Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Working Vienna Wireless Society member (KA4CDN) from Hispaniola
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):
Monday, September 19, 2022
SolderSmoke Podcast #240 NIMCELS? Hex DX, CBLA RX, PTO? Solid State HT-37? Exotic caps, Benches, SBE-33, TenTec 540, KWM-1 MAILBAG
SolderSmoke #240
Monday September 19, 2022
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke240.mp3
Sorry, I had some technical difficulties so my audio is a bit distorted.
NIMCELS? Niche Internet Micro Celebrities. I dunno.... Can our listeners come up with an acronym
that describes our place in the universe?
Sponsors: Parts Candy. Carlos in Chicago. Great
leads. Don't scrimp with a crimp! You need some good quality test leads on your workbench. Get yours from Carlos. Click on the picture on the blog page or go to PartsCandy on e-bay.
"Techno Wizardry"? Our lawyers at
Dewey Cheatham and Howe will be after them for that!
Bill's Bench:
Hex Beam has made me a DXer.
91 countries. Having fun. Mozambique (Long path), San Andres island, and Saudi Arabia, all on Friday. All homebrew SSB 100 watts.
Put my old 20 meter CW station back on the air: Barebones superhet and the VXO 6 watter. WYKSYCDS. This may be one of very few CBLA Receivers in the world!
Been getting active in the Vienna Wireless Society. Dean KK4DAS is President and a lot is
happening in the Club. Makers group. Lunch
with the group on Tuesdays. Lots of fun.
We are looking at Farhan’s Daylight Again Analog rig. Using parts from Dean’s 3D printer, we have made PTOs. See blog post for picture. (But are they really PTOs? Or just Variable Inductors?)
VFO madness. Solid stating an HT-37 VFO. Grayson: “You have clearly lost your mind.” Perhaps. 100 MHz FM broadcast RFI. This brought me to capacitors and linear tuning:
SLC, SLW, SLF and Midline/Centerline caps. Do special caps explain why some VFOs have
linear tuning while others do not? NO,
not really. You can get linear tuning
with ordinary caps. See blog post
Working on the bench. Reading
Adam Savage’s book on workshops and tools. (link to the book in the right hand
column of the blog. Some other
workbench links on the blog. Upgrading
tools and test gear. I have a proper bench
power supply. Better side cutters.
Engineering rulers. Digital calipers.
Better solder (I was talking to Ron WA6YOU – a real solder authority - about
this. Kester 60/40 ).
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:
mostlydiyrf.com
Currently offering seven
items:
· UDVBM-1
(in three versions)
·
PG-TIA Broadband IF Amplifier
·
TIA-AGC IF Amplifier
·
Dual-Gate MOSFETs
·
OA741D Op-Amp (discrete components)
·
8-Pole QER Crystal Filter
·
I2C Rotary Encoder
Three more are shown as coming
soon:
·
GP Audio Amp (general-purpose audio amp)
·
HyCas IF Amplifier with AGC
·
M-Cubed (Michigan Mighty Mite kit)
·
Mostly DIY RF offers hardware for
hardware-defined radio. That's not a comment on software-defined
radio. SDR is cool and useful, and it has its place.
·
In fact, I believe in explicitly
making use of technology from all eras (vacuum tubes,
discrete semiconductors, and integrated circuits
·
What does "mostly" DIY mean? It
means making what you want and using ready-made for the rest. Even the most
fanatic DIY'ing home brewer does this without much thought. He uses components
he didn't fabricate, electricity he didn't generate, and theoretical knowledge
he didn't discover. One can't fight all battles, one has to
choose which to fight and which to leave to others. If an appliance-operating
Ham doesn't want to fight at all, that's okay, but Mostly DIY RF has
nothing to offer him.
--------------
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putting some of the best SolderSmoke podcasts up on the YouTube channel. Please listen/watch on YouTube. Here is the
playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv9MEKq1quk-gnxog7eBqY_y7cpQadf6T
Google feed no longer sending our e-mails.
So please follow the blog, Get yourself a blog feed reader. I use Feedly.
It is free. Download, search in
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Pete’s blog too! It is easy.
Resurrections:
SBE-33!
TenTEC Model 540
KWM-1
Mailbag:
Dan KC5VPI getting into homebrewing. No longer WRONG!
Michael AG5VG built subharmonic DC receiver, put it on 40 and 20. FB.
Mike AA9IL working on old tube stuff including a DX-100 AMD UUHF gear up to
122GHz.
Ed WA4MZS liked the SolderSmoke book. USCG vet. As is Mike Rainey AA1TJ Semper Paratus!
Clint KA7OEI – The Music of the Beams – My Hex does not sing! So far!
Walter KA4KXX – The Knack started early.
Video of getting a toolbox for Christmas. And working on PTOs! He likes them!
