WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:06.019 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:12.900 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:17.640 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:22.899 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:22.899 --> 00:00:31.820 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:37.780 we go, welcome to Amtopi Calling let's talk, 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:57.960 Neil's your guy Amtopi, here we go Hey, good 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.939 evening, everyone. It's time for HamTalk Live, 00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:07.439 episode number 261. CW Kits, soldering services, 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:09.739 and who knows what else we'll talk about with 00:01:09.739 --> 00:01:14.959 Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB. Recorded live on Thursday, 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:20.140 June 17th, 2021. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. 00:01:20.219 --> 00:01:23.870 Thanks for tuning in. To this episode of HamTalk 00:01:23.870 --> 00:01:26.709 Live, tonight we're joined by Joe Eisenberg, 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:30.409 K0NEB, and we'll take your calls live in just 00:01:30.409 --> 00:01:32.969 a few minutes. And don't forget next week, make 00:01:32.969 --> 00:01:35.890 sure you have your last second field day questions 00:01:35.890 --> 00:01:39.989 ready to go. Paul Bork, N1SFE, will be here. 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:44.250 He's the ARRL contest manager, and he will be 00:01:44.250 --> 00:01:47.810 here to take all of those tricky little field 00:01:47.810 --> 00:01:50.879 day questions that... just come up all of a sudden 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:54.780 right before field day starts. So take advantage 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:58.379 of that. Give us a call next week for your field 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:03.980 day Q &A. Last week we had Ward Silver in 0AX 00:02:03.980 --> 00:02:07.620 here to talk about the new release of ham radio 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.580 for dummies. And if you missed that show, you 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:13.000 can listen anytime over at ham talk live dot 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:17.159 com or on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube, 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:22.500 or you can catch the rebroadcast over on WTWW. 00:02:22.500 --> 00:02:27.520 That's 50 85 a .m. Saturday afternoons at about 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.800 3 30 p .m. Eastern time. So tonight we're talking 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:37.229 kits and soldering and specifically some CW kits, 00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:40.349 although we do have some others. So get your 00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:43.729 questions ready to go for Joe. If you're listening 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:46.169 to us live on Thursday night, you can give us 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:50.969 a call after the interview by calling this number. 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:54.270 And, and beware, this is not the usual number, 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:58.110 the phone system. Decided to conk out on us a 00:02:58.110 --> 00:03:01.969 little bit ago. So We're going back with an old 00:03:01.969 --> 00:03:11.710 phone number. It's 8 1 2 6 3 8 4 2 6 1 again 00:03:11.710 --> 00:03:17.430 the phone number to call tonight is 8 1 2 6 3 00:03:17.430 --> 00:03:23.810 8 4 2 6 1 And you can also tweet us. It's at 00:03:23.810 --> 00:03:26.189 HamTalk Live on Twitter. If you're on Spreaker, 00:03:26.210 --> 00:03:29.849 type into the chat and the comments there. And 00:03:29.849 --> 00:03:31.969 those will pop up on the screen here. And I'll 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:34.930 be back with Joe right after this word from Tower 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:40.509 Electronics right here on HamTalk Live. Thanks 00:03:40.509 --> 00:03:43.650 for choosing Tower Electronics. How may we help 00:03:43.650 --> 00:03:47.759 you today? We have PL -259s, we have N -connectors, 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:51.919 we have SMA adapters, we have BNC adapters. What 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.060 can I show you today? Where's the tower? Well, 00:03:55.300 --> 00:03:58.360 we don't actually have a tower with us, but we 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:00.819 have all kinds of things you can use with a tower. 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:04.500 We have power poles, antennas, soldering irons 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:07.780 and meters. Where's the tower? Ma 'am, that's 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:10.340 the name of our company. We can't haul towers 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:12.479 to all the ham -fests across the country that 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.139 we visit. But we have almost every connector 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:17.680 and adapter you would need to connect your antenna 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.779 that's on your tower. I don't think there's a 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:23.420 tower back there. I really don't. Tower Electronics. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:27.819 Visit us at a Hanfist near you or call 920 -435 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:33.420 -2973 or see our whole catalog at PL -259 .com. 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:37.319 Sorry, one thing we don't have is a tower. Who 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:40.420 is the most dangerous person in the world? A 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:43.860 ham with some wire, a potato gun, and an idea. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.800 Welcome back to Ham Talk Live. Tower electronics 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:10.360 will be... At some hamfests, yes, we've got some 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:14.980 hamfests out there. Monroe, Michigan, June 20th 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:19.079 and Oak Creek, Wisconsin, July 10th. But you 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:29.100 can visit them anytime at PL -259 .com. Joe Eisenberg, 00:05:29.139 --> 00:05:32.639 KZeroNEB, is from Lincoln, Nebraska and is well 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.259 known for his kit building expertise. He joins 00:05:35.259 --> 00:05:39.939 us on the Orlando Amateur Radio Club and Hamcation 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:43.060 line tonight. He is the longtime kit building 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:47.120 editor at CQ Magazine and often makes presentations 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:51.040 and offers kit builds at HamFest conventions 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:54.759 and club meetings. He started in amateur radio 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.160 at an early age. He's been licensed since 1969 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:03.839 and he's a YASME Excellence Award winner and 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.819 He has that Dr. Seuss hat that you may see him 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:10.740 with, but only at Dayton. So Joe, welcome back. 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:14.319 Well, thank you very much. And I tell you what, 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.519 when you're talking about HamFest starting up 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:21.699 again, my first one since the pandemic is... 