Sparks from Ron Sparks: The Grand Pooh Bah and Gilbert and Sullivan; SDR, Ned Ludd and Blaise Pascal

 

Hi Bill,

Thanks very much for the mention in your tenth anniversary podcast!  It is great to know I am embedded in internet history even though I am not that important.

I enjoyed listening to you and Pete on the recent Soldersmoke Podcast.  I really got a kick out of the various discussions and thought I would weigh in.  I am sure you have heard someone say "Well actually...", so here are a few from me

• Grand Pooh-Bah is, as you say, a Flintstones character, but it is not the the origin of the term. It actually goes back bit more than a century.  The original character was named Pooh-Bah and was Lord High of nearly everything.  He appeared in The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan in 1885.
• There really are a fair number of non-software experiments that can be done with SDR.  My first SDR was a set of boards assembled by Gerald when he was first starting Flexradio in 2002.  His plans were very much homebrew and were published in QEX July/Aug 2002.  My second SDR was a homebrew kit put together by Tony Parks, KB9YIG in 2005.  He still sells SDR kits as fivedash.com.  All this is very much home brew and does not rely on obscure hardware blobs.  Have a look at the schematic for the current softrock at Ensemble II Schematic.pdf.  It only uses "jellybean ICs".
• According to the Smithsonian magazine, "Despite their modern reputation, the original Luddites were neither opposed to technology nor inept at using it...A seemingly endless war against Napoleon’s France had brought 'the hard pinch of poverty,' wrote Yorkshire historian Frank Peel, to homes 'where it had hitherto been a stranger.' Food was scarce and rapidly becoming more costly. Then, on March 11, 1811, in Nottingham, a textile manufacturing center, British troops broke up a crowd of protesters demanding more work and better wages."  It was only later that they became associated with resenting the machinery.

I am also enjoying your discussion of the changes to our technology and how it affects hams and other technical people.  I came into electronics as a young boy and at that time transistors were just beginning to displace tubes as a dominant force.  I definitely remember the older techs saying, "These new transistor things are just sand-in-a-can; how can anyone know how a circuit operates with them."

About 12 years later when I was in college I heard exactly the same comment as "jellybean" Integrated Circuits (7400 and 4000) began to displace discrete transistors.  There was much musing about how the future would be one of just plugging ICs together and no design talent would be needed or developed.
Fast forward another 20 years and the microprocessor moved from Primary CPU, to cheap CPU, to PICs and Atmels.  Here came the same comment lamenting the loss of ICs that "we could understand" and "no more electronics is needed, just hook the blocks and write the software."

Now about 10 years from then we are seeing complete transmitter and receiver modules, zigbee, wifi, and many other Adafruit style drop-in modules.  I figure it is about time to hear that old saying once again.  You and Pete need to be careful as you dance about it, don't fall into the trap !

So in the immortal words of Blaise Pascal in 1657, "I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter."
Keep up the good work and great podcast!

73 de AG5RS, Ron

The Coolest Guy on 17 Meters

In our last podcast I mentioned that I had a very interesting contact on 17 meters with Raul Midon AE3RM.  This morning Raul's song "Tembererana" popped up on my Pandora feed.  The song is great, but is was the album cover that attracted my attention. 

Raul has an amazing personal history.  Born in Argentina, he and his twin brother have been blind since birth.  They have both obviously triumphed -- his brother is a NASA engineer.  

You can watch OM Raul sing about technology in his TED Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/raul_midon_plays_all_the_answers_and_tembererana?language=en

Here is his Wikipedia page.  Check out the info about his home studio and his technology company:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3n

From the Wiki:
Midón's album State of Mind was released on May 10, 2005. The album features a guest performance with Stevie Wonder, one of his idols, another one with Jason Mraz, and a song written in tribute to Donny Hathaway entitled "Sittin' In The Middle." Midón is an avid amateur radio enthusiast,^[2] and in this song he also incorporates his call sign (KB5ZOT) by using Morse code.

Here is his QRZ page:  http://www.qrz.com/db/KB5ZOT
In it he writes:  "He has been an amateur radio enthusiast since Mrs. Redmond introduced he and his brother to the hobby back when they both attended the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped."  Good work Mrs. Redmond!

Here is Raul's antenna in Maryland.  Maybe he was thinking of this when he designed the album cover!

    

The Advancement Of The Radio Art and The Enhancement of International Goodwill

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations

 

PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

Subpart A—General Provisions

§97.1   Basis and purpose.

The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:
(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.
(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill.

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

On a recent podcast I mentioned that I like the phrase "the radio art."  I also mentioned that I heard some objections to this term.  A couple of guys wrote in on this --see below. 
I found out that the phrase features prominently in Part 97 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.  This is the document that establishes ham radio in the U.S.  (see above)
I really like the last line of the first section of Part 97: e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill.  Yea!  That's us!  The International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards! 

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

 

Bill:

Was listening to episode 180 and heard you mention that some people had taken exception to using the label “Art” for radio electronics.  You should refer them to the Webster’s definition of art,

 

art. noun \ˈärt\ : something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings. 

 

Often the patent office, much older than radio, will invalidate a patent application based on “prior art”.

 

Keep up the great podcast!  As soon as I finish a couple of other projects, I’m going to try to build Pete’s LBS design.  First, I have got to get a mobile rig installed in my new truck, commuting without it is just too boring.

