Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Stopping the AF oscillations in the Herring Aid 5
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
Friday, February 11, 2022
Bill Talking about Homebrew Radio with L’Anse Creuse Amateur Radio Club (Michigan) -- February 2, 2022 (Video)
Saturday, September 7, 2019
SolderSmoke Podcast 213 WE'RE BACK!
N6QW's Analog CW QRP Transceiver |
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke213.mp3
7 September 2019
The dire consequences of our summer absence.
50th PODCAST WITH OUR FRIEND PETE!
THREE CHEERS FOR PETE!
Pete's Bench Report
-- Transceiver Count: FORTY!
-- SDR RADIGS
-- Colorful OLED screens
-- Pilgrims and Paisanos -- "Left Coast Homebrew SSB"
-- Pete builds a CW transceiver (see picture above)
Bill's Bench Report:
-- Going minimalist
-- Tuna Tin 2 + Herring Aid 5 = Fish Soup 7 (and later 10)
-- My QRPp QSO with K1PUB overheard in Canada
-- Glen Yingling's ET-1
-- Bill attempting a single transistor transceiver
SPACE NEWS
-- Antuino's Cubesat Origins. Farhan's Antuino Mods
-- Apollo 11 Anniversary
-- Possibly the best space book ever: "Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins
-- Chinese microsat sending eclipse pictures from the moon
-- LightSail 2 success
-- India has spacecraft in lunar orbit.
Eric Sears ZL2BMI and Dino Papas KL0S on "QSO Today" Podcast
MAILBAG:
ZL2PD's Sugar Cube VFO
N8WQ gets free samples
N5RWF Getting started, wisely wearing beret
VK2EMU Australian Ad for Collins Filters
W1PJE on new LDMOS PA transistors
KA4KXX Al Fresco 75 meter SSB rig with model plane engine mufflers!
Forgot to mention: W9TH still has manuals for whover owns Drake 2-B #4215. Check your serial number!
Monday, March 17, 2014
A Short Video on my Herring Aid 5
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
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Herring Aid 5: Working after 38 years!
I know, it is just a little Direct Conversion receiver. Getting it going is no great technical achievement. But this little receiver gave me such trouble as a teenager, it has been in the back of my mind for a long time. Finally, yesterday afternoon it started picking up signals.
I felt a bit bad about insinuating (a few days ago -- see below) that QST may have made an error in the 1976 schematic. They didn't. So it was kind of spooky when I heard that first call-sign coming through the speaker: It was W1AW! It was as if they were saying: "See, the schematic was correct!"
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
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Fish Soup 10 QRP Transceiver in Action on 40
I took this quick video during a QSO on July 20, 2019 with Ed K3VA in Philadelphia on 40 meters. Note: Plenty of of audio from the Herring Aid 5 -- no additional amplification in the speaker.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
SolderSmoke Podcast #198 - D-104, HW-8, Juliello, DIFX, Dishal, Baofeng, MAILBAG
Bill Breshears WC3K (SK) |
Juliello. No. |
Saturday, January 21, 2023
A Call for Builders! Please help us Test this Receiver! Please Build this Receiver!
This is the Direct Conversion receiver that Dean and I have built. We plan to have students at a local high school build it, starting in early February. We would like to have some others build it, to make sure that the design is re-producible without problems.
Please build this receiver! But we ask that you build it exactly as per the schematic above and below. Innovation can come later -- for now we just want to make sure this thing works, that there are no errors in the schematic, and that it can be built by the students with minimum woe. Thanks in advance!
Dean or others with 3D printers may be able to supply the plastic form for the PTO inductor.
We know of one other builder, but he is having some trouble. We would like to confirm that this design is sound.
