tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20562989448174883442024-03-13T09:49:31.397-07:00Adventures in Ham RadioHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-45769761703451502662018-08-30T05:53:00.000-07:002018-08-30T05:53:34.644-07:00After a looooong break......yeah, I'm probably not back, but I wanted a different page for folks to see the first time they arrive. We've moved to Tennessee and I've change my callsign to AA4IO since I last updated this....<br />
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73!<br />
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AA4IOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-58969205451754214452014-05-27T07:20:00.001-07:002014-05-27T07:20:14.844-07:00KF5OBS #17: Kenwood TR-751A Giveaway & Shack Tour<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/anMURUND6bs" width="480"></iframe>He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-26428025287738099872014-05-04T15:31:00.002-07:002014-05-04T17:32:16.739-07:00Kenwood TM-D710A installation in a 2014 Ford FocusI finally got around to finishing the installation of my Kenwood TM-D710A into my new Ford Focus. I took this out of my F-150 when I traded it in a few weeks ago. I feel like less of a man driving this little car, but I can't argue with cutting the car payment in half and cutting my fuel usage by 2/3.<br />
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For the installation I tried running the wire myself, but an almost 300lb 6'2" guy just doesn't fit well in the small spaced under the dash, so I paid someone to run the cable for me. Since I was having a pro run the wires from the battery to the trunk, I decided to go with 4ga wire so that I would only have to do it once.<br />
I mounted the radio body and the power point under the rear deck with self-tapping screws. The control cables run down different sides of the car. The cable to the mic goes down the driver's side, and the control head cable runs down the passenger side. They are neatly tucked inside the molding along the floorboards, then cross under the seats to the mic and control head.<br />
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The control head is mounted using the<a href="http://www.aesham.com/mounts/aes-mt-7/" target="_blank"> MT-7 mount from AES</a> . It only required loosening the seat mounting bolt, sliding the mounting arm under the bolt, and tightening it back up. It was the easiest part of the install!<br />
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I still have some wiring clean-up in the trunk, but I ran out of wire loom, so that'll be a project for another day.<br />
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Next up is a <a href="http://www.tarheelantennas.com/littletarheel_hp" target="_blank">Little Tarheel II HP</a> , an<a href="http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/7000/default.aspx" target="_blank"> Icom IC-7000</a>, and hopefully an <a href="http://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=ALS-500MR" target="_blank">Ameritron ALS-500MR</a><br />
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<br />He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-43801143793645930612014-03-16T17:24:00.000-07:002014-03-16T17:26:02.397-07:00Quick, easy, and cheap 1090MHz ADS-B antenna <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Having recently discovered the joys of RTL-SDR dongles, I decided that I wanted a dedicated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_dependent_surveillance-broadcast" target="_blank">ADS-B</a> receiver using one. The details of setting up the dongle and configuring the software are beyond the scope of this post. If you're interested I'll be happy to make a post about it sometime, though.</div>
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I'm sure that if you've read any of the other posts that I've made on this blog, you have come to the realization that I am an unrepentant cheapskate. Since I spent a whopping $12 on the USB dongle, I sure didn't want to spend very much on the antenna. After finding <a href="http://tech-software.net/1090_ant_02.JPG" target="_blank">suitable plans</a> online (the math on single-wire collinear antennas is beyond me), I headed off to Home Depot to see what we can find in the way of suitable materials. Here is what I came up with:</div>
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12ft of 10ga solid copper wire: $8</div>
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Two 1.25in x 24in PVC pipe: $5</div>
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Two 1.25in PVC caps: $2</div>
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One 1.25in PVC coupler: $1</div>
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I already had an SO-239 panel mount connector in the parts bin, so that sums up my cost on this. $16 total. Can't complain about that, I guess.</div>
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This pile of parts will eventually become the antenna:</div>
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If you looked at the antenna plans that I found, you'll see that some coils are needed in the antenna. The outside of a PL-259 is almost the proper dimensions.<br />
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To get it up to where it needs to be I added a couple turns of masking tape to the outside of it.<br />
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After a bit of practice (as you can see in the background), I had two lengths of wire with suitable, although not perfect, coils.<br />
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Here is where I deviated from the flight plan on this. It turns out that Home Depot doesn't stock flat pipe caps, or even PVC pipe flanges, so having a flat sheet of metal as the groundplane was right out. Instead, I decided to build a vertical collinear dipole!<br />
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I had a dilemma on this. If I used wire thin enough to fit into the SO-239 I was worried that it would bend when going into the radome. But a larger wire wouldn't fit properly, so I decided to take a small piece of 1/4in copper tubing and use it as an adapter. I solder the solid wire into it first, then created a solder filled cup in the other end, into which I set the post from the SO-239. It works well, just be care to not get the connector too hot, otherwise the teflon in the connector will melt. Also, be sure not to torque the post too much, it breaks easily. This is why I decided to use a radome of PVC, to protect that fragile part.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9a5ktP1ggaHzqqUFpDryZLeVUnaHP81VNl7ttpWI7XBFK7CVstV26UnoJZ17F74k3bnzPXMg9lPTsvIJVD152omhuuhxxpTxKu_zuIEpkShJRE-5KPFAWL0oF_IKmUdxfBv7Xdp76HE/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9a5ktP1ggaHzqqUFpDryZLeVUnaHP81VNl7ttpWI7XBFK7CVstV26UnoJZ17F74k3bnzPXMg9lPTsvIJVD152omhuuhxxpTxKu_zuIEpkShJRE-5KPFAWL0oF_IKmUdxfBv7Xdp76HE/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The one step that I didn't take pictures of was putting the antenna into the PVC radome. I used some foam wafers cut from old packing material as a dielectric standoff to keep the wire centered in the pipe. I also built a 2m groundplane that used a similar technique, I will post pics of it soon so that you can get the general idea.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rGRjxfGfBivULFId-l072bRDEN_t5kTMR7-eD2pIkEnhrb7ujje5GVMGpNNOkhofzMAG66e92-fo597bO0hfgtLWujcJFMp6kWi8bArZ52IOprLPP46urxOD-XDKo3GD1eaETxbBLq0/s1600/IMG_1269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rGRjxfGfBivULFId-l072bRDEN_t5kTMR7-eD2pIkEnhrb7ujje5GVMGpNNOkhofzMAG66e92-fo597bO0hfgtLWujcJFMp6kWi8bArZ52IOprLPP46urxOD-XDKo3GD1eaETxbBLq0/s1600/IMG_1269.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here is the end result! It seems to work fine business! Within a couple of seconds of plugging it in I was up and receiving ADS-B signals. And this is with the antenna at a measly ten feet off the ground!<br />
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Anyhow, I hope that you have enjoyed the post and wish you the best in your antenna making adventures!<br />
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73,<br />
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Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-45479633430398772462014-03-11T17:25:00.000-07:002014-03-11T17:25:18.554-07:005630mi per watt!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The other day I had an amazing low power but long distance QRP/p PSK31 QSO between me (KK4JDO) and Michael (VE3NOO). His QTH in Canada is 1126.8mi (1813.4km) from mine here in central Florida. At the start of the QSO I was running just a meager 0.2 watts. That's right, less than a quarter of a watt! He started out running around 35 watts, I believe, but when he heard what I was doing he lowered his power down to less than a watt also! How cool is that?! We had a fine QSO, 100% copy both directions, and it felt like the conditions were going to last forever. We eventually said 73 ourselves well before the ionosphere did it for us. The math on that works out to 5,630mi (9060.6km) per watt! How cool is that?!</div>
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To give an example, using that kind of power for distance ratio, you could talk to the moon using mere 42.4 watts. Now I know that ionospheric propagation doesn't work like that, but it does give a fine example of the kind of distances we're talking about. :-)</div>
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I took a few pictures to commemorate what - to me at least - was a special event:</div>
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Here is a shot while receiving him, note the power setting and how sharp his signal is in the waterfall.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwy52XLBPnsgc5KzAMbjGFotbWViOsHjNwpEsiKth-cvRrnlvBt4UMQoa9FxzpJjVSS61K6IsC25VW1YEPQeVUm0FSkYTTpjdyLucP82CCoSQhxHXYaQwlusW7tbS-R4VMnaBStCEBwE/s1600/IMG_1245%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwy52XLBPnsgc5KzAMbjGFotbWViOsHjNwpEsiKth-cvRrnlvBt4UMQoa9FxzpJjVSS61K6IsC25VW1YEPQeVUm0FSkYTTpjdyLucP82CCoSQhxHXYaQwlusW7tbS-R4VMnaBStCEBwE/s1600/IMG_1245%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is a shot of my radio while transmitting, again, note the power level! Woot!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhdGa-bypTwpXEv4G15To4UHQDa41D6y-K3no0NBiXgTnYe3JMP4JCpPm9H6Fq9KmuyLA4VFPnCoX0fPProhN9t6p72bLEGwuL57mMwDzniPcNwBr3JxRfeIm7ElPES4253vuv7bedok/s1600/IMG_1246%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhdGa-bypTwpXEv4G15To4UHQDa41D6y-K3no0NBiXgTnYe3JMP4JCpPm9H6Fq9KmuyLA4VFPnCoX0fPProhN9t6p72bLEGwuL57mMwDzniPcNwBr3JxRfeIm7ElPES4253vuv7bedok/s1600/IMG_1246%5B1%5D.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is a screenscrape of his signal before he turned down his power.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMfvxeSSHAnKSD9WKAxBaI0HDk9qw2gUXFyMo0MwtJTM8UMoar4-7ucxz0JEA0TrnfIqpDE1NExgoVl8JOkBsWTqHojuBvQQ4TyLeQ32f2urO5tHwsFUnP-m343N2H-Eephyphenhyphenl8Fcyzg8/s1600/DM780-Screenshot-2014-03-09-224346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMfvxeSSHAnKSD9WKAxBaI0HDk9qw2gUXFyMo0MwtJTM8UMoar4-7ucxz0JEA0TrnfIqpDE1NExgoVl8JOkBsWTqHojuBvQQ4TyLeQ32f2urO5tHwsFUnP-m343N2H-Eephyphenhyphenl8Fcyzg8/s1600/DM780-Screenshot-2014-03-09-224346.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a></div>
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And again after he turn down the juice to 1 watt. He went lower with a lot of success but I didn't think to grab a screenshot. I was too busy geeking out. :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingIq62hCdTRiewE4jYZ6rgn2Bq2iAG1QgMxeKNnd9_BcCD7QEaMZaz4lx7LS-sOa__E7EV0IDSOH0FfdrAPinicI3SoHOHjG4j7laduPIbKzMIsUuF60tU6fAK-ah655XsAdWL7RtqR8/s1600/DM780-Screenshot-2014-03-09-224949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingIq62hCdTRiewE4jYZ6rgn2Bq2iAG1QgMxeKNnd9_BcCD7QEaMZaz4lx7LS-sOa__E7EV0IDSOH0FfdrAPinicI3SoHOHjG4j7laduPIbKzMIsUuF60tU6fAK-ah655XsAdWL7RtqR8/s1600/DM780-Screenshot-2014-03-09-224949.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a></div>
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So all-in-all, it just goes to show that you don't <i>need</i> a lot of power to talk long distances. Even chatting across the internet can't compare to the power levels used here. We're talking less than the amount of power needed to light an LED! And I was able to talk from Florida to Ontario with it! Just the optics used to send signals around the world via the internet use more juice than that, let alone the hardware that supports said optics. Talk about energy efficient! Now if the ionosphere had the same reliability factor as the internet we'd be in good shape. :-)<br />
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Anyhow, I just wanted to share something that I found absolutely amazing. So if you have a RockMite or SoftRock, don't despair, you can make some long distance contacts as well!<br />
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Thanks and 73,<br />
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Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-12395149919401074332013-12-30T15:05:00.000-08:002013-12-30T15:05:58.868-08:00Homebrew CW Paddle: Cost $0So browsing around various email reflectors and online communities I keep hearing about how expensive ham radio gear is. People keep saying that it costs too much to get into HF. I wanted to debunk that a little.<br />
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I have already built a SWL RockMite-40 kit, but I didn't have a paddle to go with it. So I wanted to build one, and at the same time show what could be done on the cheap. The paddle that I came up with isn't overly elegant, other than in its simplicity. My craftsman ship isn't compliment worthy, other than to say that it works.<br />
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The parts list is simple. <br />
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<ul>
<li>Base moulding corner block laying around, but any scrap piece of 1x4 would work. </li>
<li>Three inches of scrap of 1x2 white pine left over from a different project.</li>
<li>One cheapy kitchen butter knife that I found in a scrap bucket</li>
<li>Stereo cable from an old set of headphones</li>
<li>Some screws from the "misc fastener" bucket</li>
</ul>
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And that is it. I used basic tools (as you'll see from the pictures, things like a drill press would have made for a cleaner job), nothing special was required. <br />
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My tool list was pretty basic also:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Power drill</li>
<li>Drill bits</li>
<li>Hacksaw</li>
<li>Screwdriver</li>
<li>Pliers</li>
</ul>
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You don't get much simpler than that. Now then, on to some pics:</div>
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Heck, I even took a short video! This is me keying CQ into a dummy load. Imagine that, a dummy on both ends of the radio! ;-)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx6i4U9FowFbPo3MJx6lnyhbuu62qBVsRxpt3HdJ0bt0XfjzcrUSxzQhzfOl6QXpBY57EPbtE8uYZVevqDZyQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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And, for the nay sayers, here is a pic of a fully functional HF station, ready to rock on 40m. Total cost: ~$50<br />
