My first ham radio gear

Got to thinking about how I got started in ham radio and remembered the gear my Dad, somehow, obtained for me. Thinking back on it now, the gear he got me was really amazing! I'm pretty sure he got the transmitter, a crystal-controlled Heathkit DX-40 CW rig, at the local Lafayette radio store. The thing could put out 60w or so.

I think I had two JAN crystals, one for 40m and one for 15m! The rig had a hole on the right side where the crystals were inserted. I remember how great it was when I got two more crystals. Now I could actually switch frequencies on one band!

Those were the days... Anyway, I went over to RigPix and they had a photo of the Healthkit DX-40 in all its gray glory! Although I don't recall that my rig had an indicator light like this one does, this rig was built like a tank.

My antenna was a long wire that ran out the window frame and across the back yard to this old, unused phone pole that was probably on our neighbor's property. Any, as I recall it did a pretty credible job for me and was practically invisible to our neighbors because it was so small.

On the receiver side, my Dad, somehow, got hold of a Hallicrafters SX-130 shortwave receiver, a triple conversion superhet with some pretty slick filtering capabilities (at least for a 13 year old kid new to ham radio)! I actually still have it, although the plastic slide switch for selecting AM/SSB has cracked and no longer works. Tuning was a bit of a chore since you had to set one dial to calibrate the tuner for a specific band. The other dial handled fine tuning. Very simple set up.

Plus, this baby has a full complement of tubes and everything. Weighs a ton too. Nice. Here's an excellent picture from RigPix, 

                                   

I wish I knew how my Dad got this radio. Probably one of his IBM ham buddies. 

Thanks Dad for the unforgettable memories and getting me started in this great hobby!

Stealth antenna and feedline

Where's the antenna? That's the point. You can't see it!
The design is a modified version of KR1ST's stealth HF coat
hangar antenna. Running QRP with an ICOM IC-706MKII
I've worked stations in Hawaii, New York, Texas and Chicago
from my humble QTH in Moscow, ID in the shadow of mighty
mile-high Moscow Mountain.

Even standing in front of the house on the sidewalk it's
virtually invisible. The 100 foot dipole is there, however, running
just beneath the second floor gutter.

As for the feedline, if you look very carefully you can see
the spacers on the open wire feedline. They appear as short
horizontal lines against the side of the dark green trim to the
left of the long window on the house.

The 100-foot dipole antenna and feedline

are actually two continuous lengths of #14

wire. The antenna is wrapped around most

of the house about 20 feet up.

The feedine itself is about 20 feet long, beginning

just below the gutter near the roof and continuing

down the side of the house to the garage.

This view shows the feedline (note horizontal 

open wire spacers) as it runs downs the front 

of the house and jogs in to where the it enters 

the garage where my shack is located.

Look very carefully again to see how the

feedline turns to run into the external wall

of the garage.

Here is a view of the open wire feedline

coming into the garage and my shack.

Note how it attaches to a balun fed by 

RG-8X coax to the transceiver.

This view shows my TenTec 1340 QRP 

kit rig (black box in lower left of the photo).

Homebrew station ground ready for action.

Devised a ground system for my shack based on a design from the 2009

ARRL Handbook. Total cost: under $20.

A 2-foot, half-inch copper pipe and stainless steel hose clamps allow
connections to multiple pieces of station gear.

External view shows where tinned ground braid exits

the garage wall and connects to a 6-foot ground rod.

Inside view shows ground braid running inside the station several 

inches from the garage floor and up to the 2-foot, half-inch copper pipe.

Braid is connected to the pipe using a stainless steel hose clamp.

View also shows ground braids running down from gear above and
attaching to copper pipe.

Detail showing connecting of external ground
braid connecting to copper pipe and connection
for equipment ground.

Applying fixes to my Ten-Tec 1340

I added a 1N4001 diode to the power supply circuit to prevent (future) problems in case a power supply is hooked up with reverse polarity. I wish I would have taken the advice of K7QO when I was building the kit! Doing so would have prevented all the problems I'm trying to resolve right now. Live and learn. 


