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PuTTY riot
Nov 16, 2002
ic-7300 imho

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Sniep
Mar 28, 2004

All I needed was that fatty blunt...



King of Breakfast
i like physical buttons and am ok with taking more desk space to have a bigger unit with lots of dedicated controls on front panel

MullardEL34
Sep 30, 2008

Basking in the cathode glow
So, I've been working CW pretty regularly on the tech sections of the 80 and 40m bands using MRP40 to decode CW and key the transmitter. A side affect of this is that I've basically been subconsciously learning Morse without even realizing it, by hearing the TX key what I type. A paddle may be in my future.
http://www.polar-electric.com/Morse/MRP40-EN/
The Intel compute stick I've been using would actually probably be a pretty good computer option for Field day since it runs off of a 5V2a USB charger. Some good size monitors are running on 12-15v now so you could get good time running on SLA batteries and a Harbor Freight solar panel or two. It can handle decoding CW, RTTY, PSK31 and SSTV just fine. A cheap USB hub and USB sound card with a line level input is a must though. I know this seems like a lot of work but I've had bad experiences with laptops and PC's spewing RF hash. I bought an $80 Thermaltake ATX power supply last year that basically snowed everything from broadcast AM-100MHZ in my entire house. Opened it up and found that the entire RF suppression section was missing and jumpered over. My genuine Apple Macbook charger is almost as bad.


Jonny 290, Sorry you are having to deal with threats from a bunch of assholes. I can understand that answering this question could be giving out too much information but were the White supremacists Hams? Some of the poo poo I hear on HF makes the intense hatred some hams have for uncouth redneck CB'ers seem pretty loving hollow.

MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Nov 15, 2016

Jonny 290
May 5, 2005



[ASK] me about OS/2 Warp
I'm calmed down a real bit. My hobbies have shifted a little bit buying a pistol this week/end but i won't lie i havent ebayed all the rigs yet.

The suggestions to play digital stuff are pretty good and i might just pack up the microphones instead.

BONGHITZ
Jan 1, 1970

noo

spankmeister
Jun 15, 2008






Jonny got his gun

MullardEL34
Sep 30, 2008

Basking in the cathode glow

Freshwater Louie posted:

one of my relatives gave me moneys strictly for the intention of buying an amateur radio (i also inherited an old tube tester and a box full of canadian and american made NOS tubes heck yes)

all i have are qrp transceivers so i was thinking of picking up a base station

help me choose something for $1500 CAD gooooooooo

I know I'll probably be in the minority here, but old tube rigs are really loving fun to use. It's the radio equivalent of daily driving a classic car. All the contacts you make, especially the older guys who grew up using the same stuff, freak out when they find out that you're running a vintage rig. Plus, the electronic restoration they usually need (capacitors, drifting resistors, cosmetic restoration and cleaning) gets you a little more up close and personal with basic electronics theory, and makes you feel like you accomplished something that pulling a new Transceiver out of a box, plugging it in, and getting on air will never equal.
I also collect and repair vintage TV sets so I might just be a weirdo. YMMV.

MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Nov 15, 2016

atomicthumbs
Dec 26, 2010


We're in the business of extending man's senses.

MullardEL34 posted:

I know I'll probably be in the minority here, but old tube rigs are really loving fun to use. It's the radio equivalent of daily driving a classic car. All the contacts you make, especially the older guys who grew up using the same stuff, freak out when they find out that you're running a vintage rig. Plus, the electronic restoration they usually need (capacitors, drifting resistors, cosmetic restoration and cleaning) gets you a little more up close and personal with basic electronics theory, and makes you feel like you accomplished something that pulling a new Transceiver out of a box, plugging it in, and getting on air will never equal.
I also collect and repair vintage TV sets so I might just be a weirdo. YMMV.

I was living at my grandma's for the summer when I upgraded from Tech to Extra and she introduced me to a neighbor of hers who's a ham. he got a little choked up when he came over and saw the Drake twins sitting on my desk since it was basically the same as his first setup ever :3:

Captain Foo
May 11, 2004

we vibin'
we slidin'
we breathin'
we dyin'

spankmeister posted:

Jonny got his gun

Freshwater Louie
Jun 22, 2004

fffffffff
thanks for all the suggestions and they are all things i am actively looking into :toot:

that being said there is a local ham selling a pristine condition ic746 for cheap and i am kind of tempted to jump on iiiiit

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Freshwater Louie posted:

thanks for all the suggestions and they are all things i am actively looking into :toot:

that being said there is a local ham selling a pristine condition ic746 for cheap and i am kind of tempted to jump on iiiiit

any time a ham sells something used for less than $(MSRP - 10) it's a loving miracle so i say go for it if the price is appealing to you

MullardEL34
Sep 30, 2008

Basking in the cathode glow
HOLY poo poo.

