There were a lot points in Eric's interview with Will that resonated with me:
-- Will told about how his very understanding and perceptive wife KNOWS when a homebrew project is not going well. Yea, we have the same situation here!
-- Will mentions the wisdom of Wes Hayward, Doug Demaw, and Pete Juliano.
-- Eric mentioned that there is a bit of his own blood in most of his homebrew projects. One slip of he screwdriver is often enough. My projects also often have a bit of my A+ in them. This adds soul to the new machine.
-- Will spoke of S-38s and HW-8s. I have both these devices here with me in the Dominican Republic. I have used both of them here.
-- Will mentioned the magic that comes when you listen with a receiver you built yourself. Yes.
-- NanoVNA. Yes, very useful.
Lots more great stuff in this interview. Thanks Eric and thanks Will.
Will's homebrew station is really something. The rig (it truly qualifies for this term of praise) is amazing all by itself (see below), but a look at Will's QRZ page reveals other ingenious inventions and techniques: There is the clock made from panel meters. And the method he uses for making aluminum project boxes. He even made an N0WVA regen receiver. That's the one I used in my ET-2. Fantastic.
Will really needs to share his homebrew skills with others. I hope he is soon in a local high school teaching students how to build things. Thanks Will!
Bill and Pete,
Just wanted to send a note to update you on the latest projects here. The last time I emailed, I mentioned wanting to build a superhet, which you (rightfully) discouraged, pushing for a DC receiver.
Well, I finished the superhet at the end of last year. I had most of the receiver working long before then, but got bogged down in an AGC system. The final receiver is a 5 band si5351a controlled single conversion superhet loosely based on Todd, VE7BPO's design with several modifications. I used a 9 Mhz IF instead of 4, I used a digitally controlled LO and BFO, and as mentioned, I added an AGC system, which ended up being the most challenging (and most interesting) part. The final AGC system I ended up with used the detector and amplifier side of Wes Hayward's "full hang" AGC from SSDRA, but I didn't have the IC IF amplifiers with variable gain, so instead, it fed a PIN diode attenuator circuit to control the IF gain. The final result worked great, but I nearly pulled my hair out getting it to work. I originally intended to build the receiver for 40 and 20 meters, but it ended up covering 80, 40, 30, 20, and 15 since I used the filter relay board from QRP Labs which had 5 slots.
After I got the receiver running, I decided I needed a matching transmitter, so I built up a simple CW transmitter to match. It uses an si5351a VFO driving a 74HC04 hex inverter as the buffer amplifier. The trick here is that by driving all the inverter gates in parallel, the output impedance is ~14 ohms broadband, suitable for driving a BJT PA without any need for matching transformers. The PA is 3 2N2222s in parallel with heat syncs putting out about 2 watts from 80 - 15.
The part I'm most proud of is that I have the arduino for the receiver connected to the arduino for the transmitter through a serial line. The receiver sends it's current frequency to the transmitter so that the transmitter can track the receiver's frequency as you tune (like a transceiver). I'll attach a few pictures of my homebrew station below. The transmitter is on the left, receiver is on the right. The box on top of the transmitter is my homebrew keyer. Next up on my build list is a solid state T/R switch.
Bill, I've enjoyed following the updates on the school DC receiver build. My local club is wanting to do some youth outreach, and I'd love to get them involved in building. I'm the only builder in the club though, so I don't know if I personally have the manpower to make it happen. Also, thanks for the recent info and pictures of Cuban homebrew rigs. I grew up listening to Arnie Corro, so I love seeing their resourcefulness and ingenuity. Makes me want to take apart some old electronics.
Pete, I'm enjoying following the 10M SSB project. With the uptick in propagation, I've been bitten by the 10M bug, and I'm thinking a 10M rig may have to be on my project list for this year.
-- We are over 100 on the Direct Conversion Receiver Builds. We talked about the receiver project at the GQRP convention. Video on the blog.
-- G4 Geomagnetic storm November 11-12. Messed up my computer. Blackout in the DR?
Pete:
-- USMC Birthday. Having served alongside them they have my deepest respect. Veterans Day.
-- Think about supporting those without a job this Thanksgiving. Cash to various organizations is best.
-- 50 Hz off frequency -- What does that mean if you tune by ear and not by mouse/waterfall?
-- The Hybrid Wireless is on the air. A unique build and not often seen.
Dean:
-- Progress on the HOMEBREW MOSFET amplifier. Claude helped.
Dean's 100 watt amplifier
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: Mostly DIY RF. Become a SolderSmoke Patron. Buy stuff from Amazon through the link on this blog (in the right side column).
Bill:
Bill's antipode from Virginia
-- VK early in the morning. Also E51MWA and FW5K. All homebrew SSB. My antipodes. VK6ACF Charley 11,629 miles. Might be my most distant station worked.
