uBITXs Doing Very Well on 60 Meters — with Boris and Natasha

Last Saturday something told me to get on 60 meters. TRGHS. So I stepped out to the carport and tuned the doublet to 5.3 Mhz — and I’m really glad I did. There was a lot of activity on the band, all very friendly. Channels 1 and 2 seem to be especially popular watering holes.

Channel 3 might be getting a bit more digital use, but a very interesting group called the “Moose and Squirrel Net” meets there at noon (east coast time) on Saturday on SSB phone. This group is kind of a spill-over from the Old Military Radio Net that meets early on Saturday morning on 3895 kHz AM. Because many of the old military radios can’t tune on half kHz increments, the “Moose and Squirrel” group used channel 3 which is the only U.S. 60 meter channel on a whole integer kHz frequency (5357.0 kHz). Moose and Squirrel takes it name from the old Boris and Natasha Cold War cartoons that many of us watched as kids. Natasha Fatale and Boris Badinov. Cold War era military radios, get it? Good stuff. Many of the guys on the M&S net commented on how nice the uBITX sounded. I was running it through my .1kW CCI EB63A amplifier.

One of my nicest contacts was with Joe WA2EJT. He told me that he too has a uBITX. He said he bought the rig in part because of he liked the fact that Farhan was giving the work on the toroids to some ladies in Hyderabad who normally do sewing. Joe said he liked the look of the uBITX board so much that he decided to put his board on top of the chassis instead of inside it. That is exactly what I had done with my first BITX 40 module. See the pictures of Joe’s rig.

Three cheers for the uBITX!
Boris natasha fearless.jpg
Boris, Natasha and “Fearless Leader”

Ian Keyser G3ROO on UK TV with his Spy Set Rigs (video)

Me at the keyof one of Ian’s spy sets — ten years ago?

Check out this nice UK TV report on Ian G3ROO and his spy set radios:

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-10-19/daring-spies-who-broadcast-from-behind-enemy-lines/

 And here is Tony Fishpool’s report on their excellent adventure at Friedricshaffen Hamfest 2018.

http://www.fishpool.org.uk/friedrichshafen.htm

 Here are some of the SolderSmoke blog posts on the activities of Ian and the Dover Constructors Club.

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=G3ROO

M0HYT’s Through-Hole (No Surface Mount) uBITX

That’s the spirit! I like how Peter M0HYT took the uBITX schematic and built his own, his way. When you build the rig yourself, if problems arise (spurs, harmonics getting past filters) you are in a much better position to fix the problem. I’m afraid that sometimes those buying an already-assembled board just feel aggrieved if the purchased item is not fully within specs.

M0HYT posted this to the BITX20 group (this past summer):

I have just built a uBITX with standard components (no SMD’s) from scratch on a PCB I designed – it works well. I have now designed another PCB which incorporates the Arduino NANO and the the Si5351 shield and I’m just waiting for the PCB’s to arrive and then I will start assembling. I made some changes to the circuit to allow for a dynamic microphone and the use of screened TOKO cols for the 30MHz lowpass filter, I also changed the coupling arrangement to the 45MHz filter.

I have attached a picture of the original PCB and a PDF of the new layout incorporating the Arduino and Si5351

Maybe one day I will play with SMT but for now standard components are still easily available !

73’s – Peter M0HYT


Chinese AMATEUR Satellites ORBITING THE MOON! Radio Amateurs Receiving Images



Stockpiling Parts for Analog Oscillator STABILITY

Doug DeMaw taught us that a key contributor to analog oscillator stability is the use of NP0 capacitors. As part of my effort to maintain the ability to produce analog, discrete component, coal-and-cap, chip-free oscillators, I recently went out onto the internet in search of an assortment of NP0 capacitors. Nightfire Electronics had just what I needed. I took their assortment and put it in a parts box for easy access.
http://vakits.com/about-nightfire-electronics

Radio Astronomy Knack!

This video has so much of the kind of stuff that interests us: roadkill antennas. 3D printers. Arduinos. Raspberry Pi, And of course, RADIO ASTRONOMY.

And the Thought Emporium guys have a lot of other great project videos on their YouTube site:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV5vCi3jPJdURZwAOO_FNfQ

I feel myself being pulled back into SPACE. First there was Farhan’s new satellite, now this. Last weekend I finished a 3 element quad for 146 MHz. In a fit of nostalgia I used the same copper tube elements that I used to communicate with the MIR space station from the Dominican Republic in 1995. They have good JuJu. And Mojo. TRGHS. More on this later. Tune UP!

The Triple Scratch-Built BITX Club — Do you qualify for membership?

OK, so how many of you guys can join Steve M0KOV and me in the Triple Scratch-Built BITX Club?

Bill

Below are my three Bitx builds.

1st build.
Closely follows Farhan’s original 20m design but I soon changed the VFO for an arduino/ad9850. It was a fast, get me on the air build, it worked, but not well.
The output amp was built on a separate board as part of its exorcism.
2nd build.
This was to be my two band Hill Topper, we don’t have mountains in Yorkshire. Built with separate stages slotting into the eddystone box to save space and to help with shielding. The receiver worked very nicely, the output kept blowing irf510’s. I later found that they were a hopeless batch. Very hard to work on.

