WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.980 by Tower Electronics. For cables, connectors 00:00:05.980 --> 00:00:13.119 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:17.199 .com and by the HamStation. Get your new radio 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:23.219 or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 or go to 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:59.929 hamstation .com. It's time for ham talk live. 00:00:59.929 --> 00:01:04.790 It's episode number 72 Making kit building easy 00:01:04.790 --> 00:01:09.430 with Joe Eisenberg k0neb recorded live on Thursday, 00:01:09.549 --> 00:01:15.829 July 6th 2017 I'm your host Neil rap WB 9v PG. 00:01:16.150 --> 00:01:19.750 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of ham talk 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:25.079 live tonight Joe's back k0neb He's going to talk 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:28.299 about ways to make kit building easy and a couple 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:31.379 of new kits that are out there since he joined 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:36.659 us last. So we'll let him talk about those and 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:38.879 later on in the show we'll let you know when 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:42.359 it's time and we will take your call. So if you 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.939 have any kit building questions, please save 00:01:45.939 --> 00:01:50.159 those for us. call in during the call -in segment 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.159 later on or you can tweet those right now if 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:57.120 you want to. On Twitter we are at HamTalk Live 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.359 so you can send us those and we'll have those 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:02.920 ready to go when we get to that part of the show. 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:07.900 Last week Jim Wilson K5ND was here talking about 00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:11.460 the National Boy Scout Jamboree which is uh... 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:14.139 just uh... about a week a week and a half away 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:17.099 or so uh... and then also uh... the jamboree 00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:19.699 on the air and internet that's coming up in october 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:22.360 so uh... if you're interested in that why head 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:26.240 on over to hamtalklive dot com and uh... check 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:29.020 out that episode uh... you can do that anytime 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:32.360 and you can also get our podcast version if you 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.500 want to just download it and subscribe uh... 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.659 you can do that on apple podcasts stitcher i 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:42.210 heart radio google play Tune in and SoundCloud 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:46.889 and you can also subscribe on YouTube So be sure 00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:49.050 to check us out and spread the word if you would 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:52.530 try to let people know that That we're here every 00:02:52.530 --> 00:02:54.889 Thursday night at 9 p .m.. Eastern or if they 00:02:54.889 --> 00:02:58.469 can't catch it why? They can get one of those 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:03.759 podcasts, so I'll be back with Joe in just a 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.400 little bit but don't forget that telephone number 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:13.180 it's 812 -NET -HAM -1 that's 812 -638 -4261 or 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:15.659 you can just call us on Skype or HamTalk Live 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:18.659 on there or again you can give us a tweet at 00:03:18.659 --> 00:03:22.780 HamTalk Live with all of your kit building questions 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:27.000 so I'll be back right after this word from the 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.240 ham station right here on Ham Talk Live. This 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:33.879 episode of Ham Talk Live is brought to you by 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:38.020 The Ham Station. 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The HamStation, 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.839 proud to sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.019 We're not sure what's up with the fifth dentist, 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:31.699 but four out of five dentists recommend listening 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:45.529 to HamTalk Live. Welcome back to HamTalk Live, 00:04:45.629 --> 00:04:48.689 The Ham Station. Give them a call at 9 -2 or 00:04:48.689 --> 00:04:51.709 I'm sorry, 800 -729, I just about gave you Scott's 00:04:51.709 --> 00:04:56.389 phone number. 800 -729 -4373 is The Ham Station 00:04:56.389 --> 00:04:59.449 or hamstation .com. Give Dan or Jeff a call. 00:04:59.610 --> 00:05:04.420 They've got all kinds of great. Icon, Yezu, Kenwood, 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:07.199 you name it, they've got it down there. And also 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.319 some used equipment, so be sure to check out 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:13.199 their list online at hamstation .com. And tell 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.139 them you heard it on HamTalk Live and let them 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:18.579 know that you appreciate them supporting us. 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:21.160 And we're on the air every Thursday night at 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:24.639 9 p .m. Eastern time at hamtalklive .com. And 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:28.079 if you miss us live, well, you can always catch 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:32.430 the archive or our podcast version. Joe Eisenberg 00:05:32.430 --> 00:05:35.990 K0NEB is here tonight from Lincoln, Nebraska 00:05:35.990 --> 00:05:39.949 and is well known for his kit building expertise. 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:43.209 And he's also well known for his picture shows 00:05:43.209 --> 00:05:47.529 of the Dayton Hamvention. He is the longtime 00:05:47.529 --> 00:05:51.490 kit building editor at CQ magazine and often 00:05:51.490 --> 00:05:54.209 makes presentations and offers kit builds at 00:05:54.209 --> 00:05:57.370 ham fest conventions and club meetings and Joe 00:05:57.370 --> 00:06:00.069 started ham radio at an early age and has been 00:06:00.069 --> 00:06:05.269 licensed since 1969 and The other way that he's 00:06:05.269 --> 00:06:07.970 known is his famous dr. Seuss hat that he only 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:13.180 wears to Dayton So, Joe, thank you, as always, 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.480 for coming on the show and catching us up on 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:20.360 some kit building. Right, Neil, and there's actually 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:23.319 an exception to the rule on the hat. I wore it 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:26.399 at Friedrichshafen, and boy, the German ham's 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.000 really got a kick out of that. And maybe someday, 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:31.180 if I ever get to the one in Tokyo, I'll wear 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:35.420 