A Crummy Commercial

Messy shacks were mentioned before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/02/a-clean-bench-top.html I did retrieve my copy of QST from April 1987, here are two of the shacks with the operator in the photo: Per the internet, Tor is still a ham: https://dxnews.com/oyla4ofa/ but Maurice WB9UTC is very probably a silent key. https://silentkeyhq.com/main.php?p=bin/NSKALookup.php&dlnk=&call=WB9UTC&uid=0411378757819289 Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

The need for a buck converter circuit was mentioned before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/04/an-ongoing-need.html I did finally order an MC34063 chip but in the mean time I found this module: It's an LM2596 based design, very popular and has a schematic similar to this: not sure on the inductor, it might be 47 uH, also there are two ceramic caps on the board not shown on the schematic source: https://www.mpja.com/Adjustable-15-37V-DC_DC-Buck-Converter/productinfo/36705%20PS/ Basically I should just be able to add a power input connector and a USB output connector and stick it all into a shielded box.  It may be necessary to add some filtering on the input and output to prevent noise.  It oscillates at roughly 50 kHz so there could be plenty of spurs all over the spectrum.  It will supposedly supply up over 1A at 5V from a 12V supply so it should be OK for battery charging. I'm also thinking of adding some kind of reverse polarity protection to the input.   Best Re...

Because of the recent death of Pope Francis I was reminded of the movie: The Shoes of the Fisherman .  I remember going to the theater with the folks to see it - movies weren't just comic book entertainment then, they tried to deal with real world problems in a fictional way.  Anyway I particularly remember this scene: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nci3x67K8uc Anthony Quinn as the new Pope sneaks out of the Vatican in a priest's cassock and walks around Rome.  He comes upon this dying man, his family and the doctor - he tries to help by going to the pharmacy for the doctor and then starts to administer the last rites but when informed that the man is a Jew he sings/says the prayer: Shema Yisrael.  It's a very memorable and moving scene. I listened to the audio book of The Shoes of the Fisherman (over 11 hours !), read by the formidable Alexander Scourby, who used to narrate those National Geographic specials on TV, again a memorable voice.  Ther...

I came across a padded envelope from FAR Circuits.  It contained this: Two of the boards were built but not these two.  Luckily FAR Circuits included the original order form with the boards.  I was able to find the magazine articles for The Copperhead Keyer: May 1991 issue of 73 Magazine:  https://archive.org/details/73-magazine-1991-05/page/8/mode/2up and El CheePO: Summer 1991 issue of Radio Fun Magazine: https://archive.org/details/radiofunsummer1900unse/page/4/mode/2up So since this order form proved to be useful I will start returning the order forms of customers with kit orders.  Usually I just keep the order forms and put them into an envelope with the tax forms for the year but now I'll just take a picture of the order form and reduce clutter a little bit. I stopped sending receipts with orders over 15 years ago but returning the order form is probably a better system anyway. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was watching this really interesting Lucasfilm doc on Howard Carter (the discoverer of King Tut's Tomb): source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BR31Nq04Ng I thought of this book from the "All About Book" series that I had as a kid, All About Famous Scientific Expeditions : https://archive.org/details/allaboutfamoussc00hold/page/58/mode/2up These books were great for kids, not too much heavy detail with nice illustrations and interesting subjects. All About Famous Scientific Expeditions has other stories of science and scientists including Beebe and his diving sphere but King Tut was the one I remembered.   The Mummy was my favorite monster movie, maybe because of King Tut and the death of Lord Carnarvon ?   BTW, Zita Johann, the heroine of The Mummy , was married to John Houseman, who gained latter day fame in the 20th in The Paper Chase . Also, Lord Carnarvon was the real world owner of the building now known from Downton Abbey . Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://...