I also replaced a blown Op-Amp (thanks, Mouser). Still may need to fix a few other components as the keying stage is still not functioning properly. May have to replace the other two transistors there, I have them, but am touching base with Ten-Tec to confirm whether I should. 


Can't wait to return to the air!

A long-overdue update

Completed construction of the Ten-Tec 40m XCVR. Ran into a few minor issues so the rig is still not on the air. Need to replace an op-amp, do some final testing and tuning then it's time for some serious QRP fun! Major shout out to Garry at Ten-Tec who was invaluable helping me troubleshoot several technical issues.

Also - finally got an outdoor (stealth) antenna in place. Built a variation of KR1ST's stealthy HF coat hangar antenna. My version does not include the coat hangar, but it is identical to KR1ST's otherwise. Works great and can barely been seen, even from the sidewalk in front of the house.

Far superior to anything I had indoors, even up in the attic. Excellent east-west propagation.  It literally wraps tightly around the second storey of my home. Ideally I should add stand-off's to keep the antenna off the house, which is covered with "concrete" siding. Feedline comes into the garage then into a balun with a coax feed to the rig.

Still plan to build either the KX1 or NorCal 40 for my next project.

New tool + Receiver Mixer Stage completed

Here's an updated shot of the circuit board showing the receiver mixer stage work (middle left).

Circuit board is held by my new PanaVise 333 (thanks, Hon!).  What a huge improvement over the wimpy Radio Shack third hand tool! Soldering and inspection work is pleasure now instead of being tedious and frustrating.

Now I can leave the circuit board in the PanaVise for soldering and inspection since the PanaVise allows 360 degree rotation, simplifying inspection and trimming. It also saves a lot of time and effort.

Using the PanaVise avoids damaging circuit board edges since the circuit board is gently held in place along grooves in the holding arms. 

In contrast, the teeth on the Radio Shack third hand tool alligator clips damaged the circuit board surface. 

Plus, once components are installed along the edge of the circuit board, there is little to no room for attaching the third hand clips. Not a good situation.

Lastly, the base of the Radio Shack tool is simply too light and shallow to provide sufficient counter-balance and weight while performing soldering and inspection operations. The PanaVise is one of the best tools I own for electronic kit building! Well worth its $65 price tag on Amazon.

Next up: Installation of the 4-pole crystal filter along with the 11 MHz IF Amp.

After that, it's on to the BFO and audio amp sections of the kit.

Transmit mixer and 7 MHz filter circuit

Transmit mixer and 7 MHz filter circuit components successfully
installed and tested. Located on left side of circuit board. Only
had one problem in this section. After a bit of trouble-shooting
I discovered I had installed a wrong capacitor. Removed it,
installed the right one and all worked well.

Next up: The receiver section. No testing after this section,
so installation must be perfect.

VFO construction

I've finally resumed construction on my TenTec 1340 QRP kit.  The photos here show completed work on the VFO section.

Once again I am indebted to K7QO for his very valuable step by step photo guide to building this rig. I referred to his guide numerous times to verify correct component placement and selection when the supplied documentation fell a bit short.

Photo below shows the setup for VFO testing. After creating and then fixing an inadvertent solder bridge in the late stages of this section I was a little worried I might have more repair work on my hands. But after I hooked the PC board and the ICOM to my power supply, powered up, tuned the ICOM to 4 Mhz, and tuned the VFO a bit I heard the sweet sound of success! A clear tone from 1340 right where it should it have been.

Next, I need to adjust the toroid coil to set the frequency range.

Ten-Tec 1340: Phase 1 construction

I completed phase of the the 7 construction phases for the Ten-Tec 1340. It took several hours. Fortunately my soldering technique was fine. Finished work shows shiny solder and good wicking. I must say the kit documentation continues to be problematic as it sometimes fails to provide good direction in terms of component installation.

I was really glad to have the "third hand" tool as it made soldering significantly easier, not to mention that having a good magnifier makes soldering and checking my work much easier.

Won't be able to move on to phase 2 until I have the power supply and DMM. In the meantime, I'm reading sections of the ARRL handbook on antennas, propagation and transmission lines. Great stuff!