Phillip G4HOJ Also working with subharmonic mixers – using the more complex
4 diode version.
Peter GW4ZUA Built an amazing rig from RADCOM (1980s) Cool VFO with varactor
fine tuning and a coil with a dust core that was cut in half to minimize temp
effect. Box now holds 3 band version of
Pete’s SimpleCeiver. FB.
Bruce KC1FSZ building 25 Watt amp for his Peppermint Bark rigs. We won’t turn him in to the QRP authorities.
Grayson KJ7UM tested the 12BY7A from my DX-100 VFO. It was in fact weak. Thanks Grayson.
Charles Smith KV4JT has some really interesting stuff on how
to solid state tube gear. Especially
R-390s. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2022/08/trigger-warning-solid-stating-old-tube.html
Gianfranco I0ZY Old friend from Rome. Amplifier manufacturer. FB.
Paul WA1MAC getting started again after long hiatus.
Vasily.. I mean Todd VE7BPO.
Always great tech info. Thanks.
Mark WB8YMV building a superhet with a 455 kc IF.
I sent Farhan some comments on his Daylight Again video: He
wrote back “I marvel at their stamina to watch an hour long video of a
man talking with a funny accent!”
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Daylight Again on the Sunrise Net! Walter KA4KXX Builds a PTO
Friday, August 5, 2022
SolderSmoke Podcast #239: Hex DX, VFO Temp Comp, DC RX, Polyakov!, DX-100, Wireless Set, Farhan's "Daylight Again" HDR rig, MAILBAG
SolderSmoke #239 is available for download:
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke239.mp3
TRAVELOGUE:
James
Webb Space Telescope. Mars returning to
opposition in early December.
BILL'S BENCH
Hex Beam K4KIO - on roof – TV Rotor – 20-17-12 Lots of fun.
Working Japan regularly, Australia, South Africa on long path 17,000
miles. 52 countries SSB since July 11.
VFOs and Temp stabilization.
Dean KK4DAS found my ceramic resonator VFO for DC receiver drifty. He
was right. So I built a real LC Colpitts
VFO. Got me into temp stabilization. A new hobby!
An obsession. HT-37 and Ht-32
parts. Ovens? WU2D’s second VFO video. Understanding thermal drift and how to
address it. Split stator caps. Cut and
try.
Built a Polyakov DC Receiver. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2010/03/polyakov-plus-dual-band-receiver-with.html Lauser Plus. Lauser = Imp or Young Rascal! DK2RS. He used a ceramic Resonator VXO at 3.58 MHz. Mine works great on 40 with VFO running 3.5 -- 3.65 MHz. See schematic below.
On 40 AM with DX-100 and MMMRX. DX-100 died.
12BY7 VFO buffer went bad. How
common is failure in this tube type? Nice QSO with Tim WA1HLR about the DX-100.
Got my Dominican license: HI7/N2CQR! SSSS on the way. Thanks to Radio Club Dominicano and INDOTEL.
Getting more active in the Vienna Wireless Society.
BOOK REVIEW:
"The
History of the Universe in 21 Stars” by Giles Sparrow. Written during the pandemic. Published by Welbeck, in London. https://www.amazon.com/History-Universe-21-Stars-imposters/dp/1787394654 Also:
From “Atoms to Amperes” by F.A. Wilson available for download. See blog.
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:
Todd K7TFC getting ready to launch “Mostly DIY
RF.” I used his TIA boards in my 1712
rig. He will have boards like this and
much more. Stay tuned.
I need more viewers on YouTube. They want 4,000 hours IN A CALENDAR
YEAR! Please watch!
FARHAN’S NEW “DAYLIGHT AGAIN” RIG. Analog.
VFO. Comments, observations. We need to get him on the podcast. Maybe two shows: SDR and HDR.
PETE'S BENCH
Time very limited. But still sharing lots of tribal wisdom.
Wireless set with tubes!
Tool recommendation – Air compressor
Farhan VU2ESE – Speaking of big antennas “Whenever
I look at the huge construction cranes in Hyderabad, I always think how one
could make 160m, 4 element yagi using it as a boom..”
Todd K7TFC in Spain, spotting Log Periodics in Madrid.
Andreas DL1AJG: Can
Biologists fix Radios?
Janis AB2RA Wireless Girl.
Expert on Hammarlunds. And was my
first contact with the Tuna Tin 2. She too was HB!
Peter Parker VK3YE on Owen Duffy VK1OD
Lex PH2LB on homebrew radio
Would this really be homebrew? Mail from H-A-D article on FM receiver
F4IET a DSB rig from France
Ciprian got his ticket YO6DXE
Josh G3MOT sent us a good video about the Vanguard satellite
and IGY.
Dave Wilcox K8WPE bought Chuck Penson’s Heathkit book.