I put in an order to Mouser today (4-25-2025) - previously Mouser would only rarely charge any tariff but now it seems that they are charging tariff - and yes, a tariff is a tax paid by us. It's only $3.13 in total but it was on only two of the items in the order, the Onsemi transistors were charged a 30% tariff and the STMicro chip was charged a 30% tariff: The weird thing is that I priced the same order at Digikey (it was over $20 more so I bought from Mouser) but the tariffs were different, for example LEDs were charged a 10% tariff (Mouser didn't charge a tariff): And the Onsemi transistors were also charged a 10% tariff while the STMicro chip wasn't charged a tariff: It's just weird and disjointed and uneven and stupid IMO. BTW, while Mouser is usually cheaper than DigiKey one bad thing is that Mouser waits a business day before mailing (USPS) an order, DigiKey will mail the same day.   Update 4-30-2025: Mouser actually waited 2 business days: Best Regards, Chuck, ...

I rode the old Trek over to Mann's Store today, when I came back I noticed this: Someone had painted the flag on the mailbox orange !  Probably wasn't the mailman, I got the mail later in the afternoon.  Weird. Apparently a new superhero or supervillain:  Rustfighter !  ?? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

A customer, Terry, from D-Lab Electronics made a couple of videos about the Keyall HV kit: short source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hpl5pA3hprg longer video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubaG6IPM9m8 Thanks Terry ! BTW, although Terry assures me that the hook and loop fasteners that he uses are ESD safe, I can say that something like this: genuine Velcro but infinite ohms with a DVM from a local store or internet source probably isn't ESD safe and may well damage a kit like the Keyall HV. I use two 4-40 bolts along with four 4-40 nuts to hold the Keyall HV to the enclosure. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I saw this through the living room window this morning, yikes ! almost looks like the aftermath of an airstrike ! At first I thought maybe it is the fire department doing some training ?  By the time I got outside the smoke had thinned: I walked into the woods, it wasn't the fire department, the town was burning an old trailer in the stump dump - this picture was taken just after a couch was dumped on the fire: Otherwise it was a nice day here, cool and sunny with calm conditions.  I did happen to notice that the ramps are starting to sprout so it won't be too long before I can harvest couch smoke flavored ramps :( Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I had posted an inquiry on the Glen Gates Gang page this morning: http://wb9kzy.com/ggg.htm One of Mr. Gates' former students had seen the page and was wondering about Mr. Gates in an email.  This reminded me of the first time I went on Field Day in 1972 and we met at Mr. Gates' house across the street from Maple Dale school. After posting that inquiry I took a look at the obits and saw this one for Scott Tilton: source: https://www.jsonline.com/obituaries/pwix1156191 Scott was WN9JHX, his friend Morris Hornik was WN9JHW and Morrie's brother Bob was WN9JHY - a Novice trio !  Now Scott has died and Bob seems to have given up his call so Morrie is the only one of the trio still licensed as WB9JHW. from the 1972 Winter Callbook Scott was the lead member working the conversion of a commercial tower to the transportable tower used on Field Day by the Glen Gates Gang.  I had emailed Scott a few years ago wondering if he knew what had happened to the tower.  The last I reme...

I did try the microammeter from the previous blog: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/04/nanoammeter.html and it does work, giving 2 more digits of precision to current readings - more digits not necessarily more accuracy :) The quiescent current used by my two fave LDO regulators, the S812C50 which I usually measure as 1 uA with the Metex ME-11 in the 4 mA position measures as 0.58 uA with the following circuit: So the Metex is rounding up to 1 uA from .58 uA - seems reasonable.  With the LM2936 I usually measure 7 uA with the Metex, now it measures 7.31 uA using this new technique.  So in that case the Metex is rounding down the reading. What is the error from putting the two resistances in parallel ?  Very tiny, I work the equivalent resistance out as 9990 ohms which is 99.9 % of 10,000. (10k x 10 meg) / (10k + 10 meg) = 9990 ohms A 10 k ohm, 1 percent resistor is pretty cheap compared to a 5 1/2 digit DVM ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I've mentioned microammeter add-ons before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/04/microammeter-add-on-circuit-for-dvm.html  and https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/04/microammeter-dvm-add-on-part-2.html  Recently in addition to searching the web for technical topics I've also started searching Youtube.  Seems like there are a number of folks on Youtube doing technical videos - maybe to monetize their info ?  Doesn't really matter, I tried searching Youtube for nanoammeter (actually started with picoammeter but that seemed way too fussy and microammeter results in a lot of old videos about D'Arsonval meters).  This is in reference to this recent post: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/04/current-measurements-on-ldo-regulators.html Anyway, I thought this design was interesting, for one thing: no bi-polar supply (or op-amp) required: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKWA4L_ZaI0 A clever video !  I've got to try it. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.c...

