Occasionally, I see comments/complaints that "nobody builds anymore"
or that "you can't homebrew really good equipment" etc.

Apparently this amateur hasn't gotten the word:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf

73 de Jim, N2EY

wrote in news:b28e915f-9e45-44eb-b787-ba7d8ef21e44
@w73g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

Occasionally, I see comments/complaints that "nobody builds anymore"
or that "you can't homebrew really good equipment" etc.

Too often! I don't really think it is correct either. I look around my
shack and garage and most of my stuff is homebrew. My entire hobby is more
about making things than it is operating. I haven't built my own Xceiver
yet tho'.


Apparently this amateur hasn't gotten the word:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf

Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance. Good for
him, and I'm going to follow this one!

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

On Nov 15, 6:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:

Apparently this amateur hasn't gotten the word:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf

Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance. Good for
him, and I'm going to follow this one!

It's a very nice pre-production prototype. Production units might be
in
the neighborhood of $3K.

On Nov 15, 9:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote in news:b28e915f-9e45-44eb-b787-ba7d8ef21e44
@w73g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

I look around my
shack and garage and most of my stuff is homebrew.

Same here! And what isn't homebrew was usually assembled from a kit,
converted from surplus or restored from 'basket case' condition.

Google my call to see the shack...

My entire hobby is more
about making things than it is operating.

I do both, though I lean more to operating.

I haven't built my own Xceiver
yet tho'.

I've built three from scratch and restored/assembled several others.

Apparently this amateur hasn't gotten the word:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf

Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance.

Top drawer! Definitely not a project for a beginner but it shows what
can be done.

It will be interesting to see if full schematics, and PCB layouts are
available, and if certain parts can be obtained (like crystal
filters).

73 de Jim, N2EY

On Nov 15, 6:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote in news:b28e915f-9e45-44eb-b787-ba7d8ef21e44
@w73g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

Occasionally, I see comments/complaints that "nobody builds anymore"
or that "you can't homebrew really good equipment" etc.

Too often! I don't really think it is correct either. I look around my
shack and garage and most of my stuff is homebrew. My entire hobby is more

about making things than it is operating. I haven't built my own Xceiver
yet tho'.

Apparently this amateur hasn't gotten the word:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf

Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance.
Good for him, and I'm going to follow this one!

As I opined in my 'invisible' posting: It looks like a very nice pre-
production prototype. Production versions would be about $3K each
or so.

In addition: Cornell Drentea has an interesting AOL home page. Over
35 years as a pro in the RF business. One should be able to believe
his specifications.

73, Len AF6AY

On Nov 15, 9:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf

Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance.

Some more observations....

The designer/builder/author is KW7CD, whose website has lots of
interesting stuff. 50 years a ham, author of many books and articles,
holder of several patents, and much more.

The rig looks like really good homebrew craftsmanship. Would love to
see inside - hope that's in a future issue.

One thing I found interesting was the rated power consumption. when AC
powered. 200 VA receive, 800 VA on full-power transmit! Possibly a
switching supply with low power factor?

The logical comparison to make is with the Elecraft K3. A K3/100 with
general coverage receive, TCXO and four optional filters is less than
$2450 (without power supply). I'll leave it to others to compare
numbers and features.

73 de Jim, N2EY

AF6AY wrote:
On Nov 15, 6:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:
wrote in news:b28e915f-9e45-44eb-b787-ba7d8ef21e44
@w73g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

Occasionally, I see comments/complaints that "nobody builds anymore"
or that "you can't homebrew really good equipment" etc.
Too often! I don't really think it is correct either. I look around my
shack and garage and most of my stuff is homebrew. My entire hobby is more

about making things than it is operating. I haven't built my own Xceiver
yet tho'.

Apparently this amateur hasn't gotten the word:
http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf
Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance.
Good for him, and I'm going to follow this one!

As I opined in my 'invisible' posting: It looks like a very nice pre-
production prototype. Production versions would be about $3K each
or so.

In addition: Cornell Drentea has an interesting AOL home page. Over
35 years as a pro in the RF business. One should be able to believe
his specifications.

Wow, an accomplished fellow for sure. On his home page I can see one big
difference between him and me. He apparently could put the stuff he tore
apart back together at the age of six. It took me until around 15 to do
that. I was grounded a lot as a kid until my grandfather started
shipping old radios that I was supposed to take apart. ;^)

Well a lot more than one big difference......

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

wrote:
On Nov 15, 9:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrote:

http://www.arrl.org/qex/2007/11/drent.pdf
Looks like it should be a really nice unit with good performance.

Some more observations....

The designer/builder/author is KW7CD, whose website has lots of
interesting stuff. 50 years a ham, author of many books and articles,
holder of several patents, and much more.

The rig looks like really good homebrew craftsmanship. Would love to
see inside - hope that's in a future issue.

This one was pretty good!

http://members.aol.com/cdrentea/images/hr24.jpg

I'm truly impressed with a fellow who has the ability and sense of humor
to poke fun at himself.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -

In article ,
Michael Coslo writes:

Wow, an accomplished fellow for sure. On his home page I can see one big
difference between him and me. He apparently could put the stuff he tore
apart back together at the age of six. It took me until around 15 to do
that. I was grounded a lot as a kid until my grandfather started
shipping old radios that I was supposed to take apart. ;^)

I repaired my first radio at the age of 9. It was a desktop Philco
with Standard Broadcast :-) and Short Wave. I used it all thru my
youth to listen to the likes of "The Lone Ranger", "The Shadow",
"Your's Truly, Johnny Dollar" and "Big John and Sparky". I just
collected it from my parents house. You know what, that same component
has gone bad. You just can't get quality, I guess. That electrolytic
only lasted 48 years. Wonder where I can find another one so I can
fix it again. :-)

bill
KB3YV

--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
| and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include std.disclaimer.h

On Nov 19, 11:03Â am, Michael Coslo wrote:
wrote:
On Nov 15, 9:09�pm, Mike Coslo wrot
e:

The rig looks like really good homebrew craftsmanship. Would love to
see inside - hope that's in a future issue.

This one was pretty good!

http://members.aol.com/cdrentea/images/hr24.jpg

I'm truly impressed with a fellow who has the ability and sense of humor
to poke fun at himself.

Mike, that lab bench shot looked perfectly normal to me. It's
obviously in the breadboard stage then and that's been the way its
been in the industry for over 40 years and on thousands of ham
benches, too! :-)

Look to me that Cornell was just being honest about it all. :-)

73, Len AF6AY