Just go to http://soldersmoke.com. On that archive page, just click on the blue hyperlinks and your audio player should play that episode.
http://soldersmoke.com
I am having a really EXCELLENT radio morning here at SolderSmoke East coast HQ. I made some progress on the Armand HRO receiver -- just squaring away some of the too-long leads and improving the shielding a bit. Then I was looking out the window as the mailman arrived. What was that little box he was leaving us? Wow! A box from Hyderabad! The BITX 40 module arrived, wrapped in a very interesting piece of Hyderabad newspaper. Very FB. Thanks Farhan. I will surely be writing and talking about this rig in the weeks to come.
UPDATE: I just realized that the BITX module fits very nicely into a TenTec TPC-45 cabinet that Armand gave me a while back. TRGHS.
I'm making slow but steady progress on this one. The origin of the project was the beautiful National HRO dial and gearbox that Armand WA1UQO gave me. I decided to use a 455 kHz IF because; 1) That was the IF of the old HRO receivers (the ones that won WWII) 2) I had a nice TOYO CM455 crystal mechanical filter that would be good for SSB. 3) I figured it would be easy to add in a wider filter that would be good for AM shortwave listening. 4) I like to keep the IF below the frequency of the VFO. The wide filter turned out to be harder than I thought, but I think I have finally achieved the selectivity I was looking for.I'll have a switch on the front panel that will allow me to go from "AM-Wide" to "SSB Narrow." The switch will change the filters and the detectors, and will turn the BFO on and off.
Still to do: I need a high-pass filter to knock down RFI from nearby AM broadcast transmitter. And an RF gain control would be nice.
I'm really glad Radio New Zealand is there. It provides welcome relief from the shortwave fire and brimstone. Radio Romania is also doing a fine job on shortwave.
Pete Juliano and his colleague Giovanni Manzoni led me this morning to the happy land of Hallicrafters hybrid nostalgia. It all started with Pete's latest blog post: http://n6qw.blogspot.com/2016/10/more-junk-box-rigs.html I admit that I had never even heard of the Hallicrafters FPM rigs. Pete's (uh, I mean Giovanni's) video show's Pete's junk-box rebuild of the old rig. Very nice. Note the presence of the Si5351... I needed more background info, so I turned to YouTube. This led me to more old friends: Dale Parfitt W4OP has a really nice video of his rebuild of the Halli FPM rig (see above). From his video we learn why Dr. Juliano prescribed a dose of Si5351 for the patient: Dale tells us that VFO instability was a major problem with this rig. Dale fixed his with the addition of an X-Lock board from yet another friend of SolderSmoke: Ron G4GXO of Cumbria Designs. Dale really out-did himself by building an add-on accessory box for the FPM. Very nice. I especially liked the addition of the W3NQN passive audio filter for CW. I always have misgivings about adding audio filters to Direct Conversion receivers -- this will reduce QRM, but you are still listening to both sides of zero beat. But when you add a sharp CW audio filter to an SSB superhet you will end up with true "single signal reception." FB Dale.
Please send Pete Juliano and Giovanni Manzoni some positive feedback and words of encouragement. Please urge them to keep up the good work on the blog and the videos. Theirs is sometimes a lonely task -- without feedback it can sometimes seem like putting messages in a bottle and throwing them into the digital sea. Please let them know that their work is being seen! Leave some positive comments on Pete's blog. (No snark please -- The Radio Gods will retaliate if you harsh N6QW's mellow.)
"SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" is now available as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle.
Here's the site:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V9FIVW
Velocity factor measurement
-
A frequently asked question is how to measure transmission line velocity
factor. The wide adoption of the NanoVNA has spurred these questions. So,
it is go...
Re: 75A4
-
Joe:
I have one of those 1K fiber optic widgets with screen and capture
capability.
I will try to fire it up and get you a close up view. No promises.
ICOM hint at new 60th anniversary X60 product
-
At the Dayton Hamvention this weekend, ICOM put on display are number of
printed circuit boards from what is supposed to be the 60th Anniversary
Concept ...
May 17, 2024. Caveat Emptor
-
Any blog readers own one of these jewels? It is the uSDX, an Arduino +
Si5351 driven SDR transceiver.
This particular unit was hand built by me about 3 ...
Moorabbin Radiofest
-
The Moorabbin RadioFest was a terrific show this year. The turnout looked
good to me although I'm told it was down on past years.It was great to see
a vend...
Broadcast Band AM Radio
-
See the YouTube series for more information:
http://www.youtube.com/c/CharlieMorrisZL2CTM
Buffer Amplifier
Low Pass Filter
IF Ampli...
An Inline RF Step Attenuator for QRPp Work
-
I don’t need to explain the attraction of low power operation; if you’re
reading this, the chances are that you are already a convert. I’ve been
operating ...
A 51S-1 Restoration Story
-
I came across my Collins 51S-1 in a big junkyard in Ankara, Turkey around
2012. It was in a pile with a lot of other electronic scrap, probably from
one o...
New QRP Cluster Online From OM0ET and OM6APN
-
By DX EXPLORER
DX EXPLORER
Paul OM0ET and Peter OM6APN recently launched a new cluster dedicated to
QRP operations. Have a look and I hope you will enjoy...
3D Printing The Hadley 114mm Newtonian Telescope
-
Yes, we’re building a 3D Printed Newtonian Telescope called Hadley. It’s
being printed in PETG and in the video below, I give a quick tour. My build
isn’...
3D printed project boxes
-
I have been busy with some other things that have kept me away from
electronics projects for quite a while. Now I can get back to them, but
realize I n...
Daylight Again – An all Analog Radio
-
What’s all this? In 10 seconds, A high performance, 7MHz, 5 watt SSB rig
Draws just 24 mA of current 90 dB dynamic range, 80 dB close-in dynamic
range 3D ...
Adding Enclosure to your sBitx Boards Order
-
The early buyers of the sBitx board set who bought it for $270 USD might
want to also add the enclosure (box) for in the kit. What you will now get
is a f...
Digi-chirp! Digital synthesis of ‘nostalgic’ CW
-
The bottom ends of 80, 40 and 20m are not what they used to be. For
starters, the busiest part is the digital segment where computers talk to
computers – l...
-
A Simple Speech Processor
(For QRP/SSB Homebrew Transceivers )
Over the last few weeks I had been thinking to build a small AF speech
processor to add to...
A New Look for your uBitx!
-
Adding a "Cool Blue" Display to your uBitx!
The standard "green background" with black lettering frequently reminds me
that I suffer from Chronic seasickn...