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What's that? You need a tuner? Well, at 250mW-500mW, I would recommend a resonant antenna instead of a tuner. But if you must have one, add in the $65 Emtech ZM-2 tuner (which would happily tune a clothes hanger) and you're ready to go. Total cost for a flexible HF station: $115</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqE73BeEraMiPRUGdlOieDGs2dxPmGh-835AyoH3sqhRsQbSpkhraH_GBaFmo6NSHiRUYkuVShq6gBf1pj0yjMZ1Dmf-NJ4O53a0UTtylSZTd1DybjFdbfbUVmtaQll8etx8Bw71zk1MA/s1600/IMG_1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqE73BeEraMiPRUGdlOieDGs2dxPmGh-835AyoH3sqhRsQbSpkhraH_GBaFmo6NSHiRUYkuVShq6gBf1pj0yjMZ1Dmf-NJ4O53a0UTtylSZTd1DybjFdbfbUVmtaQll8etx8Bw71zk1MA/s640/IMG_1169.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Well shoot, you also don't have an antenna either? Not a problem, we can cover that too. A 100ft roll of RatShack speaker wire is $14. Measure out ~31', split it (use a zip tie to keep it from splitting further) and use the rest as the feedline to your tuner (or just cut it at that length and solder it to some 50ohm coax and go straight to the radio). You can find it elsewhere much cheaper, you just have to look around. You could probably score some wire for free by doing a bit of dumpster diving or asking a local construction company nicely.<br />
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Here is a completely portable ready to go HF station, with tuner and antenna, for a total cost of ~$130.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndFxZiSNBLz6HzSs_fI-PtPG7rR18Kk3EMaCD6O79WMy3AEeBswysuvp7pB8Z6M47Fz-SxJrQk8ikg2npFSckXoBlEA-PgBjuPOFumfHO9DSMjntB-wmCJYAvRMxbJGe2FOWoE-QNMl0/s1600/IMG_1170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndFxZiSNBLz6HzSs_fI-PtPG7rR18Kk3EMaCD6O79WMy3AEeBswysuvp7pB8Z6M47Fz-SxJrQk8ikg2npFSckXoBlEA-PgBjuPOFumfHO9DSMjntB-wmCJYAvRMxbJGe2FOWoE-QNMl0/s640/IMG_1170.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now, admittedly, it takes some time to put the kits together, and you need some tools to do so, which also cost money. But most of the tools needed are already laying around the house with the possible exception of a soldering iron, but those can be had cheap, just look around. If all else fails, a RatShack soldering iron will get the job done for $10 and it even comes with some solder!<br />
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After the tools, it takes the knowledge. Which is the essence of ham radio. You don't need a lot of knowledge about electronics to assemble the kits, just follow the directions and you'll be done in no time. But use it as an opportunity to learn about how the radio works! Then you'll have the knowledge for next time, and you get tackle a bigger project. Maybe a BitX or something like that!<br />
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Which brings us to the crux of it. After the tools and the knowledge comes the drive. The desire to make it happen. The willingness to put effort into something. If the desire and drive are there, all the rest will fall into place. And if it doesn't, call me and maybe I can help!<br />
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73 and Happy New Year!<br />
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Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-11099563889414427002013-12-27T18:45:00.000-08:002013-12-27T18:46:15.444-08:00Enclosure for KF5INZ "Easy Digi" Sound card interfaceTo follow up on the last KF5INZ "Easy Digi" post, I wanted to show you the enclosure that I made for it. This post will be more pictures than typing, because it is easier to show than to type. Plus I'm feeling kinda muddled this evening and am having trouble typing. Blood sugar must be messed up again...<br />
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I decided to use the venerable Altoids tin for this project. They work great for this sort of thing. Plus the mints are delicious!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdq0baO2k1b1qFHcCvLfD6FxpZX6mxebYc0x5_sdmSzrE5SAZpzgnOfOPh-FakuQHmXig_bMi75rxizQIAjPLj3heYRksmsKmklq2CbN_TjywGIS8HEgaD5iALChzjiYMBTp_tigZQew/s1600/IMG_1145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdq0baO2k1b1qFHcCvLfD6FxpZX6mxebYc0x5_sdmSzrE5SAZpzgnOfOPh-FakuQHmXig_bMi75rxizQIAjPLj3heYRksmsKmklq2CbN_TjywGIS8HEgaD5iALChzjiYMBTp_tigZQew/s640/IMG_1145.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I decided to use 1/8" Stereo jacks for all I/O ports. I've done this before on a past project and it works well.<br />
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I marked the locations for the audio jacks by putting them in the bottom of the tin and marking the location with a Sharpie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2qXne64ouFogcxrizrK7mgx3lH8xPe5Nm2sEUUqCPLrXBIAwwOqB_BV1bHf8JdV9IkBzYYMkPIMymjY_Zgckm7QmAey9qopdKJzvV0BEo9wNE2SQP8Ne4OmTnFOWqAEHmZNZiHtjGH08/s1600/IMG_1146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2qXne64ouFogcxrizrK7mgx3lH8xPe5Nm2sEUUqCPLrXBIAwwOqB_BV1bHf8JdV9IkBzYYMkPIMymjY_Zgckm7QmAey9qopdKJzvV0BEo9wNE2SQP8Ne4OmTnFOWqAEHmZNZiHtjGH08/s640/IMG_1146.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you look close, you'll notice that the line is a bit higher than the jack, this is due to the pens thickness and ends up giving a perfect location for the jack with enough room to close the lid. I discovered this method after messing up and putting one just a bit too high.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN24olotefrmeNEutdxMnb23yO-_M1j3J2hvNJkZ76CTSwdYGrC7xWv520Eq1jmE_SRnXHFlENGESyckxrzwhJUD4aY-85hnRzdkPfkCjd7e1w2mR9ejtlswdzrOR-OMeIenFlGgogMbs/s1600/IMG_1147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN24olotefrmeNEutdxMnb23yO-_M1j3J2hvNJkZ76CTSwdYGrC7xWv520Eq1jmE_SRnXHFlENGESyckxrzwhJUD4aY-85hnRzdkPfkCjd7e1w2mR9ejtlswdzrOR-OMeIenFlGgogMbs/s640/IMG_1147.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I found the perfect method (courtesy of Don, K3RLL) for making holes in Altoids tins. A simple, basic, paper hole punch makes just the right sized hole and leaves a nice clean edge.<br />
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You can see where I have tried using a step drill. Not nearly as clean. All jagged and full of burs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX7JQYuriCZZ1I_IbitEVO6-OeO87Xc93udogP5eycYr_H9q2cXntnoyz6Hw85rkDVd703VeZ4dHqgYraGc9xhqVzcfjwg5S74VIkup7RM-7IlwysLzzR0lCDBoet3onUDzkzYXAIBBNo/s1600/IMG_1151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX7JQYuriCZZ1I_IbitEVO6-OeO87Xc93udogP5eycYr_H9q2cXntnoyz6Hw85rkDVd703VeZ4dHqgYraGc9xhqVzcfjwg5S74VIkup7RM-7IlwysLzzR0lCDBoet3onUDzkzYXAIBBNo/s640/IMG_1151.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Test fitting the jacks in place to verify that the lid would close with the slip ring in place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LHDBVqn2Q50TeKiP_n6lzgxuPjCp1FLa1nKRVfx-Br4w3QA6RynUrfU2JBdviZcUp-RSaQ2wpBOFFxwWfLA0yNL4djzTNoh1x-M_CxsImO7RPkMQoda3Gb3Na1wQfRerZKgML1NpXrA/s1600/IMG_1150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LHDBVqn2Q50TeKiP_n6lzgxuPjCp1FLa1nKRVfx-Br4w3QA6RynUrfU2JBdviZcUp-RSaQ2wpBOFFxwWfLA0yNL4djzTNoh1x-M_CxsImO7RPkMQoda3Gb3Na1wQfRerZKgML1NpXrA/s640/IMG_1150.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now to connect the PCB to the jacks. I started by soldering the wires to the board with plenty of excess wire to reach the connectors. I then did a test fit to get the proper wire lengths and attached the jacks with the whole mess outside of the tin. I used heatshrink tube to clean up the clutter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAqHvGzKTBxjy3NlBkkM0sqmybkz6Ng_o9g3yCSL7HZtiFp-l_uy-KRmhLovCf5PCuuHaw2jMpu4D1NpwFxYPSA60wAnWbpv3eIwk_mlfJGhCnTIeGNzAY6IzWvLlbQOSwMxK15i1oLHI/s1600/IMG_1152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAqHvGzKTBxjy3NlBkkM0sqmybkz6Ng_o9g3yCSL7HZtiFp-l_uy-KRmhLovCf5PCuuHaw2jMpu4D1NpwFxYPSA60wAnWbpv3eIwk_mlfJGhCnTIeGNzAY6IzWvLlbQOSwMxK15i1oLHI/s640/IMG_1152.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I used two layers of double-sided tape to hold the board into the tin to avoid any short circuits. I cleaned the inside of the tin with alcohol before sticking it down.<br />
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And the finished product! The flash made pictures difficult due to the shiny tin, but you can see the cable routing. This was a quick and easy project from getting to kit to having a completed and usable sound card interface!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2cjaIlkzZTwJ2NsHhOHeUsY0BXFaDFAUsqYI-uM82xrFL8lN8Biqvd4puppBYc62BZmootGyEVXvYOHZr-FNvOa8qt4ROyHNgGqOTh5PBUjyVaeFSV0zFgXLpiIC7lWQlcXRcMfovbA/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2cjaIlkzZTwJ2NsHhOHeUsY0BXFaDFAUsqYI-uM82xrFL8lN8Biqvd4puppBYc62BZmootGyEVXvYOHZr-FNvOa8qt4ROyHNgGqOTh5PBUjyVaeFSV0zFgXLpiIC7lWQlcXRcMfovbA/s640/IMG_1155.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here are the details on the cabling. The jacks on the left go to the rig, and the jacks on the right go to the PC. Something like this:</div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 425px;">
<colgroup><col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 4388; mso-width-source: userset; width: 90pt;" width="120"></col>
<col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 4059; mso-width-source: userset; width: 83pt;" width="111"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2413; mso-width-source: userset; width: 50pt;" width="66"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="24" style="height: 18.0pt; mso-height-source: userset;">
<td class="xl70" height="24" style="height: 18.0pt; width: 48pt;" width="64"><b>Rig</b></td>
<td class="xl71" style="width: 90pt;" width="120"><b>Left (To Rig)</b></td>
<td class="xl72" style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></td>
<td class="xl73" style="width: 83pt;" width="111"><b>Right (To PC)</b></td>
<td class="xl70" style="width: 50pt;" width="66"><b>PC</b></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Spkr</td>
<td class="xl65" style="width: 90pt;" width="120">RX Audio</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl66">RX Audio</td>
<td>Mic</td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">Mic</td>
<td class="xl65" style="width: 90pt;" width="120">TX Audio</td>
<td></td>
<td class="xl66">TX Audio</td>
<td>Spkr</td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">Mic</td>
<td class="xl67" style="width: 90pt;" width="120">PTT</td>
<td class="xl68"></td>
<td class="xl69">PTT</td>
<td>Serial</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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The columns labeled rig and PC denote what ports the jacks on the interface connect to.</div>
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I hope that you enjoyed the little picture show! Best of luck with your project. If anyone is interested I will post about how I built the cables.</div>
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73,</div>
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Richard, KK4JDO</div>
<br />He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-82735045595356940322013-12-25T14:48:00.000-08:002013-12-25T14:48:32.496-08:00Christmas HamMy wife did the best that she could as far as getting a present for a ham radio operator goes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXkwsQKaur2Efi5D9Ilhq162oRkpDo_CAwnBsz7T3yR_5sFySazG2N1gW1pPNZ_BAKj0-rrTMIkfMHoM2gtbs-vn0T1Vw_H9tgvr3citPtPc-c0WyjpwceOsJVM4Z0h2N9VhQ2j0-2B4/s1600/IMG_1141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHXkwsQKaur2Efi5D9Ilhq162oRkpDo_CAwnBsz7T3yR_5sFySazG2N1gW1pPNZ_BAKj0-rrTMIkfMHoM2gtbs-vn0T1Vw_H9tgvr3citPtPc-c0WyjpwceOsJVM4Z0h2N9VhQ2j0-2B4/s640/IMG_1141.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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A speaker mic for my iPhone! Who knew that these even existed? ;-) What a better way to show off how HamSexy I am than using a speaker mic when talking on the phone! Of course, now I'll probably ID when on the phone out of sheer habit. I can see it now:</div>
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<i>Ring...ring...ring...</i></div>
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<i>Mom: </i> "Hello?"</div>
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<i>Me:</i> "Hi Mom, how are you today? From KK4JDO"</div>
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<i>Mom:</i> "Ummm, hi, I'm fine? What were those letters and numbers?"</div>
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<i>Me:</i> "Oh, that was just my call, don't sweat it. Gotta go! Love you"</div>
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<i>Mom: </i> "Ummm, love you too dear"</div>
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<i>Me:</i> "Talk to you later, 73, KK4JDO clear"</div>
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<i>Mom:</i> "Uhhhh, bye!"</div>
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How absolutely awesome will that be? I guess it would be less awkward with family than it would be with the doctor or a work call. Although telemarketers could be fun. I could give them reception reports and be sure to throw in a lot of hammy slang and abbreviations. ;-)</div>
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Anyhow, what a great present! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas replete with family, friends, and food. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you!</div>
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73,</div>
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Richard, KK4JDO</div>
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<br />He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-21707981903044848802013-12-04T18:09:00.000-08:002013-12-05T15:58:37.792-08:00KF5INZ "Easy Digi" Build<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Today's post is to cover the quick build of the KF5INZ "Easy Digi" Sound Card Interface. This was a great little kit. I can't find the parts separately for what this kit costs. I can't stress enough what a great value it is at $11 shipped. The pcb is good quality and the instructions are almost unnecessary it is so easy to assemble. I think that it took me a total of 15 minutes from opening the package to having a completed board. I still need to build a box for it, but the board itself was done in just a really short amount of time.</div>
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On to the pictures...</div>