I was tuning around 28.400-28.450 yesterday and heard a dude calling CQ. I responded. He replied to my call and mentioned his QTH as Gold Coast, Queensland. he faded out seconds later.
Australia?
Christ.

Jonny 290
May 5, 2005



[ASK] me about OS/2 Warp
that sounds like some trans-equatorial jam, hell yes. very nice

E-skip season is upon us. Keep an ear on 10 meters (and 6) if you have it. Remember there is a very active beacon band 28.200 to 28.300

spankmeister
Jun 15, 2008






I went to this place the other day: http://www.cryptomuseum.com and it was really awesome. They had a bunch of crypto machines like enigma ofc and a very rare russian Fialka.

But the radio stuff was also v. cool and interesting like spy radios and stuff.

One of the things the guide mentioned was that the nazis allowed hams to keep operating in Germany during war time, provided that theyade a full report each day on the propagation conditions of each band. They could then use this information to communicate more effectively.

Captain Foo
May 11, 2004

we vibin'
we slidin'
we breathin'
we dyin'

spankmeister posted:

I went to this place the other day: http://www.cryptomuseum.com and it was really awesome. They had a bunch of crypto machines like enigma ofc and a very rare russian Fialka.

But the radio stuff was also v. cool and interesting like spy radios and stuff.

One of the things the guide mentioned was that the nazis allowed hams to keep operating in Germany during war time, provided that theyade a full report each day on the propagation conditions of each band. They could then use this information to communicate more effectively.

I feel like this is timely information

Olivil
Jul 15, 2010

Wow I'd like to be as smart as a computer

spankmeister posted:

I went to this place the other day: http://www.cryptomuseum.com and it was really awesome. They had a bunch of crypto machines like enigma ofc and a very rare russian Fialka.

But the radio stuff was also v. cool and interesting like spy radios and stuff.

One of the things the guide mentioned was that the nazis allowed hams to keep operating in Germany during war time, provided that theyade a full report each day on the propagation conditions of each band. They could then use this information to communicate more effectively.

this really rekindled my desire for a Sony ICF-2001D

atomicthumbs
Dec 26, 2010


We're in the business of extending man's senses.
Yo I'm looking for people who want to take part in RADIO ART next thursday (a week from today). I'm gonna be doing it in the morning (after 9 AM Pacific) and the evening (after 6 PM Pacific).

Requirements: computer hooked up to radio, microphone.

Basically I'll send a number of pictures via fax or SSTV. Fax can be received with fldigi, sstv with mmsstv or whatever. After you receive each image, you'll describe what you see. My class will be watching/listening on my end in the morning, and whoever arrives at the exhibition and wanders up to the roofwill be there in the evening.

It will be on 20m and I'll be transmitting from San Francisco with ~100-150w, so brits and finns need not apply (sorry)

atomicthumbs fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Dec 1, 2016

Freshwater Louie
Jun 22, 2004

fffffffff
ahahahahahaha

the ham radio deluxe software suite has been under attack in the past two days. long story short, the software was phoning home to check and verify if the callsign is valid and/or blacklisted. if the check returned blacklisted, you would be prevented from using the software (unless you changed your callsign, whoops)

if you posted a bad review on eham, welp, turns out you were probably blacklisted by an apparently easily exploitable and bypassable telnet check

and welp



Freshwater Louie
Jun 22, 2004

fffffffff
oh and this got found out all because the owners of hrd decided to blackmail a user during a support ticket (that was documented) into removing his bad review before they would remove him from the blacklist

Progressive JPEG
Feb 19, 2003

that's pretty ham handed!

grilldos
Mar 27, 2004

BUST A LOAF
IN THIS
YEAST CONFECTION
Grimey Drawer
Not ham, but a fun radio thing: http://radio.garden/

Jonny 290
May 5, 2005



[ASK] me about OS/2 Warp
radio.garden owns and i've been screaming for years that HRD is hot garbage

spankmeister
Jun 15, 2008






grilldos posted:

Not ham, but a fun radio thing: http://radio.garden/

This loving owns.