 

72,

Don

WD4ON

 

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

 

Bill:

I was listening to episode #180 on the on the way into my office this morning and wanted to send you a quick note on the phrase "radio arts." Another example of why "art" is indeed the proper term is that the United States Patent Office (USPTO) classifies patents into, you guessed it "Art Units": http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-search/understanding-patent-classifications/patent-classification .

For example, Art Unit 2621, Class 178 - Telegraphy (http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/uspc178/defs178.htm) which is related to Class 455 Telecommunications (http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/uspc455/defs455.htm)

and many many more as you can well imagine.

Going even further, the basis for our patent system is in Article One, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution:

"To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;"

Which in turn was the basis for the first patent statute, The Patent Act of 1790: http://docs.law.gwu.edu/facweb/claw/patact1790.htm

Keep up the good work in furthering the radio arts!

73,

Tim

KA9EAK

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

 

AK2B's Beautiful Si5351 Receiver -- Just Listen and Watch!

Tom Hall does amazing things with solder and electrons in the heart of New York City.  I give him extra credit for doing this on the island of Manhattan because 1) that's where I'm from and 2) EVERYTHING is more difficult there.

I may have presented this video before.  If I didn't, I should have.  And if I did, well, here it is again (I guess my NYC attitude is showing here).  

Look at the ease with which Tom switches bands.  Fantastic!  But even more important, LISTEN to the quality of the reception.  Listen as Tom tunes in on strong CW and SSB signals.  Do you hear any signs of the dreaded phase noise that is supposed to plague the Si5351 chip?  I do not.  I think this receiver sounds great.

I don't know why the Si5351 got such a bad rep for noise.  Could it be that some people were testing it with boards other than the Adafruit or NT7S products that we have been using?  Could it have been that in the tests the boards weren't completely installed?  (It is important to have the VFO and BFO signal lines properly shielded.)  Could it be that in the tests they were using physically adjacent clock outputs from the board?  (We use CLK0 and CLK2, skipping CLK1 to avoid the "bleedover" problem that was noted by early users.) 

SatNOGS: 3D Printed Az-El Rotators! Ray-Gun PVC Helical Antennas! Arduinos! Dongle Receivers!

Wow, this project is very appealing. Finally, a 3D printer project that seems truly useful.  They are using one of the Dongle receivers we've been playing with, and, of course, Arduinos.  You could really geek-out with this stuff.   Check out the hardware side of this effort here:
https://satnogs.org/documentation/hardware/

Another Free Kindle Book

As a result of Elisa's suggestion, more than 1300 people downloaded the free Kindle version of "SolderSmoke - Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics."   I hope they liked it.  If you did enjoy the book, please spread the word about it  (you can use the e-mail button below to forward this post to friends and relatives), and please put a review on the Amazon Kindle page. 

In the course of following up on Elisa's idea, I discovered that Amazon Kindle has a program that will allow me to make my more recent book available for free (for a limited period).  

So the Kindle version of "Us and Them -- An American Family spends Ten Years WITH FOREIGNERS"  will be available for free from October 3 through October 7.   Please send me feedback,  please let your friends and relatives know about the book (again the e-mail button below is good for that), and please post reviews on the Amazon page. 

You can find the Kindle book here.  It will be free from October 3 through October 7, 2015 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L8DR4RK?*Version*=1&*entries*=0



  

Old Spark (But Thankfully Not Forever)

For the last couple of weeks I have been plagued by noise on the HF bands.  In spite of being in a very built-up area of Northern Virginia,  I usually have low noise levels.  But for the last couple of weeks I've had intermittent but frequent arcing noise.  It sounded like classic power line arcing. 

My 17 meter Moxon antenna provided a clue as to where it was coming from:  As I spun the antenna around, the noise was always a lot stronger to the North-North West.

On Wednesday morning on the way to work I noticed that the fire department and the power utility were working frantically on a pole about a mile from our house.  It had obviously been on fire -- it was still smoking when we went past.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised to find the arcing noise gone.  It took me a few minutes to make the connection -- yes, the smoking power pole was to my North-North West. 

OBVIOUSLY THE RADIO GODS CAME TO MY ASSISTANCE!

This was a good demonstration of the fine front-to-back characteristic of the Moxon antenna.  And a reminder of what radio signals sounded like in the days of spark. 

The 9CS transmitter (from http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/EarlyAmateur.html)

  

Bryan KV4ZS's "Let's Build Something" Direct Conversion Receiver

Bryan: 

 

I think it sounds great!  There is nothing really wrong with it -- that is what 40 meters sounds like!   Sure there is static.  And those whistles you hear near the top of the band are the carriers from shortwave broadcast stations.  You might have a little hum, but that should disappear once you get it all packaged in a metal box.   Congratulations Bryan!  You have done something that very few hams have done:  You have built a receiver. 73  Bill N2CQR

......................

 

Hi Bryan,

 

First let me congratulate you. That is one fine build and you may actually have absolutely nothing wrong!!!!!! I really must applaud your “squares”. They look like they were made on a CNC machine. Bravo!!!

 

You are operating the LBS without an RF amplifier and as such you are trying to make up the gain in the audio amp. I would say that the results you are hearing are very consistent with the DCR without an RF amp. Get the RF amps stage working and then run your test –you will find with the RF amp that at the gain setting you have for the video will be room filling. It actually sounds pretty good. You might also try connecting a 1 NF across the audio trimmer pot as that will cut down on the “hiss’ sound.

 

Concentrate on the RF amp stage and then re-run your test –you will see the difference.

 

Great build – very nice job.

