gbowne1 wrote:
I'm interested in homebrewing. I've been a SWL since 1986, and I'm
a newcomer to amateur radio, although I have been interested in that
since then too, and will be getting my ticket during the course of the
following year. I now own a Yaesu FT-757GX which I use as my HF Gen
coverage receiver so I can still listen to SW, and practice code and
then get my ticket, while working on building the rig and slowly
learning still. Mind you, I also have a Fluke 8050A DMM too that I
bought last year which will help me. (Still learning how to use it)

In an effort to help me learn more about electronics than I already
know, not a whole lot at this point, I am going to build something
with which I can use once I finally get my ticket.

In search for helpful documentation, I found a book by Randy L.
Henderson, titled
"Build Your Own Intelligent Amateur Radio Transceiver". While now 10
years old, the book has many outdated components, and other errors in
the book. While a good design idea, I think it could be improved on
to 2006/2007 standards in many ways.. which I will attempt to do. The
rig is based on the 80C31 / 8051 family with a 27C64 EPROM in with a
7805 regulator, and 74LS373 on the computer board. The computer board
also listed as having: a 1N4001, a 1N4148, a 2N2222A, a 2N2907, and
lastly a SK3444. It also featured a 100,000uF memory backup capacitor
and a 6.2v Zener.

My basic dimensions for the chassis are 16.1875" W x 6.1875" H x 15"
D.. so that will be the working envelope of whatever design I end up
with. That's a pretty big space, and I like having space to work
inside.

Well, anyhow this is my introductory post, and I'd love to hear your
comments, suggestions, etc.

My catchphrase of advice: "If you don't know how to do it, you don't
know how to do it with a computer".

I don't know much about the book in question and the radio it builds,
but the parts you name are all computer parts, not radio parts. My gut
advice would be that you not build a computer but a radio :-)

My feeling is that if you want to do something that is a mix of analog
and digital to do something interesting in radio, go through the SDR
("Software-Defined Radio") route. Google "software defined radio"
along with ham to see some links to stuff that's been published in QEX
and other sources the past couple of years.

But I'd encourage you to also build some really, really simple regen
receivers before doing anything that has a computer in it. The
learning curve will be so much less steep, and you'll learn so much
more about radio (as opposed to computers) by doing so.

More generically, also consider investing in the ARRL Handbook and
Horowitz and Hill's _The Art of Electronics_. Neither are abstract
academic texts, they are all about hands-on stuff. Together they will
cost more than a good used ham rig, though they will pay off much more
in the long run!

Tim.