SolderSmoke 83 -- Special Report from OZARKCON

SolderSmoke Podcast 83 has been uploaded. Topics covered:

Shortwave listening from the island of Ischia.
Chicago's old "Surplus Row."
New antenna yields trans-Atlantic DX!
SPRAT's minimalist MPF-102 rig.
SDR vs. HDR.
Dan's Small Parts.
LB Cebik SK.
AA1TJ's Zener Diode rigs discussed on Radio Havana Cuba.
Beacon project.
Design first, build later!
SPECIAL REPORT FROM OZARKCON!
MAILBAG: Scopes and distortion, Spectrum Analysers, new kits, 30K lemons, FDIM


You can find this episode of SolderSmoke, and all previous episodes at:
http://www.soldersmoke.com

73 from Rome

Amazing Brazilian Homebrew.. with DSB Maritaca

Every once in a while I do a Google search on "QRP DSB." This morning the search yielded a real gem: Miguel PY2OHH has a site that reminds me of JF1OZL's legendary HB pages.

There are many projects on Miguel's site, but it looks to me as if the most well-known and widely reproduced is his "Maritaca" 40 meter DSB transceiver. Miguel's page has photos of versions of his rig built by other Brazilian hams, and YouTube carries videos of several of these projects.

Miguel has been kind enough to translate into English the descriptions of many of his projects, but even on those that are not yet translated, we can all see what he has done through the universal language of the schematic diagram.

Check it out: http://py2ohh.w2c.com.br/ FB Miguel! Muito obrigado!

Dan's Small Parts Temporarily Closed

Dan's web site reports that there was a bad accident, and that his business is temporarily closed, but that "Dan will be back." Let's all wish Dan the best of luck. Many of us depend on him to keep our junk boxes well-stocked. I was just getting ready to send him an order.

80 in the morning, LTSpice, QRP Blog

I am an early riser -- I am in the shack with coffee cup in hand each day by 0515. At sunspot minimum, that's just not the best time to be on the air. But 80 meters has come to my rescue. I've discovered that I'm not the only ham in Europe who gets up early. The CW guys are there first; phone ops seem to sleep in a bit. With my HW-8 and end-fed wire, I work a few stations each morning. (Today I worked TK7C on Corsica. ) Later on I listen to some AM enthusiasts who meet on 3705 kHz. And there is some great Italian tech talk (mostly about old tube rigs) on 3643 kHz. I plan on building an 80 meter DSB transceiver. (I've joked with Michael, AA1TJ, that on this project I plan to design first that THEN build.)

I've the LTSpice Yahoo Group for some guidance on how to model bifilar and trifilar toroidal transformers in LTSpice. I'm not sure I'm doing this right.

Found a great QRP Blog this morning: http://www.theqrper.blogspot.com/

Alan Yates: Electronics Wizard!

I first met up with Alan in 2002 when I spotted his web site describing a "Trivial Electric Motor."
My son Billy and I built one and sent Alan a report.

Alan clearly has "The Knack." Check out his site: http://www.vk2zay.net/category.php/13

Items recently mentioned on SolderSmoke

Here's Nick WA5BDU's FB site. I really liked his discussion of the design and construction of his 60 meter SSB transmitter: http://kennnick.googlepages.com/home

Here's Stan 9H1LO's 10 meter beacon page:
http://www.9h1lo.net/beacon.php

Here is the "Homebrew QRP is Good 4 U" site of KC6WDK
http://www.qsl.net/wb5ude/kc6wdk/index.html

Here's the transatlantic balloon project: http://www.spiritofknoxville.com/

Good day on 20 DSB

I'm not crazy about contests, but they can be useful for a QRPer looking to work a lot of stations in a short time. I was on 20 DSB today with the HB rig. Worked UU5WW, US0LW, OH3OJ, IQ0OEF, LY6A, GX0WSS/P, ES5GP...

Took a break in the morning and went out for coffee with my wife. On the way back we stopped in a charity shop/flea market. Found an old Collins rig that looks like BC-348 sitting on the floor. I reluctantly left it there, but I will alert the local hams.