PUT DOWN THE TARTAR SAUCE AND STEP AWAY FROM THE MICROPHONE!

Monday, April 4, 2011 11:27 AM

From:

"Steve"

"solder smoke"

CREAM OF TARTAR - A fine white powder used in cooking. It is the potassium salt Potassium bitartrate, KC₄H₅O₆. It is a food stabilizer and is also used in some baking powders.

TARTAR SAUCE - A sauce for seafood made from mayonnaise, pickles, and onions. It is unrelated to cream of tartar.

73 de Steve WA0PWK

Italian Chemical Tailoring of Crystal Microphone Elements -- The Bugiardo Method

We will discuss this in SolderSmoke Podcast 133, but for those of you who are not among the MORE THAN 200 listeners who went to the recipe site, I thought I should post the REALLY INCREDIBLE e-mail that started all this.

Before you read it, you might want to fire up that Italian-English translation feature in Google and check out the meaning of some of names and places. Like Dr. Andrea BUGIARDO who wrote in the Italian magazine Radio-FURBIZIA while living in the beautiful mountain town of SCERZO-BARZELLETA in the picturesque (I'm sure!) province of TRUCO-IMBROGLIO.

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

TO: soldersmoke@yahoo.com

FROM:i.nocente@primaprile.it

SUBJECT: CHEMICAL TAILORING OF CRYSTAL MICROPHONE AUDIO RESPONSE

Ciao Bill! Greetings from not-so-sunny Roma! After I read you blog posting (http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2011/03/homebrew-literally-your-own-microphone.html) with the video about how to grow your own piezo-electric crystals at home, I was reminded of an article from an old Italian radio magazine that I came across not long ago. Having heard of your recent (well, long-standing) problems with audio quality and microphones, it occurred to me that this old Italian article might be the solution to your audio difficulties.

The article appeared in the Italian radio magazine "Radio-Furbizia" April 1950. Tough times in Italy! Hams had to be inventive and ingenious, and they had to put to work whatever resources they had at hand. Dottore Andrea Bugiardo, I0SOL, was clearly a man for those times. During the post-war period, writing from his hamshack in the beautiful village of Scherzo-Barzelleta, in the province of Truccoimbroglio, OM Bugiardo produced a steady stream of truly incredible ham radio innovations.As you know, life in an Italian home revolves around the kitchen, so it should come as no surprise that Bugiardo based many of his devices on things that he found there.

Bugiardo opens his April 1950 article with a really touching admission of his deep, unfulfilled yearning for a Astatic D-104 microphone. I know this mic was not warmly received by your listeners (insensitive brutes!) but for Bugiardo, the D-104, with its chrome and its art-deco lines was the epitome of ham radio class! As you know, style and good design are important for Italians -- this is the country of "bella figura!" But alas, the dire economic situation did not permit Dr. Bugiardo to buy his coveted chrome lollipop. But, being a true ham, a ham's ham, he decided to "roll his own"as you Americans would say. He decided to build his own D-104.

The exterior did not represent a major problem. He had many friends in Milano who could handle the needed metal and chrome work. The problem was electrical... or should I say electro-mechanical. You see, Bugiardo needed the key component, or perhaps I should say, the key ingredient: he needed the piezoelectric element, the transducer, the piezo-electric device that transforms sound to electricity. It is very interesting. In growing his crystals, Bugiardo employed essentially the same techniques as described in the video on your blog. But -- and here is where I think his article could help you -- he went a significant step further and described how -- by using simple substances found in any kitchen -- the audio characteristics of the microphone can be tailored to the needs of any individual human voice. Bugiardo's research showed that by adding certain common crystalline substances to the standard mix for piezo-electric crystals (the familiar Tartar sauce formula) we can actually come up with the kind of mic we need! No need for EQ or mixer boards! Just start out with the right kind of crystal for your voice, and you are, as you guys say, "good to go!

The physics of this is all based on the physical mechanics of the crystals -- motional inductance and all that. I'll spare you the gory details. Here is the essential information:

-- You start with the standard mix for the crystal element as described in the ARRL Handbooks (this formula appears in all the handbooks from the 40's and 50's).

-- In order to have a mic that accentuates the high notes in the voice, add approximately 5 grams of sugar to the mix.

-- For a stronger bass response, highlighting the low frequencies, add approximately 5 grams of salt. Ordinary table salt will do.

-- For a "punchy" DX-hunter's sound, Bugiardo recommends adding some Tabasco sauce to the Tartar sauce before the initial mixing. (He says this will give you about 3.2456 db gain!)

-- As for your whistling SSSSS problem, Bugiardo's "cook book" does seem to hint at a solution: He says that by adding some molasses to the mixture, you can sort of "smooth out" the response. (This is no doubt caused by the molasses adding its sticky-ness to the crystal matrix.) PLEASE give this a try Bill. Mama Mia! Those whistles hurt my ears!

Anyway, I hope this proves useful. We all really enjoy the podcast.

Ciao,

Carlo

We're #1! (On Kindle) Free Kindle Reader

I'm happy to report that the Kindle edition of SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics is proving to be wildly popular. For a while this week it was #1 in Amazon Kindle's
"Electronics" category, and #2 in "Radio and Wireless" (we were beat out by Thunderstruck by Erik Larson -- a book that I liked very much).

Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW

It is a lot cheaper and easier to get this e-version of the book. And you don't even need a Kindle! If you go to the Amazon Kindle site, and go to the lower right, you will find links to download free software that will turn your PC, or Blackberry or other mobile device into a virtual Kindle.

