SolderSmoke

Sponsor! Parts Candy is back! Handmade in Chicago! Standard test leads, Hook clips, alligator clips in 12" and 32" and multimeter leads

Bill's report from SolderSmoke Shack South: The tropics: What this means. Guapo wouldn't go out when the sun was overhead.

Skies not great for astronomy now. But we see a lot of satellites, and meteors.

Lightning suppression coming for the building. Lightning suppressors. Got 2. Good video from the IMSAI guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EyABPuNDMA Argon gas suppresion tubes.Need to crimp!

Thinking of solar panels. 12 panels, 5 kW system. Probably without batteries. What do you think?

A very satisfying fix on the 15/10 rig -- loose connection to RF amp. The highly suspect Ramsey Kit Amp was NOT the culprit! Got to use the new Rigol DS-1102. A fun fix. Will build a second CCI amp.

SHAMELESS COMMERCE: Our blogs and the podcast are in danger! Pete is already on a permanent blog hiatus. I have seen a big decline in readership. Frankly, if no one is reading or listening, we just may decide not to do it anymore. We don't want to do this. So please, link to the blogs. Talk up the blog and podcast on your own blogs and social media.

Parts Candy Test Leads are back as our sponsor. Pete has them. Dean has them, I have them in two different countries! DON'T SCRIMP WITH A CRIMP!

Dave W2DAB says that AI just can't replace the Tappit Brothers of ham radio. Now the Tappit Triplets.

Grayson K7JUM on the cleanliness of the 32S-3. Also amazing video on Thermatron MMM.

Paul G0OER -- Reacting to the 1970s Ham Radio video. Didn't remember being so cool.

Nick M0NTZ building another Direct Conversion receiver -- with videos about it.

John AB2XT sent us 6000 47 pf NP0 capacitors. So we are now good for caps! Thanks John.

Paul VK3HN Was suitably impresses by the AI podcasts we put on the blog. Thanks Paul.

-- This is the first podcast from SolderSmoke Shack South: Eastern tip of Island of Hispaniola. Cap Cana, DR, 70 feet up, 1 mile from Mona Channel. Seventh floor shack with view of the ocean. Antennas: Dipoles for now, maybe Moxons or Hex later. STARLINK

- The San Francisco case against me. One guy thinks we DESERVE prosecution! Get off of my lawn!

But one fellow wrote letter to the mayor asking for leniency. Proposes "Bill Meara Day in SF." FB! I fell victim myself this year: Mike WU2D got me with WA1HLR on SSB video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLvCNJ_OnEc

-- Dean: Extensive work on getting flat gain from FETs up through 10 meters.

-- Pete fixes Dean's relay chattering problem: SUBTHRESHOLD CONDUCTION! Yikes!

-- MXM news. New docs, and ads from WD5L. All on the blog. 7030 crystals. Why MXM? Chuck Adam's mods, Joh DL6ID's questions about VFO. Yes! VFO from RX. Was Bruce Williams an early Swan Designer?

-- Weird paradox with 25 MHz filter: Low profile xtals have higher Q, but produce more rounded passbands. Why? I note that Minima's 20 MHz filter also had curved passband.

-- Allison's wisdom on filters at higher frequencies. The importance of physical layout. Diodes in the dark! It is indeed more difficult up there. But don't let the perfct be the enemy of the good!

-- Is Bill the only one to ever build a 10-15 Dual Bander using a 25 MHz crystal filter. Why? Farhan's Minima has a 20 MHz 6 pole QER crystal filter. And it too had a rounded passband. But it tooc WORKED.

-- Did my receiver sound tinny due to rising frequency response of uBITX Rev 4 amp? Yes! So I put in a TJ DC RX Af amp.

-- Bill BLOWS UP a Tiny SA Ultra. Ooops. But quickly got a new one from R&L Electronics. Very, very useful. I knew 25 MHz IF rigs were inferior, but by how much? How much was the carrier suppressed? Which filters worked better? What was the opposite sideband rejection. TinySA permitted measurement and comparison.

-- Bill quit 15 meter SSB (for a moment) and went to the 1.22 nanometer band with a Wilson Clound Chamber. Videos on the blog.

SHAMELESS COMMERCE: Thanks to new Patreon sponsors. I am sending some additional video content to the sponsors.

--Wes -- W7ZOI has a new TIA amp with variable gain on his web site: https://w7zoi.net/

-- Geoff N6GWB's Rad Receiver https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-rad-receiver-from-n6gwb.html

-- Chuck Adams AA7FO provided good background on my MXM rig, including the meaning of MXM (1990) . Again, great to hear from Chuck, a true homebrew hero.

-- Wes W7ZOI, Farhan VU2ESE -- Thanks for help on filter issue. Thanks too to Alan W2AEW and G3UUR

-- Josh G3MOT -- Nice message of support in our "struggle" with SF authorities. Going portable to Vancouver island in August. VE7/G3MOT

-- Pavel CO7WT His experiences (building, freezing, heating) the VFO in the Jaguey DSB rig.

-- Grayson KJ7UM Sent latest ER with his Collins 51S-1 story. Thanks Grayson.

-- Allison KB1GMX Commiserating on higher freq crystal filters. Thanks Allison

-- Wes W4JYK Notes that Dewey, Cheatam and Howe are based in SF. Can they help with sticky sticker problem?

Legal Trouble: Could put us out of operation for a while. We need listener input.

Ferrite Cores at Digi-Key (a replacement for the FT-37-43 where you buy 100 and the price is 21 cents/each)

For Pete's recent blog posts, go to this site and click on "Archive" in the right column:

sBITX progress, McGyver-ing a lifted pad, replacing crystal on the CODEC board, sBITX success! See:

Shameless Commerce Division: Please use the Amazon link on the blog to start your Amazon purchases. And please consider using Patreon to support the podcast and blog. We try to send extra content to our Patreon supporters. Mostly DIY RF -- Boards, Kits and Pete's PSSST

More trouble with the 15-10 rig. Rounded passbands in 25 MHz filter. See figure 4 in both links:

Experimenting with Balanced Mixers and Product Detectors. Paul VK3HN Suggests the MC1496 chip; Walter KA4KXX points to SSDRA circuits

Put an OLD dial from Pericles HI8P on 15-10 version 1. Soul in the new machine.

Bob W8SX will be once again doing SolderSmoke interviews at Dayton. Thanks Bob

Tobias Feltus -- Wisdom teeth removed, wondering if he will get sBITX hallucinations...

Intro: Welcome to Dean KK4DAS. For 2024 Pete and I hope to jazz things up a bit by bringing in fellow homebrewers to talk about their projects. Dean is our first victim. Welcome Dean.

Some good news: Several new homebrew receivers are inhaling: Armand WA1UQO in Richmond has an amazing looking regen. Scott KQ4AOP in Tennessee got his DC RX working. Mike AG5VG in Texas has been homebrewing BITX 20s and BITX 40s. All are on the blog.

-- Recent blog entries on filters, SSB rig architecture, and of course digital VFOs.

-- Whenever you are tempted to buy something from AMAZON, just start at the Amazon symbol on the right side of the page. We get a cut from Bezos, and it doesn't cost you anything.

-- You can try to do the same thing with E-bay. We are finding a lot of great parts there.

-- Become a patron! Go to the Patreon page. We put the money to good SolderSmoke use.

-- Building yet another BITX dual bander. 15-10 again. Tried to use a 25 MHz filter left over from the earlier project, but I had to build another. Built a new VFO using the variable cap and anti-backlash gear recommended by Pete. Was a bit tough to get the receiver sounding good. Had a diode ring as the second mixer, but went back to a singly balanced mixer.

John West -- Who is the South American ham who made his capacitors and heat sinks?

Dave WA1LBP My fellow Hambassador, from Okinawa USMC Sergeant with a workshop.

HAPPY VETERANS' DAY TO PETE AND GRAYSON AND TO ALL THE OTHER VETERANS WHO ARE LISTENING.

Trip out to San Francisco. Sticker placed on the corner of Haight and Ashbury: See picture below. Note other sticker. Really Groovy!

Mostly DIY RF: Work proceeds in the Oregon Silicon Forest on P3ST kit development. Todd is confident the P3ST will be released on December 18th.Many other kits available now: https://mostlydiyrf.com/

Dean KK4DAS fixed the noise in his Hallicrafters SW receiver. A long battle, finally won.

Mike Bryce WB8VGE QRP Hall of famer -- he too couldn't get the Herring Aid 5 working.

Travelogue: Trip to the Dominican Republic 3-9 August. Thinking about the M0NTV video on mixers...

Solder Smoke Shack South is almost done. I am thinking about workbenches, operating tables and antennas. How high should an electronics workbench be? Table height? Or workbench (woodwork) height?

My son and I went to see "Oppenheimer" Trinity test scene very cool. They wanted to see if the gadget would work!

Is the SolderSmoke blog completely archived on the WayBack Machine? Please check and let me know. Thanks.

-- I've been working a lot of DX with the homebrew rigs: Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Hawaii. Lots of fun. 15 meters has been especially good. But the rigs still need work:

-- M0NTV's video got me to put TinySA to work. I found that output from dual banders could be improved. Spurs and harmonics. Yuck. I need more TinySA -- ordered the TinySA Ultra.

-- Allison KB1GMX helped a lot. EB63A amp was unstable, especially on 10 meters. Higher frequencies are harder! Tightened up shielding, negative feedback, and bypassing. This all helped, but I found that I needed to take the higher frequency LP filters out of the amplifier box. W3NQN filters are better, with steeper skirts and better 2nd harmonic rejections. NanoVNA proving very useful. https://www.gqrp.com/Datasheet_W3NQN.pdf

-- Also worked on the Bandpass filters for these rigs. Farhan's comments on skirts of different filter configurations. Some are "LSB" filters (with steeper skirt at the highest freq) and some are "USB" filters (with the steeper skirt at the lower frequency) See diagrams on the blog page. So I built USB new filters for 12 meters and for 10 meters.

- Danger that my unshielded wooden box rigs might be inviting feedback. So I shielded the 1510 rig with copper guitar amp tape (conductive adhesive). Good stuff.

Mostly DIY RF getting ready to release PsssT kits. Target date: December 18, 2023 (E Howard Armstrong's birthday). https://mostlydiyrf.com/

Amazon Search box seems to have died. I can't get it back. Can anyone tell me what happened? (There seems to be "explanations" from Amazon about this, but they are written in a strange language that I cannot follow.) Something similar happened with the Google Ads on this blog page. Apparently you can't have ads both on YouTube and blogger.

But hey, there is Patreon for those who want to support the podcast and blog.

Walter KA4KXX has a great article about homebrewing in the September 2023 QCWA Journal.

Steve KC1QAY -- Has joined the CBLA. I sent him a 3579 crystal. He built a MMM and experienced JOO. And Allison KB1GMX is in his local radio club. TRGHS.

Dean KK4DAS: Fixing Hallicrafters Worldwide RX. Ciudad Trujillo! Got question from Mark in the VWS Makers Group: HOW DOES Michigan Mighty Mite REALLY Work. See blog.

Trevor Woods -- Info on Super Islander Mark IV made in Cuba from old CFL bulbs. FB.

Bob KD4EBM sent me some great stuff: Sony SW receiver, QCX Mini. Made a CW contact with the QCX. Felt virtuous -- it is going to the DR. Thanks Bob.

Peter KD2OMV: One of the guys I worked with the ET-2 transceiver. Great to hear from him.

Mike WN2A -- Sent me a great care package with lots of toroids. A lifetime supply! Thanks Mike!

Nate KA1MUQ got his Doug DeMaw receiver going after 38 years! FB. Been there, done that!

Shameless Commerce: Mostly DIY RF and the PSSST kit. Todd K7TFC reports: “The P3ST is on track for Lee Deforest's birthday release (August 26th). I'm going to send out another newsletter on July 4th, and I'll give some details on P3ST development.” Results of Todd’s Survey.

-- Armand WA1UQO sent a wonderful book about Faraday and Maxwell… And told me Jim K8OI was heading to our area. I met Jim at the VWS Field Day event. FB. Thanks Armand.

-- Steve “Snort Rosin” Smith WB6TNL was in the area. Sorry I missed him.

-- Joh DL6ID helping us to track down origins of a homebrew receiver Grayson saw in Berlin.

-- Grayson KJ7UM was in Europe visiting his wife’s relatives. But I think he is back in the USA.

-- George Zaff KJ6VU Ham Radio Workbench – re-runs! Recommended audio processor. Let me know how it sounds.

-- Alan Wolke W2AEW on the toroids he used in Diode Ring video. Thanks Alan!

-- Dean KK4DAS, AI and SWR meter project And new lexicon word: Hamsplaining.

Sunil’s company provides Nano/Si5351 combos. With the KD8CEC software. Very cool. http://amateurradiokits.in They have a new SSB dual band transceiver – the Airpal.

Fixing up uBITX 2 How Bill blew up TWO Raduino Nanos. My results with the KB1GMX mods. (see below)

Hex Beam work: Adding 10 and 15 meter elements. But now I can hear AM breakthrough from WFAX 1220 AM (5 kW during the day), So I made a high pass filter.

--Wes W7ZOI provided great info and analysis on the Franklin oscillator. And lots of great tech info on other topics: http://w7zoi.net/oldtech/ponder.html Thanks Wes!
--Lex PH2LB. uBITX mods. TO-18 Heatsinks. New stickers (see above).
--Kostos SV3ORA and Hans G0UPL about the Franklin Oscillator.
--Listening to HRWB 178: Great stuff, many old friends: George KJ6VU moved to Oregon. Thomas K4SWL on the show. Ben, an old friend of Pete’s, mentions John Zaruba K2ZA – the guy who gave me the DX-100. Wonderful connections.
--Thanks to Todd VE7BPO for sending me another AADE LC meter. I need it for the SSSS.
--Nick MONTV planning a 15/10 meter dualband SSB rig. Me too! See video.
--Trevor Woods in W. Australia – The portrait in Artie Moore’s shack. Chuck WB9KZY – Willam Ramsay
--LA6NCA Helge three tube RX. Regen or DC? Mike Masterson WN2A and I discuss.
--Mike WU2D video on Retro QRP rigs – Steve G0FUW discusses Severn rig long in the works –started 1983 and nearly finished!
--Tim Hunkin of Secret Life fame did video with speaker made from potato ship bag. Discussed with Tony G4WIF and others. Also, Tim has an amazing video on cutting holes in metal. On the SolderSmoke blog.
--Bob Crane W8SX will be covering FDIM for SolderSmoke!
--Glen VE3DNL working on a more sophisticated DC RX.
--Craig KC2LFI from the beach on Grand Cayman. FB.
--Steve EI5DD reports We have changed our name - The May Issue of the HAM RADIO IRELAND Magazine, Ireland’s only independent magazine for the Radio Experimenter: https://docdro.id/SHH0VEy
--Mike EI0CL on 15 meters with Dean KK4DAS. FB
--Howard N3FEL of the Penn Wireless Association wants to do a group build of a DC RX.
--Martin LW9DTR in Buenos Aires looking for help with the code for an AD9850
--Todd K7TFC – always helping other homebrewers.
--Really thoughtful message from Kevin WN7Z

Video: (68) SolderSmoke #245: Cuban DSB, DC Receiver?, AI, Winterfest Loot, Gina's Podcast, 6BA6 buy, MAILBAG - YouTube

Travelogue: Cuba DSB and AM. Jose CO6EC and the Islander. We need more info, especially on the solid state Jaguey rig.

Bill’s bench:

Will the High School DC receivers get finished? Future uncertain. But the project was technically interesting. Great working with Dean KK4DAS. Battling AM breakthrough from Radio Marti. We joked that Dean has been listening to Radio Marti so much that even though he doesn’t speak Spanish, he has noticed an increased urge to liberate Havana.

Audio amps: Harder than we thought. Lots of variation in Hfe of 2n3904s. Oscillations.
Not using feedback amps nor LM386s, nor push-pull. Simplicity is a design goal.

Fixing the tuning (bandspread) problem on the VFO was fun.

Antennas? A quarter wave with ground or counterpoise works well. We tried it. (59) An Antenna for the TJ 40 Direct Conversion Receiver - YouTube
----
Back to work on the uBITX. I chickened out on replacing the predriver with a BFR-106, but then – Just in time Todd K7TFC and his Mostly DIYRF came out with BFR106 boards! TRGHS. I will do the mods on two uBITX transceivers. I even bought a solder-sucking iron for the second job.

Winterfest Hamfest. Big success. Thanks VWS. HERRING AID FIVE! Simpson 260! QF-1, Another Radio Shack DMM, Eamon Skelton’s Homebrew Cookbook, Knobs, SWR meter.
----

Technical Note: Skype problems. Pete's Skype kept dropping out. Bad in the last podcast (#244). Three minute gap. I was ready to scrap the whole podcast when Dean KK4DAS offered to help. And he is obviously well qualified: https://potomacofficersclub.com/speakers/dean-souleles/ Dean went to work with AI. And he was able to fill the audio and the video gaps. Can you spot the three minutes of AI? Send me an e-mail with the time segment of the AI/Deep Fake portion of SolderSmoke 244. The first one with the correct answer will win a prize.

----Interview on his Pete's daughter’s podcast. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/03/listen-to-pete-juliano-on-his-daughter.html

-- 6BA6 e-bay buy. Will we see an all 6BA6 rig from Pete?

-- The NCX-5 on e-bay

PETE’S NEW BLOG: https://hamradiogenius.blogspot.com/

Mailbag:

-- A New SPRAT arrived in the mail. PH2LB’s Gluestick on the cover.
-- Will KI4POV – Awesome homebrew – on the blog.
-- Sands, VK9WX listening to SolderSmoke on Willis Island! Wow.
-- Andreas DL1AJG in Germany continues with the Electronics for Biologists DC RX build.
-- Dean KK4DAS and his homebrew 10 meter DSB rig.
-- Jim W2UO built a Michigan Mighty Mite and made a contact.
-- Dave K8WPE and the E in IBEW. We need new stickers.
-- Bob KC4LB – Surface Mount is SMALL.
-- Bruce KK0S on the Herring Aid 5 Board.
-- Chuck WB9KZY on Nuclear Monopole Resonance very cool video – on the blog.
-- Alan WA9IRS wants a CW editor for his phone. Really.
-- Vic WA4THR also working on uBITX power out improvement.
-- Tobias weighs in on Kludge. As in Fudge.
-- Tony G4WIF notes that when he changes his oil he often removes sludge, not slooge.
-- Consultations with Lexicographer Steve KB3SII.
-- Walt AJ6T says CW operating declined after FCC ruling in 1970s about callsigns.
-- Ramakrishnan VU3RDD now VU2JXN has joined the VWS. An old friend of SolderSmoke. Urged us to launch a blog back in 2008. We announced his daughter’s birth - - now Ram is getting ready to build a DC receiver with her.

