Happy World Cosmonautics Day!

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

Arduino and Bugs (real bugs! billions of them!)

http://blog.makezine.com/2013/04/10/swarmageddon-cicadas-helping-crowdsource-citizen-science/

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

Imaging Across the EM Spectrum

Amazing images here:

http://blog.makezine.com/2013/04/09/somewhere-outside-the-rainbow-imaging-across-the-em-spectrum/

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

A Nice Workshop in Germany

Wannabe-Choppers from Thorsten Indra on Vimeo.

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

Sputnik Schematic Found!



We were searching for this last year.  Oleg, RV3GM, finally found the schematic for the transmitter in the Sputnik satellite. 

ftp://ftp.radio.ru/pub/2013/04/55.pdf


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

SolderSmoke Podcast #151

SolderSmoke Podcast #151 is available.

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke151.mp3

April 1, 2013

Topics:
-- Spring not yet sprung
-- Dominican nostalgia wave hits SolderSmoke HQ
-- Rebuild of my first transmitter
-- Dusting off the Barebones Superhet
-- SolderSmoke Book Corner:
      Ben Franklin by Walter Issacson
      How Arthur C. Clarke handled his Mailbag
      "The New Cool"  Dean Kamen's house/shack
      Transistor Radios by Ronald Quan
-- New SolderSmoke Advertising Campaign
-- QRP vs. QRO:
      Put 40 milliwatt "Shark Fin" QRSS rig on the air
      Being lured into QRO amp construction projects
-- Reverse Beacon Network
-- Looking for my Elmer (or his son)
-- MAILBAG

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

An update from Yi Yao, VA3YAO

We did a short article on Yi Yao a while back, noting that he definitely has The Knack.   His homebrew frequency counter (above) confirms that he does.   In a recent  e-mail from him I also detect an inclination toward poetry.  April is Poetry Month, so I thought I should share the latest from Yi:

Hi Bill,

I haven't gotten around to making my first rig yet. But, after
listening to SolderSmoke since the beginning, it seems like the universal rule
of homebrewing has been to avoid regens!

I've been focusing on mechanical design for the last while. Having
spent 2 years in a heavily electrical engineering oriented
environment, I decided to try something new. Most of the smoke that
 I inhale these days is from cutting oil vaporizing as I turn something
on the lathe. Chips mean bits of metal that are created from cutting
metal. Soldering is done with a torch. The common thread with
electronics is the knackish pursuit of elegant design and beautiful
construction.

I've been thinking about getting myself a copy of SSDRA, but even
looking at online used book stores, this is costing in the
neighbourhood of some of my university textbooks. There's no shortage
of good information and ideas for homebrewing online though. I think
that's what I will use.

Cheers,
Yi


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

Wow! Great Article on the Wow SETI Signal

Thanks to David Umbaugh (and his son!) for alerting me to this really great article in The Atlantic on one intrepid amateur who has chosen to follow-up on the famous (and possibly extraterrestrial) "Wow" signal.   You will like this article. 

http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/the-wow-signal-one-mans-search-for-setis-most-tantalizing-trace-of-alien-life/253093/

Robert Gray's book is available here:

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

Good time to Buy Book: 20% off at Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

Use Coupon Code VERNUM through March 31 and get 20% off.

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

Edgy Skimmer Antenna

For the last few days I've been hanging out on 20 meter CW, 14.050 - 14.060 MHz, using my re-built W1VD/Barbados rig.   I've had some great contacts, but almost as  much fun is watching the Reverse Beacon Network to see who is hearing my calls.   WA7LNW is one of the "skimmers" that most consistently picks up my signal.  One look at the picture above explains this.  The receive antenna for his skimmer rig IS ON THE EDGE OF THIS CLIFF!   Jack has one of those dream jobs for a radio amateur:  he works at that amazing location, testing ejection seats for jet aircraft.  More great pictures here: 

http://www.dxwatch.com/qrz/lookup.php?c=rbn/WA7LNW

Thanks for the reports Jack!

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's Latest QRPp Rig

 

From Mike, AA1TJ:

I called CQ on 20m CW for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon with no response. With the cadence of my own Morse tugging at my eyelids, I was suddenly shaken awake by a brisk signal returning my call and signing CU2BV. I snapped out a 579 report and turned it over. The dits and dahs in my headphones told me it was Fernando; operating from São Miguel island in the Azores. He reported a weak but solid copy (529) of my fifty milliwatt signal.

Here's the radio that I used yesterday. The one-transistor transmitter is to the left of the red relay on the top board. The single transistor is a germanium surface-barrier device made by Philco in August of 1958. To the right of the relay is a two-transistor time-delay circuit used to switch the antenna between the transmitter and the receiver. My receiver on the lower proto-board is a reproduction of my first shortwave receiver: a $7 Japanese kit that I bought at Radio Shack when I was 13 years-old.

Fifty milliwatts is some twenty-four times less power than was used by an old double D-cell flashlight. I later learned that my signal was nearly simultaneously picked up by an automated receiver located just west of Dusseldorf, Germany.

Snowy Vermont to the lush Azores - some 1500miles off the coast of Portugal - with less power than is consumed by a beeswax candle...is it any wonder that I love radio? ;-)

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

Sunblock! Earth-Sun-Mars Alignment Affects Communications

Something to be considered by those hoping to win the Elser-Mathes Cup.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-108

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