One reader noted that the system used by Amazon to electronically distribute the books (over the cell phone systems) is called Whispernet. Not to be confused with our beloved WSPRnet QRSS QRPp system (the download would take a LONG time on WSPRnet!)

Here's the back cover blurb on the book:

SolderSmoke is the story of a secret, after-hours life in electronics. Bill Meara started out as a normal kid, from a normal American town. But around the age of 12 he got interested in electronics, and he has never been the same.

To make matters worse, when he got older he became a diplomat. His work has taken him to Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, the Spanish Basque Country, the Dominican Republic, the Azores islands of Portugal, London, and, most recently, Rome. In almost all of these places his addiction to electronics caused him to seek out like-minded radio fiends, to stay up late into the night working on strange projects, and to build embarrassingly large antennas above innocent foreign neighborhoods. SolderSmoke takes you into the basement workshops and electronics parts stores of these exotic foreign places, and lets you experience the life of an expatriate geek.

If you are looking for restaurant or hotel recommendations, look elsewhere. But if you need to know where to get an RF choke re-wound in Santo Domingo, SolderSmoke is the book for you.
SolderSmoke is no ordinary memoir. It is a technical memoir. Each chapter contains descriptions of Bill’s struggles to understand (really understand) radio-electronic theory. Why does P=IE? Do holes really flow through transistors? What is a radio wave? How does a frequency mixer produce sum and difference frequencies? If these are the kinds of questions that keep you up at night, this book is for you.

Finally, SolderSmoke is about brotherhood. International, cross-border brotherhood. Through the SolderSmoke podcast we have discovered that all around the world, in countries as different as Sudan and Switzerland, there are geeks just like us, guys with essentially the same story, guys who got interested in radio and electronics as teenagers, and who have stuck with it ever since. Our technical addiction gives us something in common, something that transcends national differences. And our electronics gives us the means to communicate. United by a common interest in radio, and drawn closer together by means of the internet, we form an “International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards.”

Space Beacon Success (and failure)

On the Yuri Gagarin anniversary day, I listened for the FM voice beacon from the ARISS-1 satellite on the space shuttle. Nothing heard here. But I was listening near the end of the period scheduled for the transmission, so I may have missed it, or the batteries may have drained.

But this morning I finally got confirmation that at least one of my packets made it through the Space Station's digipeater. The image above is from the "Stations Heard via ISS" web site. Obviously I need to do something to the position (Lat/Long) info in my packet so that I can show up on the APRS maps. Perhaps my symbol should be the SolderSmoke logo...

Homebrew Two Dollar Oscilloscope

This is from a short article in the April 1997 issue of Electric Radio magazine. The author is Bob Dennison, W2HBE. Bob is a real genius, and the author of many inspirational articles in ER.

The Sundt Engineering Company of Chicago was advertising this kind of device in the June 1936 issue of Short Wave Craft Magazine. Only two dollars (but that was big money in 1936). From Bob's article: "When the transmitter is modulated with a single audio tone, the waveform of the modulated carrier will be seen. By varying the motor speed (horizontal scan rate) the pattern can be synchronized or made to stand still. Percentage modulation is readily estimated by simple inspection of the display."

So here we have the perfect minimalist 'scope to go with a minimalist AM transmitter!

EME, Bob Heil, and The Grateful Dead

I really loved the TWiT interview with Bob Heil that I posted yesterday. Today we bring you a truly "must see" video on the History of Heil Sound. Really great stuff. Now I know that it was FATE that caused it to be a Peter Frampton song (using a Heil Talk Box) that helped me solve my RFI problem.

Bob Heil seems a really great guy. I liked the bio that he has on his web site.
http://www.heilsound.com/amateur/aboutus/index.htm

Name: Bob Heil
Bob Heil
Position: CEO/Founder
Started in: 1940
Bio: Bob's life mission is to have fun and bring LOTS of people along for the trip. Bob barely got through grade school and then started making more money than his teachers by playing the (Hammond) organ. Then Bob became a pimp for his high school gym teacher (Sarah can fill you in on the details). Bob had 50+ years of "just OK" life until God sent him a red headed bundle of joy along with her bundle of joy and together they have more fun than a couple of squirrels in a nut forest.

Interview with Bob Heil

W8FG alerted me to this interview with Bob Heil on TWiT. I think you guys will enjoy it (especially all of you rockers out there).

http://www.twit.tv/tri8

WelderSmoke!

FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

We need videos like this featuring our kind of smoke!

Beacons from Space! Yuri Gagarin Anniversary

SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS005
ARLS005 ARISSat-1 On the Air for Gagarin Anniversary

ZCZC AS05
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 005 ARLS005
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT April 8, 2011
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS005
ARLS005 ARISSat-1 On the Air for Gagarin Anniversary

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the ARISSat-1 satellite aboard the
International Space Station will be on the air using the station's
external antenna. Transmissions will begin on Monday, April 11, at
14:30 UTC and continue until 10:30 UTC on April 13.

To preserve the satellite's battery, transmissions will cycle on and
off. ARISSat-1 will transmit for 40 to 60 seconds, and then remain
silent for 2 minutes.

The FM transmissions on 145.950 MHz will alternate between a voice
ID, telemetry values, SSTV images and audio greetings in 15
different languages. One of the transmissions will contain audio of
a conversation between Gagarin and ground controllers that was
recorded during the historic flight.

A CW beacon will be heard on 145.919 MHz cycling between the
ARISSat-1 call sign, telemetry and call signs of individuals
involved in the ARISS program.

