Left Coast Political Scene

As a follow on to yesterdays post, this is hamfest and flea market season. Don't pass up a good deal on one of those old boat anchors for with a bit of "N6QW Magic" you can have a really neat new rig for just pennies.         The colorful pictorial shows how to construct a VFO/PTO to replace the LO scheme in those old boat anchors. This bit of magic selects the proper range and frequency for injection into the boat anchor mixer stages (Buttons 1-5). But the slick stuff, in addition to the encoder knob, Buttons 8 and 0 let you up down tune the radio from the keypad and Buttons * and # let you transmit 10kHz up or 10 kHz down for those DX split operations. You can also select two large step tuning ranges for a fast QSY.   Detailed documentation is available at https://www.n6qw.com . While this was built for a Ten Tec Triton II -- it would easily work with the Hallicrafters SR-160, The SWAN 240, National NCX-3 and the KW Atlanta 2000.     I bought a rathe...

No new exciting rigs on the air that I created and my New Year's resolution regarding weight loss has gone south. Circumstances have just sort of happened. So how to recoup what is left in the 2nd half of 2024? The physical building of a rig, in my view, is the lesser part of the process as that is something that can be and is taught to individuals who are not rig designers, but simply skilled craftsman. The hard part of the process is actually designing a rig for excellent performance. The key is research and information gathering. That is something that can be done without a soldering iron or Nano VNA being turned on.  The other aspect is the integration of new technology and new hardware into the designs. Older technology is just that. We can now operate radios thousands of miles away using an internet connection. It is a much more difficult task to remotely tune that LC VFO from afar.  While some may pooh and double pooh an SDR radio, the fact remains that the new technolo...

Whether you roll your own or flash the plastic for a rig, the process has to start somewhere. Often the starting point is at the wrong end of the process. Let us define what I mean. As hams we are often overtaken by the cosmetics. That radio is cool looking, or I want to build a cool looking radio. How many of you start out by saying I want a radio or rig that performs well? The ne plus ultra is to have both.  That plain black box with no knobs has no curb appeal -- yet perhaps it is one of the best ever performing radios. The flash is in the software! The tangle of wires and PC boards mounted on a plank of pine can be and often is a DX machine.  The best place to start is with what often in government contracting is called a "requirements list". Let us use a real-world example: you are more than a closet POTA or SOTA guy --you are an addict! Every weekend is a planned adventure to some park or mountain top.  You scour data bases to see which parks or summits have not bee...

Playing with the electrons most decidedly is like a British mystery novel or movie. Not unlike Murder on the Orient Express -- they all did it! A couple of huge clues were totally missed by me in the resolution of a problem, and this also links back to the need to document everything. But 1st a bit of stage setting. The Spilsbury Tindal SSB Transceiver The above cool looking commercial SSB Transceiver was built by a company in Canada by the name of Spilsbury Tindal. It is all solid-state with 4 crystal channels operating in the 2 -10 MHz range.  Inside is a Collins 455kHz Mechanical Filter and a Motorola RF Transistor good for about 15 watts. This was a 1970's built radio. It was single conversion with a 455kHz IF, thus even making it to 10MHz involved a very large pair of cojones! [With such a low IF and single conversion as you go higher in frequencies images ARE a problem.] The four crystal channels could be simplex (same frequency for Transmit and Receive) or entirely different...

Having a wheel of fortune like device in my garage I use that to select topics for the blog. Today it landed on 17Meters. This band undoubtedly is a Hidden Gem! Typically, devoid of any contest crap like Field Day it can provide many contacts including DX QSO's, all at QRP power levels. I worked my 1st ever station on Saipan using FT-8 at 5 watts on 17M.  The bonus is  it usually is devoid of those hams in call areas 5, 7 and 4 who start cocktail hour at 6:00AM -- you know the ones that lurk on 75 M. Some 17 years ago I built my 1st ever 1 7M SSB Transceiver . That was my 1st attempt at building a Shirt Pocket SSB transceiver which didn't quite get there but it was small. The IF was at 4.9152MHz and used a crystal switched VXO that covered most of the phone band. The final was an MRF260 which was good for about 3 watts output.  Fast forward to 2023 and I decided that technology would move that radio from VXO to the Digital world and taking the 7X7X2 aluminum chassis enclo...

If you are in the less than 1% of the ham population who actually rolls their own (homebrews) their rigs, then this is the publication you want to arrive in the mail.   Roll your own refers to an era where real men rolled their own cigarettes and never resorted to store bought ones. Same idea with rigs! In yesterday's mail in addition to all the junk mail received from both political parties asking for my money, my Summer SPRAT arrived. The SPRAT is a quarterly publication of the G-QRP Club. Talk about giant sized panty hose, this issue has something for everyone. We have rig construction for both solid state and valves (tubes), some articles on test gear and antennas and as a bonus how to build a HT (high voltage) power supply for use with tube rigs. The articles are short and for the theory nuts, you will not find a discussion of third order linear regression. But for those who are extra class license holders this is a gap filler of what you should know to hold that license....

Despite my best laid plans, I did not operate during Field Day this year! My garage shack was 94F at 1300 PDST and that was just too hot, so once again foiled by Climate Change. Well not all bad and I think that band conditions were not so great despite the Hoopla about Cycle 25. (This is to offset my disappointment at not being able to fire up the KWM-1 on 20M for FD.) But I did think this would have been the time to have a 2nd wireless router as I could have operated the Hermes Lite 2.0 remotely from inside my home (with AC) using a laptop. Probably need to do that. If I had a 50-foot chunk of CAT 6 cable that would have worked too. The wireless router needs to be further investigated -- summer is just starting. Now this is where it gets interesting. Wireless routers go from around $50 to $1000. It is all about a 29A versus a 44DD.  Recently in attempt to lower my cable bill, I made some changes to my Frontier Communications hardware. This change knocked $100 off of my bill. This...

