Skip to main content

Secrets to Homebrewing ~ Revealed!

Secrets to Successful Homebrewing -- An Art!

Many years ago there was a joke going around about the person who widely advertised "Become Rich Quick!" Send $2 and discover how. As the story goes a reply would be received in the form of a postcard ( at that time 3 cents) which simply said "Do What I Did!" 
 
Well I could tell you to do what I have done; but that would undoubtedly be a disservice in that simply repeating what I have done has no guarantee and you didn't even have to spend the $2.
 
So for free -- you know how good free is -- are some suggestions for the would be or seasoned homebrewer on being successful in your builds.
 
  1. Getting organized by having a good information storage and retrieval system. A well established library, collections of data sheets, and cataloged project articles are worth their weight in gold
  2. A suitable well lit workspace where you can stop a project and return to it later picking up where you left off. I remember an article about a ham who had very limited space in his home save for the family laundry room. Clever guy that he was he built a swing down work table that was above the family washer and dryer. When he wanted to build something he simply let down the chains on either end of the hinged table and instant workbench. That worked very well once! Seems his XYL (like my XYL) absolutely hated ham radio. His XYL literally waited in the bushes until he just had everything ready to go and she would come in with the laundry basket and announce it was time to do the laundry. Of course they had a top loading washer --so his bench had to be put back. Find a better solution than this chap.
  3. Tools and Test Gear -- take a tip from Tim Allen (Star of Tool Time and also a ham today) and get the best tools and you do need something more than a 1920's voltmeter for test gear.  There have been many suggestions on a minimum tool set and test gear and if you navigate over  to http://www.n6qw.com/Bitx40.html there are several pages devoted to getting a good stock of basic tools and info on test equipment.
  4. Junk Box. Start now by collecting common parts in your junk box. You will not find a Radio Shack open at midnight when all you need is a 10K 1/4 resistor. Several years ago I wrote an article on how to stuff a junk box. You can find it on my website http://www.jessystems.com under Konstruction Korner. This is a recommendation on what you should have in the bins.
  5. Start with a small project like building the Michigan Mighty Mite one transistor transmitter as this has many benefits starting with low part count (less than 10 parts), low cost as many of the parts cost pennies, short build time, and UNDERSTANDING --yes not only build it but take the time to know what is the function of each part. Finally 9 out of 10 builders smoke the transistor for various reasons. Thus another few pennies and you are back in business. Smoking a set of finals in your Yaseu, ICOM or Kenwood will cost well  over $100. A small project is easier to troubleshoot!
  6. If it is a receiver you want then start with a direct conversion receiver (low part count, good sensitivity, easy build) and get that working. A DCR is a very usable rig! Once you have that going you can move up to a superhet with a crystal filter and other goodies. In 2015, Ben KK6FUT and I wrote a series of articles on the LBS (Lets Build Something) which is a project that did exactly that and the bonus literally all of the DCR was incorporated into the Superhet.
  7. A word here about the Bitx40 which is a pre-built complete radio including a digi LO and LCD for an amazing price of $59 delivered from India. This is a good starter project as there is much support and documentation to assist the builder. Costing only $59 and pre-built save for mounting in the customer supplied enclosure, this satisfies many of the criteria mentioned earlier.
  8. KEEP NOTES and RECORDS of settings, wiring diagrams, modifications, parts substitutions and as built sketches. You simply cannot remember all of this in your head!
  9.  Finally :Do not be afraid to ask questions from suitably knowledgeable people, in fact ask lots of them. Asking WHY leads to understanding and wisdom =. (Tnx Rob)
That is it --secrets revealed.
 
73's
Pete N6QW

Popular posts from this blog

2019 ~ What is the simplest homebrew SSB Transceiver that can be built?

4/27/2019 The Future of our Hobby is Here! Forget those simple rigs with homebrew crystal filters, cranky IRF510's and the analog VFO's. SDR is the wave that is building strength just like a Tsunami. With the Soft Rock V6.3 SMD Version + RRPi2 With the Omnia SDR and RPi2 Pete N6QW How Simple & How Cheap can you  build a Homebrew SSB Transceiver? 4/26/2019 --- I just converted my websites from an obsolete Windows Based Server with GoDaddy to their cPanel (Linux). This was a cost issue as a one year renewal of the Windows Server would buy three years on the cPanel. GoDaddy is discouraging the use of what they call the Obsolete Windows System. So I had to migrate and reload the whole pastapete.com, jessystems.com and the n6qw.com sites to the Linux based servers. Some files and links got lost in the translation --so you might not be able to see everything! Essentially I have  to open every link to verify that it works --that may take some time

New Technology for 2020 ~ The Hermes Lite 2.0 SDR Transceiver

  The Hermes Lite 2.0 SDR Transceiver. November 7th, 2020 ~ It's Settled! It is done! The stain of the Trump era is soon to be removed! Thanks to all who voted. The Voice of the People has been heard.  Congratulations to President Elect Biden and Vice President Elect Harris. Pete N6QW November 3rd, 2020 -- IT WAS THE MOUSE   We all know this is Dump Trump  Day. Go out and vote! It was the mouse! Back in 1999 I stupidly was one of the very first to purchase a Ten Tec Pegasus. Never buy the first batch of a new model.  Touted as the world's first computer controlled radio , actually I think the Kachina 505 was really the first. But the Pegasus was fraught with problems including a trip back to the Smokey Mountains. I was using an older Windows 95 machine to control the Pegasus and that may be a co-conspirator. Well after many calls to TT -- finally someone who has some smarts told me: Fix your station ground, Make all leads short and Buy stock in a ferrite bead company. I did all

The Next Project Updated 10/10/2022! The rubber has hit the pavement!

The Next Project... A 2022 Transceiver. 10/10/2022 My Apologies. It is with regret that I will be terminating any further work on this project. My caregiver duties have over time become a greater time sink and it is almost impossible to build something working only 10-15 minutes at a time spread out over a day. I apologize for not getting it from design ideas to complete hardware. Most likely I have built the last transceiver I will ever build. Thanks for riding along. My website https://www.n6qw.com/  has the pdf of the postings and I will leave this blog page as is. 73's Pete N6QW 10/05/2022 Still Alive! Regrettably my caregiver duties have overtaken any free time so not much progress. But I am hopeful yet this week I will cut at least one board. A PSA from N6QW.  Think of it like Mary Jo has a "crink" in her back and unable to get in the backseat of the 57 VW Beetle. A bit of a setback but not forever.  Seems like the hired caregiver had a small emergency and not able