BPSK-1000 telemetry transmissions will also take place on 145.920
MHz SSB using the new 1kBPSK protocol developed by Phil Karn, KA9Q.

AMSAT will issue commemorative certificates to listeners who receive
the ARISSat-1 transmissions. Reports can be e-mailed to
Gagarin@arissat1.org or yuri@arrisat1.org. Include your name, call
sign, a description of what you heard and the UTC time you heard it.
Recording the battery voltage telemetry values and the UTC time you
received them will be especially helpful.

You can determine when the International Space Station will be
passing overhead by using the AMSAT-NA online pass prediction tool
at, http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/.
NNNN
/EX

Another QRPoet

I'm a big fan of Ade Weiss, and I often find myself reaching to his "History of QRP" for technical or techno-literary inspiration. Most writing about ham radio is (understandably) done in a very straightforward technical way, without a lot of emotion. But Ade's writing style captures both the technical and the emotional aspects of homebrewing and QRP. There is a definite poetic elements to it. This article was sent to us from the Hobbit Hole by the Poet Laureate of QRP (AA1TJ). Just click on on the image to enlarge. From a 1973 issue of The Milliwatt:

How cool: HOWTOONS!

That's the spirit! Maker blog led me to this very nice tech cartoon site aimed at bringing kids into the world of making things:
http://www.howtoons.com/?page_id=2807

PACKET MYSTERY FROM SPAAAAACE!

OK guys, please reach back into your memories, back to the late 80's, back to those sad days before the internet, back to the days of TNCs and packet BBSs and all that. I need some help.

I have my little 2 meter packet station running. I'm sending out beacon packets on 145.825 MHz, the freq of the International Space Station. (Is PC-SAT still on that freq also?)

Every morning I go to the old 1994 Satellite Pro computer (thanks to ZL3KE!) and type in mheard to see the list of stations picked up during the most recent passes of the space station. Every day there are several, each with an asterisk indicating that the packets were digipeated, and on this freq the digipeating is done in space.

Here's my question: Two days ago, MY OWN CALLSIGN showed up in the MHEARD list. (Cue ominous music) BUT WITHOUT THE ASTERISK! If I had seen the asterisk, I would have thought that my own packets were being digipeated by the ISS station and coming back at me. But why no asterisk? Long Delayed Echo? Klingons? My misunderstanding of packet technology?

SolderSmoke Book -- Now on Kindle!

In response to popular demand, "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.

Here's the U.S. site: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW

And here's the UK site: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004V9FIVW

Inside the SolderSmoke Microphone

Here's a really excellent description of how an electret microphone works, complete with a dissection of the device.

http://www.openmusiclabs.com/learning/sensors/electret-

Crystal mics are much more interesting, of course, because of the opportunity to chemically tailor the audio response...

The Polyakov QRSS Receiver

Of course, we like it because it is in an Altoid-like box. And because it is Direct Conversion. And because it is used for QRSS, with the output fed to an on-line grabber. But this one is EVEN BETTER because it uses a Polyakov detector!

Check out PA1GSJ's receiver: http://www.qsl.net/dl1gsj/html/qrssrx30.html

View the output (live): http://www.qsl.net/dl1gsj/qrss/

More on Polyakov detectors: http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=polyakov

Snort Rosin's Mighty Mite: The Super Duper X Spy Transmitter

Hi Bill,

Attached is a picture of the remains of my transmitter, "The Super Duper X Spy Transmitter". My little rig didn't sit around; it made QSOs the day it was finished, 41 years ago. Since then it has bounced around in various junk boxes and had some parts robbed for other projects but thankfully it's still mostly intact.

I constructed it based upon the original article in Ed Noll's book, "Solid State QRP Projects", pg. 51, Project 17, "10 160 All-Band Two Watter". That transmitter was later to become known as the Michigan Mighty Mite.

My MMM (or SDXST if you will), features a built-in relative power detector, a microswitch key (upper right-hand corner), room for an internal 9 Volt battery and a jack for external power. The jacks are each different; a BNC for the antenna, a 3.5 mm closed-circuit jack for the key, a 2.5 mm for the relative output meter and a phono jack for the external power. My notes say that I added a .1 uF Emitter bypass and that it increased the power output by 50%. I also used a toroid for the output tank instead of the 1-3/4" coil form called for in the article. Use of the "Sucrets" box was not my idea; I got it from one of the ham mag's. of the day, probably 73.

Your coverage of those little rigs has motivated me to restore mine and make some QSOs for old times sake. With, of course, the proper output filter :-). I'll send a picture of the 'guts' when it's finished.

73.......Steve Smith WB6TNL
-------------------------------
Thanks Steve. Great stuff. But... WHERE'S THE OUTPUT FILTER?

Lulu Book Sale (20 % off) extended through April 4

Just use the Coupon Code SPLISH at checkout -- save 20% through April 4.
http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm

More on Chemically Tailored Crystal Mic Elements

My mention in SolderSmoke # 132 of this technique to custom tailor the AF response of crystal mic elements has already generated a lot of interest. Here's the e-mail from Italy that alerted me to the work of Dr. Andrea Bugiardo:

http://soldersmoke.com/microphone.htm

Check it out!

SolderSmoke Podcast #132

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke132.mp3

April 1, 2011
Fickle Finger of Fate: Lamp falls on QRSS Crystal
Another heroic computer repair
Sleuthing for RFI with Crystal Radios and Peter Frampton
The seductive allure of the British Regen
Watching the Space Station and the Space Shuttle
Packets from SPAAAACE
Don Vorgaard and the birth of SSB (and DSB!)
Electric Radio Magazine
SPRAT and the ZL2BMI DSB Rig
Jerri Elsworth's 555 contest (Did I win?)
73 Magazine
QSO with Mike Bryce WB8VGE
Knack Job Opportunities at Make and Hack-a-Day
Chemical Tailoring of Crystal Mic Audio Response
Pi Day!
Sling Shots, Fishing Poles, and Antenna Launchings
MAILBAG!

