This is for CW fans, or for those wishing to improve their CW skills.  You can now listen to the entire H.G. Wells book in CW, thanks to Chuck Adams, AA7FO.  This seems very timely becasue my son and I are watching the NETFLIX version of "The Three Body Problem" by Cixin Liu.   This deals with an entirely different war of the worlds.   Check out Chuck's CW version of the book.  Thanks Chuck!  https://www.aa7fo.com/war-of-the-worlds.html ..read more

  https://spectrum.ieee.org/apollo-era-antenna-voyager-2 From the IEEE article:  The dish’s manufacturer took great pains to ensure that its surface had no bumps or rough spots. The smoother the dish surface, the better it is at focusing incident waves onto the signal detector so there’s a higher signal-to-noise ratio. DSS-43 boasts a pointing accuracy of 0.005 degrees (18 arc seconds)—which is important for ensuring that it is pointed directly at the receiver on a distant spacecraft. Voyager 2 broadcasts using a 23-watt radio. But by the time the signals traverse the multibillio ..read more

Geoff N6GWB and his eldest have produced a really wonderful receiver, and have joined the elite ranks of those who have built their own receivers.   Congratulations to both!  ( Be sure to watch the video below.) Geoff writes: Though I built it, my eldest has retained naming rights.  Behold the Rad Radio Receiver, an Soldersmoke inspired build.  It’s a 40m DC reciever.  I had planned on making this a truly 50-50 N6QW N2CQR build, but I needed to get it done for a show and tell this Wednesday.  I have N6QW dual JFET RF amp and mixer modules.  I have ..read more

  I have the answer from an excellent and authoritative source.   Here is the question:  The rig I bought for one dollar at Winterfest was produced by MXM Industries of Smithville Texas.  What does "MXM Industries" mean?  Why was this the name of the company?  ..read more

 Here is short clip of a very cool HB2HB contact on 17 meters.  Thanks Jens!  Check out his QRZ page here: https://www.qrz.com/db/DL2RMM ..read more

  This was on 60 Minutes last night.  Of course it made me think of our many "Tales of Woe."  Perhaps this could be of use to us.   But I wonder how the bot would react to our typical problems:  "I am feeling bad about myself becasue my RF amplifier keeps going into oscillation.  What should I do?" "My opposite sideband suppression is inadequate because my filter skirts are too wide. What is your advice?"  "My LC VFO drifts slightly and my SDR-using friends taunt me about this.  I feel dejected.  What should I do?"   "The Raspb ..read more

Just click on the images for a better view Pete WB9FLW asked for this.  This was an important article for me -- it paved the way for my entry into homebrew phone gear -- this article was the basis for my first DSB transmitter, built in the Azores.  I think Doug was a bit optimistic in saying that SSB operation was possible with this rig.  Maybe it was possible for Doug, but for most of us DSB is just a LOT easier to get going than SSB.  (I know that some people don't believe this, but I note that most of these folks have built neither DSB nor SSB rigs.  It alw ..read more

I changed the crystal in the transmitter.  I got a different rock from Mouser and am now on 7030.   Wednesday April 3, 2024. On 40 meters in the afternoon with Mike KM4KY in North Carolina ..read more

  My SupeRX/TX 40 -- now on 7030 kHz Click on schematics for a better view Details on the receiver: https://archive.org/details/73-magazine-1991-04 Details on the transmiiter: https://archive.org/details/73-magazine-1991-12/page/10/mode/2up Article on MXM Industries of Smithville,Texas:   https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Hambrew_Magazine.htm Click on images for a better view Click on images for a better view ..read more

Above is a recent ICQ podcast interview with Ian.  Here is a slightly older interview with Ian: https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-10-19/daring-spies-who-broadcast-from-behind-enemy-lines This sojoun into spy land started with this WTF video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f3ZJYdmpZw Crypto Museum explains what the Mk 301 was all about:  https://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/mk301/index.htm  I have had Ian on the SolderSmoke blog several times: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=%22Ian+Keyser%22 N2CQR at the key with a G3ROO paraset ..read more