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:24.899 the Lincoln Hamfest right here in Lincoln, Nebraska 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:27.980 at the Lancaster Event Center, which is less 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:30.839 than a mile from my house. And that is going 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:34.379 to be on Saturday the 19th, which is only a short 00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:39.060 time away if we are listening live. And it's 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:42.379 going to be great to be at a Hamfest again. And 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:44.800 I'm also looking forward to seeing everybody 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.879 at every other Hamfest I can make, especially 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:51.980 Huntsville in August. Yeah, really looking forward 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:55.160 to that that's Probably going to be my first 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:59.560 one. I think there's One other one in August, 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:01.899 but I think it's after Huntsville. So I think 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:08.480 that's gonna be probably my first one back Of 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:12.579 Substantial size anyway, so that that'll be cool. 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:17.040 Well Let's talk about some new kits. You've always 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:22.290 got new kits on the horizon and You've got some 00:07:22.290 --> 00:07:25.949 that are CW based, so we'll talk about those. 00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:30.829 And then maybe a little FTA and some Arduino 00:07:30.829 --> 00:07:35.509 stuff. So we've got an assortment here. So first 00:07:35.509 --> 00:07:38.170 off, what do you have in the CW world there, 00:07:38.250 --> 00:07:43.709 Joe? All right, Neil. One of them, you can get 00:07:43.709 --> 00:07:47.370 this in single bands, anything from 80 to I think 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:53.300 17 meters. and maybe 15 meters also. It's from 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:57.180 QRP Labs. They're known for their QCX series 00:07:57.180 --> 00:08:00.779 of transceivers, and they have a QCX Mini. And 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:04.060 this thing is barely bigger than a deck of cards. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.939 It's got a, if you buy it with the case, and 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:11.279 I highly recommend that, it has a very rugged, 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:15.100 very strong case, and it is completely digitally 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:19.149 synthesized. Now this kit, like a few other kits 00:08:19.149 --> 00:08:22.250 I've talked about in the past, is a hybrid kit. 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:25.230 Now what that means is there's a whole bunch 00:08:25.230 --> 00:08:27.970 of surface mount parts that are already mounted 00:08:27.970 --> 00:08:30.430 on the board, so you don't have to do any surface 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:33.149 mount parts. And because of that, there are not 00:08:33.149 --> 00:08:36.750 very many resistors and capacitors and stuff 00:08:36.750 --> 00:08:39.549 that you have to put on the board, mostly electrolytics 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:41.710 and things like that. So you're only going to 00:08:41.710 --> 00:08:44.230 be doing the through -hole parts, but you definitely 00:08:44.230 --> 00:08:47.370 have to wind those toroids. that go on there. 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:51.230 And it's got some interesting inputs and outputs. 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:54.330 It's got a PTT line. Now what that is, it's not 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:57.929 to key it. It's so that it can key an amplifier. 00:08:58.710 --> 00:09:03.450 This CW transceiver, mine is on 40 meters. The 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:07.570 PTT jack will key an amplifier. And there is 00:09:07.570 --> 00:09:09.870 an amplifier kit out there that puts out about 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:15.539 45 or 50 watts. It's got a cat Jack and what 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:19.700 that is is you can use that as a serial interface 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:22.379 and hook that to your computer through serial 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:27.379 port and It complies I think with the Kenwood 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:31.259 cat standard So you can use logging programs 00:09:31.259 --> 00:09:34.039 and things like that with this little pocket 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:38.320 -sized CW transceiver It has a paddle input that 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.580 can also handle a straight key and it has a headset 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:46.830 jack and it runs on 12 volts The neat thing about 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:51.789 it is it has the two line LCD display that we're 00:09:51.789 --> 00:09:55.350 seeing very commonly now in a lot of kits. And 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:59.789 the lower line of it is a CW decoder. So you 00:09:59.789 --> 00:10:02.590 can decode what you're getting. Now you can also 00:10:02.590 --> 00:10:06.230 set up messages and stuff. So it'll do contest, 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:10.549 CQ messages, it's got RIT, it's got keyer control, 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:15.480 all sorts of things. and two VFOs and you can 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.259 switch the VFOs back and forth and you can command 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:22.559 those things to happen through the catport. It's 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.679 very interesting and not very expensive. I think 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:30.419 it was around $100 for the kit including shipping 00:10:30.419 --> 00:10:35.039 and you got to be really careful putting this 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.059 together because it's in tight quarters. Like 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:39.679 I said a lot of stuff is surface mount in here. 00:10:40.190 --> 00:10:42.870 So you really, really got to be careful. But 00:10:42.870 --> 00:10:45.830 I wouldn't recommend it, obviously, for a first 00:10:45.830 --> 00:10:50.889 -time kit builder. But it's got things like pieces 00:10:50.889 --> 00:10:53.210 of circuit board that you break off from other 00:10:53.210 --> 00:10:57.669 pieces of it. But if you follow the instructions 00:10:57.669 --> 00:11:01.970 precisely, you're going to get yourself a nice, 00:11:02.049 --> 00:11:07.309 performing, handheld, basically size CW transceiver. 00:11:07.549 --> 00:11:10.649 And it puts out, I think mine was putting out 00:11:10.649 --> 00:11:13.450 about 4 .7 watts. That's pretty close to the 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:16.470 5 watts that they talk about. And it's kind of 00:11:16.470 --> 00:11:19.269 fun to get it tuned in and watch it copying the 00:11:19.269 --> 00:11:24.409 CW while you're going along. That's pretty cool. 00:11:24.509 --> 00:11:29.970 You just take it with you. And so I like it. 00:11:29.970 --> 00:11:33.769 I have the full size QCX that I'm going to put 00:11:33.769 --> 00:11:37.049 together more as a whisper beacon. but it's also 00:11:37.049 --> 00:11:42.029 a CW transceiver as well. And so actually you 00:11:42.029 --> 00:11:45.649 can make this one into a whisper beacon as well. 