Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Perseverance gets to Mars with Parachute and Sky Crane
Saturday, February 20, 2021
A Step Closer to the Elser-Mathes Cup? Ham Receives Signals from Mars
Friday, February 19, 2021
A Problem with the San Jian PLJ6-LED Counter
James West, Inventor of the Electret Mic, has THE KNACK
For many reasons, this is a really nice story. It is about a kid with The Knack, a kid who, like young James Clerk Maxwell, wanted to understand how things work. It is also a technology story, the story of the invention of a device very important to us: the electret microphone. (Remember the earlier carbon mics in telephones? I'll bet more than a few of our readers are guilty of stealing a few of those mics from pay phones.) And it is a reminder of the benefits of helping kids who might need a mentor... or and Elmer.
Thanks Hack-A-Day. And three cheers for James West.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Phasors and the Propeller Analogy from Walla Walla University
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
My Current Rig: The Quarantine Hodgepodge
It puts out about 15 watts SSB. I was bracing for attacks from the 40 meter waterfall police, but no, everyone said it sounds great. I had four very nice contacts yesterday. It was fun.
Still to do: Possibly a San Jian frequency counter to give some Juliano Blue glowing numerals for the frequency readout. This would be a step up from the Juliano Blue sticky note and corresponding piece of black electrical tape that currently serves as the frequency indicator.
Monday, February 15, 2021
Jean Shepherd Works Through a Satellite in a School
Sunday, February 14, 2021
Friday, February 12, 2021
A Lifetime of Workshops
https://microship.com/consoles/?fbclid=IwAR37yc-NfOrUC93C8QZYXZfakGLf-4eBtPw2php0CpzGHBW3-fb55ciyp0w
It has been more than decade, but we've posted about Steven K. Roberts N4RVE before:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-didnt-care-i-had-secret-life.html
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2009/09/knack-on-bike-steve-roberts-video.html
This morning I came across his recent article about the workshops he's had over the course of his life. Very nice. Man, I should have held on to that SP-600 I once had. You folks will like this:
https://microship.com/consoles/?fbclid=IwAR37yc-NfOrUC93C8QZYXZfakGLf-4eBtPw2php0CpzGHBW3-fb55ciyp0w
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Microphone Men -- A Really Nice Video
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Meet Your New Soviet Neighbor -- With Hallicrafters
Monday, February 8, 2021
A Quantum Mechanics-based Receiver. The Rydberg Detector
Sunday, February 7, 2021
A Really Nice Video about a Regen Receiver
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Some Thoughts on Singly Balanced Mixers with Two Diodes and One Transformer
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Shuji Nakamura -- The Inventor of Juliano Blue LEDs
He is the 2014 winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics. He is the person who figured out how to make blue light LEDs through the use of an Indium Gallium Nitride semiconductor. I was reading about him this morning in "Conquering the Electron" by Derek Cheung and Eric Brach. Thanks to Nakamura, the numerals on all my frequency displays glow in a pleasing Juliano blue. Three cheers for Nakamura!
More on him here:
https://www.trumpf.com/en_US/presse/online-magazine/nobel-price-winner-nakamura-wants-more-light/
Monday, February 1, 2021
The VFO that I am looking for: The Globe VFO deluxe
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Repairing My Maplin Audio Waveform Generator
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Hyderabad Field Day
Hams in Hyderabad, India held a Field Day this week. That looks like a uBITX next to that HT. FB!
More info here:
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
SolderSmoke Podcast #228
Of course, no travel.
But vaccines are here so maybe soon we can leave our shacks.
In the meantime:
I’ve been playing chess against AI bots on chess.com.
Netflix recommendation: The Bureau. From France. A review from NPR:
A reading from "Conquering the Electron." Germanium vs. Silicon.
Bill’s Bench:
The KLH Model Twenty-one II.
Acoustical Suspension. First receiver
WITH A PILLOW! Bad speaker? Blown AF amp
finals. Hot heat sink. VBE Multiplier. Desitin.
Tony Fishpool’s recommended LM386 boards. 10 for 11 bucks. Nice. They
work. Pictured in the Amazon ad at the
upper right of the SolderSmoke blog page.
Putting a digital display on the Lafayette HA-600A
Test gear trouble. My
Radio Shack multimeter getting flaky. I
many need something better. Auto
ranging? My beloved Maplin AF generator died – will have to fix. I need that
thing. Probably a bad chip. Good thing they are socketed.
I almost forgot about SKN!
But I remembered and I made one contact with the HT-37 and Drake 2-B.
Pete’s Bench:
Presentation to RSGB on Homebrew.
TenTek Troubleshoot.
Swan 240? Looking
nice.
SDR adventures.
MAILBAG
Bill N8ET sent me some really nice Showa 9 MHz 8 pole
crystal filters.
Kevin AA7YQ Smoke jumper!
Building a hybrid SDR.HDR rig.
Launched blog. FB
Nick M0NTV working on similar HDR/SDR project. Great video.
Grayson KJ7UM Hollow State Design – Launched a new
blog. Very FB!
Thomas K4SWL of SWL Post blog. Kearsarge Mountain Transmission system. And recent events.
Peter VK2EMU Poetry.
CW poetry.
Pete WB9FLW looking at DSB rigs…
Drew N7DA Feels not
like a real ham because he hasn’t built a quad from bamboo. Which type of
landscape bamboo is best for antennas?
Ryan Flowers of MiscDotGeek.Com blog is also watching the
Tally Ho YouTube videos of Leo Sampson. Wants to put a WSPR beacon on the Tally
Ho.
Joe KF5OWY Working
with diode ring mixers, trying to see the mixer action on his ‘scope. 1 and -1!
Jim AB9CN sent a cool idea about how to do a 20/17 Moxon.
Roy GM4VKI – I thanked him for his article in SPRAT about
putting a 2n3904 on the output of an NE602 10P mod. Brilliant.
Roger Hayward Told him that I really liked his Dad’s recent
web site updates.
Farhan – Jokingly cursed me for showing him the Oscillodyne
regen of Hugo Gernsback and Jean Shepherd. “Now I will have to build this!”