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Here is a larger image of the schematic (click for a full view):
Sunday, January 17, 2021
STOP. LISTEN. Shep on Building a Shortwave Receiver
Thursday, December 1, 2022
The 40 Meter Direct Conversion Receiver We Have Been Working On -- Comments Welcome
Here is a larger image of the schematic (click for a full view):
Friday, February 10, 2023
SolderSmoke Podcast #243 -- HI7/N2CQR, uBITX mods for 10 meters, High-School Direct Conversion Receiver Project Launched (Success!) Mailbag
February 10, 2023
SolderSmoke Podcast #224 is available.
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke243.mp3
Video here: (32) SolderSmoke Podcast 243 (video) Hi7/N2CQR, uBITX, Success with High School Receiver Project - YouTube
Pete N6QW had technical difficulties this morning. He insisted that the show must go on. Pete will be back for the next episode.
Travelogue:
Bill in the Dominican Republic for all of January.
HI7/N2CQR Eastern
tip of the island. uBITX and dipoles.
20, 17, 10. CW and
SSB. SSB was tough and I had reports of
RF getting into the signal.
Went to CW.
Worked VWS Mike KA4CDN, and Walter KA4KXX on 20CW.
Finally moved up to 10 CW. Lots of contacts. Even though uBITX very QRP
on ten.
I am modifying the uBITX now.
Copper tape shielding to keep RF out.
Low power out not
the fault of the IRF-510s. The problem
is the 2N3904s.
Will replace with 2N2222 in To-18 cans.
Dean KK4DAS putting KD8CEC software into Arduino. I gave up.
Who sent me this orphan uBITX?
SolderSmoke Shack South in final phase of construction.
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:
Patreon!
Bezos Shopping!
DC Receiver Project
Local High School radio club.
Simple: Like
Herring Aid 5 and Wes’s original.
Farhan’s four
stages:
BP Filter, Diode Ring, PTO, AF amp.
Simple Colpitts PTO SURPRISINGLY STABLE.
Simple and easy.
No chips. No complicated circuits.
Guys have helped test out the design: Rick N3FJZ, Walter KA4KXX,
Daniel VE5DLD, Stephen
VK2BLQ and others.
First session last night: We demonstrated build of the PTOs.
They worked (thank God).
Open Circuits book.
Envelope Detection Controversy
Save the Antenna – Book “Losing the Nobel Prize” K1JT
MAILBAG
--Dean KK4DAS 10 meter DSB!
Tiny SA ULTRA! FB
--John AC2RL on Elmer W3PHL DSB guy
--AC3K reports inventor of Fender Stratocaster guitar was a
ham: W6DOE
--AF8E was doing POTA.
I worked him. He said my rig had presence. FB
--Alain F4IET FB DSB rig with mic in Cigar can!
--Daryl N0DP worked him on SSB. He is homebrewing
--Steve N8NM was in for repairs but is on the mend.
--Rick G6AKG working with sub-harmonic mixers and logic chips
--Paul HS0ZLQ Built DC receiver but looking for something
else to build. No DSB!
--Steve AB4I – Coherer, Jagadish Chandra Bose, and Marconi
--Eldon KC5U
Worked VK5QD right after me and mentioned SolderSmoke FB
--Todd K7TFC is building the DC RX.
--Tony G4WIF and Ian G3ROO using automotive relays for
antenna switching. FB.
--Dave WA1LBP Great to hear from my fellow Hambassador (Okinawa)
Older post comments:
--Scott VO1DR was also in CF Rockey’s class! (Blog comment)
--Aurora Aug 4, 1972: Twelve people shared memories. (Blog comment)
--Will WN1SLG Googled novice call and was led to
my Novice log.(Blog comment)
Sunday, July 29, 2012
SolderSmoke Podcast #145
-- Derecho Storm hits Northern Virginia
Thursday, February 26, 2015
N6ORS's Long-Delayed SSB Rig
We've heard of a few of these "long-delayed" projects. My own 38 year pause in the Herring Aid Five receiver project comes to mind. I like Keith's idea of a "homebrewers home frequency" but I strongly suspect it would be a very lonely place! Thanks for sending us the pictures of your rig Keith.
Bill:
This project started out about 20 years ago as
a 2 meter FM handheld, then sat in boxes for decades.
