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Free Book! “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics” by Bill Meara. Free for the Next Five Days

From time to time, Amazon lets me make my books available for free on Amazon Kindle. SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics is now — and for the next five days — available for free download. Use this link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004V9FIVW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

Please spread the word and post reviews. Comments posted on the Amazon page (above) are especially welcome.

Free Book by Bill Meara — Not About Radio. But it is about family life on a very long trip.

Free! From time-to-time Amazon Kindle allows me to make this book available FOR FREE. You can get the Kindle version for free until the end of August. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L8DR4RK

All I ask is that you spread the word, and post reviews. I hope you like it. Thanks, Bill

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L8DR4RK

Michael Newton Hopkins, AB5L, Author of the FMLA series

Better than anyone else ever has, Michael Hopkins, in his fictional series about Frank Jones and the Five Meter Liberation Army, captures the spirit of homebrew radio. There is just so much of us in those articles. I read them some 20 years ago when they first came out; reading them again recently I appreciated them even more.

Frank was a bit of a curmudgeon: There are jabs at the appliance operators, Hiram Percy Maxim, hamfests, SSB, the Collins collectors, the QRP movement, and even Electric Radio magazine. Howard Armstrong makes an appearance, as do Carl and Jerry. It all made me want to put a five pin SAW filter on my lapel.

As I read, I thought about what a great writer Michael was. When I Googled him, a few of the results led me back to my own book. I’d forgotten that Michael was in there, but he is. On one page he advises me how to power my Mate for the Mighty Midget receiver without using a power transformer (a very Frank Jones approach). On another page I note that Michael had sent me a kit for the Doug DeMaw “Barbados Receiver.” Wow, that was my first Superhet. (I also have one that was built by Dale Parfitt.) Most of the parts were put to use in other projects. But I still have the board (see above). Reminded that it came from Michael, I will now have to complete the construction.

Below is a nice article about Michael that appeared in the Flying Pigs newsletter. (Click on the images for an easier read.)

The articles can be found here:

http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2021/07/summer-reading-for-homebrewers-frank.html

Michael’s 2005 Obituary:

https://obits.dallasnews.com/us/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/name/michael-hopkins-obituary?pid=14406223

Thank you Michael. VIVA EL FMLA!

M0NTV’s Latest Breadbox Rig — The Radio Gods Have Spoken (TRGHS)!

Tony G4WIF sent me this video from Nick M0NTV. It presents Nick’s latest Bread Bin project — “The Optimizer.”

— I really like the Bread Box enclosures. And leaving the b and the d on the box is just brilliant. These letters now stand for BiDirectional! They even appear symmetrical. TRGHS!

— The switch for a tuning tone is a great idea. I still have to plug my Maplin AF sig gen into the mic jack to do this. FB.

— I too have the connector on the back for keying the outboard linear amplifier. (Shhh! Don’t tell G-QRP!)

— As for the bidirectional TIA amps. I’m really glad that someone else is using these circuits. Wes’s article came out in 2009 and concluded with a call for someone to build a complete rig with these circuits. I wonder how many rigs like this have been made. It is a great circuit. One thing I would suggest for Nick: Wes’s article points out that you CAN have higher gain in one direction than you have in the other. Just use resistor values in the chart provided in the 2009 article. You could have an amp with 15 db in the transmit direction and 24 db in the receive direction. BTW: I have been getting a lot of help from Alan W2AEW and Farhan VU2ESE on how to use the NanoVNA to confirm the input and output impedances on solid state amplifiers.

— For many years I had the same map of the Moon in my shack. I hope that map makes it to the new house Nick.

— Finally, I was really surprised to hear EI0CL calling CQ during Nick’s demo of the receiver. That is Michael Higgins out in Galway. Michael was one of my regular contacts when I was out in the Azores. He is a truly amazing guy. He is mentioned frequently in my “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics” book. TRGHS.