 

73’s

Pete N6QW

 

....................

 

Very nice!

 

Sounds pretty good to me in terms of noise – that’s what a direct conversion receiver sounds like (they tend to be very wide in terms of reception – static is normal... Welcome the world without noise reduction and DSP!!).  DCR’s – because they are not run through a narrow IF filter – allow a very broad range of signals to get to the audio stage. So, for example, if you tune that around during a CW contest, you’ll hear a LOT of signals at the same time – versus only one or two at a time, once you have this run through the 4.9152 crystal filter. That’s the nature of the beast.

 

The 1nf across the audio trimmer definitely will help with reducing the hiss, although I must say my Kenwood receivers all have a similar amount of hiss and I prefer my radios with more, not less, noise (it lets me know what the band conditions are like...). I have noticed on my builds, however, that if you have a very, very high pitch WHINE on the other hand, that tends to be a bad solder joint or bad capacitor somewhere – probably on a capacitor – introducing an offset into your RF someplace it shouldn’t. What that looks like on an oscilloscope is the audio signal will have a large DC offset versus ground – almost always a bad solder joint on a capacitor—or a bad/broken capacitor--somewhere in the audio amplifier. That’s the same problem you get when you try to record audio sometimes from an external source (TV, radio, CD player) on your computer – DC voltage offset on the audio line. Kind of like what you might have heard on a stereo if you ever tried to switch to a channel where the input was hanging open.

 

Ben

KK6FUT

Alan Wolke in the Dinosaur Den (Video)

Very cool.  But it makes me sad that my Tek 465 broke (and I can't fix it!).

Jac's Homebrew Receiver (video)

 

Jac (KA1WI) and I spoke on 40 meters on June 29th.  I told him about the BITX -- he said he liked the idea of building something and pledged to start melting solder.  This week I got this message and video from him.  Good going Jac!  That was fast! I think we all know who designed the IF amp:  Wes W7ZOI.   As for the DS/PLL, I recommend you take a look at the Si5351 with an Arduino microcontroller.

Hi Bill,

 

I started in July building a receiver with the available parts I had collected over many years. Finally today the receiver is working more or less to my satisfaction. Here is a brief description. 

 

I am using a set of crystall filters from an old Atlas 350XL, 5.595 is the IF frequency and the filters  have independent USB and LSB plus CW 500 Hz filter. The radio set is a single conversion type. A DBM at the front end and as product detector. Keeping the BFO signal from leaking is a challenge but I managed by carefully matching the three ports of the DBM used as product detector. Matching the IF filters impedance was another challenge. Following the DBM there is a LNA amplifier using a 2N3866 and I am trying another LNA with a discontinued Siemens BFT66 transistor with a very low noise figure. I have some experience with those and they can be amazingly quite. 

 

The IF amp is a hybrid cascode with three stages and AGC that I found in the internet designed by a well known  OM, the design works very well it is easy to make and is very stable despite its nearly 70 dB of wide band gain. The AGC range is close to 100dB . . .

 

The front end has 6 BPF covering from 1.5 to 30 Mhz all switched by relays. This unit I got from an old German receiver. 

 

The VFO or 1st LO is a DDS unit I had played with years ago. From N3ZI is far from perfection but it does the job when the bands are alive and well. The alternative to the simple DDS are complicated. I wish there were more DDS PLL kits available. It can take a long time to get a full synthesizer satisfactorally working. 

 

The set is made of mechanical parts from a Tektronix main frame instrument, there are many parts of different shapes that can be attached together in a crazy way but certainly very functionally. There is the IF amplifier and the Product Detector BFO enclosed in two brass silver plated boxes, both also recovered from some surplus ages ago. The DDS is one of the sides on the chassis without any shielding.

 

The IF filters and the front end are going to be attached to the rear of the chassis by just adding brackets etc., you get the idea. I am glad the video is acceptable.  

 

I thought it will interest you know that at age 70 is also possible to roll your own, despite having to check every solder joint since my eye sight is the biggest  problem 

 

I have other projects, another receiver with an IF of 9 mHz with SSB and AM filters using another type of high gain IF amp. 

 

Best 73’s de 

Jac
 

First Ever SSB Homebrew to Homebrew Contact by N2CQR. With...

2322 miles.  3737 kilometers

Pete Juliano and I were talking on Skype yesterday evening.  He was regaling me with tales of the wonders of his new beam antenna.  He mentioned that he was working a lot of East Coast stations... Wait a minute, I thought, I'm an East Coast station.  And I have a 20 meter rig sitting right in front of me.  "Meet me on 14.190 Pete!"   It took me a minute or so to get the rig connected to the CCI amplifier and the 20 meter dipole.  By the time I got everything fired up, there was a station on the frequency.  I thought we'd lost the spot.  But no!  I realized it was Pete calling me. 

This was extremely cool.  Pete was using his ZIA rig with the brand new beam.  I was on my VFO BITX20.  And I was using the CCI amp that Pete had coached me on (he taught me how to tap the holes for the heat sink).

This was the first time I had ever contacted another homebrew SSB station -- and the first time Pete and I had spoken on the air.  THE RADIO GODS WANTED THIS ONE TO HAPPEN! 

I recorded the QSO:

http://soldersmoke.com/n6qwn2cqr.mp3

I will ask Pete to provide more detail regarding the California end of this QSO in the comment section below.  Did you have your amplifier on Pete?

Listen to Pete Juliano's Interview on "QSO Today"

http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/n6qw

Pete Experiences the Joy of Rotation

Read all about it (and see the videos):  http://n6qw.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Pete!

