KB3OYZ here...

I have, amongst other things, a president lincoln 10m rig. Several years back, it started acting up, then it started acting up more, and finally was unusable for xmit (receive was always good, still seems to be...)

Last time, I went thru the tech ref alignment procedure, but everything ws spot on, or just a HAIR adjustment of the coil can to get the reading perfect, most were freq measurements.

That was on the main board, all was well. On one of the last steps, this time on the PLL and CPU board... one DC V measurement was seriously low by several volts... I had to almopst max out adjustment on the coil can to bring it back into spec. I finished the aignment procedure, and went BACK thru tyh alignment again, and all was perfect. Closed the lid, and it worked fine after that.

It acted up again a couple years ago, and I put it away. Had gotten a ICOM 718, but it kind of shat the bed, so... now i drag this sick cat back out of the woods. I anticipated going thru the alignment procedure again, to the same effect. Surprise, surprise... I started at the PLL bard again, as that was the problem last time. NONE of the freq readings are good. And worse yet, I cant drag them back into alignment by coil can adjustments!!

Heck, that voltage reading that was the problem last time, is the ONLY thing in spec on that board, LMAO. ANyhoo, my freq counter says 27.100 Mhz when I key up AM unmodulated carrier on 28.000 Mhz.

Staring at the block diagram of the PLL board for divine inspiration, I cannot for the LIFE of me figure out whats connected to all those cans, much less what could be spreading like a virus thru th PLL bard, LMAO. I am watching my patient get progressively worse, lol.

I wrap a test lead around the antenna on a handheld freq counter to take readings, I know thats not lab spec, but, its what I have, you know? inductive readings like that have always worked in the past for me... anyways, I alligator clamp on onto the can thats around the 10.2xx Xtal, and my counter gets a FIRM lock on 10.2xx, like dead nuts.

When I do the same thing on the 22Mh Xtal... I get 21.xxx, and its not a firm lock, its hopping and dancing around like a, well, its just dancing around all thru the 21's, never hitting 22 Mhz.

I was noticing that the 22Mhz Xtal is dancing around about 1Mhz low, AND the 28.000 Mhz AM unmodulated carrier is about 27.1 Mhz...

... and I dont believe in coincidences, eh? I cant flip the PLL board up while its runnign to get a real reading on the suspect Xtal, but, is inductively sniffing it like I am doing good enough to suspect its the problem? The OTHER Xtal gives a firm lock with teh same test.

ANyone who knows more than me care to comment on my hypothesis that resoldering the suspect 22Mhz Xtal will fix it?

I just cant figure why Rx seems okay when the Tx is that far off frew... unless that Xtal only gets mixed for Tx and not Rx...

Hi. My call is KB3OYZ, I originally signed up here before I became a HAM, so I am just using the existing username.

Since my ICOM HF transceiver "shat the bed" a few years ago... I have been putting off getting another HF set. I like the oldschool notion of homebrewing. I am thinking about playing with a TRAM XL-5 11m 23-channel transceiver someone gave me... it looks "minty" and its SSB model.

Looking up the crystal mixing it uses, it has a simple A+B+C xtal freq generation schema. one crystal is constant (I think of it as the reference xtal, even if that isnt its right name, lol) Every channel has its own xtal... the other xtal's are one per "bank" of 4 channels.

Doing some quick calculations, as a+b+c is a very simple algorithm... I am THINKING that just changing that ONE "reference xtal" common to all 23 channels would be the best one to change. The "magic figure" to put me on 28.3 to 28.5 is just above 9Mhz... I was able to find a digikey xtals that are "close".

One is 9Mhz, a hair low, but useable... the other is a tad above my "magic figure" XTAL, but again useable.

Note: the USB and LSB offsets, as well as Tx/Rx offsets are entirely contained in other parts of the circuitry.

Questions:
can I change just the main "reference xtal" and get the intended effect like I think I can?

while I know what a xtal DOES, I am ignorant of knowing exactly what xtals to buy. There seems to be uF rated crystals, series xtals... I was thinking about getting BOTH crystals (60 cents apiece, lol) and switching them, kind of a "low band/hi band" setup to cover all of 28.3 to 28.5)

other than changing the "ref xtal" common to all channels to effect my freq move... I was plannign on unlocking the clarifier and expanding its range to allow me to cover all freq's in the sets intended range.

I plan on watching my freq counter, and clarifying to final position using the clarifier like a "mini VFO" after spinning the channel selector to get me close to frequency of interest.

