More on How the AI Deep Dive Podcasts Were Made -- Soon: PeteGPT!

 

So, soon we may actually have these kinds of AI products using voices and even video images that are known to us, but, with the dialogue completely artificial.  Soon, we may hear and see N6QW badmouthing the Si5351, and singing the praises of LC VFOs.   Just a year ago this was the subject of an April 1 SolderSmoke joke.  Now it is becoming a real possibility.   We are living in the future my friends.  

Here is the new article on how they are doing this: 

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/pushing-the-frontiers-of-audio-generation/

And here are our first two experimental uses of this AI technology: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-new-experimental-podcast-about.html

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/here-is-another-short-podcast-about.html

Bill N2CQR Builds Yet Another Mythbuster Transceiver

 This one is for 20 meters (no need for 75) and will go to the Dominican Republic.

6 crystal filter at 5.2 MHz. VFO from old Yaesu FT-101 Termination Insensitive IF amplifiers using boards from Mostly DIY RF No RF amp ahead of the mixer. First mixer is homebrew diode ring. Bandpass filter has 4 LC circuits. Steep skirts. Low insertion loss. Bal Mod/Product detector has two diodes (singly balanced) Carrier osc is crystal controlled and homebrew. Audio amp starts with a 2N3904 amplifier followed by an LM386 board. Transmitter portion will be done next.

The crystal filter as seen on the Antuino

Filter on the blank board. 

Bandpass filter (-20 db = 0)

VFO box, carrier osc, Bal Mod/Product Detector, AF amps

The Antuino looks at the Crystal Filter

Mike WU2D Does a CCC Camp POTA with 1930's Gear

FB Mike.  CW without sidetone is not for the faint of heart.  

Walter KA4KXX saw Mike on the Reverse Beacon Network. 

Mike's QSO with KN4RRQ was especially interesting.  Tom was running a 1929 breadboard-style transmitter: https://www.qrz.com/db/KN4RRQ 

A Solar Energy Workshop in Hawaii

I include this because I am interested in workshops and solar power.  

Thanks to Bill AH6FC for sending this.  Mahlo Bill!  

KA1MUQ's Amazing Homebrew Hybrid Rig

 

Nate KA1MUQ is still working on this rig and so has not yet produced any detailed schematics, but he sent this to us to show that true homebrewing is NOT dead.  Indeed, his magnificent work shows that it is not!  This is a 5 band SSB transmitter using both transistors and Thermatrons. I see a crystal filter from Mostly DIY RF in there.  FB!   And Nate tapped into Pete Juliano's tribal wisdom on homebrewing and hybrid rigs.  Pete commented that the three 6146s in the final reminded him of a Yaesu FT-102.  

Click on images for a better view. 

Thanks Nate! 

Mike WU2D POTA CCC Camp Activation (21 October 2024) with 1930s-era Station -- See If You Can Contact Mike!

Frank Jones lives!  See if you can work Mike on Monday.  Let us know if you do! 

--------------------------------

Bill,

 

I’m scheduled to tour the Civilian Conservation Corps. Camp at Bear Brook State Park here in NH on Monday. This is the largest totally intact camp in the country.

I will be activating POTA with the 1930s portable Station. The POTA CCC Camp event is scheduled for Monday around 2:30 ET (if I get everything setup after the camp tour). Primary 7057 kHz Sec 7054 kHz.

 

The station is an internal battery powered, push-pull Jones Oscillator Transmitter at around 3 Watts out, and a two-tube regenerative receiver that is a period ham artifact. So, four type 30 battery tubes in total.

The antenna is a single wire feed Windom with suspended counterpoise so basically an Off Center Fed Hertz (OCFH).

 

Between the weather, running the station, logging, and doing camera work, and of course, MURPHY - this should be nuts.

1930s Regen with Transmitter – Fully Self-Contained Portable. Note Charger that is attached to top off the internal battery on transmitter. I did not buy the proscribed 25 9V Batteries and make a TX HV pack up! I used a DC-DC converter and a LiPO drone battery! The Receiver is 100% Dry Cells However.

 

73’s Mike WU2D

----------------------------

More info here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Pdprx0ItY

And many other great videos on Mike's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MIKROWAVE1

How to Organize a Small Shack

A YouTube comment from Paul VK3HN sent me back to "The Spirited Man" YouTube channel, and one of the first things I found was this video about how to organize a small space.  This is very relevant to my shacks in Virginia and in the Dominican Republic. 