HE’S BACK! HOORAY! PETE JULIANO N6QW IS BACK! SOLDERSMOKE COMMUNITY WAS SENT INTO A COLLECTIVE FUNK BY PETE’S ABSENCE. ---------------- Pete’s TR-7 (SEE VIDEO ABOVE) CK722 The BFR106

First QSO with the DC RX. Allan W4AMV Homebrewer TRGHS Ten Minute Transmitter – Better than the MMM! AF4K (SK) crystals.

Other supporting projects: Farhan in Hyderabad. Rick N3FJZ, Walter KA4KXX, Andreas DL1AJG Electronics for Biologists. Peter Marks VK3TPM (fighting the siren call of the Si5351) . Steven VK2BLQ built a beautiful one. Daniel VE5DLD will build three of them with his students. Orlando PY2ANE is building one in Brazil. This week: The Bandpass Filter. (Thank you Hans Summers)

--- SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: BECOME A PATRON VIA PATREON. I am posting some fun stuff for the Patrons. AMAZON SHOPPING ADS Now on both the left and right columns. CHECK OUT Mostly DIY RF in the right hand column.

---- My HP8640B Lives to Fight another day. Two new DMMs A low-end Fluke and a AstroAI 6000 Electrolytic Replacement Controversy Continues

Mailbag: -- Dave AA7EE is blogging again! Yea! -- Mike Rainey AA1TJ back in the Hobbit Hole Building a WWVB receiver. -- Farhan is coming to FDIM. -- Tony G4WIF reminds us that 39 bucks for JUST a 60 MHz counter would be great! -- Dave VE3EAC again helped me fix my HP8640B. -- Dean KK4DAS finalizing 10 meter DSB rig. FB. Upgraded my NanoVNA. -- Mike KD4MM giving me a Nano VNA for the SolderSmoke Shack South. -- Ian VK3LA asked what happened to Chuck Adams content. Good question. -- Don ND6T and I have been discussing envelope detection. -- Nick M0NTV working on AM modulators. He has a new video. -- Ciprian YO6DXE built a Ten Minute Transmitter. -- Steve EI5DD Connacht Regional News: https://www.docdroid.net/YJAV800/crnews0223-pdf

Pete N6QW had technical difficulties this morning. He insisted that the show must go on. Pete will be back for the next episode.

20, 17, 10. CW and SSB. SSB was tough and I had reports of RF getting into the signal.

--Paul HS0ZLQ Built DC receiver but looking for something else to build. No DSB!

-- Keep buying from Bezos using the link on the right-hand column of the blog page.

-- I have ads on the blog page, but I have configured to avoid troublesome ads -- dating sites, etc.

-- Dhaka Jack AI4SV formerly of Cyprus, Madagascar and Northern Virginia. has moved to France!

-- Dave designed a discrete LM386. Picked up by Jenny at HackaDay. Can you build this?

-- Alain F4IET -- Still building DC receiver. FB. Sorry I got the call wrong.

-- Lex and Jesse like Colin's placement of WYKSYCDS sticker on his Homebrew rig.

-- Jim KI4THZ joined the Vienna Wireless Society -- FB on the faculty at GMU

-- Tony G4WIF suggested mechanical counter for DC RX PTO freq readout. I have some in the junk box.

-- Thomas K4SWL sent him video of Tiny SA watching Vatican Radio sign off for the day.

-- Farhan and Chuck Penson liked blog post about Heathkit Digital Rig SS-8000 1978!

-- Ed KC8SBV working on DC receivers -- I recently used the Peppermint Bark box he sent.

-- Old friend Bob KD4EBM on the linearization of the R-390s. Hard to homebrew one of those!

-- George from VWS trying to figure out how (if?) Marconi got his coherer to work DX...

Won’t have another Podcast until the new year so Happy Holidays to all! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

Back on Mars. Opposition approaching. I have a Mars filter. And (like T.O.M.) a Mars globe.

Direct Conversion Receivers -- Keeping it Simple, Learning a Lot. A step beyond the Michigan Mighty Mite. Do we really need 100db? Do we really need to shield VFOs? Farhan's super-simple and stable Colpitts PTO. Audio amps, 1000-8 transformers and rolling your own LM386

PTOs and Glue Stick PTOs. Paul Clark WA1MAC. Brass vs. Steel bolts. #20 thread vs. #28 thread. Backlash Blues. The best Glue Sticks.

NIMCELS? Niche Internet Micro Celebrities. I dunno.... Can our listeners come up with an acronym that describes our place in the universe?

Sponsors: Parts Candy. Carlos in Chicago. Great leads. Don't scrimp with a crimp! You need some good quality test leads on your workbench. Get yours from Carlos. Click on the picture on the blog page or go to PartsCandy on e-bay.

"Techno Wizardry"? Our lawyers at Dewey Cheatham and Howe will be after them for that!

Hex Beam has made me a DXer. 91 countries. Having fun. Mozambique (Long path), San Andres island, and Saudi Arabia, all on Friday. All homebrew SSB 100 watts.

Put my old 20 meter CW station back on the air: Barebones superhet and the VXO 6 watter. WYKSYCDS. This may be one of very few CBLA Receivers in the world!

Been getting active in the Vienna Wireless Society. Dean KK4DAS is President and a lot is happening in the Club. Makers group. Lunch with the group on Tuesdays. Lots of fun.

We are looking at Farhan’s Daylight Again Analog rig. Using parts from Dean’s 3D printer, we have made PTOs. See blog post for picture. (But are they really PTOs? Or just Variable Inductors?)

VFO madness. Solid stating an HT-37 VFO. Grayson: “You have clearly lost your mind.” Perhaps. 100 MHz FM broadcast RFI. This brought me to capacitors and linear tuning:

SLC, SLW, SLF and Midline/Centerline caps. Do special caps explain why some VFOs have linear tuning while others do not? NO, not really. You can get linear tuning with ordinary caps. See blog post

Working on the bench. Reading Adam Savage’s book on workshops and tools. (link to the book in the right hand column of the blog. Some other workbench links on the blog. Upgrading tools and test gear. I have a proper bench power supply. Better side cutters. Engineering rulers. Digital calipers. Better solder (I was talking to Ron WA6YOU – a real solder authority - about this. Kester 60/40 ).

·PG-TIA Broadband IF Amplifier

·TIA-AGC IF Amplifier

·Dual-Gate MOSFETs

·OA741D Op-Amp (discrete components)

·8-Pole QER Crystal Filter

·I2C Rotary Encoder

·GP Audio Amp (general-purpose audio amp)

·HyCas IF Amplifier with AGC

·M-Cubed (Michigan Mighty Mite kit)

·Mostly DIY RF offers hardware for hardware-defined radio. That's not a comment on software-defined radio. SDR is cool and useful, and it has its place.

·In fact, I believe in explicitly making use of technology from all eras (vacuum tubes, discrete semiconductors, and integrated circuits

·What does "mostly" DIY mean? It means making what you want and using ready-made for the rest. Even the most fanatic DIY'ing home brewer does this without much thought. He uses components he didn't fabricate, electricity he didn't generate, and theoretical knowledge he didn't discover. One can't fight all battles, one has to choose which to fight and which to leave to others. If an appliance-operating Ham doesn't want to fight at all, that's okay, but Mostly DIY RF has nothing to offer him.

Google feed no longer sending our e-mails. So please follow the blog, Get yourself a blog feed reader. I use Feedly. It is free. Download, search in Feedly for SolderSmoke, hit subscribe and you are done. https://feedly.com/i/discover Follow Pete’s blog too! It is easy.

Mike AA9IL working on old tube stuff including a DX-100 AMD UUHF gear up to 122GHz.

Ed WA4MZS liked the SolderSmoke book. USCG vet. As is Mike Rainey AA1TJ Semper Paratus!

Walter KA4KXX – The Knack started early. Video of getting a toolbox for Christmas. And working on PTOs! He likes them!

Phillip G4HOJ Also working with subharmonic mixers – using the more complex 4 diode version.

Peter GW4ZUA Built an amazing rig from RADCOM (1980s) Cool VFO with varactor fine tuning and a coil with a dust core that was cut in half to minimize temp effect. Box now holds 3 band version of Pete’s SimpleCeiver. FB.

Bruce KC1FSZ building 25 Watt amp for his Peppermint Bark rigs. We won’t turn him in to the QRP authorities.

Grayson KJ7UM tested the 12BY7A from my DX-100 VFO. It was in fact weak. Thanks Grayson.

I sent Farhan some comments on his Daylight Again video: He wrote back “I marvel at their stamina to watch an hour long video of a man talking with a funny accent!”

Hex Beam K4KIO - on roof – TV Rotor – 20-17-12 Lots of fun. Working Japan regularly, Australia, South Africa on long path 17,000 miles. 52 countries SSB since July 11.

VFOs and Temp stabilization. Dean KK4DAS found my ceramic resonator VFO for DC receiver drifty. He was right. So I built a real LC Colpitts VFO. Got me into temp stabilization. A new hobby! An obsession. HT-37 and Ht-32 parts. Ovens? WU2D’s second VFO video. Understanding thermal drift and how to address it. Split stator caps. Cut and try.

On 40 AM with DX-100 and MMMRX. DX-100 died. 12BY7 VFO buffer went bad. How common is failure in this tube type? Nice QSO with Tim WA1HLR about the DX-100.

Got my Dominican license: HI7/N2CQR! SSSS on the way. Thanks to Radio Club Dominicano and INDOTEL.

Todd K7TFC getting ready to launch “Mostly DIY RF.” I used his TIA boards in my 1712 rig. He will have boards like this and much more. Stay tuned.

I need more viewers on YouTube. They want 4,000 hours IN A CALENDAR YEAR! Please watch!

FARHAN’S NEW “DAYLIGHT AGAIN” RIG. Analog. VFO. Comments, observations. We need to get him on the podcast. Maybe two shows: SDR and HDR.

Farhan VU2ESE – Speaking of big antennas “Whenever I look at the huge construction cranes in Hyderabad, I always think how one could make 160m, 4 element yagi using it as a boom..”

Janis AB2RA Wireless Girl. Expert on Hammarlunds. And was my first contact with the Tuna Tin 2. She too was HB!

Mike KE0TPE viewing YouTube while monitoring 6 meters. He will have a lot of time to watch!

Ramakrishnan Now VU2JXN was VU3RDD. Found lost Kindle with SolderSmoke book on it. Building SDR rig from junk box. Trouble with the LM386.

Cathartic decluttering: Bill preparing for future winter travel to Dominican Republic. Will build SolderSmoke Shack South. Dividing everything up: Rigs, parts, tools, supplies, antennas, test gear. Everything.

OUR SPONSOR: Parts Candy. https://www.ebay.com/usr/partscandy Premium quality test leads! Hand cut, hand crimped, hand soldered, these will become your new favorite test leads GUARANTEED!
PETE'S BENCH:

-- Cycle 25 better? – Out here on the left coast – it is not evident
-- Chiquita Banana and the US Navy in early ‘wireless” operations. Why RCA was created by the US Navy in 1919.
-- Update on the MAX2870 –someone has written the code to make it work with the Raspberry Pi and the QUISK SDR software
-- Field Day prep

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:

Bill needs your help:
-- Please watch his YouTube videos. The longer the better! Success based on hours watched. Great to have on while you are working in the shack. Just go to YouTube and search for the SolderSmoke channel. Or: SolderSmoke - YouTube
-- Please put links to the SolderSmoke blog on your websites and blogs.
-- How to USE the SolderSmoke Blog: Propagation, shopping, other sites...
-- Please put comments under the articles on the SolderSmoke blog. We like comments and dialogue.

-- Repair of the Sony ICF SW1 shortwave receiver. Bad electrolytics. Number Station receiving device?
-- HQ-100 Q-Multiplier. BFO Switch. AVC. Noise Limiter limitations. Dave K8WPE: Old Radio Lessons.
-- MMMRX: Detector circuit. Alignment. Muting. On the air (40 AM with DX-100)

-- Bob Crane W8SX -- Great interviews at FDIM. On the SolderSmoke Blog. Thanks Bob!
-- Dave Bamford W2DAB -- Stickers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. FB Dave!
-- Farhan VU2ESE: LADPAC software now available through W7ZOI' site.
-- Lex PH2LB: Stickers in a Netherlands pub.
-- Dave K8WPE Michigan Mighty Mite links. Old Smoke idea. On the SolderSmoke blog.
-- Rich WB4TLM was in the electronics class of CF Rockey W9SCH. FB.
-- Dean KK4DAS Working on his dad's HQ-170A. VWS maker group on mixers.
-- Grayson KJ7UM -- Mixology article in ER.
-- Pete Eaton -- Farhan's new analog rig: Daylight again! Standby for more info from Farhan.
-- Will KI4POV New HB Al Fresco single conversion superhet. FB.
-- Alvin N5VZH. Shep's "I Libertine." Yes. I laughed, I cried, It changed me.
-- Chuck KF8TI. Mr. Wizard!
-- Steve N8NM on the mend after some routine maintenance.
-- Ben AB4EN is listening and likes the podcast -- Thanks Ben.

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Travelogue -- New York City! Stickers!
And about that trip to Los Angeles for the SolderSmoke Cable TV show...

Well, it fit in well with SolderSmoke's UNFORGETTABLE appearance on the Oprah book club.
And TechieTatts? Daughter worried about listeners rushing to get tattoos -- A risk we were willing to take.

This episode is sponsored by PartsCandy. GREAT test leads: https://www.ebay.com/usr/partscandy

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=Anderson
Working with Joh DL6ID.
Jean Shepherd's January 1973 description.
FlickLives web site and Steve Glazer W2SG have lots of info on Shep and his friends.
Internet allows us to look at TV articles that were being published.
We've concluded: Probably 1939 or 1940, using an RCA 913 1 inch CRT tube.

Lots of ideas from IRE Journal, QST, and Gernsback magazines.
Quite an achievement! Amazing how much pre-war TV progress there was.

17-12 rig
All boxed up and working DX!
Figured out how to display both 17 and 12 on the same LED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAmmFZyFu8w
Drain protector for speaker cover. Copper tape to cover horrible cabinet making.
I think I need a Hex Beam.

Hammarlund HQ-100
Needed some maintenance.
I started to look more closely at it.
Got the Q-Multiplier to work -- it really adds a lot on CW.
Makes me feel guilty about all the QF-1s...
Using the 100kc calibrator with a 455 kc crystal as a BFO,
keeping Q multiplier below oscillation point.
Moved the BFO switch to the front panel. Helps a lot.
Need to fix the S-meter AVC circuitry.
Much more sturdy than the S-38E.
S-38E 1957-61 $54.95 5 tubes. AC/DC.
HQ-100 1956-60 $169 10 or 11 tubes. Power supply, regulator.
You get what you pay for.

Jack Purdum and Al Peter's new SDR rig and book (featured on the SS blog Amazon ad).
JF3HZB's beautiful digi VFO.
Backpack antenna for Field Day?
Pipsqueak Disaster -- Too simple?
Peashooter Eye Candy.
Build Something Different.

James W0JKG CBLA -- Others are building MMM too!
SM4WWG // Jörgen Wonderful message. Joined GQRP. No longer "wrong."
Dennis WC8C Libraries for Max2870 board.
Jack NG2E Progress on the Right to Repair movement.
Jim K9JM Someone cutting into our business with Solder candles!
Chuck WB9KZY Correctly identified the location of the IBEW sticker. As did Dan Random.
Dave Bamford (who lives nearby) suitably impressed.
Farhan wrote to us about a video on Don Lancaster. Homebrew keyboards! Yea!
Dean KK4DAS QRP to the Field. HB2HB 40 SSB QRP I feel virtuous.
Todd K7TFC likes my ingenious use of the drain screen as the speaker protector on the 17-12 rig.
Todd had good thoughts on granular approach to homebrewing as seen in the Don Lancaster video.
Lex PH2LB HORRIFIED by my reverse polarity protection circuit. This is a touchy subject! (as is WD-40!)
Rogier PA1ZZ sending great info on SWL and numbers stations.
Jesse N5JHH -- The guy who made the IBEW stickers -- Liked the NYC stickers.
Steve N8NM has a new antenna article on his blog: https://n8nmsteve.blogspot.com/
Randy AB9GO Agrees -- Can't GIVE old 'scopes away.
Dino SV1IRG Liked the 17-12 rig videos.
Steve Hartley G0FUW Murphy's Law of Enclosures.
Ralph AB1OP FB on the 17-12 Rig.
Roberto XE1GXG --Our correspondent in Guadalajara. Petulant, irritable people on the computer scene.

Have some gear looking for a good home: Tek 465 'scope from Jim AL7R W8NSA. SBE Transceivers.
Windsor Signal Generator. Let me know if you are interested and can either pick up or arrange shipping.

Winterfest! Many Boatanchors. Lots of old good analog test gear. Talk with Dean KK4DAS. Met up with Armand WA1UQO and Charles AI4OT.

-- Looking for help in software development for MAX2870 board.
-- Tapped Capacitance Impedance Matching
-- The Pea Shooter (See N2USD's version in videos
below).
-- Tribal Knowledge on Making Enclosures

-- 17-12 Band Imaging SSB Transceiver. It works on both bands.
-- Plan for Glowing Numerals (N6QW has been there and done that!)
-- WU2D's videos on VFOs.
-- Temperature Compensation: HT-37 capacitor. FT-101 VFO, even in the ARC-5 receiver!
-- Trying to get more rigorous about receiver design. Gain distribution, IMD, Dynamic Range, etc.
-- Do I need a true RMS audio voltmeter? Or can I get the same info from freeware audio spectrum analyzer and soundcard?
-- 6EA8s replace 6U8s in MMRX

PARTS CANDY out of Chicago produces quality test leads for your bench. The guy who runs the company is Carlos, and he is one of us. He is an electronic tinkerer. See the ad on the left hand column of the SolderSmoke blog. Just click on the picture of the test leads and you will be taken to Carlos's ebay store. Go for it.

