Walter KA4KXX's "Al Fresco" Oz DSB rig with VFO Mod

A while back we ran a post about the MDT 40 DSB rig out of Australia. Walter KA4KXX liked the design so much that he built his own version and, with it, made his first homebrew phone contacts. I always say that DSB is a great way to break into the world of microphones.  Walter is obviously on the right path -- not only did he come up with a nice Al Fresco DSB rig, but he modified the VFO to get additional coverage and to incorporate a frequency counter.  FB Walter!

Walter KA4KXX writes:

Since I earned my Ham Radio license in about 1979, I have always operated only on CW since I like to build all my own equipment, but recently at the SolderSmoke website I discovered the MDT 40 Meter DSB Transceiver, and decided this was the design I had always been looking for to finally build and operate on phone.

After I made my first phone contact after only 5 minutes of trying, just a few weeks ago, I was so excited I sent an email thanking designer Leon of ozqrp.com.

Then I modified the VFO further to cover the entire 40 meter USA General Class License phone band, which is 7.175 – 7.300, in two overlapping steps.  I also added a 5K fine frequency adjustment, used a more friendly 1SV149 Varactor diode which I purchased on EBay at very low cost, and also added a high impedance buffer (found at the website listed below) to the VFO to drive a frequency counter.
 
http://www.arising.com.au/people/Holland/Ralph/buffer/highimpedanceprobe.htm

I was able to implement these modifications very easily since I always make my own un-crowded state-by-stage Manhattan style circuit boards and build first on a breadboard.
So far I am very pleased with the results.

Walter KA4KXX

Working Walter KA4KXX from Hispaniola

 Walter KA4KXX in Orlando has been a prolific builder of rigs for many years, and has been a great friend of SolderSmoke:  Here are some of the SolderSmoke podcasts and blog posts in which Walter's solder melting was mentioned: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=KA4KXX

As we approach the end of our current stay in the Dominican Republic, I could not miss out on the chance to work Walter with his homebrew rigs.  Even though the space weather was stormy, and my dipole was droopy, we arranged to meet up on the high end of the 20 meter CW band this morning.   See the results in the video above.  A solid QSO with Walter.  He says it is HB2HB, but truth be told I was on a uBITX that was built more by Farhan than by me.  But this was a great contact.  Walter started with a 50W rig, then switched to his 3 watt rig with a DC receiver.  FB

Here is the e-mail I received from Walter after the QSO: 

Dear Bill:

Many thanks for the great video, and when

you return to Virginia look for your mailman

to bring a postcard from me!

Just after your phone call this morning I scanned

the band from 14.025 to 14.300 and heard only one

SSB QSO at 14.347, and even now I only hear

a half dozen SSB signals, so that makes what

we did even more amazing. 

The first photo below is my 3.5 watt NE602 direct conversion 

rig which is about 2 years old.  The transmit signal is created

by putting a 3 MHz VFO signal into an NE602 mixer with an 

11 MHz crystal, so the rig can receive CW and SSB from 

14.025 to 14.300 and can transmit CW anywhere in that range

with good frequency stability. 

The bottom photo is my new full break-in CW 50W rig which 

I just put on the air about a week ago and is still in the finalization stage.  

I am not yet happy with it, but then again I am more particular

now than I used to be.  It is really a trans-receiver with a single 

conversion superhet receiver at the bottom of the board using 

an NE602 pair with a 3-crystal 4 MHz 900 Hz bandwidth filter, 

and a single 10.080 crystal VFO which is tuned with a polyvaricon

for operating between 14.061 and 14.068 MHz.  

At the top is the VXO transmit section using a pair of 14.070 

crystals pulled down into the operating range.  This signal

is buffered and amplified to about 500 mW which is all that 

the MRF101 RF Power Amplifier needs.  Visible behind the

board is an AC-powered 24 VDC switching power supply which 

is connected in series with the 12 VDC battery to 

power the final stage with about 36 VDC.  The main 12 VDC is 

provided by a bench power supply which is not in the photo.

In both rigs the morse code key is the microswitch 

at the lower right corner.  (Way more handy and elegant 

than your key, I might say?)

