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Showing posts sorted by date for query W1PID. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query W1PID. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Hangin' it up (the ET-2)


My ET-2 minimalist QRP CW adventure is (for now) officially over.   I have taken the rig - festooned with the callsigns of all the stations I contacted -- and have put it up on the wall.  This may be a new form of art.  I think I am the first radio amateur to do this.  I think it is pretty cool. 

Here are the stats:   I made 20 contacts with the rig. I had it on the air from 12 October 2019 to 7 December 2019.    Seventeen of the contacts were the result of my posting pleas for help on the SKCC Sked page and/or the Summit DX page.  Three of the contacts were completely random. One station -- W1PID -- provided four of the contacts.  Thanks Jim. 

My power out was usually around 100 milliwatts.  I used either a 40 meter coax fed dipole or a 135 foot doublet fed with window line. 

My best distances were Wisconsin and Georgia. 

Crystal control was the real limiting factor.  100 milliwatts didn't seem to be much of an impediment. The most amazing thing about this rig is the N0WVA regen receiver.  It took a lot of peaking and tweaking, and it took some skill to operate. but once I got it going it was an amazingly good receiver.  Really Amazing for just ONE J-310 FET. 

The last contact was really nice.  I was calling CQ and AA8OZ came back.  He was in a cabin on a trip with some scouts.  He too was on a wire antenna.  He was one of those guys who said WOW! when I told him about the rig.  We had a nice long conversation on 40.  It was a great way to wrap up the ET-2 adventure. 

Thanks to all who helped me make contacts and for all those who tried to work me. Thanks to N0WVA for the regen inspiration. And thanks to Glen Yingling W2UW (SK) for the ET-1 idea. 

The rig is standing by.  On the wall.  Perhaps it will return to service, maybe during solar max. 




Saturday, November 9, 2019

SPRAT, the FETer, DLR headphones, and recent QSOs on the ET-2


Yesterday we had QSO #13 on the ET-2.  This was with Jim W1PID.  In an earlier contact Jim told me I had some chirp.  I fiddled with the coupling cap and the bias pot and am now T9!  These days, chirp is an endearing, nostalgic problem to have.  Thanks for the report and QSOs Jim! 

Contact #9 was with Fred K9SO.  He is in Wisconsin and QRZ.com put our distance at 633 miles.  That is our DX record so far.  Not bad for 92 milliwatts to a dipole on 40 meters. 

Most of my contacts come as a result of pleas for assistance on DX Summit or the SKCC Sked page.   But I did make one "random" contact: Contact #6 with N2VGA.  He just heard my CQ and gave me a call.  FB. 

I checked to see if OM Glen Yingling W2UW -- the guy who started all this with his ET-1 -- is still around.  He became a silent key in 2012.  But his ideas live on... 

SPRAT 137 (Winter 2008/09) has a great article by QRP hero G3XBM.  Roger built a version of the ET-1.  His was for 80 meters and he called it the FETer.   FB.   I was struck by his estimate of the sensitivity of the ET-1 receiver: -100 dbm.   I measured the N0WVA receiver (the one that I am using) has having a minimum discernible signal of -93 dbm.  Pretty close.  We may be at the limit of what you can expect from a single transistor receiver. 

SPRAT 137 had something else that really resonated with me.  G3YVF had an article on a minimalist rig using only one 6V6 tube.  Geoff opened the article with this warning "Don't try this unless you have a set of balanced armature type DLR 'phones as they are really sensitive."  I have a collection of old headphones that I picked up at hamfests in London years ago.  When building the ET-2, I checked all the old phones for sensitivity.  A set marked DLR was the most sensitive.  So Geoff's observation had been independently confirmed.   QRP Quarterly had an article comparing the sensitivities of old headphones -- we should dig that article up.   

SPRAT #137 is a reminder of what a great resource SPRAT -- The Journal of the GQRP Club -- really is.  As we say on SolderSmoke, if you are not a SPRAT subscriber you are just wrong!  Here is how to join GQRP and subscribe to SPRAT: http://www.gqrp.com/join.htm

Friday, October 25, 2019

Minimalist Masochism at Solar Minima -- But More Contacts with the ET-2

Dylan Thoams
  "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" 

I thought of that line from Dylan Thomas's poem when I read on G3XBM's web site that we are kind of at the very bottom of the solar cycle.  Roger wrote on 22 October: "Solar flux is 64 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=0. As far as I am aware this is the lowest solar flux this solar minimum."   

