in article ,
Paul_Morphy at wrote on 4/2/04 19:37:


"Uwe" wrote in message
...

By the way, I see suggestions how to just "stretch" crystal controlled
oscillators a bit by adding a suitable coil and capacitor in series with
the
crystal. Has anybody tried that with the AC-1??
Would be nice to be able to get out of the ways of some of the big power
guys.
Any suggestion would be welcome.

An rf choke or variable inductor of between 7 and 20 uH in series with a
variable cap of about 200 pF in series with a crystal, will pull the
frequency. It's called a variable crystal oscillator or VXO. You're probably
using FT-243 crystals, though, and they don't pull very far.

I have to say this again: Time to put this thing on the shelf. For the time
and trouble you are putting into it you could build a solid-state rig that
would put out as much power, have a VFO and not contain life-threatening
voltages.

73,

"PM"




Thank you Paul, since I have a crystal socket on the front of the little box
it ought to relatively simple to try out this scheme and see if I can't get
a "range" out of this one frequency device.
And yes you are right, I have a few FT 243 but others are on order.

It is my experience that whatever I do around the crystal it stops it from
oscillating but I will try your suggestion nevertheless.


As to high voltages I grew up in Europe where I got used to (and sometimes
shocked by) 220V and now I can't let go ...

Paul, your concern for a new ham is very much appreciated, but ever since I
wanted to be a ham I wanted to know code and I wanted to build my own gear,
preferably tube gear.
It gets cold in Maine and these at least warm your hands in between QSO's.
I will probably never own an SSB or a phone radio and as somebody mentioned
here, for communication we have other solutions. For me being a new ham
opens a world of learning and tinkering possibilities with the side effect
of being able to communicate with others via code.

And I think I can learn a whole lot by working on this transmitter. And I
will need all the learning I can get because someone mentioned a different,
slightly more sophisticated tube transmitter using two 807's in the final. I
would love to build that and appreciate more info on the device.

And Paul, lest you get the impression I hate silicon, I just finished a
Rockmite-very cute.


Thanks again and keep the advice and help coming.

Greetings from Maine

Uwe

"Uwe" wrote in message
...

And Paul, lest you get the impression I hate silicon, I just finished a
Rockmite-very cute.

There may be hope for you after all, Uwe. : I went through a
boatanchors-revisited phase about 10 years ago, when I finally got to own
two Drake 2Bs, an Eico 720 with Hallicrafters HA-5 VFO and a Ranger II
(thanks to the Hosstraders flea market in New Hampshire, which you shouldn't
miss), my dream stations when I was 15. I never cared a lot for the voice
modes, either; CW is my mode of choice. After lugging those relatively small
boatanchors around a little, though, I decided to get back to the present.
For inspiration along the silicon lines (and to see some really nice photos
of mountains in the Pacific NW) I recommend Wes Hayward's (W7ZOI) site:
http://users.easystreet.com/w7zoi/w7zoi-page.html

73,

"PM"

"Uwe" wrote in message
...

And Paul, lest you get the impression I hate silicon, I just finished a
Rockmite-very cute.

There may be hope for you after all, Uwe. : I went through a
boatanchors-revisited phase about 10 years ago, when I finally got to own
two Drake 2Bs, an Eico 720 with Hallicrafters HA-5 VFO and a Ranger II
(thanks to the Hosstraders flea market in New Hampshire, which you shouldn't
miss), my dream stations when I was 15. I never cared a lot for the voice
modes, either; CW is my mode of choice. After lugging those relatively small
boatanchors around a little, though, I decided to get back to the present.
For inspiration along the silicon lines (and to see some really nice photos
of mountains in the Pacific NW) I recommend Wes Hayward's (W7ZOI) site:
http://users.easystreet.com/w7zoi/w7zoi-page.html

73,

"PM"

in article ,
Paul_Morphy at wrote on 4/3/04 06:20:


"Uwe" wrote in message
...