Thanks to you and Pete and your podcasts keeping
me company, it morphed into a homebrew 2 meter SSB
rig. It saw 'firstlight' last weekend. Of course
I had to operate it without the covers but I made
a short QSO, about 1 mile across town with the wife (kg6oeo).
Homebrewers should pick a "Homebrew home frequency" on
various bands to facilitate homebrew to homebrew contacts.
73,
Keith N6ORS
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
Monday, April 1, 2024
SolderSmoke Podcast #251 Aurora! CBLA, Winterfest, Legal Action Against SolderSmoke, HB sBITX, SDR, Raspberry Pi, Rounded Passbands, MAILBAG
Audio: http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke251.mp3
Travelouge: Dean goes to the North Pole to see Aurora.
A CBLA Call to Arms!
Winterfest. Lots of goodies. MXM Industries 40 meter transceiver. 1 dollar.
Jean Shepherd. Recording of Bill talking to Shep in 1976.
Legal Trouble: Could put us out of operation for a while. We need listener input.
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Pete's Bench
Homebrew SDR (based on Zl2CTM’s original design) and how good it sounds.
Raspberry Pi Zero W is now working on FT-8 with digital adapter.
Ferrite Cores at Digi-Key (a replacement for the FT-37-43 where you buy 100 and the price is 21 cents/each)
ADE-6 –great specs in HF but more expensive than the ADE-1
For Pete's recent blog posts, go to this site and click on "Archive" in the right column:
https://n6qw.blogspot.com/2024/03/march-31-2924-happy-easter-to-those-who.html
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Dean's Bench
sBITX progress, McGyver-ing a lifted pad, replacing crystal on the CODEC board, sBITX success! See:
https://kk4das.blogspot.com/2024/03/homebrew-sbitx-tx-modules-pa-lpf-and-mic.html
--------------------
Shameless Commerce Division: Please use the Amazon link on the blog to start your Amazon purchases. And please consider using Patreon to support the podcast and blog. We try to send extra content to our Patreon supporters. Mostly DIY RF -- Boards, Kits and Pete's PSSST
---------------------
Bill's Bench
More trouble with the 15-10 rig. Rounded passbands in 25 MHz filter. See figure 4 in both links:
https://www.arrl.org/files/file/QEX_Next_Issue/Nov-Dec_2009/QEX_Nov-Dec_09_Feature.pdf
https://www.networksciences.com/pdfs/tutorial.pdf
Experimenting with Balanced Mixers and Product Detectors. Paul VK3HN Suggests the MC1496 chip; Walter KA4KXX points to SSDRA circuits
But it is on the air! Using the PA from a BITX40 module and an RD06.
Put an OLD dial from Pericles HI8P on 15-10 version 1. Soul in the new machine.
Grayson KJ7UM's Hollowstate video.
Mike WU2D's amazing 10 meter DSB transceiver.
Jack AI4SV (Dhaka Jack) liked video of recent QSO with AzoresDSB rig
Mike AA1TJ and Dave AA7EE on backwaves and 100 uW QRPpppp
Dave G3UUR on my curved passband problem
Alan W2AEW heard my only QSO with the MXM indsutries SupeRX/TX40
Wes W7ZOI, Mike WN2A, Walter KA4KXX. Farhan VU2ESE on passband,
Ramakrishnan sent article about Charles Proteus Steinmetz. Beautiful.
Justin AC8LV built a receiver! FB.
San Francisco QRP: KDOFNR TouCans Rig, and N6ASD Zinc-Oxide TX
Frank KC8JJL -- Another guy who heard first ham sigs from a homebrew rig.
Nate KA1MUQ's homebrew thermatron superhet
Dino KL0S sent info on the PAL CB VFO I picked up at Winterfest. Airborne!
Bob W8SX will be once again doing SolderSmoke interviews at Dayton. Thanks Bob
Peter VK2EMU Always good to hear from him.
