Those words were barked to a group of US Navy Midshipmen (me included) by Marine Drill Instructors just prior to a barracks inspection during a summer training cruise.
Space on a Navy ship is at premium and so personal items are rolled or folded to fit in very small lockers. As usual, the Navy prescribes what is folded and what is rolled. This is a prime example of getting your underwear tied in a knot.
Two Lockers Stacked
The Saturday morning inspection reversal by the Marines had another purpose and that was to teach the art of adapting, improvising and overcoming an unexpected turn in the road.
I never forgot that lesson and now it is just a part of my life. Whilst dabbling with the electrons it is just a part of the process. A variant is thinking out of the box.
Often, I will build a prototype and observe the knots and warts which are then addressed in the second build. The lesson, get it working properly 1st and then you can make it pretty.
It also is a strong point for building in modules as it provides three huge benefits.
1) Being able to test and align a specific sub-element of the whole circuit. Read you know that part works!
2) Having a benchmark and documentation of how a specific circuit performs. Read future troubleshooting has a reference point.
3) The opportunity to experiment with alternate modules such as Audio or Microphone Amplifiers. Read the Modular Approach facilitates such experimentation.
Instead of a "Guess Meter" I have been looking at the S Meter Signals coming from my SDR Software. The 1st question out of the Cracker Jack Box is the accuracy of what is being seen. That also raises issues of any calibration and to what standard is being set for the measurements.
I have long felt that an S Meter was a crutch to be able to say to the station on the other end well you are hardly moving the needle. Or the most venerable and cherished response: "you are so strong you're pinning the meter". In reality there is only one measure, and it is binary! You are either being heard, a 1, or I can't hear you, a 0.
As with everything YMMV but unless calibrated and tested what you see on a panel meter or on a display is always suspect. That is why my binary approach may have some validity -- you are either a 1 or a 0!
TYGNYBNT.
73's
Pete N6QW
S Meters and 50dB/9
So just what are S Meter readings, and I must quickly add the reading is highly dependent on the antenna fitted to the radio. A world class radio connected to a 1-foot piece of wire may hear things but certainly lacks the accuracy and likely to miss that 100-milliwatt FT-8 station operating into a low hung dipole on Kingman Reef (KH5K prefix).
There is a basic underlying assumption and that is the antenna presents 50 Ohms to the receiver input. This sort of says at minimum it is an antenna cut for the band in use and has a 50 Ohm impedance.
(As found in Wikipedia)
The IARU had a recommendation to define a standard where an S9 signal is 50 microvolts (rms) at the input or -73dBm.
The recommendation further defines that a difference of one S-unit corresponds to a difference of 6 decibels (dB), equivalent to a voltage ratio of two, or power ratio of four. Thus, a 1-watt QRP signal that registers an S2 to jump to S3 would have to be like 4 watts. [10*log (4/1) = 6dB]
I used an Online Calculator to affirm 50.2uv (rms) = -73dBm resulting in an S9 report.
Most of the time when an Owner purchases a non-SDR commercial radio, the last thing to be considered is how many conversions are involved.
The quick look criteria for the purchaser is how does it sound, the power output, how many bells and whistles are included and if it is the most popular.
Everyone knows you are judged by the radio you are using. The more expensive the radio the more status you have in the greater ham community. Sadly, when you announce you are using a homebrew radio, the comment that follows: "Well it sounds OK for a homebrew radio".
But for the homebrewer the choice of single, dual or multiple conversion suddenly becomes the burning question of the day. Quite obviously a single conversion likely involves less circuitry which translates into less cost. The less circuitry approach also sidesteps the issue of unwanted mixing products and at times can drive some innovative solutions.
At this point proponents of single versus dual conversion are on par with our current political environment as to mine is better (or bigger) than yours. Actually, the choice may be more of how to best adapt what you have.
But single conversion also presents some challenges when trying to fabricate a rig for the higher frequencies especially when trying to use crystal filters that are in the range of 3 to 10MHz. Suddenly, if you are so inclined to use LC Analog VFO's there are some challenges to building a stable 25 MHz VFO.