Walter KA4KXX in Orlando -- Diodes in BITX Bilats -- Why? Farhan says To prevent reverse junction of off transistor from conducting and clipping waveform.
Tony G4WIF -- Audio test gear and G3ROO paraset
Todd K7TFC Pine boards, TIAs and 12 meters
Dean KK4DAS Ceramic Variable Oscillators on 40. Juliano Criteria?
Mike WU2D VFOs and Temp compensation. ARC-5s
Chris KD4PBJ A really nice parts care package -- Thanks Chris!
Steve M0ECS. Inspired by SS, moved something off the Shelf or Box of Shame.
Jason KD2RKN Building a DC receiver. It is all our fault.
Chris Mannon in Indiana joining the CBLA
KC4GMH is listening!
Ed N2XDD has been armed with a 3.579 MHz crystal.
Harvey Wa3EIB working on his museum
Tim AG4RZ is BACK IN THE SOLDERSMOKE!
Fred KC5RT -- an old friend -- recommends Bangood RF sig gen for 88 bucks.
Shlomo 4X4LF listening and homebrewing from a Kibbutz in Israel.
Chuck KF8TI was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines.

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6 weeks in the DR for Bill
One contact on uBITX. More SW listening.
Repaired my Chrome Book in Santo Domingo!
Christmas Present for All: James Web Space Telescope launch

Bill's Bench
-- Understanding the NE-602 (see blog post)
-- Thinking about a 17/12 dual bander. Looked at old G3YCC Tx for circuits...
-- Using Spurtune08. WB9KZY found it. In the LADPAC zip file here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20091222012628/http://w7zoi.net/emlad08_123.html
-- Then Put G3YCC Acores SSB TX back in operation
-- Put W4OP Barebones Superhet on 17 with NE602 down converter.
-- Netting and audible spur problems
-- Now working many stations with this old "split" TX/RX

Pete's Bench
-- The Peashooter
-- Dean's VWS build of your DC RX
-- Building a SSB Transceiver Doc
-- Homebrew Crystal Filters
-- The shrinking of the PSSST
-- PSSST on Hack-A-Day

Bad Dead Soldering Stations
-- My X-Tonics 4000 dies. But it left behind a great box with ample socketry.

Mailbag:
AA1TJ Mike Rainey --- Again in the Hobbit Hole! 486 kc RX
Thomas K4SWL -- Radio Astronomy and the Raspberry PI
WC8C Dennis Invite to the L'Anse Creuse ARC FB Fun
Todd K7TFC got boosted at Tektronix Beaverton Ore.
What happened to Chuck Adams K7QO? His work taken off the net.
W1MJA ex WN2RTH
N7DA worked W7ZOI in Sweepstakes. FB
Kirk NT0Z formerly of ARRL HQ
Farhan VU2ESE was up in the Pench Forest, trying to spot a Tiger!
We spoke to Farhan's Lamakaan ARC in Hyderabad. QO-100 beam down!
Dean KK4DAS's 16 watter. On SS blog
Scott WA9WFA Bad 6U8s? Ordering 6EA8s
Bruce KC1FSZ Peppermint Bark gift box
Mike WU2D: Book by Frank Harris on Homebrew radio
Bob Scott KD4EBM So many good ideas and links
Rogier PA1ZZ sending parts packages -- Thanks Rogier

(Why the T/R diodes in the BITX 20 amplifiers?)
National Receiver.

Bill's Bench
Farhan's Talk to RSGB got me thinking of VHF 2 meter AM.
2 meter Benton Harbor lunchbox madness. SuperRegens Super Strange.
I broke my Maplin AF Sig Gen in the process. Fixed it.
Playing with MMMRX again. Put in 6 kHz ceramic filter. Sounds great SSB and AM.
Swept IF with noise, TinySA, and NanoVNA. Need better noise gen.
Mod to listen with TinySA (on blog).
Thinking of 17 meter /12 meter Dual-Bander IF around 21.4, VFO around 3.41 Mhz. Thoughts?
Sweeping double half lattice filter from Swan 240. UGLY.

MAILBAG:
--- ROOTS OF MAILBAG: Radio Moscow, Havana Cuba, HCJB, others.
-- Thomas K4SWL of the SWL Post: Could have been worse! Stairbag?

-- MY NOVICE LOG -- Heard back from ex-WN2RTH ex-WN2FLK ex-WB2RKK.
-- Drew N7DA worked Wes W7ZOI in Sweepstakes. FB.
-- Peter VK2EMU The movie Frequency and the Magic of Heathkits. Good, but not that good!
-- Thomas KK6AHT! Our old friend. Minima! Now has a young son! FB
-- Chuck WA7ZZE Saw QST profile. Sympathizes with Two-er trouble.
-- Tim M0CZP. Spell corrector. Vatican Diodes. Infallible!
-- Ramakrishnan VU3RDD Working on a NORCAL and a noise cancellation arrangement.
-- Skip NC9O said I was 40 Hz off on 17. But he had a reason to KNOW!
-- Steve K9NVD Glad he's a listener.
-- Bob KY3R Novice Nostalgia. Should he use 75 watt bulb for dummy load? Yes!
-- Todd K7TFC Video about why solder smoke goes into the face.
-- Anthony VU3JVX Homebrew Antuino. I ask for help in moving freq to 450 kHz.
-- Jack NG2E Building Pete's DC RX.
-- Scott WA9WFA HBR-13 and MMMRX.
-- Stephen 2E0FXZ also got a FT-101 VFO.
-- Bob K7ZB on the air with 56 mW and a big antenna.
-- Dean AC9JQ Retired.
-- Allan WA9IRS Right to Repair update.
-- Farhan Invited us to Lamakaan ARC, Dec 11 or 12. Will be on QO100 Satellite Live!

-- Many suggestions about my Apollo 11 Time Capsule. Still looking for ideas.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate this holiday!

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #233 is available.

October 13, 2021

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke233.mp3

Travelogue: Cape Cod. SST. Marconi Site.

The WFSRA: The World Friendship Society of Radio Amateurs.

Pete's Bench:

The Pimp.
The NCX rig.
The Collins.
The many DC receivers built worldwide.
The parts shortages are real! Several key radios on hold. Si5351 sub.
Talk to G-QRP convention

Bill's Bench:

FT-8. Not for me. I tried it.
Novice Station Rebuild.
Globe V-10 VFO Deluxe.
Selenium rectifier removal CONTROVERSY?
Not crazy about my Novice station. Not crazy about CW.
Mate for the Mighty Midget. Again.
Mike W6MAB -- Detector problems LTSPICE Check
One more mod for MMM RX. Ceramic filter at 455.
Dropped screw inside tubular cap on Millen 61455 transformer.
Talk to the Vienna Wireless Society
Thinking of a Moxon or a Hex beam.

BOOK REVIEW Chuck Penson WA7ZZE New Heathkit Book. http://wa7zze.com

Mailbag

-- New SPRAT is out! Hooray!
-- Todd K7TFC sent me copy of Shopcraft as Soulcraft. FB.
-- Dean KK4DAS building an EI9GQ 16 W amp. FB.
-- Jack NG2E Getting close on Pete's DC receiver.
-- JF1OZL's website is BACK!
-- Tony K3DY sent link to cool books.
-- Sheldon VK2XZS thinking of building a phasing receiver.
-- Peter VK2EMU has joined the WFSRA. FB!
-- Ned KH7JJ from Honolulu spotted the Sideband Myth in the AWA video.
-- Chris M0LGX looking at the ET-2, asks about the variometer.
-- Pete Eaton Nov 64 anti HB rant in november 1964 QST. Wow.
-- Josh Lambert Hurley spreading FMLA stickers in the UK. FB
-- Stephen VE6STA getting ready to melt solder.
-- Got a great picture of Rogier PA1ZZ back on Bonaire.
-- Farhan reading the manual of Hans's new digital rig.
-- Paul G0OER wonders if FMLA getting ready to move on 5 meters.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #232 is available -- Crank it in Robert!

August 27. 2021

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke232.mp3

Featuring a guitar intro by Pete "Bluesman" Juliano, playing his own composition: "Juliano Blues."

Upcoming GQRP convention and the N6QW rig
Frank Jones and the FMLA -- Possible Victory?
IBEW Stickers:  NASA, Johns Hopkins APL....
Cycle 25 Lookin Better Today:  SFI 93   SN 47

Pete's Bench:
Toobular! A Tube Transmitter
SR-160
Simple SSB rigs around the world!
KI7NSS's Pacific 40

Bill's Bench
The Mythbuster and the Struggle Against the Urban Legend
W2EWL's Cheap and Easy SSB
W4IMP's IMP. Articles in ER by Jim Musgrove K5BZH and Jim Hanlon W8KGI
The Spirit of Homebrew SSB. From Electric Radio K5BZH December 1991
Reduced Front End Gain on the DIGITIA
Back on 17!  HP3SS sells HBR receiver to Joe Walsh
Maybe another Moxon?

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION

Test Gear
NanoVNA -- Alan W2AEW helped solve mystery of why NanoVNA not providing accurate readout of circuit impedance.  Over driving.  Need attenuator.
TinySA -- Limited Resolution Bandwidth.  But you can listen with it!  See video on blog.

MAILBAG
-- Google Feedburner to end e-mails from the blog :-(
-- Paul VK3HN -- TIA AGC? Farhan and Paul looking into options
-- Ciprian's Romanian Mighty Mite
-- Dino KL0S SolderSmoke GIF and graphical presentation on sideband inversion
-- Allison KB1GMX helped me on 24 volts to IRF 510 issue.
-- Dave K8WPE Wabi Sabi and Martha Stewart. And thanks for parts!  40673s!
-- Steve N8NM building a 17 meter rig with 22.1184 crystals in a SuperVXO and a 4 MHz filter.
-- Dean KK4DAS restoring an old Zenith.  One hand behind your back OM.
-- Pete Eaton debating SSB or DSB for 17.  Go DSB Pete!
-- Richard KN7FSZ a FB HBer.  Asked about my solid-stating of Galaxy V VFO.
-- Walter KA4KXX on benefits of no-tune BP filters like Farhan's   FB.
-- Jack 5B4APL on Time Crystals and Homebrewing in the 4th dimension.  FB OM!
-- Moses K8TIY listens to the podcast with his young son Robert.  Crank it in Robert!
-- Farhan and the SBitx on Hack-A-Day
-- Also Tom's receiver from junked satellite rig on Hack-A-Day
-- Todd K7TFC sent in beautiful message about the spirit of homebrewing. On the blog.
-- Grayson KJ7UM was on Ham Radio Workbench with George Zaf
-- AAron K5ATG running a uBitx with a  homebrew tuner and antenna.  Hope I can work him
-- Heard Mike WA3O last night on 40 DIGITIA.  Water cooled amplifier

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

SolderSmoke # 231 is available:

June 26,, 2021

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke231.mp3

Annual Field Day Special Edition

Travelogue: To the Dominican Republic!

New dog -- Meet Guapo (see below).

A great Father's Day for Pete and Bill. I got a TinySA.

Pete got some cool chick magnet glasses (see below).

Watch out Newbury Park!

Bill's Activity

SST Transceiver. Took it to Dominican Republic.

Made only one contact, but QRP-QRP.

Not a lot of CW activity, and not a lot around 14.060.

A lot more FT8 visible on the NA5B WebSDR.

That might be better for this kind of operation.

I might try SST CW out today from the backyard. Field Day!

Fired up my 20 meter DSB NE602 rigs. Made two contacts.

Still trying to fully understand the NE602 Gilbert Cell. Lots of mystery in there.

Building "The MythBuster." 75/20 with sideband inversion.

10 pole 5.2 MHz filter. Used Dishal and AADE.

Used NanoVNA to see the passband.

G3UUR for crystal parameters.

Cohn Constant K topology.

Also used NanoVNA to check input and output impedance on the TIA amps I will use around the filter.

Pete's activity:

Article on DC receiver in SPRAT. FB response. 50 receivers under construction.

Work on Drake A Line.

Jim Spillsbury.

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

The N5JHH IBEW SolderSmoke stickers (see above and below). How we will use them.

Mailbag:

N2SVD

K8ITY

Tom (Junkbox receiver)

N0ZIB (Curse you, SolderSmoke!)

DL6ID

N2NLY

VK2EMU

ZS1KE

AF7O

NG2E

VU2ESE

OK1RP

N5JHH

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SolderSmoke Podcast #230 is available for download

May 15, 2021

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke230.mp3

N2CQR was down for maintenance

A few words about April 1

The Ingenuity helicopter

China lands on Mars

Brood X Cicadas arriving in NOVA

Pete's Bench

The Dentron Project

The Spillsbury Tindall SBX-11A

KK4DAS and the Simple SSB Group Build

TenTec mods

Shack Mystery solved. Maybe

Changing the channels at age 9

Bill's Bench

Why LSB below 10 MHz? The "SSB Legend" Rig

WU2D RTL-Dongle Up converter

Understanding the Gilbert (Jones) Cell

SDRSmart RTL-SDR.com V3 Dongle

VK3HN and 2 meter SSB

Jack NG2E, MMM and the 10 minute transmitter

KD4EBM sends me SST by Wayne Burdick. DX!

A new computer

Mailbag:

MM0ACN

VK2EMU

N5VZH

VE3KZJ

HS0ZLQ

AD0JJ

VK8MC

KK0S

VE3VVH

KB3SII

WA9WFA

M0NTV

W2DAB

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

Soldersmoke Podcast #229 is available:

March 20, 2021

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke229.mp3

-- G2NJ Trophy is awarded to Pete Juliano, N6QW.

-- Get your vaccine shot as soon as you can!

-- More from "Conquering the Electron" by Derek Cheung.

-- Bad fire in the chip factory. Such a shame. Sad! I had NOTHING to do with it. I was home that day. I can prove it.

-- Bezos is not such a bad guy. Turns out he is a space-geek.

-- Perseverance was the big space news. Very cool.

Pete's bench:

Raspberry Pi vs. Microcontrollers

Treedix display

Conversion of the Dentron Scout

CW rigs?

6L6 on a wooden chassis

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION-

I NEED TO BUILD UP TIME VIEWERS VIEW MY VIDEOS: So please watch!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC20TcdWSSFliMhg3k2A1a5w

-- Our Patreon sponsors get an early look at our YouTube content. So please, consider

becoming a Patreon sponsor.

-- Please continue to use the Amazon search engine on the blog page (upper right).

Bill's bench:

Hodgepodge:

-- BITX40 Module.

-- Ramseykit Amp.

-- San Jian counter,

-- CW using 750 Hz oscillator.

-- RF-actuated piezo buzzer.

-- SDR! SDR using PC and tablet.

-- Checking the output with SDR.

-- Moving the carrier osc frequency.

Also, I put the Fish Soup 10 back on the air. Nice contacts under 200 mw.

Up next: A rig for 80/75 and 20 meters. Single Conversion. Using VFO from a Yaesu FT101 that runs 8.7 – 9.2 Mhz. Quiz question: What IF should I use?

MAILBAG

Mark Zelesky sent me wood tokens with power and Ohm's law formulae. Thanks!

Scott WA9WFA Built a really nice Mate for Mighty Midget RX – getting it going!

Tryg EI7CLB found board of his George Dobbs Ladybird RX. Rebuild it OM!

Tom WX2J – We talked about “No lids, no kids, no space cadets” nastiness.

Nick M0NTV about sideband inversion. I like the simple rule about subtraction.

Jonathan M0JGH – Always listen to Pete. Got married, has mixing product. Leo?

Mike AE0IH. Dad used a BC-348 in the service. Looking for one. FB.

Adam N0ZIB – “Silent Shep” site --- with some ham radio shows I had not seen.

Walter KA4KXX in Orlando has a similar subtraction problem with San Jian counter.

Bill N5ALO sent me a really nice KLH speaker. I’m using it now.

Jason N2NLY – interested in building SSB transceiver. One step at a time OM…

Trevor in Annapolis sent xcsd cartoon that really hit home.

Farhan is doing OK in India, diligently protecting his family from the virus.

Peter VK2EMU also doing well.

Dave AA7EE Casually killed a DC receiver in Hollywood, and disposed of the remains.

Charlie ZL2CTM doing great things with simple SSB. Blogpost.

Phil VK8MC in Darwin sends article on "Mend not End" battle against planned obsolescence.

Bob KY3R re my SDR adventures, asked if I’ve had a recent medical/psychiatric evaluation.

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Soldersmoke Podcast #228 is available:

January 26, 2021

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke228.mp3

Of course, no travel. But vaccines are here so maybe soon we can leave our shacks.

In the meantime:

I’ve been playing chess against AI bots on chess.com.

Netflix recommendation: The Bureau. From France. A review from NPR:

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/22/881642358/addictively-suspenseful-thriller-series-the-bureau-will-keep-you-on-edge

A reading from "Conquering the Electron." Germanium vs. Silicon.

Bill’s Bench:

The KLH Model Twenty-one II. Acoustical Suspension. First receiver WITH A PILLOW! Bad speaker? Blown AF amp finals. Hot heat sink. VBE Multiplier. Desitin.

Tony Fishpool’s recommended LM386 boards. 10 for 11 bucks. Nice. They work. Pictured in the Amazon ad at the upper right of the SolderSmoke blog page.

Putting a digital display on the Lafayette HA-600A

Test gear trouble. My Radio Shack multimeter getting flaky. I many need something better. Auto ranging? My beloved Maplin AF generator died – will have to fix. I need that thing. Probably a bad chip. Good thing they are socketed.

I almost forgot about SKN! But I remembered and I made one contact with the HT-37 and Drake 2-B.

Pete’s Bench:

Presentation to RSGB on Homebrew.

TenTek Troubleshoot.

Swan 240? Looking nice.

SDR adventures.

MAILBAG

Bill N8ET sent me some really nice Showa 9 MHz 8 pole crystal filters.

Kevin AA7YQ Smoke jumper! Building a hybrid SDR.HDR rig. Launched blog. FB

Nick M0NTV working on similar HDR/SDR project. Great video.

Grayson KJ7UM Hollow State Design – Launched a new blog. Very FB!

Thomas K4SWL of SWL Post blog. Kearsarge Mountain Transmission system. And recent events.

Peter VK2EMU Poetry. CW poetry.

Pete WB9FLW looking at DSB rigs…

Drew N7DA Feels not like a real ham because he hasn’t built a quad from bamboo. Which type of landscape bamboo is best for antennas?