First impressions on the Ten-Tec 1340

The kit arrived in perfect shape. I spent last evening (4 Dec 9) reviewing the documentation. Although I'm confident I'll be able to build this kit I have to say that the documentation, graphics and other supplemental information is disappointing. There are errors and misspellings throughout the manual and often the graphics are so muddy that it can be difficult to make out part numbers. Even the inserts that claim to be corrections to the existing manual have errors. So, it's a bit difficult to have confidence in what Ten-Tec says.

All that aside, I read through the entire manual, made notes and highlighted potential problem areas or sections of the kit building process that require a bit more care.

I realize I really can't build this kit without a real power supply (as opposed to the motorcycle battery I currently use to power the Icom). So, last night I ordered a Jetstream JTPS28 13.8 V power supply from Universal Radio in Ohio.

I'm guessing it will take a week or so to get here.

In the meantime I still need to possibly obtain a DMM. I do have an analog meter but am not sure it will suffice.

I plan to take some time to prepare my work area, get parts sorted out and labeled as needed and make sure I have everything I need to get started. I plan to take the month of December to build the radio, so, no hurry.

I'm really looking forward to this and can't wait to take it out for a spin early next year.

Now that I've seen what Ten-Tec provides in a kit I a bit more basis for comparison for the next kit.

Ten-Tec 1340 kit arrived

The kit arrived on 2 December 2009 along with a free copy of the 2009 ARRL Handbook. I'm hoping to get started this weekend. Still need a DMM but will probably pick one up in the next few weeks.

After building a Heathkit HW-9 many years ago I'm aware of the need to go slow and get it right the first time. I was fortunate to have had a ham friend (now SK) back then who was able to trouble-shoot my finished HW-9 to get it working. I had soldered some components without observing correct polarity and had several solder bridges as well.

This time my plan is to take my time and use K7QO's assembly guide along the way too supplement Ten-Tec's construction manual.

On another note, I had my first opportunity to participate as an FCC Volunteer Examiner on Tuesday evening at the University of Idaho. There were 7 folks taking exams (1 for upgrade and 6 for first-time Technician licenses). All passed, including a couple in their 60's! They had all completed a study course with Harvey Howard, N7SIF from the Palouse Hills Amateur Radio Club in Moscow, ID.

3-element 2 meter quad takes shape

A view of the partially assembled 2 meter quad. Construction is all hardwood which presented advantages and disadvantages. Advantages: light weight, inexpensive, easy to cut and drill.

Disadvantages: tendency to warp, need to weather-proof for outside use.

In future, I think I would opt for all-PVC construction.

Wood was purchased at a local hardware store for about USD $15.

This view shows detail of method used to join the end of the 12-gage stranded wire used for the elements. This is a simple male-female connector crimped on to the ends of the wire. It slides together and apart. One alternative: use crimp-on closed loops that can be joined with a soldered-on jumper, allowing for easier length adjustments.

This view shows the nearly-completed 3-element quad on the floor of my "shack." Look closely to see how the twist and bend of the boom has caused the elements to be out of alignment. Not sure yet how this will impact antenna performance.

This view shows how the elements are wired. Instructions called for making slits in the ends of the spreaders, adjusting the depth of the slit to accommodate the wire. I chose to drill a series of 3 holes instead.

Here is a view detailing how the spreaders mount through the boom. I drilled half-inch holes, slipped the dowels through, centered them, then used small wood screws to affix the spreaders to the boom to limit slipping. Note how the mounting holes for the spreaders are drilled on either side of the line which represents the center of the wire for that element. I chose to use screws instead of glue so I could take the antenna apart as necessary.

Next steps: attach mast and feedline, and devise a method to mount the antenna on my porch that will raise it above the roof line.

My next antenna project

A 2 meter 3 element direct coax-fed quad. Here are all the
pieces...now to build it.

Ten-Tec 1340

I've decided to build a Ten-Tec 1340 QRP xcvr. Looks like a great kit that should be a good way for me to get back into kit building at a level where I can brush up my skills and challenge myself as well. Kit costs about $12o USD plus, Ten-Tec includes a free 2009 ARRL handbook, which I need anyway so that just sweetened the deal for me.