This is where creativity comes into play as friend N2CQR did with a 10/15M rig. His answer was to homebrew a 25MHz Crystal Filter so with a VFO in the 80M band (3.5 to 4 MHz) you can operate on either band with no sideband inversion. High stability and low frequency drift are the result of the low frequency VFO choice.
But what if you had a really neat 455kHz Mechanical filter and wanted to operate multiple bands. The low frequency filter presents problems in single conversion circuits such as images that start as soon as you move beyond 80M. With the low frequency filters, the use of multiple conversions eases the frequency translation and resolves many of the image issues.
KWM-4 Block Diagram
The above block diagram is for a dual conversion all band SSB/CW transceiver (less 30M) using a Collins 455kHz Mechanical Filter. This is an eye chart and difficult to understand unless you have built dual conversion radios in another life.
Basically, all on the air signals are converted to a 10.7 MHz 1st IF and are passed through a roofing filter (10.7 MHz Crystal Filter +/- 3.75 kHz wide). In a second conversion the signals are mixed with a 10.245 MHz Computer Crystal LO signal to produce one output at 455kHz. From there it is a standard 455KHz IF and so on.
Now on transmit, since this is all bilateral circuitry two mixing products come to the 10.7 MHz Crystal Filter. One is at 0.455MHz + 10.245Mhz = 10.7 MHz and the 2nd at 10.245MHz - 0.455MHz = 9.79MHz which is way outside the crystal filter pass band.
I have had great success with this radio and on the air, reports affirm that it is indeed doing well and if I didn't tell you then you would not know it is a homebrew radio. Check my QRZ page for more photos and circuit descriptions.
Of all the radios I have built only two are multiple conversions including the KWM-4 and a solid-state version of the HW-101 which can be seen here. Thus, most of the time I use single conversion because the frequency translation is made easier with the Arduino/Si5351.
Holy Smokers it is now full swing back where every weekend is a stupid contest to gum up 20M. Of note yesterday around 7AM local time the Far East was booming through and lighting up my spectrum display on my HL2 SDR.
One call sign perked up my ears and that was a station looking for contacts from North America and whose call sign began with XV9. In perfect English this DX station was looking for contest contacts. In case you don't know the XV9 was from downtown Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon to us OTs). Wow, 60 years does change things.
There were other Far East DX stations on as well like from Maylasia and Indonesia. One problem here at N6QW -- I had to QRT for my shift at the Board and Care facility, so I reluctantly pulled the Big Switch.
Now something from Lauren Sanchez's boyfriend. It is a 10.7 MHz Crystal Band Pass Filter Why this caught my eye was that I designed a similar circuit for use in my KWM-4 and used it as a roofing filter in one of the conversions. Mine used a +/-3.75kHz filter and with a computer crystal at 10.245 MHz as a 2nd LO, drops you down to 455kHz and on to a mechanical filter.
You can find 3kHz wide 455kHz filters (KWM-1, and 75A4) and so you could have a full ranged SSB signal. I think this 10.7 MHz filter costs around $26. The KWM-4 1st conversion puts all bands (less 30M) at 10.7 MHz then this filter and the 2nd conversion to 455kHz.
This also was a part of the solution to the CW problem with the KWM-2. CLK1 on the Si5351 can generate a signal at 455KHz which is keyed in a buffer stage and bypasses the Mechanical Filter.
A Crystal 10.7 MHz Band Pass Filter
It is 4AM and the temperature inside my home was 86F and thus on with the AC so I can write this blog. We have been seeing temperatures well over 105F for the last four days and the kicker is next week we will be lucky to see 75F as a high. There is no climate crisis!
Now to a photo that mates the high temperatures with a solution. Simply open the doors and stand in front of the shelves to cool down. (Not a really good solution but a solution!)
You certainly can hear it but with an SDR Radio you sure can see it. I was listening to 40M and saw a really wide signal and it was loud too!
