole in the fabric of space time!  Also, I dunno about the idea of putting all the components on the lugs and rotary switch terminals first, with all the soldering coming later.  The boys at Benton Harbor wouldn't have liked that.  And you might want to gradually bring the voltage up on that big electrolytic cap up using a variac.  Which brings to mind some needed advice:  BE CAREFUL!  You have moved out of the realm of 12 V DC.  That old Heathkit could zap you good! 

http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/heathkit-part1


Thanks to Mike Butts for alerting us to this.

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