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A Paraset and the Heathkit SG-6 Signal Generator (Video)
Mike WU2D put out this nice video (above) about whether or not he should part out his Heath SG-6 signal generator, using the parts in a Paraset construction project. I faced a similar question years ago:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=SG-6
I just solid stated the SG-6. I was influenced by Farhan and the drinking straws that he picked up with his kids at a McDonalds in Hyderabad.
As with the QF-1, I say to Mike: GO FOR IT OM! You need those parts for other projects. Don't feel bad about the SG-6. But keep that switched coil assembly -- it is quite useful.
Ham Radio Workbench: Stuffing Digital Stuff Into Poor Old Boatanchors
At one point they are laughing at old magic eye tubes! They wonder if there is a digital way of recreating this tube in digital form. Sorry fellows, that has already been done:
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/12/the-eyes-have-it-with-this-solid-state-magic-eye/
Even an analog guy like me spotted that one.
Here is the show:
https://workbench.libsyn.com/hrwb-213-radio-rejuvenation-with-dan-quigley-n7hq
But hey, like I always say: To each his own. I'm sure many people like this approach. It is just not for me.
Will KI4POV on QSO Today with Eric 4Z1UG
https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/KI4POV
Will has appeared on this blog and podcast before:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=KI4POV
There were a lot points in Eric's interview with Will that resonated with me:
-- Will told about how his very understanding and perceptive wife KNOWS when a homebrew project is not going well. Yea, we have the same situation here!
-- Will mentions the wisdom of Wes Hayward, Doug Demaw, and Pete Juliano.
-- Eric mentioned that there is a bit of his own blood in most of his homebrew projects. One slip of he screwdriver is often enough. My projects also often have a bit of my A+ in them. This adds soul to the new machine.
-- Will spoke of S-38s and HW-8s. I have both these devices here with me in the Dominican Republic. I have used both of them here.
-- Will mentioned the magic that comes when you listen with a receiver you built yourself. Yes.
-- NanoVNA. Yes, very useful.
Lots more great stuff in this interview. Thanks Eric and thanks Will.
Electronic Toys and Their Influence on Us
Progress Report Video on the SolderSmoke Shack South
The new shack is coming together in HI7 land. I will need a shelf for the test gear -- I am looking for something thatcan sit on the main workbench -- the wall behind the bench is drywall and won't support any weight. I will have to get some plywood to protect the nice woodwork. I have melted some solder already -- I had to fix the little magnifying lamp -- it felt good to get back in the game.
The AM radio station that was providing background music was from just across the Mona passage -- they were in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. My S38-E shows the frequency as being a bit above 700 kHz, but as with most things S38-E, this readout is suspect. Can anyone tell me the call sign of this station?
I have been using the homebrew 15-10 rig, but only in receive mode so far.
I am also doing some VHF scanning, using a Realistic Pro-36 scanner that Bob KD4EBM gave me. So far I am picking up aircraft approaching Santo Domingo from the East. I have the maritime calling freq also programmed in and hope to hear some ships at sea. Thanks Bob.
Dino asked about astronomy. As you can see in the video, the Orion telescope is ready to go, but we are in rainy season here, so the skies aren't too great right now. They will be better in the winter.
Hurricane Beryl is approaching, but current projections are for it to pass to our south on Tuesday. The eye of the storm is not expected to hit this island.
How Starlink Survived May's G5 Solar Storm
I know there are some readers who dislike Starlink, but I think the technology is interesting. This morning I saw an article about how the Starlink constellation survived the May 2024 G5 solar storm. Note the references to "collision avoidance" and "ion thrusters." Give the devil is due! This is all pretty cool.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-heres-how-starlink-satellites-weathered-mays-major-solar-storm
ANOTHER Great Workshop
Field Day with Farhan, his Family and an sBITX Near Hyderabad, India
Farhan and his son Rayyan with an sBITX
The SolderSmoke crew thought it had a tough time this Field Day: Pete N6QW had hoped to do something, but was stymied by hot California weather. Dean KK4DAS had even worse weather. Bill HI7/N2CQR was at a remote QTH with an HW-8 and a wire antenna -- he managed just ONE contact (W7RN in Nevada on 15 CW). But none of us had as much trouble as our friend Farhan had. In his account of Field Day in Hyderabad, we see an intrepid ham standing up against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that Field Day often throws at true radio amateurs. Here is Farhan's Field Day story:
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You asked for it, so here it goes...