This is a group that regularly occupies this frequency, and they are not speaking English so it may be hard to communicate to them to crank it back. Kind of obvious that they ride over any one close by! Their home seems to be 7.133MHz.
Have you spot checked your transmitted signal to ensure it does not look like the photo above? Then again if you have a 5 in your call with last two of the suffix letters being AC then you want it like that!
Yes, you can check your signal with the Internet SDR sites, for us on the left coast, like Half Moon Bay or up in Utah -- that is worth the exercise even if you are running a homebrew Analog VFO, old school radio. Regardless how we generate a signal it is our responsibility to ensure the bandwidth is way less than 20kHz for SSB and that it is clean.
For me I can use my HL2 SDR with a short length of snoop antenna to evaluate radios I have built and that has been very useful in the initial set up.
So, how does your signal look and sound on the air?
A Big Grumble this morning! A personal experience from my brief time on the air yesterday. A station on 20M was calling CQ and had a bit of a pileup. I responded with my call, and he said QW go ahead. A station from 5 land with a 20kHz wide over driven signal who's last two letters were AC jumps in and starts yakking.
AC is not even close to QW and basically, I was stepped on. I have an inkling as to his political sway but basically not a good operator and totally inconsiderate. He is an affront to the tenets of our beloved hobby. May his coax fail and he blows his final!
But in a glass half full a reminder to us all about on the air courtesy and the need for each of us to practice civility.
I understand that on hackaday today there is featured a simple SDR circuit. Take a look. With a bit of rearranging, it can be made into a transceiver.
Now for the mandatory required photo so readers will look at this blog. An example of a QST project. I hope he didn't build it like shown in the ARRL article as it lacks some critical safety features. But it sure looks so cool! Oh and again Oh, that wasn't very civil of me. But I do have genuine concerns about things like fuses in power supplies and Cathode versus Plate metering in open chassis rigs.
A staple of the WWII submarine movies, that command by the Captain or OOD was so that the literally blind submersed submarine could assess the physical situation on the surface.
For us hams we should "up periscope" when it comes to our station equipment and antennas. That is where having a SDR radio is a great "up periscope". Even if I will be operating a homebrew rig or old boat anchor, the SDR lets me see the whole band to get a snapshot view of the band activity in literally real time.
Yes, you could take your non-SDR radio and tune up and down the band and that would yield a small snippet in 2.7 kHz chunks. But it would be hard to look at the whole band activity in one view using this approach. Your Nano VNA likely would not help but the Tiny SA would certainly give a larger view of the band activity.
There are those who would posit who cares about total band activity. This is on par with the old blind date axiom, and you get what you get. When I was the OIC of the Advanced Party returning from Vietnam, the CO's XYL thought I needed a blind date. Wow what a score -- she was a knockout looking blonde with a body to match. There was only one problem, I stood 5'6" and she was 6'6". It was a fun evening and totally delightful. So not all bad and the non-SDR radio will get many QSOs.
Given my home situation and my limited operating time, I need to be efficient when I get on the air. Certainly, having a view of the whole band lets me maximize that operating time.
Up periscope is also appropriate in our current political environment.
So, here is a photo to attract blog readers otherwise no one looks. I have the data -- no photos results in fewer readers.
This is an up periscope for an LCR Meter. I would acquire this jewel given a choice of a Nano VNA or LCR meter. Costing about $130 at Lauren Sanchez's boyfriend gift shop, it is a great sub for the AADE unit no longer available.
We will now start a discourse about antenna tuners, a subject that rivals our current nationwide polarization over political candidates and political parties.In the end it will boil down to just a few thousand votes. So, to those few hams who will decide, I make my case for antenna tuners.
Firstly, why antenna tuners? Well to start with, our transmitters like to be matched to the load. You know that 50 Ohm thing. Matching theory says the maximum power will be transferred from the source to the load when there is a match. Along the way hidden in the bushes is harmonic suppression and reduction of possible damage to your final transistors caused by a mismatch.
