From gswynar at durham.net  Wed Dec  1 07:57:45 2004
From: gswynar at durham.net (Ed Swynar)
Date: Wed Dec  1 09:23:09 2004
Subject: [HBR] Testing the 1929 Rig---Results!
Message-ID: <006901c4d7b0$0142d6b0$d0d549c6@CompaqS5000>

Hi Gang,

Well, the 80-meter band was just as smooth as a sheet of shiney glass last night---I swear, with the almost complete & utter absence of atmospherics, you could practically hear the proverbial RF pin drop in Oshkosh...! Yes, it was one of those nights...

The 3 x 227 MOPA fired-up with a shade under 5 watts output---the HB "QST Super-12" 1929 superhet was all peaked-up & raring to go. My first QSO was with Tim (K3XI), in Virginia, on one call...he was a 579, as was I. Next up was QRP'er Chris (NG3W) from Pennsylavnia...his 5-watts got him an honest-to-goodness 599, & I received a 589. Again, one call did the trick.

Last but not least was an especially enjoyable rag chew with OT aficianado George (K9JDC) from Wisconsin...his 1930's MOPA 5-watts got him a 5-7/9-9, whilst I got a 579. George is a very intersting guy---his receiver consisted of a single tube Doerle regen! We both remarked how magical it was indeed that the two of us, separated by hundreds of miles, could so comfortably & casually (almost effortlessly!) exchange our thoughts & feelings using the very simplest of equipment, such as we had...is it any wonder we continue to hunch over our work benches like we do, making that solder flow...?!   :>)

I was reminded again last night of the effectiveness of a regenerative IF stage(s) in a superhet receiver. Fellas, I'm NOT just saying this, or espousing the idea, merely because *I* incorporated into my own rig---but seriously, if you have a simple HB set-up, or some entry level  commercial receiver that's lacking in the selectivity / gain department, you ABSOLUTELY OWE IT TO YOURSELF to beg, buy, borrow, or steal yourself a copy of the FIRST edition (1963) of the ARRL's "UNDERSTANDING AMATEUR RADIO"...pages 142 and 143 detail how you can quickly & easily add regeneration to your IF stage(s) for a genuine notch up in performance.

I tell you, I was amazed all over again last night how weak signals would literally jump out of the 'phones when that proverbial sweet spot in tuning was hit. I could make the CW signal I was listening to actually ring like a bell if I wanted to. If you don't have a Q-multiplier, & do NOT want to even think about retrofitting a crystal IF filter into your receiver, then this is for you...and perhaps best of all, the ONLY extra part you'll need is a potentiometer!

BTW, I added the same technique to my Multi-Elmac PMR-6 mobile receiver---believe you me, it works...

I hope to continue getting on for more QSOs, right on up to the day of the QSO Party...to-day (Wednesday) my intention is to work 40-meters with the MOPA in the daylight hours, & (again) 80-meters after dark...have a listen for me, & do please call if you hear me! For 80-meters I'll be using the full-wave rectangular loop...on 40-meters I have the option of utilizing either a full-wave triangular loop, or a 5-element Bobtail array.

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
From gswynar at durham.net  Wed Dec  1 11:30:54 2004
From: gswynar at durham.net (Ed Swynar)
Date: Wed Dec  1 11:39:10 2004
Subject: [HBR] Re: GB> Testing the 1929 Rig---Results!
References: <006901c4d7b0$0142d6b0$d0d549c6@CompaqS5000>
	<001501c4d7bb$80b4b840$0100a8c0@MYCHAEL>
Message-ID: <011c01c4d7c3$255be330$e8d549c6@CompaqS5000>

Hi Mychael,

Gee, I'm so sorry about that---I ran into the "...usual" technical problems (sigh!). But I DID get around them, & finally made a FB QSO with a fellow in Pennsylvania...

I have to run errands now, but I WILL be back in the afternoon---after dark, it's off to 80-meters I go...maybe I'll see you there.

