Saturday Evening Post

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer.

Seems like it went by in a blink of an eye. I am hoping for a nice crisp fall season. A few tent camping trips are in the planning stages for September and October.

Let me start by saying I usually enjoy the nightly news and like to stay informed of what is going on around the world. But lately it had been pretty hard to watch to say the least. Things are just a mess, plain and simple. Lets just hope the leaders can come together and find a peaceful solution.

I did pick up a useful, fun read from Amazon a few weeks ago.

The Prepper's Pocket Guide by Bernie Carr.

101 Easy Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For A Disaster.

This is truly a small pocket guide with 200 pages plus of great ideas and tips to get prepared for just about anything.

Chapters:

• Getting Started
• Financial Readiness
• Water Needs
• Food Supplies
• Ready Your Home
• Personal Health and Safety
• When the Power Is Out
• When You Have to Get Out

I am half way through it and so far it's well worth the ten dollars I spent. After spending close 8 days without power from hurricane Sandy a few years ago, its nice to have a plan in place.

Weekend evenings I have been enjoying listening across the shortwave bands, music talk, etc.
A nice way to relax.

Enjoy your weekend!

10 Free E Books

Just the perfect time for some new reading material with the cold weather outside here is 10 Free e-Books on Electronic Circuits.

Titles include:
Introduction Analysis of Electronic Circuits
Introduction to Electronic Circuit Design
Electronic Circuits
Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits
Electronic Devices and Circuits
Fundamentals of Electric Circuits
Introduction to Electric Circuits
Inverse Problems in Electric Circuits and Electromagnetics
Lessons In Electric Circuits, Volume I - DC
Lessons In Electric Circuits, Volume II - AC

Here is the source link:
http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=124581

Free stuff is always welcome!

Soldering Is Easy Comic Book

Here is a wonderful free online booklet showing the basics of soldering.

Soldering Is Easy

Soldering Is Easy
Here's How To Do It

This easy to read comic book format was put together by Jeff Keyzer, Mitch Altman, & Andie Nordgren.

A good read for the beginner and a few helpful tips for the rest of us.

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$.

Gonzo Gizmos Projects & Devices

Your local pubic Library is a great source for electronics and project books. Here is a cool book I picked up, Gonzo Gizmos Projects & Devices by Simon Quellen Field.

A look at the contents:

Magnetism
Electromagnetism
Electrochemistry
Radios
Thermodynamics
Light and Optics

The book has many interesting projects but what caught my eye was the Radio section. Crystal radios (always a favorite of mine) homemade capacitors, diodes, and radios made with just a few components.

The film cannons, laser communicator, and solar hot dog cooker are worth a look. The plastic hydrogen bomb will be a read only at this house. The book is written in a very down to earth easy format with tons of pictures.

One review from the back cover "Even the Professor from Gilligan's Island could learn a trick or two from Simon Field".

I find that less technical is a better read after a long day of work.

Just a fun read!

Armstrong's Circuit

In light of the complex circuitry employed in most of today's television's and stereos, Armstrong's superheterodyne circuit seems remarkably simple and essential. And the circuit has survived because of its economy. It does its job simply and elegantly. Today it forms the basis of the tuner found in virtually every radio and television, as well as in such other devices as radar detectors and police scanners.

Empire Of The Air
The Men Who Made Radio
By Tom Lewis

Crystal Sets To Sideband

I came across a helpful free online book by Frank Harris, K0IYE,

Crystals Sets To Sideband, A Guide to Building an Amateur Radio Station.

This book offers a great introduction into the world of home brewing with a simple easy to read format. I especially like his idea of picking up an ARRL Amateur Radio Handbook from the 1980's for the more do able projects. The newer editions have tougher projects that I have passed up on. The book link is listed below.

http://www.qsl.net/k3pd/book.html

Frank's station is also 100% home brewed!

A very nice read!!

Circuitbuilding For Dummies

I picked up Circuitbuilding For Dummies by H. Ward Silver at my local Library a few weeks ago. Overall a very useful book for the beginner or seasoned builder. This is the type of book where everytime you read it will pick up something new.

Table of Contents:

The Toolbox:

Basic tools, solderless breadboards, software tools.

Basic Techniques:

Metalworking, soldering, reading schematics.

Using a Solder less Breadboard:

Breadboarding an Audio Amplifier and Digital Timer.

Building a Printed Circuit Board:

Covers through-hole and surface mount boards.

Building a Prototype:

Building and constructing an audio level controller, audible alarm, and regulator.

Building from a Published Schematic:

Good info on Dead-Bug, Manhattan, and wire-wrap building.

Terminals and Connectors:

Crimp terminals, tools, and correct installation advise.

Wiring for Wireless Radio:

Covers coaxial connectors, type F, UHF, and BNC connectors.

Mastering Power:

Covers AC switches, fuseholders, and plugs.

Audio and Sensitive Connections:

Installing phono plugs and microphone connectors.

Meet the Test Equipment:

Voltmeters, testers, probes, scopes, all the good stuff.

Measurements That Test Your Circuit and Projects:

Ohm's Law, checking and testing transistors, measuring voltage, current, and resistance.

Who Let the Smoke Out?:

Trouble shooting and debugging basics. Diagnosing audio problems.

Maintaining Your Cool Stuff:

Maintaining your electronic equipment.

Getting a Charge Out of Batteries:

A overall good write up on battery basics.

Electronics in Motion:

All about mobile installations.

Getting Rid of Interference and Noise:

Dealing with interference and installing high-pass filters and chokes.

Ten Circuitbuilding Secrets:

A nice list of helpful ideas.

Ten Circuit First-Aid Techniques and Supplies:

Great hints and tips for the builder.

Tons more useful stuff in every chapter, I even like the listing to a distributor for hard to find items. In a future write up I add to the list of where to go for the hard to find stuff.

This is a great book to keep on the shelf within easy reach when working on a project and need to a quick refresher on using a scope or new idea. I plan to pick up a copy soon since I had to return this one.

Cuicuitbuilding For Dummies is a keeper.