And Paul, lest you get the impression I hate silicon, I just finished a
Rockmite-very cute.

There may be hope for you after all, Uwe. : I went through a
boatanchors-revisited phase about 10 years ago, when I finally got to own
two Drake 2Bs, an Eico 720 with Hallicrafters HA-5 VFO and a Ranger II
(thanks to the Hosstraders flea market in New Hampshire, which you shouldn't
miss), my dream stations when I was 15. I never cared a lot for the voice
modes, either; CW is my mode of choice. After lugging those relatively small
boatanchors around a little, though, I decided to get back to the present.
For inspiration along the silicon lines (and to see some really nice photos
of mountains in the Pacific NW) I recommend Wes Hayward's (W7ZOI) site:
http://users.easystreet.com/w7zoi/w7zoi-page.html

73,

"PM"




Paul, how interesting, I just had Wes Haywards book in hand the other day at
a local hamfest. I own the Solid State Design Book and had considered Radio
Frequency Design but found that one rather technical. But "Experimental
Methods in RF Design" caught my eye but also caught me at the end of the day
without the necessary $50 to take it home.

Experimenting is really what all this is about for me and I do lack some of
the foundations and tools for successful RF tinkering, so I always look for
a good introduction.

And somehow tubes, which seem to deal with electrons on a macroscopic,
nearly mechanical level seem to be a bit more accessible than transistors
which I think deal with all this on an atomic level.

And here you send me a link to Haywards website. Well thanks, and yes, nice
mountains.


I went and added a choke and a capacitor to my crystal and believe it or not
it actually still oscillated. I did some measurements and found that I can
pull the crystal (I used one of the crystals out of the rockmite!) from 7038
to 7040, after being rockbound that feels like now I am "all over the
place". And while I was fiddeling with the radio I heard a station and ran
my first QSO on a frequency I couldn't get to until 3 hours ago, with rigged
up parts and clip leads all over the place!! Radio work at its finest.


But one solution immediately leads to the next problem, how do I know where
I am. What do they call them, frequency counters???

Regards Uwe

in article ,
Paul_Morphy at wrote on 4/3/04 06:20:


"Uwe" wrote in message
...

And Paul, lest you get the impression I hate silicon, I just finished a
Rockmite-very cute.

There may be hope for you after all, Uwe. : I went through a
boatanchors-revisited phase about 10 years ago, when I finally got to own
two Drake 2Bs, an Eico 720 with Hallicrafters HA-5 VFO and a Ranger II
(thanks to the Hosstraders flea market in New Hampshire, which you shouldn't
miss), my dream stations when I was 15. I never cared a lot for the voice
modes, either; CW is my mode of choice. After lugging those relatively small
boatanchors around a little, though, I decided to get back to the present.
For inspiration along the silicon lines (and to see some really nice photos
of mountains in the Pacific NW) I recommend Wes Hayward's (W7ZOI) site:
http://users.easystreet.com/w7zoi/w7zoi-page.html

73,

"PM"




Paul, how interesting, I just had Wes Haywards book in hand the other day at
a local hamfest. I own the Solid State Design Book and had considered Radio
Frequency Design but found that one rather technical. But "Experimental
Methods in RF Design" caught my eye but also caught me at the end of the day
without the necessary $50 to take it home.

Experimenting is really what all this is about for me and I do lack some of
the foundations and tools for successful RF tinkering, so I always look for
a good introduction.

And somehow tubes, which seem to deal with electrons on a macroscopic,
nearly mechanical level seem to be a bit more accessible than transistors
which I think deal with all this on an atomic level.

And here you send me a link to Haywards website. Well thanks, and yes, nice
mountains.


I went and added a choke and a capacitor to my crystal and believe it or not
it actually still oscillated. I did some measurements and found that I can
pull the crystal (I used one of the crystals out of the rockmite!) from 7038
to 7040, after being rockbound that feels like now I am "all over the
place". And while I was fiddeling with the radio I heard a station and ran
my first QSO on a frequency I couldn't get to until 3 hours ago, with rigged
up parts and clip leads all over the place!! Radio work at its finest.