We need this, but with WebSDR's all over the world.

Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

ordered one of these yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSk2mY6ZwMw

gotta call for a quote on the antenna I picked out (after I get someone else to double check the choice)

oscillator arrives next Tuesday then I get to wire up the power sources for it :getin:

Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

also I'm not gonna give myself brain cancer by fiddling with a 50mW 10GHz radio am i

brand engager
Mar 23, 2011

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

also I'm not gonna give myself brain cancer by fiddling with a 50mW 10GHz radio am i

Different kind of radiation. I think that's less power than a cell phone puts out so you should be fine even if you rub your balls on the antenna.

Progressive JPEG
Feb 19, 2003

What do you mean if??

Sniep
Mar 28, 2004

All I needed was that fatty blunt...



King of Breakfast
rumors of a version refresh for the yaesu all band all mode QRP radio made me hit the gas on making sure i have new stock of the current old version that works



+high stability TCXO
+collins SSB filter

battery pack in the back of pic will have a voltage converter inline to drop the 16.7v charged 4S lipo pack down to 13.8

just gettin ready for the end of the world yanno

Jonny 290
May 5, 2005



[ASK] me about OS/2 Warp
^^ such an ill setup, i love it

Updates: Have installed a 100 foot ladder-line doublet, 125feet to the feed. Playing nicely. Even tunes on 75! Keeping ladder line taut but a foot from any metal is a pain in the rear end when you're surrounded by chain link and live in an all-metal building

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord
i miss my yaesu mobile setup, i think it was a FT-2900R. now I just have a couple cheapo chinese handhelds, I know one of them is a wouxun that I plug into a mag antenna to listen to in the car

jonny i hate u for making me care about this dumb hobby again

manero
Jan 30, 2006

Jonny 290 posted:

^^ such an ill setup, i love it

Updates: Have installed a 100 foot ladder-line doublet, 125feet to the feed. Playing nicely. Even tunes on 75! Keeping ladder line taut but a foot from any metal is a pain in the rear end when you're surrounded by chain link and live in an all-metal building

Will ladderline work OK if just run along the ground? I've got a similar length run, around my house, through a buried PVC conduit, to the only spot I can string up wire in my yard. I could also probably not run it through PVC if that helps.

I keep wanting to get an ATU and just feed a 40m or 80m doublet with ladderline instead of dinking around with this fan dipole.

Jonny 290
May 5, 2005



[ASK] me about OS/2 Warp
Negatory. Sadly it needs a bit of free air around it for pretty much the whole run. I've got it tensioned between trees and stuff, and salvaged some old wooden fence posts to keep it away from the chain link.

If you wanna do a non-resonant doublet and bury the feed, my suggestion is to get a run of siamesed (2 runs side by side) of RG6 75-ohm coax. Connect the shields together at both ends, connect the shield to ground at one end. Then just use the center conductors like you would any other parallel feedline; impedance will be 150 ohms and RG6 has pretty low loss. Wouldnt run 500 watts through it, but barefoot is fine.

atomicthumbs
Dec 26, 2010


We're in the business of extending man's senses.
someone dropped this off for recycling and i grabbed it. is it any good

Count Thrashula
Jun 1, 2003

Peak Performance.

Buglord

atomicthumbs posted:

someone dropped this off for recycling and i grabbed it. is it any good



Holy poo poo

Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

got my X-band VCO up and running, doing some power consumption testing so I can strap some batteries to it next. on wednesday I'll hook it up to a spectrum analyzer to make sure the output is what I expect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGNaxBKaWAk

I'll be attaching this antenna to it eventually

Sniep
Mar 28, 2004

All I needed was that fatty blunt...



King of Breakfast

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

got my X-band VCO up and running, doing some power consumption testing so I can strap some batteries to it next. on wednesday I'll hook it up to a spectrum analyzer to make sure the output is what I expect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGNaxBKaWAk

I'll be attaching this antenna to it eventually

neat.. what's it going to be?