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:49.769 So there's all sorts of nifty things that it 00:11:49.769 --> 00:11:52.309 does. And for the money, the bang for the buck 00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:56.470 on this little QCX Mini is hard to be beat with 00:11:56.470 --> 00:11:59.049 all the features they cram into it. So everybody 00:11:59.049 --> 00:12:02.059 said, you know, during the pandemic kits are 00:12:02.059 --> 00:12:05.259 going to kind of become hard to come by and some 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:08.360 of them are because not because of the innovators 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:11.159 that are designing them but because some of the 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.759 parts are getting much harder to get especially 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.100 through hole parts and a lot of ICs including 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:24.000 surface mount ICs so let's see let's talk about 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.539 the next CW transceiver now this is a brand new 00:12:27.539 --> 00:12:32.419 one that just hit the market on the 7th. And 00:12:32.419 --> 00:12:35.000 I was fortunate enough to get one a couple of 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:40.799 days before. What this is, is it's the Pentech 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:46.620 TR25. And this is a two -band, five -watt CW 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:49.980 transceiver. Now when I say five watts, it gets 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:52.580 more than that. I'm getting about five and a 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:59.360 half watts out on 20 and almost 10 on 40 if I 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.259 turn the power supply voltage up to 14 and it 00:13:02.259 --> 00:13:05.480 does allow that I think it allows it to a little 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:11.340 over 14 volts to come in But it is dual band 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:14.360 which means that you just flip a switch on the 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:19.460 front panel and it changes from 20 to 40 Like 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:24.399 the other kit I just mentioned It has a synthesizer 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:29.539 in it as well, and it is an encoder, so you don't 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:32.500 have a tuning capacitor. It is digitally synthesized, 00:13:32.500 --> 00:13:35.320 so it's going to be very, very stable. But it 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.179 has no menus, okay? The QCX has a lot of menus 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:42.860 and different functions. In fact, the QCX uses 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:45.759 a built -in signal generator to do the alignment, 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:47.919 which is really, really fascinating. I never 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.860 had a kit that did that. The Pentek does not. 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:56.460 In fact, there are no menus on this. Instead, 00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:00.299 it's got five knobs on the front panel. One is 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:05.080 obviously the tuning dial, which is actually 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:09.120 an encoder. And then you have a keyer pot, which 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:14.220 adjusts your paddle speed. It has a TX power 00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:16.820 control so you can turn it down to about zilch 00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:21.039 and all the way up to maximum RF output. It has 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.299 an RF gain control for receive and of course 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:26.639 a volume control. And somebody says well they 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:29.679 all got to have a volume control. Well the RockMites 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:31.980 don't have volume controls. There's a lot of 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:35.059 kits that don't have it. This one does. There 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:39.210 are three LEDs. One of them blinks when the battery 00:14:39.210 --> 00:14:42.029 voltage goes down below a certain level. I have 00:14:42.029 --> 00:14:45.870 mine set to just below 9 volts. There's a blue 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:49.610 signal LED that blinks while you're sending CW 00:14:49.610 --> 00:14:53.710 and it blinks when it's receiving signals to 00:14:53.710 --> 00:14:56.309 give you an idea how strong the signals are coming 00:14:56.309 --> 00:15:01.450 in. And it has an RIT warning light that lets 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:07.090 you know if you're in the RIT mode. What's interesting 00:15:07.090 --> 00:15:10.889 about this is that it has two input jacks. It 00:15:10.889 --> 00:15:13.970 has a jack for a straight key and a separate 00:15:13.970 --> 00:15:17.389 one for paddles. And the neat part about that 00:15:17.389 --> 00:15:19.570 is, as opposed to the QCX where you're going 00:15:19.570 --> 00:15:22.450 through menus, you can just use either one. You 00:15:22.450 --> 00:15:24.809 can plug your straight key in and have a paddle 00:15:24.809 --> 00:15:27.110 plugged in and just interchange if you want. 00:15:27.870 --> 00:15:31.330 The display is pretty small. It's about an inch 00:15:31.330 --> 00:15:35.240 wide and about a half inch tall. That sounds 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:40.600 pretty small, and it really is, but it is an 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:46.120 OLED screen. That's organic LED. It's not color, 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:50.120 but it does look kind of a bluish green, and 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:52.700 it shows you your frequency, and there's a cursor 00:15:52.700 --> 00:15:57.960 under the number for the step size that you're 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:02.909 tuning. Very, very, very low current draw and 00:16:02.909 --> 00:16:07.529 very, very easy to read. So, kind of a nifty 00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:09.570 little thing. Of course, it has a headset jack 00:16:09.570 --> 00:16:14.909 and the BNC connector for the RF and the input 00:16:14.909 --> 00:16:19.470 is a standard coaxial power plug. But the Pentek 00:16:19.470 --> 00:16:24.490 TR25, it's obviously bigger than the QCX, but 00:16:24.490 --> 00:16:29.059 it's very, very rugged. and has great receiver 00:16:29.059 --> 00:16:32.840 performance. Now, once again, it's a hybrid kit. 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:36.779 That means that you have all the surface mount 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:40.840 parts already mounted for you and all you got 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:44.320 to do is mount the other parts. Now it's on two 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:47.139 different circuit boards and they kind of sandwich 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:51.120 together. and on one of the boards there's also 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.740 some trimmer capacitors but guess what you don't 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:57.679 have to tune those because the manufacturer has 00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:59.820 a pin cushion and I don't know if you know what 00:16:59.820 --> 00:17:03.519 a pin cushion is but it's a special test bed 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.400 where they attach the circuit board to it and 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.240 it has contacts that push up underneath and it 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.960 goes to a test jig and then you just perform 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:16.880 the alignment there, and now everything on that 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.740 board is aligned and ready to go for the rest 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:24.319 of the components. Now this one, the QCX, I think, 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:30.500 had four toroids. This one has six toroids, including 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:34.180 one transformer. The good thing is that the transformer, 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:37.000 the two wires, the red and the green, that are 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:40.079 twisted together are already twisted for you. 