-- Camden is a 23 year-old blind ham who is looking for some homebrew help. He lives in Pleasant City, Ohio, about an hour east of Columbus. Can you help him? camden@bopp.net
-- Dave AA7EE A completely AI SolderSmoke? "Open the pod bay doors Hal."
-- Pat W3RGA heard my 1 watt HI7 beacon. Thanks Pat.
-- Patrick Voets -- A Belgian living in the Netherlands -- supports our defiant NIMCEL position!
-- Brian "Moses" Hall K8TIY, Father of Robert of "Crank it in Robert" fame. Check out the video. Young Robert appears around the 45 minute point: https://youtu.be/Xqs2Ihucr6I?t=2730
-- Will Harris KI4POV -- an esteemed homebrewer -- asks about using 75 ohm coax. I say yes, Pete tells him how to do it right.
Intro: Welcome to Dean KK4DAS. For 2024 Pete and I hope to jazz things up a bit by bringing in fellow homebrewers to talk about their projects. Dean is our first victim. Welcome Dean.
Some good news: Several new homebrew receivers are inhaling: Armand WA1UQO in Richmond has an amazing looking regen. Scott KQ4AOP in Tennessee got his DC RX working. Mike AG5VG in Texas has been homebrewing BITX 20s and BITX 40s. All are on the blog.
Pete's report:
-- Recent blog entries on filters, SSB rig architecture, and of course digital VFOs.
-- Phasing measurements, quadrature, and the Seeed Xiao RP2040
-- Error in QST article on early SSB transceiver. ANOTHER ERROR!
-- Whenever you are tempted to buy something from AMAZON, just start at the Amazon symbol on the right side of the page. We get a cut from Bezos, and it doesn't cost you anything.
-- You can try to do the same thing with E-bay. We are finding a lot of great parts there.
-- If you see a SolderSmoke post on Facebook, please Like and forward.
-- Become a patron! Go to the Patreon page. We put the money to good SolderSmoke use.
-- Visit Mostly DIY RF and buy a PSSST kit!
Bill's bench:
-- Building yet another BITX dual bander. 15-10 again. Tried to use a 25 MHz filter left over from the earlier project, but I had to build another. Built a new VFO using the variable cap and anti-backlash gear recommended by Pete. Was a bit tough to get the receiver sounding good. Had a diode ring as the second mixer, but went back to a singly balanced mixer.
-- 10 meter AM -- Thanks to Jerry Coffman K5JC for mod.
Other topics:
--Counterfeit chips. Why?
MAILBAG:
Wes W7ZOI
Jim Cook W8NSA Transoceanic BFO
Grayson KJ7UM -- Vintage Computer Museum
Chuck Adams --Glad to hear that Chuck is doing well.
Frank Harris K0IYE -- NO CHIPS!!!!
ED DD5LP Antenna software
Eldon KC5U 10 AM We made a contact
Joh DL6ID 10 AM
Phil W1PJE of MIT 10AM Where is L5?
Bob WP4BQV now in UK
Dino Papas KL0S in Wilmington Reverse Polarity protection.
AA7EE Dave Richards Liked Armand's receiver
Rogier PA1ZZ
Jonathan-san W0XO Listened to my ET-2 CW Whoop,whoop
Nick M0NTV Great videos from Nick the Vic
Will KI4POV Working on his own SSB rigs.
John West -- Who is the South American ham who made his capacitors and heat sinks?
Ed KC8SBV Working on DC receiver, experimenting with FETs
Mike WN2A great contributions. Si5351 sole source danger!
Nick N3FJZ -- watch out for dead bands when testing receivers!
Don KM4UDX encouragement from new Prez of VWS
Dave K8WPE Likes QF1 Cap backlash. Says I'm getting soft!
Dave WA1LBP My fellow Hambassador, from Okinawa USMC Sergeant with a workshop.
Travelogue: Cuba DSB and AM. Jose CO6EC and the Islander. We need more info, especially on the solid state Jaguey rig.
Bill’s bench:
Will the High School DC receivers get finished? Future uncertain. But the project was technically interesting. Great working with Dean KK4DAS. Battling AM breakthrough from Radio Marti. We joked that Dean has been listening to Radio Marti so much that even though he doesn’t speak Spanish, he has noticed an increased urge to liberate Havana.
Audio amps: Harder than we thought. Lots of variation in Hfe of 2n3904s. Oscillations. Not using feedback amps nor LM386s, nor push-pull. Simplicity is a design goal.
Fixing the tuning (bandspread) problem on the VFO was fun.
Antennas? A quarter wave with ground or counterpoise works well. We tried it. (59) An Antenna for the TJ 40 Direct Conversion Receiver - YouTube ---- Back to work on the uBITX. I chickened out on replacing the predriver with a BFR-106, but then – Just in time Todd K7TFC and his Mostly DIYRF came out with BFR106 boards! TRGHS. I will do the mods on two uBITX transceivers. I even bought a solder-sucking iron for the second job.