Ryan Flowers of MiscDotGeek.Com blog is also watching the Tally Ho YouTube videos of Leo Sampson. Wants to put a WSPR beacon on the Tally Ho.

Joe KF5OWY Working with diode ring mixers, trying to see the mixer action on his ‘scope. 1 and -1!

Jim AB9CN sent a cool idea about how to do a 20/17 Moxon.

Roy GM4VKI – I thanked him for his article in SPRAT about putting a 2n3904 on the output of an NE602 10P mod. Brilliant.

Roger Hayward Told him that I really liked his Dad’s recent web site updates.

Farhan – Jokingly cursed me for showing him the Oscillodyne regen of Hugo Gernsback and Jean Shepherd. “Now I will have to build this!”

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #227 is available:

December 15, 2020

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke227.mp3

Travelogue

Mars is moving away. Jupiter and Saturn close in the sky. And the Sun is back in action – Cycle 25 is underway. Also, the earliest sunset is behind us. Brighter days are ahead.

Book Review: “Conquering the Electron” With a quote from Nikola Tesla.

No real travel for us: Hunkered down. Lots of COVID cases around us. Friends, relatives, neighbors. Be careful. You don’t want to be make it through 10 months of pandemic only to get sick at the very end. SITS: Stay In The Shack.

Pete's Bench and Tech Adventures:

Backpack SDR [email protected]

Hermes Lite 2

Coaching SSB builders

G-QRP talk

A new source for 9 MHz crystal filters

Bill's Bench:

Fixing the HA-600A Product Detector. Sherwood article advice. Diode Ring wins the day. Fixing a scratchy variable capacitor. Studying simple two diode singly balanced detectors. Polyakov. Getting San Jian frequency counter for it.

Fixing up the 17 meter BITX. Expanding the VXO coverage. Using it with NA5B's KiwiSDR.

Resurrecting the 17 meter Moxon. But WHY can't I nest the 17 meter Moxon inside a 20 meter Moxon? They do it with Hex beams. Why so hard with Moxons? DK7ZB has a design, but I've often heard that this combo is problematic. Any thoughts? I could just buy a 20/17 Hex-beam but this seems kind of heretical for a HB station.

Suddenly getting RFI on 40 meters. Every 50-60 Hz. Please tell me what you think this is (I played a recording).

MAILBAG:

Dean KK4DAS’s Furlough 40/20

Adam N0ZIB HB DC TCVR

Tony G4WIF G-QRP Vids. Video of George Dobbs.

Grayson KJ7UM Collecting Radioactive OA2s. Why?

Pete found W6BLZ Articles

Rogier KJ6ETL PA1ZZ lost his dog. And we lost ours.

Steve Silverman KB3SII -- a nice old variable capacitor from Chelsea Radio Company.

Dave K8WPE thinks we already have a cult following.

Dan W4ERF paralleling amps to improve SNR.

Jim W8NSA -- An old friend.

Pete Eaton WB9FLW The Arecibo collapse

John WB4GTW old friend... friend of:

Taylor N4TD HB2HB

And finally, we got lots of mail about our editorial. No surprise: Half supportive, half opposed. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. And we are free to express ours. It’s a free country, and we want it to stay that way. That is why we spoke out.

Yesterday the Electoral College voted, finalizing the results. All Americans should be proud that the U.S. was able to carry out a free and fair national election with record turn out under difficult circumstances. And all loyal Americans should accept the results. That’s just the way it works in a democracy.

We are glad we said what we said. It would have been easier and more pleasant to just bury our heads in the sand and say nothing. But this was a critically important election and we felt obligated as Americans to speak out. We'd do it again. And in fact we reserve the right to speak out again if a similarly important issue arises.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast # 226

October 31, 2020

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke226.mp3

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

About the U.S. election

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

Mars: Setting early, will have to shift to evening observation. Weather has been poor.

Sunspot Cycle 25 is underway -- SFI 78, SN 32

The Gliessberg cycle

Pete's Bench: #49, #50, uSDX, Hermes Lite

Bill's Bench: HP8640B, Global Specialties Corp 6000 counter, Lafayette HA600A.

MAILBAG:

Peter VK2EMU Sent me copy of 1947 Handbook. Thanks Peter

Brad W1BCC Spotted 10 S-38s for 80 bucks on Craig’s list. What’s going on here?

Dale K9NN sent both Pete and I care packages with very cool part, including DG Mosfets

Stuart ZL2TW sent me Les Moxon’s Antenna Book. TRGHS. Moxon will be back!

Alvin N5VZH got his receive converter with a little Tribal Knowledge from SS.

GM4OOU The Bitsy DSB rig from Scotland

Peter VK3YE DSBto DC incompatibility SOLVED

Paul VK3HN's Digital SWR and Power Meter and Low band AM TX VFO/Controller FB Videos.

VK2BLQ alerts us to article about Jac Holzman of Elektra Records.

AA0ZZ great message on assembler language and writing software the hard way.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #225

Septermber 19, 2020

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke225.mp3

Mars, West Coast smoke.

Pete's Activities:

-- DC receivers.

-- CW offset

-- GQRP talk

-- The uSDX project

Bill's Bench

-- Sliding into the Vintage Test Gear Cult: HP8640B .

-- Fixing up and figuring out Radio Shack DX-390 receivers.

-- 220 to 110 on a few remaining devices.

-- Got myself a Dremel-like rotary device.

Tech News:

-- ARRL/TAPR Convention: SDR project from Walla Walla University students. Intuitive explanation for why desired and image freqs in a mixer come out with very useful phase differences.

-- Chuck Adams' Amazing Lab Notebook. Includes a simple circuit to measure resistance and Q in crystals. FB.

MAILBAG:

-- Dino KL0S SITSing in his shack, homebrewing 9 MHz filters FB Dino. Airborne!

-- Dave NT1U sent us the famous 1968 QST Article by W7ZOI re DC RX.

-- Ron K0EIA listening to SWBC staions with uBITX.

-- Ted AJ8T Korguntubes making a 12AX7 equivalent.

-- Joel N6ALT sent me a nice DX-390 manual. Thanks Joel

-- Bob KD8CGH alerted us to the uSDX project -- story on the blog.

-- Craig AA0ZZ Sent a great message with insights on computer code -- I will put up on the blog.

--Tracy KN4FHX reports on optimistic prognosis for SolarCycle 25. Some chickens may have to be sacrificed.

-- Stephen M0OMO Thanks SolderSmoke for rekindling interest in this hobby.

-- Paul VK3HN has a cool new rig -- The Prowler -- check it out

-- Steve N8NM working on his Sunbeam car -- Pete already knew about the carburetor synch problem. N6QW knows everything.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #224

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke224.mp3

August 1, 2020

--The launch of Perseverance Mars probe With Ingenuity Helicopter.
--China’s Tian Wen 1 on its way – Radio Amateur Daniel Estevez EA4GPZ is listening to it!
--Sci Fi Books: Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. No skip on Mars :-(
--We have some sunspots! SFI now 72 and the Sunspot number is 23.

Bill's bench:
--Conquering Ceramic Spurs in Q-32 Roofing filter -- sort of
--NE602 for a Q-75 converter – Gilbert Cell.
--Measuring low power levels out of NE602. Antuino better than 'scope .
--NanoVNA Really cool stuff. SDR in there.
--Building a 455 kc LC filter from QF-1 rubble. Using LTSPICE, Elsie...
--Reviving my Bicycle AM radio – The “All Japanese 6”
--Understanding L Network impedance matching.
--Bill’s new resistor kit from Mouser. Thanks to Drew N7DA.

SHAMELESS COMMERCE: PATREON, AMAZON SEARCH. THANKS

Pete's Bench:
--Lockdown Special
--BPF work on SDR Rig
--I U W I H

Mailbag
VK3HN Summit Prowler 7
VK2EMU “The Stranger”
SM0P HB uBITX in Dubai
AE7KI Worked him in VK from London
ON6UU EA3GCY’s 4020 rig
KA4KXX A Simpler Mighty Mite
W9KKQ M19 DMR
KD4PBJ Radio Schenectady
W3BBO 12AU7 Regen
KE5HPY Another 12AU7 regen
N5VZH Ne602 Converter
KY3R Wall Art
G4WIF Spectrum Analyzer in your pocket
W2AEW Talks to UK Club
KK0S Sent 455 Kc IF cans
KL0S Making 9Mhz filters
VU2ESE Diving into simple SDR schemes
Dean KK4DAS Amateur Radio Astronomy

SolderSmoke Podcast #223

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke223.mp3

27 June 2020
Quarantine Field Day!
Ironically, THIS YEAR we are both participating
Pete's FD Plan, Bill's FD plan

Talking to Clubs:
Pete's talk to the Cedar Valley Iowa Club
Bill's talk to the Vienna Wireless Society

Pete's Bench
DDC SDR
Ideas from the Summer SPRAT
Mean Well Voltage Regulator

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: PATREON. SS is an SV DELOS WANA-BE!
We got our very first Patreon Patron! Jonathan Magee from the UK! Upper Left on the blog.
Continue to use our site for your Amazon purchases.

Bill's Bench
NanoVNA
Understanding L Networks
+/- 6kHz Ceramic filter for Q-31
Lobes, Nulls and WSPR

Miscellaneous:
Farhan's feedback Amplifier Video
British Antarctic Broadcast heard (sort of)

MAILBAG:
Mauro VA6BRO liked the SolderSmoke book. Thanks Mauro
Tryg in Galway Ireland is listening. Hope to get you the signed books Tryg.
Michael N4MJR suggested that I use N2 Corona Quarantine Radio as my phonetics. I dunno...
Ed DD5LP has been helping us get SS rebroadcast on a German SW broadcast station. Stay tuned!
Rogier PA1ZZ in California sent an e-mail about the Don Lee Broadcast System. Thanks Rogier!
Rick KE3IJ Silver Skirt on his 2B also. W3GOO did it. Rick traded his Commodore 64 for the 2B. Yea!
Walter KA4KXX has a simplified circuit for the MMM! From UK
Peter VE1BZI thank us for the tribal knowledge. Dipolo Crilolo
Peter VK2EMU Wee need someone to make the Constructor Crusader badge.
Scott KA9P sent us the Amateur Wireless cover from 1934 with the Constructor Crusader thing.
John GM4OOU Built lockdown rig. we want pictures!
Jerry KI4IO His version of the Sproutie by AA7EE FB
Adam N0ZIB built a MMM
Wouter ZS1KE in South Africa -- comparing notes on Drake 2-Bs
Randall KD5RC wants to get started in HB.

SolderSmoke Podcast #222

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke222.mp3

May 23, 2020
No travelogue but… SolderSmoke Almanac!

Memorial Day in U.S.

End of Ramadan so Eid Mubarak!

#222 marks SIX YEARS of Julian-ismo. He started on SS 161. Thanks Pete.

Thanks to all who sent good wishes on Billy's graduation.
He heads to Boston and the lab in a week or so. Very proud.
------------------------------------------
Bill was on Ham Radio WorkBench Podcast
-----------------------------------------

PETE'S WORKBENCH
-- Antenna Ideas -- Don't Buy that $165 dollar dipole! It is just wire!
-- THE PHASING RIG. Does this point to a need for meditation?
Or at least some temporary disengagement? Tribal wisdom from Pete.
-- DEAN KK4DAS's rig. The Furlough 40. Troubleshoot. Tribal knowledge.
-------------------------------------------

-- SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: AMAZON BOX -- SEARCH FOR ANYTHING OU WANT THERE.
-- PLEASE PUT COMMENTS ON THE SOLDERSMOKE BLOG POSTS.
-- PLEASE CHECK OUT THE SolderSmoke YOUTUBE VIDEOS.
------------------------------------------

BILL's WORKBENCH
-- Shortwave dials and exotic locations. Java!
-- Galaxy V VFO Project. Series-tuned Colpitts.
-- DRAKE 2-B. Hayseed Recap. Put the skirt back on the old rig. Reduction drives?

SHOPPING BAG:
I got a replacement for the Xtronics 4000 soldering station. Yaogong worked!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078WB9Z2R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ordered screws and stuff from McMaster -- Came very fast!
Working on a resistor kit from Mouser.

MAILBAG:
VK2BLQ's Phasing RX with an HRO dial. Cool Retro.
Adam N0ZIB -- Cool station. TFT screen Aluminum welded box. FB.
Karl G7AFT BITX 40 doing USB and LSB by changing the VFO freq. Pete's trick!
Jerry KI4IO out in nearby Warrenton. Hope to be able to meet up soon.
Keith N6ORS's Hot Mustard Phasing Board.
Mike N5GTF'd FULLY INDOOR Quarantine Receiver. Need a slogan for the antenna!
Nick M0NTV's Bread Bin 80 Quarantine rig
Bruce KC1FSZ Quarantine 10 -- Brave man in solar minimum. But I hear 10 is opening.
Talking to Grayson Evans KJ7UM TA2ZGE about Collins 9.9 MHz transformers.
Talking to Alan Wolke W2AEW about Drake 2-B stuff Was there a reduction drive?
Paul VK3HN about Ceramic filter spurs.
Peter VK2EMU notes no animals were harmed in the making of my videos. But many electrons were agitated.

SolderSmoke Podcast #221

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke221.mp3

25 April 2020

Obviously no travelogue. QUARANTINE. SITS.

Good news: Lawyers at Dewey Cheatham and Howe report that SolderSmoke will NOT
be taken off the net for brazen promotion of the S-38E receiver.
Also some good news on the FT8 vs. FT-FAKE issue. That report itself was fake.

PETE’S PROJECTS:

Phasing SSB
And what’s this about a tube CW rig?
Dean KK4DAS builds Pete’s Simple SSB rig. Quarantine Rig: The Furlough 40. See: https://kk4das.blogspot.com/

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: NEW AMAZON LINK IN THE UPPER RIGHT SIDE OF SOLDERSMOKE BLOG. .

BILL’S BENCH:

QUARANTINE PROJECT: Q-31 AM SW Receiver. April 4 through April 19. 15 days of fun. Learned a lot.
Need to pay attention to total gain. Need to measure. Not always easy. My resistor-based technique.
AM detection can be more difficult than SSB/CW detection. Germanium diodes make a big difference.
But…I don’t have to build a BFO, because these signals bring their own beat frequency.
455 CAN BE PROBLEMATIC AS AN IF – image response, making impedance matching transformers tough at those
low frequencies. But WIDE filters available.
LM386 AF chip make a LOT of audio. Hard to reproduce these great results.
Great stuff you can listen to on 31 meters (9.4 –10 MHz):
-- DX WaveScan
-- WRMI Rock and roll
-- VORW music show
-- Radio Nacional De Espana (Madrid)
-- China Radio International soap operas and Confucius philosophy lessons.
-- China Radio International Chinese Lessons.
-- Radio Greece
-- Radio Republica (France)
-- Radio Havana Cuba
-- Radio Saudi Arabia
-- WBCQ – They advised listeners to fix up an S-38 during quarantine! !!!!!!!
-- WWV

SHOPPING BAG -- THINGS TO GET:

-- Great source for hardware (screws, nuts, bolts and more): McMaster-Carr https://www.mcmaster.com/

-- Thermax RGS316 coax. Great stuff. Thanks Jim In some ways better than Belden 1671A https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2012/03/murphys-whiskers-shaved-with-belden.html

-- Copper Clad board: Pete’s boards use CEM 1. CEM 1 is low-cost, flame-retardant, cellulose-paper-based laminate with only one layer of woven glass fabric.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/18-pcs-Copper-Clad-Laminate-Board-Single-Sided-4-x-6-CEM-1-060-2-oz/311756276147?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

-- BEST TEST LEADS: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BEST-TEST-LEADS-PERIOD-Hand-Soldered-MINI-CLIP-Version-32-16AWG-Ultra-Flexible/233519356767?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

NEED/WANT:
-- Thermaleze magnet wire. First encountered in QRP GUYS EFHW tuner kit. Very FB
http://www.amidoncorp.com/thermaleze-coated-magnet-wire/
Resistor kits
NP0 cap kit
Replacement Iron for XTRonic 4000 Iron.
RIGOL PROBES Why do we burn through so many of these?

MAILBAG:
-- Eric 4Z1UG Episode 300 Special
-- Farhan working on ventilators. Special thanks to Dr. Gordon Gibby KX4Z.
-- Jonathan-San working out of new shed in Seattle
-- Grayson reminds us of the Fran Lab: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLgHbpJ8qYqj3CkdbvC0Ww
-- WRMI likes SolderSmoke
-- Peter VK2EMU continues to build his amplifier. But it is NOT for 50 MHz. It does have 6 different meters on the front panel. But it is not a 6 meter rig!
-- Rich K7SZ – “now look what you’ve done” Fixing up an S-38
-- Rich WD3C Provided some great SWL links:
https://www.short-wave.info/ if you move the green dot to your location it will predict what the signal strength would be at your location and will also allow you to search by station, language, frequency, etc.
Thomas Whitherspoon, https://swling.com/blog/ Another, https://shortwaveschedule.com/ and of coarse https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php all the pirate broadcasters show up here.
-- Paul KL7FLR amazing S-38E diagnosis from afar. Paul's toroid tool (more to follow on this).

SolderSmoke Podcast #220

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke220.mp3

April 1, 2020

Hunkered Down. StayInTheShack: SITS! Flatten the Curve! It is working.
Teaching English again – via Zoom. Kids completing the school year remotely.

BILL'S BENCH

-- Finishing up on the S-38Es.
-- I wrote up my alignment, isolation and dial string experiences.
-- SWL WRMI Radio Miami International on 39 meters 9.4-9.9 MHz. Rock and Roll.
-- S-38E work is causing me some serious legal problems. They are threatening to take down our sites and our podcast. Google has put a CEASE AND DESIST ORDER on my blog: Check it out http://soldersmoke.com/CEASEANDDESIST.JPG
-- S-38E caused me to want to get my HRO dial receiver on the SW broadcast bands with a good AM detector.
-- Next up: Hayseed Hamfest cap for my Drake 2-B. And I have an idea on how to easily broaden it for AM: Tap the 455 kc output on the Q multiplier jack. 455 AM detector to audio amp.

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION

PETE’S BENCH
AD9833
Phasing Rig Project
DEAN’S PROJECT – Step by step. Trouble shooting. Understanding. Receiver triumph. FB.