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:45.130 But there's a lot more to this kit than just 00:17:45.130 --> 00:17:49.089 what it does once it's put together. The assembly 00:17:49.089 --> 00:17:52.089 of it is really, really nifty. And I've never 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:56.410 had a kit do this. But they give you three strips 00:17:56.410 --> 00:18:01.269 that are clear plastic strips that have parts 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:05.109 in little pouches that are heat sealed in order 00:18:05.109 --> 00:18:09.009 that you're going to be using them. So instead 00:18:09.009 --> 00:18:11.369 of sorting out the parts and I lecture a lot 00:18:11.369 --> 00:18:14.730 as you know about sorting parts But this one 00:18:14.730 --> 00:18:17.730 I take the scissors and I cut open a pouch and 00:18:17.730 --> 00:18:20.029 I put in the parts according to the steps and 00:18:20.029 --> 00:18:24.069 the instructions so Kind of like when I do the 00:18:24.069 --> 00:18:27.289 stage by stage kits and when you finished one 00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:31.680 stage you can leave your parts sealed up in the 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.220 container you sorted them in. Well, this you 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:35.480 don't have to sort it. You can put the strips 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:39.559 back in the cardboard box that came in because 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.220 the parts aren't going to leak out unless you 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:47.180 cut open that pouch. So it's really nifty and 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:51.319 it's labeled the upper board, the lower board, 00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:55.460 and the final assembly parts. And so it's really, 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:58.660 really slick. Like I said, the parts are already 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:01.920 sorted for you, already checked, everything. 00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:05.839 All you do is, I just took a scissors and I would 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:09.240 just cut each one open as I go, put the parts 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:16.079 on my work surface and put that set of parts 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.859 on the board and then I go to the next. So Neil, 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:26.740 that is the CW kits. Yeah, sounds like some some 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:30.200 cool stuff at any time I hear Joe Eisenberg say 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:35.980 I've never had a kit do this before It kind of 00:19:35.980 --> 00:19:41.700 kind of grabs your interest I'm glad I like to 00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:45.039 see these kind of innovations by the kit makers 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:49.259 and and John he does a really really good job 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:55.039 on these and I sent it to him for him to look 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.559 at and test to make sure I did everything correctly 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:01.900 and of course it was good with flying colors 00:20:01.900 --> 00:20:08.039 and I really think that this one is probably 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:11.359 easier than the QCX to put together but I also 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.079 would not call this a beginner's kit. This would 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:17.700 be more for an intermediate kit builder who's 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:21.299 already wound toroids and worked with boards 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:23.700 that have surface mount parts on them but you 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:26.119 don't have to solder them but you got to work 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.920 around them because once again if you drip a 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.660 little drip of solder on one of those ICs it's 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:35.839 got like 10 10 strips right next to the parts 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:39.839 you're working on you can have problems so I 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:42.420 would say this would be more for the intermediate 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:45.240 kit builder but for somebody who's going to take 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:49.670 it out on field day It has a four pole crystal 00:20:49.670 --> 00:20:54.009 filter that's centered on seven Hertz the correction 00:20:54.009 --> 00:20:59.630 700 Hertz and Is 300 Hertz wide and very very 00:20:59.630 --> 00:21:04.490 selective Well, there you go some cool stuff 00:21:04.490 --> 00:21:09.109 Well, we've got a couple more kits. I think we're 00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:14.049 gonna hold those until after the break here but 00:21:14.049 --> 00:21:16.390 another thing that we want to talk about tonight 00:21:16.390 --> 00:21:21.450 is is soldering surfaces. Now the reason this 00:21:21.450 --> 00:21:27.150 comes up and as this does often happen on HamTalk 00:21:27.150 --> 00:21:32.930 Live, I run into something and I say, hey Joe, 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:38.589 what do you think about this? And this was one 00:21:38.589 --> 00:21:41.069 of those things that just happened to come up. 00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:44.450 And so I thought like, okay, well let's ask Joe 00:21:44.450 --> 00:21:47.930 on the show. About this one because we're getting 00:21:47.930 --> 00:21:50.569 ready for this this big kit build at Yoda camp 00:21:50.569 --> 00:21:53.509 here in a few weeks And and all of a sudden everybody 00:21:53.509 --> 00:21:56.089 kind of looked around and goes what tables are 00:21:56.089 --> 00:22:01.829 we going to use for this and I'm like I Don't 00:22:01.829 --> 00:22:06.170 know I thought there were tables so We want we 00:22:06.170 --> 00:22:10.490 want to get some some surfaces for these beginning 00:22:10.490 --> 00:22:16.099 kit builders to use for soldering so I started 00:22:16.099 --> 00:22:20.799 looking at these silicone mat things and, you 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:24.500 know, laminate and all these different things. 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:29.119 And then I said, you know, let's just ask Joe. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:36.299 So, Joe. All right. I'm going to give you the 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:40.000 the inexpensive and very effective solution. 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:42.359 Now, there's two of them that I use quite often. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:47.700 And I have to put this caution, and that is, 00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:51.240 in the retail environment we are in right now, 00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:54.539 that sometimes these things are not available 00:22:54.539 --> 00:22:58.000 for one reason or another. I used to be able 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.480 to say, oh yeah, you can go to the store, they 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:02.480 always have these things. Well, as we know now, 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:04.660 you can go to the store and things that you always 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:07.279 thought would be there aren't there. But we'll 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:11.180 hope that these are. Two places I go, one is 00:23:11.180 --> 00:23:14.500 Walmart. and they sell under their Mainstays 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:18.700 brand. They have a set of three different sizes 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:21.859 of cookie sheet that are all bundled together 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:27.750 and it's six bucks. And you can't beat it. good 00:23:27.750 --> 00:23:29.809 -sized cookie sheets and they're not coated. 