I also thought of this as I pounded brass (Indian brass!) in an effort to make a few more contacts with my ET-2 two transistor rig.  Obviously venturing forth on 40 meters with just TWO transistors (one for transmit and one for receive) and crystal control AT SOLAR MINIMA is not for the faint of heart.  It is almost a Dylan-esque act of defiance. 

I have had to resort to please for help on the DX Summit, the SolderSmoke blog and the SKCC Schedule page.  Fortunately for me, the brotherhood has sprung to my support.  

W1PID (who gave me contact #3) also gave me contact #4 on 21 October. 

W4KAC in Hickory NC was contact #5.  This was on 22 October.  This was the only marginal contact so far.  He was running 5 W into an end fed half wave. 

Yesterday was a big day for the ET-2. I had two solid contacts: 

#6 was N2VGA in New York UPDATE:  Larry N2VGA confirmed by e-mail that this was a "random" contact -- not the result of my on-line pleas for assistance.  He just heard my CQ and responded.  FB.  

#7 was K4CML in Newport News, Va.  He switched to QRP himself at 2.5 watts for a nice 2X QRP contact. 

Looking at my Rigol 'scope, I now think I'm putting out about 150 milliwatts.  Not bad for a single J310.  I may have to invest in a heat sink.

40 seems most cooperative in the morning (around 0930 local) and again in the afternoon (around 1630 local). 

Thanks to all who have helped.  I will try to make a few more. 

Saturday, October 19, 2019

QSO #3 with the ET-2 Minimalist Transceiver

The Radio Gods were clearly supporting me on 16 October 2019.  I had sent out a plea for people to listen for the 80 mW CQ from my ET-2 rig.   I had specified 0930 Eastern as the time.  Little did I know that there would be a contest at that hour (on a Wednesday morning!) on 40 meter CW.  There was no chance of my signals getting through.  I leaned that the contest would be over at 1000 hours, so I waited and called CQ again at that hour.  Jim W1PID had guessed that I would do that.  I immediately recognized his call -- he was often at the other end of Michael Rainey's most daring low-power adventures.  He was a participant in the famous Rexpeditions, including a coastal effort to send Michael's voice-powered CW signal across the Atlantic.  His normal operating habitat is in the field.  We had a wonderful QSO.  He told me I peaked at S-6.  

I have worked W1PID on at least two Straight Key Nights and this blog has had many postings about his long-standing involvement in QRP. 

Thanks a lot Jim! 
 


Saturday, January 13, 2018

SolderSmoke Podcast #202 Cover-Rig, SKN, Pete's Vector Boards, uBITX, K1BQT rig, MAIL

SolderSmoke Podcast #202 is available: 

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke202.mp3

13 Jan 2018

Opening music from Shel Silverstein and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.  
On the Cover of the Rolling Stone or  On the Cover of SPRAT magazine.
Travelogue and Weather Report
-- Bill's trip to the Dominican Republic.  SWL on the beach.  Return to the ice box.  
-- Dramatic events in California. 

-- Reading Chinese Sci Fi with lots of radio in it.  "The Three Body Problem" by Cixin Liu

Straight Key Night.  IN QRP MODE THANK YOU.  With nephew Jeffrey.  Annual event -- worked Jim W1PID  friend of Mike Rainey.  

Steve Murphy and Jeff Damm on QSO Today.  FB. 

Oh your rig is homebrew?  "It must be propagation." 

ER Reading about G3UUR

Hams avoiding 60 meters due to 100 watt limit.  SAD. 

Bill's Bench:    Continuing series on the Ceramic Discrete DC receiver.   Described  the oscillator and the AF amp.  Next we will do the Mixer.   The most interesting stage. Nephew John Henry and niece Helena visiting today. 

Pete's bench.  uBITX adventures.   
The K1BQT IC transceiver. 
The Vector Board building technique.  See http://n6qw.blogspot.com/

MAILBAG
Paul KA5WPL  Looking for project with his son.  Sawdust.  Thanks again  Steve Silverman.

