December 31, 2024. Last day of this year. Time to spend some money.

 

Meet the $800 Xiegu X6200 Appliance Box Radio 

This is a QRP radio with an internal battery that will produce 5 watts before a recharge (typically 4 to 5 hours) and touted as PFP (Perfect For POTA). It has a 3.7 out of 5 rating with several complaints like not good for CW ops and non-functioning out of the box. Who would buy this radio?

Well likely lots of potential purchasers would. One of its advertised features is small size which is a boon for those who do not suffer from FFS (Fat Finger Syndrome). Yet another is that it is a Direct Sampling SDR which means that you must update the radio frequently to get the latest fixes to the problems that were inherent when shipped from the factory. 

Hate to say it but you could get an ICOM IC7300 for less money and despite also being an appliance box has a proven track record. 

I chose this subject and rig for today's spotlight if only to say choose wisely and read the fine print. I have an old car and likely the chewing gum and bailing wire fixes are at EOL (end of life). It is a Toyota Avalon with mileage close to 200K and 19 years old. But a couple of items that would need to be addressed near term, will cost about $5000 for a car with a bluebook value of less than $2000.

My kids at Christmas jumped all over me about buying a Tesla M3. That is some slick advertising -- my #3 (Mechanical Engineer) whipped out his phone to show me that a $43000 MSRP M3 out the door was only $31000 with the rebates and savings.

Read the fine print as that price only applies to a black car with a black interior and the $12000 price reduction includes the $7500 rebate and a calculation that you will save $5000 in gas in California over some specified time. That $5000 is not immediate and is purely a suggested savings and not up-front cash in your pocket! BTW any other color of car or interior (white interior is the only other choice) adds one to two thousand dollars to the price tag.

So, the out the door price is the $43000 (black car and black interior) + the dealer prep, shipping, taxes and $420 for floor mats and $35 for an upright interior tray table, plus $420 for the home charger and the range is only 300 miles. 

It looks like the $31000 M3 will be about $38000 to drive off the lot. But it has 510 horsepower and can do 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. It also has 23 cu ft of storage space and no more oil changes. 

The last thing I need to do is put money in Elon Musk's pocket -- you know he is the guy who is trying to put you out of work if you are employed in government service. He is also the guy protecting his foreign tech workers with the immigrant special visa arrangements. My oh my decisions have consequences, so look what you got if you voted for what's his name.

I still need a new car but as my #3 son (smart guy) said: Change the oil, rotate the tires and make sure the brakes work and forego the expensive repairs. Drive it until it dies and only then spring for a new ride. Today it is worth less than $2K so not a huge trade in!

Are you really going to spend $800 for a 3.7 out of 5 rated radio that is only 5 watts and works for 5 hours on a battery? Think hard!

Happy New Year.

73's

Pete N6QW

December 30, 2024. Throwing down the gauntlet challenge ~ A Thermatron Direct Conversion Receiver

With lots of time to think, but little time to build, and as we close out 2024, my thoughts turned to "why not a vacuum tube version of a Direct Conversion Receiver".

Friends N2CQR and KK4DAS caused this thought aberration as they embark on a 2025 community build of a solid state DCR. Mind you this is just N6QW having a lot of time to think.

Firstly, FOAM is still valid as a driving concept: Filter, Oscillator, Amplifier and Mixer. I see four tubes would be needed. Two 12BA6's, one 12AX7 and one 12AQ5.

One 12BA6 would be at the RF Amplifier spot with the second 12BA6 used as the LC Local Oscillator. The 12AX7 would be used as the Product Detector and Audio Pre-Amp. Finally, the 12AQ5 is employed as the Audio Output Stage.

The beauty of this specific topology is that much of the circuitry already exists for these FOAM elements. Some of these circuits are sitting in my Hybrid SSB transceiver design. No High School Science project involved here. The toughest part is the Local Oscillator and keeping that stable. But that is the same problem with a solid-state version.