it there, too. Okay, so there are rare exceptions, 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:38.769 but those are... those are pretty special exceptions 00:06:38.769 --> 00:06:40.949 to the rule that's right any other ham fest you 00:06:40.949 --> 00:06:44.470 just see me with the ball cap yeah all right 00:06:44.470 --> 00:06:47.189 well it's been a while since we've talked about 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:49.949 kits we talked a little bit about hamvention 00:06:49.949 --> 00:06:52.509 and we'll maybe throw in a little bit on that 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:56.209 here later but thanks for coming back with another 00:06:56.209 --> 00:06:59.329 update so one of the things you said you want 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:03.279 to talk about tonight was ways to make kit building 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.660 easier. There are some kits that are easy and 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:11.620 some are more difficult. So give us some tips 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:14.620 to make assembling go better. And first, I'm 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:18.920 going to offer my favorite tip for kit building. 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:21.100 I don't think I've ever told you my favorite 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:27.579 tip for kit building, and that is the styrofoam 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:32.730 plate. Yeah, I've seen people use that and they 00:07:32.730 --> 00:07:38.250 poke the parts into that and Or sometimes they 00:07:38.250 --> 00:07:41.009 they draw lines on a plate and so forth and sort 00:07:41.009 --> 00:07:44.750 out the parts. It's a it's a good idea Some people 00:07:44.750 --> 00:07:48.569 use egg cartons, which works too except for sea 00:07:48.569 --> 00:07:50.709 moss parts You got to be kind of careful about 00:07:50.709 --> 00:07:55.470 those like moss vets and sea moss ICs The two 00:07:55.470 --> 00:07:59.509 things that I use the most often Cupcake tin 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:05.649 and I have them that are 612 or 16 cups and Depending 00:08:05.649 --> 00:08:08.290 on the size of the kit some kits are very simple 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:12.269 and I can use a 6 -hole or and What I often do 00:08:12.269 --> 00:08:16.149 is through a 1 Meg resistor I will ground that 00:08:16.149 --> 00:08:20.189 tin so that a CMOS part does not have any static 00:08:20.189 --> 00:08:26.139 potential and The other thing I use are trays 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:31.300 out of a tackle box and that way they're reclosable 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:35.320 and the compartments are sizable so I can change 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:40.139 the size of them and what I like to do no matter 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:44.000 what system I use the cupcake tin or the tackle 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:49.210 box tray or sometimes for three bucks or so at 00:08:49.210 --> 00:08:52.529 Michael's or Hobby Lobby or Walmart you can get 00:08:52.529 --> 00:08:57.070 these jewelry sorting storage things and those 00:08:57.070 --> 00:09:00.690 work well as you know as for kit building. What 00:09:00.690 --> 00:09:03.889 I do is I put the parts that I use the most often 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:08.549 up in front and that would be resistors and capacitors 00:09:08.549 --> 00:09:11.649 and stuff like that that you have the most numerous 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:14.080 of. And then the things in the far back would 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:17.500 be the nuts, bolts, screws, knobs, plugs, jacks, 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:19.179 and connectors. Some things that you might use 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:23.799 first, some that you might use last. But the 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:27.940 key to it is to make sure that they're easy to 00:09:27.940 --> 00:09:30.559 get to and the parts fit OK in there without 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:35.159 being bent over or something like that. Now some 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:38.779 kits are stage by stage and those I sort a little 00:09:38.779 --> 00:09:42.580 differently like if it has Sections of the kit 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:44.899 where you're doing like a dozen parts at a time 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:48.799 and so forth then I put all the parts for each 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.620 section in one bin and That way when I'm done 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:55.039 with that section all those parts should be gone 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.139 So those are a couple of the hints the other 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:02.870 main hint I have is The soldering iron is obviously 00:10:02.870 --> 00:10:07.070 the most important part of this and I don't recommend 00:10:07.070 --> 00:10:12.269 using your $4 to $10 pencil irons that are not 00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:14.309 variable temperature because they usually get 00:10:14.309 --> 00:10:17.710 too hot or not hot enough when dealing with certain 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:21.350 kinds of connections. So what I really really 00:10:21.350 --> 00:10:25.990 recommend is a thermostatically controlled soldering 00:10:25.990 --> 00:10:28.730 iron so that you can set it at a temperature 00:10:28.730 --> 00:10:31.990 and as you're soldering it draws the heat away 00:10:31.990 --> 00:10:35.450 and The soldering iron will then boost up the 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:38.149 power so that it keeps the same temperature Then 00:10:38.149 --> 00:10:40.509 when you draw it away instead of overheating 00:10:40.509 --> 00:10:43.070 the tip they cool off and stay at the same temperature 00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:45.250 You can clean the tip off and put it down for 00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:49.460 a while The cheap irons that you just plug in 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:52.240 and they don't have any control at all They're 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.460 not really well suited to kit building now. Those 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:57.899 are okay for soldering PL 259s and things like 00:10:57.899 --> 00:11:01.980 that and splicing antenna wires, but for a kit 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:04.080 building I wouldn't recommend it. Most of those 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:08.159 also have a tip that's way too big I prefer to 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:10.720 have a tip that's not too much bigger than the 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:13.600 the little circles on the board where you're 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:17.580 soldering the pads and solder the same story. 