A Language Guide for the International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards

Hello Bill,

I heard mention of your book, Soldersmoke - Global Adventure in Radio Electronics, on the G-QRP reflector and bought it on a whim. Since it arrived I have not been able to put it down. What a great read! Very enjoyable and an inspiration. I say that because my homebrewing had taken a bit of a back seat while other hobbies - flying RC gliders, ballroom dancing etc - came to the fore. But after reading just a few chapters of your book, the old soldersmith in me was stirred and I had to go and make something.

Like most Hams I am the 'caretaker' of a huge stock of components - well let's face it we are really just looking after part of the world's supply of components for the other guy who might need them! - I decided on a simple phase shift oscillator for 600 Hz and soon found a circuit from my old collection of circuit drawings. I had all the parts and quickly soldered it together. Sadly my elderly 'scope confirmed that it was not working and after a bit of head scratching I decided to make it up on a construction board. In the process I realised that my design had included components of the wrong values and if it had oscillated at all, it would have been in the MHz region! The final product worked a treat and I cobbled together some photos (in the attached PDF) to send to my radio pal - Roger DL3RMU - in Berg Bacchaussen in Bavaria. From your podcasts, I suspect you are a bit of a language wizard as well, but just in case - "Jede Schaltung braucht eine Lichtdiode !!" means, 'Every circuit needs an LED!' and "Erfog!" means 'success!' The result was a lovely 600Hz sine wave at nearly 5V p-p. Not exactly wizardry but very satisfying. Now wouldn't it be great if I could get it to oscillate at RF frequencies!?

Roger DL3RMU and I have shared an hour long, weekly, CW QSO since early 2005. Just to make it that bit more interesting we do it in German! Helpfully CW overcomes my pronunciation problems. This all started with my realisation that my urban location and limited antenna space restricted my effective operating range for a number of reasons. I am not a great linguist but I have always been interested in languages and I figured that while I might not have much reach, I could have a lot of fun trying out CW QSOs both QRO and later QRP in the language of the other guy rather than 'rubber stamp English'. To my surprise my rusty schoolboy French and slightly better German were well received. I met Roger a few times on the air and we decided to keep a weekly sched. I decided to give European languages a real go, so I cobbled together a handful of common phrases from dictionaries and online language resources to get by, before embarking on a more ambitious project: a set of translations for every European language.

Originally I wrote to the radio societies of every European country to seek help but this was not an effective approach. So I then contacted every non-English member of WACRAL (to which I belong) and asked them if they would kindly translate roughly 50 common QSO related phrases into their mother tongue. To my delight and surprise the response was great and a number of guys helped put together the translation files. There are now 15 European languages on my fledgling website. I call the website, 'Parlez Vous QSO' and it can be found at: http://web.onetel.com/~stephenseabrook/. I really ought to find out how to get a proper domain name sorted out (any advice welcome!) but it is easiest to find by typing 'Parlez Vous QSO' into your search engine. The site itself somehow caught the attention of a number of enquirers, some of whom simply emailed me the translations in their own language! This is the sort of 'fraternity of amateur radio enthusiasts' that makes our hobby great! There are quite a few 'missing' languages but the pleasure of being able to communicate - even falteringly - in the other guy's language is great and I am delighted with the response I have had from the guys on the other end of the QSO.

My construction was mainly limited to station accessories: PSK interface, RTTY interface, CAT interface and various test equipment before I got into QRP. I built a FoxIII, MFJ Cub for 20m and a couple of Christmas' ago a K1. What a great radio! I never cease to be amazed that if the station Icom 706 or the Kenwood 570D fails to yield a QSO with lots of Watts, a changeover to the K1 often finds a QSO within minutes! How can that be!?

Keep up the good work on Soldersmoke. I thoroughly enjoy the podcasts and look forward to the sequel to the book!

kind regards

Steve Seabrook M0ECS

Sittingbourne

England

Save 20% On SolderSmoke and Other Books

Through tomorrow -- save 20% Coupon Code: SPLISH
http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm

CFL Light Bulb Schematics

Lots of good parts in those new fancy bulbs! This site provides schematics for the major brands. Very useful. Try not to eat the mercury in the tubes.
http://www.pavouk.org/hw/lamp/en_index.html#bigluz20w

Drect Conversion Receivers in New South Wales

Dear Bill,

You might vaguely remember I sent you some audio for Soldersmoke a year or two back that was recorded at the New South Wales home brew group here in Australia.

The home brew group is wonderful: it's not a club. you can't join. no-one is in charge. Every so often we have a "challenge" (which is not a competition - no-one wins).

Anyhow, recently the "challenge" was to home brew a direct conversion receiver that could be used to listen to the sunday morning broadcast here on 80m 3959KHz.

On Sunday we got together to present what we'd come up with. Alan, VK2ZAY, does great work but couldn't come so he sent in a video of his creation.

I videoed the proceedings, badly edited it, and stuck it up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF1WoPDajsU

This challenge was good because it was achievable by dunces like me and because the objective was the same for everyone - listening to a certain broadcast. I hope the video might encourage new home brewers.

Keep up the great work, I watch your blog and always enjoy a new podcast.

best 73's

Peter, VK2TPM

My Other Car was Homebrewed with Junkbox Parts!