Lots of good ideas here, but that propane heater kind of scared me.  And it seemed inconsistent with concerns behind the fire-preventing garbage can.  What do you folks think? 

Thanks Paul. 

 

SolderSmoke Podcast #253 AUDIO VERSION: NYC, SF, DR, PC, DSC, PODCAST IN DANGER, SPRAT, sBITX, CW, IMD, AI, PNP, MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #253 is available:  

 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke253.mp3

October 16, 2024

Sponsor!  Parts Candy is back!  Handmade in Chicago!  Standard test leads,  Hook clips, alligator clips in 12" and 32" and multimeter leads

Travelouge/Intro

Bill's trip to NYC -- The Empire State Building

Dean goes to the Bay area. 

Harry Caul,  Marty Klein W3VCG , "The Conversation" and THE KNACK.https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/08/harry-caul-had-knack-movie-review.html

Joe Piscopo in Bell System video! https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/08/soldersmoke-quiz-question-who-is-actor.html

Bill's Bench 

Bill's report from SolderSmoke Shack South: The tropics:  What this means.  Guapo wouldn't  go out when the sun was overhead. 

 Skies not great for astronomy now.  But we see a lot of satellites, and meteors.

Antenna developments:   1/4 vertical on a fishing pole.  

Lightning suppression coming for the building. Lightning suppressors.  Got 2.  Good video from the IMSAI guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EyABPuNDMA Argon gas suppresion tubes.Need to crimp! 

Hurricane prevention. Metal storm curtains. 

Thinking of solar panels. 12 panels, 5 kW system.  Probably without batteries.  What do you think? 

A golf cart. 

New PC.  BeeLink.  Very tiny! (palm of your hand)   24 inch screen. Works well https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVFKN7ZL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

A very satisfying fix on the 15/10 rig -- loose connection to RF amp.  The highly suspect Ramsey Kit Amp was NOT the culprit!  Got to use the new Rigol DS-1102.  A fun fix. Will build a second CCI amp. 

Digital Selective Calling -- listening to ships and shore stations on HF.  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/10/monitoring-maritime-radio-messages-with.html

SHAMELESS COMMERCE:  Our blogs and the podcast are in danger!  Pete is already on a permanent  blog hiatus.  I have seen a big decline in readership.  Frankly, if no one is reading or listening, we just may decide not to do it anymore.  We don't want to do this.  So please, link to the blogs.  Talk up the blog and podcast on your own blogs and social media.  

Parts Candy Test Leads are back as our sponsor.  Pete has them.  Dean has them, I have them in two different countries!     DON'T SCRIMP WITH A CRIMP!  

SPRAT Summer 2O24 Special EXTRA 50th Anniversary issue! https://www.gqrp.com/sales.htm

Dean's Bench

First CW contact:  With KK4DAS on his HB sBITX  and  Alan W2AEW POTA.  TRGHS. 

Dean fixes the sBITX problems. Again.  SUB-THRESHOLD CONDUCTION!    Lots of patience and stick-to-it-ivness. LPF leakage!  https://kk4das.blogspot.com/2024/08/homebrew-sbitx-lpf-leak-stopped.html

IMD IMD IMD and the Tiny SA Ultra https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/sherwood-its-time-to-clean-up-our.html

AI  AI   AI -- Experimental AI Podcasts about SolderSmoke (no kidding -- (NOT April 1) Where they came from https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/where-ai-podcasts-came-from.html 

AI Podcast #2 https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/here-is-another-short-podcast-about.html

AI Podcast #1  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-new-experimental-podcast-about.html

Pete's Bench

 An all PNP rig -- A notional look, https://n6qw.blogspot.com/2024/08/august-30-2024-pnp-20m-ssb-transceiver.html 

Videos on old Boatanchors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnboJ75NCmY&t=1s

MAILBAG:  

Lex PH2LB making some new stickers.  Look out San Francisco!  

Rogier PA1ZZ sending lots of good ideas and links. 

Todd K7TFC  great idea on SS readersip decline 

Todd VE7BPO  aka Vasily -- great info on how to stabilize LC oscillators. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/qrp-homebuilder-shows-us-how-to-build.html

Eric 4Z1UG  Welcome words of encouragement on the blog and podcast 

Dave W2DAB says that AI just can't replace the Tappit Brothers of ham radio.  Now the Tappit Triplets. 

Michael AA1TJ  Thoughtfully skeptical about AI. 