I figure re-peaking the appropriate coil cans would be the last step after conversion of xtal and tending to the clarifier. (sorry for calling the clarifier a clarifier, instead of RIT/XIT, lol)

I just thought it would be a fairly easy straightforward conversion homebrew, and give me a certain deal of satisfaction I cant get from just buying another HF "appliance"

"They work just like spoof emails and will ask you to sign in to view the auction. eBay will never ask you to sign in to view an auction on eBay.com."


for the MOST part, this is true... but...

when you try to look at an "adult section" product, they WILL require you to "sign in". SO... if youre looking to buy a "marital aid" for you and the wife to enjoy one night, dont freak out when you have to provide a "sign in" to view it the first time each session of youre browser.

I still find it hard to believe someone hasnt made a program yet that lets you use youre computer for audio and audio "tailoring"

I'm not talking chicken band "noise toys" here, but i occasionally  use my voice for something, and know from audio mixing experience i have to drop my pitch several semitones or so. A pinch of 'verb, just a pinch mind you, really rounds it out.

I have a little bit of a nasally, annoying voice, LMAO

for someone who does audio programming in windows, it would really be a simple task, i think. I just want to talk in the computer, hear my voice on the speakers, and grab a few active-x audio goodies to play with till i get it "sounding" right.

heck, the compression could be done right there at the same time.

this seems so natural to me, i just cant believe its not already done yet. I mean, I have all this audio engineering/mixing software, but its all geared to recording THEN mixing... this should be real time, and the bit-quality of the effects need not be high for just real time voice.

I was on the 11M band monday night, and around 11:00  or 11:30, I was stepping thru the chicken band in 10k steps. Normally, I go thru by the channels, but i was on a rig I had just fixed and wanted to test it out. (shrugs)

anyway, when i hit 27.045, i could have SWORN I heard code. Very "mechanical" sounding, yet code none the less. SInce no one was on to talk to, I kept coming back to it, in boredom.

after a half hour to an hour of this, it dawned on me somewhere along the line I wasnt on a "channel", I was hearing this on the RC channel 27.045 (actually centered a tad below that...). Most odd, i thought.

I eventually got a tape recorder and a cassette tape out, which was no small feat since everything is CD's today... hard to find in the junk room. I set it to record the code, and went out for a snack. I got back an hour later, but all was quiet. I listened to my tape, but aggravatingly only got about a minute of it before it QUIT.

there isnt supposed to BE any code or data streams ON the RC channel(s).

Iposted on another forum, and a guy responded and said "you mean you just now heard it? Its been going on for several years, and it originates outside the united states." Also happens on 27.155, he said.

I tried playing the tape into my morse to text program on the computer, and wasnt getting anywhere, i dont know how to use the thing yet. I decided to get a better shot at it by cleaning the audio file up digitally with my multitracking equipment, but i RE-learned why that old boom box was in the juk room... I forgot it eats tapes! SO the tapes dead now.

Question: anyone else ever heard it? Anyone know where it comes from? Anyone ever decode any of it successfully? Just curious. I'm gonna keep an ear out for it and i can see i have to buy a new cassette recorder for this project.

I am in southwestern Pennsylvania. If it IS originating outside the US, someone's stomping out a decent signal, based on what i was getting.

I wonder what it is? Anyone know?

PS - post-'82 U.S. PENNIES (Zinc...) you can melt in a small metal shovel or piece of metal "end cap" with a small "handle" metal rod welded on for a handle... over a hot fire. you just MELT the pennies, and "skim" off the "crap" (dross...) with a fork then pour it in a moist clay form..... see the special recipe for "casting sand" on the link I gave you, and you can make zinc heatsinks or even aluminum heatsinks real cheap.

two things...

1) dont burn yourself. If ONE DROP of sweat, oil, or water, and i really mean ONE DROP, hits a hot melt of molten metal, it SPATTERS over a wide area. Dress appropriately and wear eye protection. Borrow a friends welding outfit and youll be fine.

2) don't "huff" the fumes of unknown metals. Now dont get all nuts on me, a few times a year wont kill you... just dont go melting batteries or weird alloys in an enclosed area. This is one of those OUTSIDE hobbies, lmao....

If I have a free day, i love to hit the JUNKYARD, woohoo! pick a free day and have fun, make sure its one of those "you pull it" places. in addition to the piles of junk cars, theres always piles of old stereos and TV's and computers and copy machines... AND several piles of "industrial stuff". Some of those weird power supply's and such have big heat sinks on them! when i find somethign i think i can use ONE DAY or even trade for somethign i DO want, i yank it.

expect to pay whatever "scrap price" for that type of metal is, plus a little bit extra. Not much...

you could find some huge heat sink on something, and cut pieces off it when you need it.