Winterfest Hamfest. Big success. Thanks VWS. HERRING AID FIVE! Simpson 260! QF-1, Another Radio Shack DMM, Eamon Skelton’s Homebrew Cookbook, Knobs, SWR meter. ----
Technical Note: Skype problems. Pete's Skype kept dropping out. Bad in the last podcast (#244). Three minute gap. I was ready to scrap the whole podcast when Dean KK4DAS offered to help. And he is obviously well qualified: https://potomacofficersclub.com/speakers/dean-souleles/ Dean went to work with AI. And he was able to fill the audio and the video gaps. Can you spot the three minutes of AI? Send me an e-mail with the time segment of the AI/Deep Fake portion of SolderSmoke 244. The first one with the correct answer will win a prize.
-- A New SPRAT arrived in the mail. PH2LB’s Gluestick on the cover. -- Will KI4POV – Awesome homebrew – on the blog. -- Sands, VK9WX listening to SolderSmoke on Willis Island! Wow. -- Andreas DL1AJG in Germany continues with the Electronics for Biologists DC RX build. -- Dean KK4DAS and his homebrew 10 meter DSB rig. -- Jim W2UO built a Michigan Mighty Mite and made a contact. -- Dave K8WPE and the E in IBEW. We need new stickers. -- Bob KC4LB – Surface Mount is SMALL. -- Bruce KK0S on the Herring Aid 5 Board. -- Chuck WB9KZY on Nuclear Monopole Resonance very cool video – on the blog. -- Alan WA9IRS wants a CW editor for his phone. Really. -- Vic WA4THR also working on uBITX power out improvement. -- Tobias weighs in on Kludge. As in Fudge. -- Tony G4WIF notes that when he changes his oil he often removes sludge, not slooge. -- Consultations with Lexicographer Steve KB3SII. -- Walt AJ6T says CW operating declined after FCC ruling in 1970s about callsigns. -- Ramakrishnan VU3RDD now VU2JXN has joined the VWS. An old friend of SolderSmoke. Urged us to launch a blog back in 2008. We announced his daughter’s birth - - now Ram is getting ready to build a DC receiver with her.
Cathartic decluttering: Bill preparing for future winter travel to Dominican Republic. Will build SolderSmoke Shack South. Dividing everything up: Rigs, parts, tools, supplies, antennas, test gear. Everything.
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PETE'S BENCH:
-- Cycle 25 better? – Out here on the left coast – it is not evident
-- Chiquita Banana and the US Navy in early ‘wireless” operations. Why RCA was created by the US Navy in 1919.
-- Update on the MAX2870 –someone has written the code to make it work with the Raspberry Pi and the QUISK SDR software
-- Field Day prep
SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:
Bill needs your help:
-- Please watch his YouTube videos. The longer the better! Success based on hours watched. Great to have on while you are working in the shack. Just go to YouTube and search for the SolderSmoke channel. Or: SolderSmoke - YouTube
-- Please put links to the SolderSmoke blog on your websites and blogs.
-- How to USE the SolderSmoke Blog: Propagation, shopping, other sites...
-- Please put comments under the articles on the SolderSmoke blog. We like comments and dialogue.
BILL'S BENCH:
-- Repair of the Sony ICF SW1 shortwave receiver. Bad electrolytics. Number Station receiving device?
-- HQ-100 Q-Multiplier. BFO Switch. AVC. Noise Limiter limitations. Dave K8WPE: Old Radio Lessons.
-- MMMRX: Detector circuit. Alignment. Muting. On the air (40 AM with DX-100)
MAILBAG:
-- Bob Crane W8SX -- Great interviews at FDIM. On the SolderSmoke Blog. Thanks Bob!
-- Dave Bamford W2DAB -- Stickers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. FB Dave!
-- Farhan VU2ESE: LADPAC software now available through W7ZOI' site.
-- Lex PH2LB: Stickers in a Netherlands pub.
-- Dave K8WPE Michigan Mighty Mite links. Old Smoke idea. On the SolderSmoke blog.
-- Rich WB4TLM was in the electronics class of CF Rockey W9SCH. FB.
-- Dean KK4DAS Working on his dad's HQ-170A. VWS maker group on mixers.
-- Grayson KJ7UM -- Mixology article in ER.
-- Pete Eaton -- Farhan's new analog rig: Daylight again! Standby for more info from Farhan.
-- Will KI4POV New HB Al Fresco single conversion superhet. FB.
-- Alvin N5VZH. Shep's "I Libertine." Yes. I laughed, I cried, It changed me.
-- Chuck KF8TI. Mr. Wizard!
-- Steve N8NM on the mend after some routine maintenance.
-- Ben AB4EN is listening and likes the podcast -- Thanks Ben.
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