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mychael Morohovich 
  To: Ed Swynar ; Old Tube Radios ; antiquewirelessassociation@yahoogroups.com ; antiquewirelessassociation@egroups.com ; hbr@mailman.qth.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 10:36 AM
  Subject: Re: GB> Testing the 1929 Rig---Results!


  Hi, Ed! 

  You popped up here 439 in Western PA around 7.040 at 10:00 EST. I ran to the rig and you were gone. Where'd you go? Are you coming back anytime soon?

  73,
  Mychael AA3WF

    I hope to continue getting on for more QSOs, right on up to the day of the QSO Party...to-day (Wednesday) my intention is to work 40-meters with the MOPA in the daylight hours, & (again) 80-meters after dark...have a listen for me, & do please call if you hear me!  ~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
From gswynar at durham.net  Wed Dec  1 14:55:14 2004
From: gswynar at durham.net (Ed Swynar)
Date: Wed Dec  1 15:03:27 2004
Subject: [HBR] Re: GB> VE3CUI Testing the 1929 Rig---Results!
References: <006901c4d7b0$0142d6b0$d0d549c6@CompaqS5000>
	<001501c4d7bb$80b4b840$0100a8c0@MYCHAEL>
	<6.1.2.0.0.20041201143142.027f9600@mail.sssnet.com>
Message-ID: <007401c4d7df$b05202a0$f6d549c6@CompaqS5000>

Hi Perry,

It was wonderful working you---let's do it again this weekend! Hi Hi

Yes, a lot of the newer Hams just have no idea what to make of a signal like mine, having never encountered one before. I guess guys my age were lucky to have been "...reared" in an era when signals like that were still pretty much commonplace from Novices, Cuban, and eastern bloc countries...

But now everybody's become rich & opulent, & as you say so effectively, Perry, our sigs have become stultifyingly STERILE...

~73!~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: w8au@sssnet.com 
  To: glowbugs@piobaire.mines.uidaho.edu ; antiquewirelessassociation@yahoogroups.com ; antiquewirelessassociation@egroups.com ; hbr@mailman.qth.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 2:43 PM
  Subject: Re: GB> VE3CUI Testing the 1929 Rig---Results!


  At 10:36 AM 12/1/04, Mychael Morohovich wrote:

    You popped up here 439 in Western PA around 7.040 at 10:00 EST. I ran to the rig and you were gone.

  While motoring home at 1320 EST, I heard this wonderful yoopy chirpy signal in QSO with an unnamed fella who was having a hard time copying Eddy.
  I waited and called him on 7035 while still mobile, and we had a solid ten minute QSO.  Eddy was 579C (yes, a big "C") here in NE OH with his five watter.
  Of course I opened my TT-Scout RX passband to it's widest so that his entire transmission stayed mostly within audible hearing range as it yooped from high to low....
  Nice to hear his distinctive 1929 signal in the midst of today's "sterile"
  (but, alas, state-of-the-art) transmissions.

  Hope get my #10 TNT (1927) ready for this weekend's AWA bash....

  Perry    w8au
From waltah at earthlink.net  Wed Dec  1 16:13:14 2004
From: waltah at earthlink.net (waltah@earthlink.net)
Date: Wed Dec  1 16:22:21 2004
Subject: [HBR] Testing The 1929 Rig...
In-Reply-To: <019101c4d70d$cd41ba40$c4d549c6@CompaqS5000>
Message-ID: <41ADED9A.17687.96D462@localhost>

Ed Swynar wrote:
> in the day time, look for me between 7030- and 7050-KHz. 

Heard in Virginia at about 1545 EST, RST 539C at about 7023 kcs. 
TOO COOL!   Noise level about S2 but easy copy over that.

Darned good sig for a keyed oscillator on 40 -- about 1kcs of chirp.  
Either you were retuning or the thing is pretty stable -- it was well 
within the 2.4 kcs passband, the whole time.  Keying is perfect, it 
seems to me.   

Yeah, I was copying on the HBR-4; isn't there a rule that vintage 
signals can only be copied on vintage or homebrew equipment?   
Well ... maybe not.