00:23:29.990 --> 00:23:32.269 They don't have that non -stick coating or anything, 00:23:32.609 --> 00:23:35.289 but they're reasonably heavy enough metal that 00:23:35.289 --> 00:23:37.529 it's going to protect your surface. So if you've 00:23:37.529 --> 00:23:39.849 got like those fold -out plastic tables like 00:23:39.849 --> 00:23:42.960 you get at Sam's Club or Costco, it's going to 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.740 protect that surface. So all those hot solder 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:47.880 blobs and things like that are going to end up 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:50.480 in that tray as well as most of your clippings 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.279 and stuff like that. And because they have a 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.400 lip around them, the parts aren't going to roll 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:00.220 off the table. So if it's a small enough kit, 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.059 like we were talking about something pretty simple, 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.099 you can actually just sort your parts along the 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:10.259 back edge of the cookie sheet. That works now 00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:13.559 if you want to get even less expensive I have 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:16.680 a dollar tree about six blocks from me and they 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:19.220 sell a cookie sheet that has a lip around it 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:23.740 for of course a dollar and so those work just 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:27.200 as well and They're pretty close to the size 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:31.900 of the Walmart ones. So look in the cooking area 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:35.910 the kitchen area of dollar tree and you will 00:24:35.910 --> 00:24:37.730 find those cookie sheets. Now I'm not talking 00:24:37.730 --> 00:24:40.769 about the aluminum foil molded things that you 00:24:40.769 --> 00:24:43.950 see. These are regular reusable cookie sheets 00:24:43.950 --> 00:24:48.329 and they work quite well and the Walmart ones 00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:52.289 three for six bucks you can't beat it. All right 00:24:52.289 --> 00:24:55.069 well I'm going to borrow to grab one and take 00:24:55.069 --> 00:24:59.109 it up to the museum and see what everybody thinks 00:24:59.109 --> 00:25:03.740 but I think we may get some of those. Costco 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:07.019 tables you were talking about too. But we'll 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:10.619 see how that all plays out. But that's a great 00:25:10.619 --> 00:25:13.940 way to go. Now, while we're on the topic here 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:18.160 real quickly, I looked at these silicone mats 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:22.960 on Amazon and some of those things. Obviously, 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:27.039 the cookie sheets, the cheapest way to go. If 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:30.420 you're looking for something better, what do 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:36.049 you suggest? What I would suggest is combining 00:25:36.049 --> 00:25:39.269 the two and that is I take those silicon mats 00:25:39.269 --> 00:25:43.210 which are magnetic and most of the cookie sheets 00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:48.390 are made of a material if it's not aluminum it 00:25:48.390 --> 00:25:51.930 will stick to it and so quite often I will take 00:25:51.930 --> 00:25:57.670 the silicone soldering mat and lay it inside 00:25:57.670 --> 00:26:00.529 a cookie sheet so you get the best of both worlds. 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:05.319 There you go, well that may be a good good way 00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:09.319 to go to you so Well, those are some some ideas 00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:13.240 for for soldering surfaces, and we've got a couple 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:15.740 of more kits We're going to talk about here in 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:19.019 just a little bit, but we're going to Take our 00:26:19.019 --> 00:26:22.000 break right now and open up the phone lines at 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.599 eight one two six three eight four two six one 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:29.160 again That's a different phone number than usual. 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:32.839 That's our old phone number from way back when, 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:40.140 812 -638 -4261. That's the number we'll be taking 00:26:40.140 --> 00:26:42.579 calls on, so we'll open that up and come back 00:26:42.579 --> 00:26:45.359 with Joe right after this word from ICOM America 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:49.359 right here on HamTalk Live. It's that time of 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:52.839 year again. Field Day is from June 26th to 27th 00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:54.920 and ICOM has the base station of your dreams 00:26:54.920 --> 00:27:00.539 with the IC7300 and IC9700 SDR transceivers and 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:04.819 the portable SDR transceiver, the IC705. These 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:07.220 amateur radios are top of the line and are the 00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:10.279 choice for DXers and contesters across the globe 00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:12.740 by helping operators cut through pileups, letting 00:27:12.740 --> 00:27:15.160 you work the bands and record those contacts. 00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:18.839 Be a Field Day leader with ICOM. Heard it. Worked 00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:22.490 it. logged it. The IC7300 is a high -performance, 00:27:22.509 --> 00:27:25.230 innovative HF transceiver with a compact design 00:27:25.230 --> 00:27:27.869 that will far exceed your expectations. This 00:27:27.869 --> 00:27:30.930 innovative HF transceiver digitizes RF before 00:27:30.930 --> 00:27:34.089 various receiver stages to reduce the generated 00:27:34.089 --> 00:27:38.069 inherent noise in different IF stages. The IC7300 00:27:38.069 --> 00:27:40.390 is the radio that changed the way entry -level 00:27:40.390 --> 00:27:43.670 HF is designed. It has RF direct sampling, 15 00:27:43.670 --> 00:27:46.549 discrete bandpass filters, a large 4 .3 -inch 00:27:46.549 --> 00:27:48.730 color touchscreen, real -time spectrum scope 00:27:48.730 --> 00:27:52.450 and an SD memory card slot. RealHF fun starts 00:27:52.450 --> 00:27:55.130 here. And you can create your own band opening 00:27:55.130 --> 00:27:59.009 with the IC9700. This transceiver radio brings 00:27:59.009 --> 00:28:02.750 direct sampling to the UHF and VHF week signal 00:28:02.750 --> 00:28:05.250 world. This all -mode transceiver is loaded with 00:28:05.250 --> 00:28:07.230 innovative features that are sure to keep you 00:28:07.230 --> 00:28:10.490 busy. A 4 .3 inch color touchscreen with real 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:13.430 -time spectrum scope and waterfall display. Smooth 00:28:13.430 --> 00:28:16.230 satellite operation with 99 satellite channels 00:28:16.230 --> 00:28:19.410 and dual watch operation and full duplex operation 00:28:19.410 --> 00:28:21.930 in satellite mode. Expect top performance on 00:28:21.930 --> 00:28:25.910 field day with ICOM's IC -9700. And of course 00:28:25.910 --> 00:28:28.730 the IC -705 is the perfect transceiver for hams 00:28:28.730 --> 00:28:31.869 who enjoy both the great indoors and outdoors 00:28:31.869 --> 00:28:34.609 on field day. It's the perfect QRP companion. 00:28:34.789 --> 00:28:36.950 This base station has features and functionality 00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:39.250 at the tip of your fingers. In a portable package 00:28:39.250 --> 00:28:42.369 it covering HF six meters, two meters, 70 centimeters 00:28:42.369 --> 00:28:44.950 and weighs in at just under two pounds. It has 00:28:44.950 --> 00:28:47.680 the 4 .3 inch color touchscreen live band scope 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:49.940 and waterfall five watts out with the battery 00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:53.400 10 watts with the power supply does full d -star 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:57.609 sideband cw am and fm modes it has a micro usb 00:28:57.609 --> 00:29:00.250 connector bluetooth wireless LAN and micro sd 00:29:00.250 --> 00:29:04.150 card slot integrated gps and gps logger and the 00:29:04.150 --> 00:29:06.690 speaker might come standard perfect accessory 00:29:06.690 --> 00:29:09.950 for the ic 705 is the optional backpack with 00:29:09.950 --> 00:29:13.150 a special compartment for your ic 705 and room 00:29:13.150 --> 00:29:16.470 for accessories for soda activations a day in 00:29:16.470 --> 00:29:20.259 the park or some contesting Visit the IC705 webpage 00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:23.559 to view accessories and free software available 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:26.720 for download. And you can check all that out 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.500 at icomamerica .com slash amateur. You can find 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:33.180 more information on all of ICOM's radios there 00:29:33.180 --> 00:29:38.250 against icomamerica .com slash amateur. Join 00:29:38.250 --> 00:29:42.930 the conversation. Give us a call at 859 -982 00:29:42.930 --> 00:29:48.750 -7373. Again, the number to call is 859 -982 00:29:48.750 --> 00:29:53.710 -7373. Or, if you'd rather type than talk, tweet 00:29:53.710 --> 00:29:57.309 us at HamTalk Live. Now, here's Neil Rapp with 00:29:57.309 --> 00:30:01.859 more HamTalk Live. You're listening to Ham Talk 00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:05.359 Live, the number one podcast amongst the podcasts 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:08.559 with the words Ham, Talk, and Live in the title. 