Home of the Altoids!

Hey Bill,

I finally got around to something I have been meaning to do for our fellow Soldersmoke and Gadgeteer blog friends. As soon as we moved to Tennessee last summer I knew I had to do it.

I had to go to town (Chattanooga) today to the Honda dealership to get a warranty repair done on my wife’s car. The Wrigley plant that manufactures all our Altoids is right across the highway from the car dealership!! So guess what I did after getting the car fixed?? I got pictures of the plant for your blog.

Now they were with my iphone camera so they weren’t the clearest, and I made sure that no one was behind me when I snapped them after stopping for a quick shot.

In the one marked Altoids Sign, you can see the tin on the sign under the Y in Wrigley.

For anyone who wants to find this on Google Earth, it is at the corner of Jersey Pike and Shallowford Road in Chattanooga Tennessee, near the intersection with the TN 153 freeway.

Part of the plant has a for sale sign on it, mainly an unused huge loading dock building that fronts to Shallowford Rd. The building next to Wrigley’s is Sathers Candy, and it appears that Chattanooga must be known for food as both Little Debbies and Moon Pies are made in metro Chattanooga too.

72’s

Chris

KD4PBJ

Some Tech Humor

Ron Barrett

Apparently Pluto’s demotion from planet status might have been a bit unfair. Researchers say that the rival to Pluto that was discovered six years ago is actually smaller than Pluto.

And I thought this BBC skit on computer problems would yield a few chuckles from the SolderSmoke community. (For U.S. readers: Orange is a big ISP/mobile phone provider in the UK and elsewhere.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

G3ROO’s AMAZING Antenna Book

A few years back Ian Keyser, G3ROO, put together a really wonderful antenna book. It is very “down to earth,” very practical, very useful for hams seeking to succeed with homebrew antennas. The book was edited by another great person from G-QRP Club — Tony Fishpool, G4WIF. It has been out of print, but Ian has just made it available through Lulu.com.

Lulu is the printer who also handles my book: “SolderSmoke — Global Adventures in Wireless Electronics.” This means that you can order both books at the same time, perhaps saving on shipping costs. (But remember, for U.S., buyers shipping is free all summer long. ) And there is a 10 percent off sale for all buyers during the month of May (Coupon Code: FLOWERS).

Check out Ian’s book here:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/practical-and-tested-aerial-systems/10904725

For more info on the SolderSmoke book, go here:
http ://soldersmoke.com/book.htm

YET ANOTHER HB DSB QRP WSPR Station! And more “inverted FSK”!

Paul, M0XPD, reports that he has joined the DSB revolution and has put a homebrew DOUBLE Sideband WSPR signal on the air. The rig is pictured above. So I can no longer claim to be the ONLY DSB WSPR station in the world. FB Paul. For more details go to Paul’s site:
http://m0xpd.blogspot.com/2010/05/homebrewed-whispers.html

This was the second time in a week that I’ve found someone else doing the same nutty thing that I’ve been doing. The first incident involved G0XAR. I found him transmitting upside down FSK on 30 meters. Again, I am no longer alone…
Note that both of my colleagues in radio eccentricity are from Britain, a land that takes justifiable pride in its eccentric boffins!

Altoids to the Max!

Rogier, KJ6ETL, sent an interesting link to some inspirational projects involving Altoids tins:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/altoids_and_tin_cases/ The first one that appears seems to belong somewhere else — just scroll down to find the tins.

Wiki provides background info:

Altoids are a brand of breath mints that have existed since the turn of the 19th century. Altoids are less widely available in Britain—their country of origin—than in the regions to which they are exported, the standard peppermint mints being the only flavour available and only stocked in relatively few stores. Callard & Bowser-Suchard manufacture and produce Altoids at a plant in Bridgend, Wales, although Wrigley, the brand’s owner, announced in mid 2005 they planned to move Altoids’ production to an existing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in order to manufacture its products closer to where they are sold.

The history of Altoids dates back to the reign of King George III. The brand was created by a London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s but eventually became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 1800s. Their advertising slogan has been “The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong (insert flavour here) Mints” for a number of years, referring to the high concentration of peppermint oil used in the original flavour lozenge. The “Story of Altoids” text is printed on the paper liner inside certain tins.

—————————————————

One cautionary note: Apparently Altoids mints played a minor role in the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky mess. We won’t go into the technical details here, but suffice it to say that a collection of Altoids tins on your desk at work may raise some eyebrows among some of your colleagues.