Rogier -- So many great articles and links from PA1ZZ
Bill AH6FC Aloha.
Retiring. Wants to build. Mahalo!
Grayson KJ7UM Working
on an Si5351. Gasp.
Mike KE0TPE viewing YouTube while monitoring 6 meters. He will have a lot of time to watch!
Chris KD4PBJ spotted Don KM4UDX from VWS FB
Mark WB8YMV building a superhet. Having trouble with 455 kc IF can filter.
Walter KA4KXX Great comment on the Daylight Again rig.
Ramakrishnan Now VU2JXN was VU3RDD. Found lost Kindle with SolderSmoke book on it. Building SDR rig from junk box. Trouble with the LM386.
Pete, Farhan and Tony: Shelves of Shame
Sunday, April 3, 2022
Video of SolderSmoke Podcast #236
SolderSmoke Podcast #236 is available!
Podcast Posted on 1 April 2022:
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke236.mp3
Winterfest! Many Boatanchors. Lots of old good analog test gear. Talk with Dean KK4DAS. Met up with Armand WA1UQO and Charles AI4OT.
Friday, April 1, 2022
SolderSmoke Podcast #236 -- Bill's 17-12 Rig, Pea Shooter, VFO Wisdom, Temp Compensation, Need Code for Max2870, Making Enclosures, MAILBAG
SolderSmoke Podcast #236 is available!
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke236.mp3
Winterfest! Many Boatanchors. Lots of old good analog test gear. Talk with Dean KK4DAS. Met up with Armand WA1UQO and Charles AI4OT.
Friday, August 27, 2021
SolderSmoke Podcast #232 -- Mythbuster, Pete's Tube CW Rig, Pete's DC RX and Simple SSB Rig, NanoVNA and TinySA, Very FB Mailbag
Frank Jones and the FMLA -- Possible Victory?
IBEW Stickers: NASA, Johns Hopkins APL....
Cycle 25 Lookin Better Today: SFI 93 SN 47
Toobular! A Tube Transmitter
SR-160
Simple SSB rigs around the world!
KI7NSS's Pacific 40
The Mythbuster and the Struggle Against the Urban Legend
W2EWL's Cheap and Easy SSB
W4IMP's IMP. Articles in ER by Jim Musgrove K5BZH and Jim Hanlon W8KGI
The Spirit of Homebrew SSB. From Electric Radio K5BZH December 1991
Reduced Front End Gain on the DIGITIA
Back on 17! HP3SS sells HBR receiver to Joe Walsh
Maybe another Moxon?
NanoVNA -- Alan W2AEW helped solve mystery of why NanoVNA not providing accurate readout of circuit impedance. Over driving. Need attenuator.
TinySA -- Limited Resolution Bandwidth. But you can listen with it! See video on blog.
-- Google Feedburner to end e-mails from the blog :-(
-- Paul VK3HN -- TIA AGC? Farhan and Paul looking into options
-- Ciprian's Romanian Mighty Mite
-- Dino KL0S SolderSmoke GIF and graphical presentation on sideband inversion
-- Allison KB1GMX helped me on 24 volts to IRF 510 issue.
-- Dave K8WPE Wabi Sabi and Martha Stewart. And thanks for parts! 40673s!
-- Steve N8NM building a 17 meter rig with 22.1184 crystals in a SuperVXO and a 4 MHz filter.
-- Dean KK4DAS restoring an old Zenith. One hand behind your back OM.
-- Pete Eaton debating SSB or DSB for 17. Go DSB Pete!
-- Richard KN7FSZ a FB HBer. Asked about my solid-stating of Galaxy V VFO.
-- Walter KA4KXX on benefits of no-tune BP filters like Farhan's FB.
-- Jack 5B4APL on Time Crystals and Homebrewing in the 4th dimension. FB OM!
-- Moses K8TIY listens to the podcast with his young son Robert. Crank it in Robert!
-- Farhan and the SBitx on Hack-A-Day
-- Also Tom's receiver from junked satellite rig on Hack-A-Day
-- Todd K7TFC sent in beautiful message about the spirit of homebrewing. On the blog.
-- Grayson KJ7UM was on Ham Radio Workbench with George Zaf
-- AAron K5ATG running a uBitx with a homebrew tuner and antenna. Hope I can work him
-- Heard Mike WA3O last night on 40 DIGITIA. Water cooled amplifier
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Ciprian's Romanian Ten Minute Transmitter with Roots in SPRAT, KA4KXX, and the Florida Sunrise Net
Saturday, March 20, 2021
SolderSmoke Podcast #229 -- G2NJ Trophy, SDR, HDR, CW! Mailbag
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
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION-
I NEED TO BUILD UP TIME VIEWERS VIEW MY VIDEOS: So please watch!
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-- 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.