00:30:09.019 --> 00:30:24.559 Here's your host, Neil Rapp. Welcome back to 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:28.099 Ham Talk Live, thanks to iCom America for sponsoring 00:30:28.099 --> 00:30:31.930 the show. Be sure you check them out at IcomAmerica 00:30:31.930 --> 00:30:35.309 .com slash amateur and check out HamTalk Live 00:30:35.309 --> 00:30:39.430 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and at HamTalkLive 00:30:39.430 --> 00:30:43.150 .com every Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern 00:30:43.150 --> 00:30:46.849 Time. All right, well, before we get back to 00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:49.269 Joe and take your questions, we have a couple 00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:51.170 of things. First of all, that phone number Andy 00:30:51.170 --> 00:30:53.930 gave is not the phone number to call tonight. 00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:59.850 The phone number to call tonight is 8 1... 812 00:30:59.850 --> 00:31:04.670 -638 -4261 if you want to call in. Of course 00:31:04.670 --> 00:31:07.549 you can still tweet us at HamTalk Live and if 00:31:07.549 --> 00:31:10.609 you're on Spreaker type in the comments. But 00:31:10.609 --> 00:31:15.609 again the phone number for tonight is 812 -638 00:31:15.609 --> 00:31:19.529 -4261. We had some technical difficulties with 00:31:19.529 --> 00:31:21.769 the other number and so we'll get that back. 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:26.019 uh... in service real soon but uh... that's how 00:31:26.019 --> 00:31:29.119 you reach us and then also before we uh... go 00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:33.180 back to joe we have our weekly segment the in 00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:37.190 nine g s u ham radio joke of the week Now it's 00:31:37.190 --> 00:31:40.670 time for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the 00:31:40.670 --> 00:31:43.069 Week, the part of the show where Rick tells us 00:31:43.069 --> 00:31:46.309 a ham radio joke. The HamTalk Live Ham Radio 00:31:46.309 --> 00:31:49.630 Joke of the Week is brought to you by QRM Labs. 00:31:49.950 --> 00:31:53.809 Now, here's Rick Garrett in 9GSU with today's 00:31:53.809 --> 00:32:01.849 HamTalk Live Joke of the Week. I'll be the first 00:32:01.849 --> 00:32:04.049 to admit not everyone gets my sense of humor. 00:32:04.329 --> 00:32:06.750 I tried to send a buddy a joke over slow scan 00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:11.450 TV, but it wasn't well received. This has been 00:32:11.450 --> 00:32:14.470 the Ham Talk Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week 00:32:14.470 --> 00:32:18.210 with Rick Garrett in 9GSU. Tune in again next 00:32:18.210 --> 00:32:24.130 week for another joke from Rick. Oh, that Rick 00:32:24.130 --> 00:32:33.549 in his slow scan. All right, well it's time for 00:32:33.549 --> 00:32:37.289 your calls now. So again, if you have a question 00:32:37.289 --> 00:32:44.950 for Joe, give us a call at 812 -638 -4261 or 00:32:44.950 --> 00:32:48.329 tweet us at HamTalk Live or type in the comments 00:32:48.329 --> 00:32:50.890 on Spreaker. And if you're listening to us on 00:32:50.890 --> 00:32:54.309 WTWW or on the podcast edition of the show, you 00:32:54.309 --> 00:32:57.089 won't be able to reach us since we're doing this 00:32:57.089 --> 00:33:01.920 live on Thursday night. Couple of things have 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:04.539 come in, so let's do those first and then we'll 00:33:04.539 --> 00:33:07.480 get to a couple of these other kits that we're 00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:12.180 looking at that aren't CW. So if I would hit 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:16.819 the right button. Jacob Lindsey, and I forgot 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:22.680 his call, it's KE7 something, I think, or KF7. 00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:26.380 Anyway, friendly reminder to all the HamTalk 00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:28.279 Live listeners that if you bought one of those 00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:32.460 Xtronic soldering irons, that Joe talks about 00:33:32.460 --> 00:33:36.680 and those are also on Amazon. You can register 00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:40.859 your limited warranty on the Xtronic website. 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:46.500 And Jacob says his Xtronic got his Morisino 32 00:33:46.500 --> 00:33:49.640 together in no time, so thanks for the suggestion, 00:33:49.900 --> 00:33:53.839 Joe. Well, thank you. Yeah, the more Sereno is 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:57.299 a is a fun kit and there's really only 11 parts 00:33:57.299 --> 00:33:59.759 that you solder But there's a lot of pins on 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.579 some of those parts But an excellent kit and 00:34:02.579 --> 00:34:06.500 also a hybrid kit and it also has an OLED display. 00:34:06.980 --> 00:34:10.519 So That's kind of a theme lately is these new 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:12.940 displays that don't draw as much and give you 00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:17.239 a lot of flexibility That's a great kit well, 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:20.900 thanks Jacob for writing in and And yeah, Joe, 00:34:20.900 --> 00:34:23.639 we've talked about this Xtronic soldering iron. 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:28.019 I think every time you're on the show. But again, 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:32.920 you know, last Saturday was with some volunteers 00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:35.340 up at the Voice of America Museum for working 00:34:35.340 --> 00:34:38.039 on Yoda camp. And we put together 30 of those 00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:42.019 things that Xtronic just donated to the cause. 00:34:42.380 --> 00:34:45.679 And we put all 30 of them together. All 30 of 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:48.500 them worked. All 30 of them were in great shape. 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:51.699 except for for the one that we forgot to take 00:34:51.699 --> 00:34:55.880 the the cap off the the tip when we turned it 00:34:55.880 --> 00:35:00.780 on and And yeah, we got the smell of burnt plastic, 00:35:01.019 --> 00:35:03.940 but but it cleaned up real nice. So we got it 00:35:03.940 --> 00:35:07.179 taken care of but But yeah, we're like Wayne. 00:35:07.300 --> 00:35:13.179 Hmm. Hmm. I smell something. It's like oops But 00:35:13.179 --> 00:35:17.460 they work great and you know digital readout 00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:22.099 temperature control and it was a good thing. 00:35:23.460 --> 00:35:27.159 So check out Xtronic USA. Yeah, and actually 00:35:27.159 --> 00:35:31.900 those come from here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Yeah, 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:35.260 so you've got the hometown connection with Joe 00:35:35.260 --> 00:35:41.760 K0NEB there on those Xtronics. Okay, let's see 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:46.699 what else we have here. Jill, KD8QGA says if 00:35:46.699 --> 00:35:49.480 you get blinded with your cookie sheet, take 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:54.119 it on the lamp or light lamp, go spray paint 00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:56.420 it in flat black. It's a heck of a lot easier 00:35:56.420 --> 00:35:59.179 to put kids together without getting blinded. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.739 So that's Jill's tip on the on the cookie sheet. 00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:06.760 Yeah, very good. Yeah, that or like I said, use 00:36:06.760 --> 00:36:10.239 the silicon mats that are black or gray or blue. 00:36:12.420 --> 00:36:16.619 Let's see here. I do have a few items to talk 00:36:16.619 --> 00:36:22.159 about. One is a 3D printed CW key that I've been 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:24.539 using a lot when I'm testing these kits. And 00:36:24.539 --> 00:36:27.340 this was first brought to my attention by Ria 00:36:27.340 --> 00:36:31.980 into RJ. And she printed the first one up for 00:36:31.980 --> 00:36:35.199 me and gave me the Thingiverse number for it. 00:36:35.539 --> 00:36:38.500 And I assembled it at home. And I was amazed 00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:41.869 that this is a really nice little kit. And nice 00:36:41.869 --> 00:36:44.570 little key that you can put together and it's 00:36:44.570 --> 00:36:47.949 great for a group building project Just pre print 00:36:47.949 --> 00:36:50.849 all of the the parts obviously because it takes 00:36:50.849 --> 00:36:55.750 a long time to 3d print but I discovered that 00:36:55.750 --> 00:36:59.090 to make a hundred of these things I can get all 00:36:59.090 --> 00:37:03.969 the screws and the washer and stuff for it For 00:37:03.969 --> 00:37:07.690 about I think it was like $25 to do a hundred 00:37:07.690 --> 00:37:11.860 of these things. So They're very inexpensive 00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:15.579 to put together. That's like a quarter each in 00:37:15.579 --> 00:37:20.179 terms of the the hardware except for I still 00:37:20.179 --> 00:37:24.019 need to find a spring source and I did find some 00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:27.119 audio cables for like 30 -something cents each 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:30.900 and what I do on those is I cut it in half so 00:37:30.900 --> 00:37:35.420 you now have two plugs two wires and So now you 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:40.619 can do two keys on one cable so That makes it 00:37:40.619 --> 00:37:44.820 down to about 18 cents per unit for the cost 00:37:44.820 --> 00:37:47.460 of the cable with the plug already on it. So 00:37:47.460 --> 00:37:51.199 a neat, very, very low -cost project that is 00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:53.840 a group kit build item. Now we're going to go 00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:55.699 the other direction. We're going to go to a kit 00:37:55.699 --> 00:37:58.099 that's a lot more complex. You're not going to 00:37:58.099 --> 00:38:00.059 get it done in an afternoon. You're going to 00:38:00.059 --> 00:38:02.820 spend maybe a couple of afternoons putting this 00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:08.179 together. It's called the FT8 phaser. and it 00:38:08.179 --> 00:38:17.039 was designed by K1SWL and the case was designed 00:38:17.039 --> 00:38:22.480 by AA0ZZ who always has a hand also in some of 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:26.599 the cases of the four state QRP kits along with 00:38:26.599 --> 00:38:31.280 David Kripe and M0S. Now this is put out by Midnight 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:36.940 Design Solutions and they are at www .midnightdesignsolutions 00:38:36.940 --> 00:38:42.639 .com and the FT -8 phaser is also digitally synthesized 00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:46.260 but it only has two buttons in front. One says 00:38:46.260 --> 00:38:49.820 FT -8 and the other one says Alt and the Alt 00:38:49.820 --> 00:38:52.659 is an alternate frequency. You can have it program 00:38:52.659 --> 00:38:57.199 like I do for FT -4 frequency. Some people run 00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:01.360 PSK -31 or Olivia or any of the other sound card 00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:04.170 modes. you can run with this kit. Once again 00:39:04.170 --> 00:39:08.869 it puts out about 5 watts key down of single 00:39:08.869 --> 00:39:11.730 sideband so you can run any of the sound card 00:39:11.730 --> 00:39:17.639 modes. Once it's all together, it's a nifty looking 00:39:17.639 --> 00:39:20.940 little box and makes a great demo for portable 00:39:20.940 --> 00:39:24.840 or things like that. A great emergency communicator 00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:27.800 as well. A very solid case that's made out of 00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:29.900 printed circuit board material. The case does 00:39:29.900 --> 00:39:34.079 cost extra. I would not build this kit without 00:39:34.079 --> 00:39:39.159 that case because it's beautiful and makes it 00:39:39.159 --> 00:39:41.280 a lot more functional. The last one I'm going 00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:45.150 to talk about is available both in kit form pre 00:39:45.150 --> 00:39:48.210 -made but the thing that they both have in common 00:39:48.210 --> 00:39:51.489 is you can mess with the programming if you know 00:39:51.489 --> 00:39:54.730 anything about programming in Arduino. I knew 00:39:54.730 --> 00:40:00.730 nothing about doing that and I'm sorry to our 00:40:00.730 --> 00:40:04.190 friend Glenn in Mississippi who teaches that 00:40:04.190 --> 00:40:06.690 and has been trying to get me to do it well now 00:40:06.690 --> 00:40:09.110 I'm just starting to do it and I got to mess 00:40:09.110 --> 00:40:11.150 with the code of this thing to get rid of some 00:40:11.150 --> 00:40:15.360 of the headaches that it had like it tuned backwards 00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:19.219 and so I discovered where in the program I could 00:40:19.219 --> 00:40:22.280 change that and now it tunes the right way and 00:40:22.280 --> 00:40:25.380 now it boots up on my favorite radio station 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:29.079 every time I turn it on now it receives everything 00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:32.480 from longwave all the way up through the FM broadcast 00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:39.440 band and the FM band it not only is stereo but 00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:43.860 it displays the RDS information, which is your 00:40:43.860 --> 00:40:47.119 station ID, song title, and so forth. And guess 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:49.800 what it uses for a display? We have a theme here. 00:40:49.820 --> 00:40:53.780 We've talked about two other kits, the Morcerino 00:40:53.780 --> 00:40:58.679 32 and the TR 25. Well, this one also has that 00:40:58.679 --> 00:41:04.280 same one inch by half inch OLED screen. So these 00:41:04.280 --> 00:41:06.840 are up and coming. These are becoming very popular 00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:08.699 because of their low current draw and they're 00:41:08.699 --> 00:41:11.989 very easy to read. And it has that kind of screen 00:41:11.989 --> 00:41:16.090 in it. And so it comes with a little whip antenna. 00:41:16.269 --> 00:41:18.090 Obviously, that's not going to be really good 00:41:18.090 --> 00:41:20.530 on short waves. So you can hook it to an outside 00:41:20.530 --> 00:41:25.030 antenna. Same thing goes with FM broadcast. And 00:41:25.030 --> 00:41:29.610 there's a switch on the back that's FM or AMSSB. 00:41:29.630 --> 00:41:33.710 And all that is is it changes the input filtering 00:41:33.710 --> 00:41:38.780 and stuff in the preamp. for a receive from the 00:41:38.780 --> 00:41:44.619 HF to the VHF circuit. And it has a USB mini. 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:47.920 Newer ones, some of them have the micro or have 00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:50.320 the C type connector. This one still has the 00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:53.599 mini. You can plug a stereo headphone into the 00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:57.019 back. But like I said, what's fun is you can 00:41:57.019 --> 00:42:00.619 redefine the band edges and the default frequencies 00:42:00.619 --> 00:42:04.000 on each band and you can change the tuning steps. 