Ok, back to it finally - tiny bit of new input:

Was able to tune in a local AM station - sounds decent - tuned BFO with that, for better or for worse, but in the end, it was already ALMOST ok, and now it is certainly "listenable."

The strong tones were NOT present near that particular station.

I take back what I said before, sometimes it disappears entirely if I unhook the antenna, other times, it stays.? Two different problems, I suspect.

On several bands (20/40/80), I hear some garbled ssb, it's never very clear - but it may never be English I'm hearing.? I know the bands aren't grand right now, and I'm not expecting to catch a lot of conversation - my sdr pretty much
confirms the few noises I hear.? But far too often - the annoying tone comes with the SSB - what is it that I'm hearing?

however - on 40m and less so 20m, i hear an absolute ton of CW - and it never has an interfering tone.? Clear and lots of it, I'm having fun getting back into it.? My main plan for this thing was CW anyway.? This pretty much confirms it's an artifact of the SSB decode process - no?

So to summarize...CW crystal clear - I have not transmitted yet - and SSB miserable, while broadcast AM is fine.?

My HF antennas are DC short circuited but I always unplug them when not in use. You probably can add a bleed resistor across or eventually an inductor big enough and with a high inductance, but in any case unplug it, always.

And no I did not unplug the antenna. I usually do unplug as a habit, however this time i did not.
73,

Kelly K5AID?

I also have a cheap (50) signal generator(feeltech 3200s dual channel).0-30 MHz? It does most everything I want for HF and was able to trace the signal on several bit x's with my scope.? The only thing Is that dual channel does not output two different frequencies, so you can do dual tone.
I'm certainly no expert, but I bought a scope for $50 at a ham fest and found it somewhat difficult to use.
I bought a digital new (Hantek) for 200 and love it .? I can run dual traces and it goes to 200 MHz.? Actually tested with an arduino generator and it was over 200 MHz before the signal detererated.

Andy kKM4TRT

Hi guys, thanks for all the recommendations and ideas.?
All of these ideas are not just food for thought, It is a meal worth savoring... thank you everyone. I am going to remove the AGC for now, restore the severed rf path and evaluate.?

73, and thank you everyone!
Kelly K5AID?

Gerry
which kit is that in the tin??
vince

Looks like a posh version of this:

I've seen the TSW board kit and it looks nice enough. What else do folks here choose from when they're sure their Raduino is toast?? Which is the "preferred" sourcing for these ?

Please don't recommend simply asking other users for their excess stock, as that's obvious (and risky, unless the Nano is socketed apart from the Raduino).



73,
Ted
K3RTA

Hi, do you know the chip inside? AD9851 maybe? How many dbm is it rated?

Kelly

first, best to unplug rig from antennas even when you have lightning arrrestors.? or be blessed by a switch that grounds antennas not in use.?

second, I am still thinking storm may not have taken out your ubitx.? yes try soldering something across that RF attenuator to effectively move it out of the circuit - let's hope it is this simple!? If this AGC is installed similar to the VK3YE - there are no ubitx connections changed - so I am doubting it is in the act.? I really think it may be something simple that has opened up.?

17 wpm - I would not fret your CW capability - this is nearly top end for straight key use.? plenty of QSOs can happen at that speed.?

73 Curt

I have a signal generator like the one that you posted. It's working
well for me so far. I suggest building a 6dB attenuator and hooking
the sig gen to that when you want to measure RF signals though.

Richard (VE1X0R)

Kelly
I am going off track but I think the reason that you are looking for test equipment is just as interesting as a discussion about it.

Have to ask. You did disconnect your antenna before the storm.

The other day had the antennas off before a storm rolled in The leads were sitting on a grounded plate. Later could hear a ticking so I went in the shack and the antenna lead was sending half inch long sparks to ground.

The sparks were not from lightning per say but voltages were well above what I would expect most hf receivers would handle. They were not the million ampere discharge.

I don't believe that any "lightning arrestor" is worth much. Just a step above deer whistles.
Lightning is going to do what it is going to do.

On Sun, May 12, 2019 at 08:38 PM, Robert D. Bowers wrote:

3: Somewhere near the top, antenna testing gear is a necessity.

The previous suggestions look like good suggestions.

On the antenna testing front, one low cost possibility is to use a noise generator with a cheap SDR dongle (that can do HF frequencies) and a directional coupler to let the antenna mismatch from 50 ohms display as increased signal on the SDR.

Here are a couple of examples. The advantage of this particular "Reflection Bridge" is you can choose the impedance you want to be the proper match. For 50 ohms, just put a 50 ohm resistor on the reference port.

Tom, wb6b

I can see the photo Arv, an old gentleman with a violin!

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Kelly, I would suggest this as a pattern of equipment purchases:

1: a good DVM.? There are good ones which won't break your wallet - and you would want as good as you can find.? I've seen them with all sorts of abilities, such as a (rather low bandwidth) frequency counter, transistor tester, and cap meter.? I've heard some horror stories about Chinese products, but I've used some of their stuff and have had no problems with it.? I use a fancy Radio Shack meter which has been adequate, accurate, and precise enough - and rugged.

(Equally important to a good meter - a good soldering iron.)

2: Look for a used scope, minimum 30mhz bandwidth.? Unless you have a lot of experience with them, stick to a used (but working) analog scope.? I've seen some pretty good deals at hamfests... working condition, for under $100.? The more you know, the more useful it can be!

3: Somewhere near the top, antenna testing gear is a necessity.? If you have soldering experience, I would suggest "rolling your own".? I could point out some inexpensive pieces that can be combined together as a very effective tool.? The Handbook has some good stuff in it, the Experimental Methods in RF design book is much better.? (I combine ideas from that with arduino, and have some really useful circuits, like a wide bandwidth and very sensitive dBm meter that reports signal strength to software or spreadsheet - more than a thousand times a second.)

4: Something that receives across the bands - a general coverage receiver of some sort is (IMO) almost a necessity on a decent bench - something with at least moderate shielding and can receive WWV and so on.? Along these lines, if you work with VHF or UHF, a decent SDR dongle is cheap and can be used for all sorts of things - like checking the deviation (and spurs) on a 2m rig.? I paid less than $30 for mine (NESDR Smart)... and there are some which are better and that can go down well into the HF range (mine stops around 27mhz).?

THEN I would recommend a signal generator.? (It could be combined with #3 to do some impressive work.)? I built my own unit by combining a DDS kit with a good attenuator salvaged from a burned signal generator.? You combine them together in a single case, and shield and ground everything, you can keep leakage to a minimum and have something really useful.? For instance... have a impedance bridge with an unknown ferrite toroid on one leg (with a single loop of wire through it)... drive the thing with the signal generator (programmed, using a computer to step it through a frequency range), and watch the output with the digitizing dBm meter.? Presto - you can with a little reading and math, figure out the characteristics of the toroid!? (Especially if you have a couple of known-value caps you can throw in the circuit...)

With those, you can get really creative.

Bob

N4FBZ

My apologies to all. Sorry about that.--Donald, KB5PWL

The pic of the gentleman sitting on a chair with a violin? It came thru the email.

Vince.

--
K8ZW

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Yes! I was emailing a photo of my great-grandfather to a nephew, and my email program said it sent the photo to this group, too! I don't know what happened, but I'm glad it didn't show up here.