On Thu, 19 May 2005 00:57:24 -0400, -exray- wrote:

Experimental Methods in RF Design: it is on my list of book to buy now (if
you own this book, check the errata. They are online).

Must have as well as a Radio Amatuers Handbooks of differing years!


I can see this will be a difficult project for you....maybe not
technically, but emotionally.

If I may say so...

I find homebrewing 'any something' falls into one of two broad categories.

One is to play around with the mind of experimentation, not to spend
too much money at the outset, to learn from the failures, and have the
project on the shelf eternally awaiting modifications for better
performance.... and typically at several times the cost of a commercial
ready-made equivalent.

Two - would be trying actually build something state-of-the-art and
trouble-free with the anticipation of actually using it on a daily
basis....and typically at several times the cost of a commercial
ready-made equivalent :-)


Then there are people like me. I build in the middle. I often want
something that may not be state of the art (but still works excellent)
and is specifically not feature laden yet still require stable and
robust operation. I've done 6m transceivers that easily hear better
than the best and TX with a clean high quality signal that are not
state of the art. Please never equate the lack of state of the art
with well executed design as the latter can be as good or better due
to fewer compromizes that a production design might suffer. Shielding
is one matter where the homebrewer can easily exceed commerial.

Another area is designs where labor counts. Often my time is cheap
but using a commercial coil or crystal filter is not. So making my
own may factor $s for time.

Neither is bad but they are entirely different disciplines to the hobby
of rolling your own and this has to be determined early on as you plan
the project. Most of us wind up somewhere between the two extremes. "It
works great, but..." Over-thinking the project often results in never
getting started.

-Bill

That kills most projects! Sometimes it's "better" to plunge in and
have a few bits that fail or just done meet expectations. If the
midset is right you just redesign it, replace it and keep building.
Sometimes along the way you can also make a discovery
that will enlighten.

Allison
KB!GMX