Civility, Ham Radio, King Hussein, and the International Brotherhood

Hi Bill,

Interested to hear you talking about civility ... My introduction to amateur radio was via a Heathkit GR 64 and Roy, G3PMX. When I finally took my ticket - 1970, and passed, I called him on the phone to tell him - he told me to come on up to his QTH, I did, via an old bike taking about 30 minutes to get up the hill. When I got there, he put me on the mike, the guy the other end was really great, talked about being a part of an international brotherhood and a movement for world peace - just a magical first contact ...

Roy asked me if his call seemed a little odd, it did, it was short, JY1, but I was really slow to cotton on to who I'd just spoken to... What really blows me away to this day was that the King of Jordan sat in his shack and waited for a 16 year old kid to pedal up the hill just to give him a fantastic first contact ... My only regret is that I never got to speak to him again to say "thank you" - when you talk about legacy radios, it isn't the tech that we need to hold on to, though we do, it was what that man did to reach out to a fellow amateur.
 
By all accounts, he was a fantastic guy, he used to sit at Roy's kitchen table drinking coffee and just being one of the guys ... Sadly I was at sea by then hence not meeting him.

Roy knew him because he worked for Marconi & put the antennas on the palace, Hussein just appeared having that Roy was an amateur and they had a long conversation about radio - when he turned to leave, Roy asked his name so that he could stay in touch - Hussein told him to just ask for Hussein the radio guy - never let on that he was King ...
 
Roy said that on several occasions, JY1 travelled to the UK more or less incognito and hired fairly innocuous cars to get about the country simply because he was here as an amateur, not a head of state …

 

I really do regret that I never got the chance to say “thank you” to him – it was the sort of gesture that I have always thought typifies what you have tried to support and continue, and is indeed carried on by the likes of Joe Taylor who once took the time to respond to an email from me explaining how to set a WSPR system up despite being Nobel Prize winner !! 
 Great example of the spirit of amateur radio transcending all else :-)

 73s, Nick, G8INE

Mighty Mite with Homebrew Capacitor Made from Two Cans (video)

Paul Hodges, KA5WPL, didn't have the variable capacitor called for by the Michigan Mighty Mite schematic.  So in the true spirit of the International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards, he rolled his own!  He used two empty aluminum cans and some electrical tape.  Wow,  that's really cool Paul. 

You have truly earned you membership in the Color Burst Liberation Army, and for the capacitor I award you the prestigious Brass Figlagee with Bronze Oak Leaf Palm.

Listening to Chinese Satellites with my Drake 2-B

On September 22, 2015 at around 1120 UTC I was able to hear the CW beacons from the fleet of new amateur radio satellites put into orbit by China.   Here is a recording:

http://soldersmoke.com/Chinese Satellite XW2.mp3

Very cool.   This reminded me a lot my early experiences with the Russian RS satellites in the 1990s.

China Puts NINE Amateur Satellites in Orbit

 

 

Big news! 

http://www.arrl.org/news/china-successfully-launches-nine-amateur-radio-satellites

and

http://amsat-uk.org/tag/xw-2/

I have pulled my 2 meter down converter out of storage and  have connected it to the Drake 2B.  These satellites are due to be over my location at 0720 local tomorrow.  I will be listening.

SolderSmoke Podcast #180 Pete's Beam, Simple-ceiver, 2-B, Noodling, Homebrew and SDR?, "The Martian", Mailbag

SolderSmoke Podcast #180 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke180.mp3

19 September 2015

PROJECT REPORT:
Pete's Antenna Project:  The Joy of Rotation!
Simple-ceiver
Bill fixes Digi-Tia (after breaking it)
Shack Configured for Winter (DX-100)
Working (a little) on the Drake 2-B

SolderSmoke words we forgot to mention:
Noodling
The Radio Gods
The Radio Art
The Grand Poobah
Magic Smoke
Lud(d)ite Curmudgeonism

SDR and the Homebrewer

"QSO Today" Interviews
Lady Ada interviews Paul Horowitz of "Art of Electronics"

SHAMELESS COMMERCE:  Book still free!
Start your Amazon purchases at our blog page.

Book Review:  "The Martian"

Great QSOs with W5NDS and AE5RM

MAILBAG

Visualizing Harmonics and Square Waves

Very illuminating.  Very cool.   We want more!  Show us how a mixer works! 

From:
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/17/visualizing-the-fourier-transform/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackaday%2FLgoM+%28Hack+a+Day%29&utm_content=Netvibes


Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

AA7EE's Beautiful Sproutie MK II

 

This is almost too much.  Sensory overload is a real risk here.  Go check out AA7EE's amazingly beautiful regen receiver.  On his site he has a masterpiece of a write up, along  with schematics and build photos.  I love the plug-in toroids.    Great work Dave.  Thanks for sharing this with the homebrew community. 

 

Here it is: https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/the-sproutie-mk-ii-hf-regen-receiver/

 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Alan Re-Caps His Drake 2-B

That Drake 2-B is a beautiful thing.   Every time I look at an older tube rig I'm reminded of the three dimensionality of these old machines.   Solid-state rigs are in Flatland, but tube rigs are in three dimensions.

Alan makes a very cool use of the I-pad in this repair.  And I'm jealous of his Hayseed Hamfest Electrolytic (I opted for the multiple caps hanging below the chassis).  Excellent management of the solder-sucker by Alan.  And I was impressed by the disciplined way he pulls solder from the reel -- he has the reel right next tot he rig and dispenses it directly.  I tend to hack off small lengths of solder and end up with lots of little bits of solder on the bench. 