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The kit came in a typical little yellow envelope, with the parts and pcb in a little zip-lock bag.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmni28grTpt32U23WXZ07h25gMJPL4ynGa7JJ3reulmd38QLCEDuy26cZZVqKvvojmMZIQJl4TqyoU0etoiOM7fE4hF0YEGkMMpwX4T0fMFniTDMtNJ7HFJXeOHIda-XDmPHh-nlw8xkg/s1600/IMG_1016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmni28grTpt32U23WXZ07h25gMJPL4ynGa7JJ3reulmd38QLCEDuy26cZZVqKvvojmMZIQJl4TqyoU0etoiOM7fE4hF0YEGkMMpwX4T0fMFniTDMtNJ7HFJXeOHIda-XDmPHh-nlw8xkg/s640/IMG_1016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The parts are all easy to identify and can be sorted in seconds.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLj64xzkdD-6NP1FeMkOXV1Y-y6O0Medy-BoACE9MPmsfGEmpCbAVv9AmP37nWZTSLxEi6k4rbCBWHOrefwTDd0avdUNlJQHAQAlgxepuWzHjoUYXjFM-8M-DoRKYxKPDcEaqcjvqhH2w/s1600/IMG_1017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLj64xzkdD-6NP1FeMkOXV1Y-y6O0Medy-BoACE9MPmsfGEmpCbAVv9AmP37nWZTSLxEi6k4rbCBWHOrefwTDd0avdUNlJQHAQAlgxepuWzHjoUYXjFM-8M-DoRKYxKPDcEaqcjvqhH2w/s640/IMG_1017.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is the optoisolator IC and diodes installed . The polarity of the diode is silk-screened on the board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAsYnUOSLy7bH0pjgo_9Mstc8PGr2omUdY2Mv5HwZLr-Fux8bAFSSQVPo-IVBSHTHJg2ZlZmNaX4817CiAeF_CWK7-GLGGWeVYnR4_bPdwd2DgM7ey7LLFsD26qtMIZeTv3X9Lxnr4m8/s1600/IMG_1018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRAsYnUOSLy7bH0pjgo_9Mstc8PGr2omUdY2Mv5HwZLr-Fux8bAFSSQVPo-IVBSHTHJg2ZlZmNaX4817CiAeF_CWK7-GLGGWeVYnR4_bPdwd2DgM7ey7LLFsD26qtMIZeTv3X9Lxnr4m8/s640/IMG_1018.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then the resistors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2doUUVCa3Zp7V4kiVusRQZ9lBQPR9Db68aZMyj_1Vl7CSt2SySjM1MyFiXFuEOwH7tRutxch_9w5GCeL9_hMQHBHctfsZkJvfPM1qQAle_u5ujRvAvoLF2GmE7eTXXTxaGslk-z2pTs/s1600/IMG_1019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2doUUVCa3Zp7V4kiVusRQZ9lBQPR9Db68aZMyj_1Vl7CSt2SySjM1MyFiXFuEOwH7tRutxch_9w5GCeL9_hMQHBHctfsZkJvfPM1qQAle_u5ujRvAvoLF2GmE7eTXXTxaGslk-z2pTs/s640/IMG_1019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then onto the capacitors, all two of them...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcr_QszfgHlerpHcow0UIzReyGK44KNNdv-_iUTQdDGhLz29OZgrXtZJPrVDixMCPDn6WAKgFEP52riU1BdgxUr8NS0Xa9vH-PnP6exHIXbxm-i1YmG2rRYMpnCv8PtwmmiAtIaLIryIw/s1600/IMG_1020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcr_QszfgHlerpHcow0UIzReyGK44KNNdv-_iUTQdDGhLz29OZgrXtZJPrVDixMCPDn6WAKgFEP52riU1BdgxUr8NS0Xa9vH-PnP6exHIXbxm-i1YmG2rRYMpnCv8PtwmmiAtIaLIryIw/s640/IMG_1020.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And finally the audio transformers. Quick and easy!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUa-pZ0cgiWQAkgUrXS29LBEC_RjX0ckRA4AHkOC5nL-FGFojt7e2k17kZzn2tua5OfvxywsvJvkfqauY2vrBbdpDtXMzHX6X53MYBInPClHX_QfVXFLeIkD2AxzgzCjNE_qWITEBZLT4/s1600/IMG_1021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUa-pZ0cgiWQAkgUrXS29LBEC_RjX0ckRA4AHkOC5nL-FGFojt7e2k17kZzn2tua5OfvxywsvJvkfqauY2vrBbdpDtXMzHX6X53MYBInPClHX_QfVXFLeIkD2AxzgzCjNE_qWITEBZLT4/s640/IMG_1021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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That has it all completed and ready to go, now I just need to build a box for it and build some cables to connect it. The intent of this board is to connect my 2m rig to my Raspberry-Pi using a USB soundcard to build up an APRS Igate using Xastir and one of the soundcard modems.<br />
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I'll do another post once I have it completed.<br />
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Thanks and 73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-71477603326918787502013-10-04T17:53:00.001-07:002013-10-04T17:53:51.874-07:00Through the ether...errr....looking glassBeen suffering from the mother of all colds for the last seven days. Finally feel up to posting anything. <br />
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I was working a little PSK31 at QRP power levels the other day, and was rewarded with an email containing a screenshot of my signal. This is from Michael, CK3NOO, who has quite the interesting website <a href="http://ve3noo.ca/" target="_blank">here</a>. I love getting screenshots of my signal back during a QSO. It is final proof that I have everything set up right and that I'm not splattering as you see some folks do. <br />
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It is really easy to get a screenshot if you are using DM780, all you need to do it hit Atl+PrntScrn and DM780 will save a copy of your screen to a "DigitalMaster780" folder under "My Pictures".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHX4yu346YCN70loHcco3sf2qPSX9TQTO0ASbwG8h8hNsUd7FzDKPcVAT86_iy9iOOuJqbh8UaD8Om7wLmziGAB4K4Twrfk00JPz5ns7082Vwy19IHBVs29f5pYv4EyVrEWgxY8d3gwvk/s1600/CK3NOO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHX4yu346YCN70loHcco3sf2qPSX9TQTO0ASbwG8h8hNsUd7FzDKPcVAT86_iy9iOOuJqbh8UaD8Om7wLmziGAB4K4Twrfk00JPz5ns7082Vwy19IHBVs29f5pYv4EyVrEWgxY8d3gwvk/s640/CK3NOO.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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A few weeks before that I was tinkering around on SSTV during the Sunday night <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio" target="_blank">Reddit </a>net. One of the people on the net (I think it was Jeff, NT1K) was kind enough to post the image that I had sent via HF.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLbvxlTwAfRJ8YENnhYgshdEpUThnsnVmwCeKZ7LoiO76P-Hclk159DYylpVDm4gyZWCB0XF04PZ-ER2O_NnH5nlTVl6lxvxDhgTEP1Vikc6B3Khk2E7o42Qb7x8SV4MIVufvXjj6ZKU/s1600/SSTV+de+KK4JDO+-+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLbvxlTwAfRJ8YENnhYgshdEpUThnsnVmwCeKZ7LoiO76P-Hclk159DYylpVDm4gyZWCB0XF04PZ-ER2O_NnH5nlTVl6lxvxDhgTEP1Vikc6B3Khk2E7o42Qb7x8SV4MIVufvXjj6ZKU/s640/SSTV+de+KK4JDO+-+2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm not much into SSTV, but it was neat to be able to send this to him sans internet connection, and extra interesting to get to see it as he saw it. Here is the original as I sent it (before adding callsign):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mKZ2oGg1WEvOusBMB8iE6ipWZE-6YZWe3JcfQns8RKFJaSrU7qS179uTWddQYiL-saj7NxGns1MmXJX06uLV6Js4GeeRz1HRV2vfZ2jqg2jYgKBdPq8v7ds3lDNLIh7Io40spbsCzUo/s1600/IMG_0880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mKZ2oGg1WEvOusBMB8iE6ipWZE-6YZWe3JcfQns8RKFJaSrU7qS179uTWddQYiL-saj7NxGns1MmXJX06uLV6Js4GeeRz1HRV2vfZ2jqg2jYgKBdPq8v7ds3lDNLIh7Io40spbsCzUo/s640/IMG_0880.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can see that HF wasn't kind to it. Someone else on that net received it in almost original condition and posted that, but it appears that I have lost that one.<br />
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Well, that's it for this post. Time for more meds and sleep.<br />
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73,<br />
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Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-31155794266235004952013-10-01T14:13:00.004-07:002013-10-01T14:14:41.470-07:00And more mesh cross-posts...<b>September 24 at 5:56pm</b><br />
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The antennas arrived today! 2 x 9dBi and 2 x 5dBi outdoor dual-band antenna (2.4/5.. Now I just need to score some RP-TNC to N adapters. I have enough 5' LMR-400 jumpers with RP-TNC connectors to get all four hooked up. I need to find some nema enclosures to pole mount the APs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBB39xiaqKHsXNx1DvVr6r06bVDWBYS_W6jEwjzvpomla-lr1E115LXxw5ZN2wxhRHma5GF4LF4vqX_ig-PtezMhashMlq_Q6bg3U_s-Sr2PO8c1tOa3Zu2gG1Ov8kpvmuDLp_EUICRZc/s1600/WiFi+Antenna+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBB39xiaqKHsXNx1DvVr6r06bVDWBYS_W6jEwjzvpomla-lr1E115LXxw5ZN2wxhRHma5GF4LF4vqX_ig-PtezMhashMlq_Q6bg3U_s-Sr2PO8c1tOa3Zu2gG1Ov8kpvmuDLp_EUICRZc/s640/WiFi+Antenna+1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi482qlG7a2T7aMBPL1Uij0U_5cUIOzN3_ZzZryM9TLtY6aY4rLGlHzwXr3Kd5mWMq5nDHPwLea3I9kl_WTPN-X_SuVgdhCVhccPJP0Kmyrv_cX7qVXVShriY4WNZIMUXH4ae-mKnbC03w/s1600/WiFi+Antenna+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi482qlG7a2T7aMBPL1Uij0U_5cUIOzN3_ZzZryM9TLtY6aY4rLGlHzwXr3Kd5mWMq5nDHPwLea3I9kl_WTPN-X_SuVgdhCVhccPJP0Kmyrv_cX7qVXVShriY4WNZIMUXH4ae-mKnbC03w/s640/WiFi+Antenna+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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So the question becomes, do I eschew diversity and go with one antenna per AP, or do I hook up two APs with two antenna each. I'm leaning towards one antenna per AP since I'm not going to be serving mobile clients. What does everyone else think?<br />
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<b>September 24 at 6:14pm</b><br />
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Today's arrival brings me to the following inventory:<br />
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HSMM Mesh "Go-Package":<br />
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Site 1:<br />
Cisco/Linksys WRT54G v2 running v1.0 firmware<br />
Cisco 7961G-GE IP Phones running 8.5.4 SIP firmware<br />
Cisco 7914 Extension Module (14 extension sidecar)<br />
Cisco 2940 8-port Managed Swich<br />
Cisco ATA 187 two line ATA<br />
Grandstream HT-286 ATA<br />
Raspberry Pi running Asterisk and Prosody<br />
9dBi outdoor collinear antenna<br />
Rubbermaid Roughneck 18gl Container<br />
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Site 2:<br />
Cisco/Linksys WRT54GL v1.1 running v1.0 firmware<br />
Cisco 7961G IP Phones running 8.5.4 SIP firmware<br />
APC NetBotz 420 IP Camera and Environment Sensor<br />
9dBi outdoor collinear antenna<br />
Rubbermaid Roughneck 3gl Container<br />
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Site 3:<br />
Cisco/Linksys WRT54GL v1.1 running v1.0 firmware<br />
Cisco 7961G IP Phones running 8.5.4 SIP firmware<br />
APC NetBotz 420 IP Camera and Environment Sensor<br />
5dBi outdoor collinear antenna<br />
Rubbermaid Roughneck 3gl Container<br />
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Site 4:<br />
Cisco/Linksys WRT54GS running v1.0 firmware<br />
Cisco 7961G IP Phones running 8.5.4 SIP firmware<br />
5dBi outdoor collinear antenna<br />
Rubbermaid Roughneck 3gl Container<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnttqGkb01Pb8WisAnuibg-XIogKZGVQNi1FIJCdtFxSKkyUF7nUyFbKvTizZDEb8vj3_JtD7P5BGBo098RI-B5fH9GycjLeC2_h-PG8l3eKLZQMVL-13UxuTCAiylZNYVOnAWHhy3ByA/s1600/Mesh+Go+Package.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnttqGkb01Pb8WisAnuibg-XIogKZGVQNi1FIJCdtFxSKkyUF7nUyFbKvTizZDEb8vj3_JtD7P5BGBo098RI-B5fH9GycjLeC2_h-PG8l3eKLZQMVL-13UxuTCAiylZNYVOnAWHhy3ByA/s640/Mesh+Go+Package.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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eBay, here I come. I still need to find:<br />
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One more 2-line ATA<br />
Two more NetBotz cameras<br />
Three more PoE injectors to power the APs<br />
Three more data switches<br />
Four nema boxes to pole mount the APs<br />
Four phone patches of some description<br />
Four sturdy collapsible poles<br />
Four power strips<br />
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Once that these are found I will have a deployable mesh solution for Field Day or EmComm duties that will support Voice, Video, and Data at four locations (assuming line of site between the antennas or additional mesh hops).<br />
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I will keep looking for more WRT54G routers and antennas for mesh infrastructure duties. Although I would suggest something like the Cisoc 1552e APs for actual mesh backhaul. I worry about having a WRT54G atop a tower.He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-28394764322742952502013-09-21T18:18:00.000-07:002013-09-22T00:56:18.065-07:00Emtech - ZM-2 ATU BuildAs you have probably figured out for yourself, I have finally gotten a chance to post my build pictures for the last couple of projects. This topic of tonight's post is the <a href="http://emtech.steadynet.com/zm2.shtml" target="_blank">Emtech ZM-2 QRP antenna tuner</a>.<br />
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This is a "Z" match tuner, basically meaning that it has two variable capacitors with no tapped inductor coil. It does however have a neat built-in 1W dummy load and SWR sensing circuit.<br />
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From their website:<br />
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<i>"ZM-2 ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit) - Order The ZM-2 is a state of the art Antenna Tuning Unit. It is not just another standard tuner circuit repackaged. The ZM-2 has no inductance switching to mess with, just two variable capacitors to tune. And most times that is 1 to 1 SWR where other tuners only get close.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Just What Will It Tune?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The ZM-2 tunes wire antennas: Random, Long, Short, "that's all I had"... It tunes BALANCED fed antennas such as Loops, Deltas, Dipoles, Verticals, V's! From field reports it has tuned: House Gutters, Window Frames, Swing Sets, Bedsprings, etc. It tunes out mismatch in COAX fed antennas to make the radio happy.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Is It An AutoTuner?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>No, the ZM-2 is not an autotuner. But it still tunes fast! Approximate tune time on a strange new antenna is less than a minute!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>What Bands Will It Tune?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The ZM-2 will tune all bands from 80 to 10 meters.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Is It Hard To Build?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>An evening project for many, maybe two evenings for others. Easy pictorial assembly instructions. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>There is one large toroid to wind, and one small one to wind, but they are probably some of the easiest ones you'll ever do.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>What Is Included In The Kit?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Everything but the elbow grease, solder, and tools! All parts are furnished including a front panel label as shown and either BNC or UHF (SO239) connectors. We include large knobs to help tuning because the ZM-2 tunes so sharp.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>How Much Power Will It Handle?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Maximum Power is 15 Watts.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>What About Weight And Size?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The ZM-2 is a compact 5-1/16" x 2-5/8" x 1-5/8" and weighs only 8 oz. Great for backpacking."</i><br />
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So, on to the build:<br />
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The kit comes with a Radio Shack style project box with a pre-punched aluminum plate, which through me off at first, but it turns out pretty nice. The components are bagged for easy identification.<br />
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The part that will give some people heartburn is that you have to wind some toroids, and one has a lot of taps which makes it a bit tricky. However, I was able to do it have never wound one before in my life. And if I can do it, believe me, so can you!</div>