We would have to use 12VDC on the filaments to address any hum problems and the plate supply can be something as simple as a 125 VAC to 125 VAC Isolation transformer in a full wave rectifier circuit with a hefty filter on the output. The current draw for the plate/screen would be something less than 50Ma and a 100 Volt Zener would stabilize the supply voltage to the LC Oscillator. For the front end we could use a 40M Band Pass Coupler (design exists).

Now a potential slick trick for the LC Local Oscillator would be to run it on 80M and using a diode doubler create a very stable 40M LO. 

[A 17M SSB transceiver design of mine which used a 4.9152MHz HB filter needed a 23MHz LO. I built a 11.52MHz Super VXO and diode doubled that to give me about 40 kHz right in the middle of the 17M phone band, so I know that the doubler solution works!]

Here are some of the circuits that would be used in the Thermatron DCR. These work! We could entertain using a third 12BA6 as the audio amplifier stage which would give an output on par with a LM386. I investigated the 6BA6 as an audio amp stage and that exits in hardware. 

So, there are two burning questions that surface. The first is why the Vacuum Tube DCR and the second involves serious psychotherapy for N6QW. The first question is that while I haven't done serious deep diving on the internet, I haven't seen any tube DCR's. Possibly since the DCR hit the streets in 1968 and was solid state it never started as a vacuum tube design that migrated to solid state. 

The portability of the solid-state is a huge factor when you think about a POTA op using CW and a DCR. A $15 DC to AC inverter from Lauren Sanchez' boyfriend would resolve that problem -- but more hardware to lug to the picnic bench.

N6QW has always been a few corn flakes short of a full bowl so no psychotherapy required or needed.

A project like this could be the seed for an evolutionary development like adding a mating transmitter. That 12AQ5 would be a Jim Dandy 5-watt transmitter tube and with some intermediate circuits (also existing) the DCR can be turned into a superhet with a HB crystal filter.

I see a project like this as a means of "coping with the chaos" that soon will infest this once great nation. Those that chose that option, what have you done? 

Happy New Year.

73's

Pete N6QW

December 29, 2024. A response to the soon to be Tariff Impact.

The always and forever is the better mousetrap! A tour through eBay yesterday was an eye opener.

I actually was looking for crystal filters and saw a bunch under the ICOM section. The FL-30, a 9 MHz, 2.3 kHz wide SSB filter can be found in many ICOM rigs of the past. These are currently priced in the $20 to $30 range. For tighter skirts the FL-80 is a good selection.  A tighter skirt on a shapely YL is better and so take the hint when it comes to filters.

My tenet for those 1st time builders who want to build a SSB transceiver is that you buy a commercial filter as a first step build. After you get your homebrew rig working and working properly, then and only then, take up the science project of homebrewing a filter. 

You want your very 1st HB rig to be a success, and a commercial filter puts you way up on the curve. Later on, you can fiddle and fool around with the math and crystal selections and even use that untrustworthy Nano VNA you have.

I have several radios with homebrew filters, and they work FB because I know what the rig can do with a commercial filter first. My choice for a HB frequency is a filter at 4.9152 MHz --- just like in the Elecraft K2.

But while touring ICOM, I spotted several offerings from China for the ICOM IC7300 for less than $600. It's clear they have product they are trying to dump before what's his name Tariffs kick in. I even saw one NIB IC7300 for $19. Yes, $19 but the shipping was around $650. 

Now is that a way to beat old what's his name Tariff plan? Does the tariff exclude shipping costs because that would be one sure loophole? The Oriental mind is very good at business, and I am sure they know the tricks to avoid tariffs -- $669 is a great price for a IC7300 for those who can't resist the appliance boxes and lack the technical chops to actually build stuff. Regrettably those two factors are a common set amongst a large segment of the US Ham population.

The $600 price tag on an ICOM IC7300 is sure to give DX Engineering and Giga Parts some heartburn as their price range is about $400 higher. (America will be great again with higher prices.) Then a clever option will be to set up stores just across the US/Canadian border and sell the $19 IC7300 with the $650 shipping cost.