ANOTHER tack to take would be casting aluminum. Befor eyou FREAK at the prospect, do a google search on backyard metal casting. Its not THAT bad, and aluminum lelts at a reasonable low temperature. You have to mix some special sand, and get used to casting, then you will have aluminum heatsinks coming outof youre ears.

you would make a "mock up" of pieces of plastic and cardboard, what have you, and make an impression in the casting sand, and pour molten aluminum in it, and "voila"

a standard heatsink is just a flat square or rectangular chunk of aluminum, with fins. Its not design engineering wizardry. A piece of particle board cut to size, with some thick fins duct taped on it, pressed into the casting sand, will yield spectacular results.

you can make a "melting pot" out of a couple of coffee cans, for chrissakes. aluminum melts at a low temperature. Ive casted zinc in my woodburner, lmao.

the following link will de-mystify this for you, and you can see how easy and cheap it can be:

http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com

any size, any shape, aluminum heat sink youre heart desires, for the price of "scrap" aluminum, or even FREE if you scrounge a pile of aluminum, and just dont "turn it in".

ok, thanks. I figured there had to be more to it than the simplistic way they presented the basic idea. this sounds more like a method geared towards, for example, dealing with a noisy lne transformer or persistent interference source.

I was thinking more along the lines of removing the static and background noise.

I know with my digital audio mixing, I like the digital noise reduction. Basically, you sample the noise at a quiet (no signal) point of the audio file you are cleaning up, the longer the silent period (just line noise), the better. Then, you save that analyzed sample, then can have it removed in the whole clip. works pretty good once you get used to playing with the settings.

I thought this might be a way to do almost the same thing. I know when i remove 2 units of static on a 50-unit peaks audio signal, the main signal goes down the 2 units, but the overall clarity is much better.

oh well, never hurts to ask. Thanks again for the better explanation.

73

on one of the myriad ham sites i landed on that have homebrew plans or just ideas, this one always stood out.

The basic premise was to take a short, stubby antenna. Deliberately way too short to be of use on youre band youre using. Its only use was to be long enough to pick up the local noise. It should pick up the same local noise the big antenna does.

then, there was no circuit, just the idea to combine this noise sample with the original receiving antenn'a signal, but completely out of phase.

the net result was to cancel out the noise. They noted this should drop regular rceived signals "strength" slightly, but that the signal to noise ratio would be higher, the true net gain.

My background is in digital electronics, so to ME, inverting a 1 to a 0, or a 0 to a 1, involves a simple discrete component made for it. for analog, I was at a loss.

The only thing i am coming up with, is using two identical high quality op amps, not in the same package to reduce crosstalk. Run the different antennas signals thru the op amps on opposing outputs. One output side of the op amp inverts, no? Both at unity gain, obviously. then combine them.

I was wondering what practical circuit details i would be missing. Obviously, the stub noise sampling antenna would be switched off for transmit.

Oh no!

Poor grammar, and an egregious error at that!

what, are you stupid or something? Whats wrong with you? So ironic too, as youre lambasting me about spelling and grammar.

Quote:

"You are rude one! " What is that exactly, are you imitating the speech patterns of the "hollywood KGB guys" in the bond films? Now, that doesn't reflect too well on you're education. Errors are not to be tolerated.

(shakes head sadly)

I'm sorry, I shouldn't take the bait, sometimes I cant resist. Its like being surrounded by english teachers who just quit smoking cigarettes or something.

Lighten up. Take medication. Buy mice and bang on the cage all the time because they wont adjust to you're sleeping schedule. Whatever it takes for you to relax.

"they might soon be dropping it" is all the MORE reason to get it now.

My reasoning? sometimes when they drop requirements, those that already met the higher standard get promotions. To me that sounds like a free liscense.

don't worry. I dont even use 10 codes and cb jargon when i am on 11m. I want a clean signal even when i get to run high power. I do not intend to splater adjacent channels and produce spurious/harmonics/TVI and such. I have access to a couple of guys that built their own equipment that i can drag over and check stuff out and give me pointers and such.

I'm not a "buy and talk" kind of guy. But i want to do this while K3LTY is still alive and in reasonable good health. I also have more time to study this in the winters.

I got a response in code, and while i was decoding letters that g4fon hadnt used yet, a thought occurred to me.

In the space of a minute or so, i learned e and n while decoding the messsage.

writing a response back in code, its kinda a rush to have to use less and less alphanumeric characters to spell out my sentences.

