A Real Transmitter

[K9ACT]

When I first got my "big rig" on the air, I proudly asked a friend how he liked my new homebrew transmitter.

I was crushed when he told me that as I was exciting it with a Ranger, it was not a transmitter, just a  Class C amplifier.

As a competent hombrewer with many very impressive transmitters and whose opinion I respected,  I decided to rise to his challenge.

The first and to my surprise, the easiest step was to build a speech amp so the audio was independent of the Ranger.  I then worked out the switching and cabling to be able to excite it with my Kenwood.  Very nice and convenient but hardly a homebrew exciter.

The next step was to build an exciter from scratch and I have posted some of the problems here and photos of the project on my web site.

I chose an 807 for sentimental reasons in spite of being told they are lousy tubes.  I insisted on a VFO in spite of dire warnings and selected the 6AG7 and Clapp as described in all handbooks.  For a buffer I chose the 6CL6 after learning that the 6AG7 was a metal tube and I want to see filaments.

Once I got into this, I decided that it really would add a great deal of fun to CW operating if I could use this homebrew instead of just another rice box.  This is where I got into trouble with chirp and even small amounts of drift and shift.  I also decided it had to work of 40 as well as 80.

That was a few months ago and I seem to overcome most of the hurdles.  This weekend I made a few CW contacts on 40 and 80 with good reports and really had fun re-living my Novice days.  Using the S40B made this feeling complete.  Not sure how I ever worked anyone without a VFO back then but that was part of the challenge.

 I then hooked it up to the big rig for a few tests and it seems to work fine.  The only problem is that I can only get about 12 Watts out of it which is not enough to drive the 8000 to the limit but I will work on that.

So, I now have a real homebrew "transmitter" in the true sense of the word.  I couldn’t wait to brag to my friend which I did yesterday on 3885 and he gave it his blessing.

Now what do I do?

Details at http://schmidling.com/radio.htm

Jack

 

[Rick K5IAR]

Way to go, Jack!  Keep'em glowin'!

Rick/K5IAR

[k4kyv]

I use a highly modified T-368 exciter as the vfo for all my rigs.  I still consider them homebrew, except of the Gates.  The other rigs have homebrew exciters and audio chain (except for the broadcast peak limiter I have in-line and mounted in the audio rack), and the HF-300 exciter will run stand-alone in crystal control mode.

The mods I did to the T-368 exciter were far more complex and required several times more custom rewiring and sheet metal work than what it would take to homebrew from scratch a simple VFO similar in design to a VF-1, Johnson 122, knightkit or any similar 50-60's vintage commercial vfo, or one cloned from a Radio or ARRL Handbook article.

Did your friend fabricate every audio and power transformer in his rig from bulk sheet metal?  Did he buy copper ingots and make his own wire?

Where exactly does one draw the line between "homebrew" and "commercial"?

And if you operate commercial equipment, where do you draw the line between being an appliance op and a "real" amateur?  Would making audio and other mods on your Ranger or other commercial rig be sufficient to take you out of the "appliance op" category?

[K9ACT]

>Did your friend fabricate every audio and power transformer in his rig from bulk sheet
metal?  Did he buy copper ingots and make his own wire?

In fact, we did have just such a discussion and the word "component" kept coming up.   

I think we can agree that if one takes a bunch of component parts (tubes, transistors, caps, resistors, transformers, sheet metal etc. and builds a "rig", however  you wish to define this, he has  "homebrewed" it.

On the other hand, audio buffs claim to "build" a system by interconnecting what they call "components".

Somewhere in between is the guy who takes a piece of commercial equipment and rebuilds, modifies, fixes, restores, or scavenges a few parts from it or completely redesigns it.

>Where exactly does one draw the line between "homebrew" and "commercial"?

As someone we all know and love once said, "that depends on your definition of is".

I will stick with my definition of "homebrew" but if you start with an existing piece of
equipment similar to what you wish to end up with, I think you need to use one of those other words or come up with a more suitable one.

>And if you operate commercial equipment, where do you draw the line between being an appliance op and a "real" amateur?  Would making audio and other mods on your Ranger or other commercial rig be sufficient to take you out of the "appliance op" category?

"Appliance operator" takes the concept to the extreme and unfortunately represents (guess) 95% of hams? these days.

One of the things that makes AMing so intoxicating is that it's simplicity allows more of us technically challenged types to expand our horizons and get into the gear and putz around making changes, fixing, barfing up and just plain having more fun than operating an appliance.

I guess we need a new word but the answer to your last question is most certainly, yes.  Not a homebrewer but a quantum leap above the appliance op.

Jack

 

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I think if you have it all in the same rack, it counts.  There are a number of old HB rigs at the Voice of Vermont, one of the big boys utilizes a pair of Millen exciters for separate 80 and 40m operation. They match the rest of the black wrinkle panels, fit in perfectly, and do exactly what Mr Millen intended when he designed and manufactured them.