00:11:17.620 --> 00:11:20.200 You don't want the solder to be too thick. And 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.919 let me give you a hint. This is the solder I 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:25.720 use. Everybody says, well, Kestner 6040 is the 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:28.639 best. Well, yeah, it's great for PL 259s and 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.000 antennas and so forth. But when I'm working on 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:36.519 a circuit board, my preference is 6337, and I 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:41.610 use 031 or 025 thickness. even thinner sometimes 00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:45.370 so the sonar and the tip aren't any bigger than 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:49.049 the pad on the board otherwise you might get 00:11:49.049 --> 00:11:51.610 blobs and and shorts and so forth that makes 00:11:51.610 --> 00:11:57.370 life pretty difficult but I use 63 37 rosin core 00:11:57.370 --> 00:12:00.490 no clean and that way you get a much cleaner 00:12:00.490 --> 00:12:03.649 connection you don't get the brown blobs of flux 00:12:03.649 --> 00:12:06.490 that are left over instead it's whatever's left 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:11.509 might be more clear so Once again, my prescription 00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:16.450 for solder is 6337, rosin core, no clean, and 00:12:16.450 --> 00:12:20.950 031 or smaller, 025 is good. Now you might say 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:23.850 that's kind of thin, but it really does a good 00:12:23.850 --> 00:12:26.429 job and you don't end up getting a lot of big 00:12:26.429 --> 00:12:29.610 blobs using that. Now, I'm going to stop you 00:12:29.610 --> 00:12:32.330 right there for a second because a question just 00:12:32.330 --> 00:12:37.679 suddenly came to mind. got together and picked 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:41.279 out some clock kits for my high schoolers to 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:47.139 do as their first kit and of course they had 00:12:47.139 --> 00:12:49.940 to you know put things in the wrong place and 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:54.100 so they had to try to to get that extra solder 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:57.840 out of there and I gave them some choices of 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:01.840 what I had. I had solder wick and I had a one 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:09.600 -handed Handheld spring -loaded vacuum And that 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:14.360 was it so Let me ask you while we're talking 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.039 about getting blobs everywhere and if you use 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.039 too big a solder and that kind of thing What 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:24.179 do you like to do to take care of the oops? Well, 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:27.600 it depends on the board single -sided boards 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:32.350 definitely solder wick works very quickly. Double 00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:34.789 -sided boards, it depends on the diameter of 00:13:34.789 --> 00:13:38.730 the holes because those are plated through and 00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:41.490 so it's more difficult. If the hole is plenty 00:13:41.490 --> 00:13:44.389 big and there's lots of gap between it and the 00:13:44.389 --> 00:13:49.330 wire, using solder wick works wonderful. Otherwise, 00:13:49.649 --> 00:13:52.769 the best tool and something that you haven't 00:13:52.769 --> 00:13:59.000 mentioned yet is a vacuum desoldering tool. And 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:01.399 actually Radio Shack had one that was of the 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:06.299 variety years ago that Would get extra hot it 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:09.559 was a regular pencil iron with a hollow tip and 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.320 a suction ball and what you did was you squeezed 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:16.080 the ball to blow the air out of it then you touched 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:18.299 that iron with the hollow tip to the connection 00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:21.559 and then you let go of the ball and it sucked 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.519 the solder up into the head and then you had 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:26.980 an ashtray or something nearby that you could 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:29.580 squirt the solder back out into to clear the 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:32.340 head of the desoldering tool and it was very 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:36.730 effective about cleaning the holes. But now they 00:14:36.730 --> 00:14:40.210 have electric ones But they're kind of expensive 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:41.889 you're going to spend at least about a hundred 00:14:41.889 --> 00:14:45.389 and ten hundred and twenty dollars for a Vacuum 00:14:45.389 --> 00:14:47.590 desoldering tool that's only if you're going 00:14:47.590 --> 00:14:53.029 to do a lot. I would say The wick is probably 00:14:53.029 --> 00:14:56.649 the best and I'll give you another hint If you're 00:14:56.649 --> 00:15:00.029 trying to steal parts off of circuit boards nowadays 00:15:00.029 --> 00:15:02.450 a lot of them are made with lead -free solder 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:05.580 And you'll notice that it doesn't melt real quickly, 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:10.860 does it? That is true. Well, there's a trick. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:16.720 And what I do is I add some regular 63, 37, or 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.860 even 60, 40 solder to that connection. I say, 00:15:20.179 --> 00:15:22.940 what are you trying to do? You're adding solder 00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:25.299 to something you're trying to desolder. But actually, 00:15:25.580 --> 00:15:27.940 adding that solder to it does what? It lowers 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:30.240 the melting temperature to the lowest point. 00:15:30.939 --> 00:15:33.299 Then you take the wick and you draw it back and 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:37.419 it comes off nice and clean So that's kind of 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:40.940 another hint now back to the kind of solder I 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:45.120 like 63 37 and I don't necessarily like the silver 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.000 bearing type solder just the 63 37 we call that 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.840 eutectic solder and the reason is is that particular 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:57.200 mixture of solder melts at a slightly lower point 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:01.460 than the 60 40 But it has a much less plastic 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:03.759 state. In other words, there's only a few degrees 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.539 at which it could become crystalline if it got 00:16:06.539 --> 00:16:12.259 moved. And so for hand soldering things, 6337 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:14.860 is much better. Now the plastic state of solder, 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:16.960 like I said, is where you get your cold solder 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.659 joint. Something moves while it's cooling. But 00:16:20.659 --> 00:16:26.879 6337 cools very quickly and solidifies much quicker 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:32.019 and smoother. So anywhere as you go where they're 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:37.159 actually making electronic products by hand, 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.299 you're going to see the 6337. In fact, I have 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:42.960 a customer that I visit to service printers right 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:47.159 here in Lincoln and all their bent is have the 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:51.960 6337 rosin core or no clean, which kind of validates 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.360 my point on the choice of solder. Sure, sure. 