Glad to hear that the other caps on the Drake are standing the test of time.  I wish the same could be said for all the caps in my Heath HW-101.

One thing caught my eye in Alan's video:  The dial cord.   You know you have become a true 2-B aficionado when you have actually gotten good at replacing the dial cord.  It is something of a rite of passage.   Perhaps this will serve as the basis for a future video by W2AEW,

Thanks Alan!  And congrats on passing 4 MILLION YouTube views.  People watch because your videos are so good.   

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Inspiring Stuff on "QSO Today"

Eric 4Z1UG is doing some really great interviews on his "QSO Today" podcast.   I found the last three to be especially informative and inspirational.

Chuck Adams K7QO dispensed a lot of useful information about Muppet boards and construction techniques, but more importantly he put out a lot of wisdom about the hobby, especially on the importance of teaching and sharing knowledge.

The interview with Glenn Elmore N6GN presented many interesting technical ideas, including using WSPR on VHF and UHF, and using aircraft reflections as a Sporadic-E like propagation mode.  He also mentioned "wing vortex" propagation.  Glenn talked about how to use a drone and a special light-weight transmission line to get your VHF/UHF (or cell phone) antenna above the trees.  (See above).

I found the conversation with Gerald Youngblood K5SDR both fascinating and a bit worrisome.  Gerald is obviously a great guy, and he does a wonderful job of describing the technology behind SDR radios, linking it to the phasing techniques that hams have been using since the dawn of single sideband.  He makes a strong case for the new SDR rigs, noting the absence of receiver-produced noise, the advantage of band-wide visual waterfall displays (even while noting that they tend to "make every ham an Official Observer"), and "brick wall filters that don't ring."  But I got and uneasy feeling when he referred to non-SDR rigs as "legacy rigs."  I found myself wondering how long it will be before all our rigs are required to be noise-less and all our filters skirt-less. Will there come a time when our beloved legacy rigs will be deemed unacceptable? (You can already hear this sentiment on the bands.)  And how much room is there in this SDR world for the kind of homebrewing we do? ( I know, I know.  I admit to feeling the presence of Ned Lud as I type these words.)

Great job Eric! And thanks to all the interviewees.   We look forward to the interview with Pete N6QW. 

Eric's QSO Today podcast can be found here:  http://www.qsotoday.com/

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Claude Shannon had The Knack (video)

From Wikipedia:
Shannon showed an inclination towards mechanical and electrical things. His best subjects were science and mathematics, and at home he constructed such devices as models of planes, a radio-controlled model boat and a wireless telegraph system to a friend's house a half-mile away. While growing up, he also worked as a messenger for the Western Union company.
His childhood hero was Thomas Edison, whom he later learned was a distant cousin. Both were descendants of John Ogden (1609–1682), a colonial leader and an ancestor of many distinguished people. 

*************

And he he was part of a scheme to beat Vegas at the roulette wheel through the use of what may have been the first wearable computer: 
http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/edward-thorp-father-of-wearable-computing/

An excerpt from that site: 

After their initial meeting, Thorp says, "we got right to it," and he spent about half his time for the next eight months working away with Shannon in that basement lab in Shannon's house, on one of Massachusetts' Mystic Lakes. In his paper, Thorp described the lab as a "gadgeteer's paradise," with what he estimated to be about a hundred thousand dollars' worth of electronic, electrical and mechanical items. The regulation roulette wheel, ordered from Reno for $1,500, was set up on an old slate billiard table.

Thorp describes Shannon as the "ultimate gadgeteer," and recalled in his paper that the man he met in that office was a "thinnish alert man of middle height and build, somewhat sharp-featured," and that "his eyes had a genial crinkle and the brows suggested puckish incisive humor." That humor would become evident as the two worked together at the house on the lake. Thorp wrote that Shannon taught him to juggle three balls, and that he rode a unicycle on a steel cable strung between two tree stumps. "He later reached his goal," he wrote, "which was to juggle the balls while riding the unicycle on the tightrope."

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Kids Homebrewing in Japan in the 1920s

 

Michael Rainey, AA1TJ, Poet Laureate of QRP and Wizard of the Vermont Hobbit Hole found this drawing and put it on his face book page.  It is clearly supportive of the "International Brotherhood of Electronic Wizards" theme of this blog, so I have shamelessly expropriated it.  All for the cause Michael!   I hope this indicates that OM AA1TJ is emerging from a too-long spate of radio-inactivity. 

 

Michael says the drawing is from the 1920's children’s magazine, "Kodomo No Kuni" by Kiichi Okamoto.  David Cowhig, WA1LBP, provides this translation:

 

Title "Ni-chan,  I can hear it!"

The radio kid is saying something like:

-- Wait, no I lost it.

-- uhhhh

-- I can hear it, I can hear it, I've got it!

 

David notes: Sometimes Japanese use the katakana syllabary to add emphasis like we might with italics or exclamation points. 

 

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Kon-Tiki and the Gibson Girl

Back in July we shared a very nice video sent to us by Rupert G6HVY on the radios used by the Kon-Tiki expedition.  Many of us had questions about the device used by the intrepid radio operator to generate hydrogen gas (for the antenna balloon) while on the high seas.   Mike Herr WA6ARA supplied the answer:   1200 grams of Calcium Hydride crystals.  This was part of the WWII rescue  radio set CRT-3 (aka the Gibson Girl). 

