SolderSmoke is all about homebrew electronics. Bill Meara and Pete Juliano get together to discuss radio projects and to share "tribal knowledge" about how to succeed when melting solder. The podcast has been in operation since 2006, making it one of the longest-running electronics podcasts. We try to have fun, and we try to foster a sense of global community among our listeners. In style and tone it is a bit like "Car Talk." We also have a blog called The SolderSmoke Daily News.
Homebrew ham radio, QRP, Single Sideband, Double Sideband, Amateur Radio, SolderSmoke, CW, boatanchor radio, vintage radio, antennas, amplifiers, oscillators, DDS, SDR, analog radio... By Bill N2CQR. These videos are associated with the SolderSmoke podcast: www.soldersmoke.com See also the Soldersmoke Blog: soldersmoke.blogspot.com/ Become a SolderSmoke Patron: patreon.com/SolderSmoke
Ashhar, Absolutely correct the IMD is typically developed at an extremely low level most likely at the very first part of the Transmitter driver preamp. This is very common knowledge in the Broadcast Transmitters, Seldom is the IMD product part of the PA Stage.
Dean, if your ATTiny is not returning valid data in an isolated test set up, maybe check data types in script for a data casting error. -1 is all bits set in a signed variable. The I2C address and baud rate must be good otherwise you would get no connection. Other than that do you have a replacement ATTiny? You could flash it with a test script to validate the GPIOs are working. Good luck!
Thanks Paul. Its not a data type error - at least not in the user code. There may be a problem in either the board manager or the version of the WIRE protocol it uses. There are multiple versions of each an not clear what Farhan used. See the latest blog post for more details including the source code: kk4das.blogspot.com/2024/07/homebrew-sbitrx-rtc-and-power-meter.html
@@kk4das122 Champion! Wire comes with the IDE, I can't see how to validate your Wire library version as it does not appear on the Library manager list. Presume you could just update your IDE (and hope that the Wire that comes with is is bug free) but if you are already on current release, best to use a 3rd party lib as you've done, there sure are enough to choose from. The idea of placing an ATTiny on the SWR bridge is neat, most designs bring Vfwd and Vref DC lines from the sampler straight into the MCU, using up two digital IOs. Having the 2 word data come back over I2C is better.
@@Paul_VK3HN The Wire library is included in the board package - so it is a problem with the AtTinyCore board package. Since the ATTINY is not an official Arduino we rely on third parties to provide the board manager package. I believe I have the lastes version of the board package. In any case the alternate library works so I am going to stop chasing this one. Yes - its a clever design - the ATTINY just handles the ADC and hands off the data when requested.
At-tiny hang a scope on the i2c output and see what it is doing. If you have a scope with an I2C decoder function that makes things much easier . Levels and pull ups would be my first look see, mainly because I've been caught out out so many times. :-) especially on interrupt pins when I should know better. Andy
Surprisingly better than I expected. Once I knew it worked I took out the plastic cube variable capacitors and imstalled aluminum fin type stolen from old radios. I also added fine tuning by placing a small variable in parallel with the gross tuning cap. This turned out to be a hair puller because the receiver crapped out. It turned out the cap had a dead short. Once that was found its back as before. Its not the fanciest design but one that works none the less and easy to explore the signal paths.
You should buy, or build a metal detector (Induction pulse) metal detector and go metal detecting. You might find something interesting. That is a location with a lot of history.
we need more 6m and 2m ssb hardware out there we are working on a 2m/6m radio based on this the issue is the rf ouput for each band but the idea of 2 rf output circuts should clear a issue
Wow, that rocket launch was amazing. I just listened to the podcast where you mentioned this rocket, of course it was 12 years later. This was almost like time travel. The only time I launched a rocket was back in school in the early 1990’s. No camera, and much smaller.
@@RogierYou No,not really. But as in CW, slash or slant seems to confuse some ops. On phone this is especially a problem when signals are weak, when there is a language barrier, and when the previous syllable was 7. Portable seems to clarify things. 73 Bill HI7/N2CQR.
Mine has gone through multiple changes of LP filters, and several changes of FETs. I have two IRF510s in there now. I never used the RF sensing T/R circuitry -- real hams do their own T-R switching! 73 Bill
To change frequency use a LC tank circuit and diode varactor capacitor with a 10 turn vernier potentiometer with built in turns counter to tune by changing the reverse bias dc voltage of the varactor diode. Much smaller than a variable air capacitor or a variable permeability tuning coil. Works well for me ! 😇
Bill, thanks for posting your video, I can clearly see the layout of your regen now. That is what I needed to get started on building my version of this receiver. 73 OM
My Grandpa had a S-38 receiver just like that. My brother had it restored from a member of his club. Knowing all of the knowledge that I know now from the SolderSmoke podcast, I may have to inspect his work!
The S-38E has a sad optimism about it, like a rescue puppy or Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. It knows how close it was to being thrown into outer darkness (the landfill) and its gratitude shows.
Hey Bill, looking good! Question - what percentage of night time there will allow for sky gazing? And, being so close to the eastern end of the island does KP4 land usually take the brunt of any westward moving big storms and take the "heat" off of the Dominican Republic? Enjoy your time in the southern CP! 73 - Dino KLØS
Dino: I talked about the astronomy stuff on the blog. As for the hurricanes, direct hits are pretty rare here. PR to the East may help, but I remember when this good fortune was attributed to the supposedly supernatural powers of a certain (now deceased) Dominican President. 73 Bill
Very, very cool!!!!, I have only been licensed about 11months,(did the foundation intermediate then full within a few weeks of each other, best thing I ever done!!)i love your videos, I'm designing and building all my own gear, I've got a really cool "ammo tin lunch box"to build a portable HF rig in, I'll send you a photo when it's done, anyway thanks for keeping the homebrew art alive and especially for promoting it!!, you're a legend!!73s from the UK -scott M0KJZ
A very cozy yet bright shack. In addition to the Starlink, what other antennas do/will you have on the roof? From that high and open vantage point, I'll bet a mag-loop would work very well on that outside balcony--with a remotely-controlled vacuum capacitor (or even a high-voltage air variable) to tune it. Having to tune it every-few KHz is a PITA, but OTOH it serves as its own (very narrow) BPF. --K7TFC
Thanks for posting these conversational videos. They were interesting, fun and imparted a lot of knowledge. Thanks all for taking the time to make them, especially as your time with Farhan must be limited. 👍 73 G0ACE
I have wanted to use JS8 because of its advanced tracking (when I'm traveling in very remote places). Look up KD6XU and see where he is with tracking. That is JS8 ! With my 7300 I'm far more worried about the lack of balance in certain mixers and no way to adjust out the carrier. Maybe I'm guilty of using a microscope there ?