My basic idea was this: a small CW section expressly for people to post messages in code back and forth. Obviously, the less alphanumberic characters you are using when you post, the better you are doing. I realize this doesnt help auditory-learning-wise, only visually, but it seemed like it would be a good thing. I was surprised how may letters i was able to rattle off even though i suddenly realized i had never sent a message before, up till now it was all learning in my head.

Unless it sucks up precious bandwidth? I have an idea for that too, as it were. If we were all to largely eliminate the unecessary childish posts here, that do nothing to attract new people to the hobby, the generated bandwidth would allow for this, perhaps. Just a thought.

it might get used very little, or conversely, might get a lot of short tiny posts of new people studying for code tests. It just struck me as odd that i picked up 2 new code letters I cant seem to forget decoding a short sentence or two.

I dont know about finding a live human to practice sending and receiving code with here in my small town; this semed like the next best thing.

Yes, I can see all your points. My intention when i eventually make my first CW contacts would be to just CQ, get a response, exchange signal reports, and 73 out of there and clap myself on the back that i pulled it off. Extraneous rag chewing will be out of the question for some time.

I can understand all the old hands here are practically, if not actually, electronics enginers and such, by simple virtue of the level of homebrew work that gets done, working on their own rigs, etc etc.

that would lead a prospective new person here to couch language in something resembling a technical writeup. I can see this.

You might also appreciate, that when someone lands here from a search engine, and asks questions about homebrewing an 11M dipole, what then ensues. Its hard to maintain technical writing viewpoint and composure amidst the childish and rude inflammatory posts that ensue. Its about near the level of "He touched a CB at least once! He has cooties!"

you get a few posts that discuss the topic in the natural manner one would assume it would be handled with; for every couple of these normal responses, you get a chorus of childish inane gibberish. It is slightly maddening, and I find it an odd dichotomy.

You have a sizeable percentage of "members likely in good standing here" that are outright rude and boorish. The fact they check their spelling before they post, is hardly an excuse for it.

Its slightly irritating, and it gets in the way of education. When i set about benchrest handloading, I joined a highly rated forum, my first forum i had ever been a member of. My skill at the hobby increased at an exponential rate thereafter. Other experiences when choosing forums for this educational convenience have largely been the same; audio engineering, electronics, etc etc.

On other high end forums, rules and practices differ, but the people in charge put the squelch on such things as it drives people away. Myself, I am not thin skinned and whiny, and at some point i decided that if i was going to get a near constant stream of periodic childish irritation, it was obviously encouraged here, and when in rome, i would do as the romans.

I get poked with sticks, I start looking around for a small stick to play with like others are doing. It seemed to irritate by and large the very people that were irritating me, as people that answer posts politely seem not to notice.

I read the article "how new hams are treated" or whatnot, and my overall impresion was that the person was a tad too sensitive; on the other hand, I can definitely see where the author is coming from. It does get irritating.

Do i need a cerain number of posts, or to pass a particular exam element, then i am freely encouraged to be rude and inflammatory? (I'm being sarcastic). many years ago I decided that the more people try to discourage you from learning something, the more determined I get.

Or, alternately, do the people actually capable of something worthwhile here, just ignore the "interference" like radio operators ignoring drunken children that got hold of a rig near a highway? Just curious.

With my various hobbies, I can get along famously with mechanics, welders, cement workers, and in the next breath get on just fine with engineers and business owners. Audio work demands some curious juxtaposition between "hey, man, like wow..." talking with the musicians, and the other end of the spectrum dealing with other techs. This is oddly similar, somehow.

Honestly, people have told me that "hams are rude, egotistical, and argumentative in general. I cant stand them." I didnt understand that, as I had based my views on the few that I knew, and they seemed polite, intelligent, and well educated one way or the other.

Being here, I can see what they mean. Though its likely a comparatively small percentage, these people are quite irritating, like a gnat that buzzes you're ear now and again, but you know it will never end.

How in general do you guys that are rude hope to increase the ranks of the hams with this? In the benchresting and reloading community, there's constant reminders to be polite and courteous to any and all non gun owners you meet as you go about you're day, in order to put the collective groups "best foot forward".

It would be easy to blame it all on "thats what happens when you drop test requirements, and let CBers in... all manner of riffraff gets thru the door". Yet curiously, it seems to mainly be the preople with the older, superior grade of testing requirements (as well as a smattering of newer guys that think they make themselves look good by imitating these behavior patterns.

I didnt run this text through a spell checker or grammar program, but i think its clear and concise enough. I cuold be wrong.

so... yeah, I guess it was calculated to deliberately irritate.

