QRP Book Video Review

Check this wonderful video review of 15 QRP books by Peter Parker, VK3YE.

I own a few of the titles mentioned and always on the lookout for others if the price is right. A few of the asking prices are way out of my reach, see below.

For instance:

Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur by Wes Hayward and Doug DeMaw is priced between $91.00 used or $300.00 new on Amazon. But you can pick up a new copy of Experimental Methods in RF Design for $30 and change, also at Amazon. The ARRL store price is $49.95.

Pays to shop around and save a few buck$.

Digital Clock Kits

Here is a very cool looking clock kit built into a Ice Tube I came across yesterday web surfing.

This kit is available from the Make store on sale for twenty dollars off at $65.00.
http://www.makershed.com/product_p/mkad16.htm

Velleman also offers a digital clock kit but not as sharp looking.

But with a price under $30.00 this might fit your budget.
http://j-tron.com/product/Digital_LED_Clock.html

This last digital clock kit I built was a Heathkit, must have been around 12-13 years old and it worked!

Might be time to build another just for the fun of it.

Cold Sunday Mornings

A few items on the to do list for a cloudy chilly 40 F degrees in New Jersey starting with taking a good inspection of my stealth antenna.

Before I even think of applying power to my transceiver using this antenna I always check the SWR with the MFJ-259B analyzer. Well the SWR reading was screaming at a very high reading telling me something is way off when a check was made last night. Almost sounds like a connection is broke, remember this is magnet wire with a air life of a few months at best with the storms, wind, and snow over the past few weeks. A good education guess is I do not have much faith in this antenna just yet.

If my day goes as planned, (which it never does) I have also been tinkering with a small QRP circuit on a wireless bread board. So far the circuit has passed the smoke test but not getting any RF readings at base or collector of the transistor. A few small adjustments might have to be made to get this circuit to oscillate correctly. It would help if I used the exact components listed on schematic, but that is part of the fun in experimenting.

One Transistor QRP Circuit





The sun just popped out for a minute or two, looks nice. Would love to get in the car and head to a scenic location and play radio, have not done yet this year. Just scrap my indoor activities and take off, decisions, decisions.

Yes experiencing cabin fever in February, how long until spring?

MFJ Cub Circuit Explanation

Came across this basic MFJ 40M Cub CW transceiver walk-through and circuit explanation video.
Even if your not building the MFJ rig, these same circuits are found in most of the small CW transceivers on the market.

Big fan of simple easy to follow type videos that gives the viewer an education and this one delivers.

Enjoy!

The man behind the telephone dial.

A nice New York Times article about John E. Karlin, the man behind making the telephone easier to use, passed away recently at 94 years old.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/business/john-e-karlin-who-led-the-way-to-all-digit-dialing-dies-at-94.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&adxnnl=1&smid=tw-nytimes&partner=rss&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1360458019-NV0XmaNHLExenVY47wz8bw

It's amazing the amount of inventions that came out of Bell Labs in New Jersey.

Nice Commercial

This commercial from last nights game gets my vote for #1.

Overall turned out to be a good close game.

Casting My Signal

Spent a nice relaxing afternoon in the family playroom with the Ten-Tec R4020 2 band QRP transceiver. Lots of listening to stations but no contacts, yet.

QRP radio remains me of a certain type of fishing. Certainly not bait fishing, that is to easy, I am talking fly fishing, which I enjoy in the warmer months. When you hook a fish on a fly its a wonderful feeling. Any fly fishers out there know exactly what I mean.

My guess is catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself on the vise is just like making a QRP contact with a home brewed rig. Almost had a nice catch I mean contact on 14.060 but another station powered in.

Still have some time to night to listen in and have some fun.

Big Superbowl night so I will tune in and see if its a close game, not a big football fan.

Enjoy your game wings!

Asteroid Flyby

This Asteroid Flyby caught my eye on the web this afternoon.

Glad its just a passing by on February 15th and not stopping for a visit.

Enjoy your Friday night!