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There are two toroids with this kit, the one pictured below, and another smaller one that I didn't get a build picture of. It was far simpler than this one even if a bit smaller. The included instructions walk you through it step by step, although I think that it would have been much easier had it been a color picture.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZX-Uk0_HYgwoUQ9Lo1_eC8C2q1hyyZOjcJHr_rExRJP0TDaJJCxweTn6hkTrivgyR7SXlzpVuTkoPwO3S39KUTK5qlAnvB0tyIUv-voTIp2hqBJanGmGZ5QhzKir_8c-KsVgxLevUS8/s1600/IMG_0807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZX-Uk0_HYgwoUQ9Lo1_eC8C2q1hyyZOjcJHr_rExRJP0TDaJJCxweTn6hkTrivgyR7SXlzpVuTkoPwO3S39KUTK5qlAnvB0tyIUv-voTIp2hqBJanGmGZ5QhzKir_8c-KsVgxLevUS8/s640/IMG_0807.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Here is a picture of the second toroid already in place in the kit. Not much to it as you can see.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy289UvJ4ui1DGEPlnCbIdY2C5OSroCM5K6jNqU1QzHxrUI_yovINlXFioLVTxbPGMMse4J-ApI-NLMV_l5KvICyENezTdxbTrhUvK2PUFJnY7vM8wtyD3fOJ5QNFrXRu2k5lDaN7-yYs/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy289UvJ4ui1DGEPlnCbIdY2C5OSroCM5K6jNqU1QzHxrUI_yovINlXFioLVTxbPGMMse4J-ApI-NLMV_l5KvICyENezTdxbTrhUvK2PUFJnY7vM8wtyD3fOJ5QNFrXRu2k5lDaN7-yYs/s640/IMG_0830.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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There are no PCBs in this kit to worry about, it is all "point-to-point style". Which means that you connect the lead of one part to the lead of the next one directly. It can get cluttered, but it works.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsoeSz3OJZ3NNljBMkIGSGaoNeCvCZxuLWbnowq53xpuBCJOnGm41KnSyPKGRDSPpdmJ7fooK8vl0L_okjUP34d3zAZtiMYhmSDNozeI4gdvGQjrb2yMRfNkvc61APduZS3stheV9KwM/s1600/IMG_0829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsoeSz3OJZ3NNljBMkIGSGaoNeCvCZxuLWbnowq53xpuBCJOnGm41KnSyPKGRDSPpdmJ7fooK8vl0L_okjUP34d3zAZtiMYhmSDNozeI4gdvGQjrb2yMRfNkvc61APduZS3stheV9KwM/s640/IMG_0829.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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More pictures of the assembly. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfxerwKg5Tsp6kSO6QKg14bx4hNjwIjf4TO9PCMn_B-8YfD4GiqN842zuOL2tJoE3GQ3lK1UMCXQsHhlcxBIAkrWBm4QqZ89EmdAEVnvIEfIsOKR9Q9lyENhOUScVPBNNlies9hXANVY/s1600/IMG_0831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfxerwKg5Tsp6kSO6QKg14bx4hNjwIjf4TO9PCMn_B-8YfD4GiqN842zuOL2tJoE3GQ3lK1UMCXQsHhlcxBIAkrWBm4QqZ89EmdAEVnvIEfIsOKR9Q9lyENhOUScVPBNNlies9hXANVY/s640/IMG_0831.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Different angle of the BNC side of the kit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIac9pKGaW2iQ7132ffM5WOYBGfzlQWsjjh76JmJD6aFrxmAgd7krAXGr3aQ3i6RwYbmUjE90YJKo9U59ebubS8Fw4Jlq8nQafGGwO-CctHWM-JPJGUBL6LQJedGr-cQlHq8fH7y-ERk/s1600/IMG_0832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIac9pKGaW2iQ7132ffM5WOYBGfzlQWsjjh76JmJD6aFrxmAgd7krAXGr3aQ3i6RwYbmUjE90YJKo9U59ebubS8Fw4Jlq8nQafGGwO-CctHWM-JPJGUBL6LQJedGr-cQlHq8fH7y-ERk/s640/IMG_0832.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And a different angle of the balanced line side.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_ViZxmdRDnmkxs6RXIPfU5zTlrQVx2g155yIJWRPdKQEC-3767G6INkYaxi1y_KW9VvqNpSBzPMVpUk0meS8r-p4G3Nl7-ps9LOE07OhinU1boLtSL3sec4O8_9DcKtNEmKHJkoIqZs/s1600/IMG_0833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_ViZxmdRDnmkxs6RXIPfU5zTlrQVx2g155yIJWRPdKQEC-3767G6INkYaxi1y_KW9VvqNpSBzPMVpUk0meS8r-p4G3Nl7-ps9LOE07OhinU1boLtSL3sec4O8_9DcKtNEmKHJkoIqZs/s640/IMG_0833.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The front of the tuner is covered with a paper label. I was fairly disappointed with it to be frank. It is a typical Avery mailing type label. Normal paper, not laminated. The instructions suggest a layer of clear lacquer, but how many folks have that laying about? I ended up using two layers of clear packing tape and it turned out fairly well. In any case, you need to be REALLY careful when tightening up the components that you don't twist the paper.</div>
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But it looks pretty good when you get it completed.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZTTyoXiHFaEaW3liuAvhH_2QKyomLhZuCprTA2R7HSKmaaMmi-4C0lj-TisS74jCJJIgktNVXqIBlsKm2oMcd5msJcy-dp4homN7MDoanXdN2c2vU9a-HXIotJl52BZIROapBwC79BU/s1600/IMG_0811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZTTyoXiHFaEaW3liuAvhH_2QKyomLhZuCprTA2R7HSKmaaMmi-4C0lj-TisS74jCJJIgktNVXqIBlsKm2oMcd5msJcy-dp4homN7MDoanXdN2c2vU9a-HXIotJl52BZIROapBwC79BU/s640/IMG_0811.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And, just for a size comparison, here is a picture of it next to my Pixie and RockMite-40 radios. Consider the pictures of my wife and Grandmother in the background a familial bonus and just ignore the clutter on the rest of the desk. ;-)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScMndWFIoajAb78zjBOin4cPuXjlVkXxlIBCuTuKV-lCPPyvhcvzdV7SdLocaT0XHKra79YQl4iSITdt4Fugji37iM5h-CYwl7nqmZqePNmtUOhiFhsKMdzi2irdpUFiVPXd-JNwIuzM/s1600/IMG_0812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScMndWFIoajAb78zjBOin4cPuXjlVkXxlIBCuTuKV-lCPPyvhcvzdV7SdLocaT0XHKra79YQl4iSITdt4Fugji37iM5h-CYwl7nqmZqePNmtUOhiFhsKMdzi2irdpUFiVPXd-JNwIuzM/s640/IMG_0812.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The kit is fairly easy to construct, even for the novice. It is a bit different due to the whole "point-to-point" style technique used, but it turns out alright if you keep a close eye on what goes where and making sure that there are no shorted out leads.</div>
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I connected it to my G5RV and was able to get a match on 7.040MHz with the RockMite-40 in just a few minutes. Just like any tuner, tune for max noise first, being sure to check each of the three added capacitance settings (there are only three options with this one, +0pF, +250pF, +500pF). After you have max noise, switch into tune mode and key up with low power and tune the two capacitors until the LED gets dim or goes out. Be careful as the tuning is sharp and the LED might only blink briefly if you twist the knobs too fast. Once you have the dip, switch back to operate and have at it!</div>
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It also worked great on a EFHW on 40m with my FT-817ND, which is a feat as these types of antennas can be a challenge to some tuners. I was also able to load that wire up on 15m (of course) and 20m as well. </div>
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In summation, it is a fun kit to put together and a nice break from more traditional kits. Don't be afraid of winding toroids, they are not that bad. For $65 you can't beat it for price and it works a treat.</div>
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73,</div>
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Richard, KK4JDO</div>
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EDIT:</div>
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Special thanks for Steve, WB6TNL, for giving me a better understanding of how this circuit works and correcting my errors on build terminology! Here is a copy of his extraordinarily helpful email:</div>
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<i>"Hello Richard,</i></div>
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<i>I checked out your blog and the photographs of your ZM-2. Nice work on the tuner and the photography. I'm certain there are plenty of QRPers out there who have wanted to see just what's inside the ZM-2 and your well illuminated and close-up photographs certainly do that.</i></div>
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<i>There are a couple of nits I'd like to pick, however:</i></div>
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<i>You said that a Z-Match tuner basically means that it has two variable capacitors with no inductor coil. It does have an inductor; that is what the larger of the 2 toroidal coils is for. More accurately, the primary, resonant winding of the Z-match inductor does not have multiple, switched taps hence it requires no switching to select bands. The central theory it is based upon is that of the old "multi-band tuner" circuit (which was not an antenna tuner) made popular back in the 1950s and 60s. Back then, multi-band tuners were very often used in mobile tube-type transmitters for interstage tuning and final amplifier plate matching networks. The reason that no band-switching is required is that the ganged, 2-section tuning capacitor and the main coil winding are selected so that the resonant point of the circuit only hits one ham band for a particular setting of the tuning dial. The larger winding resonates on the lower frequencies and the smaller winding the higher. Impedance matching is performed by the switched input variable and fixed capacitors.</i></div>
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<i>You described the construction as "dead bug". Actually, that method of wiring is called "point-to-point". "Dead bug" commonly refers to construction using integrated circuits (and sometimes transistors) where the components are glued to a substrate with the leads (legs) pointing up, like a dead bug.</i></div>
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<i>Actually, tuners and QRP mix very well since it is extremely important for us to get maximum power into the ether and matching the transmitter to the antenna system is paramount. Sure, some tuners are not as efficient as others but the Z-Match is not one of them, provided that the impedance of the antenna system falls within its transformation ("matching") range (typically 30 to 500 Ohms depending upon the load reactance).</i></div>
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<i>Anyway, thanks for sharing the great blog page and best of luck with your tuner.</i></div>
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<i>73.......Steve Smith WB6TNL</i></div>
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<i> "Snort Rosin"<br />"</i></div>
<br />He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-7031064060904697982013-09-20T17:56:00.001-07:002013-09-20T18:15:19.614-07:00Small Wonders Labs - Rockmite-40 Build<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since I posted about my Radi0Kit-140 build-out yesterday, I figured that I would post pictures of my <a href="http://smallwonderlabs.com/Rockmite.htm" target="_blank">Rockmite-40</a> build today. For those not familiar with the RM-40, it is another QRPp CW only radio. It is crystal controller (in this case, the crystal is for 7.030MHz) hence the name RockMite. Again, being a QRPp radio means that it puts out less than one watt. In the case of this radio, about 750mW.</div>
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Unlike the Pixie, this transceiver has a sidetone so that you can hear your code as you send it, as well as an adjustable transmit offset. I decided to go ahead and get the connectors/controls option, <a href="http://www.hamgadgets.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=48" target="_blank">PicoKeyer </a>upgrade by <a href="http://www.hamgadgets.com/" target="_blank">Ham Gadgets</a>, and a <a href="http://www.americanmorse.com/mitybox.htm" target="_blank">MityBox </a>by <a href="http://www.americanmorse.com/index.htm" target="_blank">American Morse Equipment</a> at the same time that I ordered the kit.</div>
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About the transceiver kit from SWL's website:</div>
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<i>"The Rock-Mite is a crystal-controlled direct-conversion transceiver available for 80M, 40M, 30M or 20M. It features an on-board 8-pin PIC microcontroller which controls a T-R offset on key-down. A brief tap of a pushbutton control switch reverses the offset to yield a second operating frequency. Pushing and holding on the pushbutton activates the speed adjustment routine for the built-in Iambic keyer. If you'd rather use an external keyer or straight key, there's a 'drop-through' mode which allows use of an external keying source.</i></div>
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<i>You'll note in the image above that the Rock-Mite uses two crystals. The first is used in the local oscillator for transmitter and receiver. The second is used as a receiver front-end filter. This crystal significantly reduces the SWBC energy present at the receiver mixer; as a result, unwanted SWBC reception is dramatically reduced.</i></div>
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<i>The Rock-mite uses one surface-mount part with fairly large spacing. There are no toroids to wind, so assembly should be a snap! The Rock-Mite uses subminiature epoxy-encapsulated RF chokes instead of toroids."</i></div>
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About the PicoKeyer from their website:</div>
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<i>"Here are the main features of the PicoKeyer-RM:</i></div>
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<li><i>Low current operation - typical sleep current well under .1µA, only 1-2mA when keying.</i></li>
<li><i>Direct replacement for your Rock-Mite's or Hi-Mite's original keyer chip, no modification to your Rock/HiMite is needed.</i></li>
<li><i>Simple one-button "menu" interface</i></li>
<li><i>Setup and message entry using your paddle</i></li>
<li><i>Speed adjustable from 5 to 45WPM from the paddle - or add an optional speed control pot!</i></li>
<li><i>Variable pitch audio sidetone</i></li>
<li><i>Adjustable weight</i></li>
<li><i>Selectable Iambic Mode A, Mode B, Ultimatic, semi-automatic "bug" or straight key operation</i></li>
<li><i>Automatic straight key detection. Both message memories are available for playback even with a straight key! (You will need a paddle to record messages, though.)</i></li>
<li><i>Beacon mode! No switch or jumper required for beacon mode, just insert a special prosign character into your message. Great for calling CQ!</i></li>
<li><i>Message pause with auto-resume - You can insert a pause to manually send RST or other information in the middle of a saved message.</i></li>
<li><i>Auto-incrementing, resettable QSO/serial number can be inserted into your messages for contests. Send them with or without cut numbers (0 and 9 only) and leading zeros!</i></li>
<li><i>Greatly improved tuneup mode for hands-free steady carrier or 50% duty cycle pulsing.</i></li>
<li><i>Two message memories hold up to 100 characters each. Message memories can be chained to make one 199-character memory.</i></li>
<li><i>Paddle switching - effortlessly select left or right handed operation without switching wires or turning the key upside down.</i></li>
<li><i>All settings and message memory is maintained in non-volatile memory, even with power off.</i></li>
<li><i>"Factory Reset" option to restore all default settings to your PicoKeyer-RM.</i></li>
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<i>The PicoKeyer-RM uses FLASH and EEPROM memory to store all settings and message memory, meaning NO backup batteries and NO lost settings."</i></div>
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And finally, about the Mity Box, from their website:</div>
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<i>"Custom CAD/CAM engineered CNC hogout enclosure for the Small Wonder Labs Rock Mite transceivers</i></div>