Better mousetraps always bring a smile to my face, and I can see the $19 radio as a great clever idea!

73's

Pete N6QW

December 27, 2024. It is time to resist. Join the Resistance Movement!

This is not a political posting but instead an opportunity to address some serious issues concerning our hobby.

At one time it was not the number of hams who were licensed that was the metric but that those who were licensed hams all had a level of technical chops. The ARRL in a move to increase advertising revenues fostered the get more hams licensed by dumbing down the licensing requirements. 

ARRL's own data shows about 770,000 licensed US hams today but only half of that number have full HF privileges. The rest have a Baofeng UV 35R handheld.

Many of the technical advances in our hobby during the period 1940 -1970 were a direct result of ideas and products developed in ham shacks across the US.

Some Internet Data (not independently verified but likely close).

1939 about 51000 US licensed hams

1950 about 90000 US licensed hams

1956 about 140000 US licensed hams

1970 about 270000 US licensed hams

2024 about 770000 US licensed hams

So, what this tells me is that there was a 5-fold increase in the ham population in the 30-year period, 1940 - 1970. But in the 54-year period from 1970 to today it is only a 3-fold increase. 

The US population in 1940 was 132M where the ham population is 0.04% of the US. In 2024 we have 330M and the ham population is 0.02%.

Despite the BS from the ARRL, our hobby is not growing commensurate with the growth of the general population and today's hams do not have even the basic skill set that existed in 1940. The sad fact, the new hams of today simply are not interested in gaining those skills. You ask why? Simple -- it is too easy to get a ticket today.

The blame lies with the ARRL so resist any and everything ARRL. Dump your membership and you will not burn in hell for doing so.

The next resistance is to stop buying those appliance boxes from the Far East. US hams put MFJ, Collins, Drake, Heathkit, National, Hallicrafters, Atlas and Ten Tec out of business. Yet on the used market these are some of the best transceivers/equipment that can be acquired and put back on the air. Oh, but you need skills to do that which you didn't need to get a license.

Finally, resist the idea that you cannot homebrew a modern radio. You can do it! For the longest time ARRL touted you cannot build a quality receiver at home. If they did suggest homebrewing receivers, the plain truth, they would lose advertisers.

A Homebrew Modern SSB Transceiver

On the political side, too late to resist and a bad choice is just that and you will have to live with it. Already you can hear grumbling of what is likely to unfold from those who voted for that person. I say again -- too late!

Happy New Year!

73's

Pete N6QW

December 26, 2024. I got a SUV present for Christmas.

 

Another Christmas and another SUV present -- Sox, Underwear and Vitamins. I did get some neat presents though including a book by Mark Harmon (NCIS alum). The book is about WWII entitled Ghosts of Honolulu. It should be a good read.

Speaking of NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) during my last tour of duty in the Navy I had a collateral duty as Legal Affairs Officer and routinely worked with the NIS (Naval Investigative Service) the forerunner of NCIS. About two months before I was to complete my four-year obligation, they tried to recruit me to join their organization. I asked one question well actually two. Number 1 was what was the pay and Number 2 would I have to carry a gun. The pay was poor, and the gun answer was always. 

I gave my country four years of my life and so opted to work for AT&T Long Lines. That was a good choice. 

Kind of a year-end rant. I don't like what I see shaping up with the new government that in less than four weeks will assume power over all of us. For those who opted for that choice, like I told my kids when they were young, you will have to live with the choices you make. What were you thinking for those that chose this option?

That takes me to Microsoft. My computer got switched over, without my choice, to Outlook. My email is in a shambles and Outlook is a dismal failure. Bill Gates what were you thinking?

The collapse of MFJ this year was a sad note that signals the loss of a major US ham product producer. What will happen to Elecraft and FLEX as the tariffs take effect? Many of their parts come from offshore. That ICOM IC7300 soon will about double in price so I hope you got one for Christmas. 