The FUNKY Keyer

Paul up in Manchester has some really intriguing ideas on CW and keyers. He likes highly personalized CW from straight keys, and thinks he can even hear the influence of Latin-based languages when receiving signals from stations in France and other Romance language countries. (Like me, he also thinks a bit of homebrew chirp adds some character to signals. ) Automatic keyers seem to squeeze all of the individuality out of CW. So Paul has written some computer code to put that individuality back in! Can we get a “Lake Erie Swing” option Paul? Check out Paul’s blog. Interesting stuff!

Hi Bill

Further to the kind words of introduction you gave me as a “new homebrewer” in Soldersmoke 104, I’m writing to let you know about a little project of mine which I think you might appreciate…

I made a h/b keyer a while back and recently added the ability to send automated 3*3 cq calls (and cq FISTS calls).

On doing this, I realized how much I HATE the sound of machine generated CW – so mechanical and lifeless. I want to hear a real fist – preferably with some chirp and drift thrown in for good measure!

So – I’ve come up with an alternative – The FUNKY keyer!

It adds some random timing “jitter” to each automated cq call, to simulate the sound of a real fist on a straight key.

You can read all about the Funky Keyer on my blog, http://m0xpd.blogspot.com

The blog also documents some of the other outcomes of my personal puffs of solder smoke, including the “Funster PLUS” 40m CW Transceiver and the “Not-so-superhet” experimental valve receiver. There’s some operating stuff, including WSPR on 40 and 80m with my Softrock SDR and I was inspired by Soldersmoke to include some travelog – ZL, VR2, BY, HB, etc.

Hope you enjoy it.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you for all the enthusiasm and inspiration you continue to give us in Soldersmoke,

73 de Paul, m0xpd

Paul Darlington

Faraday’s Transformer Diagram

Looks familiar, doesn’t it? Reminds me a lot of the toroidal transformer diagrams that you see in the Doug DeMaw books. This is from an 1831 lab notebook of Michael Faraday.

Faraday’s Transformer Diagram

Looks familiar, doesn’t it? Reminds me a lot of the toroidal transformer diagrams that you see in the Doug DeMaw books. This is from an 1831 lab notebook of Michael Faraday.

Faraday’s Shack and the First Transformer

In London, Billy and I visited Faraday’s workshop in the Royal Institution. Poor Michael set up shop in the servants’ quarters in the basement. The shop is still down there (behind glass and well-preserved now). The painting above depicts Faraday at work in his shack.

On display was the very first electrical transformer. And guess what guys: It was a toroid! Here is a picture of it:

I found one of Faraday’s drawings of the toroidal transformer and its windings. It looks a lot like the drawings of Doug DeMaw! I’ll scan it and post it tomorrow. Off to work now.

At the Royal Institution

The Royal Institution in London is one of the world’s most important scientific organizations. In the picture above, Michael Faraday delivers one of the famous “Christmas Lectures.”

Billy and I visited the RI a couple of weeks ago and got to sit in the famous theater.

I even got to stand at the famous desk on which so much new science was presented to the world. More on the RI (and Michael Faraday) tomorrow.

Marconi’s House in London

In London, the places where famous people lived are marked with Blue Plaques. I knew that Marconi’s name was on the list, but I had never actually seen his plaque. When we were up in London last month we were staying in Marconi’s old neighbourhood (Bayswater) so and Billy and I decided to take a look. Video by Billy.

This house is mentioned in the book Thunderstruck by Eric Larson and in Peter Jensen’s wonderful Early Radio. Marconi lived here as a young man. His mother took him to London in order to get patent protection for his wireless invention. The way in which Marconi’s mom watched out for her son’s intellectual property rights reminds me of the way Bill Gates’ dad watched out for his.

Marconi’s arrival in the UK was a bit difficult. British customs officers were apparently very suspicious of the strange device being brought in by the young Italian. One book hinted that they might have thought that Marconi was involved in some plot to kill Queen Victoria. During the inspection serious damage was done to Marconi’s rig.

Dover update: Falling from tree, B2 inheritance?, HB variometer

That’s me (the new boy in the workshop) at the key of Ian G3ROO’s B2 spy set. Beautiful rig. You will all, I’m sure, understand Nigel M0NDE’s question to Ian (see below). The Dover variometer project is very interesting (picture at the bottom). Thanks Nigel! (Try to keep Ian at ground level, OK?)

Hi Bill, a Dover construction club update:

Ian was cutting down some trees in the garden this weekend, and took a tumble. As he fell I asked him if I could be left the B2, I can’t tell you exactly what he said but you can imagine. Fortunately he was not injured as the ground was soft with all the rain we have had. The B2 remains in the museum for now.

