Subject: GLOWBUGS digest 367

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 10:23:04 -0600 (CST)

GLOWBUGS Digest 367

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: I tried
	by Terry Dobler  KJ7F <[email-masked]>
  2) 1 tuber
	by [email-masked] (Steve Moll)
  3) MOPA
	by "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
  4) WRL comet kit TC-6A
	by "KF4MZD (John Kemker)" <[email-masked]>
  5) Xmtr update
	by Dave <[email-masked]>
  6) Glowbug Articles / Schematics on the Web...
	by "Paul F. Carreiro" <[email-masked]>
  7) Re: MOPA 6AG7-6L6
	by "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
  8) Re: WRL comet kit TC-6A
	by "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
  9) Preselector
	by [email-masked] (Michael Herr)
 10) MOPA
	by "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 12:27:39 -0700 (MST)
From: Terry Dobler  KJ7F <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: I tried
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

At 11:01 PM 11/27/96 -0600, you wrote:
>Well I gave it my best shot. Heard NA4G in qso with W5FRS but I just could
not get in 
>there.  

Rich, 

   For what its worth I heard you up here.   I tried once to get
in with no luck before family activities took me away from the
radio.

Terry  KJ7F

[email-masked]  (Boise, Idaho)  http://netnow.micron.net/~kj7f

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 18:18:11 -0600 (CST)
From: [email-masked] (Steve Moll)
To: [email-masked]
Subject: 1 tuber
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

Would the person who posted the schematic on about 9-16-96 of the one tube 
50C5 (no line isolation) xmtr please re-post it?  I have lost my diagram and 
want to give it a try.

Thanks,

Steve Moll WA0BPU

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 17:57:55 +0000
From: "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: MOPA
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

Well guys, I couldn't take it anymore with this chassis, and not 
knowing what the OSC tube was suposed to be, so I have converted it 
to be a 6AG7 driving a 6L6. This will be a low power xmtr becuase it 
only has a 250V DC supply for the plates.

However, using the BA/GB QRG crystal I DO have some RF generated here 
on 7049.6 kHz !!
I had to put a trimmer from the grid to the cathode to keep her 
perking under varying load conditions. It had atendency to stop 
oscillating without that trimmer (almost fully meshed, I guess it's 
about 35 pF by the looks of it.)

Tomorrow all I have to do is come up with some resonant coils for the 
grid and pi-net and I can join the fun.

While working on the rig this evening I have left the receiver on 
7050 and heard a number of stations come and go. I was quite 
surprised how many guys I hear on 7050 calling CQ, and some good QSOs 
too!

Right now I am hearing K0EVZ/qrp who called CQ, snagged W0ALL 
(one of them is Rex in Great Bend, KS)
and is now engaging in a friendly chat with him. Earlier there were 
several other weak stations either calling CQ or QSOing.

Ah... REAL RADIO. See you chaps on the air soon - hopefully maybe 
even by tomorrow!

Bry, AF4K
********************************************************
*** 73 from Radio AF4K / G3XLQ in Gaithersburg, MD USA *
**  E-mail to:  [email-masked]                         *
*** See the great ham radio resources at:              *
**  http://www.mnsinc.com/bry/                         *
********************************************************

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:23:25 +0000
From: "KF4MZD (John Kemker)" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: WRL comet kit TC-6A
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

I finally got the replacement capacitors for the power supply!

Rat-Shack didn't have them, but I found them at a place here in 
Atlanta called Ack Radio Supply.  Whatta treasure-trove THEY are. 
[grin]

I pulled out my trusty soldering iron, put those puppies in and 
turned on the radio.  Hmm...a little smoke coming from the PS.  Turn 
it off.  Turn it back on, looking for source of smoke.  No smoke?  
Tubes in both radio and PS start to glow quite nicely.  Great!  Now I 
just need to find someone to talk to on 6-meter AM in the area!

==========================
73 de KF4MZD (John Kemker)
[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 22:36:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Xmtr update
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

Hiya.

I should have pix of my 6V6 rig tomorrow.  I shot them today
and will do the 1-hour thing and scan them.  I'll let those
who emailed interest know when I have 'em.

Also, while digging in my junk box, I found a brand new
JAN 6V6 from when I was a kid and popped that in.  Wow!
a 33% increase over what I had.  So with that in mind,
here are the final statistics of my rig.  Watt meter used
is a Kenwood AT-180 tuner that I use to switch into my
4BTV vertical.  Probably not quite a Bird, but close enough.