Grayson K7JUM on the cleanliness of the 32S-3. Also amazing video on Thermatron MMM. 

Mike WN2A working on DC receivers and hum! 

Floran OE7FTI building Farhan's JBOT amp! 

Mike Murphy WU2D building 1930 replica rigs using a Frank Jones circuit 

Dave K8WPE always great to hear from such a strong SolderSmoke supporter. 

Walter KA4KXX  Great ideas from the Wizard of Orlando. 

Paul G0OER -- Reacting to the 1970s Ham Radio video. Didn't remember being so cool. 

Thomas K4SWL -- Struggling with the hurricane in NC.  Hang in there OM. 

Nick M0NTZ building another Direct Conversion receiver -- with videos about it.

Michael AG5VG building a Mythbustrer-style 20 meter rig.  FT-101 VFO.  FB

Tony G4WIF -- Readership problem advice 

John AB2XT sent us 6000 47 pf NP0 capacitors.  So we are now good for caps!   Thanks John. 

Paul VK3HN Was suitably impresses by the AI podcasts we put on the blog. Thanks Paul. 

SolderSmoke Podcast #253 VIDEO VERSION : NYC, SF, DR, PC, DSC, PODCAST IN DANGER, SPRAT, sBITX, CW, IMD, AI, PNP, MAILBAG

SolderSmoke #253 is available in video form.  See above or: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQBojTLL7VY

The audio version is available in the post immediately above this one, here: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/10/soldersmoke-podcast-253-audio-version.html

Two Great (but Old) Videos about Waves

I've had both of these videos on the SolderSmoke blog already, but an e-mail from Farhan reminded me how good they both are. If you are averse to older material you might not want to watch -- but you would be missing out on some wisdom.  

 

Monitoring Maritime Radio Messages with YADD

 

Click on the image for a clearer view

This is really cool and very easy.  Easy nerd thrills.  

On Friday, Steve VE7SL, put up a blog post on how we can relive the glories of our youth by monitoring HF long-distance maritime traffic.  In the old days the ships were on CW and many report that it was great fun to listen to the various "fists" in action from coastal stations, and from ships on the high seas.  While the CW is long gone, this maritime traffic is still on the air.  Today they are using a SEL call system called Digital Selective Calling or DSC.  

Happily, it is very easy to decode these transmissions.  Steve recommends a program called YADD (Yet Another DSC Decoder).  I downloaded it in seconds and had it installed on my computer in minutes.  Next I had to find a general coverage receiver.  I thought about pressing my old HQ-100 into service, or maybe even the S-38E, but a cooler head prevailed.  I remembered that Farhan had given us a general coverage receiver in his uBITX transceiver.  So it came off the shelf and got powered up.  Around dawn on October 14, 2024 I put the receiver on 8.415 MHz LSB.  I didn't even have to do a real connection to the computer -- I just put the speaker close to the mic and that was sufficient.  

Boom.  Soon I was getting signals from ships afloat and from coastal stations.  I heard Shanghai, New Zealand, and Australia.   See above.   From the U.S., I heard Miami, but the most emotional for me was hearing the station at Pt. Reyes, in California.  This is the station that Dick Dilman W6AWO has volunteered at for many years.  FB.  

Back in 2017, Steve had another post on DSC and YADD: 

https://ve7sl.blogspot.com/2017/08/yadd.html

Thanks Steve! 

This site explains very well what DSC is.  From this I think we can see that there is nothing illegal about using YADD to monitor the DSC alerts (that are all emergency-related):  https://infoshipping.tripod.com/gmdss_dsc.html

The Transistor that Changed the World -- the MOSFET

Another great video from Asianometry.  

My only quibble is that it kind of left unclear the differences between JFETs and MOSFETs.  After all, we still use both.  Note our beloved J310 JFET.  And the IRF510 is a MOSFET.  

Google's AI explains: 

A JFET (Junction Field-Effect Transistor) and a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) are both types of field-effect transistors, but the key difference is that in a JFET, the channel conductivity is controlled by a reverse-biased PN junction, while in a MOSFET, it's controlled by an electric field across an insulating layer between the gate and the channel, allowing for a much higher input impedance and greater design flexibility in MOSFETs; essentially, MOSFETs are considered a more advanced version of JFETs with superior performance in many applications like high-speed switching and integration into complex circuits. 

Tally Ho! Leo Solders -- Aurora -- Satellites -- Meteors -- Tides -- Starlink

I've been following this YouTube channel, probably since early in the pandemic.  It is not about radio, but in this episode we see Leo actually do some soldering.  NOT BAD!   Lots of other related stuff.  