In theory an antenna designed specifically to be at the operating frequency and presenting that magic 50 Ohm load can be directly connected to your transmitter and all is right with the world! Few antennas meet that criteria over a whole band of operation let alone multiple bands. That is where, as hams, we get greedy and want that single antenna to be matched over multiple bands and covering the whole band.
At N6QW I have that single antenna, and it is used over multiple bands but in between my rigs and that antenna is my homebrew AMU (Antenna Matching Unit).
My AMU has been used at legal limit power levels and runs cool as a cucumber. The form is a T Type tuner with a tapped inductor in the vertical part of the T and two series variable capacitors in the horizontal section.
The caps are good for 7.5 KV and are rated at greater than 100pF. Note the wide spacing between capacitor plates. On one of the caps is a switchable additional 100pF doorknob capacitor and is engaged on 75/80M. I use a heavy-duty banana plug and jack to manually switch in that capacitor. Note the isolated shaft couplers on the controls so there is a physical separation between the knobs and the actual hardware.
In the middle photo shows my homebrew unit sitting on top of a MFJ Versa Tuner V -- a total piece of junk and not as good as my homebrew unit as it will not match my single antenna to all bands. So, the homebrew stuff is better.
My single antenna is a 40-meter Delta Loop which at its apex is 35 feet high and fed at the top with 450 Ohm line about 45 feet long and connected to a 10kV 9:1 Balun (DX Engineering). To the balun is 100 feet of RG-8 coax (the good stuff) to the homebrew tuner.
Of note it is possible to add a balun right at the tuner so you could use open wire feeder from the AMU to the antenna.
Now to the conflict and conflagration. Some readers will argue SWR doesn't matter and there is no need to match the antenna to the load. Keep telling yourself that as you send away your ICOM IC7300 to have the finals replaced.
It took a bit of time to find the hardware but at a total cost of about $300 is far less expensive than that MFJ (Mighty Fine Junk) unit. I should mention my #3 son did some machining work for a ham in the SF Bay Area and he took the MFJ tuner as payment -- so a gift to me.
It is with great delight and personal experience that I present the ZL Special a two-element beam antenna that traces its roots to New Zealand. A tip of the cap to our friends in ZL land for being ahead of the curve while being frugal.
The year was 1982 and I had just moved my family to St Louis to start a new job. The XYL was very pregnant with our 4th child, and we moved into a large home that despite a healthy downpayment still would tax my resources.
I wanted a beam but had to do it on the cheap. The answer was a ZL Special Wire Beam antenna that used aluminum tubing and bamboo for the support elements. The electrical radiating part was 450 Ohm Ladder Line duct taped to the bamboo. Keep in mind the now currently popular Hex Beam antenna is a two-element wire beam.
The boomstructure sketched below was made from 2X2's to keep the weight down.
Two element beams have amazing properties but always must be carefully evaluated. The Forward Gain is not 13 dB (like a Rhombic) nor is the Front to Back Ratio 30 db. But 3 or 4dB Forward Gain and perhaps 10 to 12 dB FB Ratio is more like it with the added bonus of side signal rejection is the package. Not a 29A nor a 44DD but somewhere in between. The major appeal is low cost and light weight. The big bonus -- easily home constructed.
It worked well and was a huge step up from a dipole facing a fixed direction. It lasted long enough to where my financial situation improved, and I was transferred to Arizona. Time for a multiband commercial 3 element beam.
Today I would opt for the 10M version given the sunspot cycle rapidly approaching its zenith. This keeps the size down and somewhat more manageable to erect. Keep in mind that a bit more thought about the physical construction is mandatory if you live in places like Minot, ND or Gallatin Gateways in Montana.
The other limitation is that typically the ZL Special is a single band beam whereas the Hex Beam is multiband with a single feedline. Obviously, the Hex will cost more but if you are on a ham radio gear diet then the ZL may fit the paradigm.
Ahh Labor Day, the last day before back to school, the closing of many summer venues, the transition to snow tires and changing the anti-freeze in your car. Don't forget to PM the snow blower. Last but not least and somewhat sadly, the YL's move from the mostly see through tank tops to bulky warm sweaters that hide everything.