This morning each of these rigs was connected to its own

end fed half wave antenna, one in my backyard 

and the other on the side of my house.  My antenna analyzer

shows them to be essentially equal, but my 50W rig does

not like one of them at all.

Making our international homebrew-to-homebrew contact 

today was a terrific ham radio experience, so thanks for all 

you do!

73,

Walter 

KA4KXX

Orlando, FL

Ciprian's Romanian Ten Minute Transmitter with Roots in SPRAT, KA4KXX, and the Florida Sunrise Net

It sounds great Ciprian!  It was really cool to see your video and hear you reference not only the SolderSmoke blog, but also SPRAT, the Michigan Mighty Mite, and Walter KA4KXX. Your little rig has a very fine lineage!  

I found Ciprian's video just after seeing the wonderful Herndon Mighty Mite of Jack NG2E.  TRGHS!  The Color Burst Liberation Army is on the march!   For more info on NG2E's Mighty Mite, check out his blog: https://jackhaefner.blogspot.com/2021/05/mounting-to-perfboard-and-scope-test.html 

Jack has in his possession one of the  7.123 MHz crystals that Walter KA4KXX sent me back in 2019 (during my ET-2 craze).   It seems obvious that Jack should build a Ten Minute Transmitter and use it to check into the Sunrise Net  https://qsl.net/srn/. 

Nine Homebrew Transceivers by Walter KA4KXX (and some QRP and QRO RC planes)

 

Our friend Walter KA4KXX in Orlando recently sent us this really cool "family photo" of his homebrew rigs.  Be sure to see the key that explains the photo (below) FB Walter.  Thanks too for the model airplane pictures. (Click on the images for better viewing.) 

Walter wrote: 

I recently realized that I am now operating nine homebrew transceivers, which would fit nicely in an “aerial” photograph, so I grabbed my stepladder and everything did fit well in the frame.  Six of them come from the BITX side of the family, with #1 and #7 direct conversion and #9 a single conversion superhet but using the NE602.  More basic information is included in the sketch.

I tried a Si5351 VFO once in the dual-band rig #4, but by the time I built the QRP Labs kit with so much closely-spaced soldering, and then added sufficient filtering and amplification to properly drive a 50 ohm load, I was exhausted!

These nine were created during the past eight years, and were preceded by eight more transceivers that I can document, but those have all been disassembled, with many of the parts being used in these later rigs.  I build my transceivers to be operated often, and since 20 Meters has been hot lately, for example, my POTA Hunter log shows over 300 CW and SSB contacts in 2023 alone, so rig numbers 7 - 9 have been earning their keep lately.

In summary I have created a lifetime total of seventeen transceivers so far, and although I am nowhere near the fifty-plus tally of Pete N6QW, I did spend a lot of years instead homebrewing many radio-controlled model airplanes of my own design.  Two photos show one example that I flew in the 2011 Blue Max Scale R/C Contest at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida against some stiff QRO competition.

—Walter KA4KXX

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. 

Walter KA4KXX Operates his FB Al-Fresco HB Scratch-Built BITX 75 (Video)

Dear Bill N2CQR:

For your amusement, the attached video (from 2:20 - 3:40) shows

me operating portable at a tailgate event using my second

scratch-built  BITX, with this one running 45W on 75M. 

Features include analog VFO, a 16-pin LM380 with all ground

pins heat-sinked for powerful audio, and 3-transistor uBITX-type

low-level RF amps.  The 8-crystal filter is also like the uBITX design

but at an 11 MHz IF.  The microphone amp is a 741 Op Amp which I

believe has better gain, gain adjustability, and frequency response than 

any of the transistor designs. The transmit adjustable driver amp is adapted from the FET 

circuit used in the Wee Willy.  The Transmit LPF is hard-wired to the antenna connector 

for simplification and to minimize RF losses, so in receive mode the single relay in the rig 

connects the receive section in parallel, which causes some signal loss, but not much. 

Finally, and most notably, I believe that my RF Power Amp is the only one in the world to use 

model airplane engine mufflers as heat sink cores...

72,

Walter

KA4KXX

Orlando, FL     

SolderSmoke Podcast #243 -- HI7/N2CQR, uBITX mods for 10 meters, High-School Direct Conversion Receiver Project Launched (Success!) Mailbag

 

DC RX and one of the PTO boards we built as demos last night. 

