Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Do You Have ‘It’ ?
May 31st, 2015 | 
Author: As a kid, I always loved to take things apart to see how they worked. Although building wasn't the driving-force to get my ticket as a teenager, I soon became an ardent homebrewer and have loved building radio gear all of my life. When in high school my favorite classes, and teachers, were the shop courses which led me to become a Tech-Ed teacher at 21 years of age. I think it all started with an early case of the ' knack'.
MOSFET crystal sets
Some years ago, QST had an article on a crystal set based on a zero bias MOSFET. Although I have yet to try this sort of design I have no doubt they will work well. Crystal sets derive all their power from the TX and in the past I have achieved some remarkable (well for me!) results. Best was receiving Radio Australia (from Australia) as well as some amateur Gs on 80m and 160m at a considerable distance. In the USA some 75m AM amateur stations are regularly heard at great distances.
See http://makearadio.com/visitorsprojects/ralf-mosfet.php .
GQRP Club and SPRAT magazine
Several times in the past I have said that, if all other magazines had to be cancelled I’d keep GQRP Club’s SPRAT magazine. This small format magazine comes out quarterly and is excellent value for money. You don’t get the endless adverts by the few remaining national radio companies in the UK, just a few adverts from companies selling bits. Every quarter there are articles showing things to build or ideas on which to base your own projects.
SPRAT really is first class and all produced by unpaid volunteers who love our hobby. As much as I enjoy browsing PW and RadCom, I look forward to getting SPRAT far more.
See http://www.gqrp.com/ .
The Reverend revued
History lesson: The first time I came to know of a George Dobbs, was back in the mid 1970s when I was a schoolboy at around the age of 12. I built his project Making A Transistor Radio published in a Ladybird book. A three transistor germanium circuit that was slowly put together in stages from a crystal set, to a fully working regen radio. Built without a soldering iron, perhaps he didn't want us to burn our fingers? Components clamped down under screws and screwcups on a piece of wood. The radio worked first time and was the first electronic project I ever built. At the time I didn't know much about George Dobbs, only 20 years or so in the late 1990s, I would return back to the book and discover that this was the G3RJV George Dobbs associated with the G-QRP club he formed in 1974. Since then, George has gone on to write many QRP related books, monthly insert Carrying on the Practical Way in Practical Wireless, and of course QRP in Radcom and a few others.
So it was an honour to find he had devoted his entire QRP page over to my blog. My wife has got fed up with me by now picking up and down Radcom every five minutes and reading the page over and over again. She said of course you're going to blog it, you bet sure I am!
George starts his review of my blog explaining the name "The Font of all Knowledge" and how linguistic scholars that make up half of the RSGB would lay me open to scorn for using the name Font, but how Oxforddictionaries.com claims household split over the word scone. Of course being a man of the cloth he would know from the amount consumed at the tea parties he has resided over at the Vicarage over the years of his service. The real secret is I take no applause for the name, this I give over to my linguistic friend, scholar, and blogger Roger G3XBM, who is the one whom is responsible for thinking it all up. Before I started my blog I was passing him over information "and still do" about useful links that could prove valuable to be included in his blog. Roger refered to me as the Font of All Knowledge, so I decided to use this when I created my blog late last year.
I now hope that puts peoples minds at rest where the name came from.
Once George has made every one happy, and comfortable, with the name and the importance of its place within the hobby. He then continues forward taking a look at the items I have reviewed, the pixie kit which G3XBM also picked up on and built one.
The Oscilloscope Kit, I recently noted and passed the information over to G3XBM:
http://www.banggood.com/DIY-Digital-Oscilloscope-Kit-Electronic-Learning-Kit-p-969762.html
PSDR from Michael Colton:
http://g1kqh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/pdsr-from-michael-cotton.html
I have been very happy with what I have seen G3RJV write, and I am glad the blog continues to score many daily hits from Amateurs around the world. Of course its up to me to find things new, this will continue, when I see something good, and of value, along with other aspects of the hobby I am involved in.
Thank you G3RJV for bringing this to the forefront of Radcom, and thanks to G3XBM for creating the name "The Font of all Knowledge" Swoon! (I only went to a Comprehensive school that got burnt to the ground twice in 4 years while I was being educated there.)
Thanks to Graham G3MFJ for supplying the photo.
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 62
Still amazes me
It still amazes me that 5 Watts of RF energy can span the globe. To quote my son Joey, “What sorcery is this?”
W2LJ
Radio Contest? Why?
The basic objective of most radio contests is to make as many radio contacts as possible. This is influenced by the scoring method used for the contest.
Ham Radio School
Interview: KGB spy who relied on numbers stations
Jack Barsky held a job at some of the top corporations in the U.S. and lived a seemingly normal life — all while spying for the Soviet Union
60 Minutes
Les Paul’s pirate radio station in Queens
Not only did he build the first solid body electric guitar and invent multi-track recording but he was responsible for creating a pirate radio station in Queens in the 30s.
glasscapsule
Radio call saves SOTA climber following fall
A Littleton, Colorado, radio amateur and mountaineer was happy to have his hand-held transceiver along on May 17 after he slipped and fell from an icy ledge in Berthoud Pass while snowshoeing.
ARRL
29 MHz – the forgotten frequency for amateur radio satellites
Hans van de Groenendaaal ZS6AKV writes in the EngineerIT magazine about the potential for 29 MHz as a satellite uplink band.