The black hole has taken the variometer from us forever so a new one was made Thursday night at club. You got the blame tonight for anything that was not in its proper place when sought, the new boy in the workshop always takes the blame!

A length of plastic drain pipe was selected. A coil of about ten turns was wound around a large capacitor as a former and tied off with beeswaxed rafia then mounted onto a plastic rod. The plastic rod had a hacksaw slot put in it lengthwise to facilitate the copper wire exiting the plastic pipe. The plastic pipe was drilled and squeezed and the coil inserted into the pipe. The rod was held in place by friction fit brass washers. Two coils were wound around the plastic pipe,in similar directions. The wire is just tensioned by being passed though holes and threaded in and out of the pipe at each end. A plastic screw allows the inner coil to move through just 180 degrees. The first test showed two inductance ranges were possible 6-12 micro Henries and 12 to 21 mH. We will add additional coils up the pipe to give 21 to 30, 30 to 40 etc. A ten meter fishing rod will form the vertical element, with this variometer and switched coils providing the tuning. The experiment continues next Thursday night.

73 de Nigel Evans M0NDE QTH Dover

Black Holes in Workshops?

Nigel (M0NDE), Ian (G3ROO), Tony (G4WIF) at Dover CC HQ

When I was out in Dover (UK) last week the fellows in the Dover Construction Club alerted me to a problem that has been affecting their workshop, and that may be causing trouble in yours: black holes. Apparently through some strange quirk of quantum physics, small black holes are sometimes generated in electronics workshops. They cause parts and tools to disappear. The quantum element of all this is readily apparent: only those parts and tools that you REALLY need disappear. If you don’t need a particular part or tool, it will not be affected. The guys out in Dover recently lost a variometer this way, and while I was there a telegraph key briefly disappeared into the quantum mist. In a variation of this phenomenon, very small black holes sometimes pop out of the quantum vacuum when small parts are dropped to the floor — that’s why you often can’t find them! SMT parts are especially susceptible to this (obviously because some of the damn things are getting down to quantum scale) . I don’t really know what can be done to counteract this problem — if you have any suggestions, please post a comment.

On a related subject, Jim Miller sent us this:

Tools Explained

DRILL PRESS : A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL : Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, “Oh, shit!”

SKILL SAW : A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS : Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER : An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW : One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS : Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH : Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW : A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK : Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW : A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST : A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER : Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER : A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR : A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER : A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER : Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent to the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE : Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

Son of a bitch TOOL : Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling, “Son of a bitch” at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

No trees were killed in the sending of this message.
However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced

SolderSmoke Podcast #122

Bill (N2CQR) and Ian (G3ROO) in Dover, England (with hydrogen balloon spark key)

SolderSmoke!
A SHOW FOR ELECTRONICS HOMEBREWERS!
Listen at: http://www.soldersmoke.com
SolderSmoke #122

Feb 28, 2010
Snow in Rome!
In London: A visit to Marconi’s house, Maplins, and Faraday’s lab
A visit to the Dover Construction Club
Computer problems resolved
A short period of QRSS, then back to WSPR
Putting the Drake 2-B into WSPR mode
The Rome-Norway WSPR pipeline
Increased solar activity
50 years of SETI with Frank Drake
QQ Review
Work Bench Eye Candy
Movie Review: UP! (Five Soldering Irons)
MAILBAG

Homebrew QRP Contest… With DSB!

Walford Electronics Brendon 80m DSB kit

Hi Bill

I trust all is well and that the roadkill PCs are not fighting back. Thought you might like to hear about a new contest we are trying here in the UK. Having assisted lots of new knack victims to build their first rigs at the 3 Bath Buildathons we thought we should encourage them to get on the air – 30 QRP DSB rigs on 80m all at once – now that’s what I call a contest.

We have opened it up to any QRP voice radio to cover the QRP appliance operators but homebrewers get extra points. Not sure how much support we are going to get but there is a £50 voucher for Walford Electronics kits up for grabs.

Hopefully this will be a fun contest with freindly extended exhanges rather than the all too common ‘599 1002 73 QRZ’. Picture is the Walford Electronics Brendon 80m DSB kit in all its glory.

73, Steve, G0FUW

Homebrew QRP (DSB!) Contest

Walford Electronics Brendon 80m DSB kit

Hi Bill

I trust all is well and that the roadkill PCs are not fighting back.

Thought you might like to hear about a new contest we are trying here in the UK – see below.

