Hmm ... This is a very interesting discussion!

I'm starting to understand that I know very little
about what makes a shack lightning-hardened!

I have a long-wire antenna .. a bit over 100' in
length, supported by 10-foot tripod atop my shed,
running to my house.

I use no lightning arrestor at all, and was thinking
about using one of those old fashioned 300 ohm
twin-lead types, thinking that something is better
than nothing.

Maybe not?

(The old ARRL books illustrate a home-made spark-gap
affair.)

--KC9KEP

KG4RUL,

Woops!  Now that I go back & look at my photo's, you're
probably referring to the string of Walgreen's
9V batteries!

A class act, no?  :-)

Every once in a while, I'll carelessly reach over my
workbench, touch my arm to the innocuous looking
9V batteries and zap myself!

(And I thought electric shocks were over when 5V logic
was introduced :-)

--KC9KEP

KG4RUL,

Thanks :-)

The "B" battery was printed from a graphic that was
made available on the www.antiqueradios.com homebrew
forum.

It actually contains several Radio-Shack "D" cells holders
inside, and be restored when dead by replacing
batteries.

There are other combo-battery graphics available, but
I'll need to get back to that project!

73!

--KC9KEP

ONAIR,

Thanks for the kind words!  Yes .. part of what I
love about this obsession is reading the old QST
and ARRL books, and going back in time.

Many of the most interesting technological advancements
spanned two world wars!

I can only imagine what this "new" technology meant to
people back then :-)

(It also reminds of how electornics looked as I was
growing up :-)

--KC9KEP

KE3WD,

Wow!  You are lucky to find such a treasure in
a "thrift" shop!

But, you'll never know what will show up, eh?

Yes, I'm perpetually amazed by the performance of
these "primative" units.

Once one learns how to operate them, they do a
remarkable job!

(Oh, & thanks for the kind words on my construction :-)

--KC9KEP

KC2RVD,

You meam, this coil winder?

http://www.bignick.net/images/RadioPix/Gingery.jpg

I made it from a Gingery Universal Coil Winder book
purchased thru Lindsay publications :-)

--KC9KEP

Hello all!

Well, my obsession with building homebrew
receivers is showing no signs of letting up any time
soon!

I had wanted to post some photos of my most recent
3-tube (actually, 4-tubes counting the audio amp)
superheterodyne radio.

I’m perpetually surprised & pleased with the performance
of these “primitive” receivers!

http://www.bignick.net/Morgan_Radio/Radio_22.htm

Although not by design, I have discovered that I have
constructed three of the four radios featured in the 1944
edition of the ARRL handbook .. and, I’m constructing
the fourth one right now, so I’ll wind up with the complete
set :-)

Each design has it’s own pro’s & con’s & methods of
receiving signals, so it’s an exciting learning experience.

Here are a few more of my concoctions:

http://www.bignick.net/Morgan_Radio/Radio.htm

73!

Tom Nickel AKA KC9KEP

Hello all!

Say, has anyone had any experience with the Norcal
FCC-1 and FCC-2?

I've just completed the kits.  I'm impressed :-)

But, I'd like to use the DDS (VFO) in order to
calibrate my homebrew radio dial, and, touch up my
I.F. alignment if possible.

Would anyone know if the FCC-2 is capable of modulating
the carrier with an audio test tone?

If not, is there an "easy" way to do this?  i.e.,
external modulation transformer or some other technique?

Thanks all!

--Tom Nickel AKA KC9KEP

Hello all & thanks for your replies!

Shortly after I had posted my first email, I was able to
hobble together a BFO coil & add it to the “second detector”
circuitry

What a remarkable difference!

I can understand how the BFO “replaces” the missing carrier
for SSB transmissions, and provides a beat frequency for CW
transmissions, but it also seems to improve receiver sensitivity.

I can clearly hear the background clutter come in amplitude
with the BFO turned on.

Now, can anyone explain this “perceived” improvement in sensitivity
as a result of the BFO circuit?

Thanks again,

--Tom Nickel AKA KC9KEP

Hello all  ..

I am currently building the following 1940’s ARRL
three-tube, superhet receiver;

http://www.bignick.net/temp/arrl_1941_2.pdf

I was lucky enough to purchase some NOS Millen 1600 KC IF
coils! :-)

Unfortunately, I thought that I was buying permeability tuned
coils, but they turned out to be air-core, and trim capacitor
tuned.  (At least, the trim caps are “bread-slicers” and
not the cheaper compression type.)