MAILBAG

Jack 5B/AI4SV doing well in Cyprus
Daniel SA7DER listens during commute in Sweeden.
Peter VK2EMU building a 6 meter amp. With Tubes
Jim WA8ZHN says there are still 7751 Novices on the books. FB.

Mike WB2BLJ modding his BITX – having a lot of fun.
Fred KC5RT – Great idea on isolation transformer in my S-38E.
Jerry Palsson: S-38C's curves vs. S-38E's exotic places. Java.
Krakatoa East of Java
The Year of Living Dangerously

Anonymous mail: FT-8 DX -- Are these contacts legitimate?

SolderSmoke Podcast #219

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke219.mp3

14 March 2020

SPECIAL CORONA VIRUS EMERGENCY EDITION

We thought it would be nice to put out a special edition of the podcast to help listeners keep up their morale during this difficult time. So we’ll do our regular kind of show, but we’ll try to emphasize things you can do to stay busy and keep up morale while stuck at home.

BILL’S BENCH (and operating position)

--NOVICE RIG ROUNDUP. NRR. Continues through this weekend. Lots of fun. Cool rigs worked: Jon WS1K’s "Scrounger." Greg AA8V’s 6X2 superhet. And WN4NRR.

-- S-38 MANIA. My S-38E story. Bought parts. Bought a junker. Fixed the first one then used the parts to fix the junker. Now I have 2 S-38Es.

-- Got capacitor kit from Hayseed Hamfest. FB.

PETE’S BENCH

Hilbert Transforms

AD9833 glued onto a Nano

Teesny and Radig and ZL2CTM

PWKSCDS

More Mint

SOME THINGS TO DO DURING COVID 19 CRISIS

Sampson Boat Company Tally-Ho videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-_lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA

WebSDR NA5B http://na5b.com:8901/

NRR http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2020/03/novice-rig-round-up-march-7-march-15.html

Revive an old boatanchor

Get back into shortwave listening.

Get on the air—make some contacts!

Take a walk. Get some exercise. Listen to SolderSmoke and other podcasts when you walk.

Cook something from the famous Pasta Pete web site. http://www.pastapete.com/

Help someone who needs help.

MAILBAG

QSP – What a cool magazine! Pete and I both have articles in there.

Hot Iron – great new issue also. Lots in there.

Tony Fishpool G4WIF Words of Wisdom on the NanoVNA.

SolderSmoke Podcast #218

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke218.mp3

24 February 2020

Flying drones with Billy. Amazing tech out there. In the 50 buck range with video cameras and facial recognition and tracking. Check out Air Pix.

Bill's Bench:

Active CW filter in uBITX.

Hi-Per-Mite from 4 State QRP. Easy to do. Works well.

uBITX to 5 W level.

S-38E adventure.

Replaced antenna input coil BUT -- it came from an earlier S-38 and doesn't resonate.

So I bought a junker on e-bay and will take the E model coil out of that one.

Had to re-string the dial! And add rosin to it from Maria's old violin.

BFO was not working. Bad buzz sound.

So: Re-cap, Re-tube, Re-string, Re-align, Re-build power supply.

Shortwave sounds good. Nice to hear music coming from our machines.

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION: Please use the Amazon Search Box in the upper right hand portion of the blog.

Pete's Bench

A teensy-weensie explosion and fire

Mint! Kl7FLR

60 Meters

Cheese Microscopes

Peaberry

Radig

California hams using online SDR receivers for local nets.

News You Can Use!

J-310s in LTSpice

MAILBAG

K5HCT August via Regen and YouTube

Doug WB5TKI and his wife read "Us and Them."

Rich K7SZ finally following SolderSmoke Podcast. Welcome aboard Rich.

Rick KD4KRA His son was one of the kids in the MIR-Classroom contact that I monitored around 1993...

David AD8Y Read SolderSmoke Book. Similar Knack story. Shared 1978 story: Homework net on 75 meters.

Paul KL7FLR Tapping and other tribal knowledge.

Dave K8WPE Says I'm fortunate to have a supportive wife. So true.

SPECIAL REQUEST: IT IS VERY DIFFICULT FOR US TO KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LISTENING TO THIS. SO PLEASE, SEND AN E-MAIL TO [email protected] JUST SAY THAT YOU LISTENED TO PODCAST #218 AND TELL US HOW YOU LISTENED TO IT (ITUNES, DOWNLAD FROM BLOG, STITCHER, PODBEAN, WHATEVER... THANKS

Soldersmoke Podcast #217

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke217.mp3

1 February 2020

Travelogue! Dominican Republic trip. uBITX on the Beach. EFHW. LiPo Battery. First contact of the new year.

Bill's Bench Report

Following up on proposed uBITX mods:

-- Put pot on sidetone line from Raduino to keep the sidetone a bit quieter.

-- Fixed the key -- pounding brass

-- Will install 4 States QRP Active AF filter.

-- Need to reduce power on CW to 5W

-- Stereo to mono headphone adapters.

-- Turning off display and mic amp circuit not really worth it -- they don't pull much current.

Pete's Bench Report:

ELMAC Power Supply project

1930s era transmitter?

Teensy and SDR

PETE'S IDEA ABOUT GETTING LSB AND USB FROM BITX40

KWM-2 suggestions

Back to Bill's Bench:

Working on HRO-ish Receiver.

Bad SBL-1

Got idea for wider ceramic filter from Paul VK3HN

Ordered parts from Mini-kits in Australia. They sent 6kc filters.

Bruce KK0S sent me some 10 kc filters too.

Installed 6 kc filter with L network matching networks. Works great.

Also installed Infinite Impedance Detector that Paul used.

Needed some additional amplification ahead of the IID, so I used one stage of BITX amp.

Works great. I can tune full 40 meter band AND 49 meter SW band. Radio Romania, China, Radio Marti, Brazil, South Carolina.

Beefed up the shielding to cut down on AM detection.

MISCELLANY

-- AM and DSB in LTSpice

-- Duly Noted: Paul VK3HN's RIG: "THIS MACHINE KILLS KILOWATTS"

Kanji YC3KNJ's QRPesso Expresso Coffee in the field

-- The DANGERS of powerful magnets.

MAILBAG:

--KK4DAS Dean doing great things. MMM heard at Penn State. Where is the rest of the CBLA?

-- Thanks to Don for kind donation to the SolderSmoke cause

-- Dale BA4TB -- First SolderSmoke feedback from China. Thanks Dale!

--Steve Silverman: Sideswipers and bugs were made to handle "carpal tunnel of the day" So do I need a keyer for casual CW work?

-- Peter VK8VWA on the limited knowledge gained from kit building. Listens to podcast while walking on the beach in Australia.

-- Allan Hale -- Clothes Pins as Toroid holders. Yes! More Clothes Pins Wild Woody Keys from Dave Ingram

-- Pete WB9FLW 100 Watt Amp from WA2EUJ

-- Dave Wilcox K8WPE A medical question: Does the Michigan Mighty Mite work differently depending on what kind of medicine was in the pill bottles used for the coil form? Good question Doc! Dave suggest that putting CBD on the coil or the crystals. Anything to mellow out the ham bands...

Soldersmoke Podcast #216

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke216.mp3

21 December 2019
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Pete's Bench

Sprat Article

BITX 40 Fun

ZL2BMI Rig

Paraset. Three tubes! Almost an ET-3!

Bill's Bench

ET-2 Adventure over, Rig on the wall

Final QSO count. 20 3 "random"

Last QSO with AA8OZ

Lessons learned: 100 mW not the problem. Crystal Control cramps your style.

N0WVA regen amazingly effective.

Tried for the Sunrise Net. Walter sent me some crystals.

On to the uBITX.

Accidentally wiped out calibration and BFO settings.

Had to do recalibration and reset BFO.

Learned a lot about the rig.

How they did CW and how they do it now. Shift TX? Or shift RX? Or just shift BFO on RX?

How all the signals end up as upper sideband. Only one BFO freq. Very cool.

TalentCell 12 V Lithium Ion 3 AmpHour battery. Size of a deck of cards.

Inspired by Peregrino -- I ordered EFHW Tuner from QRP Guys.

Homebrew Straight Keys

Antuino upgrade

SMT soldering.

Back to Arduino Nano and the IDE.

A very cool tool.

Antuino filter analysis.

Version 6 of uBITX out.

The "Watt Meter" DC power meter. Very useful. 8 bucks. LINK:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-DC-combo-Meter-LCD-Watt-Power-Volt-Amp-RC-Battery-charging-Analyzer-M/152339793114?fbclid=IwAR0u9SlZi2Dm6zOJyZt4fDTu7w_pjBIEYD_FiNfLymxtQUbMjcNHjfB17P0

SPRAT, balloons and hardcore homebrew hydrogen.

MAILBAG

VK3HN's AM receiver. I ordered 6kHz 455 kHz filters from Australia.

Dean's MMM

Peter VK2EMU Hertz not hertz.

Ben KC9DLM LTSpice YouTube Videos

Steve Silverman Electroluminescent Receiver Kit

Lyndon N0LFX back to listening. FB OM

Steve M0KOV built a pill bottle variometer. Did you get the regen going?

Anthony VU3JVX FB HB uBitx. Looking for a job in Bangalore.

Allison KB1GMX Great to hear from her

Leif WB9IWT -- helped me trouble shoot my uBITX (BFO was low)

Mike EI0CL old buddy from Azores days. Recognized his voice on 20. Great QSO.

SolderSmoke Podcast #215 25 November 2019

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke215.mp3

Happy Thanksgiving!
Transit of Mercury
Book Reviews

Bill's Minimalist Adventures:
-- 15 Contacts with the ET-2
-- Ethical issues: Is spotting yourself OK? OK to use TWO FETs?
-- Using Reverse Beacon Network
-- How to keep receiver on the right frequency
-- N0WVA's receiver sounded better, so I built a second N0WVA receiver
-- Regens reach back to Edwin Howard Armstrong's 1912-1923 breakthrough
-- Regens are fun, but they are not good projects for new builders.

-- Pull out those Michigan Mighty Mites and listen for yourself via on-line SDR receivers.

Pete's Projects:
"WHEN YOU KNOW STUFF YOU CAN DO STUFF!"
-- Left Coast SSB -- "The Paesano" -- To be featured in December 2019 SPRAT.
-- Pete's KWM-4 on The Collins Collectors Net
-- Pete builds an N0WVA regen -- just in time for Sweepstakes CW Saturday!
-- Arduino IDE Library trouble
-- uBITX 6.0? Fake News?

No more BITX40 Modules. Long Live BITX40 HOMEBREW!

BITX-101. Intriguing but on second thought, no.

MAILBAG

Steve Silverman: Lexicon: "Audible Modes."
Felipe CU2BD Old buddy from the Azores
Michael Rainey AA1TJ: Come back Mike! The ionosphere needs you!
Jack Welch AI4SV is in 5G land (Cyprus, not the cell phone thing).
Walter AC4IM is at the San Vito Solar Observatory in Italy. DO SOMETHING WALTER!
Kostas SV3ORA has an amazing homebrew web site. Thanks Kostas!
Mike KC6SAX -- How to deal with the frustration of HB projects that don't work.
Paul KL7FLR -- Pete is 7 Hz high.
Keith W3ISZ sent his photo of the Transit of Mercury.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #214

4 November 2019 (shockingly late!)

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke214.mp3

The visit of Farhan to Northern Virginia
"I heard this guy from Southern California on 20..."
Fire Report from Pete

Pete's Bench Report
"When you know stuff, you can do stuff!"
The CRAP rigs
Old Boatanchors -- the Swan 120 with SUPER STABLE ANALOG VFO!
Ten Tec rigs dial cord replaced with Chinese digi sig counter
Pete's 500 mW encounter with a QRO curmudgeon
The ZL2BMI Challenge has Pete building crystal filters
The Left Coast Loafer CW rig

Bill's Bench Report

ET-2 Refinements
N0WVA's Regen Receiver
Going from ET-1 to ET-2
J-310s vice MPF-102
100 mW from a single J-310
Receiver kind of deaf -103 dbm MDS
10 contacts so far in 9 states
THREE contacts yesterday.
Worked Wisconsin - 633 miles on 92 mW
We are at sunspot minimum.
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Simplicity is the real reason for CW

IDEA: Get those Michigan Might Mites on the air!
Use Reverse Beacon Network to see if you are getting out
Use SDR receivers to make contacts

MAILBAG
DL1AJG
KC6SAX
W9VNE
KA4KXX
N0WVA
Zl2BMI
AJ6BD

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #213 is available.

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke213.mp3

7 September 2019

The dire consequences of our summer absence.

50th PODCAST WITH OUR FRIEND PETE!
THREE CHEERS FOR PETE!

Pete's Bench Report

-- Transceiver Count: FORTY!
-- SDR RADIGS
-- Colorful OLED screens
-- Pilgrims and Paisanos -- "Left Coast Homebrew SSB"
-- Pete builds a CW transceiver (see picture above)

Bill's Bench Report:

-- Going minimalist
-- Tuna Tin 2 + Herring Aid 5 = Fish Soup 7 (and later 10)
-- My QRPp QSO with K1PUB overheard in Canada
-- Glen Yingling's ET-1
-- Bill attempting a single transistor transceiver

SPACE NEWS

-- Antuino's Cubesat Origins. Farhan's Antuino Mods
-- Apollo 11 Anniversary
-- Possibly the best space book ever: "Carrying the Fire" by Michael Collins
-- Chinese microsat sending eclipse pictures from the moon
-- LightSail 2 success
-- India has spacecraft in lunar orbit.

Eric Sears ZL2BMI and Dino Papas KL0S on "QSO Today" Podcast

MAILBAG:

ZL2PD's Sugar Cube VFO
N8WQ gets free samples
N5RWF Getting started, wisely wearing beret
VK2EMU Australian Ad for Collins Filters
W1PJE on new LDMOS PA transistors
KA4KXX Al Fresco 75 meter SSB rig with model plane engine mufflers!

Forgot to mention: W9TH still has manuals for whover owns Drake 2-B #4215. Check your serial number!

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #212 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke212.mp3

22 June 2019

CONGRATULATIONS TO PETE: Licensed 60 years today

Pete Juliano during Field Day, 1959

Sideband Engineers Models 33 and 34 -- Thanks Pete!
Hans's QSX SDR Rig at Dayton-Xenia and FDIM
W8SX FDIM interviews

Pete's SDR Projects -- Update

The Peregrino SSB transceiver in the summer SPRAT

Why no rare earth cell phone speakers in ham projects?

My HDR "waterfall" project

Farhan's Antuino
Cubesat origins
RF Lab in an box
SWR, PWR, SNA
Superhet receiver with ADE-1 at front, and log IC at the output
Adapters (SMA to BNC) help
DON'T BLOW UP THE INPUT RESISTORS (LIKE I DID!)
My dirty DIGITIA -- Denial, then acceptance
FFT
Useful programs: SPURTUNE and ELSIE
A better bandpass filter for the DIGITIA
The importance of a good test set up with Antuino

Manassas Hamfest: WA1UQO, W4WIN, AI4OT

MAILBAG:
KG7SSB
WA3EIB
VK4PG
W3BBO
Jeff Tucker -- Who owns Drake 2-B #4215?
KN4BXI
KC5RT
K3ASW

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

27 April 2019

SolderSmoke Podcast #211 is available

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke211.mp3

Pete NOT quitting podcast! Malicious code case RESOLVED!

Ambiguity and the Digi-Analog Divide

Edwin Howard Armstrong biography

SPAACE!
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary
Oscar 100 in Geostationary Orbit. Why can't we have one too?
Farhan puts AISAT in orbit. FB!
Space is difficult
SSTV from the Space Station

Pete's bench report.

Vintage Sidebanders
Recording of Midwest Vintage SSB "tune up session"
Vintage rigs that sound bad
Distorted views on "distortion"

Bill fixing old Bose Wave Radio

NOT GOING TO DAYTON. AGAIN! But SolderSmoke rep will be there

75 meter secrets of success (timing is everything!)

MAILBAG

Steve N8NM sends me FB National Dial
Steve N8NM aspires to complexity -- enough of this simple stuff!
Dave W2DAB goes to Columbia U session on Armstrong, sends FB book.
Jim W4JED -- reports of QCX sideband a bit exaggerated. Where is Allison?
Rob Powell wins beret challenge. VK2TPM and VK2BLQ also win. CONGRATS!
Colin G3VMU sends nice 1930s radio picture
Alan WA9IRS sends diagram of digi radio signal flow. CLEAR AS MUD!
Chris KD4PBJ Grandmother worked at Hammarlund.
Steve NU0P sends info on Art Collins and the Apollo moonshots.

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

2 March 2019

SolderSmoke Podcast #210 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke210.mp3

Alexa, Marie Kondo, berets, and ham radio

Bi-Coastal Boatanchors
BATTLE CRY: The Vintage SSB Preamble! "We are NOT ashamed!"
Bill's HT37 and Drake 2B
Pete's National National NCX-3 TRGHS
Mechanical Filters
Magnetostriction
Why did Collins go with mechanical vice crystal filters?
The foam deterioration syndrome in mechanical filters. Sad.
Please send any unwanted Mechanical Filters to Bill.
BONUS QUESTION: Look at the filter below. What is different/special about this one?

Pete's antenna trouble
Pete's FB amplifier troubleshooting
Recent improvements in the uBITX finals
Pete's design for a VFO for Bill (and an indoor antenna tuner!)

Bill's VFO for Pete: HRO dial and gearbox driving a rotary encoder

Guido PE1NNZ puts the QCX on SSB
"The Secret Life of Machines -- Radio"
HB HRO dial from DL6WD
WA1QIX's USB D-104
"The High Frequency Oracle"
DeMaw's LC filter receiver
Godzilla and Ham Radio
Bill's poor quality SSTV images from space (what happened?)
Listening to AM on an SSB receiver
Mixed feelings about CW

MAILBAG
M0KOV's mom took him to the doctor due to THE KNACK.
M0JGH getting married (ALWAYS LISTEN TO PETE!)
Jac's FB Receiver
--------------------

SolderSmoke Podcast #209 is Available:

13 January 2019

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke209.mp3

An HT-37 "With Presence!" Even on CW! A Straight Key Night Story
Saving a much-loved HT-37
Drake 2-B Alignment
Tweaking the Mate for the Mighty Midget
Fixing a Deaf DC Receiver
A Wobbly National HRO-ish Gear Box
Minimum Discernible Signal Tests
Pete's Festive Holiday Transceiver in a Bottle

Movie Review: "First Man" Neil Armstrong goes to the moon.