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<li><i>CNC machined from Aircraft Aluminum billet</i></li>
<li><i>Designed specifically around the Rock Mite boards</i></li>
<li><i>Absolute minumum size & weight - 2.2x3.3x.875 inch, under 2 ounces</i></li>
<li><i>Beautiful Blue Anodized finish - very durable</i></li>
<li><i>Uses standard miniature off-board components</i></li>
<li><i>Pre-drilled for all components - board & cover hardware included"</i></li>
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And now, for the build-out:</div>
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This first thing that I added was the one surface mount IC. I keep reading about how easy it was, but it was a serious pain in the butt for me. To the extent that I had to touch it up after completion of the kit due to a bad solder joint. But I finally got it!</div>
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Adding the IC and some capacitors</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMSzkeFpU5VmAqV8xhn6afGiV8TNzVQq9-v9fLjz3CvkKZqoJ4EAj_69IbdWafCHHKjJgMWS_KApb-M_O9omT6PCuqzyF6mo4iM8BQ3C2dAXXjc_2g7T5rOL5jlRhStcSI3te0ObmqeE/s1600/IMG_0782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMSzkeFpU5VmAqV8xhn6afGiV8TNzVQq9-v9fLjz3CvkKZqoJ4EAj_69IbdWafCHHKjJgMWS_KApb-M_O9omT6PCuqzyF6mo4iM8BQ3C2dAXXjc_2g7T5rOL5jlRhStcSI3te0ObmqeE/s640/IMG_0782.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Adding the resistors<br />
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Adding the sockets for the non-surface mount ICs.<br />
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Adding the diodes<br />
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Adding more diodes since I forgot some...<br />
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Adding the RF chokes<br />
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Adding the transistors and some more capacitors<br />
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Adding even more capacitors<br />
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Adding the crystals<br />
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And finally, after adding the ground connections for the crystals, Finished!<br />
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<br />
Unlike the last post I was so excited that I didn't get any video of the initial smoke testing and subsequent irritation as I tracked down the bad solder joint on the surface mount IC. I have only minimal test equipment, by which I mean I have one off-brand multi-meter and an off-brand capacitor tester. But the build documentation is absolutely stellar with this kit, TO INCLUDE a really great troubleshooting section. It walked me through the testing and verification step-by-step until I had a working radio!<br />
<br />
Another great resource is the builder community for the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Rock-Mite_Group/info" target="_blank">RockMites </a>and <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Minimalist_QRP_Transceivers/info" target="_blank">Minimilist QRP Radios</a> in Yahoo Groups. I can't say enough good things about the guys and gals on that email reflector. Great bunch of folks that are always willing to lend a hand with building tips and troubleshooting ideas.<br />
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All-in-all this is an amazing radio, especially for the price! With the connectors/controls, upgraded keyer chip, and enclosure, I am in for about $77 not including shipping. For that price you get a radio with tons of upgrade potential, a top notch case, and more fun than you can shake a stick at! Build-out can be completed in an evening (although it took me about three). The soldering is a little more challenging than the Pixie, but very doable with a little patience.<br />
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The receive on this radio is really good, way better than the Pixie in my last post. It is much less sensitive to BCI overloading, though not immune, due to the crystal acting as a filter on the front-end. The only downside that I could find was that it is sensitive to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphonics" target="_blank">microphonics</a>. If you tap the case you can hear that tapping in your headphones. <br />
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The Mity Box case makes for a really nice and sturdy package for the radio, but be forewarned, it is TIGHT in there. Plan ahead as much as possible when you are ready for final assembly.<br />
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To close out this lengthy post, I really do recommend that you get this kit if you are looking for a fun project.<br />
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73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-76268808261748129732013-09-19T17:55:00.002-07:002013-09-19T18:23:02.120-07:00Radi0Kit-140 QRPp Rig Build<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was browsing eBay the other day and discovered a Pixie variant that I had not played with before. On a whim I sent the seller an email asking if he would send me a sample to review for my blog. Yiannis from <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/radi0shop?_trksid=p2047675.l2563" target="_blank">radi0shop </a>was kind enough to send me one of his <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/RADI0KIT-140-HAM-RADIO-40M-CW-QRP-TRANSCEIVER-KIT-PIXIE-/290907180711?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones_Communication_Ham_Radio_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item43bb6b4ea7" target="_blank">Radi0Kit-140</a> kits free of charge! He shipped it promptly and was very easy to deal with. I highly recommend his product if you are into small done-in-one kits!<br />
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Here is a link to his eBay store: <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/radi0shop?_trksid=p2047675.l2563">http://stores.ebay.com/radi0shop?_trksid=p2047675.l2563</a><br />
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He is shipping from Greece, so allow some time for his shipment to reach you as international post takes a while.<br />
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For those not familiar, the Pixie transceiver and its variants, are CW only QRPp radios. Being QRPp, they transmit less than one watt (usually 500mW-750mW).<br />
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Form their website:<br />
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<i>"The kit is based on the famous Pixie transceiver introduced many years ago. The design was improved over the years and still catches the interest of many radio amateurs over the world due to it's simplicity, satisfying performance and ease of construction.</i><br />
<i>The kit isvery simple to construct even for the novice kit builder.</i><br />
<i>RadiØKit-1 incorporates additions and improvements. The circuit board is constructed by FR-4 material, the placement of the components is silk screened on the top side. All the copper traces on the bottom side are solder masked to prevent short circuits and accidental bridging between conductors. All component holes are already drilled. There are also four drilled holes for placing the board inside a box using appropriate screws and spacers.</i><br />
<i>A crystal is used at the oscillator circuit in order to achive the best possible stability.</i><br />
<i>The components that are used for RadiØKit-1 are of the highest quality. All the resistors are metal film 1% type. The capacitors are of the MLCC type except for the electrolytic ones that are mini sized 85°C types. The inductors used are resistor type and provide high performance and minimum space usage. The famous 2N2222A and 2N2219 transistors are used in order to achieve a little bit more output power.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>DC voltage is supplied by a 9 Volt battery or a power supply 9-12V (not included) and the output RF power produced can reach or exceed 300mW depending on the voltage applied. You only need to connect the battery, a Morse key, an earphone or small speaker and an appropriate antenna to have a fully working ham radio transceiver. RadiØKit-1 comes in two flavours. One for the 80M CW radio amateur (RadiØKit-180) band, one for the 40M band (RadiØKit-140) and one for the 20M band (RadiØKit-120).</i><br />
<i>This is Radi0Kit-140 designed to work on the 40M band. You have to solder the components on the board. All the components supplied are shown in the photo above. Detailed theory of operation, construction details, parts list, schematics and resistor, capacitor and inductors identification instructions are provided inside the printed owners manual accompanying the kit. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>We use "registered signed for" post services for all our items in order to insure the best services to you. Will post same or next working day of payment. We would be happy to combine postage for multiple items in order to reduce P&P cost please email us after you place your order.</i><br />
<i>In case you decide not to keep the item you may return it within 14 days of receiving it, inside it's original packaging and at it's original condition for a full refund excluding shipping costs.</i><br />
<i>All items are covered by 2 years warranty. You may return them for repair under warranty to us, you only pay the shipping cost both ways. In case of DOA (you have to report it within 14 days after receiving the item) we will cover all costs for sending you another item and for returning the faulty item to us."</i><br />
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<br />
Now, for the build-out....<br />
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The packaging consisted of a sturdy padded envelope with the folded instructions and a small jewelry type box inside that contains the kit. It made the trip from Greece to central Florida in fine fashion.<br />
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The board itself is quite nice for a novice builder. The holes are nicely spaced. The only complaint that I would have if I had to dig deep is that the holes are only plated on one side. But it isn't a major concern.<br />
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The instructions walk you through the process nicely as well as explaining things like resistor colors code. As far as component fit goes, the only issue that I encounted was the R4 resistor holes being a little too close together, but again, not a major issue.<br />
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As you can see, it is a low part count kit that goes together very fast. The only part that would be challenging for a beginner is soldering the IC socket. But at least it is a socket and you don't have to worry about burning up a chip.<br />
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As you can see below, the spacing is nice and it is really easy to solder, even for a ham handed guy like me (pun fully intended, even if painful).<br />
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The radio runs off of a simple 9V battery making it a really nice "get up and go" rig. The picture below is during final "smoke testing"<br />
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Here is a quick video of the testing. You can clearly hear the CW, and you can just as clearly hear the BCI interference as well. In this kit's defense, it was 40m in the evening in central Florida, so BCI is a fact of life.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxH4ek7kRs_mjCKb9r2mSepbyYV0GWMz5q_Fr1TLyOq5qd9tVn2sLp_ampwHnB76mrmfzUDPyEykzSg6vGF_A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />
I ended up putting it into an aluminum project box and adding a few options:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Ability to have an internal battery and an external power source</li>
<li>An on/off switch with volume control (I had intended on adding an LM386 audio amp, but didn't get around to it)</li>
<li>An internal/external power switch</li>
<li>An on/off LED indicator</li>
<li>Jacks for headphones and key in front with external power and SO-239 in the rear</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKeWk8n4q8VMi-EGq_XS3uscts-8OmZLw-YzOjKXwdA6C7tjMXG_xbV-4yhi-WO0RB9QYEMnOMyxCiJHL04jySRUKtfjGVDfkNfiEN4v3UwQaOREz4jbTUBdh4RtcUYJL7DrP-azBpuo/s1600/IMG_0792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKeWk8n4q8VMi-EGq_XS3uscts-8OmZLw-YzOjKXwdA6C7tjMXG_xbV-4yhi-WO0RB9QYEMnOMyxCiJHL04jySRUKtfjGVDfkNfiEN4v3UwQaOREz4jbTUBdh4RtcUYJL7DrP-azBpuo/s640/IMG_0792.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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All-in-all this made a really nice and fun little one evening project. I found it to have a capable receiver, although it is wide as a barn door and really subject to overloading by broadcast stations. I think that adding a filter crystal to the front-end might help that a bit. On transmit it puts out about 500mW according to my NCG2050 power meter which admittedly isn't made for such low power verification. <br />
<br />
In summation, if you're looking for a fast and easy first-time project, you could do worse than to get this little guy! I ended up passing it on as a gift to a ham that was trying to get back into the hobby and find things to do with his son after losing all his gear due to some life problems.<br />
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73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-13715751716553840922013-09-17T05:33:00.000-07:002013-09-17T05:37:32.713-07:00Behold the awesomeness that is to be my 160m dipole...This is a paraphrase/enhancement of a cross-post that I made to Reddit. I'm putting up a ladder-line fed 160m dipole in the near future. I forgot the insulators when taking the picture...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-_JqaMw2P0WyN0xMbMiAaABcTejODkNnbEQhaJdI_DeB20wl9t6ZiLrtpOLYZ3qJzm_tyE93xd5kQNxTrd8nJxCcr-D1s04242WIVr5kyvphiluLE6k0Meo4S3UXswyO1Y0uVKXdOwU/s1600/wire-antenna-parts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-_JqaMw2P0WyN0xMbMiAaABcTejODkNnbEQhaJdI_DeB20wl9t6ZiLrtpOLYZ3qJzm_tyE93xd5kQNxTrd8nJxCcr-D1s04242WIVr5kyvphiluLE6k0Meo4S3UXswyO1Y0uVKXdOwU/s640/wire-antenna-parts.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I should be able to get it up to around 60' in the trees that I have available. It won't be perfectly straight so it will favor the southeast a bit (watch out Caribbean, I'm coming for you!), but it should be better than what I have right now. Here is the planned layout as of right now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzoDBneap9YM8KKY49Qr-scjcU7X_HYkZ4D-ziGijyVg_S3VfgRLbY6mQaVRxBM4i2pFGfQfkRycLa81NQxsaVvEykJdUHSZgvE7wK0leXPMbuo5xCku18DvwO2vKemOfS08J255k6jk/s1600/160m+dipole.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzoDBneap9YM8KKY49Qr-scjcU7X_HYkZ4D-ziGijyVg_S3VfgRLbY6mQaVRxBM4i2pFGfQfkRycLa81NQxsaVvEykJdUHSZgvE7wK0leXPMbuo5xCku18DvwO2vKemOfS08J255k6jk/s640/160m+dipole.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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After working it out in EZNEC it doesn't look as if the slight jog will throw off the pattern that much. It's still basically an NVIS antenna at the design frequency. Or to say it another way, I don't have any 260' trees to make it act like it would at a half-wave up.<br />