Now, I read that the permeability tuned coils have steeper
bandwidth and more gain that the air-core variety :-(

My radio works fine, but it seems to lack sensitivity on the
80m ham bands.

The “religious” stations come thru blaring loud!

Have anyone had experience with air v.s. permeability tuned
IF transformers?

Do they make a significant difference?  Should I tear out
my way-cool 1930’s vintage transformers and replace them with
smaller “modern” 1600kHz permeability ones?

Thanks!

--Tom Nickel AKA KC9KEP

Thanks again for the ideas!

I've subscribed to QEX, so I hope to try their
side tone monitoring techniques!

Thanks for the suggestions, all :-)

I'm unable to mute the receiver as it stands,
unless someone can think of a way ..

The circuit is so simple, that it only has one
tube (a 6C8G dual triode).

Here's what my receiver looks like:

http://www.bignick.net/Morgan_Radio/Radio_3.htm

And, its schematic.

http://www.bignick.net/images/RadioPix/1942_RAH/1942_Regen_Radio_Skizzie.jpg

Here's my transmitter:

http://www.bignick.net/Morgan_Radio/Radio_11.htm

And its schematic.

http://www.bignick.net/images/RadioPix/Xmitter/Xmtr_Schematic.jpg

Thanks again,

--Tom Nickel
KC9KEP

Hello all!

I was wondering if anyone had some ideas about this ..

I am in the process of setting up my homebrew (tube)
transmitter *and* receiver in the hopes of doing some QSO's.

(I've already successfully used the transmitter, but received by
using my ICOM IC-730 .. now, I want to try a regenerative receiver.)

So far, I have set up a T/R switch that:

1.) Disconnects the antenna from the receiver and routes it to the xmitter
2.) Shorts the antenna input to the receiver
3.) Mutes the receiver by disconnecting the B+ to it

The only question that I have now is how to monitor the CW that
I'm transmitting, so I guess I need a "side-tone monitor".

My current transmitter has a integrated NE-2 bulb oscillator which
kind-of works, but it doesn't represent what I'm actually transmitting,
and it sounds kid of "ratty".

And, I'd like to be able to monitor the receiver and side-tone monitor signal
without using 2-sets of headphones.

There is a circuit in the most recent issue of QST magazine that I just
may try.  It shows a basic 1-tube CW side-tone receiver gizmoe.

Has anyone (alive) had experience doing this, and what is your preferred
method?

73's!

--Tom Nickel

KC9KEP

Hello all ..

Just a comment about the ubiquitous Selectojet :-)

It had been mentioned that a certain value pot caused
a too-sensitive condition.  I quote:

"I also found that another person built one using the FIVE meg pot, and it
was very touchy to tune. He measured the pot and only had used 78K
on a cw signal."

Here's a thought .. Should one be sure to use a Linear, not Audio taper
pot for the frequency sweep?

An audio pot could potentially bunch-up the control’s effectiveness to a small
region of the control's travel?

--Tom Nickel

KC9KEP

Hello all,

And thanks for the comments/replies on my last
"My Very First QSO" message.

And now, I have an addition to make :-)

Not long after my first contact, I made my third
contact, but this time, I used my homebrew 80m
transmitter.

Here's a link to what it looks like:

http://www.bignick.net/Morgan_Radio/Radio_11.htm

I think this was almost more exhilarating than my
first contact.  This was/is my first attempt at
home brewing a transmitter.  It uses a TV horizontal
output tube and is crystal bound.

But, I'll be dogged .. I got a reply right away and
this time, it was K1HTJ from Vermont, about 1020 miles
from my home!

I think that it's so cool to be using a TV tube
and communicating over 1,000 miles .. not to mention
my reported RST of 579.  I thought that I'd be
yodeling out my CW!

I really don't have any way to tell if I'm getting out
of my backyard, so it was a real hoot to realize that
my waves were getting out there!

Well, I'll need to build an antenna switch so that I
don't need to physically move the antenna from T to R.

But, I'll want to get more proficient at my code before
I try the homebrew again.

Thanks all!

Hope to catch on of you on CW some day!

73

--Tom Nickel

KC9KEP