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)

SolderSmoke Podcast #251 Aurora! CBLA, Winterfest, Legal Action Against SolderSmoke, HB sBITX, SDR, Raspberry Pi, Rounded Passbands, MAILBAG

Aurora Picture by Dean KK4DAS

SolderSmoke Podcast #251  4-1-2024

Audio: http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke251.mp3

Videos: Podcast 251 Aurora! CBLA, Winterfest, Legal Threat, sBITX, SDR, RaspPi, Rounded Passbands, MAILBAG (youtube.com)

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. 

 https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/03/listen-to-me-talking-to-jean-shepherd.html

Legal Trouble: Could put us out of operation for a while.  We need listener input. 

November 2023

December 2023

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

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

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

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.

Pericles' Dial on the 15-10 Rig 

Mailbag: 

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 

F1BFU's Amazing PSSST VFO

A Message from Walter KA4KXX -- On Bias Setting, the Joys of Al Fresco Rigs, Lawn--Sign Radio Base

 

Dear Dean KK4DAS:

...

3) Note that a rule of thumb I have used successfully in adjusting RF Power MOSFET

bias is to increase the voltage in 100mV steps, measuring the RF Output Power 

each time, and stop as soon as you start to see significantly diminishing returns.

4)  Although I did mention a plexiglass cover (the idea was from the Electroluminescent 

Receiver in photo below) in a 2017 entry I made on my QRZ page, I never built one, because I  have found a cover of any kind to be unnecessary and even detrimental based on operating portable outdoors in a public park with my rigs once every month for 10 years.  

From these experiences I have enjoyed the wonderment and respect I have received 

from fellow hams as well as passersby who have universally admired my creations. 

If the truth were known, my homebrew Alfresco transceivers might be the most 

photographed radios in all of ham history!  

Therefore, the only box I bring to my ham radio outings is for my lunch, because nobody

really gets excited about photographing just another box.

However, I do use plastic carrying cases per the photo for any rigs I carry 

in the trunk of my car.  If it rains, the top of the carrying case can be used as a 

temporary cover, so I know contacts can be made in a light rain because I have done it.

[Of course, credit card hams are not capable of operating portable even on a cloudy day

or their $$$$ radios would suffer from high humidity disease and need to be sent 

back to the offshore factory for $$$ refurbishment!]

5)  Lastly I will mention that I have never used any type of wood for a radio base because

wood is too heavy (and 1/8 inch aircraft plywood is too expensive), and the strength of

wood is not necessary to support a measly 5 pounds of electronic parts. 

Instead, per the photo, I have used Coroplast yard sign material (usually two sheets

with the channels crosswise then taped or glued together with the top covered using copper tape) common school science fair poster board, or good heavy duty cardboard such as from a TV set box.

Either light or heavy-duty double-sided tape and 4-40 or 6-32 nuts, bolts, and washers (sometimes oversized) are used to hold everything on board.  Occasionally L brackets, standoffs, hot glue, and foam or balsa wood support pieces are also utilized. 

In summary, keep up your good work as the new star on the Soldersmoke Podcast and 

please be certain Bill pays you as much as Pete.

72,

Walter

KA4KXX

Daylight Again on the Sunrise Net! Walter KA4KXX Builds a PTO

Dear Bill: 

I had never built a PTO, but after reading Farhan's Daylight Again Transceiver article I cobbled one together with parts and pieces I had on hand. My observations so far are as follows. 

1. The frequency-determining capacitors (shown on the schematic as three 470 pf) are very critical, so I feel the usual experimental cut-and-try technique is a must, even using all NP0 and C0G types. 

2. After I built the 2 MHz version like the article (see first photo), the stability was terrific, but when I tried building the companion Daylight Again crystal filter, I was only able to get a bandwidth of 1.6 kHz, which is too narrow for my taste in an SSB radio, so I decided to build the same filter design but with 11 MHz crystals, where I could easily achieve a 2.8 KHz BW. 

3. Therefore, now I needed a higher frequency VFO, so I merely reduced the capacitance (from about 1200 to 370 pf) without changing the coil and I am very impressed with the performance of my 4 MHz PTO (see second photo). The bandspread easily covers the entire 40M band, CW and Phone. 

