Early on in my ham radio adventure (and still to this day), I was very frustrated with the fact that I could never do DX on 80 and 40 meters. I mean, wasn't the whole purpose of ham radio supposed to be how far you could be heard?
In the past few days, I realized that I had actually unlocked an HF cheat code all this time. I've been using the bands wrong. Here's how.
If you know me, you know I like to build electronics. It doesn't always have to be radio-based, as I've built many things using Arduinos and Raspberry Pis. Today, I want to put something together that is both practical, fun and creative! And one day, it could even be useful in emergencies when information is crucial.
Back again with another update, this time, with good news! Still fighting a few things but it IS useable!
Picking up last time where we left off, I bought a mid-1980s Uniden radio off of eBay for around $10. After a quick smoke test, I found that there was no transmit audio or receive audio. I swapped out what appeared to be a shorted 7808 8V regulator and a TDA1905 audio amp chip. The receive audio came back to life, but I was still in the dark with no transmit audio. Still, a step in the right direction.