Home-brew vs. Home-built ... what's the difference?

[W1VD]

During an AM QSO on 40 meters last night, the issue of home-brew vs. home-built came up. In this particular case it was in reference to a 'store bought' CCI solid state amplifier kit and low pass filter assemblies that the owner assembled into his own enclosure. He added his own power supply and relay switching of the low pass filters that tracked the band selected by the Flex 1500. His questions was, does this constitute home-brew or is it home-built?

Seems the terms are often used interchangeably. It's obvious that a new design and build from the ground up would qualify as home-brew ... as well as home-built. A straight kit build would seemingly fall into the home-built category. What about when you build a copy of someone else's design? Is that home-brew or home-built? If you use some different parts or make 'enough' changes does it then fall into the 'brew' category? 

Not a big deal in the overall scheme of things ... all home-brewing/home-building is good.     

     

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Things slow in CT 

[WA1GFZ]

Well as long as you have to think things out and drill some holes it is still homebrew. Just the size of the building blocks change. I don't make my own I.C.s. But a rice box is a rice box.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Kit = Home built,  scratch built from plans (your own or someone elses) = Home brew

Your Design, built out of your junk box/improvised parts, and works first time out = Master Chief Home brewer

[WD8BIL]

So he homebuilt an amplifier kit and homebrewed the switching!

[K1JJ]

Leave it to Rob to get us thinking....

I've often wondered what to call my 24 pill class E PDM rig.  Is it a kit or homebrew or a "homebrew kit"?  I notice most guys just call theirs' "homebrew", but are they?

For example, an Electrocraft has all the PC boards supplied - with ALL parts - and is clearly a kit.  However, the class E rig has most boards supplied with parts, but is missing things like the cabinet, chassis, PDM filters, RF devices and tank components, power supplies, VFO, external switches, etc.  Where is the line drawn?    Is there a certain percentage of time or parts needed to swing it one way or the other? With some rigs it can be a pretty gray area.

Maybe a better term for a class E rig is, "hybrid homebrew" or "homebuilt homebrew".  

In my case, I just call it "Rico Suave" ....  

T

[WA1GFZ]

Ask yourself, can you repair it if it blows up.

[w3jn]

Homebrew:



Homebuilt:

[The Slab Bacon]

scratch built from plans (your own or someone elses) = Home brew
Your Design, built out of your junk box/improvised parts, and works first time out = Master Chief Home brewer

Been there, done that, on many occasions....................

[vincent]

Homemade "cavatelli" using a home-built "cavatelli maker"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDvF_uhWWfY

[steve_qix]

Hmmmmm......interesting topic.  There is no way I would call a Heathkit home-built.  Home assembled but not home-built.  I mean, really, it's a complete kit and they tell you where to put everything and you don't do much of any creative thinking at all  

There is home-assembled, home-built, home-designed, home-implemented, etc.

The terms home-brew and home-built seem, in the common vernacular of ham radio, to be more or less synonymous among most people with whom I speak, and who use the term.  I hear home-brew used to describe what is mostly a home implementation, and I hear home-built used by people to describe transmitters that they pretty much designed themselves.  I suppose I use this term myself, and I designed every circuit in the rig!

I would think if you build a class E rig, and happen to use my boards in the project, you still have to do a LOT of improvisional work on your own; there is PLENTY of thinking involved and lots of creativity needed.  It's definitely home-built and certainly a unique implementation.  Substantial portions of it may be your own design.  The class E boards just save the builder time.

Same if you build Tom's 813 design.  You as the builder have to do a LOT of field design work on your own.  All of the implementations are different.

Anyway, that's what I think.  If you add a lot of value and/or creative work to an existing design, it's home-built.  If you actually design it, it's home-designed and home-built.  Most rigs that are "home-built" (or home-brew) that I've encountered are a combination of an existing design with some amount of individual design work involved as part of the implementation.

Sometimes the "individual" design portion is good and sometimes not so good  

[The Slab Bacon]

Homemade "cavatelli" using a home-built "cavatelli maker"

I haven't had cavatelli in years, that stuff looks good! ! ! !