Chris Waldrup OM PBJ thanks for the gift

Pete in contact with Sven Johnson
Chuck KE5HPY sent us picture of fashion model with boatanchors in background  Grayson recalled 73 magazine covers...

Pete WB9FLW        Bilateral  SBE-33 ad  "with inherent stability"  That's the best kind!
Bruce KK0S experimenting with AF amps for the DC receiver

John KE5ETX Attempting CBLA




Saturday, January 6, 2018

Straight Key Night at N2CQR



I did my part for the retro-Luddite-CW-Straight Key cause.   My HT-37 was kind of wheezing.  I may have to go in there to striaghten it out.  At times I had it cranked back to less than 5W (to maintain some semblence of QRP street cred). 

A highlight was the QSO with Jim W1PID.  Jim is a well-known QRPer and a friend of QRP Hero Mike Rainey.  Jim and I talked last year -- same date, same event, same rig. Jim has a really nice web site: http://www.w1pid.com/

My nephew Jeffrey joined me for the last two contacts.   He got a real kick out of it, both the CW and the SSB. 

31 December 2017
17S  P49MR   Martin – Back in the islands!  Like an annual QSO.
40CW  Pre SKN   W1PID on 40 with my HT-37. An annual event!  Jim running 75 watts
40CW SKN KF5RBR Dan in AR.
1 January 2018
40CW SKN W8HOG SKCC 87750 Perry in Ohio
40CW SKN N1CGP Dave in Maine using J37 key
40CW SKN WB4JJJ Al in Fairfax
40CW SKN K8SRB  Stan  in Ohio (with nephew Jeffrey with me)


17SSB WJ2N Andy in Florida (with Jeffrey in the QSO)

Saturday, January 28, 2017

SolderSmoke Podcast #193: BITX 40, OLEDs, KWM-4, Noise Abatement


SolderSmoke 193   28 Jan 2017


Report from Pete on BITX 40 Session with California radio club.

Update on the BITX40 Module Revolution
-- Check out the BITXHACKS page.  Send in contributions.
-- BITX20 mailing list very active.
-- Raduino!
-- Interview with Farhan with W5KUB --   Eliminating the commercial gear.
-- BITX 40s on the beach in Australia.  FB

Bench Reports:

Pete:
-- Color Displays!
-- KWM-4
-- OLED MADNESS!

Bill: 
-- Fixing up the old HT-37   HT37 to HT37 QSO with W1ZB
-- Dabbling in VHF with Ramsey Aircraft band receiver.  NOT FUN.
-- Going all IC with Si5351 OLED NE602 rig.
-- BANDSWEEP
-- OLED Noise and the Active Decoupling solution.

Using LTSPICE as a diagnostic or understanding tool.

Of Waterfalls, Homebrew Rigs and Casual Critics on 40 meters. Words of Wisdom from W8JI.

LEXICON:  HAYWIRE   TOMBSTONE    BIKESHEDDING from Todd K7TFC

Some great recent interviews by Eric 4Z1UG:
Ian G3ROO  Origins of ROO   Regen at age 8
Hans Summers G0UPL     Balloons!   NO COMMECIAL GEAR
David White WN5Y          ELECTROLUMINESCENT  RECEIVER EXPLAINED
Rob Sherwood NC0B 

MAILBAG: 

Chris KD4PBJ's BITX 40 with improved stability
Jerry W0PWE built a DIGITIA!  Very nice.  Worked Keith N6ORS and heard me! TRGHS
Mike AB1YK's Al Fresco Scratch built BITX.  But give that LC VFO another chance Mike!
Steve N8NM 30 meter rig with salvaged CB LC VFO. FB
Keith N6ORS Franken SDR rig with parts from the 1980s.  FB
SKN Bandscan from Mike WA6ARA  I worked W1PID Jim!
What is Mikele up to?
Rocking Johannesburg and Kirghizstan via local repeaters:


Monday, January 2, 2017

Straight Key Night -- Bandscan from WA6ARA (audio)

WA6ARA SKN Station
Mike Herr WA6ARA was on 40 meters with old gear this Straight Key Night.   Mike was receiving with a venerable Heath HR10B.  One of his favorite QSOs was with Keith W6SIY; Keith was running Conar twins that had the kind of "swing" that stirs up the kind of memories that SKN is all about.  FB.  Mike made a bandscan recording of what 40 sounded like, and he made another of W6SIY's beautiful signal.

