Hammo Can PART III

Oh yeah, we're gonna build a 10 meter one! What's really scary is that this doesn't have SSB or CW capability.

Hammo Can 2.0 PART II: Two

How many twos can I put in the title? This post will be more notes and observations than a full-blown blogpost.

Hammo Can 2.0 PART II

 Okay so the previous post in this series may have been a bit TOO ambitious.

Antenna Fundamentals 101: NVIS: The Missing Link

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.

Attempting to Repair a Uniden PRO500D CB: Part II

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.

More CB Goodies: AM to CB converter

 Another impulse buy, but one that has lots of historical significance and one that sparked my curiosity. What came in the mail this time?

Hammo Can 2.0

The project that was supposed to be but evolved into something else.

If you recall a few years ago, I built a portable battery box using a $5 plastic ammo can. It works phenomenal with my CB and ham radios. If I need a 12V source to test circuits with, I can also use it as a portable power supply. But what about my original idea?

Collapsible 17ft 20-10m antenna (PLUS 80 and 40)

 Another antenna plan, this time on a bit of a budget.

After doing so much reading on the Rybakov antenna, I thought it was time to give a go for the lower bands. There are many options for 80 and 40 meter antennas, but a loaded vertical seems to be what I'll be going for. Two custom made coils and a collapsible 18.5' antenna is all you'll need for this project. The result? An antenna that would most definitely be suitable for DX. If Chameleon antennas can make it, then so can you.

LOOK!!! IT'S A BABYCOBRA!!!

Guess what Owen bought himself for Ava? A baby Cobra 19 Mini!

HamGeek usDX 40/20/15 meter QRP radio

 Because I bought one so you do or don't have to.

The Rybakov: Fishing for DX

In the past few days, I've been looking at building another antenna. My random wire is nice, but it's just not cutting it on the HF bands for DXing. 80 meters is a no-go for DX constantly and while I can get it to tune, it just has too much NVIS propagation. Time for something different, and I may have found the answer.

Attempting to Repair a Uniden PRO500D

I bought another CB off of eBay that was a heck of a steal at about $10 or $15 shipped. It's a late 80s/early 90s Uniden CB radio. It's very similar to the PRO510 and PRO520 line of modern-day radios. It's quite basic - no ANL, no PA...just volume, squelch, and 40 channels.

Yet ANOTHER Way to Convert from CB to 10 (CB to CW Part V)

Yep, another way. Just found it out today.

If you want a 10 meter radio that's channelized or if you don't want to try your hand at computer science, try this modification instead! The cost: Well below $10 or even $5. The candidate: A Midland 13-866 (or the 853 if it gets fixed).

Midland 13-857: An Unexpected Joy

 After the initial failure of the 13-853, I decided that I needed to send it off to a local CB shop for repair. In the meantime, I purchased 3 more 23-channel CBs for conversion - just in case :). One of them is a Midland 13-857 - the coolest CB radio I've ever owned.

CB to CW Part 4: Wireless UI

Let me ask you something...

What is the number one thing that you have with you at all times? A pencil? Earphones? How about your cellphone?

In today's post, I'm going to be simplifying my CW CB radio to take away the OLED and rotary encoder to provide you with an easier user interface accessible via a web browser. After this, you should have a roughly-speaking software defined radio!

CB to CW Part 3: The Final Installation

 I graduated college!!! Now what am I going to do?

I DID IT!!!

 I FINALLY DID IT!!! After 6 years of off and on practice, I now can say that CW is my new favorite mode.

Balancing the Unbalanced Truth

Today and after many years of operating with an end fed antenna, I have learned that these antennas give off lots and lots of unwanted radiation, also known as common mode currents. So what's the answer? New antenna? More coax, less coax? Read on and I'll hopefully answer these questions!

Welcome to the Shack crib!

Happy 2025 everyone!

After a solid year of HF inactivity, I am proud and happy to say that my FT-891 is back on the air in a rather permanent matter! The minute our basement was finished up (and I discovered, despite being old, our house is properly grounded!!! Hooray!!!), I began brainstorming ideas on how to build my HF station in the lower dwellings of my house.

My HUGE Pixie Project

 After the failure of the Paraset Pixie, I decided to give up for a bit on any Pixie-related projects. I was frustrated, and rightfully so. I more than likely got a dud but for as cheap as they run, there's not much of a loss there.

However, one does have to appreciate the simplicity of the Pixie circuit. You can spend hours and hours on research, but it all boils down to a simple direct conversion receiver paired with a simple CW transmitter. The work is placed on the final amplifier transistor, as this functions as the power amplifier in transmit, and acts as the mixer on receive. Clever, isn't it? You can see the idea here from the RU-QRP group:

Unfortunately, the Pixie is an abhorrent choice of QRP radio to use. It's crystal controlled, meaning that it lacks frequency agility. The choice of direct conversion on receive leaves the pass band wide open as a barn door, meaning that QSOs will be several kilohertz above and below your spot frequency. The variable potentiometer only helps up to a point. However, this doesn't mean that it is automatically destined for the trash bin.