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Summer reflections.

With the 4th of July behind us, I should share as a kid that I also found the 4th to be a somewhat sad milestone. Summer vacation from the rigors of attending school was headed on the downward side. In no time it would be time to shop for flannel shirts, heavy socks and winter coats. Gone would be fresh corn on the cob and watermelon. It also meant soon no enjoying sitting on the back porch and watching the fireflies. We are headed on the path to winter. The longest day of the year (for sunlight) has passed too! Project X Home Power Supply I managed to acquire the schematic for the Project X home power supply and some information in that design is noteworthy.  A Tribal Knowledge Trick is to use a center tapped secondary winding on the power transformer where the that winding feeds a bridge rectifier and the center tap provides about 1/2 the voltage. In our case if the secondary was 500 volts (250 Volts either side of CT) then the bridge output would be 700 VDC +. Here two VR tubes ...
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Recent posts

Powering the Beast

The project cluttering my workbench (Project X) has many challenges ranging from actually getting it to work to how do you power the beast. Tempo One FP-200 Weird and Strange are two really good words. As advertised Project X can be powered from a home (AC) supply or mobile from the DC Supply. In either case the HV is 750VDC, the LV is 210VDC, the Bias is -60VDC, the Filaments are 3.2 Volts at 3.2 Amps and 12VDC at 1.5 Amps.  So, at the N6QW Radio Ranch, I have a Heathkit HP-23, Drake AC-4, Drake DC 3, Collins 516F2, Collins PM2, National NCXA and a Tempo One FP-200. While all of these supplies cover some of the requirements of Project X, none is a drop in. In looking at the herd, one supply is left over from a project called Resurrection Radio where I took a Tempo One (worse shape than Project X) and brought it back to life. I bought a FP-200 to power that radio and when I sold The Tempo One, I kept the FP-200 JIC that someday it is needed. Well, some day is here.  Resurrecti...
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Nostalgia Time

A Trip Back in Time. My middle son, Tim and his lovely Amy visited yesterday as we celebrated the 4th of July. Several visits ago, Tim mentioned some items that were of his childhood that might be lurking in about 10 boxes of stuff that were in the move some 12 years ago. These were stored in my garage and yet to be opened some 12 years later. At the time of the prior visit, we set July 4th as the date to open the time capsule. We didn't find the stuff he had on his list but did find a whole box of family photos that were not collected with other photos I have.  Concurrently, with the passing of the XYL, there are some legal matters I had to revisit and just last week in a meeting with our lawyer, she asked a rather strange question seeing as we had been married for 57 years. She asked me was it a Happy Marriage. My quick answer was no one sticks around for 57 years if they are unhappy.  But in looking at those photos which actually spanned some 40 years my answer is more than...
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Happy 4th of July!

Rear View: A Naked Project X! About a year ago on December 7th, I happened to mention to a 20 something hottie cashier at the local Albertson's that it was Pearl Harbor Day. She asked --- what is that? If we asked that same age group what is the 4th of July, you might get an answer: "The day Tik Tok went live". To put you in a festive mood and test your Americanithcity (ethnic American) here are a few sample questions from the US Citizenship test. 1. Ben Franklin had a day job and the 1st to hold this position and what was it? [No don't ask who was Ben Franklin? He was quite the ladies' man and was known to romance older women and his reasoning was: They don't swell, they don't yell, they don't tell and best of all they are as grateful as Hell!] 2. In what year was the US Constitution ratified? 3. The 1st 1o Amendments to the US Constitution are known as ... 4. What pivotal role did Thomas Jefferson play in the formulation of the US Constitution. 5. Wh...
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The Project X Assessment Process

The Assessment Process must start with a realization mindset and here are some critical points for consideration. Starting the assessment process! (This is not the X rig, just an example of what might be a starting point.) 1.  The project radio is over 60 years old. 2. It was an off-brand rig with really low production run numbers, perhaps less than 500 units' total. It is estimated that less than 20 staff worked at this company. I believe my unit was in the 1st 50 units produced (#44) so expect the worst. 3. To keep costs down the components selected for the build were the absolute bottom of the barrel and the design reflects non-standard approaches and applications built around the low-cost parts at hand. 4. Unlike Swan or Yaesu gear there simply are not spare assemblies and mechanical parts or things like meters, knobs, switches or solid-state devices up for auction on eBay. 5. There are no You Tube videos, Product Reviews or group.io forums. The company folded and was literally...
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Project X

Bigger than a Shoe Box but smaller than a Bread Box, a unique renovation and restoration project of an obscure vintage radio. Few actual units were built or even exist. This project is a personal skill challenge for me and only undertaken because now I have some time. So, strap in for some really boring stuff over the course of the next 3 to 5 months. The "noodling process" and rig assessment will take about a week, thus infrequent updates of the blog... but worth the trip and the wait. Stick with me as you will love it. Them that know can make it go! 73's Pete N6QW
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How should I approach Homebrewing a Radio?

[ Late yesterday afternoon a package showed up from Home Depot. I hardly ever order anything from Home Depot since the store is only 2 miles from my QTH. I checked to see if it was mis-delivered but it had my name on it. Surprise! It was a bottle of Krud Kutter and I have no idea who sent it to me. But a Big Thank You! ] This is a question often asked as if there is some exactly right and only way to do it. Well, surprise there is no singular answer. No matter what way is chosen the care with which it is done, and the observance of good practices are the keys to success. The big orangutang in the tent is the use of through hole versus surface mount components. The final test is: does the same circuit schematic provide the same performance level with either type of component. In 99% of the cases there will be no difference. The other 1% may cover issues of shielding, compactness and heat transfer. So, it gets down to the comfortable shoe's response. Going on a hike with a brand-new ...
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