You can listen by clicking on these links:  

http://soldersmoke.com/SKNBANSCAN.mp3

http://soldersmoke.com/SKNQSO.mp3

My own SKN effort was cut short this year by technical difficulties.  The HT-37's relays stopped doing their thing.  Probably the relay drive tube going soft.  But I did manage to make two great contacts on 40:

WA6URY is in Los Angeles.  This was a very timely contact -- my wife and I went to see the movie "La La Land" on New Year's eve -- the film features a lot of beautiful LA scenery.  Dan was running a kilowatt to a 2 element Yagi on 40.  He too owns an HT-37 and a Drake 2B.  He was on a straight key "with dirty contacts."  FB Dan, thanks.

And then I worked W1PID!  Wow! Jim is well known for his operations from field locations and for his intrepid participation in many of the radio adventures of Michael Rainey AA1TJ.  Jim was on the Maine sea coast expedition when Michael was attempting to cross the pond with his voice-powered radio.  On SKN Jim was in New Hampshire running 35 watts to a Windom off-center fed dipole.  His Morse key is a Kent.    TRGHS.   Thanks Jim.

Happy New Year!

W1PID Maritime Mobile

Thursday, February 4, 2016

A Probable First: First Ever Radio Contact Using Unijunction Transistor as the Transmitter


AA1TJ writes:

I spent most of a week working to raise the RF output power from my unijunction transmitter to nearly 1mW. I was rewarded this evening with two contacts.

Jim/W1PID exchanged (599/449) signal reports with me from Sanbornton, NH (112km) at 2210z!

Dave/K1SWL did the same (589/229) from Newport, NH (95km) some four minutes later!

I should think these were the first-ever radio contacts made using a unijunction transistor as the transmitter.

FYI: my receiver was comprised of a single 1N34a germanium diode mixer followed by a single 2N35 germanium transistor audio amplifier. Great signals on this end.

Wikipedia on Unijunction Transistors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unijunction_transistor

Friday, January 29, 2016

AA1TJ's 150 Microwatts Heard at 112 Kilometers -- "To Boldly Go Where no Unijunction Has Gone Before."

AA1TJ reports: 

Breaking news from W1PID... "Mike! I just copied the beacon. I got 'VVV de AA1TJ 150 uw' and it faded out. 2146Z on 3551.95MHz" That's it! Jim copied a message produced by a lowly unijunction at a distance of 112km. How's that for cool! In a nutshell... the unijunction runs as an R-C relaxation oscillator at ~500kHz. A quartz crystal at the emitter frequency-locks the sawtooth waveform to 507kHz. The 7th harmonic is admitted to the antenna via a bandpass filter. The RF output to DC input conversion efficiency is all of 0.1%. Heat-sink? Check! Mission statement:
"...to boldly go where no unijunction has gone before."
Cheers,
Mike, AA1TJ


I think the really cool thing is that EM waves are once again flying out of the Vermont Hobbit Hole, propelled into space by the poet laureate of QRP.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

ON6WJ's Sputnik Rig

I think Jos's rig is magnificent. He is getting the high voltage for the tubes from a cheap (3 Euros!) 12 Volt to 120 Volt DC/DC inverter that he picked up via e-bay. (I think you can see the inverter board to the left of the headphone jack.) He runs it from a 12 volt gel cell. The little battery is for the filaments. He gets about 700 mw out, and had a very solid 15 minute QSO with Jim, W1PID yesterday. FB Jos!

More Sputnik news (with some audio from the original) tomorrow.

DSW to all!