Fair Radio Sales occasionally sells this intriguing device: 
https://www.fairradio.com/catalog.php?mode=search&keywords=hydrogen&submit.x=21&submit.y=8

And here is great site with more details on the other antenna supports in the Gibson Girl set, including a ROCKET LAUNCHED KITE! 

https://billboyheritagesurvey.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/war-kite-the-gibson-girl-kites/

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Speaking of Breadboards...

Clint KA7OEI sent us these inspiring photos of his 10 GHz transverters.  FB Clint!  The one on the top was built in 2005 and STILL looks like this.  Note "CAT" component in the version pictured in the second photo.


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Si5351 and the Spectral Purity Mask

I was thinking about spectral purity standards and the Si5351 chip. I realized that I didn't even know what the FCC standards for "close in" noise are.   The standards for spurious emissions ARE well known, but these are for harmonics and parasitic emissions relatively far from the desired signal.  What about unwanted signals CLOSE to the desired signal? 

My old 2002 ARRL handbook indicates that the FCC has not established firm standards for this "close in" noise.  (They call it "out of band" noise, but are clearly referring to noise that is close to the desired signal but spreading out beyond the desired bandwidth.  Phase noise would be in their category.)

In the course of my Googling, I found the above spectral purity mask.   I don't know where it comes from, but I think it is the kind of graph that would be very useful to us as we evaluate the merits and shortcomings of various frequency synthesizers.  Would our DDS or PLL rigs fit in this mask?   I think an Si5351 rig WOULD.  According to KE5FX's measurements, at a mere 100 Hz from the center frequency, the Si5351 phase noise is already -90 db.

Does anyone have a similar mask showing current standards?

I still don't understand why so many folks believe that the Si570 is a useful part for homebrew rigs, but the Si5351 is not.  Look at the numbers:

Si570
Clifton Labs  measuring at 30 MHz carrier. At 10kHz from carrier:   -109.6 dbc/Hz
Silicon Labs web site (carrier freq not specified) At 10 kHz from carrier:  -116 dbc/Hz

Si5351
KE5FX measuring at 19.99 MHz. At 10kHz from carrier:  -127 dbc/Hz
Silicon Labs  measuring at 156.2 MHz. At 10 kHz from carrier   -112 dbc/Hz.

Can anyone out there explain the technical basis for the belief that the Si570 is a useful part while the Si5351 is not?   

It is important to keep things in perspective.  ALL of these noise numbers represent VERY small noise levels.   Let's keep is simple and assume a 100 watt carrier signal and a phase noise of -100 dbc/Hz.   That means the phase noise per hertz would be .00000001 watts.  That's watts/hertz.  How much "noise power" would that represent in a typical SSB passband?  Multiply by 2500 Hz and you get 25 microwatts.  That's really low noise levels. Not enough to worry about.  And as we've noted, we've happily used rigs with LC VFOs and crystal oscillators for all these years without every once measuring their phase noise.

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Alan Wolke's Drake 2-B (video)

Alan's video inspired me to do a little work with my Drake 2-B.  Nothing major -- I was just making sure that the passband knob is in the right setting.  I've complained that the Drake 2-B doesn't sound great on AM.  I recently noticed that my BITX40 DIGI-TIA sounds surprisingly good with AM signals -- I just treat them as SSB signals and zero-beat the carrier with my Si5351 VFO.  I wanted to try doing the same thing with the 2-B, and then make some comparisons.  I only heard a few AM signals this morning, so I will try again later today and will report results here.   

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SolderSmoke Book Now Free on Amazon Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/SolderSmoke-Global-Adventures-Wireless-Electronics-ebook/dp/B004V9FIVW/ref=la_B001JOYVM4_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441406675&sr=1-1

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Breadboarding and Mountaintopping

We needed an illustration today.  I was having trouble finding something suitable.  Then the Radio Gods (along with Joe Peltola and the artist N0UJR) provided this.  Obviously I can relate to the breadboard operation. I'm sure Pete can too.  As for the mountain topping, that made me think of Colin, M1BUU.  And of Wes, W7ZOI.

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Five Lessons from Pluto for Homebrewers

http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/embedded-basics/4440230/5-Engineering-Lessons-from-Pluto?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150901&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150901&elq=3e27f3c4018844db9381c8a508867555&elqCampaignId=24586&elqaid=27842&elqat=1&elqTrackId=06ba9f8cc21140c1ae477df75c36dd65

Thanks to Bob Crane, W8SX, for the link to this article.   Those of us who are reading "The Martian" will find the mention of RTG power interesting (but hey, let's not try to put any plutonium in our rigs, OK?) 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Interview with Paul Horowitz (W1HFA) -- A Giant In Radio Electronics (Video)

I've been hearing about this book for years, but until I watched this interview, I knew nothing about the author.  Thanks Lady Ada.  (And thanks to Farhan for the alert.) 

As a native New Yorker, I'm pleased to include in the blog yet another reminder that the Big Apple is not all fashion and finance -- a lot of solder has been melted in my home town. 

Paul Horowitz has a truly awesome bio.   He got his ham license at age eight.  QST tells us that lots of little kids do this, but unlike some of the youngsters we see in the magazine I suspect young Paul really mastered the theory.  Paul Horowitz has "The Knack."  Big time.