Stats:

Final Tube      6V6
        Rectifier       6X5 (nice to not need a 5v fil. supply!)
        Regulator       10k 10w from B+ to ground
                        Supposed to be an OD3, but
                        that saps too much juice.
                        You lose 50% of screen current

        Voltages:

        Setup:
        
        Transmitter tuned to resonance into 4BTV vertical
        antenna at 15', with approx. 1.25:1 SWR at selected
        frequency of 7.046 MHZ (great QRP spot, I might add!)

        B+ after bleeder, Key UP        398 DC
        B+ after bleeder, Key DN        360 DC
        
        Screen voltage, Key UP          266 DC
        Screen voltage, Key DN          220 DC (wee bit of chirp)

        Plate current, Key DN           35 ma at resonance

        Calculated power                12.6 watts RF
        As measured on Kenwood AT180    14.5 watts (how accurate?)

        Crystal - 3.523 used in overtone mode.  My hottest
        rock by far.  None of my fundamentals give me more
        than 7 watts out.                            

I pretty much hang out at 7.046 now, using the TS-820 as my
main receiver until I can get my Drake 2C in the TR loop.
Usually on anytime from 00:00 UTC to 08:00 like most of
us.  With 2 little kids, it's hard to nail an exact time. 
But email a time if you want to try a sked, and I'll meet
you.  Over the long weekend, almost anytime is OK, and 
40 has been pretty decent 24 hours a day lately.

I have been getting very rewarding signal reports with this little
thing!  I just worked N6LU near San Fransisco and got a 579. He
was running 100 watts and I could barely hear him! I have worked
as far east as Indiana (although I was 229 or something - we lost
each other), and in two nights on the air I've racked up 5 states
and about a dozen contacts.  Just like being a novice again!

My heart raced this morning when my CQ was answered by WA1QMI - I
thought I'd made it coast to coast, daylight on 40 with only
10 watts.  My heart then sank when he said he was in California!
But turns out he was running QRP too on an old Hallicrafters
HT-32A cranked down to 8 watts out (he pulled the finals, of all
things!).

Anyway, now to add bandswitching for 80m (guess I better put an
antenna up for that one now!).

73's

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 01:14:21 -0800
From: "Paul F. Carreiro" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Glowbug Articles / Schematics on the Web...
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

At 09:14 PM 11/27/96 -0600, Bryan Carling, AF4K wrote:
>Is there someone that can provide a place that we can make these .gif 
>xmtr articles available at an FTP site???

I've taken up the torch here and provided Bryan some space to put the
article / schematic scans that he has come up with.  I'm not sure if
the site is accessable through anonymous FTP yet.. I'll confirm that
shortly.  Via the WWW, point your browser to:

http://www.barepower.net/~carreiro/

Follow the link into the Glowbug area.  My page is very new, I'm still
learning how to do things, so there is no flash and glitter, just good
ol information, provided in a clear format.  Any suggestions and or
additions would be very much appreciated.

73
Paul  N6EV /QRP /M /QRQ /BA
  Paul F. Carreiro  -  N6EV  -  ex-N6HCS  -  El Camino Village, CA
  E-Mail: [email-masked]  -  http://www.barepower.net/~carreiro/
  QRP  -  Boatanchors  -  Mobile CW  -  QRQ +40WPM
  NorCal QRP #367 - QRP QRCI #8885 - CW FISTS #1407 - QRP-L #236
  Zuni Loop Mountain Expeditionary Force (QRP Field Day)

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 05:58:43 +0000
From: "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
To: Richard Wilkerson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MOPA 6AG7-6L6
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

HEY! It's a reply from AF4K!
On 28 Nov 96, Richard Wilkerson wrote:
> ..
> Well Bry when you get it going. lets see if we can hook up?
> I have made a few contacts on 7050 kc.  73's rich
> -- 

OK Rich, maybe late in th eevening here (early evening for you) when 
the band is open across the continent.

It will be tough with QRP but we can make it if the band is kind to 
us.

I have got the whole thing working BUT I still have to arrange a T-R 
circuit and a few other refinements here.

I discovered that a crystal oscillator will chirp BADLY if you omit 
the capacitor from cathode to ground no matter HOW well you regulate 
the B+ supply to your osc. stage!