Safety Tips for 2019: Fuses, Hard Drives, Flu Shots.

MAILBAG:
Dave G6AJW builds Pete's Sudden Transceiver
Rogier KJ6ETL builds a new shack
Steve N8NM Helps save the HT-37
Jim AL7RV W8NSA builds Parasets
Dave AA7EE puts a beacon on the air -- Please Listen!
Jan OM2ATC builds and documents an Si5351 VFO
Bruce KC1FSZ Homebrew's a BITX
KB1GMX's Tip on IRF-510 Oscillation Prevention
Ryan W7RLF Homebrews a DC Receiver

Listening to August K5HCT from the East and West Coasts on 40
Tim WA1HLR rebuilding his 1968 transmitter.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #208 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke208.mp3

15 December 2018

Pete and the California fires
Bill goes to Brooklyn
2 meter simplex
A return of the trivial electric motor
Audio from Mars
HF Conditions -- a real mixed bag

Pete looks back at 2018 -- The Year of the SSB Transceiver -- Lessons Learned

Hans Summers, the QSX and the virtues of SDR
W7ZOI's DC Receiver Retrospective
The 1972 Solar Flare and the Vietnam War

SHAMELESS COMMERCE: Buy your gifts through the Amazon link to the upper right.
Consider SolderSmoke the book as a gift. Visit Pasta Pete's for cooking ideas.

Don't Build It! Sage -- but unexpected -- advice from Pete.

Straight Key Night approaches.

Book Reviews:
--"What is Real?" (Quantum Physics)
-- RHdb by K6LHA.

Movies
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
"First Man" (Not yet!)

MAILBAG:
Steve G0FUW
Ed KC8SBV

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #207 is available:

27 October 2017

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke207.mp3

-- Giants of Radio
-- Pete on 15 Meters
-- Bill on 60 Meters with the uBITX
-- Pete's Sudden and Heath Filter Transceivers
-- Cubesats to orbit! To the moon! And to Mars!
-- Bill rebuilds his 2 meter "Ray-Gun" Quad (for Farhan's Cubesat)
-- Homebrewing Variable caps and stockpiling NP0
-- My "by ear" Minimal Discernible Signal Technique
-- Thoughts on Direct Sampling SDR and the Radio Art
MAILBAG
-- A request for feedback from GQRP
-- G4WIF reports G3ROO on UK TV with spysets
-- VU3XVR builds FB rig from EMRFD
-- M0KOV Charter member of the 3 Scratch-built BITX club
--KD4PBJ's PTO Turtle DC Receiver
-- AB1OP builds Pete's LBS receiver and gives us a new acronym: SITB
-- KD4EBM -- Thanks for the scanner Bob!
-- A possible sponsor from California...

-- Pete's dream neighborhood...

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #206 is now available:

2 September 2018
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke206.mp3

-- SolderSmoke resumes after a busy summer.

-- We did a portion of #206 via Skype at the GQRP Convention. Thanks to Steve G0FUW for setting this up. A portion of our participation appears at the end of the podcast.

-- Pete's SDR Rig and his new involvement with WSPR and FT-8

-- The allure of SDR and the pitfalls of complexity.

-- Bill's 135 foot Doublet, 75 AM, 60 USB and 30 Meter CW.

-- Plans to change the IF of Bill's HRO dial receiver.

-- Thinking (again) about sold stateing the HW-101.

-- Hans Summers, QCX and QSX rigs.

MAILBAG:

Ralph builds Pete's LBS receiver. FB!

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

June 23, 2018

SolderSmoke Podcast #205 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke205.mp3

-- Summer solstice. Mars Observations. Graduations. Internships. Fathers Day.

-- Antenna Angst: Pete's tribander and Bill's Moxon. Insulation and resonance?

-- Pete's work on color displays.

-- Bill goes back to fix up older projects:

-- Fixing the Frankenstein Phasing RX. Found an open choke!

-- Tightening up the HRO Dial.

-- Achieving Juliano Criteria stability on a BITX20 VFO.

-- Lexicon additions: "Scratch Built" "Hardrock Radio"

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/39551/where-does-the-saying-made-from-scratch-originate

-- PastaPete:  http://www.pastapete.com/

MAILBAG:
Bob Crane W8SX Corrspondent at FDIM
Ralph AB1OP Building LBS
Bruce KC1FSZ Digital Pot
Jason W5IPA uBITX in Juliano Blue
Rogier KJ6ETL ON THE AIR WITH A uBITX
Special thanks to Tim Walford for 25 years of Hot Iron.
---------------------------

SolderSmoke Podcast #204 is available!

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke204.mp3

5 May 2018

April 1 Recap -- We thank you for your support!

Pete's Rig on Cover of SPRAT 174

uBITX Mania

uBITX Dual Conversion Design

uBITX Gettng more out of the Arduino/Si5351 combo

uBITX KD8CEC's amazing software

uBITX Future Possibilities

uBITX On-the-Air Experiences, with CW too!

MAILBAG

KD8CGH's Hyderabox -- THERE ARE TWO!
QSO with N1AW's cardboard uBITX
DuWayne on QSO TODAY
Jack 5R8SV -- Radio Gods NOT Happy
Jack Purdum W8TEE -- Thanks OM
Charles AI4OT
Chris KB4PBT 15 inch telescope
John WJ0NF Reading SolderSmoke
Ken W8KTP Ordering a uBITX
Darren KG7KOI Listening
Gary AK4NA New Word: "Cabinetize" FB OM!

SolderSmoke Pocast #203 is (FINALLY!) available:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke203.mp3

24 March 2018

--The reasons for our delay.
Winter, Computers, College, Family Trees, Lawyers....

-- Winterfest 2018
-- Pete launches 2018 THE YEAR OF THE TRANSCEIVER
  http://n6qw.blogspot.com/
-- SDR - Satan's Digital Radio?
-- Direct Conversion Receiver Projects
-- Mixer Musings
-- A Thailand Troubleshoot
-- Nor'Easter knocks out Bill's Moxon -- An appliance replacement?
-- Homebrew Electret Mics. Seriously.
-- uBITX Build with Rogier
-- Civilized Crystal Testing
-- Baofeng!
-- DRAGNET

-- MAILBAG
KD4PBJ's REGEN
N6ORS's SDR rig
Mike Rainey's DX-100

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #202 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmo

13 Jan 2018

Opening music from Shel Silverstein and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

On the Cover of the Rolling Stone or On the Cover of SPRAT magazine.

Travelogue and Weather Report

-- Bill's trip to the Dominican Republic. SWL on the beach. Return to the ice box.

-- Dramatic events in California.

-- Reading Chinese Sci Fi with lots of radio in it. "The Three Body Problem" by Cixin Liu

Straight Key Night. IN QRP MODE THANK YOU. With nephew Jeffrey. Annual event -- worked Jim W1PID friend of Mike Rainey.

Steve Murphy and Jeff Damm on QSO Today. FB.

Oh your rig is homebrew? "It must be propagation."

ER Reading about G3UUR

Hams avoiding 60 meters due to 100 watt limit. SAD.

Bill's Bench: Continuing series on the Ceramic Discrete DC receiver. Described the oscillator and the AF amp. Next we will do the Mixer. The most interesting stage. Nephew John Henry and niece Helena visiting today.

Pete's bench. uBITX adventures.

The K1BQT IC transceiver.

The Vector Board building technique. See http://n6qw.blogspot.com/

MAILBAG

Paul KA5WPL Looking for project with his son. Sawdust. Thanks again Steve Silverman.

Chris Waldrup OM PBJ thanks for the gift

Pete in contact with Sven Johnson

Chuck KE5HPY sent us picture of fashion model with boatanchors in background Grayson recalled 73 magazine covers...

Pete WB9FLW Bilateral SBE-33 ad "with inherent stability" That's the best kind!

Bruce KK0S experimenting with AF amps for the DC receiver

John KE5ETX Attempting CBLA

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #201 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke201.mp3

9 December 2017

Santa Juliano

Forest fires, snow storms, and an earthquake.

Santa arrives from Hyderabad -- uBITX in the house.

Radio history. First transtalantic amateur contacts.

Bill's International Brotherhood Ceramic Discrete Direct Conversion Receiver Project.
-- Goals -- Build your own receiver. Really. From scratch. No cheating.
-- How to get started. Get parts and tools.
-- Stage by stage.
-- VFO first -- maybe build two.
Bill built two already
-- Nephew is testing the first one.
-- Polyvaricon limitations.
-- Varactor limitations
-- Variable cap limitation.
MEETING THE JULIANO STABILITY CRITERIA

Understanding the F5LVG mixer

Pete goes to the dark side with an SDR receiver.
Pete's 800 Watt Amplifier gives him trouble. TRGHS.

People in the News
Cliff Stoll -- Still Passionate about Electronics
Peter Parker -- VHF/UHF By the Bay
Yardley Beers -- Early SSB with "The Black Rose"
John Kraus -- Moonbounce without the Moon.

MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #200 -- TWO HUNDRED!!!!-- Is available

14 October 2017

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke200.mp3

-- Old friends on 17 meters.

-- Another Knack Nobel in Physics.

-- Hans Summers' QCX transceiver: $50 IS THE NEW 10 GRAND!

-- New Bands! 630 and 2200 Meters. BIG ANTENNAS!

-- Nuke Powered QRP. No joke!

-- The Challenge of UHF. Not for the faint of heart.

-- Reginald Fessenden, Father of Phone.

PETE'S BENCH REPORT: The New Simple-ceiver. Soon to be a Transceiver.

BILL's BENCH REPORT: Discrete, Direct Conversion, Ceramic Receiver in iPhone Box.

THE EDUCATIONAL PORTION OF TODAY's PROGRAM:
HOW TO TROUBLESHOOT A HOMEBREW RECEIVER.

MAILBAG.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #199 is available.

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke199.mp3

2 September 2017

The Eclipse. The Floods.

Sawdust Regen gets John Henry off to a good start.
Voltage regulators as audio amplifiers

The return of the Simple-ceiver (Direct Conversion)

Ceramic Resonators

3D OLEDS

iPhone Boxes as rig enclosures

Electric Radio on Frank Jones

17 Meter Contacts

MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #198 is available.

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke198.mp3

29 July 2017

Sign on a beach store: SHACK-TACULAR!

Noticed that EB63 amp was getting hot. Why?

TT2, Herring Aid5, Farhan's Key: QRPp and CW! See?

D-104 lore -- Reading from Bill Breshear's (WC3K) ER article

Astatic crystal/ceramic element -- disappointingly flimsy

Electret-ing it. The G-Spot (see picture above)

Walery KB2FIV sent crystal mic element and piezo buzzer (reverse for mic!) FB

HW-8 AF filter Center Frequency Problem. IT'S TRUE! Fixed! Finally.

Shack re-org at N2CQR

Got Steve Silverman's HP 8640B Sig gen on the bench. Required reinforcement

Pete's new DIFX

LM373 rigs. Perhaps with that CA3020 Pete sent me. Chips Ahoy!

Juliano Yellow? Origins of Blue? Juliello? Julionyx?

HB Crystal Filter Capitulation? Don't give up Pete -- just dish the Dishal!

Ceramic VXOs? K.P.S. Kang

Crystal testers by G7WKE and Dino KL0S. Impressive.

Antennas and BITX40 modules. Antennas are important.

Bill's new Baofeng HT on 440.

Fixing my Sony SW7600GR

MAILBAG

Steve Silverman alerts us to NYC radio row now in the Bronx.

Tony G4WIF on the cover of SPRAT -- Getting the Don Cameron award. FB

Armand WA1UQO points out that the Berryville hamfest is coming up...

Thomas KK6AHT F4HDQ writes in.

On the air with W8NSA

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #197 is available:

June 17, 2017

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke197.mp3

Up in NYC, met Dave W2DAB. got Steve Silverman's HP 8640B Sig Gen.

Farhan's visit to SolderSmoke HQ

Got me a TEK1401A Spectrum analyzer

Farhan at "Geekfest" @W7ZOI http://w7zoi.net/Farhan-visit.html

BITX40 Modules. 5,000 already. 1,000 a month.

The BITX pronunciation problem.

QRP Hall of Fame. I suspected April 1 reprisal! "I am unworthy"

Like in Wayne's World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBEn3a4TIUw

Dusting off my Tuna Tin 2, Herring Aid 5 and Farhan's key from India.

The Manassas Hamfest: OLD crystal gear. 20's and 30's stuff. Leon Lambert RX and Philmore Fixed Crystal Detector.

Reminder of how YOUNG the radio art is.

RELATED: Bell System 1953 Transistor Documentary. 11 year old Pete and his CK722.

Bought some good stuff from Charles AI4OT.

Armand WA1UQO gave me a big collection of Electric Radio. So much history and HB wisdom in there. Frank Jones and Lafayette Radio. Jim Lamb and 1930s SSB.

Is the CK-722 the source of Pete Juliano's affinity for Juliano Blue?

Was Wes Hayward already using Juliano Blue?

"Your rig sounds real good for a homebrew rig!"

"Well, your rig sounds pretty good for a Yaesu!"

Related topic: Going over the Waterfall: The SDR Superiority Syndrome. Feathering.

ARRL Arduino Book by Popiel. Very nice. Right level. Lots of good info.

BENCH REPORT:

Pete's Dishal Dystopia -- Is the perfect TRULY the enemy of the good enough?

Bill's NE602 RIG:

Replaced OLED. Blue one seems noisier. Shielded it with copper flashing.

Made me yearn for bigger boxes WITH A HOOD!

DOCUMENTING WITH LTSPICE

MAILBAG:

Special Thanks to our correspondent in the Dayton Xenia Metropolitan area -- Bob Crane W8SX.

Jack Welch, AI4SV 5R8SV -- Our Man in Antanarivo -- Sent me a GREAT BOOK "I, Libertine" by Frederick R. Ewing. EXCELSIOR!

https://qrz.com/db/5r8sv

Bruce KC1FSZ https://www.qrz.com/db/kc1fsz Building Scratchbuilt BITX. On the way put the VFO where the BFO should go and had a DC RX. FB

Greg, VK1VXG Suggestion for WA8WDQ on Arduino serial plotter

http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Guide-to-Adruino-Serial-Plotter/

Ben KC9DLM Mercury PTO. In a syringe! No thanks! Maybe add some high voltage and selenium. And a radium dial! Yea!

http://webshed.org/wiki/Mercury_PTO

KY3R's metalized cigar boxes! FB On Blog.

Richard WB2PEF has revived his Doug DeMaw 8P6 rig. FB. But bothered by PTT thump.

Update on Dave AA7EE (from Mike KC6SAX)

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #196 is available.
5 May 2017

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke196.mp3

Shenandoah Rocket Launch -- With video!

Pete and the QRPARCI HOF: We thank you for your support!

Note the strange seasonality of these kinds of events... Always in the Springtime...

April is the cruelest month. Especially the FIRST DAY!

Feel Tech Follow-up -- the DC blocking cap issue.

HBTV? Roku Challenge?

A tube of Desitin? Why?

SDR Misadventures.

SDR on a tablet Just like WA7HRG

Pi Day More RaspPi Linux observations TOO HARD

The problem of Si5351 and updated libraries -- old sketches don't work!

My SDR question: If we go with direct sampling, no need for I and Q at front end No image problem, right? But why is there often a digital I and Q in the direct sampling receivers?

BITX MODULE

Getting RF in through the DDS jack.

Electric Radio: Reading from the history of SSB. And from the T.O.M. article

Joe Carr K4IPV : Homebrew Hero from Falls Church Va. Any more info on him?

Pete's newest DifX

Pete's new digital scope.

Bill's NE602 RIG, Epiphyte History.

He put AADE crystal filter impedance match circuits in backward That's why he needed RF amp. Duh.

The perils of a crowded box

Building RF amp board (BITX Module design) for the NE602 rig.

NE602s do not put out a lot of power. uW

BITX Module Amp circuits very stable.

Chassis as the heat sink.

Mic amp? We don't need no stinkin' mic amp! But yes, we do. 741 on the way.

Parts on e-bay very expensive! Back to the hamfests. On to Manassas!

Congrats to Tony Fishpool G4WIF, who received the Don Cameron, G4STT, Award for an outstanding contribution to low power amateur radio at the RSGB AGM meeting in Cardiff.

MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #195

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke195.mp3

We’ve got a problem: Pete Juliano and the QRP Hall of Fame :-( PLEASE HELP!

BENCH REPORTS

Pete Releases Smoke (wiring harness)

Pete's DifX on 60

Architecture and Dual Conversion (uBITX: uses ALL THREE clocks on the Si5351)

The Big Kahuna

ON HACKADAY with Philco SB100 SEE! QRP!!!!!

BITX60

Cap Stack Hack mod (with leads)

Let the smoke out of an Si5351 (shorted output) Several actually.

(Same day delivery zone for Amazon -- but no drones or parachutes yet.)

Installed scanning switch

Observations on 60. All the weird bands have a 6 in them: 160, 60, 6

The good: 100 watt limit, wire antennas
The bad: Kind of cliquish-- like 75, not much of a CQ band. Channels. Not much activity.

Met Josh KE8CPD on 40. BITX 40!

TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE:

Socketry: How to keep BNC jacks from spinning loose?

Do you heat shrink?

Feel Tech Sig Gen might not have blocking cap at the output.

Speaking of which, when I spoke of the Ne602, I mostly meant blocking caps, not bypass caps.

How come they don't have a cable TV channel devoted to radios? They have HGTV? Why not HBTV?

REPORT FROM WINTERFEST

Bad weather. Tailgaters wimped out!

Combined forces with Armand WA1UQO.

Met up with Charles AI4OT.

Acquisitions: 1/4 phono jacks, carbon mic, vero board, disc caps, weather radio,

LARGE collection of Electric Radios from Armand. Wow.

Electric Radio notes: 1st Fifty Years of Sideband 1991 articles by Jim Musgrove K5BZH

Why LSB on 75? -- so AMers couldn't follow to top of band

W2, W6, W8s liked phasing, W3, W4, W0 more into filter rigs.

Early SSB guys turning on carrier and talking AM hams into SSB RX.

Kelvinator Refrigerator rigs.

A reading on the homebrewing of SSB rigs.

Tony Fishpool on QSO Today! Pete mentioned prominently.

