Posted: 10/4/2013 4:31:14 PM EDT
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So I took a night off from work(without pay) to take my Extra exam.
Two weeks of study, 1-2 hours a night on hamtestonline. Luckily the "investment" payed off, and I knocked it out of the park! 
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Congrats! HTO rocks, I used it to get my Extra so I wouldn't have any worries. Now get back to work and fix my T1. Dispatch and prove to the output of the NI, I know my equipment is good!  lol I'll clear the service through the C.O., then we can send it to OSP to prove the circuit good to the NIU.
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Thanks! I guess now would be a good time to actually buy my first transceiver. :-) Quoted:
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Outstanding! Enjoy the extra spectrum! Thanks! I guess now would be a good time to actually buy my first transceiver. :-) I had my Extra before I bought a radio too, lol. Congrats on passing the test. 
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Thanks ya'll! 
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Well done sir. You do realize that you have to build a Tuna Tin II. It's a requirement. Buried somewhere in the FCC regs ... know I saw it there somewhere. Thank you for mentioning this! Part of the reason my interest in radio was renewed was a desire to tinker with electronics again. Heck, I'm even considering going back to school (at 42 no less) and getting an E.E. degree. I'm feeling like a dunce for not taking advantage of my company's free tuition program. 
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Thank you for mentioning this! Part of the reason my interest in radio was renewed was a desire to tinker with electronics again. Heck, I'm even considering going back to school (at 42 no less) and getting an E.E. degree. I'm feeling like a dunce for not taking advantage of my company's free tuition program. Quoted:
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You do realize that you have to build a Tuna Tin II. It's a requirement. Buried somewhere in the FCC regs ... know I saw it there somewhere. Thank you for mentioning this! Part of the reason my interest in radio was renewed was a desire to tinker with electronics again. Heck, I'm even considering going back to school (at 42 no less) and getting an E.E. degree. I'm feeling like a dunce for not taking advantage of my company's free tuition program. I really want to homebrew my own rig. One or two bands. CW. With enough power to be practical. And because it's me it needs to be tube based. Got a rough idea of what I want to do in my head and some basic circuits to build on. First step will be the AF amp. Circuit is done and working on the PCB design where the passive components will live. For hollow state circuits I highly recommend getting this new release. Hollow State Design by Grason Evans. http://www.lulu.com/shop/grayson-evans/hollow-state-design/paperback/product-20987562.html Then dig around the 'net for circuit ideas. For solid state find anything from Doug DeMaw W1FB (SK). His bare bones superhet is a classic receiver. Poke around in the dark corners of the 'net to see what the homebrewers are doing. Buzz now for example is building a VFO using a $5 on fleabay AD9850 DDS chip and board. Add a buffer and plug it into those rockbound rigs. Whole thing is cheaper than a single crystal these days. Slightly off topic. An engineer friend of mine needs a proper clock for his desk. Built this a couple weeks ago as a gift. http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=80 Took a month to get the tubes from Modolva. |
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I really want to homebrew my own rig. One or two bands. CW. With enough power to be practical. And because it's me it needs to be tube based. Got a rough idea of what I want to do in my head and some basic circuits to build on. First step will be the AF amp. Circuit is done and working on the PCB design where the passive components will live. Quoted:
I really want to homebrew my own rig. One or two bands. CW. With enough power to be practical. And because it's me it needs to be tube based. Got a rough idea of what I want to do in my head and some basic circuits to build on. First step will be the AF amp. Circuit is done and working on the PCB design where the passive components will live. It sounds interesting just as a reintroduction to doing this sort of thing. I haven't homebrewed anything for 18 years. :) The end goal is building my own rig, but I'll work my way back to that level slowly. For hollow state circuits I highly recommend getting this new release. Hollow State Design by Grason Evans. http://www.lulu.com/shop/grayson-evans/hollow-state-design/paperback/product-20987562.html Then dig around the 'net for circuit ideas.
For solid state find anything from Doug DeMaw W1FB (SK). His bare bones superhet is a classic receiver. Poke around in the dark corners of the 'net to see what the homebrewers are doing. Buzz now for example is building a VFO using a $5 on fleabay AD9850 DDS chip and board. Add a buffer and plug it into those rockbound rigs. Whole thing is cheaper than a single crystal these days. Thanks for the heads up, bookmarking Doug DeMaw's books now. Slightly off topic. An engineer friend of mine needs a proper clock for his desk. Built this a couple weeks ago as a gift. http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=80 Took a month to get the tubes from Modolva.
That's awesome! I had a very similar kit bookmarked myself. :) Nixie Clock Kits I'm partial to the IN14 6 tube kit. |
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I really want to homebrew my own rig. One or two bands. CW. With enough power to be practical. And because it's me it needs to be tube based. Got a rough idea of what I want to do in my head and some basic circuits to build on. First step will be the AF amp. Circuit is done and working on the PCB design where the passive components will live... Look around for designs using the 6C4/5763 tube combination. With 350 volts on the plate, you'll get about 7 or 8 watts output, plenty for lots of fun on 80 and 40. I used a 6AH6 in place of the 6C4 because it's easier on modern crystals. They're not as rugged as the old quartz slab rocks of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. AF4K has a good supply of crystals for glowbug rigs. You can even get them in FT-243 holders if you're really serious about going retro. |
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Look around for designs using the 6C4/5763 tube combination. With 350 volts on the plate, you'll get about 7 or 8 watts output, plenty for lots of fun on 80 and 40. I used a 6AH6 in place of the 6C4 because it's easier on modern crystals. They're not as rugged as the old quartz slab rocks of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. AF4K has a good supply of crystals for glowbug rigs. You can even get them in FT-243 holders if you're really serious about going retro. To see a top shelf implementation of mostly hollow state with a touch of solid state see what AB8IF cooked up. |
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To see a top shelf implementation of mostly hollow state with a touch of solid state see what AB8IF cooked up. That's not a transmitter. That is a work of art! Love the classic 807 Final. I built a 6AG7/807 rig back in the late '50s, and it was the bane of all TV sets within a three block radius. The VHF parasitics that tube was capable of were phenomenal. I replaced it with a 6146 and all was well, except for one neighbor's Dumont TV with 21 MHz IF stages. Incidentally, on that 6C4/5763 rig, a 6C4 operating as a driver with input and output on the same band can be very difficult to keep from going into self oscillation. It's more stable as a doubler or buffer. A screen grid tube (6AK6 or 6AH6) is much easier to tame. www.tubesandmore.com is where I usually get my tubes, if I can't find them in the junque box. |
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I don't know if it's been posted here before, but I ran across a link that I thought you tube guys might find interesting. I ran across it a while ago after seeing a documentary about glass artists blowing custom glass for old tube equipment.
http://tubecrafter.com/index.html |