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#1
March 9th 08, 09:10 PM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated
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And now for something totally different!
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#2
March 15th 08, 12:14 PM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated
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And now for something totally different!
On Mar 9, 4:10Â pm, Dave Heil wrote:
wrote: On Mar 5, 3:20� pm, Dave Heil wrote: wrote: On Mar 3, 2:40�pm, Michael Coslo wrote: Gotcha, Jug! Marcellus? Is that you? Complete with insignia! Almost time to put the blue sweaters away. There's no one who can reduce a waste stream like West Africans.  The seams in Coke cans are opened after the tops and bottoms are removed and the cans are rolled flat.  The become roofing material or house siding. Black trash bags are washed and recycled.  Pop bottles become water bottles and used 55-gallon drums (previous contents unknown) are used for making palm or cashew wine. Except for the reuse of possibly-contaminated 55-gal drums it all sounds good. The dial drum of the Southgate Type 7 was made from a piece of 6" diameter plexiglass pipe. It was thoroughly cleaned and about a 2" long section cut off. A disk 6" in diameter was then cut and the pipe solvent-welded to the disk using Duco. The neutralizing-adjustment disk from a BC-375 tuning unit was then bolted to the bottom so that the dial drum could be mounted on an extension of the tuning capacitor shaft. The dial drum is viewed through a Plexiglas window. A piece of paper wrapped around the drum was calibrated using an LM frequency meter, then a good copy drawn using a CAD program. The good copy was printed on translucent Mylar and put on the drum. A lampholder/reflector assembly is mounted inside the dial drum, with two pilot lights so the whole thing is illuminated. You want a Southgate type number for it? I think that'd be appropriate. Indeed! I will speak with Engineering Documentation about it. The upright case has a full metal cover, space for a cooling fan and a shelf which can hold the rectifier board and electrolytic caps.  The bottles aren't U.S. types, they're Phillips equivalents with graphite plates.  They should hold up for a long time.  I'll use Chinese Coleman-type lantern chimneys. There's a good discussion over on eham about high power tubes, gettering and other issues. Unlike receiving tubes with their shiny flashed getters, high power tubes often use the anode or a coating as the getter, and need to operate at high temperature to work. Lots of good info out there free for the download. W5JGV's site has info from Eimac, RCA, Taylor and other tube makers. Not just the usual number and data but application notes, recommended practices, etc. Yes, but they want you to *buy* the stuff! My adapters were made from scraps. Some of us would have to buy stuff in order to have scraps. Bwaahaahaa  I've found that the hobby shop stuff is not terribly expensive.  They also have round, square and sheet plastic stock.  Some is clear and some is translucent--ideal for making dial scales. See description, above. I gotta take more pics... Exactly. Wood prices have changed, though; today a tabletop might be AC plywood. Depends what's on the cull cart. I don't have a place with a cull cart.  I've sometimes bought ugly-looking plywood and topped a desk with vinyl floor tile.  If you want to fancy one up, hardwood veneer isn't too pricey. Don't want fancy. Want functional. Thursday there was the remains of a packing box for some new furniture by a dumpster near here. The box was corrugated but the base was nice 2x4 and 1x6, nailed together. Cut off the corrugated and saved the wood. The former belongs in a museum, the latter in a home. Not everyone lives like us, Jim.  Some folks have houses large enough to be homes *and* museums and the wherewithal to populate the place with both types of antiques. Yep, you're right. Particularly around here!  I can appreciate antiques as art but we don't have enough room for antiques we can't put to use unless they happen to be art for the wall or items which can sit on a table for the most part. Same here. All about multiple uses. You're a lightweight!  My main operating position is representative of overkill.  The frame is 2x4's; the legs are 4x4's and the top is a hollow core door.  There's a two shelf console with two angled wings, with enough roof under the first shelf for solid-state brick VHF/UHF amps, keyers, paddles, DVK and the like. For me that frame is overkill but the hollow-core door is underkill - not strong enough. Did I mention the six foot rack to my right? I've had table racks but always wanted a six or seven foot floor rack. My old Handbook has plans for a wooden one... I did one table with a hollow core door many years ago (it was free) but they are too flimsy and too expensive for TSS approval now. They hold up well with the 2x4 frame and 2x4 bracing. Yes but that's not the issue. You can punch right through the surface with something sharp and heavy enough. The shack table in the website picture was designed for Field Day use, 25 years ago. The top was the maximum size that would fit in the back of a VW Rabbit with the rear seat taken out. All the legs and braces are bolted on in such a way that the whole thing breaks down into one package. Does the job for now but a replacement is in the works. Mine will break down too, but I don't think it'll fit in a Rabbit. :-) Less than 10 minutes to set up or take down, no tools needed. It's all about multiple uses. No card-tables on FD for me. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
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#3
March 16th 08, 08:50 AM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated
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And now for something totally different!
