Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke
Monday, April 5, 2021
Sunday, April 4, 2021
A Satellite Ground Station (Receiver) Made from Junk
Saturday, April 3, 2021
A VERY Successful April Fools' Day
Thursday, April 1, 2021
FCC to Ban "Legacy" Equipment and Circuitry
From the FCC Newsline:
Out with the old
In a long-expected policy move, the Federal Communications Commission today announced that starting on April 2, 2022, all equipment in use by the amateur radio service must comply with strict emission purity standards. The Commission's rule-making focuses on the bandwidth of high frequency transceivers. Starting one year from tomorrow, amateur equipment will be limited to a bandwidth of 3500 cycles per second. Emissions outside the bandwidth limits must be at least 100 db below the average power in the bandpass. In effect, this means that amateur equipment must make use of the kind of "brick wall" filtering only available from software defined equipment. Bringing the service into conformity with commercial practices, all high frequency equipment will be on Upper Sideband.
"No more skirts"
An FCC official -- who requested anonymity because of "threats" -- told Newsline that part of the motivation behind today's announcement was a desire to end the unseemly discussion of the filter "skirts" of "legacy" ham radio gear: "Obviously there were concerns about the pejorative way many hams were referring to 'the skirts.' This is the 21st century! It was time to be more inclusive!"
Audio Tinkering to Continue
The FCC official told Newsline that the Commission is not in any way attempting to discourage hams from tinkering with the "audio quality" of their commercial SDR equipment: "As long as they keep the bandwidth to 3500 Hz, they can tinker and adjust to their hearts' content," said the official. He went on to use some of the colorful language recently heard on the ham bands: "If they want to include very low audio frequencies -- what some call 'the thunder down under' they can do that. Or if they want to emphasize the high frequencies -- for that "Krispy Kreme" sound -- they can do that too. All they have to do is learn how to set the menus on their equipment. We understand that the manufacturers will soon be making available software packages that will -- with just a simple download -- set the menus according to the desires of the consumer. Uh, I mean of the radio amateur."
The FCC official said he thinks the ruling will actually encourage and facilitate audio tweaking. "We know this is important to modern hams. It makes them feel connected to the days when hams actually built their own equipment. We have noticed the development of an amazingly rich technical vocabulary, terms like 'presence' "muddy' 'bright' and 'punchy' are now in common use. Clearly the Commission would not want to stand in the way of this kind of technical advancement!"
Sinking the Boatanchors
The FCC acknowledged that this ruling spells the end for on-the-air use of older ham equipment. "Clearly none of that old junk will meet the new requirements. I mean these guys were literally using hunks of rock to filter their sidebands. It was practically medieval! Time to wake up, smell the decaffeinated coffee, and get with the SDR program OM!"
Fears of violent push-back
The FCC official did acknowledge that there are fears of possible violent push-back from certain "sub-cultures" in the ham radio world. "Working closely with our partners in Homeland Security, we have looked closely at the possibility of violent pushback. Of particular concern are groups that appear to be fiercely loyal to what they sometimes defiantly refer to as 'Hardware Defined Radio.' There are some truly frightening groups out there. One group is called the CBLA -- The Color Burst Liberation Army. They seem especially fond of quartz crystals and are radically opposed to the new SDR requirements. Also of concern are groups that continue to insist on using Double Sideband Unsuppressed Phone generated by equipment using vacuum tube. Vacuum tubes! They call them 'thermatrons.' Again this is really medieval." The spokesman said that the FBI is monitoring these groups, but is not very concerned because of the physical condition of many of the fanatics. "Most of these guys rarely leave their homes. In fact, for the last year many of them seem to have been repeating a strange "Stay in the Shack" mantra. Many still smoke, never exercise, and now refuse to take the vaccine. So we are not too worried, " said the FBI spokesman.
Support from Industry and the Major Ham Organization
FCC officials tell Newsline that the major equipment manufacturers -- along with the principal ham radio organization -- were very supportive of this move, seeing it as a major opportunity to "stimulate" both sales and advertising revenue.
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Mending vs. Ending -- The Fight Against Planned Obsolescence
We don't get a lot of mail from Darwin, Australia, so the message coming in from Phil VK8MC immediately got our attention. When I looked into the details I realized that it was very SolderSmoke-relevant. The Guardian article that Phil cited even mentions hobbyists tinkering with electronic devices in their sheds (that would be us!). Phil points to the connection between our repair efforts and the struggle to save the planet: "It's not just a hobby, it's an ethical position which contributes to the well being of the planet. A higher calling indeed!"
Here is the article Phil pointed us to:
The poster above (which hangs above my workbench) is from https://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto.
Monday, March 29, 2021
"Analog Man in a Digital World" by OM Joe Walsh (music video)
Sunday, March 28, 2021
"The Dish" Turns 60
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Double Sideband Transmitter using Vacuum Tubes -- From Sweden
Monday, March 22, 2021
My Hodgepodged Morse: Audio Tone into the Mic Jack Creates J2A not A1A. BASTA!
Don, ND6T
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Hi Bill and Pete,
With putting an audio oscillator into you hodgepodge radio, your transmission is not the same as a standard CW rig.
If we have a transmitter as described in the ARRL handbooks from the 1940's or 1950's, (or even the Michigan Mighty Mite) it is a crystal oscillator and maybe a PA tube. By keying either the oscillator and/or the final PA on and off, then we can send Morse code as ICW Interrupted Continues Wave. If we check the list of emission designators, we have A1A.
However, if we feed a tone into a SSB transmitter, then we have J2A.
At the other end it may sound the same, but because it is created in a different way, it has a different designation.
A quick look at Part 97 shows that J2A and J2B are classed as CW, so you are in the clear. However, if you put a tone oscillator into an AM signal to send CW, then that would be classed as A2A and not classed as CW, but as MCW. MCW can be used on 6 meters and above, but not HF.
SITS.
73 de Peter VK2EMU
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So I say BASTA with the J2A! If I want to go CW, it's all A1A for me. I dusted off my Fish Soup 10 and am now back on 40 CW with 200 mW.... A1A all the way!