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"http://soldersmoke.com/book.htmOur coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmokeOur Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Sunday, December 5, 2010

More QRPoetry from AA1TJ

This is actually prose, not verse, but it has a poetic element to it. It is not for nothing that we have called Michael "the poet laureate of QRP." Must be all that time up on the mountain. Whatever the motivation, we're always happy to get his messages, and we always find inspiration in them:

On the topic of QRP power levels; for me it all stems from the pair of "100mW" walkie-talkies that my brother and I found under the Christmas tree one year. I thought it was magical that we could walk around the neighborhood and still talk to each other. Then one day my friend and I was messing around and I heard some lady's (CBer) voice all of a sudden. It took a moment to figure out that she was talking to me (my first and last CB QSO). We only talked for a few moments but it left me wondering how far it might be possible to communicate with such low power. The electronics magazines I was just starting to read showed massive boat-anchor transmitters; none of which appealed to me. For me the excitement was trying to see how far I could talk with my MPF102 oscillator on 40m; and later, a similar xmtr made from a surplus 2N697 that I happened upon. It was around that time I first heard about tunnel diodes; exotic devices based upon the (still) mystical notion of quantum tunnelling. Of course, I dreamed about building a tunnel diode rig...a dream that would take 35 years to realize...to which I owe a huge debt to Seab, AA1MY...dunno if he knows to this day how big of a deal it was for me; which is why I was especially happy to see his, "with childlike joy and wonder" comment. Ditto for me. Speaking of which, last I showed my wife, N4KGL/p's QTH on the map located on his site "Nov 23rd Lunch Time QRP". http://www.n4kgl.info/ We thought it was fun to progressively zoom out from the parking lot where he was operating yesterday. Right away the Gulf of Mexico appears. Of course, Vermont eventually comes into view. Scientific American that did a similar series of zooms in a book some years ago. It began with a couple lying on a blanket in a park. Some pages later you're staring back at this "pale blue dot" (to steal Carl Sagan's wonderful phrase). Something else comes to mind from Tom Wolfe's, The Right Stuff. Do you recall the passage where Lovell covers the Earth with his thumb? "At one point I sighted the earth with my thumb—and my thumb from that distance fit over the entire planet. I realized how insignificant we all are if everything I'd ever known is behind my thumb. But at that moment I don't think the three of us understood the lasting significance of what we were looking at." Dunno why, but QRPp feels a bit like Lovell's thumb. It gives me the same sense of vertigo displacement; a tiny signal sent from a tiny man located in a vast, oceanic, Universe. I remember saying so to my pal, Jim, W1PID, only last year in connection to my voice-powered CW transmitter. Hearing the dits and dahs return yesterday...looking at my puny transmitter...Wisconsin, Florida, Guadeloupe Island; bouncing these little ripples off the ionosphere...hearing the friendly replies...who would not be overwhelmed by the thought of it all? These little radios are just the launchers; pinkie fingers dabbed in the cosmic pool of Being. The Argentinian writer, Antonio Porchia, said, "Beyond my body my veins are invisible." Jim Lovell's veins radiated from beneath the thumb he so casually dabbed over the Earth. His veins radiated not just back to far away Earth - to everything that he loved - but in all directions; to places he'd never even dreamed of. I'd better sign now. I'm headed up to the mountain-top TV transmitter in a couple of hours... That's how it is here, Steve; QRO pays the bills, QRPp gives the thrills. :o) BTW, Dave, K1SWL, has already given a big thumbs-up to our RockMite contact! 73/72, Mike, AA1TJ

Monday, November 9, 2009

Transatlantic Team Heads to the Coast!

When it comes time to cross the pond, it seems only natural to head to the beach. That's what Marconi did (above we see his team struggling with a kite at Newfoundland). And that is what AA1TJ, W1REX, AA1MY and W1PID are doing today and tomorrow. Here is Michael's message to QRP-L describing the expedition. Good luck guys!

Some of the lads are heading over to the Maine seacoast on Monday
morning for what we're calling a "Rexpedition." W1REX was kind enough
to secure the use of his family's beachfront camp for us for a couple
of days. He explained the urgency to them, saying, "...a bunch of
radio-heads want to talk to Europe with the equivalent of a cellphone
with a dead battery."

Rex, Seab, AA1MY and Jim, W1PID, are going to arrive early on Monday
to begin putting up the antennas. I plan to show up in time for lunch;
hopefully after all the hard work is done. Seab wants to erect a pair
of half-wave phased verticals on 20m. I think the plan is to lift a
160m antenna using one of Seab's big kites.