Good Hacks from ND6T on BITXHacks, Stockton Bridge

MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke 194

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke194.mp3

March 4, 2017

BIG NEWS: uBITX from Farhan

BENCH REPORTS
Pete: Recycling Old Boards
Working on Arduinos and advanced displays

Bill: SDR Adventures and Misadventures.
RTL-SDR is fun. Built HB front end.
HDSDR under Windows is fun and easy.
Thought about Raspi3, 7 inch touch screen, Linux, software YUCK.
Followed advice of Ken G4IIB and got a 50 buck tablet with Google Play.

Who needs tiny OLEDs? Use a 7 inch tablet as your display!

Building a Ceramic Resonator for the HRO 455 kc filter
The value of doing something different.
Boxed up my NE602 OLED rig.
OLED noise and ACTIVE decoupling.
NE602 and MOSFET tips

LEXICON:
OTD   Obsessive Tinkering Disorder G6LBQ
"A Thing of Beauty"
Source of Tombstoning term: Don ND6T.
Ken G4IIB’s extremely smooth audio.

ON THE AIR:
On AM on 75 and 40. Fun. Old Military Radio Net and "The Lonely Guy Net" on 75 Saturday morning.
Good old 17 meters. Open at mid-day
HB2HB on 40 with W0PWE.
Listening on 60

Hambrew magazines disappeared, but are back now.
EMRFD Classic Edition available
New Posts to BITX HACKS

MAILBAG:
Gloves follow-up. Not a good idea.
VK3YE’s QRP by the Bay event and a new book!
Colin M1BUU achieves Mountaingoat status
Martin A65DC JoO MMM in the UAE
Tom NY2RF Editorial with mention of JoO!
Lots of Al Fresco rigs: W8LM BITX on a board, Brad WA8WDQ DC RX, KA4KXX Al Fresco OZ DSB
ON6UU DSB from Spain via Belguim
Hugh ZL1UEM SMALL Si5351 OLED
Cookie Tin rigs VK2EMU’s Biscuit Tin DC RX, WA7HRG’s Popcorn rig
VK4FFAB FB LTSPICE intro
Ken G4IIB’s BITX adventure (with VERY smooth audio. How smooth? We can’t say.)
VU2XE’s BITX with a CAD box
G0ETP’s shockingly beautiful SDR receiver
Alan W2AEW on the mend with broken ankle. His videos are a treasure trove of tribal knowledge.

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

SolderSmoke 193

28 Jan 2017

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke193.mp3

Report from Pete on BITX 40 Session with California radio club.

Update on the BITX40 Module Revolution
-- Check out the BITXHACKS page. Send in contributions.
-- BITX20 mailing list very active.
-- Raduino!
-- Interview with Farhan with W5KUB -- Eliminating the commercial gear.
-- BITX 40s on the beach in Australia. FB

Bench Reports:

Pete:
-- Color Displays!
-- KWM-4
-- OLED MADNESS!

Bill:
-- Fixing up the old HT-37 HT37 to HT37 QSO with W1ZB
-- Dabbling in VHF with Ramsey Aircraft band receiver. NOT FUN.
-- Going all IC with Si5351 OLED NE602 rig.
-- BANDSWEEP
-- OLED Noise and the Active Decoupling solution.

Using LTSPICE as a diagnostic or understanding tool.

Of Waterfalls, Homebrew Rigs and Casual Critics on 40 meters. Words of Wisdom from W8JI.

LEXICON: HAYWIRE TOMBSTONE BIKESHEDDING from Todd K7TFC

Some great recent interviews by Eric 4Z1UG:
Ian G3ROO Origins of ROO   Regen at age 8
Hans Summers G0UPL     Balloons!   NO COMMECIAL GEAR
David White WN5Y          ELECTROLUMINESCENT RECEIVER EXPLAINED
Rob Sherwood NC0B

MAILBAG:

Chris KD4PBJ's BITX 40 with improved stability
Jerry W0PWE built a DIGITIA! Very nice. Worked Keith N6ORS and heard me! TRGHS
Mike AB1YK's Al Fresco Scratch built BITX. But give that LC VFO another chance Mike!
Steve N8NM 30 meter rig with salvaged CB LC VFO. FB
Keith N6ORS Franken SDR rig with parts from the 1980s. FB
SKN Bandscan from Mike WA6ARA I worked W1PID Jim!
What is Mikele up to?
Rocking Johannesburg and Kirghizstan via local repeaters:

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #192 is available:

December 16, 2016

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke192.mp3

N6QW COMPLETING AN ORBIT TOMORROW!!!! Happy Birthday Pete!

Shortwave Woes: Deception and Disappointment!

Voice of Vietnam! But it is from Cyprus Creek S.C.

Radio Athmeeya Yatra in Punjabi! but it is in Nauen Germany. Yuck!

Sort of like these 9 cents per minute on-line relay ham stations. Yuck I say!

You know you are a hardcore homebrewer when a near empty can of Deoxit makes you nervous, so you order more, just in case.

Bench Reports:

Pete:

FPM FPM FPM!!! Tell us about it!

BITX 40 Module in Juliano Blue

Explaining the BITX 40 to the local club.

CULTURE SHOCK! Plug and play vs. Hardcore Homebrew.

Bill:

An EXTROVERTED BITX 40 Module

QRO with 24 volts on the Drain: 20 watts out. Heatsink upgrade, Chris KB4PBJ Thanks.

Analog Readout -- Dymo tape and a Sharpie arrow

REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTION Where the perfect is the enemy of the good enough.

HRO no longer AL FRESCO Boxed up. Thanks Armand. Thanks Tim Sutton. Still working on AM receiver. Not inhaling very well.

Boatanchor Day: Fixed HT37 and hurt my back. Really. Got 160 meter station going. Changed ball bearings on CW key.

Next project. Another BITX 40, but perhaps for 160, 75 and 60 with Si5351 and plug-in filters.

Sideband History: THE SIDEBAND SUZY AWARD. Pete deserves this. I say we revive it.

LEX: Al Fresco. And Tim Walford calls them "Blackbox rigs" not "rice boxes"

HB2HB contacts. Often with guys who built their linear. I say that counts Too!

MAILBAG

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SolderSmoke Podcast #191

November 6, 2016

SolderSmoke Podcast #191 is available:

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke191.mp3

TRAVELOGUE AND FAMILY DOINGS: Pete son's wedding, Billy's Birthday, Gonzalo safely home in the Dominican Republic, MORE BEARS IN THE SHENANDOAH WOODS

BIG NEWS: EMRFD LIVES ON! Three cheers for Wes and for Tom Gallagher of the ARRL.

BENCH REPORTS:

PETE: FPM Rig. Some Halli history. A TRUE RIG! Working Japan.

WITH 600 WATT LINEAR AMPLIFIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New FEELTECH Sig Gen.

BILL: Farhan's BITX Module

Built to Mod, built to get you started in homebrew

Very impressive. BITX in miniature. But completely recognizable.

REMARKABLY stable.

Farhan personally checking each one.

Ladies collective doing toroids. DONATION money bought them some Diwali candies!

VFO Drift: Will NP0 SMD caps and lower current help enough?

My Analog VFO -- BANDSWEEP

QRPppppppppppp with REX's Hamfest Buddy. Thanks Rex and Bob Crane.

HB2HB with KW4KD

MAILBAG

Jan's Netherland Mate Mighty Midget

Charlie's Kiwi DSB

Steve, Donald Fagan, and Jean Shepherd

Rob VK5RC repairs Tek Tube 'scopes

Colin M1BUU Si5351 superhet

Denis Klipa and NRL 3538

Jonathan M0JGH Wizard of Wimbledon Matchbox rig

JH8SST Simpleceiver

Peter Parker Vk3YE Reviews Book

Peter GW4ZUA Welsh LBS

Michael Rainey helping hobbyist in Germany with tuning forks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SolderSmoke Podcast #190:

September 24, 2016

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke190.mp3

Pilgrims' Progress: Inspiring words from G3RJV
BENCH REPORTS on JUNKBOX RIGS:
Pete describes his beautiful 40 meter blue transceiver (video above)
Bill describes his "Armand HROish" receiver
BANDSWEEP!
Bill needs small (yellow slug) 455 kc transformers.
We need a good user-friendly 40673 SPICE model.
SEND US YOUR BENCH REPORTS!
The BD139 transistor
Ferrite Core Matching Transformers
QSO Reports: Getting on the air with HB rigs
Bill's new FeelTech Signal Generator
MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #189

August 6, 2016

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke189.mp3

Billy in Europe. Bill in Virtual Reality.

Great News: Little Gonzalo is "all clear." Thanks for the help.

BENCH REPORTS:
Pete paints the rigs blue.
Pete's FET amplifier project with FET switching and key pad
Using an Si5351 for CW offset and QSK.

Bill working on VFO for a rig built around HRO dial and gear box.
HRO gears seem a bit loose. What should I do?
The search for an Imperial Whitworth.
For variable caps, brass is better, but two bearings beats brass.

QSO REPORTS
Pete having fun with homebrew rigs.
Bill works K3MRK, WA3O, W4OP, W1VLF and N6ORS

MAILBAG:
Dallas CBLA
Conventional Current Flow Controversy
"I regret ever listening to your podcast!"
LCR recommendations

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #188 is available.

July 2, 2016

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke188.mp3
Audio "sparkle"
Bench Reports:
Pete: Blue Rig, Amplifier Project, LBS and Simpleceivers around the world
Si5351s in the new Elecraft KX2
Bill:
Mighty Midget Mate 6U8 RX Refinement
Using a Millen 61455 IF can
Broad, but beautiful. But not as nice as PA3GSV's
Tweaking a VFO the old fashioned way
Reduction Drive Re-works.
A Confession: Using Amplified Computer Speakers
Back to the lipsticked pig. Pete convinces Bill to fix the S38-E
dial cord.
Manassas Hamfest Report.
Field Day.
Mysteries:
Who is WV2YAU
Who sold Bill the hombrew SWR meter at Manassas?
MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #187:
May 21 2016
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke187.mp3
Second Anniversary of Pete Juliano's arrival on the SolderSmoke Podcast.
Dayton and FDIM underway
Bench Reports:
Pete:
-- Repurposing old Circuitry
-- Pete's small Display
-- New Transmitter
-- LBS in Japan and at Dayton
Bill:
-- S38-E   The lipstick has worn off.
-- Reduction drive for the Mighty Midget's Mate
-- Back to the Barbados Barebones Receiver:
    Which LO to use for 40 Meters with a 5 MHz IF?
    Sideband Inversion and "Lower Sideband" filters.
    Eradicating WWV with parts from AA1TJ
    Improving VFO stability
    A bandspread/bandset arrangement with fixed caps
    Soul in the Old Machine
"The Amateur is FRIENDLY..."
MAILBAG

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

SolderSmoke podcast #186

April 9, 2016

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke186.mp3

-- April 1 WireWrapRap Rap-up. Feedback from participants.

-- Bench Reports:

- Pete talks about his Raspberry Pi SDR DSP rig.

- Bill talks about on his Mate for the Mighty Midget Receiver and his R2 Frankenstein.

-- A story from Pete's youth: Cruising the "Miracle Mile" with a Heathkit "Ten-er."

-- Why do we need more RF amplification (in receivers) on 20 than on 40?

-- Have you ever tuned the BFO freq in a superhet by the "sound of the noise?"

-- A visit to Washington by Jonathan W0OX and family.

-- Bill goes to Winterfest Hamfest with Armand WA1UQO

-- Pete on the importance of balance (in life).

-- Great interviews on QSO Today: Peter Parker, Grayson Evans, and Ashhar Farhan.

-- MAILBAG:

- Paul Darlington M0XPD has a new book about life, travel, and the Dayton Hamvention.

- Michael AA1TJ QRV with a tuning fork at its 2,000th harmonic.

- Jonathan M0JGH living dangerously with homebrew QRP in Italy.

- Ben KC9DLM JoO with MMM

- Stefan DL1DF needs 3.579 MHz rock "with mojo." We have it for you OM.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #185
22 Feb 2016
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke185.mp3
Travelogue: 550 feet above Washington DC
Bench reports
Pete: Simpleceiver update. Adventures in Raspberry Pi SDR.
Bill: A daring but failed attempt at divide by 2 I&Q.
Audio Mods on the Hammarlund HQ-100.
Dual Digital Readout for the AM station.
SPECIAL FEBRUARY ANTENNA DISCUSSION
Why we build antennas in February.
Why hams should concentrate on antennas.
The importance of noodling.
Pete's beam project.
Pete's Lazy H.
The pernicious influence of automatic antenna tuners.
Bill's Ray Gun Antenna.
Bill's Moxon and his 160 inverted L.
MAILBAG
Tom Gallagher NY2RF (new ARRL Exec VP).
Mike Rainey AA1TJ on the air with a unijunction transistor.
Dale W9DKB sends me 160 meter book.
Alan Wolke W2AEW builds a Mighty Mite.
Daniel HK4DEI builds a DSB rig in Medellin.
Chris KD4PBJ modulates an AD9850.
Charlie ZL2CTM Builds a Teensy Superhet.
Jim W8NSA -- a Tek 465 goes toes up.
Thomas KK6AHT has roof, needs antenna!
Grayson TA2ZGE homebrewing crystal filters in Ankara.
Ian G3ROO and I had QRP QSO in 2001!
Steven G7VFy sent me a box of VALVES.
Frank KM4AXA repairs a rig and thus adds SOUL to the machine.

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

SolderSmoke Podcast #184 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke184.mp3
16 January 2016
-- The Radio Amateur is BALANCED
-- Pete exhibits CLEAR symptoms of Dilbert's disease!
-- Santa brought me a 160 meter antenna
-- Ground Radial systems large and small
-- Clip lead L network
-- ON THE AIR ON 160!
-- AM contacts
-- SKN 160 CW with sidetone from the DX-100 transformer
-- Stations with character and personality on 160 AM
-- Pending projects for the AM station
-- R2 phasing receiver Trials and Tribulations
-- Bill's Astatic D-104 goes into rebellion
-- Ramsey Kits closing down
-- SPRAT 165, Sidetone, M0XPD's VXO
-- "The Martian" movie
-- Little Gustavo is doing well. Thanks to all.
-- MAILBAG (an especially good one)

SolderSmoke Podcast #183 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke183.mp3
20 December 2015
-- Foxes in the Backyard
-- Pete completes another orbit
-- Simple-ceiver Success!
-- Frankenstein Receiver: IT IS ALIVE! AND BINAURAL!!!
-- 160 Meter AM OR BUST!
-- Fun on 40 AM -- Lots of Multi Elmac AF-67s! Who knew!
-- The Amateur's Code, and violations thereof.
-- Negative Frequencies? I don't think so.
-- Capacitor Offer from our Secret Benefactor: EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY
-- Projects for 2016: Pete goes Raspberry Pi, Bill goes DX-100
Mailbag:
-- Croation Creation
-- Salvadoran 2B
-- N3FJZ's Homebrew QSL
-- WA7HRG's LBS-ZIA-Simple-Ceiver Mashup Rig
-- KC0IZR turning VCRs into Mighty Mites in NOVA
-- AB1YK Starting with DC RX, going BITX
-- G8GNR puts Mighty Mite on AM!
-- G3ZPF Modulates THE SUN (Amazing)
-- VK3YE's Simple Superhet
-- Grayson in Turkey drools over KG7TR's Octalmania
-- N7REP reaches for the Zantac because of Arduinos and Surface Mount

SolderSmoke Podcast #182 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke182.mp3

November 22, 2015

Travelogue: In Shenandoah with BEARS!

Michigan Mighty Mite Update and a Generous Offer (with conditions).

BENCH REPORT:

-- Pete's Ten Tec Conversion using LTSpice

-- Pete's Simple-ceiver

-- My CB to 10 conversion plans

DREAMS OF 160 METER AM: KB3SII, N2CQR, N6QW Building for Top Band

Raspberry Pi Nightmares

Homebrew to Homebrew (HB2HB) Contacts

Elser Mathes Cup -- We have some competition!

QST, "The Radio Art," and The Channelization of HF Bands

WA5BDU Nick Kennedy on QSO Today Podcast

Ed Walker of "The Big Broadcast" was a ham: N3HFT

MAILBAG: A Letter from Turkey: Tubes and R-390s

Si5351: G4GXO says give it a go!

SolderSmoke Podcast #181 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke181.mp3

17 October 2015
-- Our audience IGNORES Pete's guitar intro!
-- Pete on QSO Today Podcast.
-- Part 97, The Radio Art and International Goodwill.
BENCH REPORTS:
-- Pete connects his new beam to the KX3.
-- Pete puts the Bell-thorn on 20.
-- Simple-ceiver update.
-- Pete's new drum machine: http://makezine.com/2015/10/15/learn-electronics-worlds-oldest-drum-machine/
-- Bill fights noise in the DIGI-TIA.
-- Bill fights power-line noise (and wins!).
-- Drake 2B, skirts, reduction drives, and tuning rates.
-- Warming up (with!) the DX-100.
-- N2CQR -- N6QW First Ever HB2HB QSO.
-- On 40 AM with an HT-37
-- Listening to Chinese CubeSats.
-- SDR Dongle as a bandwidth checker.
-- SDR and the Future of Homebrew Radio.
-- Bryan's LBS Receiver.
-- Dean's First Ever QSO with his HB rig.
-- 32 Mighty Mites Completed
-- The Martian -- Did Mark Watney REALLY have the Knack?
-- MAILBAG:
Peter Parker's New Book
Sparks from Ron Sparks
Armand's 1Watter
Rogier's pyro machine
BIG boxes from Tim KI6BGE
Mikele's ZIA and N6QW rig collection
SPRAT 141 and SPRAT 164

SolderSmoke Podcast #180 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

SolderSmoke Podcast #179 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke179.mp3

22 August 2015

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?

