Tag Archives: Amateur radio

The QRP Blowtorch Rides Again

Summer in the Northeast is the perfect embodiment of the 80 / 20 rule: we get 80 percent of our outdoor activities in during the 20 percent of the year when the weather is nice. We really are having a … Continue reading

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The other display.

Back in March, around the time I had received my SI5351 breakout board kit from EtherKit, I ordered a new Arduino board to use with it. I knew I would need some kind of display, but to date had not … Continue reading

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More software, less radio.

My recent foray into the world of software defined radio, the SI5351 based 3 Band VFO (3BVFO), has been a fun project so far, but I have to observe that since it is mostly software, it is mostly acting like … Continue reading

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Not a tube project, version 1.1

This is just a brief update to last week’s post about the 3 band VFO sketch for the Si5351 breakout board and Arduino. Software never stands still…. Working with Joel Caulkins, KB6QVI, who generously expressed an interest in the sketch … Continue reading

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Definitely not a tube project.

Lately I have been having lots of fun working on a variety of different bench projects, all involving very different technologies, switching between them as parts arrive and time allows. I have been experimenting with space charge tubes, with the … Continue reading

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Is there a pentode in the house?

I’ve had a little ham radio down time, as this relentless winter rewarded me with a late winter virus that laid me low for a few days. But, back on my feet and at the bench again, with some new … Continue reading

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Mysteries of the Triode Revealed.

Update: My understanding of inter-electrode capacitances was incorrect as described originally in this post, and I wanted to set the matter straight before I confuse someone else: The small inter-electrode capacitances in the tube present less and less reactance as … Continue reading

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Something Completely Different.

At the time I am writing this we may have enjoyed the last of a streak of really nasty winter weather here in the Northeast. Outside time has been generally unpleasant lately, and the inclination is to hunker down by … Continue reading

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Rosetta Stone.

Lately I’ve been scouring the Internet for web pages and circuits about tube regens. The more circuits I find, the more fascinated I become by these simple yet demonstrably effective receivers. There are definitely several “families” that these circuits fall … Continue reading

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Bet you can’t build just one.

After the building frenzy that resulted in the completion of the 40M WBR regen, I was left with another entirely functional WBR on Board #2. This one consisted of the beautiful AF Stage v2, hooked up to the funky but … Continue reading

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