Having assisted lots of new knack victims to build their first rigs at the 3 Bath Buildathons we thought we should encourage them to get on the air – 30 QRP DSB rigs on 80m all at once – now that’s what I call a contest.

We have opened it up to any QRP voice radio to cover the QRP appliance operators but homebrewers get extra points.

Not sure how much support we are going to get but there is a £50 voucher for Walford Electronics kits up for grabs.

Hopefully this will be a fun contest with freindly extended exhanges rather than the all too common ‘599 1002 73 QRZ’.

Picture is the Walford Electronics Brendon 80m DSB kit in all its glory, in case you want to post something on the blog.

73, Steve, G0FUW

BATH BUILDATHON CONTEST RULES 2010

Background: This contest is primarily intended to activate the radios built at the Bath Buildathon events but is open to all UK radio amateurs. Stations may be operated from any fixed location within the UK; operation from a vehicle or as a pedestrian is permitted, as is Maritime Mobile, so long as you stay put during each session!

When: There are seven sessions over the course of a week. Stations may take part in as many sessions as they wish:

14:00 to 16:00UTC, Sunday 30^th May
18:00 to 20:00UTC, Monday 31^st May to Friday 4^th June inclusive
10:00 to 12:00UTC, Saturday 5^th June

Band & Mode: 80m telephony contacts only. Suggested frequency range is 3.60-3.70MHz.

Power limit: QRP only (maximum ten watts pep output from transmitter).

Contacts: Any QSO with another voice station is allowed. Duplicates only count once per session.

Equipment: Any QRP radio equipment may be used but bonus points are awarded for using homebrew equipment. Only one radio may be used each session.

Call: ‘CQ Bath Builders Contest’

Exchange: Signal Report (RS), TRX make & model, and output power.

Scoring per QSO:

With a QRO station (over 10W) = 1 point.
With a factory built QRP station (max 10W) = 10 points.
With a homebrew QRP station (max 10W) = 20 points.
With a the ‘BBC’ (Bath Buildathon Crew; G0FUW, G3VTO, G4YTN) = 50 points.

Bonus Points:

Entrants using homebrew transceivers = add 100 points to total.

Multiplier: Your total points per session will be multiplied by the number of stations you worked who were using Brendon transceivers constructed at one of the Bath Buildathon events. Note: the adjudicators will apply the multiplier after the contest.

Awards: The leading station on each evening will receive a certificate. The leading station taken over all seven sessions will receive a certificate and a voucher worth £50 off any Walford Electronics kit (no cash alternative will be offered). Results will be announced and awards presented at the Walford Electronics ‘QRP in the country’ event at Upton Bridge Farm, Long Sutton, Langport, Somerset, TA10 9NJ on 18^th July 2010.

Enquiries: any questions about the contest should be sent to G0FUW, QTHR

Spy Radio: “The Looking Glass War”

Dave in Ireland alerted me to some interesting radio content in the John LeCarre spy novel “The Looking Glass War.” (I think presenting this excerpt is allowable under “fair use.”) Dave reports that the radio they are working on is the one pictured above. It is a British B2, SOE Type 3. The instructor obviously has the Knack, but the student seems a bit shaky.

—– The Looking Glass War: —–

(Fred Leiser is the agent, Johnson is the radio expert who is also mentioned to be Ham op)

‘You know the set then?’ Johnson asked.

‘The B2.’

‘OK. Official title, Type three, Mark two: runs on AC or a six-volt car battery, but you’ll be using the mains, right? They’ve queried the current where you’re going and it’s AC. Your mains consumption with this set is fifty-seven watts on transmit and twenty-five on receive. So if you do end up somewhere and they’ve only got DC, you’re going to have to borrow a battery, right?’

Leiser did not laugh.

‘Your mains lead is provided with adaptors for all continental sockets.’

‘I know.’

Leiser watched Johnson prepare the set for operation. First he linked the transmitter and receiver to the power pack by means of six-pin plugs, adjusting the twin claws on the terminals; having plugged in the set and turned it on, he joined the miniature Morse key to the transmitter and the earphones to the receiver.

‘That’s a smaller key than we had in the war,’ Leiser objected. ‘I tried it last night. My fingers kept slipping.’

Johnson shook his head.

‘Sorry, Fred; same size.’ He winked. ‘Perhaps your finger’s grown.’

‘All right, come on.’