AMSAT UK
Photos from the Voice of America Museum
Immediately after packing up our table at the Dayton Hamvention, my buddies Eric (WD8RIF), Miles (KD8KNC), and I made the 30 minute journey to Bethany, Ohio, to visit the VOA Bethany museum.
The SWLing Post
Video
Elecraft K3S Transceiver demo
First details of the new K3S transceiver, presented by Peter Waters G3OJV.
Waters & Stanton
How to wind a toroid inductor
The real trick is often how to hold the toroid core while doing the winding of the wire.
W2AEW
How to
3D print: 3 element 2m (145 MHz) ultra portable yagi
MakerBotThingiverse
Using the Raspberry Pi as an RTL-SDR streaming server
Do you have an unused Raspberry Pi lying around your bench somewhere and just can’t figure out what to do with it? You could build a wireless RTL-SDR streaming server.
/dev/thrash
WsprryPi: Raspberry Pi WSPR transmitter
The I/O pins provide access to a clock signal and it is possible to modulate this clock signal via software.
Gerolf Ziegenhain
User Hostile! Radios that you love to hate!
Three band HT Radio, 2 Meters, 70 CM and 6 Meters
“I hate this radio”
Have you ever said this?
I certainly have. Some radios are a joy to use. They are intuitive, easy to use and you don’t ‘NEED THE MANUAL’ every time you want to change something!
HT’s seem to be the most ‘user hostile’ radios available to hams. I know! All HT radios should have certain things, VFO, on off knob/button, volume control and keypad, and in my opinion, they should not be so difficult to use that you need to read the manual every time you want to do, what should be a simple task; change CTCSS tone of a repeater, for example!
When HT’s were reduced in size, they became more complicated to use. Menu systems were instituted. They were further reduced in size and menus were multi-layered! How many times have I yelled at my HT after holding button a for 1 second, then within 4 seconds, tried to press button 2, for 1 second but no more than 2.5 seconds, while doing 3 pirouette turns on my left foot, only then, can I use my radio. That same button has 3 functions now a days. Press it once for one thing, press it again within a specified number of seconds and you get another function. Press and hold it and you get yet another option.
Enter the English Translation, manual! Poorly translated from Japanese, but at least its in English! (With many pertinent things omitted!)
Why do manuals go to great lengths to tell you in great detail everything that you ‘don’t want to know’ and will most likely never use or use very seldom?
But tell you want you NEED TO KNOW, naw! Tell you how to ‘undo’ something? That would make it too easy!
Actually, I really like this VX5-R HT from Yaesu. It’s a love/hate relationship, however! So very handy, it fits in the palm of my hand, has lots of memories, and many many nice features. Accessing those features is not always easy, especially without the manual right in front of you. If you ever push the wrong button, and send it into ‘never-never-land’, its hard to un-do what you just did! One thing that was left out of the VX 5 is a memory clear feature! That omission makes life with this radio difficult at best!
You cannot return a designated memory channel to its ‘no data’ state. The only thing you can do from the radio itself is to overwrite that particular memory with another frequency!
2 Meter IC V8000
I’m not picking only on Yaesu!
This Icom V 8000 is the most ‘User Hostile’ radio that I have ever owned.
Not only is it difficult to use, but it has problems as well. The mic is notorious for a mechanical problem with the PTT button, and the external speaker jack does not work well. Unfortunately, the external speaker jack is where you have to plug the programming cable in to program the radio. The Icom program for doing this is also ‘user hostile’ BTW!
Editing and Cloning Software RT Systems I bought software and cable from RT systems to program and manage the Icom T 70-A. The HT and its programming software arrived yesterday.
IC T 70 programming software and cable
Icom T70 A with spare battery, left, drop in charger, and speaker mic
The Icom T-70-A, is the replacement radio for the Yaesu VX 5
It will replace the VX5 as my ‘go to’ HT. Just last night, I picked up the Yaesu VX5 the wrong way, mashed some buttons on its face and sent it into never-never-land! Try as I may, I could not undo it with normal button press. Since the radio has an RT Systems program and cable on its way, I went nuclear, and reset the processor. Finally, the radio was operational once more. It needs programming of course but the display is no longer stuck!
It programmed the Icom T 70-A radio to my specifications with only a cursory reading of the manual. The radio is intuitive, easy to use and has some great features. RT Systems Programming Software and Cable
IC 7100 with Touch Paddles
Funny, I just installed an Icom 7100 mobile HF/VHF/UHF/MF radio in my truck. That radio was ‘done right’ by the manufacturer! Its easy to program and use, so there is no need to keep the manual handy for simple tasks. I run mobile CW/SSB and VHF repeaters with it. If there were any UHF in the area, I’d have that programmed in there too. Its a joy to use!
This photo shows the IC 7100 on a modified clip board held in place with bungee cords. So far, I have not seen the need for programming software. That said, there is an SD card on board this radio. It can save the settings to the SD card. I have not explored this avenue yet. It would be nice to keep a copy of the settings on an SD card and on my laptop for future use. Something unexpected can happen. Spare radio data would come in very handy then. Replacing all the settings would be very easy with the programming/clone software. RT systems sells that one too.
Do you have a radio that you love to hate?
10m BitX transceiver
I notice that someone has created a 10m (28MHz) version of the BitX transceiver. Yes, all would like more details but we don’t know who you are!
Anonymous said: “I have successfully designed and built a 28MHz version of the BITX transceiver. The main reason for this project was to drive homebrew transverters for 6, 4 and 2Metres. Contact me if you would like details.”