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#4
March 16th 08, 06:04 PM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated
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And now for something totally different!
On Mar 16, 3:50Â am, Dave Heil wrote:
wrote: On Mar 9, 4:10� pm, Dave Heil wrote: wrote: On Mar 5, 3:20� pm, Dave Heil wrote: wrote: On Mar 3, 2:40�pm, Michael Coslo wrote: Except for the reuse of possibly-contaminated 55-gal drums it all sounds good. Yeah, I've thought about it a great deal.  I once bought a loaf of French bread on the street which came wrapped in a letter I'd discarded in the trash.  It didn't bothe r me too much since I'd already gotten used to picking the baked weevils out of the bread. You owe me a new keyboard for that story. The dial drum of the Southgate Type 7.... The good copy was printed on translucent Mylar and put on the drum. That's a pretty inventive way to handle a homebrew dial. TNX. Not a single new part was used. It's done a good job these past dozen years. It sounds remarkably like the way Hammarlund handled the dial/illumination in the HQ-215. That's what inspired the design, except there's no dial cord in the Type 7. IIRC, the HQ-215 lamps aren't *inside* the dial drum, are they? I received the data from Engineering. Good. Ms. Yardley sends greetings. Unlike receiving tubes with their shiny flashed getters, high power tubes often use the anode or a coating as the getter, and need to operate at high temperature to work. I've read the eham thread and have even participated. Excellent! I'm forced to admit that I've got many of the original transmitting and receiving guides.  When I sold industrial electronics for Hughes-Peters, I rescued an old Eimac three-ring binder from the trash.  It contains the specs for most early and late Eimac bottles along with applications notes and design info for amateur amplifiers.  Priceless stuff! Quite a number of those notes and articles were done by Bill Orr W6SAI (SK).  I consider Bill's articles to be excellent. I agree. Those articles and notes often go far beyond mere specifications and general data, too. They often explain *why* something is done, not just what to do. A lot of the info is rather subtle. For example, if one is used to receiving and low-power transmitting tubes with their silvery flashed getters, where overheating causes the getter to lose its silvery appearance, it is counter-intuitive that the gettering action of high power transmitting tubes can actually depend the plate reaching high temperatures. Or that, in the case of high-gain glass tetrodes like the 4-125A, running lightly loaded can cause the glass of the tube to soften from electron bombardment. I think that a lot of things were tossed in the 1970s-1990s because folks thought they'd never be needed again. Can't tell you how many tubes and tube-related parts I acquired in those years for little or nothing, because the folks getting rid of it thought nobody would ever need or want it in the future. This sort of thing even happens in the aerospace industry. A lot of documentation was simply dumped as programs ended. Rocket engine designers are going to museums to see how it was done in the past, and have the problem of seeing what was done but not why. I can't tell you how many leftovers I have from buying material for a project.  When I lived in Cincy, I used to hit the scrap bins of a plastics distributor so I have quite a bit of scrap teflon, nylon and lucite rod, sheet and tube.  Finding it when I want it is the hard part. Same here. How's this for scrounging: When this house got new siding back a few years, the antenna mast had to come down so the siding could be put on. But when the mast was to be reinstalled, I needed some spacers to make everything line up correctly. Machining metal to do the job would have been a big deal. Wood was easy but would be a maintenance job, exposed to the weather. PVC was too soft and not available in the right sizes anyway. Then I remembered that relatives had redone their kitchen some years earlier, and had gotten white Corian countertops installed. The installers had left some Corian scraps behind. The relatives had kept them, figuring there had to be some use for such wonderful material. Sure enough, the scraps were still available for the asking. I got some and made the exact spacer blocks needed. Tough, weatherproof, easy to machine, and even the right color. Don't want fancy. Want functional. Keeping the XYL happy, serves a function. Agreed.  