Now he extracted from the spares box, a coil of multi-stranded wire, plastic covered, attaching one end to the aerial terminals. ‘Most of your crystals will be around the three megacycle mark, so you may not have to change your coil – get a nice stretch on your aerial and you’ll be a hundred per cent Fred; specially at night. Now watch the tuning. You’ve connected up your aerial, earth, key headphones and power pack. Look at your signal plan and see what frequency you’re on; dish out the corresponding crystal, right?’ He held up a small capsule of black Bakelite, guided the pins into the double socket – ‘Shoving the male ends into the doodahs, like so. All right so far, Fred? Not hurrying you, am I?’

‘I’m watching. Don’t keep asking.’

‘Now turn the crystal selector dial to “fundamental all crystals”, and adjust your wave band to match your frequency. If you’re on three and a half megs you want the wave-band knob on three to four, like so. Now insert your plug-in coil either way round, Fred; you’ve got a nice overlap there.’

Leiser’s head was supported in his hand as he tried desperately to remember the sequence of movements which once had come so naturally to him. Johnson proceeded with the method of a man born to his trade. His voice was soft and easy, very patient, his hands moving instinctively from one dial to another with perfect familiarity. All the time the monologue continued:

‘TRS switch on T for tune’; put your anode tuning and aerial matching on ten; now you can switch on your power pack, right?’ he pointed to the meter window. ‘You should get the three hundred reading, nearly enough, Fred. Now I’m ready to have a go: I shove my meter selector on three and twiddle the PA tuning till I get maximum meter reading; now I put her on six —-‘

‘What’s PA?’

‘Power Amplifier, Fred: didn’t you know that?’

‘Go on.’

‘Now I move the anode tuning knob till I get my minimum value – here you are! She’s a hundred with the knob on two, right? Now push your TRS over to S – S for send, Fred – and you’re ready to tune the aerial. Here – press the key. That’s right, see? You get a bigger reading because you’re putting power into the aerial, follow it?’

Silently he performed the brief ritual of tuning the aerial until the meter obediently dipped to the final reading.

‘And Bob’s your uncle!’ he declared triumphantly.

‘Now it’s Fred’s turn...’

The D-104 — A Completely Respectable Piece of Ham Radio Gear

Recently we have received some comments along the lines of, “Hey Bill, what’s that chrome CB-lookin’ mic doin’ in your shack?” Having come into ham radio during the great Amateur vs. Citizen Band wars of the 1970s, naturally I was quite stung. Fortunately, an old magazine soon arrived with a photo (above) that should end forever any speculation about the D-104 being somehow “CB.” The picture above is from the January 1952 issue of “The Shortwave Magazine” from the UK. G3ZI, L.S. Woollatt, is shown with his very fine station. With the exception of his two main receivers, all of this OM’s gear was homebrew. Racks and racks of FB HB gear. If a chrome lollipop was OK with G3ZI, well, then I think that settles it.

Micro Men on the BBC: Sinclairs, Acorns, and the Knack

Now these guys look like some proper British boffins!
Tony Fishpool, G4WIF, sent me this link to a wonderful new BBC program about the early days of home computing: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/oct/08/armstrong-freeman-micro-men-bbc

Tony also sent me his own story of computer derring-do in the early days. Here Tony once again marks himself as a true Knack victim, and a true wizard. Commenting on the BBC show, Tony wrote:

…I enjoyed a huge dose of nostalgia. I owned both Sinclair and Acorn computers back then and I suppose they launched me on a geek career that’s put food on the table ever since.

One of the first Christmas’s of my early married life tested my new bride’s
patience with a knack victim for a husband.

A long awaited Acorn Atom kit computer finally arrived on Christmas Eve. All during Christmas day I was hunched over a steaming soldering iron installing every capacitor, resistor and semiconductor in the computer’s printed circuit board.

That evening after the last component was installed I applied power and
there was a beep and the TV (which should have been showing Christmas
movies) displayed :-

Acorn Computers

Ready>

Wow!

How I managed to get that computer working first time still amazes me to
this day. How I am still married amazes me even more – but I was “in the
zone” and that computer just had to be built.

The TV show is called “Micro Men” so look out for it.

Kind regards
Tony G4WIF

RSGB Convention… via Skype

The fellows running the RSGB convention asked me to come up to the UK and speak at this year’s event. I couldn’t make the trip, but we decided to try to set up a virtual appearance via Skype video. Brian, G8OSN, put it all together, and the link worked like a charm. It was really a lot of fun, and I didn’t have to be away from the family.
As noted below, you can see a video of one version of my talk by clicking on the video links off to the sides of this blog page. Thanks again to RSGB, and especially to Brian, for giving me the chance to do this.