At the SolderSmoke Store we have a bumper sticker to that effect.

Here's a guy who actually did it!
http://jalopnik.com/#!5785679/homeless-man-builds-his-own-car-out-of-junk

BTW: There is FREE SHIPPING from the SolderSmoke store through today: Be sure to order $30 or more through Sunday and use code: 2DAYFREE

SolderJob! Professional Knack and Hack Opportunity!

Oh man, this one is tempting. Almost makes me want to give up up the diplomat gig and move out to San Mateo... Check this out guys. This looks like a great opportunity for one of us. From the always awesome Hack A Day site:

Hackaday.com is looking for an experienced hacker/writer to join our team doing original hacking and modding projects on video. Are you energetic, outgoing, and passionate about hacking/modding? Can you solder AND explain what you’re doing and why? Come join our team and modify/hack/create things daily with a professional film crew to be aired on HackADay, then post a writeup detailing how you did your hack. Let your mind run wild, combine Mythbusters with Ben Heck, can you do it?

http://hackaday.com/2011/03/24/hackaday-is-looking-for-a-full-time-project-builder-video-host/

Back to the Future: Packets from the Space Station

Readers will have noticed that I have an affinity for beacons. All kinds of beacons: WSPR, QRSS, 10 meter CW... (Tony Fishpool says I have broadcaster tendencies.)

My favorite was a VHF Digital Satellite beacon. Out in the Azores, I had my old Kantronics KPC-3 Terminal Node Controller hooked up to a 286 computer and a Realistic HTX-202 HandiTalkie. Antenna was a ground-plane made from a coat-hanger. My rig would burp out packets all day long, and occasionally either PC SAT or the International Space Station would fly over and relay my signal to stations on the European continent or, sometimes, on the east coast of North America. I had APRS data in my packet, including a nice little island with a palm tree icon which would show up on the on-line APRS maps.

Well, after watching the Space Station (and the Shuttle discovery) fly over a few weeks ago, I got the urge to get back into the outer space packet game. Last weekend I dug out the old HT and KPC-3. I even found the cables. For the computer I put to work the OLD Toshiba Satellite Pro (appropriate, eh?) that Kevin, ZL3KE, had helped me revive.

Yesterday before going to work I noticed that there would be a nice pass of the Space Station at around 0750 local. I took a little mag mount antenna and left it on the ground in the backyard. I tuned the HT to 145.825 MHz and fired up the Windows 3.1 terminal program on the Toshiba.

When I returned 10 hours later... SUCCESS! Lots of space packets on the screen: KB1GVR, W1TMS, W1CGT, W1GSH, VE2TMW...

So far I'm only receiving, but soon I hope to be sending
PACKETS TO SPAAAAAACE!

SolderSmoke baby-wear!

A podcast listener sent in this picture of his beautiful baby daughter with a piece of clothing from the SolderSmoke Store that seems to be a bit QRO!

80 milliwatts to New Zealand (and Italy)

I realize that having your QRSS signal show up on a distant grabber is no big deal, but this was the first time I've seen the signal from my little DaVinci Code rig make the trip to ZL. You can see my shark fins in the screen shot above. It was just before dawn here, so gray line must have been helping. A Solar Flux Index of 92 also helped. My shark also made it across the Atlantic (and half the Med!) Mauro IK1WVQ's grabber made this nice capture (looks like this was around dawn at his location):

I measured the voltage at the antenna terminal this morning. Less than 2 volts peak. Assuming a 50 ohm load, that's about 80 milliwatts. This is all especially gratifying because yesterday I was out in the backyard with a slingshot and a fishing reel, putting a bit more wire into the trees. It worked!

Here's the transmitter and the schematic. FSK is from a simple two transistor multi-vibrator (G0UPL's circuit -- you can see it in the lower left):

From the good folks at Sierra Radio (our sponsor):

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Another Mighty Mite Success Story!

Bill:

I started listening to Solder Smoke this winter, and I'm now up to episode 81. Since I'm new to homebrewing, I wanted to say that I enjoy the discussion of good projects to start on for homebrewing equipment, particularly the discussion of the Michigan Mighty Mite, which I understand was your first HB TX project. After hearing you mention the transmitter on the show, I looked it up on the Internet and found the schematic. A few hours later and I was on the air. My first contact with it was with KB1TSG, Jim in Randolph VT, receiving a signal report of 449. From my QTH in Monroe, ME that's a distance of 186.5 mi ( 300 km) as the crow flies.
I've learned a lot listening to Solder Smoke over the past two months and listen to it while in the car, at work, and while walking my dog on the back roads of Maine. Thanks for such a great educational and entertaining show.

73,
Neil

--
Neil Caudill
KB1UAL

Free Shipping on SolderSmoke -- The Book

Use Coupon Code Ground 305 and get free shipping on "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm

Don't just buy "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics"
but check out these other fine Knack-related publications:

http://stores.lulu.com/6sj7comics ("Lid, Kid, Space Cadet" "Sky Buddies" by Jeff K1NSS

http://stores.lulu.com/ian_g3roo (Ian, G3ROO's amazing antenna book)

http://www.lulu.com/copperwood ("Carl and Jerry" books -- scroll down a bit)

http://stores.lulu.com/soldersmoke (SolderSmoke and Bill's other book)

WSPR Direct Conversion Receiver: On the Air and Online

In a testament to the sensitivity of the WSPR system (and I mean that in the technical, not the emotional sense) I got a couple of reports indicating that my very QRPp WSPR signal was, well, a bit obnoxious. I think part of this results from the fact that I'm one of the few people using a double sideband transmitter -- the lack of filters makes my signal look a bit different. But I do have an AC hum problem that shows up on receive screens. And because I haven't worked out the circuitry to allow the WSPR software to move my little transceiver from transmit to receive, I'd been leaving it in 100% transmit mode. I can understand why people didn't really like that.