00:16:55.929 --> 00:16:59.909 Well, that little difference in the mixture of 00:16:59.909 --> 00:17:03.230 the metals does make a big, big difference in 00:17:03.230 --> 00:17:09.549 there. And that's a great tip. And again, the 00:17:09.549 --> 00:17:14.970 size of the tip and the size of the solder, I 00:17:14.970 --> 00:17:18.789 think we've all had those moments when, OK, the 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:23.680 only solder I can find at the moment is You know 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:26.559 a quarter inch thick and okay, maybe not quite 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.099 a quarter inch thick But you know, it is this 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:32.119 huge stuff and then you're thinking well, okay, 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:35.319 you know, that's That's what I've got at the 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.299 moment and you try it and it just turns into 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:41.839 a disaster Yeah, and I tell people that that 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:44.079 if they're building their first kit if they start 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.519 with the right solder and the right kind of iron 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:50.160 they're gonna have more chance of success and 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:54.480 The thing that I've always noticed is if somebody 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.460 buys a kit and they fail building it, they're 00:17:57.460 --> 00:17:59.940 never going to try and build again. But if they 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:02.059 build something, even something simple like your 00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:04.660 clock kit or a pixie or something like that, 00:18:04.859 --> 00:18:07.160 and it works, they're going to want to build 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.779 something even more complex and so forth until 00:18:09.779 --> 00:18:14.700 they're building SDRs. Very good. Well, some 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:19.430 great tips there for Beginners that are trying 00:18:19.430 --> 00:18:22.549 to build some of these kits. So you have any 00:18:22.549 --> 00:18:28.150 others for us to throw in there? Well, yes A 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:30.430 lot of times the instruction manuals that come 00:18:30.430 --> 00:18:33.789 with kits are not printed anymore. In fact, like 00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:36.509 if you order a kit from the four states QRP group, 00:18:37.009 --> 00:18:41.289 those manuals are not printed. Even MFJ and so 00:18:41.289 --> 00:18:45.529 forth, the bigger kit makers, a lot of them also 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:49.349 supply the manuals as a PDF online or a Word 00:18:49.349 --> 00:18:53.549 doc, but usually PDF file. And the best way to 00:18:53.549 --> 00:18:57.880 handle that is to have a tablet nearby. and you 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:01.420 can use the tablet to read your manual, and then 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:02.940 you can scroll through it. Of course, you can 00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:05.160 print it out. Now, when I'm working on a broken 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:07.660 printer at work, my boss always told me, do a 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:11.519 30 or 40 page test to make sure it's good. And 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.039 so that's a good chance to print a kit manual. 00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:18.680 And so I take advantage of that. That's a good 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:23.940 way to do it. But yes, and you can print it yourself 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:27.009 and kind of make your own little book. Or, like 00:19:27.009 --> 00:19:29.210 I said, if you use a tablet now, some people 00:19:29.210 --> 00:19:32.210 will pull out a little netbook or a laptop and 00:19:32.210 --> 00:19:35.029 do that. That's not a good idea. And the reason 00:19:35.029 --> 00:19:38.529 is that when you're cutting wires from the leads 00:19:38.529 --> 00:19:41.049 when you're soldering a circuit board, those 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:43.230 little leads go flying. And if one of those goes 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:45.809 into your keyboard, well, you can kiss the laptop 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:48.730 goodbye. It'll end up on my bench at work as 00:19:48.730 --> 00:19:55.569 toast. I really recommend using a tablet, a little 00:19:55.569 --> 00:19:58.450 cradle for the tablet, and the reason is is that 00:19:58.450 --> 00:20:00.890 if those little leads go flying, they're just 00:20:00.890 --> 00:20:03.650 going to bounce off the glass. So there's no 00:20:03.650 --> 00:20:07.829 problem with a tablet. All right, good stuff. 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:10.990 Well, tell us about some of these new kits that 00:20:10.990 --> 00:20:14.829 are out that we haven't talked about yet. Well, 00:20:14.829 --> 00:20:17.259 I'm going to talk about the Cricut. And the cricket 00:20:17.259 --> 00:20:20.319 is a really, really fun kit. And we did this 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.579 as the group build experience at Ozarkon. Now 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:29.160 Ozarkon, if you haven't heard about it, I wrote 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:33.859 about it in the June issue of CQ Magazine. Ozarkon 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:36.960 is the annual gathering of the four -state QRP 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.309 group. which is one of the largest nonprofit 00:20:40.309 --> 00:20:44.690 groups making kits today. And they have several 00:20:44.690 --> 00:20:49.009 people designing kits, but the most prolific 00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:55.460 designer lately has been David Kreip, NM0S. For 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:58.319 those of you who aren't familiar with him. He 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:02.920 is a senior engineer at Rockwell Collins in Cedar 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.980 Rapids So he is a Collins radio engineer and 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:08.299 he has come up with some absolutely incredible 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:14.660 kits Now the cricket is a 80 meter CW transceiver 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:18.759 and It's kind of based loosely on the pixie design 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:22.619 except for one thing a pixie Receiver is almost 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:27.240 pretty much deaf This one has an MDS, which is 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:31.740 minimum discernible signal at about minus 110 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:35.680 dBm That's pretty darn low. And in fact when 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.740 I built my kit and put it together I was able 00:21:38.740 --> 00:21:43.980 to hear the w1aw CW practice transmissions and 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:47.259 I I could copy it quite well The signal was very 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:49.740 comfortable and then I unplugged the kit and 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:53.079 I plugged my elecraft kx2 into the same antenna 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:57.019 And guess what? It was only about an S2, S3 signal. 