Hodgepodge: Moving the Carrier Oscillator Frequency (and a Flashback to 2002) (Video)

As explained in the video, in the course of using my RTL-SDR dongle I noticed that the signal being put out by my Hodgepodge rig had some problems. There was poor opposite sideband rejection, and in terms of audio quality I has putting out too many lows and too few highs. I figured the problem was the result of the carrier oscillator frequency being a bit too low, a bit too close to the flat portion of the crystal filter passband. I needed to move that carrier oscillator frequency up a bit.

BITX40 Module BFO

In the actual BITX40 Modules, L5 was replaced by just a jumper wire, and the C103 trimmer was not on the board. Farhan and his team instead selected X5 crystals to match the passband of the 12 MHz crystal filter. Mine was originally at 11.998653 MHz. But I wanted to tweak mine a bit — I wanted to move it up about 500 Hz. Reducing the capacitance would move the frequency up. Putting capacitance in series with C102 would have the effect of reducing the capacitance in the circuit. I just removed the jumper wire and used the holes for L5. First I put in a single 30pf capacitor. This dropped the capacitance between X5 and ground to 18 pf. That resulted in too large a shift. So I added another 30 pf cap in parallel with the first one. This resulted in a total capacitance from X5 to ground of 26 pf. This was about right — the carrier oscillator/BFO frequency was now 11.9991 Mhz. I had moved the carrier oscillator frequency up by 447 Hz — just about what I was hoping for.

This was a very satisfying fix. it was a chance to put to use experience with other SSB rigs, to make use of the RTL-SDR dongle as a diagnostic tool, and to tinker with the BITX40 Module in the way that Farhan had intended for it to be tinkered with.

I’d done this kind of adjustment before, but without the benefit of an SDR display. Below is the story of one such adjustment.

———————————

A Flashback to 2001-2002

(From my book “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics”)

Now it was time for some debugging and fine tuning. I needed to make sure that the frequency of the carrier oscillator was in the right spot relative to the passband of the crystal filter. If it was set too high, the filter would be chopping off high notes in my voice that were needed for communications clarity, and it would allow too much of what remained of the carrier (residuals from the balance modulator) through. If it was set too low, the voice signal transmitted would be lacking needed base notes. I didn’t have the test gear needed to perform this adjustment properly, but my friend Rolf, SM4FQW, up in Sweden came to my aid.

One night, during a conversation with Rolf, I explained my problem and he offered to help me make the adjustments… by ear. Performing an electronic version of open-heart surgery, with power on and Rolf on frequency, I opened the case of the new transmitter. The carrier oscillator has a small capacitor that allows the frequency of the crystal to be moved slightly. With Rolf listening carefully, I would take my screwdriver and give that little capacitor a quarter turn to the right. “Better or worse?” I would ask.

I think this little adjustment session captures much of the allure of ham radio. There I was, out in the North Atlantic, late at night hunched over a transmitter that had been forged from old Swans and Heathkits, from cell phone chips, and from bits of design from distant members of the fraternity of solder smoke. Pericles, the source of many of the key parts, was gone. So was Frank Lee, the amateur whose SPRAT article had inspired the project. But Rolf and I carried on with the core tradition of the radio fraternity: hams help their fellow hams overcome technical difficulties.

Feedback on Farhan’s FB Feedback Amp Video

As I said a couple of days ago, Farhan has put out a very informative video on amplifier design. During the video we can see him determine bias, feedback and load levels, then select component values. We then see him actually build the amplifier “ugly style” and use his Antuino to test it. Fantastic.

Watch Farhan’s video here: https://www.vu2ese.com/index.php/2020/06/18/feedback-amplifier/

I sent Farhan some of my reactions to the video. In the hope of stimulating some discussion, I repeat them here:

___________________

Wow Farhan, I really enjoyed your video and learned a lot. You definitely have the Knack for explaining this stuff.

