Jonathan-san (Our Man in Japan) Now Melting Solder in Seattle

Got a nice note from Jonathan W0XO.  He and the family  have relocated to the Seattle area.  Here we see Jonathan at work in his new shed/shack.  It looks great. 

Long-time SolderSmoke fans will remember Jonathan from his previous life in Asia. See: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2016/04/from-vietnam-to-washington-dc-jonathan.html

Please Listen: Something Wrong with Spanish National Radio Signal?

I've been getting back into shortwave listening. One of my favorite stations is Radio Nacional de Espana (Spanish National Radio) from Madrid.  It is very strong here on 9690 kHz starting around 1645 Eastern Time, 2145 UTC.  

If you can, please listen to this station and let me know if you hear any technical problems with the signal.  Please let me know what you hear.  Does the signal sound OK.  Any problems? 

  

Dean KK4DAS Builds SSB rig, Makes First Contact.

You can almost see the excitement in the notes (al fresco!)  of Dean KK4DAS.   He made his first QSO with a homebrew transceiver this week.   Not long ago Dean was taking his first tentative homebrew steps with a Michigan Mighty Mite.  Wow, he has made great progress.   

Read all about it on Dean's blog:  https://kk4das.blogspot.com/2020/04/furlough-40-first-contact.html

Congratulations Dean! 

DX WaveScan

I heard this program this morning on my Q-31 receiver.  It was on WRMI 9955 kHz at around 1330 UTC.   

It reminded me a lot of the DX listening program of HCJB.   Good stuff. 

You can listen to the programs on-line at:  https://awr.org/program/engmi_wav/

Q-31 Quarantine Receiver -- All Boxed Up, Almost Done

Almost done.  A few odds and ends remain, but now I have all the circuitry in their boxes. 

As I was taking my walk the other day I was thinking of how I didn't have to build a BFO for this superhet. That's because the signals coming in on this rig bring with them their own BFO signal (the carrier).  

Q-31 Quarantine Receiver -- +30 db and a Germanium Diode Help a Lot (video)

Today I added two additional stages of IF amplification.  This added 30 db to the receiver's total gain.  That helped a lot.  I also discovered that Germanium (1N34A) diodes work a LOT better as AM detectors than do silicon diodes.   This receiver is starting to sound decent.  Currently listening to the VORW program on WRMI Miami.  

Walter's VFO

Main VFO board under plastic -- buffer board off to the right

There is a lot of tribal knowledge in this short article by Walter KA4KXX.  (The most recent issue of SPRAT has a picture of a SPRAT cover from more than 30 years ago, announcing an article by Walter.  OM has been at this for quite a while.)  Walter's advice is similar to that of Doug DeMaw, especially on the air-core coil.   FB Walter,  thanks for sharing.  

Regarding the last line in Walter's article, please direct any complaints about drifting analog VFOs to Peter Juliano.  He will be delighted to receive these complaints, and will promptly provide all correspondents with very succinct advice on how to overcome the instability.  

My Way to a Low-Drift Analog VFO, by Walter KA4KXX

I recently built a digital VFO (from a QRP Labs Kit) to see what everybody is talking about, and it has been quite handy for my first two-band homebrew transceiver, but by the time one adds the low pass filter, a low-level RF amplifier to boost the weak output, a 5 VDC regulator, and a hefty +12VDC power line filter to the beast to keep the digital noise out of the rest of the radio, for a single band project I still prefer a low-drift analog VFO.  

My approach to minimizing drift is very simple and works well for a VFO range of 3 – 7.3 MHz, which is all that is needed for the 20 to 80 Meter bands, either direct conversion (adding a doubler for 20M) or single conversion with approximately a 10 MHz IF.  

First, see my schematic (adapted from Small Wonder Labs 40+ transceiver, original BITX40 Analog VFO, and other sources) and wind an air core inductor with stout magnet wire such as 24 or 22 AWG.  Use a thick, rigid plastic form of a diameter so that you need about 12 turns, and single coat with water-based sanding sealer, Q-dope, or similar.  Use hot glue to mount the coil firmly to the single-sided circuit board, and build a cover of some type, especially if the radio is to ever be used outdoors.
   
Second, all the VFO capacitors (except power supply bypass) should initially be the modern C0G type, which can be obtained from Mouser (such as TDK FG28C0G1H681JNT06 or the like), which I trust more than those labeled NP0.

Then, power up the VFO and tweak the coil, tuning arrangement, and range capacitor to get the frequency range you desire.

Next, monitor the drift from a cold start to see how fast it is moving as it warms up, and whether it stabilizes nicely (my goal for SSB Phone use is less than 20 Hz drift during any 10 minute period) after 10 – 15 minutes maximum.  If it does not stabilize to your satisfaction, then start substituting polystyrene caps for the C0G units one at a time until you are happy with the performance.

[Also remember that a stable BFO is important as well, and if you use the BITX 40 crystal oscillator design, I recommend installing a dedicated 78L09 power line regulator.]

If you build this VFO at the higher (7 MHz) frequency end, just change the inductor value to about 0.5 uH, with everything else about the same, but expect to do more tweaking to get stability, and the warm-up time may be closer to 15 minutes.  After years of experimenting, this is what has worked for me.  If it works for you, please send me an email (see my QRZ page) of thanks.  If not, file a complaint with Soldersmoke. 

Q-31 Quarantine Receiver -- First Signals (Video)

It still needs a lot of work, but today it pulled in its first shortwave signals.  See video.

Quarantine Rig Q-31 -- Putting the Stages Together (Most of Them)

I've been recording short videos on my progress with the Q-31 Shortwave AM Quarantine Receiver.  

Yesterday was a bit of a milestone -- I put five of the six sub-assemblies together and did some testing.  You can see the video above. 

All the other videos are on my YouTube site: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/M0HBR

Please subscribe and give me a "thumbs up." 

SITS!  Stay in the shack!  Flatten the curve.  Hang in there.   73  Bill

Other Kinds of Knack: Woodwork Wizard! (video)

This guy has some amazing tools, and even more amazing skills.  I find it inspirational to occasionally take a look at other kinds of workshops.   Check it out.  Video above. 

Along similar lines, the young Englishman Leo was in Washington state with his girlfriend when the lock-down and travel bans kicked in, so his work on Tally Ho (and his videos) continue.  See:
https://youtu.be/zXV0ywqj7zY

SITS! or Stay in the wood-shop! 

Brace Yourselves: DK7IH's New Transceiver -- The Gimme Five

Lock-down is bad enough, but now we will also have to cope with the feelings of homebrew inadequacy that Peter's rigs always cause.  But look on this as an opportunity for inspiration.  Peter once again raises the bar.   

https://radiotransmitter.wordpress.com/2020/04/11/gimme-five-reloaded-a-compact-5-band-qrp-ssb-transceiver-in-smd-technology/

This looks like it is the first in a series of blog posts. Just what we need in quarantine.   Thanks Peter.  

Videos on the Q-31 Quarantine AM SW Receiver Project (and some pictures)

I've been making some short, stage-by-stage videos of my Q-31 receiver project.  So far I have seven videos.  They are here: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/M0HBR/videos

Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel.  And give me some "thumbs up" if you like the videos. 

Thanks.  SITS!  FlattenTheCurve!  73 

Pads from Pete, toroids from Farhan

The diode ring

Altoids-sized tins will hold the circuit boards

Stay In The Shack -- Or in the front yard.