Tobias Feltus -- Wisdom teeth removed, wondering if he will get sBITX hallucinations...
Rick WD5L continues to work on his Herring Aid 5
Ciprian YO6DXE wants to learn CW. No alerts from his FB Blog!
Todd K7TFC -- Likes CW, says it eliminates the Blah-Blah-Blah
Monday, July 15, 2019
The "Fish Soup 10" Homebrew QRP CW Transceiver
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Direct Conversion Receivers, AF Transformers, and Motorboating
Yesterday the Mouser part arrived and I put it into the circuit. An increase in AF gain was immediately apparent, but the thing went into AF oscillation as soon as I turned up the AF gain.
I tried beefing up the AF decoupling. But I think the real problem is just the presence in the middle of the board of a rather large (1 inch x 1 inch) audio transformer. I moved it around a bit to get it away from the toroid of the preceding stage. This helped a bit, but it still breaks into oscillation if I turn up the AF gain.
Any suggestions? Or is this just part of the minimalist 1976 lifestyle?
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
Friday, October 22, 2021
Tribal Knowledge: Pete N6QW on "How to Make Things Work"
Check out Pete's great advice here:
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Herring Aid Motorboating STOPPED!
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
Sunday, July 5, 2015
A Really Interesing Interview with Elecraft's Wayne Burdick, N6KR
http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/n6kr
Eric 4Z1UG does a podcast called QSO Today. He interviews interesting hams. A few days ago I listened to his talk with Wayne Burdick, N6KR, as I worked on my Tuna Tin 2/Herring Aid 5 rig. It was the perfect accompaniment, but the interview was so good that I intend to listen to it again, this time with no distractions from melting solder. Thanks Eric. Thanks Wayne. Here it is. Just click on the "Listen to podcast"" button:
http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/n6kr
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
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Mailbag: Coils Wound Backwards, Last QSO 1981, Visions of Transistors Keeping Him Awake. Paul has THE KNACK
I'm just getting back into ham radio after 33 years (last QSO: 1981),
want to do it all through homebrew, seem to have the same mindset as
guys like you and Frank K0IYE, bought your book [love it and Frank's],
and just "discovered" the Soldersmoke podcasts. I've been listening to
them with one ear as I bike to and from work (about 40 minutes each way, so it's almost perfect). I'm employed as a digital geek, but yearn for the days of DeMaw's prime (worked him once when he was W1CER), when the 40673 ruled. I'm very glad that, 40 years later, people like Farhan can weave discrete analog wonders, even if they later choose to use digital *control* (NOT DSP! No!).
I had to start somewhere with your podcasts archive, so I started with
2014 and really enjoyed your struggles with the Herring-Aid 5. My 1st
receiver was the "DC 80-10" by DeMaw from somewhere around 1970 in QST or the Handbook -- used a CA3028 as the product detector -- and I had similar struggles. While listening to it, I immediately thought "you wound the feedback coil backwards, you idiot!"
I got my license back in March 2014 and want very badly to get back on
the air with a homebrewed, or at least minimally-kitted, station. I've
built the receiver: David White's (WN5Y) Beginner's and Experimenters
receiver[1] heavily modified, have a long wire antenna up, a decent RF
ground, and all the parts I need for QRP z-match tuner, swr meter, T/R
switch, sidetone, and IRF510-based transmitter. Target: 40m CW by the middle of December, 30m in the couple of months after that with a
fully-Manhattan-style Barebones Superhet and another IRF510
transmitter. Then one of these BitX things. It's been a couple of
decades since I felt that there weren't enough hours in the day. Some
nights I can't sleep, what with all these transistors and simple analog
ICs whirling around...
Anyway, keep it up, I'll be listening.
-- Paul Lender, AD0HQ
[1] I built an Arduino/AD9850 DDS -- a la AD7C -- and used it to tune a
4-crystal filter (10-cent crystals from Tayda!) for the receiver with
the same Rigol scope that you use. I tried, really tried, to do it with
an analog RF signal generator. Change is good. Change is good.