I have been struggling to understand feedback amps for a long time. I took up this topic on pages 187-190 of the “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures” book. I was more focused on the benefits of FB amps, and on how and why feedback affected input impedance.

I took notes as I watched:

— I liked the fulcrum analogy.

— Really wonderful how you describe the selection of components to get desired bias.

— Even better when you explain tapping down of RF coil to get 50 ohms to look like 200 ohms. Great stuff.

— Standardized on BNC. FB!

— .1uF caps. Love them! No argument here!

— I copied your resistor list. Will use it with Mouser.

— Saving the pigtails. Indeed!

— I like your ugly “resistors first” technique. I may have to move away from Manhattan.

— Wow. Ugly circuits IN SPAAAAACE! FB!

— 2N3904 I always think it is EBC when looking at the flat end of transistor with leads facing down. Only had reverse pinout with PN2N2222. EBC is my usual assumption.

— I still have the big box of trifilars you left me. I use them. Thanks!

— I like that VTVM in your Antuino. Very handy. Want one! Also, We need to get the Antuino to go down to below 455 kHz.

— I also like your dual Return Loss and SWR display. I think in terms of SWR. Return Loss sometimes messes me up.

— Didn’t know about the Hold and Zoom feature on Antuino. FB.

— Your measurement of the Q of the crystal was awesome.

— I checked my soldering iron temp: I’m at 480 C A bit too hot. Will back off.

— Good description of need for an attenuator at amp output to keep it in Antuino’s range.

— As I watched you tug on the components after the solder cooled, I remember an old and silly admonishment from the ARRL Handbook: NEVER use solder for mechanical connections. Ha! They were WRONG!

— Demonstration of the flatness of feedback was great.

— I found your measurement of impedance using the SWR feature of the Antuino to be very useful. Is there a chart relating the SWR/Return Loss to actual impedance values?

— Loved your description of how output impedance affects input impedance. That is why you advised use of TIA amps in my DIGI-TIA. But now I’m thinking that if I can accurately measure impedances of non-TIA amps, I can design L networks that will keep the crystal filter passbands ripple-free, right?

— Great explanation of the benefits of the 6 db pads at amp output. Allison often recommends this. Now I know why.

— Wow! Now I KNOW what that two-tone box you left with me is for! Now I understand how it can be used to measure IMD on FB amps. I pulled mine out just as you began to discuss yours. Really cool.

Thanks a lot Farhan for doing this. These videos will be of long-lasting use to homebrewers around the world. I hope we will see many more VU2ESE videos like this one.

73 Bill

From the DSB-SSB Pier In Melbourne, Australia: SolderSmoke Book Reviewed by VK3YE

It is a real honor to have my book reviewed by DSB guru Peter Parker VK3YE, and to have him do the review from the iconic “DSB-SSB” pier in Melbourne, Australia. Check out the video (above). Thanks Peter.

20% off Sale on “SolderSmoke” and “Us and Them” Books at Lulu

Treat yourself to 20% off all print books with code SPLURGE. Offer ends June 18th at 11:59 PM.

20% off on all print books at Lulu through June 18:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

Use coupon code SPLURGE

Our book: “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics” http://soldersmoke.com/book.htm Our coffee mugs, T-Shirts, bumper stickers: http://www.cafepress.com/SolderSmoke Our Book Store: http://astore.amazon.com/contracross-20

15% Off on SolderSmoke and other books at Lulu This Weekend

15% off all print books with code PRINTME

All three of my books are here:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

35% Off on Bill’s Books

35 % off on “SolderSmoke” (the book!), “Contra Cross”, and my new book: “Us and Them”

All available in print and e-book form here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

Sale through Dec 3.

I Wrote Another Book

This one is not about radio or electronics, but over the years many SolderSmoke listeners have written in saying that they liked the opening “travelogue” portion of the podcast. This book may appeal to them. It might also be of interest to spouses who’ve been hearing about these “soldersmoke people.” This would be, I think, a good “beach book.”

