Click on the image for a better read.
Like Kirk, I too was influenced by the Russian and Eastern European homebrewers. As a kid, every issue of QST seemed to contain (especially in the “How’s DX?” column) pictures of intrepid Russian homebrewers seated next to their HOMEBREW stations. I wanted to be like them.
When I first launched the Direct Conversion Receiver Challenge, someone decided that it would be better to make the receiver into a kit. He criticized me for deciding to keep this project homebrew. There seemed to be a lack of understanding of the difference. This morning I got an e-mail from Kirk NT0Z. He attached his column from the February 2013 issue of Monitoring Times. I think he captures very well the difference between kits and homebrew. An excerpt from the column appears above. I need to get a portrait of UW3DI to hang above my workbench. Thanks Kirk.
Here is more info on the UW3DI transceiver:
Use Google Translate on this site: https://uarl.com.ua/bylsluchay/autor/ux0un_vivat_uw3di.html
The issue with Kirk’s column is available on WorldRadioHistory dot com: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Monitoring-TImes/2000s/Monitoring-Times-2013-02.pdf BTW, Doug DeMaw had a column, DeMaw’s Workbench, in Monitoring Times from August 1988 to December 1997. These are all available on the WorldRadioHistory site. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY
Bill, did you know that Soviet intelligence operators were trained to home brew transmitters? At least according to a recent book about Ursula Kuczynski https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/books/review/agent-sonya-ben-macintyre.html She was active in China, Switzerland and the UK in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. As I understand it, since it wasn’t safe to transport or purchase a transmitter locally, their operators would purchase parts and homebrew one. Haven’t been able to find references online but it’s in the book.
I didn’t know that! Could you copy and send me the appropriate pages from the book? Thanks and 73 Bill