So, on the theory that it is better to give (reports) than receive, and in keeping with the old idea that all ham radio stations should from time to time RELEASE the push to talk switch and LISTEN, I have magnanimously taken my homebrew DC/DSB WSPR system into receive mode. I'm in 0% transmit. I'm listening all the time, and automatically uploading reports on the stations I hear. Pictured above is the map from WSPR system page showing my spots from last night. Below you can see what my own WSPR system display shows. (I need to adjust my W3PM oscillator a bit. I may be a few hertz off and I am probably missing a bit of the 200 hertz wide WSPR band).

I was pleased to see W3PM's call on my map. An article by Gene provided the inspiration (and much of the circuitry) for my WSPR rig.

My receiver is very simple: The RF from the antenna goes through a low-pass filter directly to an SBL-1 mixer (thanks to Jim -- AL7RV). There it mixes with LO energy from the W3PM Colpitts oscillator. From there it goes to the KA7EXM discrete component AF amp.

You can watch -- almost live -- the stations I am receiving by going to
http://wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map
just type N2CQR in the box that asks for the call.

20 years after construction... Mighty Mite Makes Contact!

Bert, WF7I, sent us this report from the nuclear reactor building at UVA. You can almost feel the excitment! Congrats Bert!

Bill:

I'm ecstatic to report that my MMM made its first QSO, after almost 20 years, last night at the University of Virginia ham club at the nuclear reactor! I worked W4OEQ, Tom in McMinnville, TN. He gave me a 459 report. I was running about 300-500 mW (hard to tell with our meter) out of the MMM into our inverted vee up high in the trees of Observatory Hill at UVa. I also have three witnesses to the event: our club president, Mark KJ4IEA; club Treasurer Will, KI4LGE; and member Alex, KJ4YWP. I received a round of applause from our group after the QSO was complete!

It was a very satisfying moment to be sure. Not only to make a QSO with this rig from my past and all those memories, but to do it at the re-vitalized UVa ham club, which has its own long, off-and-on history dating back to the 1930s (at least), and to do it with a captive audience! Our club members, mostly younger guys 18-22 years old, have never done CW and always are in a mesmerized/stunned condition when they see me tapping out the dots and dashes, and copying it in my head! Everyone was very silent and focused during the QSO.

72/73!

Bert WF7I

The Return of the Michigan Mighty Mite

Michigan Mighty Mite -- N2CQR/HI8 version

Bert, WF7I, (our correspondent at UVA Charlottesville), wrote yesterday about his past and recent adventured with a little rig that got a lot of us started in the scratch-built homebrew game: The Michigan Mighty Mite. I built one in the Dominican Republic, probably in 1993. I never worked anyone with it, but was really pleased to get the thing oscillating. I still have remnants of it (sans crystal) -- see above. Bert's e-mail and AA1TJ's recent derring-do make me want to dust off that little single FET transceiver for 3.579 MHz that I built in Italy. One QSO would make me happy. At least this minimalist stuff is keeping me away from the regens...

Here's a good article on how to build one:
http://www.qsl.net/wb5ude/kc6wdk/transmitter.html

Here's a site from Dave, WA5DJJ, who built a bunch of these rigs:
http://www.zianet.com/dhassall/Michmitymite.html

Bert's e-mail:

Hey Bill.

The AA1TJ postings on your blog motivated me to unearth my old Michigan Mighty Mite (the "MMM"). For me there's a lot of history, even emotion, there. I built this little rig with my friend AC7CA when we were both finishing up high school. Neither of us knew what was really going on in this circuit, other than some vague thoughts about resonance and that a transistor amplifies.

What was important to us at the time was more the fit-and-finish of the box that it was in, and making QSOs, rather than working out the theory behind the schematic. I'll email you a photo of the box as it stands now. We got a nice, blue plastic project box from Radio Shack, and figured out that those small iPod (used to be called "Walkman")-style headphone sockets made great crystal sockets as well (they really do). I remember vividly the two of us planning out the radio, I remember trying to work with plastic (not so easy, it tended to melt and scuff up), and attaching the air-variable capacitor (not a small feat with the limited tools available). But the end product looked like a much more impressive rig than it really was. This oversized blue box with a big tuning knob, bright colored red and black banana power terminals, the cool little crystal sticking out of the top, and the Dymo-label tape proclaiming, "Rig Master" (or "blaster", or something similar -- I have to actually go see what it said!). 1/2 W of power came out of this very simple oscillator, just as advertised. But to this day, I don't know if either of us ever even made a QSO with the thing! The thrill was in the assembly of a rig from a schematic in CQ magazine, the fellowship of the two of us working on it, and seeing the thing actually WORK as promised. Time moved on, and it ended up getting shoved to a back corner of my room, and when college and work came along, it almost got totally forgotten and collected dust.

Anyway, the blog postings made me think of low-powered QRP, and I dug it out again, dusted it off, and pulled out some crystals. The thing still works just as it did 20 years ago! I was very happy to see that. I guess one of the advantages to ultra-simple, low part count rigs is that not much CAN go wrong! And if it does, it only costs a few pennies, or nothing, to fix.