I chose the 1340 because 40m is such a reliable band for propagation even during the current sunspot minimum.

Ten-Tec's site has an amazing, free 330-page PDF provided by Chuck Adams, K7QO. Chuck's manual takes builders step-by-step through the process with excellent photos and insights to help you avoid making rookie mistakes along the way. Thanks, Chuck!

Not sure when UPS ground shipping will get the kit from Tennessee to Idaho but I'm hoping it will be no more than a few weeks.

Till then, Im studying K7QO's manual.

40m opening today

1130Z: No 20m propagation this morning but there was light DX activity on 40m. Heard JA8BM and K2IX (NC).

Motorcycle battery is really inadequate for my station operation. Run time is just a couple hours, much less if transmitting, even at QRP. Time to upgrade to a power supply and keep a deep cycle battery for emergency.

Excellent 20m propagation today

Just a few days ago a new sunspot was announced and it already appears to be making its presence felt on 20m. Today from 2200-2300Z I heard strong CW signals from the following stations from my QTH in Moscow, ID:

• JH9FNB (Ishiwaka, Japan)
• JH8SLS (Sapporo, Japan)
• RW0CR (Khabarousk, Russia)
• K9KA (Tennessee)
• K2VV (Missouri)
• K3ZM (Virginia)

The antenna was a simple wire dipole lying mostly on the floor (not stretched straight) of my 2nd storey attic with the RG8X feedline center point at about 25 feet.

By 2300Z the band dropped out. Later, at about 0300Z November 1, propagation remained poor.

I plan to try again Nov 1 around 1200Z.

Going stealth

Decided to move antennas (well, at least HF antennas) up into the attic. Climbed up there this past weekend and started installing the thinwall 15m dipole as an inverted vee.

When I was outside on the porch testing the dipole install, my new neighbor was outside and thought I was about to install a privacy curtain between our houses! I guess he thought the dipole was the curtain mounting hardware. I assured him it was nothing like that, just an amateur radio antenna. He thought it was pretty cool.

So, the two legs are now mounted to the rafters. I've ordered some coax and a low-power balun. Once those arrive I'll be back on the air. There is room for other antennas, but it's tricky moving around since there are no floor boards.

If nothing else, the antenna is mounted 10 feet higher. Can't wait to see if this improves things.

Thinwall conduit dipole installation

Here's a view of my Lew McCoy 15m dipole installed just beneath the
overhang of the 2nd storey porch.

Still need to add strain relief for the PVC stand-offs.

Then it's time to connect the current balun and RG-8X feedline.

Then off to the aether!

15m antenna project

I've been looking for a suitable low-band antenna to mount outdoors in
limited space I decided to construct a modified version of Lew
McCoy's "one-element" 15m dipole. His antenna is intended to be
rotated, but I'm not quite ready for that yet.

So in the meantime I'm building a fixed version that will mount near
the roof-line of my second-storey porch.

This is a very low-cost project which will end up costing under $20
(not including a balun and RG-8X feedline).

The photo shows the main components:
- Thin-wall electrical conduit
- #12 solid copper wire
- 3/4 inch dia. PVC "T" connectors

The primary advantage with this antenna: its low profile. But I'm
adding a significant modification because I need to make the design
even more low-profile by making it possible to reduce the length of
each leg by half so it becomes almost invisible from the street.

The idea is to be able to remove 5' of each leg when not using the
antenna (for me that means daytime).

I'll add photos once I get it mounted. Still need coax and not sure if
I'll build or buy the balun.

New antenna material

Stopped in at Lowe's in Spokane on Sunday and picked up 4, 10 ft lengths of thin-wall electrical conduit for constructing new antennas. So cheap! I plan to make a 20m resonant dipole and a 2m beam or dipole. Need a few more tools to make it possible, like a vise to flatten the ends of the conduit so I can drill holes to connect the coax.

May need to add a small inductor to cancel capacitance created by connecting the feed-line to the conduit.

I may be able to mount these outdoors on the second floor porch. That would be a welcome change from the current indoor antennas. More later.