But that also signals two months of political ad nauseum ads and TV essentially a 24/7 blitz of messages that say vote for me. Good thing we have ham radio as a safe harbor.
A blog reader from the UK has been integrating tubes and transistors into a common circuit capable of spurting RF into the ionosphere. Bravo! Undaunted by the naysayers who only think Tubes or Transistors but not in the same circuit, he has pressed on and so a tip of the cap to him. His next project is the Rx side.
It can be done!
Take this next two months and challenge yourself to come up with a nifty project like this -- and soon you will be thinking Turkey Day is here.
Reliving the past with a rig of old. Celebrating Labor Day 2024 with a rig not unlike the full figured Mary Jo in the back seat of the 57 VW Beetle. The KWM-1 and the 57 Beetle were manufactured in the same year.
I noted in the video a high-pitched whine and a lot of noise. I could not find the DSP or Noise Reduction buttons or menus (there are none) and this gives a view of what it was like 67 years ago to operate SSB straight out of the bottle. Evidently, I was heard OK at the other end.
Did anyone notice the drift correction? The rig was just turned on and things we expect and take for granted today were not available in the late 50's. Keep in mind in one small box was a 100-watt globe spanning transmitter and receiver which was a seismic shift forward along the technology continuum. One of the 1250 KWM-1's ended up in a U2 Spy plane shot down over Russia.
Time to take a break from PNP Transistors and so a bit of a tour through Lauren Sanchez' boyfriends gift shop.
This is a Touch Screen Display costing about $17 that plugs into a Arduino Mega 2560 -- it sure caught my eye.
Finally, a dialing keypad (using the touch screen) I can actually see and work with my Fat Fingers. Don't know how complex the programming would be but imagine this as a front panel on a homebrew radio where you can tune and control your rig. I have done it with a mechanical keypad, but this would be a different mouse trap.
It makes the wiring a lot easier as it simply plugs into the Mega 2560.
I find it refreshing that tools such as this are priced to be affordable. It is a great time for homebrewing.
Shown below is the Block Diagram for the 20M PNP SSB Transceiver steered in the Transmit Mode. The components shown in the dotted block are relay steered so that the block module is single pass and amplifies in a single direction.
The Block diagram show steered in Transmit.
Essentially the steering process works so that the IF Module input follows the Balanced Modulator on Transmit and then the input side follows the Receive Mixer on Receive. All done with some relays and a bit of RG174U coax.
For those who count things in detail, this block diagram is not unlike what was used for the PSSST Transceiver which can be found on my website. Yes, a warmed over P3ST only using PNP devices.
Hang in there as we soon will complete the PNP journey to develop a rig that employs PNP transistors throughout the topology. So far, we have presented simulations of the circuit modules which can be duplicated by blog readers using LT Spice.
Essentially, the 2N2907 and 2N2905 are doing the heavy lifting and we have identified a P Type MOSFET to replace the IRF510.
Today's post adds the 2N2907 Microphone Amplifier stage. This stage cranked wide open can deliver about 29 dB of gain over the speech range 300 to 3000 Hertz. You will not get glowing reports about speech at 100 Hz, but your signal will have a lot of punch for breaking pileups running QRP power levels.
By way of recap, we have:
1) A 2N2907 Microphone Amp
2) A 2N2907 and 2N2905 Audio Amp
3) Two 2N2907's in the IF Module
4) A 2N2907 RF Amp/Tx Pre-Driver
5) A 2N2905 Driver Stage
6) P Type MOSFET for the Final Amp
7) Two ADE-1's for the PD/BM and Rx/Tx Mixer
8) Si5351 + Arduino for the LO and BFO
Yes, you guessed it still to come a block diagram and a recap posting of all of the circuit simulations.
See that was not too bad so now back to all of those mysterious menus hidden behind the ICOM IC7300 buttons.
The lead says it all, as I actually got an email asking that question.
Well, you do have the option of not reading the blog and likely the person who sent the email missed a critical point (or two).