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:00.279 So I thought, wow, that's pretty good considering 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:02.880 I was listening to this 80 meter signal on a 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:07.420 40 meter dipole and with no tuner at all. And 00:22:07.420 --> 00:22:09.900 so with this, I was able to hear it quite well. 00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:14.420 So it proves out the MDS signal rating. This 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:17.240 particular kit uses a nine volt battery as a 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.680 power supply. It has a jack so you can plug in 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:25.769 a headset or earbuds. It has the key. The CW 00:22:25.769 --> 00:22:28.809 key is part of the kit and is on the main board. 00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:33.609 And it has a BNC jack. So you really only have 00:22:33.609 --> 00:22:37.009 to plug in your antenna, your headset. It's already 00:22:37.009 --> 00:22:40.569 got the battery on it. Of course, when you plug 00:22:40.569 --> 00:22:42.690 in the battery, it turns it on. So you have to 00:22:42.690 --> 00:22:45.390 take the battery off to turn it off. Now what's 00:22:45.390 --> 00:22:48.450 neat about this kit is there are three inductors 00:22:48.450 --> 00:22:52.920 on it. These three inductors are made by a spiral 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:57.740 etching on the circuit board. So you have a Three 00:22:57.740 --> 00:23:00.240 inductors that are fixed they're not going to 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.380 vary at all You're not going to wiggle them when 00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:04.700 they get hot or cold or anything like that They're 00:23:04.700 --> 00:23:07.420 not going to vary at all and you don't have to 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:09.799 wind them So you're not winding any toroids or 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:13.220 any coils. You don't need any coil forms or anything 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:15.759 It is built onto the circuit board. So that's 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.970 already done for you That's a great audio amp 00:23:19.970 --> 00:23:23.450 for audio output. It's really loud in the headset. 00:23:23.650 --> 00:23:32.029 I added a three pin It's kind of a machine pin 00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:35.710 socket thing that's used on circuit boards and 00:23:35.710 --> 00:23:39.569 cutting the middle pin off I made a crystal jack 00:23:39.569 --> 00:23:42.549 so that I can substitute different crystals, 00:23:42.869 --> 00:23:45.190 but it comes with the crystal that we all know 00:23:45.190 --> 00:23:47.869 and love and that is the color burst crystal 00:23:47.869 --> 00:23:55.650 3 .579545 MHz and that is the old NTSC television 00:23:55.650 --> 00:23:58.970 color frequency and so there's lots of crystals 00:23:58.970 --> 00:24:01.130 for that available and that's kind of become 00:24:01.130 --> 00:24:05.950 a QRP kit hangout because you don't hear the 00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:09.750 noise from the TV oscillators anymore because 00:24:09.750 --> 00:24:14.410 nobody has analog TVs anymore. So the crystals 00:24:14.410 --> 00:24:17.069 are plentiful and lots of hams are hanging out 00:24:17.069 --> 00:24:20.349 up there All right, so that's the the cricket 00:24:20.349 --> 00:24:23.170 and and I know you can't hear but I'm playing 00:24:23.170 --> 00:24:28.390 crickets in the background for the Well the cricket 00:24:28.390 --> 00:24:33.829 the cricket is Offered by the four state qrp 00:24:33.829 --> 00:24:39.460 group, which is for sqrp dot org Now we're gonna 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:42.140 we're actually gonna do a little retro here We're 00:24:42.140 --> 00:24:44.720 gonna go back and we're gonna look at a couple 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:48.200 of kits that I like because they're classics 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:53.940 Okay, and these classics are put out by MFJ One 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:57.519 of them is under their Vectronics name now. I 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.420 don't know if you know anything about the history 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:05.559 of MFJ But the very very first product that Martin 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:12.670 Jew put out was a very simple Scaff type CW audio 00:25:12.670 --> 00:25:17.309 filter Okay, and it had three bandwidths 180 00:25:17.309 --> 00:25:22.089 Hertz 110 Hertz and 80 Hertz and Filters back 00:25:22.089 --> 00:25:27.029 then didn't go that narrow now This design came 00:25:27.029 --> 00:25:30.970 up with four ICs in it and Seemed to work quite 00:25:30.970 --> 00:25:33.690 well and so he had great success and that's how 00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:38.420 MFJ became a success the kit version of the actual 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:41.500 original first product that MFJ ever made and 00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:44.519 still uses the same components is called the 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:50.559 VEC -820. And the VEC -820 is available through 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:55.160 MFJ. You'll notice that if you look at the back 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:58.880 panel, the input is two screw lug terminals. 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:02.359 Don't forget that this was designed in the 70s. 00:26:02.490 --> 00:26:05.690 So people would have a couple of wires coming 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:08.130 out to their speaker, and then it has a full 00:26:08.130 --> 00:26:13.250 quarter inch sized mono headphone jack So you 00:26:13.250 --> 00:26:15.930 can plug your headphones in or a speaker coming 00:26:15.930 --> 00:26:21.279 out the front It's a slide switch with four positions. 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:24.119 The far right is out, which also turns the kit 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:26.940 off. And then as you move it to the left, it's 00:26:26.940 --> 00:26:29.940 180 hertz, 110 hertz, and 80 hertz bandwidth. 00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:33.400 And I'm telling you, it is a very stable filter. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:36.619 And if your receiver isn't stable, you'll know 00:26:36.619 --> 00:26:39.579 it when you're using this filter. And it really, 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:42.920 really separates out the signals. Even a modern 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:47.980 DSP receiver sometimes has trouble narrowing 00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:54.539 down audio in a CW filter to 80 Hertz and so 00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:57.480 amazingly this kit which was designed in the 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:02.539 mid 70s as MFK's first product is still extremely 00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:05.440 useful now obviously you can customize it you 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:09.220 can change the plug to jacks and so forth But 00:27:09.220 --> 00:27:11.880 it's an absolutely wonderful kit, relatively 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:14.559 low cost. In fact, you can buy it without the 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:16.660 case and put it in your own box if you want. 00:27:17.859 --> 00:27:21.099 All right, very good. And we need to get to break 00:27:21.099 --> 00:27:24.359 here, but you've got one more? Yep, we sure do. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:29.200 All right. Go ahead and do that one quickly, 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:31.440 if you would. All right. Well, we're going to 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.319 talk about the MFJ World Band Shortwave Radio. 