Keeping visiting hams from laughing, serves a function. They don't laugh when they see the contest scores. I'm not above that.  My last crank up tower from Tashjian/Tri-Ex had a crate built from 22-foot-long California 2x4's and some long, narrow strips of plywood.  I kept it all.  I'd never even seen 22' piec es of 2x4 stock prior to getting these.  They're reddish in color and are of some sort of pine not often found here in the East. The only places I've seen such long pieces of 2x4 were in old balloon- framed houses. One reason balloon-framing ended was the availability and cost of such wood. Well, these 3,000 to 5000 square foot mega-homes have been cropping up everywhere in the past decade. We call them "McMansions" in these parts. But that really applies more to the 4,000-8.000+ sf houses we see. It is not unusual around here to see a perfectly good house from the 1950s to 1970s bought and torn down by a developer so a McMansion can be built. The value is in the land - often the price of the new place is twice that of the old. The current housing bust has mostly put an end to that, but not completely. More than a few locals are up in arms because it means less "affordable" housing units. The amateur radio connection to all of this is that often the house which was torn down had mature trees good for antennas and no CC&Rs. "Development" often removes at least some of the trees, or they don't survive the construction process, and the new place is usually CC&R'd to the max.  They're much cheaper to heat and cool than some of the earlier built homes. That depends on two factors: scaling (as a house gets bigger, the interior volume grows faster than the exterior wall/roof area) and how houses are built. When this house got the work done a couple summers ago, and some walls were opened, it turned out that there was no insulation. Just a thin layer of wallboard, 2x4s, 1x10 sheathing (not plywood yet the house is from 1950) tar paper and mineral siding. Of course insulation and Tyvek were installed, and then the new siding. Same here. All about multiple uses. ...and the conservation of space. More on that below. The console is the key to strength. That's why I mentioned the console.  Everything heavy sits on it.  The four supports for it distribute the weight so that nothing can break through the door.  There's one large HF rig, one HF/VHF/UHF rig, four rotor control boxes, an HF amp, three remote coaxial switches, three watt meters, two speakers, an antenna tune, a RTTY/digital modem, spare receiver and a monitor scope on the console.  Assorted accessory boxes sit under the console and there's an LCD computer monitor and a keyboard on the desk too. Beautiful, just beautiful.. One difference is that your console/desk is purpose-built for the shack. Custom use, IOW. The op desk I use was designed to be multi- purpose, and has been on several Field Days, as have the Southgate rigs. When a thing is built to do just one thing, it can often be made simple and yet high-performance for that one thing. When it has to do multiple things, there are always more compromises. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
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#5
March 16th 08, 10:53 PM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated
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And now for something totally different!
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#6
March 18th 08, 11:54 PM
posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated
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And now for something totally different!