Our hope is to cross the pond on both 160m QRP and with my
voice-powered 20m transmitter. The weather forecast looks great at
least through Tuesday. My "Code Talker" will be rockbound on
14.055MHz; same as last Thursday. We'll begin the voice-powered 20m CW
attempt the first thing on Tuesday morning (11/10/09). Again, the goal
is to span the Atlantic, but as always, I'll be very pleased to work
anyone that hears me.

By the way, last Thursday's voice-powered operation on 20m was a great
success. Altogether, I worked four stations and received one SWL
report. The best DX was W4FOA in Chickamauga, GA; a distance of
923miles. Tony reported that my 15mW signal was "an honest 579". W4OP
- located one hundred miles to the north of Tony - handed me the same
report and followed up with an amazing recording (you can hear it on
my website). Later in the day I received an email from AD5VC. Dana
reported that he clearly copied my callsign while listening on the LSU
club station (K5LSU) in Baton Rouge; a distance of 1375miles (nearly
half the distance between the Maine coast and London, England).

I thought these were remarkable results for 15mW into an endfed wire
at 35 feet. It makes next week's attempt from a saltwater QTH, coupled
with the low-angle of radiation with a spot of directional gain all
the more exciting.

So please keep us in mind come next Tuesday morning. I'm guessing Seab
will be operating 160m QRP on both Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Thank you,
Mike, AA1TJ

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

AA1TJ's Nifty Fifties Pixie

Once again great things are happening in the underground lab of Michael, AA1TJ. Michael has temporarily put aside his work on Iron Pyrite-based receivers, and is now working the world with 50's era point contact transistors. I can feel the enthusiasm, even all the way over here in Rome. I particularly liked Michael's description of the QSO in which the other guy heard his backwave. Backwave is the very small signal that is sometimes put out when the key of simple transmitter is up. For example, the oscillator on my old VXO-controlled 6 watter (from "QRP Classics") ran all the time -- I just keyed the amplifiers. Sometimes guys would report hearing some of the RF from the oscillator even when the key was up. (By the way, the term backwave reminds me of a word used sometime by Billy and Maria: backwash. As in, "No Maria, you can't have a sip of my soda -- you always leave backwash!")

In his e-mails, Michael mentions that the physics of the point contact devices are a bit of a mystery for him. I recall that the book "Crystal Fire" by Riordan and Hoddeson had some pretty good info on how these early transistors worked.

Here are some excerpts from Michael's e-mails on this project:

I haven't had time to document this pyrite/tunnel diode receiver on account of a phone call that I had two weeks ago from Jack Ward at the Transistor Musuem. Jack approached me with an idea to recreate the first ham radio contacts using transistors. Of course, the point-contact transistors involved are now pretty rare items. No problem for a fellow with a transistor museum though!
Jack kindly sent me a couple of Western Electric, 2N110 "relics." I had some initial trouble with "squegging," and I wasn't able to produce oscillation above 380kHz. To read a recent tale of one fellow's trouble trying to tame the 2N110, please see
I especially liked where he wrote, "I did seriously consider giving up at this stage and taking up heavy drinking." ;o)
However, I located an old textbook that discussed circuit design theory using point-contact transistors (the physics of these devices are still clouded in mystery). What I learned made all the difference. A few more hours at the bench and I had an 80m transmitter putting out 10mW.
The story gets better though, Ned. A circuit briefly described in another old book really caught my attention. It was pretty much the same circuit as was used by George Rose, K2AH, in his first transistor QSO. Only, a circuit (designed by G3IEE) showed a pair of headphones in dotted lines, next to the collector resistor. The text merely said
"As indicated, the circuit also functions as an oscillating detector type of receivere for local continuous wave operations whith head phones plugged into the collector circuit instead of resistor R3. Good reception and break-in operation were obtained."
That got my blood moving! Positive results came right away on the bench. The received signals were every bit as strong as with my Reggie and the Cub Scout heterodyne (what I started calling, "Chester," after the name of the mine where the pyrite was found).
I had my first QSO last week using Jack's point-contact transistor (made in 1956) in the transceiver designed by G3EII (in 1954). Jim, W1PID, was my first contact. Since then I've made over a dozen QSO's with five different stations.
FYI, I'll paste a message below that I sent to Jack Ward this weekend. One thing I forgot to add is that W1VZR copied my 10mW signal on his Cake Pan regenerative receiver over in Maine last week. Aside from my three QSO's with VE3DJX at a distance of 319 miles, the other notable results to-date were hearing both W1DFU and W1PID - in the course of separate QSOs - when they dropped down to an output power of 100mW.
Again, I haven't had a chance to post much on my web site, but I do have the current schematic up, and you can see both K2AH and G3IEE's circuits in scans from the old transistor book. G3IEE's circuit is shown in Figure 16.2 in the second jpeg image.
One more thing, Ned. I hooked up this past week with G3JNB. Victor was one of the fellows (he was only 21 at the time) working with Tony, G3IEE, back in 1954 to make the first-ever, UK ham radio QSOs using transistors. Victor has already posted an envelope containing copies of his log, the QSL card from G3IEE and the original, 1954, Wireless World article describing their results. In the course of our Skype video call last week, Victor held up to the camera the RAF telegraph key that he used for his QSO with Tony. Pretty neat, eh?
I've got to get back to work here. Congratulations on getting your Reggie up and running, Ned. I look forward to seeing the photos and I'd surely like to hear about any contacts you make with it. Speaking of which, I have some photos of Jim, W1FMR's beautifully constructed Reggie that I've been meaning to post on my web page. Once I get around to it would you mind if I include one of your photos as well?
Best wishes,
Mike, AA1TJ
Hi Jack,