4. However, whenever I transmit on the 40M Phone band, I like to first set my VFO within 10 Hz of the operating frequency. That way, if I talk for five minutes or so and get up to 15 Hz of drift (which is quite common with many radios when I operate portable outdoors in the sun and wind), it will not be noticable and I avoid receiving any "you are off-frequency" chastising. But the shortcoming I have with this PTO inductor is that the 1/4-20 bolt has a coarse thread, so it is very difficult for an old fellow like me to get within even 20 Hz of a particular frequency just using this common bolt. Therefore I believe a better choice would be the fine thread 1/4-28 two-inch brass threaded bolt which is available from industrial supply houses like McMaster-Carr. However, for CW use or those with a very steady hand, the 1/4-20 works well enough. 

5. I solved my fine tuning problem by adding a varactor circuit using a common 1N914 diode in series with a 100 pf capacitor, operating from 0 to 6 volts. Another advantage to adding this feature is that since I have not so far enclosed my PTO, I can mount the varactor potentiometer several inches from the PTO so my hand capacitance does not affect the frequency like when tuning with the bolt. 

6. An easy way to "do the math" in my case with the common Sanjian counters is to simply create a small lookup table listing half a dozen common frequencies and stick it on the radio. For example, 90% of the time in the morning I am tuned to my favorite SouthCars Net frequency of 7251, so using a BFO setting of 10,999.900, I simply set the PTO to 3,748.90 on the 6-digit 10 Hz resolution counter I normally use (see third photo). 

7. I am currently using my Daylight Again PTO on a daily basis with an NE602 receiver, and I am thinking of adding a locknut to the bolt so it does not wiggle when I jostle or move the radio, essentially giving me a crystal replacement oscillator that I can use for any single 40M frequency. To date I have been able to listen for hours at a time indoors without even any touch-up of the varactor fine tuning. 

8. Also, if continuous frequency readout is desired without building a noise filter circuit board, a separate power supply for the counter is a solution. For portable operation I use Lithium Polymer radio control model airplane batteries which are light, small, and cheap, so one 12V 2000 mAH battery for the transceiver (allows a half hour of transmitting at 15 watts) and a much smaller 12V 350 mAH battery with a series resistor to reduce the current and brightness of the counter has worked well for me. 

73, Walter KA4KXX 

Orlando, FL

SolderSmoke Podcast #229 -- G2NJ Trophy, SDR, HDR, CW! Mailbag

Soldersmoke Podcast #229 is available: 

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke229.mp3

--  G2NJ Trophy is awarded to Pete Juliano, N6QW. 

 -- Get your vaccine shot as soon as you can!  

-- More from "Conquering the Electron" by Derek Cheung. 

-- Bad fire in the chip factory.  Such a shame.  Sad!  I had NOTHING to do with it.  I was home that day.  I can prove it.

 -- Bezos is not such a bad guy.  Turns out he is a space-geek.  

 -- Perseverance was the big space news.  Very cool.  

 

Pete's bench:

Raspberry Pi vs. Microcontrollers

Treedix display

Conversion of the Dentron Scout

CW rigs?

6L6 on a wooden chassis

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I NEED TO BUILD UP TIME VIEWERS VIEW MY VIDEOS: So please watch!

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--  Our Patreon sponsors get an early look at our YouTube content.  So please, consider

becoming a Patreon sponsor.

--  Please continue to use the Amazon search engine on the blog page (upper right).   

Bill's bench: 

Hodgepodge:   

-- BITX40 Module.  

-- Ramseykit Amp. 

-- San Jian counter,  

-- CW using 750 Hz oscillator. 

-- RF-actuated piezo buzzer.  

-- SDR!  SDR using PC and tablet.  

-- Checking the output with SDR.  

-- Moving the carrier osc frequency.  

 Also, I put the Fish Soup 10 back on the air.  Nice contacts under 200 mw.

Up next:  A rig for 80/75 and 20 meters.  Single Conversion.  Using VFO from a Yaesu FT101 that runs 8.7 – 9.2 Mhz.   Quiz question:  What IF should I use?