The rig went on the air on Saturday night, and it was quite an interesting contrast on the work bench. On one side, my Kenwood TS-2000, a state-of-the-art (or nearly so) DSP rig, with the "glowing numerals" and a computer interface. Next to it, the MMM, straight key and a pile of rocks! A single "super antenna" compact vertical was erected on a tripod in my backyard, with a coax coming in to the shack to a switch (functioning as a "T/R" switch, in a way). In one position, my gazillion-transistor appliance rig would function as a ridiculously sensitive and over-the-top receiver for the task at hand. In the other position, my homemade single-transistor MMM would transmit out to the vertical.

I called CQ till my hand/wrist was sore, and QSY'd between the 4 freqs I had to choose from, but to no avail. I am not deterred however. This evening, following the W4UVA club meeting, I will hook it up to our 40 m inverted vee high in the woods overlooking the nuclear reactor. It would be fitting if the possible first ever MMM QSO came from this setup.

Late Sunday night, after I had exhausted myself from "pounding brass", I was reading more from "Solder Smoke -- The Book", and found one picture that really made my day. Sitting in front of your Tandy and just to your left, was a small blurry object. Reading the caption, I saw that it was YOUR Michigan Mighty Mite! What a fitting way to end a wonderful weekend of hamming.

72/73,
Bert WF7I

Happy Pi Day! (3.14 Get it?)

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1948828

One of the many benefits of having a kid in elementary school is that you are made aware of important days that otherwise might escape your attention. Like today: International Pi Day. While the mathematical connections might be a bit flaky, I liked the above video.
Slashdot put it this way:
I'm not saying it's as good as Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber or something, but it's a great way to get ready for Pi day which is tragically still not a federal holiday. Write your congressman.

Podcast QRM Culprit Found: WBIG-FM 100.3 MHz

Listeners noticed that recent SolderSmoke podcasts had some other audio playing faintly in the background. At first I though this must have been AM broadcast band breakthrough, so I built a little crystal radio, only to discover that the powerful AM stations here were not playing the ZZ-Top style classic rock that I was hearing in background noise. Bert, WF7I, suggested that I listen carefully to the QRM for a call sign. I tried that this morning. I couldn't get a clear call sign, but I picked up the unmistakable rhythm of Peter Frampton's "Do You Feel Like We Do?" Fortunately that song is 1) infrequently played and 2) quite long; I had enough time to take a spin around the FM radio dial. Sure enough, I caught the tail end of the Frampton song on WBIG-FM 100.3 A quick check of the web shows that this is a 50,000 watt station that has its transmitter within about 1 kilometer of my house. Bingo.
The mic cord is just about 1/2 wavelength. That would put the high voltage nodes at the ends, right? I notice that the interference drops noticeably if I wind up the cord, and increases a lot if I stretch out the cord.
I can hear some other stations in there also (one country station). It may be that there are multiple FM stations broadcasting from that antenna site. I can see the tower's red lights blinking from my front lawn.
Thank you Peter Frampton!

Regen Madness

How many times have I said "never again, no more regens"? I guess I need a twelve step program or something like that. This latest bout of regen fever started with the King's Speech movie. So I blame the Brits. All of them. Then this Belgian guy with the video comes along (see above). Now I find myself drawing out a schematic for the old regen that I picked up years ago at the Kemption Park rally in London. Someone please, STOP ME!

Job Opportunity: MAKE needs THE KNACK

Sounds like the folks at MAKE are looking for someone with THE KNACK. Check it out:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/03/awesome-opportunity-to-work-with-make.html

HomeBREW (literally!) Your Own Microphone!

During those dark days in which I was using my Astatic D-104 mic for podcast purposes (not a popular move) I checked on the mic element inside my chrome lollipop and found it to be the original crystal "Rochelle salt" element. I remember wondering about the Rochelle salt: What the heck was that? Well, this morning, the hippie technologists over at the Make blog explained it all to me via the above embedded video. It turns out that you can MAKE piezoelectric Rochelle salt crystals in your kitchen using -- get this -- soda ash, coffee filters, and -- wait for it: CREAM OF TARTAR sauce! I'm not making this up.

The Hobbit Hole

In the interest of preserving what I suspect will become an important piece of amateur radio history, I'm posting some pictures of the underground radio shack and workshop of Michael, AA1TJ.

Michael describes the facility this way: The shack is under two feet of snow at the moment, but from the surface it looks for the most part like any New England spring-box cover that you come across while walking in the woods. Only, when you lift this cover you discover Dr. Evil's secret underground radio laboratory, a re-creation of Hogan's Heros radio station, or what I affectionately refer to as the "Hobbit Hole."

The two of us burrowed down 13 feet, breaking up boulders the size of a VW Bug as we went. Aside from the pick and shovel work, I used both one and two-handed sledges along with an assortment of rock chisels and pry bars. Everything came up in 5 gallons buckets.

The lower-level slab used hand mixed concrete. The walls are 12" thick insulated masonry blocks; a Canadian-made product called, Sparfill, that's unfortunately no longer available here. We called in Ready-Mix for the concrete roof. The interior dimensions are a luxurious 2m square.

As luck would have it, I had just taken some photos of the interior for my pal, DL3PB. Please find them attached. Actually, in one bench corner you'll see the 2,400RPM AC induction motor and 400 pole stepper motor that I plan to use in the "Full Monty" version of the present project.

Mike has a wonderful posting on his blog today: http://aa1tj.blogspot.com

Shuttle and Space Station (and Sunspot)

Check it out! The ISS and the Shuttle Discovery captured by an amateur astro-photographer as they passed in front of the sun, with major sunspots nearby! Catalin Fus of Krakow, Poland, had his solar-filtered telescope trained on sunspot 1166 on March 7 and recorded this amazing conjunction. Thanks Catlin and thanks to spaceweather.com.