I am working with unmarked capacitors  so I have to guess at values 
(he he) but now I have a clean sounding signal. I just have to mount 
and SO-239, and put in an antenna changeover relay and I will be 
ready to go.

Well, I also need a keying relay since I have no hand key, and no way 
of coupling the CMOS keyer into these cathodes (he he!)
SO it will probably take me most of the day today and maybe even part 
of tomorrow to get this finished, but I am making progress.

I had to change the tap on the tank coil for the 6L6 as the tuning 
cap in the PI-NET was almost completely open at resonance.
So I have put a new tap about three turns farther south and that 
should help it.

Like I said it is going to be QRPp with a loaded B+ voltage of only 
210V on the Fender 6L6GC final (YES!), although I CAN hook up a bigger 350V DC
supply if necessary.

Everyone listen out for AF4K on 7050 kHz this Saturday and Sunday please!
Maybe even Friday afternoon, you never know!
Bry

cc: Glowbug persons
********************************************************
*** 73 from Radio AF4K / G3XLQ in Gaithersburg, MD USA *
**  E-mail to:  [email-masked]                         *
*** See the great ham radio resources at:              *
**  http://www.mnsinc.com/bry/                         *
********************************************************

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 06:33:53 +0000
From: "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
To: "KF4MZD (John Kemker)" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: WRL comet kit TC-6A
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

HEY! It's a reply from AF4K!
On 28 Nov 96, KF4MZD (John Kemker) wrote:

> I finally got the replacement capacitors for the power supply!
> 
> Rat-Shack didn't have them, but I found them at a place here in
> Atlanta called Ack Radio Supply.  Whatta treasure-trove THEY are.
> [grin]
> 
> I pulled out my trusty soldering iron, put those puppies in and
> turned on the radio.  Hmm...a little smoke coming from the PS.  Turn
> it off.  Turn it back on, looking for source of smoke.  No smoke? 
> Tubes in both radio and PS start to glow quite nicely.  Great!  Now
> I just need to find someone to talk to on 6-meter AM in the area!

John - you didn't say what area you live in!
There is a lot of activity on 6M AM in some of the larger cities, and 
when the band opens up of course you will find these guys all over on 
50.4 MHz plus/minus QRM.

Ack Radio has fond memories for me.
I remember when they were on the north side of ATlanta, and I lived 
in Smyrna, not too awfully far away. This was about 1967/69
Back then they sold Ham radio and CB radio equipment.
I bought a speaker and a few parts there. Great fun.

72 de AF4K
********************************************************
*** 73 from Radio AF4K / G3XLQ in Gaithersburg, MD USA *
**  E-mail to:  [email-masked]                         *
*** See the great ham radio resources at:              *
**  http://www.mnsinc.com/bry/                         *
********************************************************

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 09:49:25 -0800
From: [email-masked] (Michael Herr)
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Preselector
Message-ID: <v01530500aec4d10e36c8@[199.120.150.49]>

Hello gang,
     Been doing some checking out and A/B type comparisions on antenna with
the ole Heathkit GR-81 regen receiver I built. I had earlier built up a
grounded grid preamp using a 6c4 tube to get rid of the "swinging" antenna
problem. Well, after all the comparisons I have concluded the preamp isn't
a preamp but rather a preattenuator, losing about 6-9db (by the ear) in the
process. I can't find any thing obvious wrong with it but still the lose
isn't acceptable. So here is the question, anybody got any suggestions on a
good preamp design out there? I like the grounded grid configuration. The
other possiblity is I recall some preselector designs (tube) in the older
handbooks. Think I will look for them today when the garage has warmed up a
bit. Anybody have recommendations on them?
Thanks and 73
Mike WA6ARA

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 07:48:59 +0000
From: "Brian Carling" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: MOPA
Message-ID: <[email-masked]>

OK guys, I am going to make some room here and turn the computer off 
for a while & see what this little beast will do on the air!

I will advise you all of the results!
AF4K
********************************************************
*** 73 from Radio AF4K / G3XLQ in Gaithersburg, MD USA *
**  E-mail to:  [email-masked]                         *
*** See the great ham radio resources at:              *
**  http://www.mnsinc.com/bry/                         *
********************************************************

------------------------------

End of GLOWBUGS Digest 367
**************************