Then I tuned up the band a ways and listened to a nice stable 
modern signal, with keying so hard that I could hear clicks for 10 
kcs each way.  

Walt 
KJ4KV






From gswynar at durham.net  Wed Dec  1 17:09:49 2004
From: gswynar at durham.net (Ed Swynar)
Date: Wed Dec  1 17:17:46 2004
Subject: [HBR] Testing The 1929 Rig...
References: <41ADED9A.17687.96D462@localhost>
Message-ID: <005301c4d7f2$7d3ca380$c9d549c6@CompaqS5000>

Hi Walt,

Many thanks for the "...SWL report", hi hi.

Will you be on the 1929 QSO Party this weekend, so we can actually WORK one
another...?

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ





----- Original Message -----
From: <waltah@earthlink.net>
To: "HBR Receiver List" <hbr@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 4:13 PM
Subject: Re: [HBR] Testing The 1929 Rig...


> Ed Swynar wrote:
> > in the day time, look for me between 7030- and 7050-KHz.
>
> Heard in Virginia at about 1545 EST, RST 539C at about 7023 kcs.
> TOO COOL!   Noise level about S2 but easy copy over that.
>
> Darned good sig for a keyed oscillator on 40 -- about 1kcs of chirp.
> Either you were retuning or the thing is pretty stable -- it was well
> within the 2.4 kcs passband, the whole time.  Keying is perfect, it
> seems to me.
>
> Yeah, I was copying on the HBR-4; isn't there a rule that vintage
> signals can only be copied on vintage or homebrew equipment?
> Well ... maybe not.
>
> Then I tuned up the band a ways and listened to a nice stable
> modern signal, with keying so hard that I could hear clicks for 10
> kcs each way.
>
> Walt
> KJ4KV
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ************************************
> Visit the HBR Receiver Web Site with over 100 pictures of receivers and
> construction notes...... via http://www.qsl.net/k5bcq/
>
> Retrieve reflector archived data via
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hbr
>


From windy10605 at juno.com  Sat Dec  4 11:52:54 2004
From: windy10605 at juno.com (windy10605@juno.com)
Date: Sat Dec  4 12:03:30 2004
Subject: [HBR] QSL-Net
Message-ID: <20041204.105254.1428.0.windy10605@juno.com>

Al Waller K3TKJ is the person that runs the QSL/QTH server system that
our
HBR reflector and MANY others use. He also supports the HBR web site. He 
runs the system on his own money (which is now limited due to his
retirement) 
and donations from the user group. The hardware is getting old/slow, so
he needs 
our help. The nice thing is there is to be a drawing for an Icom 756 Pro3
based 
on the donation list for this month. Let's all help. 

73 Kees K5BCQ
 

------------------------------------------------------------------
QSL/QTH Users


It's been a while since I last mailed all users. Things here are slowly 
getting back to normal after the passing of my Father (K3RLW) in
September. 
I am now fully retired other than a few consulting jobs at my old work 
place (NASA). I am still swamped with e-mail and it sometimes takes weeks

to even read them, if you need something urgent the best way to contact
me 
is by telephone 302-875-1358  8AM to 11PM Eastern time.

This January we will be starting out 10th year on the Internet. The
growth 
of QSL/QTH in the last year has been incredible so much that we are using

all available bandwidth including some we just added. The sites are slow 
responding. It's obvious by the amount of traffic we see that these sites

are very popular worldwide. It's time to buy more bandwidth, hence the 
purpose of this mailing.

The cost of another T1 will be $5400 yearly. This is money we don't have!

QSL/QTH has no income other than donations so you see we count on you to 
help us grow.

Other expensive things that need addressing are the RAID 5 Harddrives, 
(these boxes have 16 80GB drives) 8 being primary storage and 8 being an 
image for data backup if needed. I have had 2 drive failures in the last
2 
months so I need to replace all 16 and increase the capacity at the same 
time. These Raid drives have been spinning 24/7 for the last 3 years.