---------

also I got my 817 bag all set up and wired - two giant gently caress off LiPos seem to work great so far - knocked one of the pair down 20% last night after like 4 hours of broadcast radio reception





Seems good so far - Portable rig is go.

grilldos
Mar 27, 2004

BUST A LOAF
IN THIS
YEAST CONFECTION
Grimey Drawer
Is that an SRH77CA converted to BNC? Is that better than just an RH77CA? Because either the RH77CA I bought and stuck on my 817 is a lil worse than the SMA version, or the 817 tunes worse than an FT-60r.

Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

Sniep posted:

neat.. what's it going to be?
part of my senior design project doing some X band attenuation stuffs

Sniep
Mar 28, 2004

All I needed was that fatty blunt...



King of Breakfast

grilldos posted:

Is that an SRH77CA converted to BNC? Is that better than just an RH77CA? Because either the RH77CA I bought and stuck on my 817 is a lil worse than the SMA version, or the 817 tunes worse than an FT-60r.

i have a RH77CA as well, no, this is the +50mhz one, SRH940, which doesnt have a BNC version

i also noticed that the RH77CA's loading coil was different than the SRH77CA which i've used for ever and ever, but havent had any performance complaints yet. I just stick with the SRH940 tho thus far.

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longview
Dec 25, 2006

heh.

longview posted:

it's a beautiful thing



replaced a ton of capacitors and now it works well enough to self calibrate. i've ordered more replacements and now intend to fully recap this thing once they get here.

here's the brochure, if anyone's interested:
http://www.avionteq.com/Document/Wavetek-4015-Specification-Sheet.PDF

quoting myself for an update:
i got kind of tired with this thing since it's a little annoying to debug the RF boards (can't just use a VMEbus extender to access them) so i built an audio amp for a few months instead.
basically it stopped self calibrating properly and would only do it at a very specific temperature

pulled the RF board last sunday and did a little more fiddling with my previous best guess, the automatic levelling circuit for the 20 MHz calibration signal (a filtered and accurately levelled version of the internal reference that can be switched into the receiver).
response wasn't super great, since it's an integrator controlling PINs i just replaced the output resistor with a trimmer and hooked a signal generator up to the enable line and tuned it by looking at the step response

after doing that it will self calibrate as long as it's been powered up for about 30 minutes or more. i added trimmer on the reference voltage to tune the level reference (tuning this directly affects the power sensitivity, normally an automatic test station would calibrate it and store the value in an on board EEPROM)

my suspicion now is the FM modulation circuitry in the synthesizer; the synth locks at all frequencies just fine so there's nothing wrong with it, but it is the last thing i haven't adjusted.

i believe it self tests and calibrates the FM receiver circuitry (on the demodulation board, where it flags a fault) by tuning the 20 MHz ref and modulating the local oscillator (since the effect is basically the same). the modulation circuitry is all on the synthesizer board.
if the 20 MHz cal signal was jumping around in amplitude or not settling fast enough that could affect the margins on that type of test, so i think that's why tuning it for a faster response has improved things

this board is the only one in the entire unit that has self test LEDs, this actually helps a lot since i can see what PLLs are being tuned around where the test fails

i did use it today though, i have a couple of Icom IC-F110s that needed adjustment and just a bit of checking after i modded in the optional aux cable. there's some fun to be had making custom jig cable harnesses just for testing radios; i even wired up the PTT inputs to the stabilock GPIO port on the back and set it up to auto-switch between TX/RX when i changed modes on the tester.
other than the PLL lock voltage check i can do every calibration operation using this one instrument and one wiring harness.

the IC-F110 is not a particularly great FM rig as it turns out, the modulator is fine i guess (it can't do D-Star since the PLL loop filter cuts out frequencies below 70 Hz). typical 1% THD on transmit with the modulator input. my fluke 6060b generator using the internal 1kHz reaches 0.2%
receiver never got below 2% THD on the filtered AF and the discriminator by itself has around 8-15% THD at 1 kHz AF, at that level of distortion it's plainly visible on a scope.
the mic input also has a giant boost right at 2.5 kHz before dropping off a cliff and sloppy high pass filtering for the subtones which gives it a nice tinny sound

there's also some nice features built in like automatic squelch level + hysteresis measurement, using that along with the automatic SNR-tuner (tunes the power level to reach a given SINAD or SNR ratio) i got the squelch set just right.

another special feature is the automatic IF bandwidth calculator, which suggest that the IF filters seem to be about 500 Hz off, unfortunately that's not an adjustable component.

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