What I am hawking here is a process (LT Spice Simulation) and the use of modules in building a rig. The process is applicable whether it is a PNP BJT, JFET or MOSFET.
The person who sent the email used the name The Great One, so it is hard to respond directly. But he must have missed prior postings on my work with J310's and configuring them as Dual Gate MOSFETs. Well, our hobby has a big tent, and he does have his spot in the Howdy Doody Peanut Gallery!
The all PNP Version of the Audio Amp Stage is shown below. Again, this is just the simulation and will need a full build for proof of concept. But it is a significant start of the design process.
Whether using the 2N2222 or the 2N2907 you get the same overall gain output from the module which dispels the old wives' tale that NPN transistors inherently have more gain. BS.
Above, the final plot of the two PNP transistor audio amp with the lower (BLUE) line the output from the 2N2907 and the green line the output from the 2N2905. There is a 2odB difference, so the 2N2905 final is doing its thing.
For those who only think Bitx, TIA, EMRFD and NPN transistors, with changes to the schematic, the 2N2222A and the 2N2219A would be the comparable devices.
For the really old OT's -- early TV and who can forget the daily dose of the Howdy Doody Show with Buffalo Bob Smith. The Peanut Gallery in full glory!
The guy who sent the email is in this photo, somewhere!
At times we have a chance to perform evaluations where we can explore options. The audio amplifier stage was such an opportunity where I could explore integrating both NPN and PNP transistors in the same circuit module.
This is a 1st try where we used a 2N2222 NPN as the 1st stage. I will eventually convert the audio amp stage to all PNP transistors, but this looks promising.
Mind you the last couple of posts have been just simulations using LT Spice. I now need to build some hardware as proof of concept. But I thought sharing just the simulations at this point would get blog readers started on their own discovery journeys.
Math Check. For 34dB for 0.1 volt input the output is 6 Volts. Thus 20*log (6/0.1) ~ 35dB
The actual power is calculated as follows. The peak voltage is 6/2 = 3 Volts. Converting that to RMS = 3 * 0.707 = 2.121. Square that we get 2.121^2 = 4.498641. Now divide that by 8 = 0.56233 watts or 562 Milliwatts. Not too shabby and more output than a LM386! But we need the actual build to affirm the simulation.
In time I will convert this 1st try to make it all PNP devices.
Several of my homebrew rigs of the past have PNP circuits including the junk box transceiver with the Microphone amp and the (almost world famous) 40M MC1496 Direct Conversion Receiver which uses a PNP transistor in the RF Amp stage.
As promised the Complete IF Module using two 2N2907 Transistors. For 100 millivolts input we see 28dB of gain out of the module which says it will deliver 2.5 volts out of the module for that value of input. The maximum output is at 9 MHz.
[A quick math check reveals 20*log (2.5/0.1) = 28dB of voltage gain.]
In a similar module using BFR106's, I included 500 Ohm trim pots in the Emitter leg connected as a variable resistor so the whole module could be fine-tuned for the best, and most linear output. Since this amplifier module is steered and a single pass you get that same level of performance on both transmit and receive.
Upon close examination of the schematic, I have taken some liberties with simulating the crystal filter which is represented by two 500-ohm resistors connected with a 100nF capacitor. The real proof is to build the module and see how well the simulation predicts the performance.
Thus far we have PNP transistors in the IF Module, the combo Rx RF Amp/Tx Pre-Driver, the Driver and the P MOSFET Final Amp and lest we forget, the Mic Amp. We have as yet to come up with a PNP audio amp stage --- that may prove the most difficult.
So again, why are we doing this -- just because I haven't seen a complete homebrew SSB radio using PNP transistors in most of the block modules. Maybe one exists but I have not bumped into it other than what exists in the Sideband Engineers SBE-33 and SBE-34 designs. That was over 60 years ago.
