WDØDXD

I had heard about it, but was hoping I would get lucky or they had fixed it.  Today, my 746Pro just quit transmitting.

It sits behind me and I mostly am doing JT-65 or PSK and just click and transmit.  Well this morning I tried making a couple of JT-65 contacts and couldn’t raise anyone.  I thought it was odd, but I had to get some work done and just moved on.

Later in the afternoon, I tried again to make some contacts.  This time still no go, so I turned around and looked at the 746Pro and no power out.  I checked my settings and every thing seemed correct.  So I moved up the band and tried to key it in AM mode, still nothing.

So I have to get it out of the cabinate and I suppose I will have to send it in.  I know I could fix it myself, but I just don’t have time to mess with it.  I also want this to be one of my reliable rigs, so I better do it right.

Let you know what I find out.

I have been following the 3D printer arena for a little over a year.  In some ways it reminds me a lot of the “good ol days” of Amateur Radio.  A person has an idea, and all they have to do is spend a little time on the personal computer and render a drawing.  Then move the file over to the printer and in a few minutes viola, you have a working piece.

That version didn’t work, make a few adjustments and reprint.  For those of you that aren’t familar with 3D Printing, take a look at the following video for a really good example of what you can do with a 3D printer:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7h09dTVkdw

The video shows a more expensive commercial unit, but If you want to build your own, take a look at http://reprap.org for a place to start.

Keep an eye on my blog for some Amateur Radio Related products made with 3D Printing.

I finally decided to get Amateur Radio plates for my pickup.  I have been holding off trying to decide if I wanted to get a vanity call sign.  I just couldn’t come up with anything that sounded good.

I even thought about going back to the first call sign that was issued to me back in 1978, WDØDXD.  Just didn’t seem like it was worth it to go and change everything.  So a couple of weeks ago I finally sent the form in to get the plates made.

I received a letter from the State of Nebraska saying my app was approved and that the plates would be at the courthouse after May 16th.  We had one of the first slow days at the business in a couple of years today, so I thought I would give them a call to see if they had come in early.  Sure enough they had them.  So I ran down and picked them up.

Now I really have to be careful driving.

Again for the Hallicrafters fans.  This is a follow-up to the previous post.

I am alway amazed at what we were able to accomplish prosecuting the war.  I often wonder if we would still be able to do that today.  I hope we don’t have to find out.

I sure am glad the transistor came along.  That is one packed panel van. My guess you got to now your partner pretty good.

 

Another one of my new favorite tools to use in the Ham Shack.  The Helping Magnifier.  If you have ever had to  solder crimp connectors on to a cable or hold a circuit board vertically to desolder a connection, this is the tool for you.

I purchased mine over a year ago from Harbor Freight, Item #00319.  I know I have seen them at other hardware stores, so they shouldn’t be hard to find.  I have resisted the “I need a magnifying glass” for a long time, but at my age I finally had to succumb to the need for addtional help.  So I finally got it out of the package a few days ago and I really don’t know how I did with out it.

If you are a Hallicrafters fan here is a video from WWII promoting their contribution to the war effort.  I noted in a previous post that listening to my Uncle’s Hallicrafters S-38 is what got me interested in Amateur Radio.  My next project is going to be restoring that old S-38 in his memory.

Thanks to http://www.archive.org.  You can view a lot more videos, audio and texts at their website.

The “Widow Maker” step.  No I am kidding about that, but their are a lot of components to install in this phase and placement is critical.  NØJRJ has a video up on it and he had to remove and reinstall a whole line of capacitors.  Luckily I headed his warning and triple checked my placement.

After I completed the first part of this phase, I went to do the testing of IC2B and ran into problems.  I ended up wasting half a day on a silly mistake.  You see I started this back in January and got busy and set it aside.  Well there is a mod that you have to do on the 160m band pass filter on this version of the board.  You cut a trace and then solder in a jumper.  All well and good, but I cut the trace back in January and didn’t solder on the jumper.  This gave some weird voltage readings, but with the help of Bruce KF1Z I as able to find the mode and put the jumper on and all is well.

 

Then I went on to solder the inductors and capacitors in.  Again make sure to check the BOM for all the components.  there are a couple of capacitors not listed on the pictures on the website.  I am missing one capacitor for the 80m band pass filter, but I was assured by Bruce that I could continue on until I got the part.

 

So until Phase 8 here’s to happy soldering!

I have been working on the Genesis G59 build for a little over a week again.  One of the new skills I have had to try and master is soldering SMD parts to the circuit board.  I have gotten a lot better, but like everything it takes practice, practice and more practice.

 

When started to solder the microscopic capacitors, I found the most of the time I would lay them on the board and hit them with a little solder and they would stand up vertically.  So after a little research here is what I am doing.

 

I will put a small dab of solder on one of the pads and the use a pair of angled needle nose pliers and hold the capacitor to the of the pad.  Then I will heat the solder back up and slide the capacitor into the solder.  Remove the heat and let the solder cool.  Then solder the other side.

It works with surface mount IC’s also.  It gives you a chance to position the IC so it is lined up correctly.  Then heat the pad and melt the solder and let it flow under the pin of the device.

Sparkfun has a SMD soldering tutorial here that you can watch.

Happy soldering!

KF5JSJ has created a new app for the Android.  This is a project for an Android phone that takes pictures and broadcasts the phone GPS coordinates using the amateur radioAPRS infrastructure. He is using it as a backup tracker for a high altitude balloon project but it can be used for a couple things such as setting in one place and storing time lapse photos, or keeping track of where the phone is graphically on a map.

Take a look at his project here

This is my new favorite new tool I use in the Ham Shack.  Good close up vision left me behind a few years ago.  So now when I am try to read those small capacitors or check on my poor soldering work I need help.

I have one of those Jeweler monocles and a lighted bench magnifying glass, but I found this works best.  I picked it up at Radio Shack, but I am sure you can get them at Walmart or the big box stores.

I like the fact that this one has a light built into it.  I need to upgrade the lighting in my office/shack, too many shadows.