vk2rh: a blog about ham radio
-
Magnetic loop controller – home stretch
After a long break I have finally got back to completing the Magnetic Loop Controller designed by Loftur Jonasson that I started almost two years ago now. I am using his original PCB version from June 2014 which indicates how long I have been intending to build this device! I noticed a small SWR board…
-
U3S + 12V = Fried U3S
Well I have now printed a label for the power connector on the U3S enclosure saying 5V, but it’s a little too late for an assortment of components that inadvertently were subjected to not just 12V but closer to 14V! Yikes. From consulting the FAQ on the QRP-Labs site at https://www.qrp-labs.com/faq.html I have learnt that I’m am…
-
Grandmaster Flash
Last night I watched two more episodes of The Get Down on Netflix with my daughter. About 6 minutes into episode 3 of the first season where members of I think the Notorious gang visit Grandmaster Flash to show him the bootleg cassette, you see Flash sitting at a desk with a fat old 2…
-
Adapting an HP computer power supply for ham radio use
It’s some time since I purchased an HPS 600PB PSU 12V 47A power supply for about $25 from ARNSW. Seeing one in action at our recent club contest station inspired me to dust it off and put it to work. These power supplies were designed to be hot-swappable and installed in pairs in racks of HP…
-
Milk crate tower
POSTED ONOCTOBER 26, 2017 Milk crate tower Wacky idea #257 of the day Since they were invented – apparently by an Australian engineer (see below) – milk crates have been used in many other ways besides holding milk containers. Everything from furniture to milk crate versions of the Loch Ness monster. Six interlocking milk crates…
-
QCX – All systems go!
I finally found some quality time to spend on the QCX to work out why I wasn’t getting any RF output. In my efforts, I committed one of those predictable errors and very unscientifically changed one more factor than I should have. This resulted in a detour that made the search longer, but it did…
-
QCX video resources
There are a number – probably set to grow – of YouTube videos dedicated to the assembly of the QCX. The most impressive, not just for its length, is the feature film length video by Roberto IZ7VHF. It’s a beautifully filmed love letter to the radio as well as a video record of Roberto’s build. It…
-
QCX CW decoding
One of the aspects I’ve been surprised and impressed with is the quality of the CW decoding while sending. While playing with the onboard microswitch as a morse key I felt I needed to emphasise the length of the dashes for the encoder to resolve my sending. So I was pleasantly surprised at how well…
-
QCX enclosure
One topic on the QRPLabs discussion group is the ideal enclosure for the little radio. The designer Hans G0UPL planned for all controls to be mounted on the small 10 x 8 cm PCB and provided for those who prefer to mount it in a protective enclosure. As mounted on the PCB the shafts of…
-
QCX CW transceiver
I plan to use this category of my blog as a kind of sub-site to track the building of this delightful new transceiver kit from Hans Summers G0UPL and his QRP Labs. Since its launch in late August when all stock sold out in a day, sales of the QCX CW Transceiver continue at a pace that…
-
Sputnik 60 years ago today
One of the clearest memories of my childhood is being taken up our steep driveway to the roadside out the front of our house from where there was a commanding view of the western and the southern sky. Sixty years ago today the Russians launched Sputnik and it would have been a few days after…
-
Falling squid poles
Or how Stephen just realised the error of his thinking for the last few years…. again. Recently I’ve been thinking more about the perennial problem of using squid poles as antenna supports – the fact they all too readily collapse into themselves. This is probably more of an issue with permanently set up poles, but…