Virginia Hall, WWII OSS Spy and Radio Operator

The above portrait of Virginia Hall is one of my favorites. Hall who had a wooden leg a result of a shooting accident is a famous heroine of the WWII Spy community. Note the suitcase radio and the converted bicycle generator. That radio rig would be a good candidate for a POTA or SOTA event.

Here is wishing you all a Happy New Year. 

73's

Pete N6QW

December 24, 2024. Twas the night before Christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas and there was no RF in the Shack! No RF is a good thing too! 

Christmas is a time for family and to reflect on the good things and perhaps cleanse away the bad things (that is the more difficult task).

We should never take life for granted as there may actually be no tomorrow. So, enjoy the good stuff today and maybe use this time to chart a project for 2025 where you actually build something.

Actress Terry Moore circa 1947

The world is unfair. I have many projects I would love to build but have no time given my caregiver duties. Yet you couch potatoes out there have the time but no interests other than looking at IC7300 Menus. 

Several days ago, I posted a photo of Terry Moore, the actress. No one flinched or asked why! In the early 1950's Moore was part of a USO tour entertaining our troops in Korea. It was winter and Moore appeared on stage in a white ermine bathing suit. It was a big hit with troops but not taken well by the WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union). 

Having been deployed twice to a war zone, my only criticism is that it wasn't a bikini. One publicity photo shows Moore in the ermine suit, standing between two guys wearing arctic parkas. Moore is alive today and on January 7, 2025, will be 96 years old. Happy Birthday, Terry.

Merry Christmas to all.

73's

Pete N6QW

December 23rd, 2024. It is with a sad realization -- the era of homebrewing is almost extinct!

The era of homebrewing a rig is very much on the decline if not almost gone. Perhaps less than 1% of US hams ever build anything. (That set is about 7700 hams and possibly much less than that as 1% of the US Hams with HF privileges is half that number or about 3800.) 

N6QW's 40M DCR ~ MC1496 Based

The availability of ham radio products literally overnight is staggering. If it is not something advertised on eBay, then Jeff Bezos has it. Typically, the pricing is pretty fair and thus no need to whip up something in the lab. You can buy it and have it in hand faster than you can make it.

[My daughter had an accident a week ago where she broke a rib and was in the hospital for two days. She is OK now, at home and will be joining us for Christmas. We all know about hospital food -- so she got Door Dash to deliver her food in the hospital -- all she took with her to the hospital was her iPhone and a Credit Card. Same thing with ham gear and electronic parts.]

Then there is the pervasive view: "I really don't have to know how it works ... I just have to know how to scroll through the appliance box menus". Set everything to 11 and you will be heard!

A fallout from the lack of homebrew activity is the pride in saying my rig is homebrew during a QSO! On the other end instead of a complement that someone actually has the skill set to build a modern radio the response is: Well, I guess it sounds OK for a homemade radio.

The other huge hurdle is the knowledge base to build electronic hardware. That does not come overnight. Time is the key factor, like time spent learning and understanding. Time spent at the bench is another factor. It is almost impossible to scratch build (not a kit) a totally homebrew SSB transceiver and have it work at turn on when this is the 1st project you ever built! Starting small is the place to start but the impatience of many hams hinders starting small. 

A sub-set of this impatience is that many newer hams have roots in software and make the assumption --software / hardware there is no difference! Possibly for some but not a 100% transference.

So, while in yesterday's posting I suggested homebrewing a DCR CW transceiver, what was I thinking? It will be a huge hill to climb just to get a few guys to build a DCR receiver. A complete DCR CW Transceiver may be a bridge too far. 

But as was pointed out to me by one regular blog reader a complete homebrew DCR CW Transceiver has been published in the latest QRP Quarterly. In a perverse twist of fate, it uses the MC1496 and the author states in the closing paragraphs his project was based in part on my work with the MC1496 DCR published several years ago in SPRAT.

You might want to drop KK4DAS an email about his DCR Buildathon and the schedule dates.

73's 

Pete N6QW

(1 of the 3800)