According to an unreliable source (The Internet) Marconi is fingered as the 1st ham. But in fact, it was Heinrich Hertz who is credited with the theory that there could be radio waves back in 1890. It also said the 1st ham club was not at MIT or Stanford but Columbia University in 1908. But with certainty the period 1930's to 1960 produced some really cool looking radios (with some exceptions like the S-38E or the SW-54). The designs had curb appeal and for some strange reason could capture your heart just like a blonde hottie.  One radio manufacturer product line I never owned was one from Harvey Wells. The R-9A and T-9o (receiver and transmitter) were two examples. The R9A Receiver! The knob in the middle was a band switch and main tuning . The T-90 Transmitter. Same deal on band switching and tuning. These two radios were small in size as one of the market segments was as a mobile rig. The transmitter had a VFO and could also be crystal controlled. The power supply for the trans...

  Like a broken record I keep saying my time is very limited. This in turn leaves little time for new builds, but instead I have been hitting the "shelf of shame" and actually fixing some radios that are broken or never did work right. This presents some special problems as there often is a significant time lapse when I last worked with the rig. Thus, what I did previously often is a mystery that has to be unraveled. A second larger and perhaps more dangerous malady is the case where I did not follow a standard layout. Hookup often follows muscle memory which by wrote is for the standard.  Using an IF Module has worked very well for me. In a recent post I think I shared there were 7 different topologies for this module. Here is one using the Plessey approach (2N3904 & 2N3906) only fully SMD. Deft Hands and Headband Magnifier is the order of the day. The Cores are FT-23-43 Typically, in my IF Modules I have the Band Pass Filter on the right-hand edge and right near that is...

Summer brings all sorts of wonderful opportunities. Some involve ham radio and some focus on the food consumed in the summer months. Things like watermelon and corn on the cobb or the tons of burnt burgers cooked on a charcoal grill.  This definitely would not get Mary Jo into the back seat of the 57VW Bug! I mention foodie stuff because non-contest ham radio this weekend will be a bust with Field Day. So, if you just want some friendly QSO's forget it until next Monday. This might be a good time, if not participating in Field Day to think about station accessories. I am often surprised that many stations do not have an in line SWR bridge. If you were smart enough to ditch EMRFD and acquire SSDRA, you can find some nice designs for homebrewing a SWR bridge.  For those who do not fear the Arduino you can do some code modification to include a Tune Up functionality built into the code. Typically, all of the code I develop has a Tune capability. So why would you need a Tune funct...

CQ FD, CQ FD. The station calling me, you are 5X9. Please repeat your call several times so I can log you. Yes, that was a part of an exchange in a recent Field Day. That IS a case of Brown Shoes with a Black Tuxedo! Field Day is upon us -- are you ready? Did you buy the several cases of Rolling Rock Beer, the three boxes of antiacid, Beano for the Spicy Chili and Bratwurst, a gallon of mosquito repellant, a new cell phone charger, SPF 100 sun block and loose pants. Don't forget the air wick and toilet paper for the Porta Potty. Long ago, JIC (just in case) if Mary Jo showed up mustn't forget some Bob's Big Boy Hamburgers. This is a wonderful photo of a 112-inch military style (I didn't say military grade) folding whip antenna. This has the makings of a neat antenna system whether for FD or POTA/SOTA operations.  I have one and Lauren Sanchez's boyfriend (Bezos) carries these at a cost of $45. They are well made and with some base loading coils and a matching netwo...

So, you have this project, it uses an Arduino or Raspberry Pi or maybe even a plain old LC VFO and now you need to have some sort of readout.    3 Inch Color TFT   You are now faced with a menu from a Chinese Restaurant. One choice from Column A and perhaps two from Column B, capped off with a single choice from Column C. Yes, that is the dilemma. The LC VFO in the old days could be mated with a combo Vernier Drive and semi-circular dial scale where you hand printed the frequency info on the scales. National and James Millen made such units.  James Millen Drive and Dial Mechanism Today's version is a 3X5 File Card marked with a fat black sharpie pen. Crude is a great word! Or if uptown you could use one of those packaged LED counters that can be offset by the IF. (San Jian about $15 for a six-digit unit.) Besides whom in the proper frame of mind would use an LC VFO when the Digital VFO is so much better. Moving to the Digital Side we have the Chinese Menu. At the sha...

A shift from vacuum tubes to solid state also created a seismic change in how we built things. Some of us witnessed that change firsthand especially in things like a chassis and cases. Want sticker shock go look at Jeff Bezos website and search on aluminum chassis?    Certainly, some of that cost is in the metal as often the aluminum is from offshore. But another is the old supply and demand. Of course, one answer today for one aspect is the 3D printing of plastic cases but another may be this jewel.     An 18-Inch-Wide Metal Break~ Harbor Freight My shop has one of these and today's price is about $45 but long ago this was only $27 when I bought it. Now you will need some things like large C Clamps and some short pieces of metal to bend small parts, but you can build a chassis or case using this very tool -- I did. Also, Home Depot sells galvanized metal flashing really cheap which is the source metal.   350VDC Power Supply   Now not everyone who home-bre...