I had the whole family out in the front yard after dinner last night. ISS and the Shuttle made spectacular pass over the Washington DC area. We saw both rise up from the Northwest and then blink out after passing overhead. The shuttle (I think) was about one minute behind ISS.

40 years of Spice

Bob, W8SX, sent me an interesting article from EDN on the recent commemoration of the 40th anniversary of our beloved SPICE program. Check it out:
http://www.edn.com/blog/IC_Design_Corner/40584-SPICE_a_40_year_old_open_source_success_story.php

Watch the Shuttle fly with the Space Station

The two spacecraft are un-docked but orbiting close together. There is a good visible pass over Canada and the U.S. this evening (see above -- all times EST). Go to http://spaceweather.com/flybys/ to get the times for your location. Hurry, I think the Shuttle comes home tomorrow.

AA1TJ's Dream: No Tubes, No Transistors... ALTERNATORS!

Treat yourself today to an experience in radio enthusiasm and innovation: Go to AA1TJ's blog and read about his latest creation: The Schmidtschem. Michael begins his post this way:

I've dreamed and schemed, off and on, for the last twenty five years over the prospect of constructing a complete, high-frequency (HF) amateur radio station without the use of vacuum tubes or semiconductors... Having considered and subsequently rejected a number of esoteric possibilities, I eventually concluded that a system based on electromagnetic alternators was the most promising.

He has a prototype on the air, using it with a no-gain receiver, and he is making a lot of contacts. Check it out: http://aa1tj.blogspot.com/

Crystal Radio Sleuthing

As part of my effort to stamp out broadcast interference to the SolderSmoke podcast, this weekend I reassembled the crystal radio that Billy and I had built in London. It is REAL simple: Just a parallel LC circuit with a germanium diode detector and some high impedance phones. (I also put a chunk of galena and a cat's whisker on the board -- that's for when I get the urge to form my own PN junctions.) As expected, I immediately heard two AM broadcast stations: WFAX 5 kw 1220 kHz (religious) and WUST 20 kw 1120 kHz AM (mostly foreign language). I found out the hard way that these stations reduce power at night: I was bragging to my wife about the EXCELLENT reception I'd been getting on the crystal set, but when, after dinner, I brought her into the shack for a demonstration, she could barely hear anything. Oh well...

But here's a surprise: These are NOT the stations that are getting into the podcast! With the crystal radio in operation, I did some audacity recording and then quickly checked to see if the breakthrough sounded like what they were playing on WFAX and WUST. NO! The breakthrough was ZZ Top! I'm guessing that the breakthrough was from an FM broadcaster. I note that the length of the cord to the microphone would seems like it would be a nice antenna for the FM broadcast band... What do you guys think?

Whatever the source, I think I have taken care of the problem. I got big ferrite toroid core and wrapped about ten turns of the mic cable through it. No more broadcast breakthrough.

The Knack in Mexico, Engineer and Inventor

Our correspondent in Guadalajara, Roberto XE1GXG, had earlier posted a comment on Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, an inventor who worked on color TV. This morning I had the chance to check out the Wikipedia article on OM Guillermo. I was struck by the telltale signs of The Knack. This is further proof that the phenomenon is truly global. Excerpts from the Wikipedia article:

Guillermo González Camarena (February 17, 1917 – April 18, 1965) (aged 48), was a Mexican engineer who was the inventor of a color-wheel type of color television, and who also introduced color television to Mexico.

Born in Guadalajara in 1917, his family moved to Mexico City when Guillermo was almost 2 years old. As a boy he made electrically propelled toys, and at the age of twelve built his first Amateur radio.

In 1930 he graduated from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (ESIME) at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) with an engineering degree; he obtained his first radio license two years later.

He was also an avid stargazer; he built his own telescope and became a regular member of the Astronomical Society of Mexico.

González Camarena invented the "Chromoscopic adapter for television equipment", an early color television transmission system. A U.S. patent application (2,296,019) states:

“

My invention relates to the transmission and reception of colored pictures or images by wire or wireless...

”

On August 31, 1946, González Camarena sent his first color transmission from his lab in the offices of The Mexican League of Radio Experiments, at Lucerna St. #1, in Mexico City. The video signal was transmitted at a frequency of 115 MHz. and the audio in the 40 meter band.

He died in a car accident in Puebla on April 18, 1965, returning from inspecting a television transmitter in Las Lajas, Veracruz.

A field-sequential color television system similar to his Tricolor system was used in NASA's Voyager mission in 1979, to take pictures and video of Jupiter.^[1]

In 1995, a Mexican science research and technology group created La Fundación Guillermo González Camarena (The Guillermo González Camarena Foundation), which benefits creative and talented inventors in Mexico.

At the same time, the National Polytechnic Institute began construction on the Centro de Propiedad Intelectual "Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena" (Guillermo González Camarena Intellectual Property Center).

The King's Speech Regen

In SolderSmoke 131 I talked about this old homebrew receiver. I picked it up at a radio rally in London and almost sold it at a hamfest in Virginia. A fit of UK nostalgia provoked by a screening of "The King's Speech" caused me to hold onto it. Now it is luring me into two areas that I don't really want to get into: high voltage and regeneration. But here we go... I turn now to our British cousins: What can you tell us about this receiver? 1920s? 30's? What tubes should I be looking for? How would they have powered this receiver? Does anyone have a schematic that might describe this device? (Or something close?)