Here is the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SampsonBoatCo

What Happened to the SolderSmoke Blog?

 

The conclusions of this article ring true, but I am not certain that changes to the Google algorithm, or the introduction of AI answers to Google queries explain the changes that are reflected in the above chart. 

Here's the article: 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240524-how-googles-new-algorithm-will-shape-your-internet

Take a look at the traffic going to the SolderSmoke blog over the last year (see chart above). 

Something bad happened to us around April 15.  

What do you guys think?  What happened? 

MIT Looks at the Artificial Intelligence Podcasts of NotebookLM

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/03/1104978/people-are-using-google-study-software-to-make-ai-podcasts-and-theyre-weird-and-amazing/

4Z4GE's Homebrew Tube SSB Transmitter from Israel, 1974

https://www.nzeldes.com/Miscellany/SSB-rig.htm 

Very cool. I like his description of how he found parts for this transmitter:  

The power amplifier tubes needed ventilation as well as shielding; that was always a challenge because I had no good source of perforated metal. The black sheet with the round holes actually came from the cover of a car air filter that I found in the trash.

There is a lot more interesting stuff on Nathan Zelde 4Z4GE's site: 

https://www.nzeldes.com/possiblyinteresting.htm

Thanks Nathan! 

Homebrew Receiver -- AG5VG's 20 Meter "Mythbuster" Receiver

Michael has the receiver done and is wisely heeding Farhan's advice about pausing to enjoy the homebrew sounds.  

I was pleased to see someone else using the FT-101 VFO.  Great piece of gear.  

On to the transmitter!  

Fernando's Rigs -- Vintage Ham Radio Receivers

Thanks to Rogier PA1ZZ for sending me this YouTube link.  It is a truly wonderful channel from Spain. Not only the Collins Gold Dust Twins, but also lots of great (and not-so-great!) older receivers.  SP-600s, S-38s,  Rhode and Schwartz rigs, lots of great stuff.  Go to the "Videos" link and enjoy the Thermatron goodness.   Thanks Rogier!  And thanks Fernando! 

 https://www.youtube.com/@jonglei

SolderSmoke Artificial Intelligence -- Where the AI Podcasts Came From

 

The aticle and the podcast (don't worry, it is NOT an AI podcast) explain how we were able to generate the AI podcasts we presented during the last two days. 

https://www.theverge.com/24249388/notebooklm-google-steven-johnson-vergecast

The audio podcast feature was introduced only ONE WEEK AGO!  Rarely have we been so close to the cutting edge!  

The product itself first launched in 2023 as Project Tailwind, and has since been rebranded and expanded in big ways. Just last week, the team launched Audio Overviews, which generates a podcast — with two chatty hosts, plenty of back and forth, and a truly remarkable penchant for the phrases “deep dive” and “buckle up” — based on the information you provide. It’s fascinating, it’s complicated, and it’s getting better really fast.

Thanks to Bob for alerting me to all this! 

AI Podcast #2: Here is Another Short Podcast ABOUT SolderSmoke.

Click here for the second "About SolderSmoke" podcast. 

 http://www.soldersmoke.com/About SolderSmoke 2.mp3

This one looks not at the SolderSmoke Daily News blog, but instead at the SolderSmoke podcast itself.

I was delighted to see the inclusion of Pete, Dean, Farhan and Mike Rainey!   This was really great.  

Look, it is not perfect.  There are errors.  But probably about the same number of errors that you would get from real, human hosts, right?    Voltaire told us not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  And I find this to be amazingly good. Look, it is so good that it is kind of scary, right?

Before you get too critical realize how this has been done:  I did nothing more than load the SolderSmoke Podcast Archive website into GPT-like model. Then I asked it to produce a deep dive podcast.  That's it.  About 5 clicks.  It developed the podcast in about 3 minutes.  I did the same thing yesterday but with the SolderSmoke blog.  And this is only the beginning.  

AI Podcast #1 -- A new (experimental) Podcast About SolderSmoke Daily News

GET THOSE SOLDERING IRONS HEATED UP!  WE'RE GOING DEEP TODAY, DEEP INTO THE WORLD OF HAM RADIO! 

Click here for the new experimental podcast: 

http://www.soldersmoke.com/About SolderSmoke 1.mp3

I am looking for comments on this.  What do you think?  

Please post comments below or send me an e-mail. 