Continuing with our exploitation of PNP Transistor RF circuits we have one for you today. The 2N2907 and the 2N2905 are particularly good choices for PNP Transistors. Get the TO-18 style can for the 2N2907 so you can fit it with a heatsink -- they will be running hot for good IMD performance. For your dining and dancing pleasure a PNP RF/IF Amp stage.
For our PNP circuit we present an IF amp Stage as the input side to an IF Module that as that input stage can deliver 20dB or better over the range of 4 to 20MHz. It really shines at 9 MHz (24dB) for those often available 9 MHz Crystal Filters. A whole module and accounting for filter insertion loss (5dB) can delivering a whopping 35dB or more of gain overall.
I have set the matching transformer, so the output is looking at a 500 Ohm load (Filter Input). Therefore, we have 6 turns on the Primary side and 19 Turns on the Secondary. The transform is 19^2 = 361 and 6^2 = 36. Thusly, 361/36 = 10:1.
If by chance you brew up a Crystal Filter and you find that the Zin/out is 200 Ohms (fairly typical value) then you would need a 4:1 match, easily done with 4 Turns and 8 Turns (4^2 = 16 and 8^2 = 64 with 64/16 = 4:1).
2N2907 IF Stage
24dB Gain at 9 MHz
Observe the phasing on the matching transformer. You might find that the 2N2907 really runs hot with an 18 Ohm Emitter resistor so change R7 to 100 Ohms where the device will deliver a slightly less output but run a lot cooler.
On the output IF amp stage we have to match from 500 ohms (Filter Zout) to the input side of the 2nd amp and to the output side of the 2nd amp feeding an ADE-1 where we want 50 Ohms.
Now this is a great exercise for those who have TIA tattooed on their foreheads and I leave that to you to figure out the component values. I personally have no desire to do that conversion. With the two amps and assuming a filter insertion loss of 5 dB we have a module capable of 35 dB (or more) of gain. This IF module would of course be relay steered in keeping with no Bitx or TIA amp circuits.
I hope to present a simulation of the output amp stage in a future blog along with a simulation of the whole IF Module.
Test out something different than a Bitx or TIA circuit and something different than a 2N3904 or 2N2222A. Here is your chance to be different.
Here I was feeling pretty good about this week. I got Thetis working on my computer and was utilizing the software with my Hermes Lite2. Of course, this software bills itself as The Best SDR Software.
The 64-Bit Thetis Software customized for the Hermes Lite 2 can be found here.
There were some bumps in the road as I got some serious blow back when I mentioned I was using the Best SDR Software both on this Blog and the You Tube Video. Some viewers seriously questioned my use of the term The Best.
A group (more than 2) contacted me and sort of took me to task. I simply was repeating whatthe Thetis index page says when you boot up the program. I was very enthralled with the Noise Reduction capabilities and gushed about the results. In the software world that is like someone in the Analog world pissing on your Glue Stick PTO so you now can frame the Software Weenies sensitivity.
I cautioned myself to never do that again and then a major disaster struck my Thetis install. The following message appeared on my screen.
A Tale of Woe!
Evidently somehow certain files in the Thetis package got corrupted and the program would not boot. In a panic, the 1st move was to go to the Programs and Features in the Control Panel and Uninstall the 64-Bit Thetis Program and then make a new reinstallation of Thetis. This did not fix the issue as you still got this fatal error message.
So, a bit more thought on the matter and you soon realize that the Thetis program is comprised of two parts. One part is the program itself and the other is the application data. You know, this application file contains how you set up the features, power levels, peripherals, etc. The ADD/REMOVE software function does not touch the application data.
Then a search of my brain remembered that about 15 years ago I had problem with PowerSDR used with the SoftRock Transceivers. For that program there was an xml application data file that at times needed to be removed because it was corrupted. The same thing for QUISK which has a settings file. So, I found it!
I removed all of the files in the app data directory for Thetis and then reloaded the Thetis 64 Bit Software. That was the magic decoder ring, and Thetis is now back working again. With certainty and a smirk on their faces the Software Weenies are all saying, "Well everyone knows that"!
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Our mandatory "bait photo" ~ $35 for a 7" HDMI Display
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