The title is: “Us and Them — An American Family Spends Ten Years with Foreigners”

Here’s the description:

What happens if you take an American family and send them to Europe for ten years? In the summer of 2000, Bill and Elisa Meara, accompanied by 2 year-old Billy and 4 month-old Maria, left their home in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and moved to the Azores. There they experienced the highs and lows of diplomatic life on a small distant island. After three years in the Azores, they spent four years London and three years in Rome. Overseas they lived in two houses and two apartments, went to five schools, used four different health care systems, experienced one earthquake, 9-11, the terrorist attack on London, tea with the Queen, the election of Barack Obama… and all the ordinary things that families go through. They lived mostly with the locals, learned Portuguese, Italian, and a bit of Cockney, and made many friends (foreign friends!) They returned to the United States in 2010 with a changed view of the world. This is their story.

In print form is available from Amazon and from Lulu:

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Us-Them-American-Family-Foreigners/dp/1499286287/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403693380&sr=1-2&keywords=meara+us+and+them

LULU: http://www.lulu.com/shop/bill-meara/us-and-them-an-american-family/paperback/product-21687240.html

And it is available in e-book form from
AMAZON KINDLE:
http://www.amazon.com/Us-Them-American-Family-FOREIGNERS-ebook/dp/B00L8DR4RK/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403653620&sr=1-2&keywords=us+and+them

If you know anyone who might like this book, please use the little MAIL icon (below) to forward this post to them. Thanks.

Lulu Book Sale, Job Openings

Lulu is running a 20% off sale on books. You can pick up SolderSmoke — The Book at a discount. Just use the coupon code SUPER20 :
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

And as long as we are talking about money, I spotted some job openings that might be of interest to readers of this blog:

http://makezine.com/2014/03/06/wanna-work-for-us/

http://hackaday.com/2014/03/06/were-hiring-2/

On the Origins of “Ugly”

Yesterday I posted a link to a Maker Blog article about a fellow who designed a DIY, junkbox, homebrew machine tool. I noted that in the book “The Ugly American” the hero also makes use of old engine blocks. Farhan commented on this, reminding me of the connection between “The Ugly American” and our beloved ugly construction method: This is from Todd’s (wonderful) QRP Pops site:

http://www.qrp.pops.net/ugly.asp

The Origin of the Term “Ugly Construction”

Roger Hayward, KA7EXM and Wes Hayward, W7ZOI coined the term “Ugly Construction” while writing the “Ugly Weekender” published in the August 1981 issue of QST. I asked Wes about this in 2009. The term was a takeoff from the 1958 book entitled The Ugly American by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick.

Save 20% on SolderSmoke and other Lulu books (through Nov 15)

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

20% off on SolderSmoke Book

Just use the coupon code PUMPKINS at checkout:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

(You can also use this coupon to buy Grayson’s “Hollow-State Design” :
http://www.lulu.com/shop/grayson-evans/hollow-state-design/paperback/product-20987562.html

SolderSmoke book for $16

QST gave the book a very nice review in their August edition. But they got the price of the paper edition wrong — it is definitely not $45! The normal price is $20, but with the coupon code SOCIUS you can get it for $16 through 19 July.
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

Knack Book News: New Blog, 25% off Sale

Our friend Grayson has launched a blog related to his new book Hollow-State Design:
http://hollowstatedesign.tumblr.com/

Over the 4th of July holiday you can save 25% on two of Lulu’s GREATEST Knack-related books. Just use the coupon code FIREWORKS when making your payment.

For SolderSmoke: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/soldersmoke

For Hollow-State Design: http://www.lulu.com/shop/grayson-evans/hollow-state-design/paperback/product-20987562.html

Save 20% on “Hollow-State Design” and “SolderSmoke”!

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Autographed SolderSmoke Books

I have some books left over from Winterfest. Please let me know if you’d like a signed copy. Some folks are ordering them as gifts for fellow Knack victims. I will inscribe them with whatever you’d like me to write (within limits, of course!)