[The Slab Bacon]

there is a HUGE difference between home assembled (griefkit) stuff and true home brew!! No comparison.

With Griefkit stuff, all of the hard work is allready done for you - - - - The chassis layout work! ! And furthermore, they publish instructions exactly how to assemble it.
(and some folks still cant get them right)

With true homebrew you design the circuit on paper, then you have to figger out where all of the parts want to live BEFORE you start drilling and blasting. I have worn out many sharpies and used up countless bottles of alcohol cleaning the ink back off and starting over again till you finally get everything where it wants to live.
It really makes for some head scratching and gets the creative juices flowing. Just simple stuff like the orientation of the tube sockets so all of the bottom connector pins are facing the right direction for ease of hook up can take alot of time and thinking.

Home brewing from scratch is a lot of fun, just not for the faint at heart. It really seperates the men from the boys! ! ! !

[The Slab Bacon]

Here is some more, these are from my 4X1 transmitter

[K1JJ]

Yep, it's not hard to spot "homebrew"  vs: "home assembled kit" in the pics...


Pic #1:  Rico Suave, 24 pill class E PDM rig  - QIX design.

Pic #2 : Fabio, class C 4X1, plate modulated by  pair of tetrode-connected 4X1's.

Pic #3:  WA1GFZ-designed  MOSFET audio driver for 4X1 modulators with heavy audio negative feedback.

[Opcom]

Your Design, built out of your junk box/improvised parts, and works first time out = Master Chief Home brewer

I want to quote that.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Your Design, built out of your junk box/improvised parts, and works first time out = Master Chief Home brewer

I want to quote that.

Feel free,  No copy right intended

[WA1GFZ]

Why is it people who have no clue of solid state bad mouth it.

[kg8lb]

  Even the lowly regarded (around here anyhow) Heathkit may modded and reworked at pretty high levels. Building a kit shows more initiative than pulling a slop bucket rig out of a box and piping into a store bought amp.

  BTW, Slab Bacon, were all the rigs you show built by the same person ? The first group and the second look miles apart.

  Some people who have a good grasp of solid state still poke fun at it. Why are some folks so thin skinned (?) is the real question.

[The Slab Bacon]

   BTW, Slab Bacon, were all the rigs you show built by the same person ? The first group and the second look miles apart.

Yes, me,
       They are the exciter / modulator deck, and final from my 4 x 1 rig. The exciter / modulator used a brand new chassis pan, the final used a used steel chassis pan (black wrinkle) wrapped with a piece of aluminum skin. the top pix of the second group is the driver which is inside of the box on the exciter deck.

The final is completely shielded. (some shielding removed for pix) Steve took those pix before it was finished.

That rig was an experiment that worked so well that I am still using it 10 years later!!

[kg8lb]

 Just wondering. The methods and materials employed look quite different. Sometimes the shop equipment is a huge determining factor.

[KC2ZFA]

Hey Slab, how many modulators are on that exciter chassis ?

[The Slab Bacon]

Just wondering. The methods and materials employed look quite different. Sometimes the shop equipment is a huge determining factor.

Other than the exciter chassis pan, all of the aluminum was recycled from the scrap box at work. that includes the rack panels which I cut from old 1/8" thick revolving door ceiling panels.........................


The "shop equipment" was a drill, a jigsaw, and a file!!

Also the circuitry is all out of my head, I have yet to pen down a skizmatic for it except for the basic modulation scheem to share it with others.

[The Slab Bacon]

Hey Slab, how many modulators are on that exciter chassis ?

the 2 5933s (807Ws) are the screen regulator cathode followers (parallel) and the pair of 2E26s are the modders. 

[KC2ZFA]

the 2 5933s (807Ws) are the screen regulator cathode followers (parallel) and the pair of 2E26s are the modders. 

that's for the 4x1, right ?

what do you use as a vfo ?

Also, please check you still have that 40" rack...I'm planning a trip !