PhD from Harvard.   Author of "The Art of Electronics."  Pioneer in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Carl Sagan is believed to have  modeled the main character in "Contact" partly on Paul.  Check out the wiki  page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Horowitz

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"The Soul of a New Machine"

 

We talk a lot about putting soul in our new machines.  The phrase comes from a book by Tracy Kidder.   Ira Flatow of NPR's Science Friday recently took a new look at this book.  There are TWO recordings in this link.  Both are worth listening to.  The second is an interview with the author, conducted at Google HQ in New York City.  Woz chimes in. 

http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/08/28/2015/the-scifri-book-club-talks-the-soul-of-a-new-machine.html

At about 6:43 in the second interview, Ira Flatow and Tracy Kidder get into a little argument about how to pronounce the word "kludge."  I'm with Ira -- the fact that he pronounces it this way makes me think that we are using a New York, or at least and East Coast pronunciation. 

I am a big fan of Tracy Kidder.  His "Mountains Beyond Mountains"  is about Dr. Paul Farmer, a heroic physician who has dedicated his life to treating the poor people of Haiti.  "My Detachment" is about Kidder's stint as an army officer in Vietnam.   Kidder and his editor wrote a nice book about the crafts of writing and editing: "Good Prose."  "Strength in What Remains" is about the genocide in Burundi. 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Awesome Kits from Austin Texas

http://www.qsl.net/k5bcq/Kits/Kits.html

If this is the kind of great stuff that results, then I agree with the bumper sticker:

KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!

Scroll down to kit #25 for more details on the device pictured above.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Adam Savage (Myth Busters) Interviews Andy Weir (Author of "The Martian")

I liked this interview a lot, and I am sure SolderSmoke listeners will like it too.
Weir admits to NOT having the Knack, but Mark Watney clearly does have it.

Also, check this out: http://www.cannonade.net/mars.php#map

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

Knack Movie and Book -- SolderSmoke on Mars -- "The Martian"

I realize I'm very late in reading this book.  Billy read it last winter.  The movie is already coming out.  I guess I didn't see the Knack element in this story until I saw the movie trailer.  Wow.  This is a book and movie for us.    Dude is stranded on Mars and has to fix the radio  (with Hendrix playing in the background).  I'm reading the book now (appropriately, on my I-phone).  I find myself thinking about the Elser-Mathes Cup.   

More on the book here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_(Weir_novel)

From the Wiki article:
Andy Weir, the son of a particle physicist, has a background in computer science. He began writing the book in 2009, researching related material so that it would be as realistic as possible and based on existing technology.^[4] Weir studied orbital mechanics, astronomy, and the history of manned spaceflight.^[6] He said he knows the exact date of each day in the book.^[7]
Having been rebuffed by literary agents when trying to get prior books published, Weir decided to put the book online in serial format one chapter at a time for free at his website.^[4] At the request of fans, he made an Amazon Kindle version available at 99 cents (the minimum he could set the price).^[4] The Kindle edition rose to the top of Amazon's list of best-selling science-fiction titles, where it sold 35,000 copies in three months, more than had been previously downloaded free.^[4][7] This garnered the attention of publishers: Podium Publishing, an audiobook publisher, signed for the audiobook rights in January 2013. Weir sold the print rights to Crown in March 2013 for over a hundred thousand dollars.^[4]
The book debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list on March 2, 2014 in the hardcover fiction category at twelfth position.^[



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Farhan's Secret Project: The SPECAN (Extremely Cool) (video)

I had been sworn to secrecy for so long,  I thought I was going to burst.  I almost hinted at this in the last podcast.  But I didn't.  I kept the secret.  But now Farhan has made public his latest creation: 

http://hfsignals.blogspot.in/p/specan-reboot-of-w7zoi.html

This is really great.  I want to build one.  I have to build one.  I NEED one of these.

Great work Farhan.  Thanks for bringing the ham community another amazing piece of gear.

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

SPECIAL 10th ANNIVERSARY OFFER ON SolderSmoke BOOK FREE DOWNLOAD

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the SolderSmoke podcast, I have reduced the price of the book "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics."  I've taken the price as low as Amazon and Lulu will allow.  

Here are the new prices. (These prices are temporary.)

FREE E-BOOK DOWNLOAD FROM LULU:  http://www.lulu.com/shop/bill-meara/soldersmoke-global-adventures-in-wireless-electronics/ebook/product-20740433.html

Amazon Kindle e-book: FREE
http://www.amazon.com/SolderSmoke-Global-Adventures-Wireless-Electronics-ebook/dp/B004V9FIVW/ref=la_B001JOYVM4_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441406675&sr=1-1
 

Amazon Print version:  $5.54:  https://www.createspace.com/5109055

LULU Print versions:  $4.45      http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

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Unfazed! Fight HISS-teria! Give the Si5351 a Chance.

 

Thanks to all who have contributed to our discussion of phase noise and the Si5351 chip.  Let me throw out some ideas -- some technical, others philosophical.

1)  We may be worrying about this too much.   In all of the homebrew or kit rigs we've built over the years, I never recall much concern about the phase noise specs of the LC or crystal oscillator circuit that we were using. What were the phase noise stats on a Heath VF-1? How about the phase noise stats for the little Hartley oscillator in those DC receivers we made?  No one even checked. Our rigs usually worked just fine.  We would have noticed if they were extremely noisy, but if they were good enough, we left well enough alone.  It doesn't really make much sense for us to now be suddenly very concerned about the phase noise stats of the various DDS and PLL chips that are replacing those LC and crystal circuits, especially when the measurements show that they are usually in the same range as our old familiar oscillators.   