On Mar 16, 6:53 pm, Dave Heil wrote:
wrote: On Mar 16, 3:50� am, Dave Heil wrote: wrote: What's funny is that after you've lived in one of those places for a while, these things tend to seem perfectly rational. When the embassy water pump broke, we lived for six weeks with a string of locals hiking the five flights to our flat with a bucket full of water in each hand. They'd dump the buck in a plastic garbage can, turn around and trot down the stairs for another couple of buckets. We lived like that for six weeks--taking bucket baths, doing hand wash and so forth. Keep in mind that all water used for drinking/cooking had to be boiled and filtered before use, whether the pumps were in operation or not. Thank you for your service to our country, Dave. You did that sort of thing for how many years, on top of military service? We had a pipe burst inside a wall of our laundry room once. There was no pipe available in town. Worker dug into the concrete wall, found the break and used rubber tubing and hose clamps to join the broken pieces. With every surge of the water pump, the tubing expanded and contracted, looking like it had a pulse. WAWA--West Africa Wins Again. bwaahaahaa! Around here, "WAWA" means something completely different: Popular convenience stores. TNX. Not a single new part was used. It's done a good job these past dozen years. That's the ultimate in junk box building and a good track record for the finished project. Yet some would look down on it as "junk" and "a kludge". IIRC, the HQ-215 lamps aren't *inside* the dial drum, are they? Yes, it is. There's only one inside the drum and another for the S-meter. To the left of the dial window is a calibration adjustment. To the right is an identical knob which dims the dial lamps if desired. I desire it a lot since dimming them a bit keeps from having to put in new lamps very often. Perhaps the Type 8 will have a dimmer pot..... I received the data from Engineering. Good. Ms. Yardley sends greetings. Heh. As Richard Thompson says: "Red hair and black leather, my favorite colour scheme..." It's all about the curls.... I've read the eham thread and have even participated. Excellent! I don't know if it is or not. There's been some anger exhibited over some issues. Quite a bit of erroneous information has been passed. No matter; the important thing is that knowledgeable folks have presented valid data. I agree. Those articles and notes often go far beyond mere specifications and general data, too. They often explain *why* something is done, not just what to do. Exactly. I'd never realized until I got the binder that Eimac had even published amateur linear amplifier "how to" articles. A linear amp isn't a difficult thing to design yourself if you understand why a final tank Q within a paricular range is desired and you can use tables published by Orr for translating the plate load impedence of a particular bottle (run at a particular plate voltage) to find the values of C1, C2 and L needed for the tank circuit. I found "The Care And Feeding of Power Tetrodes" free for the download, along with lots more Eimac stuff at the BAMA mirror site. They also have quite a few of the GE Ham News periodicals scanned. There is a great difference between a receiving-type tube run at relatively low voltages and a high power transmitting tube run at high voltages. Their construction is quite different. Until relatively recently, oxide-coated cathodes could not withstand high plate voltages, so tubemakers continued to use thoriated-tungsten filaments for transmitting tubes beyond 100-200 W or so. Tube size is another factor; a 3-500Z can handle more than ten times the watts of a 6146 but is not ten times the size, so other methods have to be employed. Or that, in the case of high-gain glass tetrodes like the 4-125A, running lightly loaded can cause the glass of the tube to soften from electron bombardment. That sort of thing was also evident in TV horizontal output tubes. As I pointed out in the e-ham forum, Nonex glass was used in some later sweep tubes to help in preventing suck-in. I think the horizontal output suck-in problem was simply caused by excessive heat from the plate, in a poorly-ventilated TV. What is described by Eimac in "Care And Feeding" was the glass being softened by electron bombardment of the glass, caused by running the tube lightly loaded (low plate current). Having the parts to keep something running isn't the problem. Storage is. I could tell ya stories about *storage*.... I've read articles stating that NASA is having real problem as those with knowledge of the design of such engines are retiring or have already retired. Or are dead. Consider that someone who was, say, 40 years old in 1964 and working on the Apollo project would be 84 today. What I might have considered is that newer composite decking material which is designed to last for decades. The composite deck material is great stuff but it's softer than Corian, and I didn't have any. Plus I don't think it comes in white. (Note to self - raid relative's basement for the rest of the Corian before they decide to toss it.) I'm not familiar with the term "balloon framing". I'm looking it up. I don't think there's anything available from my local lumberyard in lengths exceeding 16'. We used to be able to get up to 20 foot 2x4s but you paid a premium per foot and the quality