Rich Arland’s Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics

Rich Arland’s SKN Station

Hi Bill:

I am writing to tell you what a GREAT book “Solder Smoke” is. I really enjoyed it and I am amazed at how similar our paths are regarding electronics, ham radio and our journeys around the world.

Although I am 16 years older than you I, too, got my start in radio at an early age: about 10, after I got nailed by my dad’s console SW/AM radio prior to a Cub Scout meeting one evening. I just had to figure out how I received a shock from that big old receiver, which led me to a life long pursuit of the elusive electron, an interesting 50 year career in ham radio, a 20 year career in the USAF (Tech Controller, AFSC: 307), and ultimately teaching vocational electronics in the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, Pa.

During my AF career I spent almost 17 years overseas: two tours in Japan (KA2AA–this was prior to recip licensing as we had the Far East Amateur Radio League in the SOFA), a three year tour at Lajes Field, Terceira Island, the Azores (CT2BH–this was prior to the Azores receiving independence from Portugal in 1976), a five and a half year tour at RAF Mildenhall, UK (G5CSU), and a brief stint in W.Germany (DA2NE) while working with 10th SF Group at Bad Tolz and SOTFE in Patch Barracks. Had 18 months in the 3rd Mobil Comm Gp in Tinker AFB, OK, and a twilight tour at Langley AFB, VA.

The three years in the Azores was from 1970-73….it was extremely difficult to obtain a ham license at that time and there were only 9 of us licensed in the entire archipelago, as I recall. I was attached to the 1936 Comm SQ, and all we had for comms to support theUS Forces Azores mission were three HF ISB shots: one to Andrews AFB, MD, one to Rota, Spain and the other to RAF Croughton, UK. During that three year period I REALLY learned about HF comm and propagation. I was on duty the day, in 1973, when “the ionosphere turned off”! WE had a SID of such magnitude that it blotted out everything, and I DO MEAN EVERYTHING! We were lucky to hear AFRTS on the hill by the MARS station! During that tour we also performed comm support for the US Navy‘s Sea Lab project on Sao Maria, which was part of the SOSUS system. Ultra cool stuff!!! On more than one occasion during a mid shift, the Comm SQ chief of maintenance, CT2BC, would snag me from tech control, and we’d go intoLajes Airways (right down the hall) and grab a Scope Control Level, point the two HUGE LPAs toward the states and work a little DX on 20M !! Definitely NOT QRP! All this under the guise of “quality control”! It pays to have friends in low places!

During my UK tour, we initially lived off-base at Bury St. Edmunds. I had a Ten-Tec PM–2B and a tuner which I loaded into a chain link fence behind our house. I quickly worked Collin Turner, G3VTT, and soon became a card carrying member of the G-QRP-Club (#622) in 1979. To celebrate my 34th birthday, my wife Pat (KB3MCT) and Jo Dobbs, wife of George Dobbs, G3RJV, put together a surprise party for me after a Saturday at the RSGB convention near Birmingham. George Burt, GM3OXX along with Ronny, GM3JJG, furnished the haggis….and the single malt….needless to say we did have fun; all 25 of us packed into RJV’s home!

Hey, sorry for being long winded. Our backgrounds and travels are uniquely intertwined. Thanks for writing “Solder Smoke“. I am procuring a hard copy (I read it on my Kindle) for my wife, as your insight into the “why things work the way they do” are perfect for her to help her with obtaining her Extra. I only wish I had it when I was teaching my electronics classes in prison. It would have made my job easier, that is for sure.

Stay well, and I hope we can meet one of these days. In the mean time, I have to pull my Meade ETX out of storage and start watching the sky, and finish building about four model rockets for an upcoming launch weekend here in North Georgia.

Rich Arland, K7SZ
Dacula, GA

Author: “The ARRL’s Low Power Communications, the Art and Science of QRP (all four editions)