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At 1.8MHz it is definitely an NVIS antenna:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXZsjjX3GrUfrC7wS8lpRdzzA5PVsuirGY5iX6VoP7LP_J2Wdi8EsmyjjrIIH9f-kbnST-K1DYT1FtEHz6AOk6rP2MSxGKLazWelKTxseb3D6ep0VFqzWOAdmmQTgOyz4h_kXVZQZYBI/s1600/160m+dipole+plot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXZsjjX3GrUfrC7wS8lpRdzzA5PVsuirGY5iX6VoP7LP_J2Wdi8EsmyjjrIIH9f-kbnST-K1DYT1FtEHz6AOk6rP2MSxGKLazWelKTxseb3D6ep0VFqzWOAdmmQTgOyz4h_kXVZQZYBI/s1600/160m+dipole+plot.JPG" /></a></div>
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At 3.8MHz it is starting to look a little better, but kinda looks like a tumor (this is the favoring of the SE that I mentioned above):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUbBgBUh2vIsEKmUN2lcYuLCCks3b1yWnrE0GTO954ueHwxg-kX7W0ADkj7kVUWCBddZwVsIzTEPsexovO0T8uDtweWchTflS__6f3SGrG8Pej7GAJ3ESle-kTQ4SHQb2rR6PYAHetLA/s1600/160m+dipole+plot+-+3MHz.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUbBgBUh2vIsEKmUN2lcYuLCCks3b1yWnrE0GTO954ueHwxg-kX7W0ADkj7kVUWCBddZwVsIzTEPsexovO0T8uDtweWchTflS__6f3SGrG8Pej7GAJ3ESle-kTQ4SHQb2rR6PYAHetLA/s1600/160m+dipole+plot+-+3MHz.JPG" /></a></div>
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At 7.2MHz it is starting to look more like a traditional dipole over real ground:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt84gzc6Jf9wFVIsOxSif8PvynilPowT6d1eTnOiuVVtnibzQxRkwkdZ2QkTGQLJ7fPrm3trer6xgrCngm8jnckHwWfH-UsXczB34Ho4GTatV17PSYyqJZ7dlqU_K2NHGo86_RMasC374/s1600/160m+dipole+plot+-+7MHz.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt84gzc6Jf9wFVIsOxSif8PvynilPowT6d1eTnOiuVVtnibzQxRkwkdZ2QkTGQLJ7fPrm3trer6xgrCngm8jnckHwWfH-UsXczB34Ho4GTatV17PSYyqJZ7dlqU_K2NHGo86_RMasC374/s1600/160m+dipole+plot+-+7MHz.JPG" /></a></div>
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Once you get up to 14.2MHz you start seeing some weirdness:<br />
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To be honest, the main goal is for this to be a multiband doublet that just happens to be cut for 160m. I'm okay with NVIS on 160 for now. If I really start getting into it I might try an inverted-L or a vertical at some point in the future. Several Redditors made that suggestion.<br />
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Total cost of the antenna is:<br />
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$47 for the wire at Home Depot<br />
$50 for the spreaders and center support<br />
$24 for the dacron rope at tractor supply<br />
$06 for the insulators<br />
$127 total<br />
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And I have enough wire left for a 40m end fed half wave for my Rockmite-40 with enough rope for hanging that as well. So I guess it was basically $127 for two antennas (plus the xformer parts for the efhw). Not too shabby as one comment that I got so eloquently put it! ;-)<br />
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73,<br />
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Richard, KK4JDO<br />
<br />He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-38637235350145483842013-09-15T06:04:00.000-07:002013-09-15T06:06:44.950-07:00More mesh cross-postsI am a visual person, so I built a quick diagram of how I visualize a mesh deployment. I have most of these parts already, with the notable exception of the two additional routers, three additional cameras, and additional ATAs.<br />
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What does everyone think of this with specific regards to EmComm?
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyhCnTfiShKK4C94-m3K73ISjBJe6UQ6OwaterMz4y2aHlM7NdiWOmBl5k0iIsIKYUo3GSEP0Zxzx8Ab65IXVf2awxIl2qE7n_cgRblLmDL2voBj8obzmEo-9Uedyjw_x-t2idI6A6zQ/s1600/kk4jdo-mesh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyhCnTfiShKK4C94-m3K73ISjBJe6UQ6OwaterMz4y2aHlM7NdiWOmBl5k0iIsIKYUo3GSEP0Zxzx8Ab65IXVf2awxIl2qE7n_cgRblLmDL2voBj8obzmEo-9Uedyjw_x-t2idI6A6zQ/s640/kk4jdo-mesh.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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One of the goals of this layout is to allow Incident Commanders, etc, to be able to communicate with disparate agencies via multiple radio systems on multiple frequencies on multiple bands all from any corded or cordless phone. Additionally the option exists to listen to the police/fire/etc scanner from anywhere as well.<br />
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Scalability is an core design goal with this architecture with the only limiting factor in theory being the ability of the mesh to scale to lots of node. In theory it will scale to >2000 nodes, but in practice I would be happy to see 500 supported (not that there will ever be a full mesh that size). In the current deployment another limiting factor is the Raspberry Pi that I am using for the voice server. If this were to grow much beyond the size above a larger voice server would be needed.<br />
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73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-55028772795669439802013-09-14T08:25:00.000-07:002013-09-14T08:26:51.176-07:00HSMM-MESH a.k.a. "Broadband-Hamnet"Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life has been very busy with shake-ups both personally and professionally. Things are kind of in flux just now but hopefully I can get back to a semi-regular posting schedule. For now though, here is a compilation of some posts that I've made to our local hsmm-mesh Facebook group. For those wondering, you can <a href="http://www.hsmm-mesh.org/" target="_blank">learn more about hsmm-mesh here</a>.<br />
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<b>September 7 at 12:59pm</b><br />
Got one of my additional routers in. A WRT54GL, got it flashed and a mini mesh created. Also got in touch with a rep from TerraWave/Tessco, a company that manufactures outdoor WiFI antennas and got them to commit to sending us some free antennas. Getting four or five omnis from them hopefully coming this week.<br />
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<b>September 3 at 6:51pm</b><br />
Just found these on eBay. Would really come in handy to powering a WRT54G that is co-located with the antenna!<br />
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Over-Ethernet-Kit-PoE-Linksys-WRT54G-WRT54GL-WRT54GS-WRTU54G-TM-WRT54G-TM-/260973967927<br />
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<b>September 10 at 8:27pm</b><br />
So I still haven't seen the other two routers yet, but I've managed to find some time to work with the two that I have. I've gotten Asterisk running on the R-Pi correctly again (the flash card got corrupted by not shutting down properly) and have two extensions running using Cisco 7961 VoIP phones with a SIP image on them, running one phone per mesh node. I also have a Grandstream HT-286 ATA that I will throw into the mix as soon as another router gets here.<br />
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The process is fairly simple as far as the hsmm router configuration is concerned. All that is needed is to edit the /etc/dnsmasq.conf to make DSNMasq hand out the proper DHCP options. Simply add the following to that file:<br />
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dhcp-option=150,x.x.x.x<br />
dhcp-option=120,x.x.x.x<br />
dhcp-option=42,x.x.x.x<br />
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Replace x.x.x.x with the proper IP addresses of course. Option 150 specifies the TFTP server that the phones will use to download their images and config files. Option 120 points out the SIP server itself, and option 42 points to an NTP server.<br />
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If using an R-Pi, keep in mind that it does not have an onboard RTC, so you will need to point to something that can provide the proper time (or use a script as a work-around to set the time on boot, but there are obvious drawbacks to doing that).<br />
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One thing that I did notice is that we will want to plan out our subnetting scheme. The method employed by the hsmm image is neat, but not extensible in a large mesh.<br />
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Now to find the time to look into how QoS is handled, as well as multicast traffic. Those two things are important on any WiFi network and especially so on a mesh where you lose half of your bandwidth with each RF hop.<br />
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I've included a picture showing the two mesh nodes on top of my workbench with the two phones under their respective node. Audio quality was excellent, which I would expect with the two routers less than two feet apart.<br />
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Hopefully Terrawave/Tessco will ship those antennas soon. I should have at least one to spare and will throw it and any additional up for grabs when it gets here.<br />
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<b>September 11 at 11:10pm</b><br />
I'm *still* waiting on the two additional routers and five antennas to arrive, but I've been able to get a little done while I'm waiting. It is frustrating only have an hour or so per night to work on this after the kids go to bed.<br />
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I've managed to get an additional two phones and a sidecar for the main phone. They are all set up to call each other, as well as some outside agencies. I even added a little personal touch to the phones. <br />
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The speed-dials listed as "RF TAC x" will be for extensions that connect to phonepatches via an ATA. This would enable incident commanders to be able to talk via a phone to multiple groups on different radio systems or frequencies. This is a homebrew version of the Cisco IPICS solution that is used by Cisco TACOPS on deployment. Obviously intended to be used only by licensed individuals unless during an actual life-safety emergency.<br />
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Currently it is receive only via the internet for the 147.120 stream as I don't have the phone patches built yet, and would need radios for them to connect to as well. But once the proof of concept is done the rest is just "wash-rinse-repeat", right?<br />
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I also have an IP camera with environmental sensors running via the mesh as well. This would enable remote observation of triage areas or supply distribution points. It isn't weatherproof, but is fairly sturdy.<br />
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My goal is to have deployable go-kits each with a mesh AP, phone, camera, and switch for data connectivity built and ready for the October installfest.<br />
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There are other posts, I will have to go back through it and grab some more. I also have non-hsmm stuff to share. I got the Rockmite-40 built, as well as a Pixie II (that I recently gave to a ham that lost his gear in a divorce), with build pictures of both. I also built a go-kit for mt FT-840 that my son and I took to the WMA a while back that I would like to share pictures of. And I just acquired an FT-817 that will be fodder for some future posts. Hopefully I'll have time and inclination to get the posts up.<br />
<br />
73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDO<br />
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He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-59065125017509855332013-05-26T18:32:00.000-07:002013-05-27T08:41:43.611-07:00QRP in the WMAThat title sounds a lot like WKRP in Cincinnati...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzCESo1WIao2uhr1bwAnCGJnbQQauDFCZJzITQxuNbBmI2W-Gm9zACTmceUC4uoY3n1zVGsgCjASA_uqZVkEdXWzPgre7fb2u5SPtAFXWlYYgQrk5wEztMXOboNUUwMhIJmv7TLlqBjQ/s1600/wkrp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzCESo1WIao2uhr1bwAnCGJnbQQauDFCZJzITQxuNbBmI2W-Gm9zACTmceUC4uoY3n1zVGsgCjASA_uqZVkEdXWzPgre7fb2u5SPtAFXWlYYgQrk5wEztMXOboNUUwMhIJmv7TLlqBjQ/s320/wkrp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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But this is Florida, and I'm not <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0381606/?ref_=tt_cl_t3" target="_blank">Doctor Johnny Fever!</a> In fact, I would say that I most closely resemble <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0432410/?ref_=tt_cl_t2" target="_blank">Arthur Carlson</a>, and act more like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0761687/?ref_=tt_cl_t5" target="_blank">Les Nessman</a>. But I digress.<br />
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Now then, my son Richard (we call him Tank) and I went to the <a href="http://www.myfwc.com/hunting/wma-brochures/ne/three-lakes/" target="_blank">Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area</a> today for a bit of QRP fun. This all started out with him coming to me last night and saying those words that destroy every Father, and that probably every father has heard at one point or another in life. "Dad, we don't spend enough time together! Can we go fishing or something....". I used to love fishing and hunting, but since getting married 16 years ago to someone that isn't a big fan of either, I am kind of out of practice. So my response was: "Well, son, I don't have a fishing license, but I do have an Amateur Radio License! How about we go out and play radio in the woods?" He was skeptical, but willing...<br />
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Now then, I don't do this often outside of Field Day, so I didn't have a lot of options with regards to hardware and antennas. Thankfully you don't need a lot to have fun! My equipment list consisted of:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Radio Gear:</li>
<ul>
<li>Yaesu FT-840 (given to me by the son of an SK)</li>
<li>MFJ-969 Tuner (given to me by the son of an SK)</li>
</ul>
<li>Antenna and Misc:</li>
<ul>
<li>Two 75' spools of nylon rope</li>
<li>One 1000' spool of #24awg twisted pair "cross-connect wire"</li>
<li>Two dog-bone insulators</li>
<li>Two tent stakes (left overs from a failed attempted at a portable tower project)</li>
<li>Five 3' lengths of 3/8 aluminum rod (leftovers from antenna projects)</li>
<li>About 10' of #10awg wire</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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The day started late, around 10:30am with us heading to Rat Shack to get some alligator clamps for the radio power cable. Didn't take too long, and after being robbed of $3.47 we were on our way! Below is a snip from aprs.fi showing our little trek to and from. The WMA is about 20mi from our home, so we got there around 11:30am and started looking for a place to set up shop! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aGxhnJTotRVRRtfDTF629dyZbXsiBfBclUcbyvVgTOjisW1Ul3pRcRIb3JEetTb_2NtEx7YATy3K7-f3rgn6fYJzUMU2SKVd690uabJ3GhYKgjI0knmAZ4UnhMP-lbBMOUlNSHcoRew/s1600/DXpdition+with+Tank.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aGxhnJTotRVRRtfDTF629dyZbXsiBfBclUcbyvVgTOjisW1Ul3pRcRIb3JEetTb_2NtEx7YATy3K7-f3rgn6fYJzUMU2SKVd690uabJ3GhYKgjI0knmAZ4UnhMP-lbBMOUlNSHcoRew/s640/DXpdition+with+Tank.JPG" width="548" /></a></div>