00:27:34.589 --> 00:27:37.430 This is another classic kit that's actually been 00:27:37.430 --> 00:27:41.849 around for at least 20 to 30 years It's the MFJ 00:27:41.849 --> 00:27:47.019 8100 and it is a single -sided board The parts 00:27:47.019 --> 00:27:50.180 are spaced quite a ways apart, so it's easy to 00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:52.740 build for a first -time builder. The thing that 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.420 it teaches you is that on a single -sided circuit 00:27:55.420 --> 00:27:58.440 board, you do have to have jumper wires from 00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:00.720 time to time, and this one has four jumpers on 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.319 it, but they come pretty much pre -cut, although 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:05.500 some are a little long, so you can trim them. 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:08.740 It has two headphone jacks, so you can listen 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:11.980 along with a buddy. It runs on a 9 -volt battery 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:15.779 that clips to the main board. and hooks to the 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:18.960 antenna and ground and it is a regenerative general 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:22.619 coverage shortwave receiver and of course it 00:28:22.619 --> 00:28:27.000 does favor the ham bands and it's kind of an 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:29.660 interesting lesson in one of the hints I like 00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:32.480 to give at my seminars and that is have a reference 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:35.700 receiver handy because when I put it together 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:38.319 and I plug it into the antenna I could hardly 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:41.059 hear anything at all and I thought oh boy I really 00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:44.049 messed up till I turned on my general coverage 00:28:44.049 --> 00:28:46.630 shortwave receiver that was next to it, hooked 00:28:46.630 --> 00:28:48.930 it to the same antenna, didn't hear much either. 00:28:49.289 --> 00:28:51.990 Well, it turns out that the band was dead, so... 00:28:51.990 --> 00:28:54.710 And the bands are never dead these days. Never. 00:28:54.869 --> 00:28:58.980 Oh, gosh, no. Gosh, no. No. So, so... Conditions 00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:02.579 were pretty rugged as, as attested by my failure 00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:06.480 so far to get to GB 13 COL. I was just getting 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:09.299 ready to say the exact same thing. I've got everything 00:29:09.299 --> 00:29:13.420 else, but I cannot hear GB 13 COL to save me. 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:16.000 Yeah, if I could hear him, I'd be all right. 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:18.740 But the guys on the East Coast got lucky, but 00:29:18.740 --> 00:29:21.660 us in the Midwest are kind of handicapped this 00:29:21.660 --> 00:29:24.279 time with the band conditions. But this receiver 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:27.119 here, I had it on 80 meters last night, and it 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:29.759 worked just wonderful. So if you wait a couple 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:32.940 days or a day or so, or even a few hours, try 00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:35.140 it again. The conditions might be a lot different. 00:29:35.240 --> 00:29:37.910 And in fact, they were. And so I was listening 00:29:37.910 --> 00:29:44.589 to Radio Havana Cuba and WTWW and WWCR on shortwave 00:29:44.589 --> 00:29:47.869 and hearing WWV and all the other signals that 00:29:47.869 --> 00:29:50.690 make shortwave the bands that we know and love. 00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:54.349 It is a regenerative receiver, so of course you 00:29:54.349 --> 00:29:56.890 got to learn how to tweak the regeneration control. 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:01.539 And the antenna and ground connections are as 00:30:01.539 --> 00:30:04.220 easy as they get. It comes with the case and 00:30:04.220 --> 00:30:08.019 a separate front panel that gets bolted on and 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:10.299 absolutely looks professional when it's done. 00:30:10.900 --> 00:30:14.819 I finished it up last weekend and wrote about 00:30:14.819 --> 00:30:17.579 it for the magazine because I like writing about 00:30:17.579 --> 00:30:19.859 these classic kits. These kits have been around 00:30:19.859 --> 00:30:25.190 20, 30 years or more. they obviously are around 00:30:25.190 --> 00:30:28.369 that long for a reason because they work and 00:30:28.369 --> 00:30:34.049 this one has a vernier tuning capacitor so that's 00:30:34.049 --> 00:30:37.289 kind of unique a lot of kits nowadays that have 00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:39.690 a regen receiver just use a tuning capacitor 00:30:39.690 --> 00:30:43.170 that's not geared there is one toroid to wind 00:30:43.170 --> 00:30:46.109 in this one but don't be afraid of it the wire 00:30:46.109 --> 00:30:49.829 comes Already cut and trimmed although I did 00:30:49.829 --> 00:30:52.190 need to shorten mine a bit when I soldered it 00:30:52.190 --> 00:30:55.750 to the board It's an eight turn toroid and instead 00:30:55.750 --> 00:30:58.150 of using enameled wire which is kind of hard 00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:00.670 for a first -time kit builder it uses just regular 00:31:00.670 --> 00:31:04.980 insulated wire and The wire is already tinned 00:31:04.980 --> 00:31:08.079 and everything and absolutely goes together very 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:10.859 easily. If this was the first toroid a kit builder 00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:14.160 would wind, I'd say that would get you started 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:18.640 on not being afraid of winding toroids. All right, 00:31:18.740 --> 00:31:21.720 very good. So that's coming up in CQ Magazine. 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:26.980 Look for K0NEB's kit building column there. And 00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:29.140 we'll be back and give you a chance to call in 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:32.000 and ask your questions right after this from 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:35.059 Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk Live. 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:37.779 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:31:37.779 --> 00:31:41.059 in part by Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:44.299 has been the Ham's Dime Store since 1978. When 00:31:44.299 --> 00:31:47.019 you need connectors, mobile and handheld antennas, 00:31:47.299 --> 00:31:50.480 cables or adapters, visit Scott or Jill at a 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:53.819 HamFest near you. Or you can order online at 00:31:53.819 --> 00:32:01.579 PL -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. Stock up 00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:04.799 on those supplies like PL -259 and end connectors, 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:08.400 SMA adapters, audio cables, soldering supplies, 00:32:08.619 --> 00:32:11.380 mobile antennas, and hamsticks. Their silver 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:14.299 -plated end connectors are even used on the International 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:17.619 Space Station. Tower Electronics carries MFJ, 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:21.960 Comet, Daiwa, OPEC, Workman, and HamPro products. 