The QSL FTP server needs to be upgraded both in hardware and software
soon. 
It's a 4 year old dual 700Mhz and can barely keep up with the demand put
on it.

The QTH "Mailman" reflector server is new and has the latest software,
this 
was completed a few months ago at a cost of about $1000

Less than 1% of our users have ever contributed, with many who have 
contributed over and over to keep us going. Now is a time we need all of 
you to pitch in a little and help us stay alive and functional for years
to 
come. Anything you can contribute will help. I hate to sound like a TV 
evangelist but without hearing from you we will be gone someday soon.


That's the bad news.... Now for some exciting news.

Through the generosity of a long time supporter of QSL/QTH we will be 
giving away another radio to a user who contributes between now and
January 
31, 2005. Not just any old radio this time but a new shiny Icom 756pro3. 
Yes you read that right a 756pro3, Icom's newest addition to the
incredible 
Pro series. List price on this radio is $3000. I have a 756pro2 and I can

honestly say that in my 44 years as a ham this is the best radio I have 
ever owned. The 756pro3 is even better.

http://www.icomamerica.com/products/amateur/756proIII/


Here are the rules:

1. Only users of QSL/QTH are eligible
2. A $15 donation is one chance, $25 donation is 3 chances $50 donation
is 
7 chances, $100 donation is 15 chances etc.
3. All donations previously made in November/December 2004 are 
automatically entered.
4. Drawing will be January 31, 2005
5. If you do not want the radio the cash value to the winner is $2500




The winner of the previous 746pro giveaway was KB9LIE and K9OT.

Good luck to all and as always thanks for your support.


Donations accepted by Credit Card     https://proxy.qsl.net/donation
                       PayPal          http://www.paypal.com   (account 
k3tkj@qsl.net)



Donations by mail:
                       QSL.NET, Inc
                       34087 Old Hickory Road
                       Laurel, Delaware 19956


73, Al K3TKJ


"It is not the class of license the Amateur holds, but the class of the 
Amateur that holds the license."
From waltah at earthlink.net  Sun Dec 12 22:05:11 2004
From: waltah at earthlink.net (waltah@earthlink.net)
Date: Sun Dec 12 22:16:18 2004
Subject: [HBR] Another Receiver Project -- HBR-4, Part 23
In-Reply-To: <41A5C74C.30800.6F3D0E@localhost>
References: <41A08DC1.29619.EF9650@localhost>
Message-ID: <41BCC097.25125.2B32DCF@localhost>

'Learning ... something ... I think ...'

The high pass filter idea didn't work, but adjusting the premixer and 
mixer balance made all the various spurs tolerably small.   I still 
haven't gone to work on the crystal oscillator.

Time for serious testing of dynamic range.   I spent about a week 
thinking about theory and reading about issues.   Then I did the 
tests at various signal levels to get a handle on receiver issues vs. 
test setup issues.   I got good consistent results at about IFDR = 
78 db.   That's better than a whole lot of vacuum tube receivers, not 
quite as good as the R-390A, and certainly not what I wanted or 
even expected.

Back to head scratching.  

I have a hard time believing that the problem is in the mixer; the 
6JH8 is linear for deflection plate inputs to about 40 volts peak-to-
peak.  I don't think the 6ES8 RF stage should be that much worse; 
while it doesn't have so great a range as the mixer, it's way up 
there as RF stage tubes go, and the sections are in push pull, so 
second-order distortion should be mostly cancelled out.  Plus 
signals are smaller there.  

That doesn't leave much.  The most obvious candidate is those 
wonderful FT-101E tunable front end coils: cup-and-core 
construction, very high Q, but the cores are very small -- under 
6mm diameter; could saturation be the issue? The FT-101's IFDR 
was *40* db; coils that would have limited the range to ~80 db 
would have been adequate and then some.

