Turn a soldering station into a reflow tool, using an old aquarium pump and length of silicon tube a bit of wire wool.

I have just replaced my old soldering iron (Maplins N78AR (http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=35016) solder station) it is 50W so great for big PL259 connections and making PCB enclosures, has a grounded tip and it does have spare precision tips too... they have it on special promo right now for £14.99 which was half what I paid originally. I find the 1mm fine tips are fine for SMD work.Anyway the old one the element...

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Wobbulator & High gain RF probe

From a Radio Bygones project by Raymond Haig whole 2003 issue can be seen hereI have started to build the wobbulator that I'll use to align the R1155 (probably best known as the RX set in WWII Lancaster) I was given last autumn. Also the partner powered RF probe.I had a bit of trouble trying to find 400V DC 0.1uF polyester caps (loads at 250V or 285V and a couple at 3KV! I will use .22uF 400VDC ones for now.The box is still available...

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Data troubles

I had an idea to try and tidy things up in the shack and reduce the clutter. Why not use my under used Yaesu FT1000MP on data modes? I could then dispense with the little Kenwood TS450 I use for data, I could keep it as a backup rig or maybe sell it and buy some extra filters for the Yaesu.So, I obtained a very reasonably priced data lead from http://www.radioarena.co.uk/. This arrived two days after placing my order-great...

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The Changing Face of RoPoCo - I'm hopping mad now!

After a long hard week working away from home, I returned this evening to find the latest RadCom magazine waiting.   It is somewhat more pleasant reading than the contents of a brown envelope from HM Revenue and Customs also awaiting me, but upon skimming through the Sport Radio section the word RoPoCo leaped of the page and grabbed my attention.You may recall from an earlier post that I wasn't too impressed with...

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Bringing the TS-180 Back from the Dead - Part 1: The Darndest Fault!

Some little time ago I purchased a "Spares or Repair" Trio-badged TS-180S from an eBay Trader, the price I paid reflected its non-working condition.    I didn't know very much at all about the TS-180S at the time but fancied a challenge.As I've put my Eden9 70MHz transceiver on the "back burner" for a while and cleared one or two other repair jobs, I finally decided that the time was right to make a start on the...

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Back up and running again, apologies been away for a bit.

After not been able to do anything radio for a while I'm back up and running again.Last w/e I put in an entry to the BERU contest (Google for RSGB BERU) using a very limited setup. I now commute on the train to work, about 90 mins each way, so finding time to do some research on the latest projects. Lots of QEX issues unopened!Bit of a backlog of things that need to melt solder on but should have those out of the way soo and then...

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More TZ-20 Amplifier

My TZ-20 Amplifier project has been on hold waiting for some sort of rack to mount it above my 1934 transmitter. I finally got some help from Skip, K7YOO, to cut and bend a piece of 16 gauge aluminum to form the shelf. 1" angle aluminum is used for the vertical legs and the shelf supports.Once warm weather returns to Minnesota I'll take...

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Huff and Puff Stabilisers - they really DO work!

In an earlier post I alluded to the fact that I was building an X-lock by Cumbria Designs with a view to incorporating it into my 30-year-old Yaesu FT-107M as that particular radio has (or had) a bad case of "driftitis".X-Lock is a software based derivation of the "Huff and Puff" oscillator stabilisation technique whereby the frequency of...

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QST

RADIO AMATEUR EXAMINATIONS ( RAE 2011-1 )15. JUNE 2011DATE DUE 29. APRIL 2011info : www.skmm.gov.myHAMFEST 201114-15 MAY 2011,KL TOWER,BUKIT NANAS,KUALA LUMPUREMCOM 201130 APRIL-2 MAY 2011HOTEL SERI MALAYSIA,BAGAN LALANG,SEPANG.Following freq’s are assigned for emergency QSO. Please be clear. Thank you for your kind help! Ops JARL & volunteers - 3520 to 3530, 7025 to 7035, 14090 to 14110, 21190 to21200, 28190 to 28210, 50100,...

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MY DETAIL

MY BASE 2009RUS RIZAL ABD GHANI27 JALAN PERMAI,KG LEGUNG ULU,71350 KOTA,NEGERI SEMBILAN,WEST MALAYSIAMY BASEMY SETTUP:FULL WAVE 70CMFULL WAVE 2M2M 14 ELEMENT YAGI STACK6M 5 ELEMENT YAGI10M 3 ELEMENT YAGI11M ROTARY DIPOLE15M 3 ELEMENT YAGI20M 3 ELEMENT YAGI5 BAND MULTITRAP DIPOLEG5RVMY RIGG:MY QSL CARDS:MY MOBILE-COMMAND CENTRE ( COMCEN...

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changing jobs and country so nothing posted for a bit.

Once dust settles and get things unpackaged again will be back melting solder on a few things.Got the SDR Cube and NuePSk modem to build, there are a couple of FPGA SDR projects I'll be starting on t...

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Thank Goodness for Electrolytic Capacitors (they keep lots of folk in work!)

I'm on a bit of a roll as far as fixing stuff goes. The latest bit of gear to succumb to my endeavours is an old D-Link DE-812TP Ethernet hub rescued from the scap pile at work and which had failed in industrial use. It was being discarded as being "beyond economic repair".  Had the unit been somewhat more youthful it may well...

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