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That part took a while. The WMA is pretty big and the trails are a bit rough, especially when you are in your daily driver 2011 Ford F-150, not a dedicated off-road machine, which means that speed is second to keeping the alignment correct. So getting from place to place inside took a while. Although I have to say, at least this time of year, you could get around in a two-wheel-drive car in there for the most part. Below is a snip from aprs.fi showing us bouncing around out in the WMA.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcL0P31lpDwFohyphenhyphenQYMqBio1I4dEZ29Z_SlU9JNXmVpTzsZ5aV9MJgybJBeVCWFJgeFV7-NBsCDOSpgsYUODabsnJJ7CqDTQjQkNGghmwjVxb_9Ef77Ac_I43eEmTk_H3vz05u0zqg7yFU/s1600/DXpdition+with+Tank+-+detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcL0P31lpDwFohyphenhyphenQYMqBio1I4dEZ29Z_SlU9JNXmVpTzsZ5aV9MJgybJBeVCWFJgeFV7-NBsCDOSpgsYUODabsnJJ7CqDTQjQkNGghmwjVxb_9Ef77Ac_I43eEmTk_H3vz05u0zqg7yFU/s640/DXpdition+with+Tank+-+detail.JPG" width="622" /></a></div>
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If you click on the APRS link at the top of the page you will be able to see the actual map from aprs.fi with details about our speed and direction each time my Kenwood TM-D710 beaconed out to APRS-RF.</div>
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We found what we thought was a great spot and started to get everything set up. Tank and I paced off distances to various trees and planned on how to rig the antenna up into them. We got the radio out and connected to the tuner and powered off of the truck battery and tuned up into a dummy load. Then, just as we were getting ready to start rigging the antenna, VVRRROOOOOOOOOMMMMM!! It turns out that we were just over some palmettos from Lake Jackson, and there were a ton of folks with airboats out to see if they could single-handedly break the world's record for the most decibels of noise created at one time! We did get one picture before the world erupted with the rumble of V8s driving airplane props. As you can see, it is like this spot was made to order for stringing dipoles and random wires!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvjcbSPI7SauJkXNgaqKruERzQYfCdRylZeiSH07wMM9vX1_kItKGLaif6soSVITGthoOWnKfstR-k_N8dokd0OqxTJvTiu9ftzGLBaQCCkVho7REU9e6xCPtpggcUUJgZOo6K_mrbDk/s1600/IMG_0681%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvjcbSPI7SauJkXNgaqKruERzQYfCdRylZeiSH07wMM9vX1_kItKGLaif6soSVITGthoOWnKfstR-k_N8dokd0OqxTJvTiu9ftzGLBaQCCkVho7REU9e6xCPtpggcUUJgZOo6K_mrbDk/s640/IMG_0681%5B1%5D.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Back the gear went into the truck and off we went for another little while. It didn't take too long before we found another spot, and this new spot had something that we realized we have neglected for bring with us. A table! We were planning on operating from the hood of the truck before, so this was a godsend! Of course, my son's reaction was "Cool! There's a creek!", so off we went, chasing frogs and scaring waterstriders.</div>
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We managed to get the truck right next to the table after some maneuvering to get around the trees, so we now had power in addition to a place to sit:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJA78FVwzvzn-2cP4E8dpObgbs_GLGnDxDzYbC-KCRDnp7JpKosxNwsa9QUqS_aj0c-8IWr791wReKFIRGzLlzZ5nUEgo7u7LfqWjiNMNXkNeIOWhYb2L8H3UBwlBbCKAY5969_D2H0g/s1600/IMG_0683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJA78FVwzvzn-2cP4E8dpObgbs_GLGnDxDzYbC-KCRDnp7JpKosxNwsa9QUqS_aj0c-8IWr791wReKFIRGzLlzZ5nUEgo7u7LfqWjiNMNXkNeIOWhYb2L8H3UBwlBbCKAY5969_D2H0g/s640/IMG_0683.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is my son making sure the radio is working (I made sure it was pointing to the dummy load before leaving the table). You can see the thin blue wire coming from the tuner leading up into the trees. This was the radio end of about 300' of wire strung up in the trees. I had thought that I had taken pictures of the insulators and grounds, but I guess I forgot to. But here is a pic showing how we held the support rope for the random wire down:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHVbwKC1FMKDBXrAzYKm7aVd_WdfBU7ps4J673h5Xhhy-KEw0t3wPgzcWCBTcVgTxLI3j7wWMmev3GEPGKMh9q1aKdFGnVlj-IcBQQjSi6sBIKYTBzEV8gx4SBX0WxHOcU0tNx1kGoqE/s1600/IMG_0689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHVbwKC1FMKDBXrAzYKm7aVd_WdfBU7ps4J673h5Xhhy-KEw0t3wPgzcWCBTcVgTxLI3j7wWMmev3GEPGKMh9q1aKdFGnVlj-IcBQQjSi6sBIKYTBzEV8gx4SBX0WxHOcU0tNx1kGoqE/s640/IMG_0689.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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As you can see, we used a tent stake to hold the support rope up in the tree. The rope was attached to a dog-bone insulator that was in-turn connected to the far end of the random wire. I used about five aluminum rods driving into the ground a few feet apart as a grounding system near the radio, which was connected to the tuner and the radio itself. Next time, I think that I might also add a wire running the length of the antenna on the ground under it and also tied into the ground system to help out the RF grounding in dry sandy soil. Of course, in the wet season, I might not. Time and experience will tell.</div>
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We were running between 5W and 10W on the FT-840 to avoid draining the truck battery too much and stranding us. If we keep this up I'm going to go pick up a deep-cycle gel battery and spare the truck battery. At any rate, the result was that we managed about one contact an hour. Between my son calling CQ for me, and talking third party to a few folks, we had a great time! Here is a final shot of my son and I in front of the radios:</div>
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As a side note, one of the stations that we contacted on 15m was the <a href="http://www.freqofnature.com/photos/queenmary/bigimages/image004.jpg" target="_blank">radio room</a> of the <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/W6RO" target="_blank">RMS Queen Mary</a>! What a joy getting to talk to someone on an ocean liner docked on the Pacific Ocean, from the woods on Central Florida, about 30mi from the Atlantic Ocean! The OM on the other side was kind enough to give us a QSO code that will enable me to get a special QSL card from the ship! What a great cap to the day and neat way to remember this little jaunt.</div>
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I'm starting to get into this whole QRP from the woods thing, so I guess I should start looking for a good QRP rig and tuner so that I don't have to lug the 840 and 969 around. It would be nice to get something smaller that could run off of a 7Ah gel battery. Then we could really get portable and hike in instead of driving in!</div>
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Thanks for stopping by the blog and I hope you enjoyed the personal story. It wasn't a project, per se, but it was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again soon! </div>
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73,</div>
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Richard, KK4JDO (and son!)</div>
He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-4797022434462258402013-05-21T05:02:00.000-07:002013-05-21T05:02:38.823-07:00Praying for those in OklahomaOur thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the terrible tornado in Oklahoma. I'm sure that ham radio operators and Skywarn members are doing their best to help out in the terrible situation there. If you would like to donate to help out, I found the following news article that lists several charities and support organizations:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/20/18381508-how-to-help-oklahoma-tornado-victims?lite">http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/20/18381508-how-to-help-oklahoma-tornado-victims?lite</a><br />
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I hate having to mention it, but beware of scams when donating. It seems that the scum of humanity comes out to prey on the good intentions of others during times like this, so carefully vet the charity that you are planning on donating to.<br />
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Not that anything could ever help if you are in the direct line of fire from an EF5 tornado, but being prepared for a disaster may give you that razor thin edge needed to survive. <br />
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If you are in a disaster prone area (I live in Central Florida, where we got four hurricanes in one year's time back in 2004), stock up on food, water, medical supplies, and anything else that you need on a daily basis. Consider joining <a href="http://skywarn.org/" target="_blank">Skywarn</a>, <a href="http://www.arrl.org/ares" target="_blank">ARES</a>, or <a href="http://www.usraces.org/" target="_blank">RACES </a>as they supply training in how to prepare and how to cope and even be helpful to others in the event of an actual disaster. You can also go to<a href="http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.aspx" target="_blank"> FEMA's website</a> and take free online training to learn how to integrate into SAR teams and work effectively with local firefighters and police if you are inclined to help others during an emergency. <br />
<br />
This goes beyond the technical assistance that most hams think of in terms of assisting with emergency communications. While that is definitely needed, you also need to know how to dig through debris with other teams to find survivors in a coordinated manner so that you can be as quick and efficient as possible. Time is Life in this type of situation!<br />
<br />
Again, my family and I will be praying hard for those impacted by this horrific storm. We are not directly involved in any way, but we are still devastated by the loss of life, particularly that of children. We cried our eyes out last night when we heard. Our sympathies go out to everyone involved!He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-67879479299543380562013-05-12T12:07:00.001-07:002013-05-12T12:14:41.568-07:00EZNEC Antenna modeling softwareHi All,<br />
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I have come to really appreciate that antenna modeling software called <a href="http://www.eznec.com/" target="_blank">EZNEC</a>. It is a great front-end for NEC and is fairly simple to learn and understand. However, this post isn't about reviewing the software, I think that it speaks for itself. The one downside to <a href="http://www.eznec.com/" target="_blank">EZNEC </a>is that the Pro version is really expensive for an individual to purchase, but that is the version that has handy features like a tool for creating grids, which are necessary if you want to model a flat surface.<br />
<br />
Being essentially a fairly cheap person, I decided to write a PERL script to do this instead of ponying up for the Pro version (I did purchase the Plus version at $139 though). Since the ham radio community is a great group of folks (excepting a small few, I may post about that in the future), I wanted to give a little something back. So, if you need to create a grid and don't want to do it manually, here you go!<br />
<br />
This software is still a little bit of a work in progress, so expect some updates to this, but it is pretty well ready to go at this point. Future additions will include the ability to model a hemisphere and a parabola for modeling dish antennas.<br />
<br />
So without further adieu, here is the form. Just click "Submit" after filling it in and you will get back a block of text that can be copied and pasted into a text document for import into EZNEC. Detailed instructions on the import procedure are beyond the scope of this post, but they are easily accessible in the software itself which has an awesome help file system.<br />
<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="600" src="http://kk4jdo.qth.com/eznec-form.html" width="600">If you can see this your browser doesn't support iframes. Please go to <a href="http://kk4jdo.qth.com/eznec-form.html" target="_blank">http://kk4jdo.qth.com/eznec-form.html</a> directly!</iframe>
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I hope that you can make use of this! I enjoyed scripting it and hope to be able to continue to update it. Please leave a comment if you like it our would like to suggest improvements or request features. <br />
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Once imported, the grid will look something like this, depending on the options that you chose.<br />
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One side note, I am a network engineer by trade, not a programmer or web designer. I use PERL for my job, but an not elegant. I tend to be a brute force developer. The code is ugly, but it works, which is usually what happens to PERL scripts over time, I just start out that way and save all the intervening effort. ;-)<br />
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Thanks and 73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-12093945481643931832013-05-07T14:30:00.001-07:002013-05-07T14:30:58.682-07:00Revised audio testing of the Kenwood TS-590S (now with less overdrive!)Thanks to everyone that offered their insights into helping me get this audio test going with something close to optimal results! In this post I will cover multiple settings side-by-side:<br />
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<ul>
<li>EQ <span style="color: red;"><b>Off </b></span>, Speech Processor <span style="color: red;"><b>Off</b></span></li>
<li>EQ <span style="color: red;"><b>Off </b></span>, Speech Processor <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>- Soft Effect</li>
<li>EQ <span style="color: red;"><b>Off </b></span>, Speech Processor <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>- Hard Effect</li>
<li>EQ <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>, Speech Processor <span style="color: red;"><b>Off</b></span></li>
<li>EQ <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>, Speech Processor <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>- Soft Effect</li>
<li>EQ <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>, Speech Processor <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>- Hard Effect</li>
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In all of the tests the following settings were used:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Mic gain on the radio is set to 30</li>
<li>In the tests with the Proc enabled</li>
<ul>
<li>Proc Input is 35</li>
<li>Proc Output is 30</li>
</ul>
<li>On the PC side, the recording device input level is 27</li>
</ul>
<div>
I will also include four files that just showcase the effects of the hard and soft settings of the speech processor. Two with the proc enabled, and two without (to show that it has no effect without the proc being turned on).</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, again, without further adieu, here are the samples:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: red;">Off