But one solution immediately leads to the next problem, how do I know where
I am. What do they call them, frequency counters???

Regards Uwe

"Uwe" wrote in message
...
Paul, how interesting, I just had Wes Haywards book in hand the other day
at
a local hamfest. I own the Solid State Design Book and had considered
Radio
Frequency Design but found that one rather technical. But "Experimental
Methods in RF Design" caught my eye but also caught me at the end of the
day
without the necessary $50 to take it home.

Yes, I'm resisting spending the money, too. I can buy a lotta parts with 50
bucks.

And somehow tubes, which seem to deal with electrons on a macroscopic,
nearly mechanical level seem to be a bit more accessible than transistors
which I think deal with all this on an atomic level.

Electrons don't know where they are, tube or semiconductor, it's all the
same to them. Study the intro chapters in the Handbook and SSD and do some
experiments and it wil start to make sense.

But one solution immediately leads to the next problem, how do I know
where
I am. What do they call them, frequency counters???

Uwe, if you don't know where you are, you are asking on the wrong newsgroup.
:

If you're only moving 2 kHz and you're well inside the band, it really
doesn't matter. You have a digital display on your receiver, so you should
be able to kluge something together that will let you zero beat the other
station.

Be careful with those little crystals. They won't take a lot of current,
not as much as one in an FT-243 holder. You could pop it. You'll hear it
click when it blows. Why not build a VFO from SSD?

73,

"PM"

"Uwe" wrote in message
...
Paul, how interesting, I just had Wes Haywards book in hand the other day
at
a local hamfest. I own the Solid State Design Book and had considered
Radio
Frequency Design but found that one rather technical. But "Experimental
Methods in RF Design" caught my eye but also caught me at the end of the
day
without the necessary $50 to take it home.

Yes, I'm resisting spending the money, too. I can buy a lotta parts with 50
bucks.

And somehow tubes, which seem to deal with electrons on a macroscopic,
nearly mechanical level seem to be a bit more accessible than transistors
which I think deal with all this on an atomic level.

Electrons don't know where they are, tube or semiconductor, it's all the
same to them. Study the intro chapters in the Handbook and SSD and do some
experiments and it wil start to make sense.

But one solution immediately leads to the next problem, how do I know
where
I am. What do they call them, frequency counters???

Uwe, if you don't know where you are, you are asking on the wrong newsgroup.
:

If you're only moving 2 kHz and you're well inside the band, it really
doesn't matter. You have a digital display on your receiver, so you should
be able to kluge something together that will let you zero beat the other
station.

Be careful with those little crystals. They won't take a lot of current,
not as much as one in an FT-243 holder. You could pop it. You'll hear it
click when it blows. Why not build a VFO from SSD?

73,

"PM"

Paul_Morphy wrote:


I have to say this again: Time to put this thing on the shelf. For the time
and trouble you are putting into it you could build a solid-state rig that
would put out as much power, have a VFO and not contain life-threatening
voltages.

73,

"PM"



And don't go mountain climbing. And don't drive race cars. And don't
learn how to do aerobatics.

Etc.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Paul_Morphy wrote:


I have to say this again: Time to put this thing on the shelf. For the time
and trouble you are putting into it you could build a solid-state rig that
would put out as much power, have a VFO and not contain life-threatening
voltages.

73,

"PM"



And don't go mountain climbing. And don't drive race cars. And don't
learn how to do aerobatics.

Etc.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...

And don't go mountain climbing. And don't drive race cars. And don't
learn how to do aerobatics.

Well, I've only done the first two. I was just trying to persuade him to
take up solid-state stuff. He keeps talking about the HV power supply on his
bench and that makes me think of how nice it is to work at 12 V.

BTW, I found mountaineering and racing a helluva lot more exciting than
working with vacuum tubes.

73,

"PM"