Yes, I had great fun with our little 2N110's this past week. Of of now, I've had well over a dozen radio contacts with five different stations. I used 10mW of output power to make these contacts. The distances shown are all "as the crow flies."

W1PID, Sanbornton, NH, 67miles; lowest power used on his end 100mW
VE3DJX, Smith Falls, Onatario, 319 miles; 10watts on his end
W1DFU, Wallingford, VT, 42 miles; his lowest power was 100mW
W1VZR, Limerick, ME, 100 miles; 40w

Pete, the last fellow listed, heard the 2N110 while it was running as a "beacon" with a continuously looped Morse code message. Having received my call-sign he located my email address and shot off a reception report. I saw his message pop up on my computer and quickly looked up his telephone number. He was still at his radio when he picked up the phone. I found him pretty excited as my signal strength had sharply risen in the last few minutes. He asked if there was a problem with my keying circuit as he could still hear a faint tone on my frequency when my transmitter should have been silent. "Ha!" sez I, "You're hearing a 100 microwatt back-wave radiation!" The distance separating us divided by the 100uW power is equivalent to 1 million miles per watt; a very impressive figure!

One more station answered my CQ this past week from near Hartford, CT. However, I can't recall his call sign and I'm currently at work but my logbook is at home. My output power was up to 17mW during that contact; on account of a temporary change that I made to the circuit. However, pushing the transistor to that power level reduced the quality of the keying, and so I returned to 10mW following that contact (earlier, I'd reported that my output power was 12mW, but a more careful measurement indicated that I was only putting out 10mW).

You might have noticed that I've posted the schematic to my web site. However, I expect the circuit will change over the next week, or so, as I still want to tinker with the keying circuit. By all reports my signal is good but it has just a touch of keying "chirp." Chirp is what hams call a variation in the received signal tone when the telegraph key is first depressed. Again, I expect to have that sorted out before long.

Yes, it was a real pleasure talking with Victor, G3JNB. FYI, I'll send you copies of all the documents that he provides. He said that he's including some original data sheets for point contact transistors that he's held on to these past 55 years. I'll keep copies and send the originals to you.

I asked Victor if he'd like me to build a duplicate radio for him using the second 2N110 that you sent me. I think he was thrilled to hear my offer. Don't you think it would wonderful if he, of all people, managed to make a contact using a reproduction of the point-contact transmitter that he and Tony, G3IEE, used in those pioneering days?

The order of business next week is to finalize the circuit design and begin building two identical circuits into permanent radios. Of course, I'll take time off, now and then, to try and make more contacts. I'm already astonished that it was possible to span a distance of 319 miles (not once, but thrice!) using your ancient transistor relic.