MAILBAG

Mark Zelesky sent me wood tokens with power and Ohm's law formulae.  Thanks!

Scott WA9WFA Built a really nice Mate for Mighty Midget RX – getting it going!

Tryg EI7CLB found board of his George Dobbs Ladybird RX.  Rebuild it OM!

Tom WX2J – We talked about “No lids, no kids, no space cadets” nastiness.

Nick M0NTV about sideband inversion.  I like the simple rule about subtraction.

Jonathan M0JGH – Always listen to Pete.  Got married, has mixing product. Leo?

Mike AE0IH.  Dad used a BC-348 in the service. Looking for one.  FB.

Adam N0ZIB – “Silent Shep” site --- with some ham radio shows I had not seen.

Walter KA4KXX in Orlando has a similar subtraction problem with San Jian counter.

Bill N5ALO sent me a really nice KLH speaker.   I’m using it now.

Jason N2NLY – interested in building SSB transceiver.  One step at a time OM…

Trevor in Annapolis sent xcsd cartoon that really hit home. 

Farhan is doing OK in India, diligently protecting his family from the virus.  

Peter VK2EMU also doing well.

Dave AA7EE Casually killed a DC receiver in Hollywood, and disposed of the remains. 

Charlie ZL2CTM doing great things with simple SSB.  Blogpost.

Phil VK8MC in Darwin sends article on "Mend not End" battle against planned obsolescence.

Bob KY3R re my SDR adventures, asked if I’ve had a recent medical/psychiatric evaluation. 

SolderSmoke Podcast #244 PETE IS BACK! TR-7, CK722, BFR106, HP8640B, High-School Receiver, 10 Min TX, MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #244 Is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke244.mp3

Video version at:

(118) SolderSmoke - YouTube

HE’S BACK! HOORAY! PETE JULIANO N6QW IS BACK! SOLDERSMOKE COMMUNITY WAS SENT INTO A COLLECTIVE FUNK BY PETE’S ABSENCE. ---------------- Pete’s TR-7 (SEE VIDEO ABOVE) CK722 The BFR106

Pete's new blog: https://hamradiogenius.blogspot.com/ ---- Update on the high school project: Mixers made. Harder than they seemed. First QSO with the DC RX. Allan W4AMV Homebrewer TRGHS Ten Minute Transmitter – Better than the MMM! AF4K (SK) crystals. Other supporting projects: Farhan in Hyderabad. Rick N3FJZ, Walter KA4KXX, Andreas DL1AJG Electronics for Biologists. Peter Marks VK3TPM (fighting the siren call of the Si5351) . Steven VK2BLQ built a beautiful one. Daniel VE5DLD will build three of them with his students. Orlando PY2ANE is building one in Brazil. This week: The Bandpass Filter. (Thank you Hans Summers) --- SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: BECOME A PATRON VIA PATREON. I am posting some fun stuff for the Patrons. AMAZON SHOPPING ADS Now on both the left and right columns. CHECK OUT Mostly DIY RF in the right hand column. ---- My HP8640B Lives to Fight another day. Two new DMMs A low-end Fluke and a AstroAI 6000 Electrolytic Replacement Controversy Continues

Mailbag: -- Dave AA7EE is blogging again! Yea! -- Mike Rainey AA1TJ back in the Hobbit Hole Building a WWVB receiver. -- Farhan is coming to FDIM. -- Tony G4WIF reminds us that 39 bucks for JUST a 60 MHz counter would be great! -- Dave VE3EAC again helped me fix my HP8640B. -- Dean KK4DAS finalizing 10 meter DSB rig. FB. Upgraded my NanoVNA. -- Mike KD4MM giving me a Nano VNA for the SolderSmoke Shack South. -- Ian VK3LA asked what happened to Chuck Adams content. Good question. -- Don ND6T and I have been discussing envelope detection. -- Nick M0NTV working on AM modulators. He has a new video. -- Ciprian YO6DXE built a Ten Minute Transmitter. -- Steve EI5DD Connacht Regional News: https://www.docdroid.net/YJAV800/crnews0223-pdf

Hyderabad DC RX Workshop

Farhan explaining the receiver in Hyderabad

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/03/pictures-from-farhans-hyderabad-high.html