I was watching this interesting Curious Marc video on fixing a Commodore Pet: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxilekpLp6g Even though Marc has virtually every tool known to the electronics industry it struck me that: no chip puller no anti-static straps no anti-static mat They got the computer to work and apparently it was not any worse for ignoring the above but still, those three items together would cost less than anything else in that lab !   Although these guys are younger than I am, I would suggest having magnification at hand to help assist in not putting stuff in backwards - also I cringed at running the computer with an EPROM where the EPROM window was uncovered (they had a lamp shining on it).  Light plus semiconductors equals weird stuff happening. I thought the prop rod for the Commodore Pet was a hoot, I never knew they came with those.  Not sure what that says about the need for access - especially in these days of something like a cell phone where t...

How do I handle a frustrating situation ?  with this: Yes, a coping saw.  I wasn't able to get the last screw holding this thingy together: So I finally decided to saw it apart. .   I don't know what this thing was for but all it seems to do is beep and turn off LEDs: The 9V snap was no good, that's why the alligator clip was used. I guess it was a timer for a game per this auction: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/266537004380 and this web page: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/19289/get-the-picture And the beeping and LEDs going out was supposed to increase tension ?  But pressing the button does nothing as far as I can tell - it was probably busted when I got it ? Very strange, now that I've hacked it apart it isn't much good even just as a case with a big button.  I suppose I can harvest some parts.  Hopefully I didn't pay much for it. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

A customer asked about trying something with the Island Keyer II kit: http://wb9kzy.com/ik2.htm He had purchased the regulator and had soldered it but wanted to power the kit with 3 x AA cells, about 4.5 volts instead of using a 9 volt battery or 12 volt supply with the regulator. Here is the schematic of that regulator circuit (and SSR): His idea is to simply connect the +4.5 volts to the output of the regulator (LM2936).  I told him I'd try it first and get back to him.  I connected an LM2936 circuit on a small breadboard with the regulator input open circuit and the output connected to 4.5 volts from a supply.  I measured this current going into the LM2936 output: The reading was dancing between 4 and 5 uA so I'm assuming that 4.5 uA is a fair approximation of the reading.  Also, no smoke or damage happened.  For reference, the LM2936 uses 7 uA when powered by 9 volts on the input and with the output connected to a sleeping Island Keyer II PIC. Another assump...

Results were similar to last year: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2024/04/77-sunset-strip.html BTW, the canned maple sap came in handy -  the trees have gone dry but the last boil today was about 8 oz short of my normal boil volume so I cracked a quart of sap open - still have about 24 oz of sugar water (sap) from that quart in the fridge. Results: 14 trees tapped, over 24 pints of canned syrup from 84 boils or 336 liters of sap and 66 gallons of distilled water left to drink. I didn't really dial in the process, it's still kinda by guess and by gosh.  I didn't work on the sugar bush although the ice storm may have done something on that score, affecting the maples less than the surrounding birches and beeches.  I tried to standardize the volume of the input sap but didn't make any progress on easy, accurate liquid volume measurement. There are other large maples on the property, I may try shifting taps away from less productive trees to try some new trees next year. It...

After watching the transistor radio video mentioned a couple days ago: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/04/a-somewhat-intense-video-on-transistor.html I was thinking about transistor radios - not so much collecting them but how they might be used in ham radio.  I remember an article by W1FB where he used a transistor radio as the basis of a ham receiver (QST February 1989): But that's a kind of an on-the-nose application of a transistor radio.  Let's think about what a transistor radio has to offer: 1) case 2) portable, battery powered 3) speaker 4) earphone jack 5) audio amplifier with volume control 6) variable cap, rod antenna, IF cans, transistors One example of a re-purposed transistor radio might be as a code practice oscillator, it would be fairly easy to patch in an audio oscillator into the audio amplifier, add a key jack and: there's the CPO.  Or maybe change the AM receiver into an AM transmitter, just modulate the carrier with a keyed tone and: a code practice...