Radio Reinvention

  Go HERE!   Something went awry in the uploading of the hamradiogenius blog and it would not load so I reactivated the N6QW blog and I think that works OK. There is a nifty Two Tone Test Generator schematic on the N6QW blog right now.   Back to our new paradigm -- one posting per subject with no updates and frequent mention of hot women. Hopefully we are now catering to the demands of our demographic of old farts!   73's Pete N6QW

This not about politics or the current political climate in the USA. But it is about Sources of Information.   Guilty on this end of the making the first visit to You Tube to find information. Based on a Research Study I conducted while in Grad School, I found most people retain information when they hear and see information at the same time. Yes, it was a for a Marketing class. You Tube is that venue where you can see and hear stuff at the same time.    Need I also mention -- most of us tend to look for the easiest path. Boom, Click on You Tube and we are watching the subject we wanted, When I purchased the Seeed Xiao RP2040, You Tube was the 1st stop. I had a link to that video in an earlier blog post. In that video, you were provided a link to a download for the Board Manager. It simply did not work! Then the unthinkable -- I went to the Seeed Studio website and found this.   There it was DON'T USE THIS! My time is really limited and a day's allotment was wasted b...

 The Internet can be and Often is Wrong! Buoyed by new emerging technologies and the need to have some diversions from the very soul sapping condition of the XYL, I manage to steal 10  to 15 minutes  each day to think about projects. Yesterday was a 15 minute session where I had a chance to program the Xiao RP2040. Several of the You Tube videos that lead you to the Board Manager are simply wrong as is the their example of how to make the Seeed Xiao RP2040 BLINK .   Finally I found the website that set straight the link for the Board Manager (which is the same one K7TFC sent me) and a revised BLINK program that actually works.   Unsatisfied with the Mr. Miyagi  Blink On Blink Off, I took a stab at CQ. I thought I did all of the dot, dash, and  spacing correctly.  But the visual pattern looks like a newly minted BTE who having his extra license for one day without any prior on the air experience is sending CQ for the 1st time. But hey better than j...

 This was intentionally BLANK for most of the day to highlight the issue of many who want to homebrew but have no stock of parts. I took a run at compiling a list of common parts that likely would be found in virtually any homebrew Receiver or Transmitter. This is a starting place for you. For most Solid State QRP Stuff, then 1/4watt resistors are good as are 50VDC Capacitors. Tube projects you need higher voltage on the Caps and 1/2 Watt Resistors. For Screen dropping resistors they typically are 3 Watt Units.      73's Pete N6QW K3IXU Circa 1960 Resistors Capacitors 10 5PF 22 10PF 33 33PF 47 22PF 51 47PF 56 68PF 68 100PF 82 150PF 100 220PF 150 330PF 220 470PF 330 560PF 470 680PF ...

Often an Afterthought! Boy could I add some statements following that one, but will limit your vivid imaginations to Cases and Enclosures. Here you stand after spending at times months building something only to find you lack a "box" to enclose your new Home-brew Rig. Al Fresco is cool but you have found this abandoned gas station and it is a prefect spot to work IOTA. (Island On the Air.) An empty gas filling location qualifies as an Island , or so you think.   This is where creativity has to get a huge shot of Adrenalin to challenge you to think out of the "box".    Even I am guilty of this, but hopefully have learned to first think about an enclosure (Step #1) and then let this guide how you build the project. Or alternatively you build a prototype get that working and then a second build for the box!    I have used this two unit method and since I build in modules often redeploy those original modules in other projects. Tri-Band SS HW101 ~ 1/2 Cubic Foot The...

This is 2024 and time to transition from "Ugly" to a more refined method of building stuff. The tools are here so why not use them? There is a certain charm and bravado to building rigs using the methods employed early on in our hobby. We all envision ourselves like "Arnie" (Schwarzenegger) storming a position holding an M-60 machine gun in our left hand while punching out a guy with our right hand. This is akin to using Manhattan glue down pads and a chunk of wood for a base.   But today we have at our disposal Surface Mount parts which are rapidly becoming the only parts  available. So time to man up and make the move to more current fabrication trends. Sure go ahead and make at least one Manhattan board so you can say been there and done that and then hang it on a wall as a piece of art to be admired.   Building stuff today has two components with the 1st being the parts themselves and the 2nd piece is the tools that we will use.   Surface mount parts are in ma...