</span></b><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159560" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off</span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: lime;">On</span></b> - Soft Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159575" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off</span></b>, Speech Processor <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>- Hard Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159574" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: lime;">On </span></b>, Speech Processor <span style="color: red;"><b>Off
</b></span><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159573" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159571" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159570" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159568" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159566" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159563" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: lime;">On </span></b>, Speech Processor <span style="color: lime;"><b>On </b></span>- Soft Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159591" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159589" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159588" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159586" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159585" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159584" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: lime;">On </span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: lime;">On</span> </b>- Hard Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159582" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159581" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159580" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159579" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159577" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91159576" width="100%"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
And here are the files that are just about the Hard and Soft effect settings of the Speech Processor:<br />
<br />
<br />
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: lime;">On </span></b>- Soft Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91164621" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: lime;">On </span></b>- Hard Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91164620" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>- Soft Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91164619" width="100%"></iframe>
EQ <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>, Speech Processor <b><span style="color: red;">Off </span></b>- Hard Effect
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F91164618" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Whew! That was a fair amount of effort for a lazy fat man! Feel free to let me know what you think, and hopefully this will help you determine what your own settings should be. I'm starting to like conventional with the proc off for ragchews and with it on for weaker band conditions, with proc on and high boost 2 for bad conditions or DX (or maybe for the 590 net...hihi).<br />
<br />
Hope you enjoy it and 73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-89284206234902147692013-05-05T12:19:00.001-07:002013-05-05T12:19:25.168-07:00More TS-590S Audio TestingSo it looks like I was over-driving my PC sound card on that last go-round. I used the same settings that I normally use for PSK31, but I guess I needed to drop it a bit. Let me know what you think of these and I will re-re-record with all of the different DSP TX EQ settings!<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F90884536" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F90884537" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F90884538" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F90884539" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-77922070977699691632013-05-04T18:21:00.000-07:002013-05-28T18:36:22.126-07:00Kenwood TS-590S Audio Testing<b><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">EDIT: The audio on this post is extremely overdriven due to incorrect recording levels on the PC. I have updated this with the correct setting in a new post at:</span></b><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<a href="http://hamprojects.blogspot.com/2013/05/revised-audio-testing-of-kenwood-ts.html"><b><span style="font-size: large;">http://hamprojects.blogspot.com/2013/05/revised-audio-testing-of-kenwood-ts.html</span></b></a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There has been a lot of discussion lately on one of the mailing lists that I subscribe to pertaining to the audio tweaking that is possible on the Kenwood TS-590S. I am far from an audiophile, so I thought that I'd do some playing around this evening and record some test files to hear what the different default options sound like. <br />
<br />
Thus far, I have to say that I like the sound of the rig without the EQ on for ragchews, but I think that the High Boost options are great for DX. Take a listen and let me know which ones you think sound the best! I tried to record each file with the same configuration as far as what I say, where the mic is, ambient noise in the room, etc. I am currently using the stock mic, but am hoping to upgrade to the Shure SM-7b in the near future at the suggestion of a friend in the A/V world.<br />
<br />
So, without further adieu, here are the files:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hamprojects.blogspot.com/2013/05/revised-audio-testing-of-kenwood-ts.html"><b><span style="font-size: large;">http://hamprojects.blogspot.com/2013/05/revised-audio-testing-of-kenwood-ts.html</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So, if you listened to all of those files, you are quite the patient person! Hopefully the sound of my voice wasn't too unpleasant, at least I hope it was better than sticking a rat-tail file in your ear.<br />
<br />
On a different note, look for an upcoming post regarding the EZNEC antenna modeling program and some PERL scripts that I wrote to make it easier to do certain things in it.<br />
<br />
With that I'll say 73 for this evening and wish you the best for you and your family and GUD DX!<br />
<br />
73,<br />
<br />
Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-54069934727105691582013-04-10T19:23:00.000-07:002013-04-10T19:23:13.762-07:00Going places in the truckSo this post isn't about actually about going anywhere, instead it is about the direction that I want to go with the radios in my truck. If you look at some older posts here you will see that I have tried a few things in the past, but I think that I am finally figuring out what I want to get in the way of radio gear in the truck.<br />
<br />
So let's start at my current position. Right now the only rig that I have in the truck is a Kenwood TM-710a dual-band 2m/70cm analog radio with APRS support built in:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25pjEVb_ynJsFOsioI_u-Xx9BtxPnQgSZkwjyZKAqZVXTVJERY0XG0xUevXwL5NP5kBECikZ-H8hOySCA5Y1b8y7wqd4M1EAPzkkoqeioMRWFwW5pZ-8TF_Bhj24_MWn3oX2-WaR9Ouo/s1600/kentmd710a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg25pjEVb_ynJsFOsioI_u-Xx9BtxPnQgSZkwjyZKAqZVXTVJERY0XG0xUevXwL5NP5kBECikZ-H8hOySCA5Y1b8y7wqd4M1EAPzkkoqeioMRWFwW5pZ-8TF_Bhj24_MWn3oX2-WaR9Ouo/s400/kentmd710a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is an awesome radio with great receive and a lot of features. Just like the picture above, I keep the left side tuned for APRS and use the right side for chatting/scanning. I hope to add a Green Light Labs GPS in the near future, at which point I will enable beaconing, but it is a lot of fun watching the stations near me pop up on the screen and exchanging text messages with them.</div>
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Moving on, the next radio that I would like to add is the Kenwood TS-480SAT to get HF back in the truck.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68rL6RWgJZAG8fqI9nYroVMCHY9xru2wLoTx3pBALEdoYHIkT2rLu6fA3Q8SJ1P_m4_Wwi8kSsPpdCaPIjw1f1ed6s6V0jMpX83_jWXiY_OThoWT6etf635UD1MHm9GoL3-VRCKGLBe8/s1600/480lrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68rL6RWgJZAG8fqI9nYroVMCHY9xru2wLoTx3pBALEdoYHIkT2rLu6fA3Q8SJ1P_m4_Wwi8kSsPpdCaPIjw1f1ed6s6V0jMpX83_jWXiY_OThoWT6etf635UD1MHm9GoL3-VRCKGLBe8/s400/480lrg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I used to have an Icom 706MkII in there and discovered that I need at do a lot of work to get the truck RF quiet, which will be another post of series of posts. But that doesn't change the fact that I miss having HF in there, especially on longer trips. I want to couple this radio to a Tarheel 100A-HP antenna.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HrjG_bSyXbOBx8W_F-XI6K9WMhziW6vr82go7Jvcdj9e2Z26CfiupV7CBeuKKSX0zRiIGaah0TDe0cNXBOAjCAtXl5EJa2mgFdLawfBnHgyWWl7fU19kk81J7WELWv6qWNW8kdfadJQ/s1600/TarheelAntenna028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HrjG_bSyXbOBx8W_F-XI6K9WMhziW6vr82go7Jvcdj9e2Z26CfiupV7CBeuKKSX0zRiIGaah0TDe0cNXBOAjCAtXl5EJa2mgFdLawfBnHgyWWl7fU19kk81J7WELWv6qWNW8kdfadJQ/s1600/TarheelAntenna028.jpg" /></a></div>
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The Tarheel covers 80m through 10m without me having to get out and change a resonator tip or move a wander lead around. I would like to either find an electronic auto tuner that enables the tune button on the 480SAT, or build one myself. That would enable one-touch-tuning of the antenna for any band.<br />
<br />
The next thing that I would like to add is the Icom IC-2820H to get me the ability to access 2m/70cm digital modes (D-STAR).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jbUv5lyz0xNN80U8rgVrg1-B4HR55HK3TBNX5OMafjGCGRFlS6ZnMtAAfq1vWG0yAYdNN3-nB-xldYN-mmO4pgfAEiuFZyTCdexiT5LwjPFspVj2gU39lWwDopHnZnZaZ1n5Dem6Vao/s1600/2820H_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jbUv5lyz0xNN80U8rgVrg1-B4HR55HK3TBNX5OMafjGCGRFlS6ZnMtAAfq1vWG0yAYdNN3-nB-xldYN-mmO4pgfAEiuFZyTCdexiT5LwjPFspVj2gU39lWwDopHnZnZaZ1n5Dem6Vao/s400/2820H_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I'm starting to see more and more repeaters go digital and would like to be able to access them. Plus I've been reading about a lot of fun stuff that can be done with PC integration in the D-STAR world and want to be able to play around. <br />
<br />
Still in the D-STAR world, I would also like to add the Icom ID-1 radio. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6sNS0JyxJ0LPkiwgC2kyEMpDWUPuHvfyAvQQrGt-a4YgaEjyPng9Qnf96tFM11bt0iMYrD7XfM9gWIrCjhk2IKCM1hgzP2_T6iYJ-F56TsvIXqsUWSZ2ExAMWj_Ivr2J3KQRAUtXmJ4/s1600/ID-1_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6sNS0JyxJ0LPkiwgC2kyEMpDWUPuHvfyAvQQrGt-a4YgaEjyPng9Qnf96tFM11bt0iMYrD7XfM9gWIrCjhk2IKCM1hgzP2_T6iYJ-F56TsvIXqsUWSZ2ExAMWj_Ivr2J3KQRAUtXmJ4/s640/ID-1_front.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This radio lives in the 1.2GHZ digital world, and also has the ability to do 128k data connection, which means internet access when there is a repeater that supports it near by. You can also do 128k data simplex between two radios which opens all sorts of fun and interesting possibilities, especially for EmComm work.<br />
<br />
Okay, still with me? <br />
<br />
I have a few more things that I would like to add also. One of them is a Cisco 1232AG 802.11 wireless access point.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsuft2LXjuxLqFsNYCi480ltEHdzB4Q41pIVoAu1rsW3rc4yH0eejYv5TRDptXHLvJlOmNk6vW-O_TZke1Ti4_BkXbLMlmA1k8LsXyeEW-oLJ5hl3uJjb0R3fqhAFOMmDybb_Hs87T6Q/s1600/AP1232AG_F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsuft2LXjuxLqFsNYCi480ltEHdzB4Q41pIVoAu1rsW3rc4yH0eejYv5TRDptXHLvJlOmNk6vW-O_TZke1Ti4_BkXbLMlmA1k8LsXyeEW-oLJ5hl3uJjb0R3fqhAFOMmDybb_Hs87T6Q/s400/AP1232AG_F.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And of course, even an AP needs an antenna, so I was thinking of getting one of the antenna below to resonate the 2.5GHz/5GHz microwaves from the AP. If I added a high quality switch to flip the antenna between the AP and my laptop/mobile PC, I would also be able to war-drive nicely. I could then tie in the GPS and plot open access points as I drive along, but that is a subject for another post.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh512ZmmuCwFtjFNUKE7G1_mz26rxc1h6Cw0_kY1hVmVEG3R8kQWsz_FEXGPaOrZLiYnnUxPePVi6ee8VKvA1emnfGIvOaZiWtoXYMSKpEE8uju4Bzh_vSNshOUtg8nALUsaNPHS9sefm4/s1600/802-11-mobile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh512ZmmuCwFtjFNUKE7G1_mz26rxc1h6Cw0_kY1hVmVEG3R8kQWsz_FEXGPaOrZLiYnnUxPePVi6ee8VKvA1emnfGIvOaZiWtoXYMSKpEE8uju4Bzh_vSNshOUtg8nALUsaNPHS9sefm4/s320/802-11-mobile.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
An AP would let me access the data capabilities of the ID-1 from my laptop anywhere near the truck! Of course, this AP doesn't run on 12V, so I would need a DC-DC regulator to get from 12V to the required 48V at 300mA. I've seen several on-line, like the one below, but I think that I would prefer to build one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGmFe0XJst1ysw7Lfepxivz34zmC_BC-Jfzp_OqJbHzv7oAzrQCbJo2P__JCfqkpdUCyZFVczPB_WIOAUUVR18H9QqJDYEwoInNLCSFMj2mM22w6ohDaAc0o1ARL5ZMLf9wZvnbDz9dc/s1600/12dc-48dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGmFe0XJst1ysw7Lfepxivz34zmC_BC-Jfzp_OqJbHzv7oAzrQCbJo2P__JCfqkpdUCyZFVczPB_WIOAUUVR18H9QqJDYEwoInNLCSFMj2mM22w6ohDaAc0o1ARL5ZMLf9wZvnbDz9dc/s640/12dc-48dc.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So anyhow, after all of that, and about three or four thousand dollars, I would have comm gear in the truck that spans the spectrum from 3.5MHz to 5GHz. Not quite DC to Daylight, but not bad for a civilian pick-up owned by a hobbyist. Maybe in a future post I'll do up a Visio diagram of how it will all fit under the backseat and how the cables will route. Then I can dream in earnest... The plan will be all set and all that prevents its execution is, well, ya know... Money. ;-)<br />
<br />
With all that I will bring this lengthy post to a close. I've been participating in the Kenwood TS-590 net on 7.235MHz as I write this. Lotsa static, but a great net, so if you have a '590 come over on Wednesday nights at 0100z.<br />
<br />
73,<br />
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Richard, KK4JDOHe who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056298944817488344.post-86304936333325138872013-03-31T06:02:00.002-07:002013-03-31T06:03:08.233-07:00He Is Risen!<div>
Completely off-topic, I know. But Happy Easter!!! It's not about bunnies and chocolate...</div>
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<img height="343" src="http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/He_Is_Risen_1.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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73,</div>
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Richard, KK4JDO</div>
He who shall not be namedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13319178738442569379noreply@blogger.com1