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:25.759 And don't miss their 0 % off sale going on now! 00:32:26.019 --> 00:32:30.319 Tower Electronics, online at PL -259 .com, proud 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:34.940 to sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. Your 00:32:34.940 --> 00:32:40.619 QTH or mine? You're listening to HamTalk Live 00:32:40.619 --> 00:32:46.180 with Neil Rapp. Join the conversation. Call us 00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:49.480 on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or give us 00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:56.200 a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. 00:32:56.519 --> 00:33:00.839 Now, here's more HamTalk Live. Thanks again to 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:02.980 Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics for sponsoring 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:06.059 the show once again and they'll be at the Oak 00:33:06.059 --> 00:33:10.789 Creek, Wisconsin Ham Fest on Saturday. And then 00:33:10.789 --> 00:33:12.609 they're going to take a little break, spend some 00:33:12.609 --> 00:33:14.609 time with some family, and then they'll be back 00:33:14.609 --> 00:33:18.289 on the Hamfest circuit in August. But you can 00:33:18.289 --> 00:33:23.990 always give them a call. It's 920 -435 -2973 00:33:23.990 --> 00:33:30.349 or pl -259 .com. So make sure you check that 00:33:30.349 --> 00:33:34.849 out. And I know Joe loves to get his parts from 00:33:34.849 --> 00:33:39.119 them. Yes, I do in fact one of the hints I like 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:41.380 to give kit builders is to always have the right 00:33:41.380 --> 00:33:44.099 plugs jacks and connectors handy so that you 00:33:44.099 --> 00:33:46.680 can make your connections to your kits and Scott 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:49.240 and Jill from tower electronics has the greatest 00:33:49.240 --> 00:33:52.700 selection of plugs jacks and connectors and adapters 00:33:52.700 --> 00:33:56.200 and So forth that that I ever see and so they 00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:57.900 always know they're going to get a visit from 00:33:57.900 --> 00:34:02.349 me every ham fest I see them In fact, one of 00:34:02.349 --> 00:34:06.069 the pictures we sent out on Twitter and Facebook 00:34:06.069 --> 00:34:11.210 and Instagram promoting the show tonight is you 00:34:11.210 --> 00:34:15.929 at the tower electronics booths. We got a picture 00:34:15.929 --> 00:34:19.150 of all the connectors and plugs and everything, 00:34:19.309 --> 00:34:23.670 so we'll thank Scott for using the picture. Well, 00:34:23.869 --> 00:34:26.570 let's take some calls here. We kind of skipped 00:34:26.570 --> 00:34:29.230 over a bunch of stuff here. We can talk all night. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:33.340 Let's take some calls here. The number is 812 00:34:33.340 --> 00:34:41.000 -NET -HAM -1. 812 -638 -4261. Or you can Skype 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:44.099 us. We're HamTalk Live on Skype, and we're also 00:34:44.099 --> 00:34:47.940 HamTalk Live on Twitter. So if you'd rather tweet 00:34:47.940 --> 00:34:52.699 to us, you can most certainly do that. In fact, 00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:58.139 let me check the tweets here. So if you have 00:34:58.139 --> 00:35:01.940 a kit building question or a question about one 00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:04.760 of these kits that Joe's talked about or some 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:09.019 other kit, well, give us a call. It's 812 -638 00:35:09.019 --> 00:35:15.880 -4261. That spells net ham one. And we'll get 00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:20.039 you in here. Okay. And Jill says we may be, Jill's 00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:23.300 listening and says maybe breaking up a little 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:29.690 bit. And I heard a little bit of stuff on your 00:35:29.690 --> 00:35:32.530 side too, Joe. So I'm not sure what's up with 00:35:32.530 --> 00:35:36.369 the internet tonight, but we'll keep trying to 00:35:36.369 --> 00:35:41.409 go through it. And while we're waiting on the 00:35:41.409 --> 00:35:44.849 calls to come in, again, 812 -NET -HAM -1, 812 00:35:44.849 --> 00:35:50.480 -638 -4261. Great job on the picture shows. Yeah, 00:35:50.539 --> 00:35:53.480 the the good news on my internet service is the 00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:56.440 about six blocks away They're starting to trench 00:35:56.440 --> 00:35:59.739 for fiber and once I get that I'll have a gigabit 00:35:59.739 --> 00:36:03.420 up and down and that's gonna be wonderful, but 00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:07.579 The slide shows I've been doing photos at hamvention 00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:11.260 since my very first trip in 1975 when I was armed 00:36:11.260 --> 00:36:16.380 with an eight millimeter movie camera and a Kodak 00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:20.829 Instamatic we've gone from there and now of course 00:36:20.829 --> 00:36:23.389 obviously high -resolution digital photography 00:36:23.389 --> 00:36:27.150 and what I do because I make a lot of presentations 00:36:27.150 --> 00:36:31.590 to local clubs and hamfests around here about 00:36:31.590 --> 00:36:34.570 Dayton is I make it more entertaining than sitting 00:36:34.570 --> 00:36:36.469 there and putting up a picture and talking for 00:36:36.469 --> 00:36:39.570 20 minutes. What I do is I have these slideshows 00:36:39.570 --> 00:36:42.429 that run about four minutes and they're set carefully 00:36:42.429 --> 00:36:45.789 to music and the photos go with the words of 00:36:45.789 --> 00:36:48.269 the song and they try to follow a theme somewhat 00:36:48.269 --> 00:36:50.489 related to the theme of the song. Like I have 00:36:50.489 --> 00:36:53.969 one that uses the song freeze frame and of course 00:36:53.969 --> 00:36:56.730 the theme of that slideshow is photography. So 00:36:56.730 --> 00:36:59.210 you see a lot of people with cameras taking pictures 00:36:59.210 --> 00:37:03.420 just like I do. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is 00:37:03.420 --> 00:37:06.760 obviously about women in amateur radio. This 00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:11.559 year's theme was the new location. And so I used 00:37:11.559 --> 00:37:15.079 Styx, The Grand Illusion, which actually came 00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:17.239 out even a lot better than I thought it would. 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:20.099 And it starts out with the opening ceremonies 00:37:20.099 --> 00:37:23.719 with the honor guard from Wright -Patterson Air 00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:27.320 Force Base. And we go from there and we show 00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:30.420 all that was wonderful about Hamvention. Then, 00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:32.639 of course, I made another one called The Show 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:36.760 Must Go On, which showed the mud and the other 00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:39.320 interesting things that made going to the Green 00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:41.840 County Fairgrounds a lot different than the experience 00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:44.980 we had at Hair Arena. And I'm really, really 00:37:44.980 --> 00:37:47.400 looking forward to the improvements in the future. 