Sure, if you want to claim a completely home-brewed system from the single component level, and the level of component is resistor, capacitor, transformer - okay. 'Entirely Scratch Built' might be a better description. Plenty of OTs used just this approach before commercial exciters were available or affordable. But I bet the bigger number out there today are like you and Don's set ups. Even the BC transmitter guys do this.

Seems more a case of semantics.

[K9ACT]

Seems more a case of semantics.

Here is another one for the wordsmiths.....

What do we call the guy who says he is running a hombrew bla bla bla but after a few rounds, it turns out he picked it up at a hamfest and it was plug and play?



js

[W9GT]

Homebrew is Homebrew!  Whether it is just a mod to an existing piece of gear or a complete transmitter or other device.  The key is simply getting into the equipment and building or changing something yourself.

I heard your "maiden voyage" QSO the other day Jack, and you sounded great here.  Congrats on completing your project.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[Steve W8TOW]

If I disassemble a rig completely then re-assemble it did I just successfully home brew
if?
I've seen some HB tx that I don't think I'd come within 10ft of  with out my will
drafted!
9ACT Jack, your new TX is top notch....I'd take other peoples definitions with a
grain of salt...you be a HBer to me!
73 steve
8tow

[k7yoo]

The key is do YOU like it. I wasn't aware that there were radio correctness police we have to please. The only thing that really matters is if the rig sounds good enough to not annoy the rest of us (it does) and you are having fun (It seems you are). 
I personally don't have the time for totally "scratch built" gear and usually look for a box or rig I can modify to suit my purposes. A lot of the time I try to incorporate modules that are well made and design them into projects. W9otn did a great job of rack mounting a Ranger and incorporating it into his VERY NICE homebrew. It looks professional and works well--I wouldn't even think of insulting Bruce by saying it really isn't homebrew. Why beat your head against the wall trying to build something you already own??
Skip

[K9ACT]

I heard your "maiden voyage" QSO the other day Jack, and you sounded great here.  Congrats on completing your project.

73,  Jack, W9GT

Thanks but it was suggestions and ideas from folks like you that made it work.  I still have the "half shield" on the 807 you suggested.  I haven't had the courage to take it off to see if it really helps and probably never will.

js

[Glenn NY4NC]

Nice transmitter Jack!!!!!,,,

Cool website as well..... just a quick mention,,, have you tried the beetle traps vs spraying? the wife and I bought one and it almost completely eliminated the little buggers!... 

[K9ACT]

Nice transmitter Jack!!!!!,,,

Cool website as well..... just a quick mention,,, have you tried the beetle traps vs spraying? the wife and I bought one and it almost completely eliminated the little buggers!... 

Thanks for the kind words.  Funny you should mention the beetle trap.  My wife said they are a bad idea because they just attract more from everywhere.  I say.... so what?  The idea is to kill as many as possible.

She came up with a bucket of soapy water into which we knock them on walks through the garden and vineyard.   We have filled several buckets with them and I see no change in the population.

I vote for the traps.  Any special type you like?

You can email me at k9act@schmidling.com to avoid the off-topic cops.

js

[KB2WIG]

                                 "   the beetle trap  "

The wife uses the scented traps... we empty them every week or so....  It has cut down on the damage to the crops--- parsley, sage, rosemary and ... tomatoes.

Years ago, the cemetary I worked at had a infestation problem w/ grubs ( japaneese beetles).   The infestation caused the lawn to be dug up by the wave of moles that came to eat beetles. Then the next door dog ( Pepper, a big lab) came over and dug to get at the moles. Tastey...  Mole bombs (mustard gas?) didnt work too well. We ended up having a chem co spray to kill the grubs.....   klc

[k4kyv]

I bought one of those Japanese beetle traps this spring.  I placed it about 50 ft from the vegetable garden, downwind.  It usually takes 4-5 days to fill a bag, but a couple of days back earlier in the summer a single bag would fill up in less than 24 hours.  I have not seen a single beetle on a vegetable plant this year.  Last year they were all over eating everything.  I can smell the perfume of the bait 30-40 ft away, and so far it has lasted all summer.

I recycle the bugs back into the veg garden as mulch.  When a bag fills, I tie it closed so the live ones can't escape and place it in the sun.  That usually kills the remaining live ones within an hour.  Then I take the bag, slit it open with a knife, and dump the dead bugs into the garden.  I have been dumping them in an area where I plan to till in a few weeks to sew some turnip green, collard green and Swiss chard seeds.

The bag of dead bugs smells about like any other dead animal, and probably amounts to about the same thing as a small dead rabbit.  I had never smelt any scent from dead bugs before and never thought much of it, but one dead bug is such a small amount of carrion that you just don't notice it. 

I think the smell of the dead beetles may be keeping deer and rabbits away.  I have had less trouble with critters gnawing at things in the garden this year.

The scent is noticeable in the garden, but not strong enough to keep me from working there.

Back to the topic...

I have been told more than once by old-timers, that back in the "good ol' days" before WW2 when commercial transmitters were very expensive, many of the hams on the air had someone else to build their rigs for them.