Welcome aboard Hank, glad to have you.

Quote from: RadioRay on August 01, 2015, 11:13:31 PM
I hope to install my MTR2, efhw tuner w/Tayloe SWR indicator, batteries w/lid mounted solar trickle charger, space for headphones and etc. in this -

http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Waterproof-Portable-Speaker-Orange/dp/B003H3JJZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438484766&sr=8-1&keywords=iPod+waterproof+speaker+case

- I'm OK with it being 'larger' because with the ability to not use so many wires, connectors and etc. all inside of a fully watertight case with a speaker - priceless.

I'll likely use the touch keyer on the outside and a watertight BNC so that I can send in the rain - because these things HAPPEN!


73 de RadioRay ..._  ._

Damn you Ray, I thought I had my MTR set up exactly how I wanted it and then you go and post this........ now I'm gonna have to order one of these so I have a project for this winter. That thing is cool!


True, it'll make the whole package a little bigger but not that much bigger and I think the advantages of having a shock resistant, waterproof case outweigh the slight increase in size. I see they also make the ECOXPRO which appears to be same thing with the addition of a waterproof 3.5mm phone jack. Definitely keep us updated on your progress of this project.

Quote from: gil on June 20, 2015, 10:51:34 PM
...... On the positive side, following schematics is good schooling..

Gil.

I totally agree with that. Following the instructions to build a kit doesn't really teach you much about electronics, it teaches you to mainly how to follow instructions, identify components, populate boards with those components, and solder. I've learned far more by trouble shooting my screw ups than successfully completing a kit that works perfectly the first time it's fired up. I have no doubt you'll find the problem, good luck.

Quote from: gil on June 20, 2015, 07:14:31 PM

QuoteThe little RF detector trick that's shown in the Elecraft K2 manual seems to work pretty well using the schematic and process of elimination.

Yep, I've got one of those. It's so nice to see what the waveform looks like though...

Gil.

Yeah, but in your case you have no signal so you don't even have a waveform to look at, hence my comment about the detector. If I was a betting man I'd wager it's something dirt simple like a missed or cold solder joint, diode in backwards, etc. When I built my K2 I had no receive on one band, 40 meters if I recall correctly, I used the schematic and detector to eliminate entire receiver sections at a time and narrow it down to a very small part of a single section. It probably took me less than 20 minutes to find the diode where the signal stopped, and another 30 seconds with a magnifying glass to reveal the solder joint I missed on one side of that diode. One missed joint out of the thousands of solder joints I made in that K2? I didn't think that was too bad. ;D
If you have no mic signal you could use the same trouble shooting technique to locate the problem.

I've had pretty good luck tracking down problems like that with no oscilloscope. The little RF detector trick that's shown in the Elecraft K2 manual seems to work pretty well using the schematic and process of elimination.


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Quote from: K7JLJ on June 06, 2015, 12:59:09 AM
We've got 13 egg layers that are 2yrs plus.  While they have slowed down a bit, I'm glad to have them now.  I better raise my prices at work :)



- Jim

Over 2 years old and still laying eggs?? Better get ready to make chicken and noodles pretty soon.  8)

Quote from: Quietguy on May 27, 2015, 05:55:02 PM

Quote from: KK0G on May 27, 2015, 08:43:40 AM

Quote from: cockpitbob on May 26, 2015, 05:12:06 PM
.............. If we knew what we were prepping for we could say what "the best" is.  We don't, so we cover our bases.

Speak for yourself, personally I know what I'm prepping for - an earth invasion of highly trained, advanced extra terrestrials.............basically space ninjas.

Ahhh geeezze... you've been talking to RadioRay again.

Wally

Oh sure, go ahead and laugh it up while you can. Have ever seen what space ninjas can do?! Well I haven't either but I imagine they're scary as hell. If you think regular ninjas are scary just think what robot space ninjas are capable of. I read all about it on the internet. ;D

I would think that the biggest problem in defending against drones would be intel. One of the huge advantages to drones is their stealth - they're extremely small and almost noiseless from practical distances. To protect yourself from one you'd have to know it was even there in the first place. I don't have an answer for this but I think that by the time it was close enough to see and withing shotgun range, it's already gathered whatever intel on you "they" were looking for.

Quote from: cockpitbob on May 26, 2015, 05:12:06 PM
.............. If we knew what we were prepping for we could say what "the best" is.  We don't, so we cover our bases.

Speak for yourself, personally I know what I'm prepping for - an earth invasion of highly trained, advanced extra terrestrials.............basically space ninjas.

Resonant on 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10 with just a 130' wire?! Uh...... so is a dummy load :o . I'd be highly suspect of any antenna manufacturer making such a claim.

What you describe would be very interesting to me from a technical "that's cool" point of view, but honestly I'd probably quickly tire of it. Phone modes just don't really interest me but the digital capabilities that would accompany the inclusion of SSB just might.


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Not that there's anything wrong with resonant antennas, but resonance is way over rated. Some of the most efficient antennas are non-resonant.

Quote from: gil on May 20, 2015, 12:24:21 PM

........ I don't really try Russian stations anymore, it's too easy :o

Gil.

Come try that in here in the Midwest, not so easy.


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Cool, good job Gil. It is a pretty simple transmitter. The inductors printed right on the board are kind of clever although torroids would take up less space, not that space is probably much of an issue for your application. I still fail to see why some in the ham community are so scared of winding torroids, as you well know they're very easy to do. Now get to that Arduino board, I want to copy your soon to be world famous beacon. 8)

I wasn't aware they were still teaching it in the first place. It does make a sense though that somebody on our side should know Morse code, even if we don't use it ourselves our enemies sure could.