00:37:47.980 --> 00:37:53.480 But to let people know, to make a typical slideshow, 00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:58.460 I probably shoot 400 to 500 or more photos. Which 00:37:58.460 --> 00:38:01.099 a handful get into these slideshows and I throw 00:38:01.099 --> 00:38:05.679 pictures at you every four or five seconds and 00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:09.159 so those images kind of get etched into people's 00:38:09.159 --> 00:38:12.739 minds by locking them in with the The words to 00:38:12.739 --> 00:38:14.940 the songs. In fact, I have a lot of people that 00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:17.280 come up to me when I show up a date and sing 00:38:17.280 --> 00:38:20.300 What song are you going to destroy this year? 00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:23.760 When I when I when I first heard that I thought 00:38:23.760 --> 00:38:26.280 well, that's awful thing to say and they said 00:38:26.280 --> 00:38:29.949 well It's because every time I hear that song 00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:33.090 on the radio those pictures come into my mind 00:38:33.090 --> 00:38:35.849 and I it reminds me I really want to go to Hamvention 00:38:35.849 --> 00:38:37.750 I said well then that means I'm really doing 00:38:37.750 --> 00:38:41.710 my job and that is as kind of the official photographer 00:38:41.710 --> 00:38:45.530 for the Dayton Hamvention All right eight one 00:38:45.530 --> 00:38:47.949 two six three eight four two six one is the number 00:38:47.949 --> 00:38:50.349 and dr Scott right tells me that I'm breaking 00:38:50.349 --> 00:38:53.050 up and you're not which you're going through 00:38:53.050 --> 00:38:56.320 here, so not sure what's going on but what we'll 00:38:56.320 --> 00:39:01.159 do is after the live broadcast we'll upload the 00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:04.239 local version so hopefully that'll clean all 00:39:04.239 --> 00:39:09.420 that up so 812 net ham one is the number we just 00:39:09.420 --> 00:39:11.880 have a couple of minutes left if you'd like to 00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:16.159 get a question in here for Joe about some of 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:19.920 the kit building stuff, and I know Jill's listening, 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.400 and we did a little research here on Monday, 00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:27.800 and we found the Cheesecake on a Stick people, 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:29.780 and we're trying to get them back to hand -vention. 00:39:29.860 --> 00:39:32.619 We're trying to get that all worked out, so... 00:39:32.590 --> 00:39:36.190 We've been tracking down who did what and so 00:39:36.190 --> 00:39:39.110 we'll have some more news running out of time 00:39:39.110 --> 00:39:43.269 to talk about tonight, but We're working on it. 00:39:43.829 --> 00:39:49.050 I found it So well, that's great. I know that 00:39:49.050 --> 00:39:52.510 was one of the That was one of the ham fest traditional 00:39:52.510 --> 00:39:54.969 treats that a lot of people were asking about 00:39:54.969 --> 00:39:58.630 this year and I still don't have any complaints 00:39:58.630 --> 00:40:04.110 about the food at Zenia because It was obviously 00:40:04.110 --> 00:40:06.389 there was a lot of fair food, but it wasn't your 00:40:06.389 --> 00:40:09.429 cotton candy as much as it was really good stuff 00:40:09.429 --> 00:40:13.949 and I think that they did a great job. I think 00:40:13.949 --> 00:40:17.690 they're already talking about having a food tent 00:40:17.690 --> 00:40:22.530 for people to eat undercover because as we saw 00:40:22.530 --> 00:40:27.670 it does rain from time to time and There's going 00:40:27.670 --> 00:40:29.909 to be even more food vendors because the food 00:40:29.909 --> 00:40:33.110 vendors there were doing great business, but 00:40:33.110 --> 00:40:35.530 the problem was is that they were doing such 00:40:35.530 --> 00:40:37.949 a great business that it took a long time to 00:40:37.949 --> 00:40:41.889 get through the lines. So I am really looking 00:40:41.889 --> 00:40:45.590 forward to even more food vendors. None of the 00:40:45.590 --> 00:40:47.769 vendors that were there this year were disappointed 00:40:47.769 --> 00:40:50.210 at all in the business that they did. In fact, 00:40:50.289 --> 00:40:53.050 most said that it was much busier than the county 00:40:53.050 --> 00:40:57.250 fair. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. And yeah, I thought 00:40:57.250 --> 00:41:01.360 it would. pretty well but yeah the lines were 00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:07.820 long for some items especially so that'll be 00:41:07.820 --> 00:41:10.320 interesting. Now while we're talking about Dayton 00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:12.159 and I know this isn't going to do it justice 00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:18.179 with a minute and a half but how did FDIM go? 00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:21.860 FDIM went great of course it was at the same 00:41:21.860 --> 00:41:24.559 location it has been for several years at the 00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:29.119 Holiday Inn in Beaver Creek so it was fortuitous 00:41:29.119 --> 00:41:32.139 for them that Hamvention moved to Xenia because 00:41:32.139 --> 00:41:34.400 it cut in half the amount of time it took them 00:41:34.400 --> 00:41:37.739 to get to the ham fest instead of going clear 00:41:37.739 --> 00:41:42.380 across town to Hararena and it went really well 00:41:42.380 --> 00:41:47.840 and we made a kit that was the it was a crystal 00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:53.079 tester and it is basically a crystal oscillator 00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:55.300 with a frequency counter on it and you could 00:41:55.300 --> 00:41:57.719 touch a crystal to the two pads and it would 00:41:57.719 --> 00:41:59.840 tell you exactly what frequency that crystal 00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:05.179 was on. And he sent out calibrated crystals to 00:42:05.179 --> 00:42:08.320 each person that were exactly counted so that 00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:10.800 afterwards at home, you could touch that crystal 00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:13.679 to it, adjust the trimmer cap so that it shows 00:42:13.679 --> 00:42:17.400 that exact frequency. And now it's exactly calibrated. 00:42:17.619 --> 00:42:20.900 And I've been using mine quite a bit for checking 00:42:20.900 --> 00:42:24.440 crystals to make sure they're working. All right. 00:42:24.460 --> 00:42:27.730 Very good. We are just about out of time, but 00:42:27.730 --> 00:42:33.769 CarlCandy9HQT wants to know if you've used HeathKit, 00:42:34.150 --> 00:42:37.829 and I know the answer to this is yes, to assemble 00:42:37.829 --> 00:42:41.449 transceivers and audio analyzers, and unfortunately 00:42:41.449 --> 00:42:45.050 we're going to have to cut it off there because 00:42:45.050 --> 00:42:48.789 we are out of time, but I'd say the answer is 00:42:48.789 --> 00:42:52.269 yes. Yes, yes. Many years ago I certainly did. 00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:56.380 Yeah, and HeathKid always had the best instructions 00:42:56.380 --> 00:42:59.659 of anybody, I think. Absolutely, by far. Ellicraft 00:42:59.659 --> 00:43:03.980 now does, too, as well as DZKit. DZKit does, 00:43:04.019 --> 00:43:08.199 as well. Very good. Well, that's a wrap for another 00:43:08.199 --> 00:43:10.840 edition of HamTalk Live. Thanks again to Joe 00:43:10.840 --> 00:43:14.280 Eisenberg, KZeroNEB, and everyone out there in 00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:18.519 cyberspace for listening. Chatting online tonight 00:43:18.519 --> 00:43:21.500 and we'll invite you all back next Thursday night 00:43:21.500 --> 00:43:25.320 at 9 p .m. Eastern time We've got several guests 00:43:25.320 --> 00:43:29.139 lined up for the next month or so But we're kind 00:43:29.139 --> 00:43:31.179 of juggling the dates around so I don't have 00:43:31.179 --> 00:43:34.980 exactly who's gonna be at which date yet But 00:43:34.980 --> 00:43:38.829 you can check that out the latest revision of 00:43:38.829 --> 00:43:42.889 the schedule is on the link at hamtalklive .com. 00:43:43.110 --> 00:43:46.110 Just click on the show schedule link. So for 00:43:46.110 --> 00:43:50.389 now this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7 -3, 7 00:43:50.389 --> 00:43:53.909 -5, and may the good DX be yours.