SolderSmoke Podcast #178 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke178.mp3

18 July 2015
Anniversaries:
Pete Juliano -- One year with the podcast
BITX20 -- Ten years of homebrew fun
SolderSmoke Podcast: Ten years of podcasting
Bench Report: Pete's ZIA and LBS II
Bill messes around with old microphones
Looking ahead:
Pete plans antennas
Bill lusts after ladder line (spurred on by Farhan's new blog)
On the Air Reports:
Pete on 20 with ZIA and LBSII
Bill having fun on 40 (even with the Spectral Purity Police)
Bill tries rock-bound QRPp. It is hard. (Spoiled by QRO BITX luxury)
Bill's verdict: BITX40 with Yaesu filter, Si5351, and TIA best of the 3 rigs.
Catching Cubesats with Pete's SDR Dongle
Digitizing old paper logs (and finding a lot more HB rigs)
Interviews with Eric 4Z1UG on QSO Today Podcast
FDIM interviews by Bob Crane
Peter Parker's review of DSB kit
MAILBAG:
Parts from W8NSA
Colin's tuna Tin Mighty Mite
Dean's Tiny Tia
Bryan's MMM dreams
Armand braves the heat at the Manassas Hamfest

SolderSmoke Podcast #177 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke177.mp3

13 June 2015

-- PETE JULIANO INDUCTED INTO THE QRP HALL OF FAME

-- Bench Reports: Bicoastal Bilateral Success: A Tale of Two Tias

Only 3 TIA rigs in the world? It depends...

Relay improvements in the BITX Builds

Straightening out amp problems

The many uses of copper foil

No phase noise or bleed-over troubles

Plug-in filters

Adjusting TIA amp gain on RX and TX (too much is not good!)

Getting the BITX to work with the CCI amp

Allison wisely prescribes 3 db pads

Curing hum by moving the power supply (duh!)

-- Farhan's New Minima -- Crying out for an Si551?

-- Mike KL7R's Web Site is Back (thanks to W8NSA)

-- SolderLex: Rigs or Radios? We go with Rigs

-- A ham rite of passage: Build a Dipole!

-- What does your shack look like at the end of a project?

-- MAILBAG

The CORRECT pronunciation of Belthorn

Multiplication and Division by 4

W8NSA, Vietnam, a Transoceanic and a 9V Battery

SolderSmoke Podcast #176 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke176.mp3
16 May 2015
Bench Update:
Pete releases some magic (amplifier) smoke
Pete's new termination-insensitive transceiver makes first contact
Bill goes Yaesu (well, just a filter)
Juliano Mill-Pad boards
Termination Insensitivity is not a personality disorder!
Flip those Bilat Boards! Pete's cool technique for bilat building
Bill's project notebook and stage testing
Installing the W6JFR EMRFD SBL-1 Bal-Mod Mod
AREA 5351: Myths, Urban Legends, and Conspiracy Theories about the Si5351
A Rule of Thumb for Sideband Inversion
Dongle Madness and the Dangers of Dongle Modification
What is a dongle?
24 Mhz to 1.7 GHz right out of the box
Modification for 0-29 MHz
Tapping the IF of a Drake 2-B
Getting another one for VHF-UHF
Dongling Meteors, Satellites and Airplanes
SPRAT cover AD9850 in 1988! Three cheers for SPRAT (and QQ and QST).
Elecraft's new Rig

SolderSmoke Podcast #175 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke175.mp3
18 April 2015
-- Some enhanced audio testing (Mellow, with Presence!)
-- Pete's trip to Fake-shu-out, China
-- My visit to the National Academy of Sciences
--Bench Reports:
   Pete's JBOM Re-born
   Bill's plans for a new SSB Transceiver
-- Arduino Woes   BASTA!!!!!!!!!!!
-- Si5351 VFO/BFO development
-- Chuck Adams, Tribal Knowledge, and Muppet boards
-- KX3 QRO?
-- What antenna for Pete?
MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #174 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke174.mp3
March 28, 2015
Happy Arduino Day!
Pete's Belthorn III Transceiver (with cool color display)
Bill's BITX 20 (that used to be a BITX20/40)
AD9850 DDS added to Barebones Superhet
Jean Shepherd on Parasitic Oscillations, Obsession, and Madness
Simple Test Gear for the Homebrewer
Digital Oscilloscopes and their amazing capabilities
Dongles and other great stuff in SPRAT 162
The BIG St. Patrick's Day Solar Flare
VK6MV's Amazing Rhombic (+)
VK7XX (Dos Equis!)
A Bit of BITX History
Pete going KX3 QRO

SolderSmoke Podcast #173 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke173.mp3
7 March 2015
Bench Report:   Pete's Progress on the Let's Build Something Rig:
http://www.jessystems.com/LBS_Detail.html
Ben's cool case for his LBS rig
Bill's Tale of Woe: QRO troubles with the BITX 40
    -- QRO amplifier taking off on 40 (but not 17)
    -- Criticism and public humiliation on 40
    -- Troubleshooting
    -- Suggestions from Allison
    -- A sad realization about my VFO frequency selection
    -- Exorcism needed
    -- Pete suggests a digital solution
    -- Wow, my 'scope has an FFT! Almost a spectrum analyzer!
    -- Some thoughts on trouble shooting
    -- On the meaning of "BASTA!"
The Spring 2015 Issue of Hot Iron http://www.walfords.net
More on Pete's KX3
Encouraging other hams to build

SolderSmoke Podcast #172 http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke172.mp3
16 February 2015
Bench Reports:
Pete under the gun to finish SSB transceiver project. NEW VIDEO:
http://youtu.be/hbLXW0sHTFo
Bill fixes his BITX 2040 Oscillator (Bandsweep!)
Next: LP filter for 120 watt amp.
Bill's 13 dollar Chinese freq counter (Blue! With anti-wobble tape!)
Bill's next rig: Chipped to the Max, DDS, SBL-1s, plug in filters!
Radio Shack going under and JAN no longer making crystals.
Mighty Mite Project: Let's get them DONE!
An easy way to get Q or ESR measurements on crystals?
SI5351 as a crystal substitute.
DuWayne's Scalar Network Analyzer lights up the internet!
The Portable SDR rig -- Pete almost goes to the dumpster!
Report from the cutting edge: Pete's new Elecraft KX3.
MAILBAG: Meeting W7ZOI and WA7MLH at a hamfest.
Instant Messaging with Farhan

SolderSmoke 171: http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke171.mp3

January 31 2015
http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke171.mp3
Bench Report:
Pete's Small Screens (in Color!)
Si5351s
Bill's Graph Paper Frequency Readout
Bill's Broadened Barebones Barbados RX. DIGITIZED!
Another AD9850 DDS using M0XPD Kanga UK Shield
New 13 dollar Color Display (Prettier than Graph paper!)
Pete and Ben's Article in QRP Quarterly Available free here:
http://www.qrparci.org/qqsample/qqsample.pdf
The DEEP SPIRITUAL REWARDS of DC Receivers
The Importance of Good Power Supplies
SPRAT Article on HW8 Design Error
Latest Edition of Hot Iron
Elecraft KX3 -- Has one of the best receivers in the world

SolderSmoke 170: http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke170.mp3

January 11, 2015

http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke170.mp3

Bill's Double A, DSB, Dipole, Dominican DX-pedition.
Living the "How's DX?" Dream
Seeing the Southern Cross with Soviet Binoculars
Pete goes remote
SI5351 a chip with a lot of potential
Pete's experiments with Nokia LCD displays
Michigan Mighty Mites around the world
The Postal Stream Roller
Steve Silverman's very kind variable cap offer
MOXON modeling with EZNEC
Aspirations for 2015

SolderSmoke 169

December 6, 2014

-- 25 crystals "deployed" to new Colorburst Liberation Army recruits
-- OBJECTIVE: For now, just oscillation
-- Using the Reverse Beacon Network (when time comes to transmit)
-- W2DAB's Mighty Mite: trials, tribulations, triumphs (and karma)
-- Explaining the Mighty Mite (all 7 parts)
-- Minima IF evolution -- up to 25 Mhz?
-- Chuck Adams and "Experimental METH"!!!!!!!!!!
-- Different kinds of Arduinos
-- Si5350s and amateur experimentation
-- First menus, now KEYPADS!
-- The launch of Orion
-- N2CQR/HI Beach Portable DSB on 20
-- Video review: "The Wanderers"

SolderSmoke 168

November 4, 2014

The benefits of software inefficiency.
Don't throw a wet blanket on computer baby steps.
DDS-ing Pete's old boatanchors and Bill's BITX.
Bill's DSB amplifier woes: a JBOT unfairly scorned.
Getting ready for solar-powered beach DSB.
Michigan Mighty Mite Crystal Offer -- FREE ROCKS!
Tribal knowledge: Beware of mistakes in published schematics!
QRO update: Working Japan on 17 meters.
Happy Thanksgiving!

SolderSmoke 167

3 November 2014
Who the heck is Giovanni Manzoni?
Pete's Bench Report:
     "Let's Build Something" Project
      Arduinos and Si5351s
Bill's Bench Report: 140 watt Amplifier Completed!
      Low Pass Filter Design with the ELSIE Program
      Samlex Power Supply
     How I almost blew it up!
     The new amp and the lids in the FT4TA pileup
Tribal Knowledge!
"Nature abhors a vacuum (tube)!" "The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson.
Carter, WA9DNF, REALLY knows which end of the soldering iron to grab!
Meeting with Thomas, KK6AHT. The two electronic cultures.
Interviews by Chris, KD4PBJ, at Two Days in Huntsville:
     Glen Popiel, KW5GP, Author of "Arduino for Ham Radio"
     John Henry of TenTec
     Steve, WG0AT

SolderSmoke 166

October 4, 2014

Bench Report: Pete working on Direct Conversion Receivers.
Bill on his 2B and on 20DSB rig, and an M0XPD/Kanga DDS kit, and a 140 watt amp.

GETTING STARTED IN HOMEBREW:
Start simple: Build an oscillator. Make it oscillate!
Gather tools, simple test gear, and books.
Try to understand what you build.
Build a direct conversion receiver.
Don't fear the toroids!
Be patient. This is not Plug and Play.
Build a DSB transceiver.
Little tips:
Protect variable caps.
Use heat sinks.
Use reverse polarity protection.
Don't breathe the solder smoke! Ventilate your bench.

China Radio International Mystery Solved.
Book Recommendation: "International QRP Collection" by Dobbs and Telenius-Lowe
MAILBAG

SolderSmoke 165

September 13, 2014
Workbench Update: Bill's "Off the Shelf" Regen, Pete's Boatanchors
Mysterious Echos on Shortwave Signals. Solve the Mystery. Please.
Microcontrollers -- What they can do for you.
Small world: As a kid, Pete was neighbor of "Digital Dial" N3ZI
NEWS FLASH: Arduino creator Massimo Banzi was a ham!
Born in a bar, cheaper than pizza: The Italian origins of Arduino
Arduino CW generators
No coding skills needed
Arduino + AD9850 = Signal Generator or VFO
Arduinos in the Minma
What the heck is a Shield?
SolderSmoke Mailbag

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August 16, 2014

ANCIENT TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE -- TUBE AND TUBE-LIKE RADIOS
Workbench Updates:
-- Pete's Arduino Keyer Project
-- Bill Builds (and LIKES!) a REGENERATIVE RECEIVER
-- The Joys of Regen Shortwave Listening
-- Grayson Evan's Tube (Thermatron) Book
-- Book review: "The Joy of X" (It's about math).
-- Shameless Commerce: A Plug for Bill's Book
-- Pete discusses tube projects
-- Making your own enclosures from Home Depot flashing
-- Amplitude Modulation
-- Compactrons, Nuvistors and other unusual tubes
-- BANDSWEEP: Radio Havana on Bill's new regen

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Saturday July 26, 2014
Part III with Pete Juliano: Tribal Knowledge -- Sideband Sidecars
-- Moxon Update "A Thing of Beauty"
-- Pete is Building Peter Parker's Knobless Wonder
-- Ladder Filters
--Construction Practices for SSB rigs
-- Essential Test Gear
-- Junk Box development and parts storage
Next time: Tubes, Valves, Termatrons, Firebottles.
Thanks to Bob Crane and the FDIM musicians for this episode's musical opening.

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June 21, 2014
Part II of our interview with Pete Juliano, N6QW

-- Bill's Moxon Monstrosity
-- Amplifiers and Exorcisms (See slideshow link on the blog)
-- Varactor tuning
-- Polivaricon capacitors
-- The challenge of building small rigs
-- Heat, layout, components and VFO stability
-- "No frills" as a building philosophy
-- The future of Bill's Heathkit HW-101

We still have a lot more to talk about. Stay tuned for Part III!

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26 May 2013
Homebrew Single Sideband -- An Interview with Pete Juliano, N6QW

-- Pete's background: 55 years in radio. Boatanchors AND Arduinos. 40673 Mosfets. Guitar!
-- A personal transition from CW to phone.
-- The importance of passing on "tribal knowledge."
-- What you need: A library, tools, test gear and a junque box.
-- A new word in the homebrew lexicon: Pete explains "noodling."
-- One stage at a time!
-- The attractiveness of standard circuit blocks (that work!)
-- The importance of IF selection.
-- Building your own crystal filters is easier than ever.
-- Thinking (early) about the enclosure.
--VFOs, VXOs, and (gasp) Direct Digital Synthesis
Thanks Pete!

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Bob Crane, W8SX, was out at the Four Days in May event and did an excellent series of interviews with the guys who made presentations: -- Harold Smith, KE6TI Many Ways To Homebrew; Chris Testa, KD2BMH Battery Powered Software Radios -- Having your cake and eating it, too; George Dobbs, G3RJV The Classic World of the Regenerative Receiver; Gary Breed, K9AY Why Does My Rig Have a Receive Antenna Jack?; Craig Behrens, NM4T The Great Arduino, JT65 and Rebels Caper -- High adventure with new radio paradigms; Dave Cripe, NM0S PoW QRP

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April 1, 2014
Vienna Wireless Hamfest
BITX Talk
W1REX speaks
Tuna Tin 2 Mojo Transfer Ceremony
After 38 years -- finishing my Herring Aid 5 receiver
Feedback, Phasing Dots, Rotational Sense, and Oscillation (or not)
Motorboating (when you don't want to)
Building my Tuna Tin 2 with parts from W1REX
On the air with Tuna Tin and Herring Aid
More Minimalist Meanderings:
An (Almost) All Altoid Crystal Radio!
Tek 465 dies (again) :-(
MAILBAG

SolderSmoke at WinterFest Hamfest

Presentation on BITX rigs at Feb 2014 Hamfest

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January 20, 2014

MLK Day. Tough winter. Shack heated by Heathkit.

BITX 20/40 Almost done:

Bandswitching arrangement.

VFO construction using spreadsheets.

2N2222s wired in backwards! (CBE not EBC! Who knew?)

Other amusing building errors.

Crystal filter evaluation -- the G3UUR method.

Sweeping a filter with an Arduino DDS.

Building a BITX in LTSpice.

New Rigol 'scope (now 100 MHz).

Tek 465 REBORN!

QRP HATERS -- They are out there!

MAILBAG.

BITX 20/40 dual band bandsweep

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December 27, 2013
-- Santa Report: Rigol Scope at SolderSmoke HQ. Kites at VK3YE.
-- Project updates:   Bill's BITX 40/20 build.
-- Peter finishing up BITX40 (in a big box)
-- BITX 17 (5 watts SSB) works JA, ZD7, ZS!
-- The mystery, elegance, and gentleness of phasing SSB
-- Phasing explained in 1970 ARRL SSB book
-- Phasing SSB: From Hallicrafters HT-37 to SDR
-- The SP5AHT Phasing Rig
-- I & Q for you:  The Binaural Experience
-- Direct Conversion receivers and Software Defined Radios
-- Simple DC receivers plugging into sound cards
-- The joy of receiver building
-- 145 MHz aircraft bounce across the The Great Australian Bight
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

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November 4, 2013
Special hour-long interview with Peter Parker, VK3YE
-- Early experiences with radio
-- CW
-- DSB Gear
-- Simple gear, and gear that is TOO simple
-- VXOs, Super VXOs and Ceramic Resonators
-- Building receivers
-- Chips vs. Discrete
-- Making the leap to SSB
-- The Knob-less wonder and the BITX
-- No need for a sophisticated workshop
-- Advice for new phone QRPers

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October 14, 2013 (Delayed Back-to-School edition)
Topics covered:
-- BITX Beauty -- Building a BITX17
-- VFO woes, and the wisdom of Doug DeMaw's love for crystals
-- Why does a 55 year old man NEED clear nail polish varnish?
-- How the VFO KILLED the Tek 465
-- Trying to fix the Tek 465 (not for the faint of heart)
-- New products: Justin Beiber Duct Tape, bifocal safety glasses,
magnetic reading glasses, Ward Silver's new book
-- Backwards British Bike Brakes
-- MAILBAG

August 11, 2013
-- Alligators! Real Alligators! (see picture below -- look closely)
-- Ten meter beacon project (with Arduino and Reverse Beacon Network)
-- Telescope repair: Chap Stick as lubricant, and the perils of macular pucker!
-- HW-101 saved from cannibalism!
-- The Wonders of WSPR and our need for instant feedback and gratification.
-- QST Review of SolderSmoke, The Book.
-- MAILBAG

June 22, 2013
Manassas Hamfest
Building a Balanced Modulator in LTSpice
Peter Parker's Minimalist SDR receiver
Alberto I2PHD's SDRadio program
My Arduous Arduino Adventure: Sig Generator
MAR-1 amplifier chip
WSPRing again (the sound of WSPR)
Broadening my Barebones Superhet for phone
Cliff Stoll on Kludge vs. Kluge
FDIM INTERVIEWS:
G3RJV on one and done projects, Sodder vs. SoLder, Regens
G3VTT plays SolderSmoke for his students
NM0S on new Four States PTO rig
K0NEB on kit building techniques
NH6Z on high performance SDR
KK7B on hard rock rigs, modular construction and understanding
I2RTF Saluti a tutti!
W7EL on EZNEC, Dilbert, and escaping the Cube Farm
W1REX on QRP as a creative outlet, Knack to the Max!

May 18, 2013

-- SolderSmoke's WWV Advertising Campaign!
-- Bands Better -- Working DX!
-- Shack and Shed reorganization
-- Arduino Madness! CW Beacon Machine! DDS Sig Generator! (see video above)
-- Breaking and Fixing an Arduino
-- Reverse Beacon Network
-- The Cult of Arduino: QRP Computing with Italian Charm
-- PSK-31 and JT65 with Homebrew DSB Rig
-- SolderSmoke Book Corner: Hollow-State Design! Getting Started With Arduino!
-- Massimo Banzi has THE KNACK!
-- MAILBAG: AA1TJ, G3RJV, AL7RV (now W8NSA), others...