Thanks and 73 

A Clean Vintage Ham Radio Transmitter: The Collins 32S-3

In an article on IMD and splatter,  tech guru Rob Sherwood noted that the cleanest tranmitter he had ever owened was the Colling 32S-3.   Here is the article.  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/09/sherwood-its-time-to-clean-up-our.html

In it, you will see thar Rob has the spectrum anayser two tone test to prove his point.  

This got me wondering:  Why was the Collins transmitter so clean.   Today I looked at some ot the tech info on this rig.  I think I have found the answer. The Collins Collectors Association has a great page on the 32S-3: https://collinsradio.org/cca-collins-historical-archives/the-equipment-of-collins-radio/the-grey-boxes/32s-3/

The key lines are these:  

Click on the paragraphs or go to the link for a clearer view 

I think the explanation of Collins'32S-3 cleanliness is due to 1) Thermatrons in the final stages and 2) Negative feedback to take down any IMD products that might appear due to non-linearities in the finals.   

There is nothing magical in that technique.  Heck, we could homebrew that today.  We could build HDR stations (perhaps transistor-tube hybrids) that would be cleaner than their commercial SDR cousins. 

Ham Radio -- How To Build Stable Oscillators

Spasibo Vasily!  

Wow, thanks a lot Todd.   There is some great wisdom in your video.  You clearly demonstrate that it is possible to build your own stable LC VFOs.  Sure, for many the arrival of the synthesizer chip put an end to this kind of project.  But some of us still want to fully homebrew all the stages in our rigs, and not be dependent on mysterious chips and software written by others.  

I really liked the way Todd acknowedged the tremendous contributions of Wes, and Roy, and Rick and others. 

Of course, all of Todd's recommendations are right on the mark.  I have been following most of them (but I do fall short and occassionally use a Manhattan pad or two).  Todd even gets into the mysterious and arcane practice of boiling (three times!) toroidal transformers.  I do have a preference for air-core coils, but that boiling sounds like fun. 

One thing that Todd and Brad might also want to consider:   tuning linearity.  Too often LC VFOs end up having the frequency spacing very close at one end of the dial and very broad at the other end.  "Bob's Electron Bunker" provides some great tools for alleviating this problem:

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-cure-for-frequency-bunching-up-in.html

Thanks again Todd! 

AG5VG's Homebrew 20 meter Superhet (with a CW rig Coming) (Video)

 Michael AG5VG finished this receiver last weekend.  He hopes to build a CW transmitter using an output of the Si5351.  Obviously I defer to Pete on that one.  Good going Michael.  I think it sounds great and looks even better.  

Vulnerable MOSFETS in NASA's Europa Clipper

 

Oh man, this is terrible.  Just months before launch of the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter's satellite, they discovered that some of the MOSFETS in the spacecraft might get fried by the Jovian radiation.  1500 MOSFETS.  Ouch.  Details here: 

https://futurism.com/nasa-disastrous-flaw-spacecraft

"QRP Classics" The Book that Got Me Started in Homebrew

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2022/09/fixing-up-old-homebrew-rig-barebones.html

A question this morning from Scott KQ4AOP caused me to Google this old book    On page 59 I found the article about my first transmitter.  Someone has put a copy of the entire book on the interenet.  Here it is: 

https://ham.v4.si/books/QRP%20Classics%20-%20The%20Best%20QRP%20Projects%20from%20QST%20and%20the%20ARRL%20Handbook.pdf

Sherwood: "It's Time to Clean Up our Transmitters"

 

http://nc0b.com/qst-article/NC0B-QST-Nov-2019.pdf

As an analog, HDR, discrete component, radical homebrew fundamentalist, obviously I have been concerned about all the hype about SDR.  SDR advocates often make it sound as if those of us who build with discrete analog components (crystal filters!) are hopless troglodytes, about to be thrown on the ash heap of radio history.  Or something like that.  They sort of imply that without the cleansing benefits of SDR, our signals will remain hoplessly dirty. 

I find it interesting that Sherwood concluded that the cleanest transmitter he ever owned was a Collins 32S-3!  He compared the two tone output of this old rig to that of a modern transceiver.  This was in 2019.  See above.  HDR wins. 

Don't get me wrong.  I want to clean up the signals from my HDR rigs.  But I am encouraged by Sherwood's remarks.  I do not think I will have to go SDR in order to have a clean signal.   I may just  do some two-tone tests on the rigs,  make some adjustments, and maybe build a class A Thermatron .1 kW linear. 