Acting on your suggestion, I looked up the other fellows mentioned in K2AH's article. It turns out that Tommy Thomas, W2UK, was quite a radio pioneer on VHF.

http://www.infoage.org/html/p-43W2uk.html

Unfortunately, I've learned that he passed away not so long ago. The call signs of the other two fellows are not currently in the FCC database (I suspect because they are gone as well). A quick search on the Internet turned up nothing on them.

Victor, G3JNB, remarked that he believes that he is the only one left of his original group of transistor enthusiasts. Doubtless, one reason is that he was only 21 years-old at the time of the experiments with G3IEE.

Victor reports that Tony, G3IEE, worked as an engineer for Mullard. I guess that explains where his transistors came from. Victor used a standard vacuum tube transmitter for his first contact with Tony, but sometime later he built his own one-transistor transmitter following Tony's design. Victor says that he used it to make one or two contacts across town before he put it on the shelf. Again, I'll be very interested to see the photocopy of his station log from that period.

One more thing, Jack. I'm fortunate to count George, G3RJV as a pal-o-mine. George is a recently retired Anglican vicar, but he also founded the GQRP; what began as a society of UK amateurs interested in low power operation. Since then, it has become something of an international institution. I had a message of congratulations this week from George; saying that he's keeping a watchful eye on our project. In return, I inquired if George might be able to put me in contact with folk that might help shed light on what was going on at that time (transistor-wise) in the rest of "Hamdom". That is, I'd like to assemble a folder on the topic of "first transistor QRP QSOs" for Japan, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia, etc.. I'll keep you apprised of any news.

That's all from here, Jack. Once again, I'd like to express my thanks to you for including me in your project. It's already been great fun and a real pleasure to meet some wonderful people.

Kind regards,
Mike, AA1TJ

Saturday, February 7, 2009

AA1TJ and AA1MY MAKE QRP HISTORY

I was feeling smug about my version of the ET-1/FETer single FET transceiver. I built the transmit portion of the rig this morning, and it fired right up, producing a nice clean CW signal. But then news came in of the historic 100 mile QSO between Michael, AA1TJ, and Seab, AA1MY. Michael was using his new Mikums rig, an 80 meter transceiver built around one tunnel diode. My FET rig seems like a QRO appliance in comparison to the Mikums. Michael's diode rig was putting out 160 micro watts. Yes, 160 uW. Congratulations to Mike and Seab. I'm sure Mike would not mind my sharing his e-mail on this subject (see below). Reading it, you can just feel the excitement that came from this historic contact. I'm sure tunnel diode inventor Leo Esaki (pictured above) would be pleased.
Be sure to check out Michael's description of the rig:
http://mjrainey.googlepages.com/mikums
Also, don't miss the pages on Reginald Fessenden:
http://www.newsm.org/Wireless/Fessenden/Fessenden.html

Friends,
Seab, AA1MY sent me a message just over an hour ago saying that he suddenly began hearing my Mikums transceiver running as a beacon! Seab lives in Bethel, Maine, an air distance of exactly 100miles/160km from my QTH. A few hours earlier I'd measured Mikums' output power at 169uW (yes, microWatts!).
I was at the computer when his message appeared so I quickly called him on the telephone. He said that he'd been monitoring while he was busy with some paperwork. He'd just returned from fetching a load of firewood and all of a sudden there I was! He put the phone near his loudspeaker and I just about fell over! I was weak, but perfectly readable.
Then I practically hung-up on the poor fellow in order to race down to my shack in order to try for a QSO. I heard him clear as a bell at a power of 40w (I reported 459, but I ought to have sent 559). He confirmed my report and then dropped down to 4w. Although weak, I easily copied his 429 report to me. I gave him a 219, which he confirmed.
Oh boy...it's done. We made a skywave QSO using a one-tunnel diode transceiver. I'm practically giddy here :o)
Many thanks to Jim, W1PID, who has patiently listened for several days. In fact, Jim has copied my CQ and callsign several times before my signal evaporated on a breeze of QSB. In return, I copied Jim's Small Wonders Labs DSW at 2w on Mikums with no problem the other day. Again, many thanks, OM. The next time we meet, I'm buying, okay?
Again, way to go Seab; that's one small step for man....naw, more like one more exciting and thoughly useless (ain't it great!) milestone in the history of QRP :o)
73/72's all around,
Mike, AA1TJ
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