wasn't as good. We call them "McMansions" in these parts. There are some of 'em in Wheeling, but not many. I think those homes were the product of a booming economy and easy credit. Those days are over for at least the time being. Yes, that's exactly what caused them. Some folks are left holding the bag. It is not unusual around here to see a perfectly good house from the 1950s to 1970s bought and torn down by a developer so a McMansion can be built. The value is in the land - often the price of the new place is twice that of the old. The current housing bust has mostly put an end to that, but not completely. More than a few locals are up in arms because it means less "affordable" housing units. I can't really understand the "up in arms" part because we really having a surplus of existing housing in the country. What they're up in arms about is that houses in the $300,000 - $500,000 range are being replaced by houses worth double that or more, on the same lots. That drastically reduces the number of people who can afford to even think about buying them. During a downturn those houses become unsellable. On top of that, they tend to increase the impervious surface percentage of the lot, so there's more stormwater runoff when it rains. Which floods the folks downhill, who were never flooded before, and increases erosion issues. The amateur radio connection to all of this is that often the house which was torn down had mature trees good for antennas and no CC&Rs. "Development" often removes at least some of the trees, or they don't survive the construction process, and the new place is usually CC&R'd to the max. That IS a problem for radio amateurs.  I think a bigger problem is th at most of our newer housing is built in subdivisions.  Those subdivisio ns are not radio friendly at all.  I'm seeing more and more magazine articles on stealth antennas.  I won't consider living in one of thos e areas. I hope and pray I will never have to consider living in one of those places, but as time goes on and more old houses are torn down and replaced by radio- unfriendly CC&R'd places, the options decrease. We're sitting on an acre.  If we re-locate, I'd be happier with 2 or 3 acres.  I wouldn't object if half of that area happened to be in tree s or woods though. I've seen the pix; I hope for such a location someday. Non-radio factors keep me on my little patch of Radnor Township. The "how houses are built" part is what I meant to address.  Things l ike a geothermal heating/cooling systems are another factor.  W8RHM's new place has one and it is a large house.  His heating and cooling bills are quite reasonable. Because he's not really paying for heating or cooling; he's paying to run pumps. A few of the locals here have gone to geothermal; it works. The main problem is the first cost. Beautiful, just beautiful.. If not beautiful, at least it isn't ugly.  Beauty in both form and function. The console and the former W8YX desk got hauled to each of my Foreign Service postings.  The console is approaching thirty years in age.  It gets a new coat of pa int about once per decade. What is this "paint" of which you speak? One difference is that your console/desk is purpose-built for the shack. Custom use, IOW. The op desk I use was designed to be multi- purpose, and has been on several Field Days, as have the Southgate rigs. N8NN and I have been using those plastic-topped banquet tables with the folding legs inside a screen room for FD use.  That's because 1) they 're easy to set up and take down and 2) Bert has some. I have considered those. If they will fit flat in the current vehicle they have possibilities. And again they are multi-use; they won't just be for FD. It is really difficult to buy something which is really ideal for an amateur radio operating position.  Computer hutches/desks tend to be a little on the small side and aren't generally as stoutly built as necessary.  For some of us, what worked really well at one point migh t not be as handy years later, when the amount of gear expands to fill all available space.  I used to get by with the old W8YX desk with a 3x5' top.  The position I now use is 3x7'. If I relocate, I'll consider a homebrew U-shaped operating position.  The room I'm in at present doe s not lend itself to that. I don't think anything off-the-shelf is really suited for more than a very small ham shack. One problem is depth; the equipment needs to sit pretty far from the op but the usual 24-30 inch table or computer desk isn't deep enough. It really is time for new shack/shop furniture for me. The Southgate Radio team is on it.... 73 de Jim, N2EY |
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#7
March 19th 08, 03:51 AM
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And now for something totally different!
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#8
March 18th 08, 06:24 PM
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And now for something totally different!
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#9
March 18th 08, 06:30 PM
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And now for something totally different!
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#10
March 18th 08, 06:35 PM
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And now for something totally different!
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