Some Really Amazing Test Gear
The Starlink Constellation
Amazing Homebrew from Japan -- 7L4WVU's All Homebrew Station
1,280 Antennas at 12 GHz -- How Starlink Works
Sticker Madness, HI7, April 1
Our friend Lex astutely focused on the date of the release of our report about legal prosecution by the City of San Francisco. The truth is that we made almost all of this up. We did put a sticker on a lamp post at Haight and Ashbury. Dave AA7EE did visit the site and report that the sticker had been removed. But all the rest was made up. We did catch several people in this annual April 1 joke. Unfortunately, not everyone who was taken in was outraged by the city's supposed action. In fact, we got one e-mail SUPPORTING the prosecution. This fellow said, essentially, that we were getting what we deserved, that we should take this as a life lesson, and stop with the sticker-vandalism. He was serious. Jeez. APRIL FOOL! We will talk more about this in the next podcast.
I know the podcast has been delayed by a lot, but I am still getting things set up here in HI7 land. I hope we will soon be podcasting with particpation from California (N6QW), Northern Virginia (KK4DAS), and the Dominican Republic (HI7/N2CQR).
Happily, my Dominican ham radio license came through -- I will be HI7/N2CQR for the next year. At some point I hope to take the Dominican exam and get a real Dominican call.
Lex has been our main point of contact in Europe on sticker distribution (aka VANDALISM!). Lex writes:
Hello all,
Shocked to hear about the "Legal action against Soldersmoke" in podcast :
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.
Which could mean a few things :
- some official is trying to make a career and he will be very busy because there are a lot of stickers in San Fransisco to remove.
- somebody did remove the sticker because they are highly collectable and somebody at soldersmoke HQ saw a opportunity to made one of the best april fools jokes in soldersmoke history pulling the listeners (and readers) leg.
- somebody use photoshop and made one of the best april fools jokes in soldersmoke history pulling the listeners (and readers) leg.
Looking at the release date of the soldersmoke podcast 251, IMHO #3 is the most possible with #2 as a good second. When #1 is the real reason, that sucks big time :-( (so I'm hoping for the april fools joke outcome)
My XYL and I are just back from a holiday to Berlin and aside of the architecture, visiting a large number of museums and historical exhibitions, there was one place on my personal list I wanted to visit : the "Teufelsberg".
Lex PH2LB
home : http://www.ph2lb.nl/
twitter : https://twitter.com/lex_
call : PH2LB
"Life's like a role playing adventure. You
need to solve the puzzles first before
they let you go to the next level."
Greetings from Low Earth Orbit
Farhan Talks Radio Tech at SolderSmoke HQ (EAST) (TWO VIDEOS!)
2014 "Off the Shelf" Regen Comes Off the Shelf (Two Videos)
Walter KA4KXX spotted an error in the schematic of my 2014 "Off the Shelf" regen receiver: The source resistor on the MPF-102 should be 2200 ohms, not 2.7 ohms. See:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2014/09/schematic-for-off-shelf-regen.htmlHam Radio in China -- Interesting info from 高大伟 David Cowhig
David Cowhig (aka WA1LBP, aka Gao Da Wei) was Hambassdor for 73 Magazine on Okinawa when I held a similar "position" on the island of Hispaniola. David is a real Asia hand, and is fluent in both Mandarin and Japanese. He is uiniquely sitated to provide info on ham radio in China. In a recent post he provides this info, and describes how we may soon be hearing from ham Taikonauts in space:
https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/2024-ham-radio-in-china-soon-chinese-hams-in-space/
Thanks David!