IMD in Transmitters -- Splatter? Or Signal Strength?

https://www.newsvhf.com/conf2024/PresPapers/WA1MBA-IMD_in_Transmitters.pdf

Here is a good (and very recent) article on IMD ("splatter") produced in transmitters. The focus is on VHF, but much of this is relevant to HF operators.  I found the footnotes on the ARRL "Clean Signal Initiative" to be worrisome.  They seem to just be assuming that all ham operators will be using commercial gear, and the "OEM" needs to be made to meet certain standards. This seems to leave the homebrewer out in the cold.  I can see where someday soon, the "standards" will exceed the capability of analog homebrewers.  That would be bad.  

The role that signal strength plays in the perception of "splatter" is often misunderstood by the "waterfall police."  We often we hear some irate waterfall policeman screaming that,  "You are 40 over and far too wide."   Here is a good quote from the article on this point: 

"If you have a calibrated spectrum display (as many SDR’s are these days), you can directly measure the level difference in dB. If it is 30 dB or more, then it could be an acceptably “clean signal”, even if it is bothersome. Most ham voice communication is conducted with less than 30 dB signal/noise, and in that case the unwanted IMD is buried in the noise."

And even in a low noise environment,  if the signal is 40 db over S9. that would mean the signal PEP is at -33dbm.  If the IMD products are 46 db down from the signal peak, that means your IMD products are -79 dbm.  That is S-8!   That signal will look quite wide in the waterfall, but it would be within FCC specs, right? The problem here is not so much distortion, as signal strength.  And let's remember that "legal limit" is usually a misnomer:  FCC regs require hams to use the minimum power necessary, not 1.5 kW on every single QSO. 

The Surprising Difficulty of Analog Circuit Chip Design -- AI to the Rescue?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNypq1XuZRo

Really interesting.  Why the design of the analog portions of chips is so much harder than the design of the digital portions.  

Great channel. 

Sony and the Transistor

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pi9k5n7Wrw

I found the comment about Sony's belief that NPN transistors are superior to PNP very interesting. 

IMD and Splatter

 

https://www.robkalmeijer.nl/techniek/electronica/radiotechniek/hambladen/hr/1988/10/page71/index.html

I think the point I was trying to make about the influence of signal strength is here:  

Referring to fig. 1C, note the high level of rf at the 3rd order level - typically 36-dB down. Consequently, there will be rf energy outside the normal 23 kHz passband that will be only 36-dB below the carrier peaks, or about one four-thousandth of the peak power. Not bad if the station is only 25-30 dB out of the noise, but very objectionable if it's 40-60 dB out of the noise.

I think it is supposed to read "2-3 kHz passband" vice "23kHz passband."

I guess the point is that QRP levels of operation can hide a host of ills.   IMD ills.  This makes me wonder about the cleanliness of my own signals.   I will have to do some more careful measurements. 

Ham Radio in the 1970s (and earlier, with some cool Jazz). What favorite rigs do you see?

Rogier PA1ZZ sent me this today.  I think I may have seen pieces of it before, but this restoration 

is really nice.  But ham radio seems to have been a lot cooler in California.  I don't remember it being so socially advantageous on the East Coast.   See Dilbert cartoon below. 

So many memories: 

-- The video opens with someone working on a QF-1 Q multipliers.  We have destroyed so many of these relics, in pursuit of the variable capacitors (which turn out to be not so good). 

-- A Drake 2-B on Field Day. 

-- An HT-37 in a shack.

--What looks like an HW-32a in a mobile rig. 

-- Maybe an HW-101. 

--  A BC-348. 

-- The ATV station with lots of homebrew gear was very cool. 

-- I also liked the single THERMATRON homebrew CW rig made from an old TV.  FB. 

-- The CW used in the video was all pretty good.  There was a lot of chirp.  This, of course, adds character to a signal.  FB.

After the video, they take a walk down memory lane, looking at ham radio magazines with some cool jazz playing in the background.  I saw a Swan 240 and a D-104.  The debauchery of the 1970s was evident on the magazine covers.  Even QST seemed to be caught up in this.  Check out the August 1975 cover of QST.  

Anyway, this video was a lot of fun.  Thanks Rogier!  

What favorite rigs do you see?   Make note of them in the comments. 

This video and the Dilbert cartoon reminded me of a discussion we had many years ago about THE KNACK: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2008/11/cry-for-help-soldersmoke-responds.html