2) The perfect can be the enemy of the good, and the "good enough."  We have a long tradition in ham radio of tolerating less-than-perfect or less-than-optimum parts.  Remember, the NE-602 has some shortcomings, but we use it. We use it a lot.  The IRF-510 wasn't even designed to be an RF amplifiers, but we have pressed it into service for our PAs.

3) We should be willing to give a new part a try, and we should be pleased if it proves useful.  We should be wary of untested claims re the unsuitability of a component.  We have to avoid the "works in practice, but not in theory" situation.   If something works well, doesn't create additional QRM,  is inexpensive, and fosters experimentation and homebrewing, we should be happy about being able to use it.  

4) All electronic components -- not just the Si5351! --  produce noise.  Resistors produce noise.  Look at this:
" We can infer... that if we install phase-quiet oscillators in transmitter and receiver, we ought to be able to tune our receiver to a frequency closely adjacent to a very strong signal from the transmitter without encountering anything like phase-noise hiss. Yet, after an exhaustive phase-noise cleanup at transmitting and receiving sites, we test our communication system only to discover that the transmitter still emits broadband hiss! The culprit is transmitted amplifier noise. Just about every modern transmitter or transceiver consists of a high-gain, linear amplifier strip that amplifies the low-level output of oscillators, mixers and phase-locked loops to hundreds of watts or a few kilowatts. Because amplifier circuitry is not perfectly quiet, the output of the transmitter contains noise (hiss) in addition to the amplified signal. Transmitted along with the desired signal, this hiss can degrade the noise floor of nearby receivers-just as transmitted phase noise can. Where does amplifier noise come from? Thermal noise, for one thing. Electronic components operated at temperatures greater than absolute zero generate random electrical noise. This noise is broadband in nature. Greatly amplified in an audio amplifier-or greatly amplified in a radio transmitter, transmitted as broadband radio noise, received and converted to audio-it sounds like hiss. Random variations in electron flow within active amplifier components (transistors and vacuum tubes) are another source of amplifier noise. Transmitted as broadband radio noise, received and converted to audio, it also sounds like hiss." Source: http://www.robkalmeijer.nl/techniek/electronica/radiotechniek/hambladen/qst/1988/03/page14/index.html

5) It seems that whenever a new technology or part comes along there will be those who issue dire warnings about how we can't or shouldn't use it.   When transistors came along, there were those who said that hams shouldn't homebrew with them because -- it was argued -- without spectrum analyzers we couldn't possibly come up with spectrally pure signals. 

6)  We have to be careful lest this obsession with perfection and extremely high tech standards be used as a rationale for not homebrewing, or (much worse) as an argument against homebrew rigs on the ham bands.   There is a bit of this going around.   Get on 40 meters with rig that drifts a bit or that is not "on frequency" to within 10 Hz and you will find out what I mean. 

7)  The Si5351 is a good part for our purposes. It does something new and VERY useful for us:   It can put out BOTH our VFO and BFO frequencies.   It makes it much easier for us to change bands and-or switch between USB and LSB.   Its phase noise figures are fine.  LA3PNA (citing measurements by KE5FX) notes: "The phase noise of the Si5351 is around -130dBc/Hz at 10KHz. This is quite decent, If compared to a Hartley or Collpits you would see little or no difference. Some of my measurements of published free running oscilators show phase noise in the -110dBc/Hz range!" 

-130 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz puts this part on the "good" curve of this chart. From (http://www.robkalmeijer.nl/techniek/electronica/radiotechniek/hambladen/qst/1988/03/page14/index.html

We should give this little chip a chance!   Give it a try! 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

SolderSmoke Podcast #179 SPECIAL TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

SolderSmoke Podcast #179 is available:

22 August 2015

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke179.mp3

YESTERDAY MARKED 10 YEARS OF THE SOLDERSMOKE PODCAST

-- A clip: The first minutes of SolderSmoke #1

-- A trip down SolderSmoke memory lane.

-- The SolderSmoke lexicon -- words and phrases we use (a lot).

BENCH REPORT

-- Pete's antenna project.

-- Pete's new Blog:   http://n6qw.blogspot.com

-- Bill's big amplifier problem fixed thanks to Allison KB1GMX.

-- Six digit freq readout with an Altoids case.

THE Si5351 PHASE NOISE CONTROVERSY

-- ALL oscillators make noise.

-- Keeping things in perspective:  It is 100 db down!

-- Observations and tests from LA3PNA, NT7S, and K0WFS:

http://k0wfs.com/2015/08/21/si5351-phase-noise-and-thd-tests-using-an-agilent-e4402b-spectrum-analyzer/

http://nt7s.com/2014/11/si5351a-investigations-part-7/

-- Try it, you'll like it!  The benefits trying things on real rigs.

NEWS

Interviews on "QSO TODAY" with Eric 4Z1UG.

Horrible band conditions.

Looking at Saturn with telescope.

MAILBAG

Another recruit for the CBLA:  Paul KA5WPL.

Ron G4GXO on Bell-Thorn and Eden9 SSB rigs.

Rupert G6HVY on Kon Tiki radio and Mr. Spock.  

Mikele's Croation BITX rigs.

Dean AC9JQ's TIA.

Bryan KV4ZS will build an LBS receiver.

Dave Anderson give Pete good antenna advice.

Steve Smith moves in from the garage.

Pete has built  12 SSB transceivers.  Intervention time? 

Our book: "SolderSmoke -- Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics" http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20