3rd build. Big is beautiful. Arduino/si5351 straight into the modulator and into the mini-circuit mixer through a driver as discussed. Norton feedback RF preamp and a ne5532/lm386 AF amp. At the moment it’s on 80m but it did start on 40m. It’s still a work in progress and I will have to sort that soldering iron band change.
73 Steve M0KOV

Farhan’s Satellite

Latest news:

 The launch is set for November 24, 2018 from California. It will be in a polar orbit. The beacon will be on 145.90 MHz. Farhan says an RTL-SDR Dongle should do the trick. I plan on building several receive systems and an appropriate antenna.

https://telanganatoday.com/a-blessing-for-the-small-guys

 https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/odisha-man-team-builds-private-satellite/article24963338.ece

 https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/article/instagram-now-lets-you-shop-directly-from-stories-explore-tab-heres-how/286276

I don’t think Farhan’s group is connected to this group, but this short video does a nice job of explaining the potential of CubeSats.

FROM Prasad VU3YFD:
Hi my friend’s information to all about a man’s ” A DREAM COME’S TRUE ” in ” VU ” LAND with his hard work & to the whole team.. we can say ……FANTASTIC ….. no other words to express from my side but i ENVY on their hard work’s.. hi hi .de vu3yfd,prasad
AMSAT-UK
IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination
List of Sats formally submitted
ExseedSat Updated: 10 Aug 2018 Responsible
Operator Ashar Farhan VU2ESE
Supporting Organisation Exseed Space Innovations Pvt Ltd
Contact Person afarhan@gmail.com.nospam
Headline Details: The ExseedSat is a 1U cubesat that will provide a multifunction UHF/VHF NBFM amateur communication satellite. It will have various configurable modes, including: • UHF to VHF, single channel, narrow band FM transponder with CTCSS, 67 Hz squelch • Power output selectable between 1 watt and 0.5 watt • Digipeat feature with APRS on UHF uplink nd VHF downlink • Melody mode : It will play a simple melody of a few notes on special occasions or events. This will interest students outreach. • We expect this satellite to have a life of two years, depending upon how long the battery lasts and when the satellite de-orbits naturally. Planning a SpaceX launch from Vandenberg in October 2018 **The request has now been updated to include only a U/V transponder/digipeater** **The following frequencies have been coordinated: 145.900 MHz for repeater and digipeater downlink and for telemetry and 435.340 MHz for repeater and digipeater uplink**
Application Date: 19 Jul 2018 Freq coordination completed on 10 Aug 2018
Read The Hindu story at https://www.thehindu.com/…/odisha-man-t…/article24963338.ece
Gurudatta Panda VU3GDP http://gurudattabam.blogspot.com/
Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE http://hfsignals.blogspot.com/
Tnx cu agn de vu3yfd,prasad

WB8VGE on QSO Today — QRP, HB, Boatanchors, Drift, Solar Power

Picture

Eric 4Z1UG has a really good interview with Mike Bryce, WB8VGE.

Listen here:

https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/WB8VGE

 I’ve been a big fan of Mike’s for many years. I’ve talked to him on the air a couple of times. I liked his QRP column in 73 magazine. I share his enthusiasm for Boatanchor rigs. He is a fellow member of the QRP Hall of Fame (who, like Pete and me, at times seems to be pushing the QRO envelope). I like his approach to solar power. He too has been bothered by appliance ops who complain that his boatanchor rigs are 150 hertz “too low.”

His attitude toward contesting is similar to mine — I may be more opposed than he is. I think contesting encourages a kind of harshness and competitiveness that runs contrary to the spirit of the Radio Amateur’s code.

I got a chuckle about Mike’s claim that he almost Worked All States in RECEIVED Official Observer reports. And that he at one point owned THIRTY 104s.

Mike’s observations on the dumbing down of ham radio and on the social (psychological?) problems of 75 meters (“net starting in 5 minutes!” “QRP not allowed on 75”) are sadly on the mark.

Mike’s hint about using a white-out pen to spruce up the front panel of an old Drake radio adds a new household/office material to our rig-fixing arsenal.

Eric’s comment on the Lafayette Catalog resonated with me. I used to read it too.

I hope Mike decides to get on the air more frequently. Just avoid 75 meters and 7.200 MHz Mike.

KD4PBJ’s PTO “Turtle” Receiver

Gents,

Here’s my newest creation.
It’s a PTO tuned receiver for 40 meters and uses the WA6OTP PTO circuit I built a couple years back. I believe I had sent you a picture of it then. I bought the tuning assembly from him which is the aluminum bracket, acrylic tube fitted with Pem nut, and brass screw. The circuit uses a J310 as oscillator transistor and several bipolar transistors for amplification and buffering.

This feeds a ADE-1 mixer, mounted on a little breakout board I bought from RfBay.
Years ago I had good luck building the Rock Bending Receiver from the ARRL handbook, so I took the audio chain from it and incorporated it. It uses a TL072 and a LM 386.
As of now I haven’t needed any kind of front end filter, but am working on a 40 meter bandpass filter from Hans Summers that I will put on the input just in case it’s ever needed.
I had been looking for an easy enclosure and found this in one of the break rooms at work. An empty Christmas nut tin.
The PTO screw goes in and out like a turtle sticking its head out of the shell, plus my 13 year old son Alex’s favorite animal is a turtle. So it goes.

Chris
KD4PBJ