00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:08.460 Defaults and it has front panel control of those 00:42:08.460 --> 00:42:10.880 things as well But you can set the defaults and 00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:14.639 stuff in the program as you load the Arduino 00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:19.199 it is available with the case or with the case 00:42:19.199 --> 00:42:23.920 as a kit and As a kit all the surface mount parts 00:42:23.920 --> 00:42:26.960 are already done for you once again And all you're 00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:29.460 going to do is a handful of through hole parts 00:42:29.460 --> 00:42:33.989 like the push buttons and things like that So 00:42:33.989 --> 00:42:41.590 in kit form this thing sells for about $38 and 00:42:41.590 --> 00:42:46.010 Prebuilt anywhere from 75 or 80 up to about $100 00:42:46.010 --> 00:42:49.429 depending on the case and things like that So, 00:42:49.510 --> 00:42:52.050 how do you find this? Well, you're going to look 00:42:52.050 --> 00:43:01.050 up Si 4732 or Si 4735 That is the number of the 00:43:01.050 --> 00:43:04.110 IC chip. That's the heart and soul of this thing 00:43:04.110 --> 00:43:08.150 It has an Arduino Nano in it and I discovered 00:43:08.150 --> 00:43:12.869 that the Nano is a Chinese clone and If you boot 00:43:12.869 --> 00:43:16.269 into it with the normal bootloader, it will not 00:43:16.269 --> 00:43:19.329 accept it But if you tell it that you're using 00:43:19.329 --> 00:43:24.179 the old bootloader And most of your Arduino program 00:43:24.179 --> 00:43:27.800 software has that option. You tell it it's the 00:43:27.800 --> 00:43:32.320 old bootlegger, old bootloader, it works. Bootlegger, 00:43:32.460 --> 00:43:36.840 yeah. It works. Yeah, the bootloader, the old 00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:39.920 bootloader works perfectly. And so it's a clone 00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:43.619 nano in there, but it programs the same way. 00:43:44.099 --> 00:43:47.619 And it's slick. I have had a ball with this darn 00:43:47.619 --> 00:43:50.159 little receiver and you can just set it on the 00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:54.260 table and on field day and let people listen 00:43:54.260 --> 00:43:59.039 to what you're doing and things like that. The 00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:01.800 bootlegger is another episode of HamTalk Live. 00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:08.320 Oh yes. But I'll tell you what, it's a very small 00:44:08.320 --> 00:44:11.679 radio. It has what amounts to a cell phone battery 00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:15.650 in it, so it recharges from the USB. A slick 00:44:15.650 --> 00:44:19.909 little radio, very low cost. And RDS, because 00:44:19.909 --> 00:44:23.230 I'm a fan of RDS and a lot of people have no 00:44:23.230 --> 00:44:28.969 idea what RDS is, but that it decodes the RDS. 00:44:29.690 --> 00:44:32.670 I'm impressed. Yeah, and this time of the year 00:44:32.670 --> 00:44:35.750 when you have band openings like Sporadic E -Skip 00:44:35.750 --> 00:44:39.130 in the FM broadcast band or TROPO, it's great 00:44:39.130 --> 00:44:41.389 because you can see what you're listening to 00:44:41.389 --> 00:44:45.300 before they ever give an ID. Yep, that's that's 00:44:45.300 --> 00:44:49.280 the cool thing about it. So all all great stuff 00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:53.719 Joe and Let's see if we let me check the messages 00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:57.840 here and see if we have any more And let's give 00:44:57.840 --> 00:45:03.280 a last call for phone calls at 8 1 2 6 3 8 4 00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:07.679 2 6 1 If you have a question or comment now is 00:45:07.679 --> 00:45:11.000 the time as we're just about done. We're actually 00:45:11.579 --> 00:45:14.360 already a little over but just a minute or so 00:45:14.360 --> 00:45:17.360 so uh... give us a call eight one two six three 00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:21.139 four two six one uh... don't see any more messages 00:45:21.139 --> 00:45:25.780 other than then chris uh... a four cb thank you 00:45:25.780 --> 00:45:29.599 for listening and and uh... uh... bonnie and 00:45:29.599 --> 00:45:34.699 and jill are are in here talking about uh... 00:45:34.699 --> 00:45:38.880 figuring out things to do while they're in huntsville 00:45:38.880 --> 00:45:43.139 so i i know You know, hamfests are on the way 00:45:43.139 --> 00:45:49.000 back. I know the one that they're planning in 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:51.539 Bloomington where I used to live that which that 00:45:51.539 --> 00:45:55.900 still seems odd to say that I used to live there. 00:45:56.440 --> 00:45:58.159 They were going to have everybody show their 00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:00.619 vaccination card to get in. So, you know, there's 00:46:00.619 --> 00:46:02.639 a lot of different ways to do it. But these these 00:46:02.639 --> 00:46:06.659 hamfests are coming back, Joe. Yeah, and I really 00:46:06.659 --> 00:46:09.519 look forward to it. I knew that when the things 00:46:09.519 --> 00:46:12.599 started winding down there would be a kind of 00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:18.340 a gap between Nothing at all and going full bore 00:46:18.340 --> 00:46:22.320 My schedule kind of fill up again later this 00:46:22.320 --> 00:46:26.679 summer Also, by the way that that key I was talking 00:46:26.679 --> 00:46:29.659 about earlier that you can make a cheap kid out 00:46:29.659 --> 00:46:36.829 of it If you have a 3d printer look for on Thingiverse 00:46:36.829 --> 00:46:44.650 Thingiverse .com For an item number 3 1 6 7 3 00:46:44.650 --> 00:46:51.630 4 3 that's item number 3 1 6 7 3 4 3 and that's 00:46:51.630 --> 00:46:54.010 this I think they call that the thing number 00:46:54.360 --> 00:46:57.920 And you can download those files, take them to 00:46:57.920 --> 00:47:01.139 the library or your schools or whatever. They 00:47:01.139 --> 00:47:04.719 have a 3D printer and print the parts. There 00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:09.739 you go. So we've got the paddles and all kinds 00:47:09.739 --> 00:47:13.599 of good stuff. So Joe, I thank you once again 00:47:13.599 --> 00:47:16.420 for coming on the show and telling us about all 00:47:16.420 --> 00:47:19.219 this cool new stuff and we'll do it again soon. 00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:23.219 Yes. And I look forward to seeing you in Huntsville. 00:47:24.320 --> 00:47:27.840 Absolutely look really looking forward to To 00:47:27.840 --> 00:47:31.119 getting out on the road for a while. So that'll 00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:35.000 be that'll be a good time All right. Well, that 00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:38.599 is a wrap for this week's episode of ham talk 00:47:38.599 --> 00:47:40.940 live. Thanks to my guest Joe Eisenberg case here 00:47:40.940 --> 00:47:43.710 when he be and everybody out there in cyberspace 00:47:43.710 --> 00:47:47.030 for listening and typing in tonight and uh... 00:47:47.030 --> 00:47:49.170 i invite you back next thursday night nine p 00:47:49.170 --> 00:47:51.989 m eastern time again it's the annual field day 00:47:51.989 --> 00:47:56.429 q and a show uh... where we take your last minute 00:47:56.429 --> 00:48:01.530 questions about field day and ARRL contest manager 00:48:01.530 --> 00:48:05.130 paul bork in one s f e will be here to answer 00:48:05.130 --> 00:48:08.289 those so if you have a last second question about 00:48:08.289 --> 00:48:12.050 field day here's your chance to get that rule 00:48:12.050 --> 00:48:17.710 clarified. That's on June 24th, right here on 00:48:17.710 --> 00:48:20.829 HamTalk Live. And for a list of all of our upcoming 00:48:20.829 --> 00:48:24.789 guests, visit hamtalklive .com. And if you like 00:48:24.789 --> 00:48:27.989 the show, please leave us a review. This is Neil 00:48:27.989 --> 00:48:34.329 Rapp, WB9VPG, saying for now, 73, 75, and may 00:48:34.329 --> 00:48:46.539 the good DX be yours. Well you came right back 00:48:46.539 --> 00:48:50.900 to my secure call The readability five and strength 00:48:50.900 --> 00:48:55.840 nine You never once mentioned your weather at 00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:01.480 all And I didn't mention mine We talked and talked 00:49:01.480 --> 00:49:05.639 for hours and hours I completely forgot you're 00:49:05.639 --> 00:49:10.280 a ham I don't know your power or the height of 00:49:10.280 --> 00:49:15.889 your tower But frankly I don't give a damn So 00:49:15.889 --> 00:49:19.969 73's, to you and your family I'll be seeing you 00:49:19.969 --> 00:49:21.409 further down the line