With a good spectrum analyzer the answer would come pretty 
easily -- at least to the level of what stage the problem shows up 
in.  I don't have that, but another approach would be using a signal 
generator to measure the IFDR and third order intercept (sort of the 
maximum power level that can be handled) at each stage.   I may 
not have a powerful enough sig gen to do that either, but it's worth 
a try.   

Maybe at the mixer input.   Sensitivity there is probably around 10 
uV and the signal generators go over 100,000 uV -- there's 80 db, 
so it should be close at worst.

Yet another way -- and confirmation of the diagnosis if the signal 
generator test suggests the problem is between the RF and mixer 
stages -- is a temporary external tuned circuit with a more robust 
coil.   That one's messy, due to the push-pull output of the RF 
stage.   Too soon to think about the 'fix' if this really is the problem.

Walt
KJ4KV
From waltah at earthlink.net  Tue Dec 14 17:22:27 2004
From: waltah at earthlink.net (waltah@earthlink.net)
Date: Tue Dec 14 17:34:01 2004
Subject: [HBR] Another Receiver Project -- HBR-4, Part 24
In-Reply-To: <41BCC097.25125.2B32DCF@localhost>
References: <41A5C74C.30800.6F3D0E@localhost>
Message-ID: <41BF2153.1025.1A2EE88@localhost>

'Harder than I thought'

Well, injecting a maximum signal at the antenna jack gives 0.6V p-
p across the mixer grid tank circuit.   I don't have a signal generator 
capable of doing that directly; it would have to be a purpose-built 
power oscillator and I'd be right back to signal purity issues.   

Running a few numbers, though, I estimate the circulating current 
in that tank at that signal level (which is modestly above where 
intermodulation distortion sets in) at a sizable fraction of an amp.   
Ten turns on the small tunable coil, so we're looking at a few 
ampere-turns, in other words, not that far from the filament 
transformer range ... could that cause saturation of the core? 

Remember that we're not talking about visible distortion of the 
current waveform but only enough saturation to cause intermod 
levels nearly *80 db below* the input signal ... in other words, not a 
very large amount of distortion at all.   It certainly seems possible 
to me.

My hypothesis is that the limiting factor on IFDR is saturation of 
the powdered iron core of the coil tuning the RF stage output.   

After some squinting at the chassis and a look at the parts 
archives, I think I see a way to change the front end tuned circuits 
to fixed coils using a tuning cap without doing major surgery. I can 
use large enough coils -- a T68 toroid for the small coil and a T-106 
for the large one used in series on 40/80 -- to (I think) handle at 
least an order of magnitude more flux.   

Am I remembering something indicating that one of the FTDX-9000 
options is air-core coils in the front end?   Hummm ...

One of the things that's noteworthy about Ted Crosby's HBR-series 
is that their strong-signal performance was better than most 
contemporary commercial receivers.   I don't think that's unrelated 
to his use of high-Q air core coils at a time when the industry 
standard was a 3/8" paper form with a powdered iron slug.

In another department altogether, I think I have figured out why 
everyone went with antenna input on the G1 of the beam deflection 
tube mixer tubes.

It is true that a mixer is a multiplier and that output-wise it therefore 
does not matter whether a 1 V LO signal is put on a deflection 
plate and a 1 uV antenna signal on a G1, or the reverse.   However, 
what about a 10 V LO signal?   That's easy to achieve and would 
give 20db more conversion gain (than 1 V) if used on the deflection 
plates -- but would simply drive G1 into hard limiting if injected 
there.   

I think that the possiblity of higher gain by using higher LO voltages 
started us down the 'G1 for antenna input' path and that hobbyist 
designers may not fully have considered the trade offs when this 
choice was repeatedly made thereafter.   Namely, that going the 
other way with the superior-performing 6JH8 and using a highly 
linear moderate gain RF stage could give the best of all worlds -- a 
truly linear mixer receiver with potentially remarkable signal 
handling ability.

Of course some of the following designs were intended to be 
simple ones; for those, the G1 antenna input made sense all 
around.  But those 75A4 conversions should have been tried the 
other way.  

More to come ...

Walt
KJ4KV