-. --- W TH .- T ... M --- .-. . .-.. .. K . .. T

C L . .- .-. T .-. .- -. ... M .. ... ... .. --- -. ... .- .-. . .. M P --- .-. T .- -. T

C L . .- .-. P --- ... - ... .- .-. . -. --- T

.. P .. C -.- . D ..- P "-." .- -. D "." F .-. --- M D . C --- D .. -. G Y --- ..- .-. P --- ... T

T H .. ... W --- ..- L D M .- K . .- G --- --- D F --- .-. ..- M .. D . .- F --- .-. -. . W B ... T --- L . .- .-. -. C --- D . Q ..- .. C K . .-.

--... ...--

P ... -. ..- M B . .-. ... T --- ---

Did Zeus hurl thunderbolts? then his nuts are a matched set of russian tubes, ha ha.

my spelling and grammer: glad it irritates some, I'm slightly irritated at the hyper-critical attitude to prospective newbie hams that might like to get into the hobby that a sizeable portion of people display. I get the chance to make someone just ITCH and BRISTLE? That truly warms the cockles of my heart. Enjoy.

I dont care; I wasn't aware off-the-cuff posts online were graded for spelling, punctuation, and content. You hate my emotes (LMAO, LOL, etc etc?) common on the internet. Since I'm not live, I cant inject variations in timbre, pitch and volume to my "voice", it gives it some tonal quality in a way, ha ha. If noting else, it's a fairly distinctive style.

For the record, I'm 38; I went to school on the tail end of the "real education". The SAT's were not watered down yet at that point. I type fast, and i am not going to "vet" my text for spelling, punctuation, etc. When I have to, I have a fair command of the english language, both from a technical writing standpoint, and fiction. Writing used to be a hobby, and i used to have to prepare lengthy technical briefs for higher-ups.

My early experiences on the internet involved a fair amount of "chatting", i picked up the emotes there; they now find their OWN way into my speech patterns when posting, my text is peppered with them through no accord of my own. I suppose someone would have a coronary if i referred to myself in the third person; a by product (somehow...) of working long hours on large fiction manuscripts. Its all i can do not to commit THAT particular sacrilege. If it will soothe the critics, perhaps you would prefer to think of the over generous use of emoticons, and abbreviations such as "gonna", "ain't" etc etc, as "local color" speech patterns. Or not. I dont care.

some of my hobbies are digital electronics and benchresting. My university degrees were in mathematics and comp sci, but i did junior projects for some the EE majors; they got A's on them. I program microprocessors in hex code by hand if I must. Give me a manual and tell me "big indian" or "little indian" and I feel at home.

My digital electronics is definitely much better than my AC, I will admit. AC can give me fits at times. I lack practical circuit building skills. I am CLOSE to being able to design a simple phone transceiver out of "spare parts", but can't seem to put everythign together; no doubt just reading in my spoare time is not enough, I didnt go to school for it.

I am far from stupid. But, if it makes you feel better to think so, because i refuse to check my spelling or use coarse grammar on my posts...whatever floats youre boat. I don't care.

If I had to hazard a guess? I'm probably closer to what most "old school" HAMS wish more mew prospective newcomers would be. But if it gives you a smug feling to assume I make fart noises at truckers with my CB, its a free country. I don't want to just buy some equipment and get talking in minutes after filling out a form.

But hey; have a ball.

PS - from a collective group that by reputation is supposed to be a cut above intellectually, would you please get more creative and decisive with attempts to make me cry? I am insulted if this is all you've got, frankly.

"Hah. Youre stupid. You dont know english well enough. You spell bad. Some of us are anal retentive and spend hours emailing people about minutiae concerning their spelling and bad grammar."

LMAO what a sad condition for you're life; I feel for you. Perhaps some medication would make you less obsessive compulsive, or alternatively, quit watching episodes of "Monk". He's not a role model, you know. You're supposed to laugh AT him, not identify with the characters oddball traits.

I should sincerely hope you can bring much more biting sarcasm and incisive wit to bear. Otherwise, it's kinda weak, really. Show me what you've got, and play like you have a pair. Up 'till now it just sounds like some cranky egotism. Background noise is more interesting (yawn).

"Nyah, Nyah! You're a doody-head...(Ththh-tpth)!!" should be not too far behind, I should think, at that point. (shakes head sadly...)

Or maybe i expect too much. Oh well, no matter. I have another hour of code listening to do; I seem to have hit a tiny snag with U and W somehow, a minor setback.

On a more positive note, I downloaded the pool for general; not TOO bad. Cant wait to memorize that one too. Reach for you're PeptoBismol, LMAO