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Re: Talk: Does price buy Performance or Satisfaction in an HF Transceiver? by Frank Howell K4FMH
Reg -- we build stuff 'cause it is enormous fun.
Buying a complete radio is very cool if you want to move on quickly to the software (Fldigi, WSJT-X, logging, award tracking, etc etc) for example.? If your thrill comes from (say) building antennas or maybe the mysteries of HF propogation, then just buy a radio and get on to the stuff that floats your boat.? In all these cases, the radio is just a means to an end.? So any radio having? YOUR required functions will do. After requirements are met, any radio will do -- they are interchangeable, if critical, links in the value chain.? All of this suggests you are correct -- we use a small fraction of a modern rig's capability because the rig is a means to some other end -- the end that floats our boat.? Also supporting your conjecture that we use a fraction of the radio's features, due to extraordinary feature richness and complexity, is the reality of computer control.? One can argue that we interact with radio-related software? 99% of the time, and push radio buttons/menu 1% or less. All this gets (at last), to the point.? The joy of building, and associated simplicity, for many folks, swamps any bump from buying an endlessly feature rich and complex radio.? So mostly all use only a few features on the radio, while we spend a majority of radio time interacting with software controlling the rig or supporting our interaction.? The implication here is that for many folks, there is scant value in a feature rich rig.? If you follow this logic train, then building a simple rig has enormous potential for joy.? The satisfaction, the simplicity, the recognition of USB-based operation, all support building a simple rig.? Building a uBITX comes to mind, as well as the Simple SSB rig (aka KK4DAS, Dean's wonderful work).? And there are many many others. If you think of a modern rig as a USB appliance, then you want it small and out of the way.? Your "rig" is the software on your computer.? ?A simple kit or "build" seems to fit the bill. |
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Re: Homemade Circuit Boards
Hello,
As promised, I made today my 6 adapters to correct the error on my PCB. You will tell me, why 6, the ubitx has only 5. As it is a personal fabrication, I added a relay that allows me to have 12v in TX or RX depending on the output. With this I think I will be able to drive other "gadgets" (?) ?agree, the transfer method only allows simple circuits.?Also, it¡¯s very difficult to centre if you¡¯re double-sided. I admit that I had to repeat myself several times for my first prototype. Look at the PCB "made in China", (without puplicity) and for a paltry price. Double-sided, tiny holes, varnish, silkscreen and no track defects. cdt |
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
Roger, China and India have been inches away from nuclear war for decades. I would hope that China would take the high roar with COVID relief for India.
I also wish we had responded sooner, but this India COVID surge was so sudden, I don¡¯t think any nation could have done anything faster than what we¡¯re doing now. That said, I am deeply disappointed that our FDA threw so many hurdles in front of Ashhar and colleagues after they¡¯d developed a cheap an functional ventilator. For mostly political reasons. The ventilators were for offshore use so the FDA should have gone hands-off, ¡°use at your own risk.¡± I rather enjoyed another poster¡¯s speculation about how many more people died than were saved by FDA meddling. And I personally know a one-time Libertarian Presidential candidate who has a whole lot more to say about this issue... but this isn¡¯t the place. If you want to know, ask off-list. 73 Jim N6OTQ Sent from my quenched-gap spark transmitter. |
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Re: Homemade Circuit Boards
To avoid the tiny pores, you could the Cold toner transfer process. The most interesting
variant of that uses Mosquito Repellent lotion -? This instructables has more details to make the transfer solution using Ethyl Alcohol and Acetone (Toluene or Xylene could be used too). |
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
Best wishes to you and all India for a speedy recovery On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 5:27 PM Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
R. M. Baker
Yes, best wishes and prayers for India and the whole world.?
I wonder if the author of the article ever thought that perhaps China should support other nations in this. Why is it when any other Country screws up, the USA is expected to come running in and fix it ? Roger,? W8YN |
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Re: Talk: Does price buy Performance or Satisfaction in an HF Transceiver? by Frank Howell K4FMH
I look at the complexity of most modern rigs and wonder.... how many people use more than a few of the multiple facilities ?
Could the average person remember how most of the settings work without having to dig into the manual ? Do they need most of the facilities offered ? Then I look at the price and quickly look away again ! This is supposed to be a hobby not an opportunity to take out a second mortgage. I have been looking at repair videos on YouTube ( hours of entertainment). It is amazing how something like a voltage regulator or leaking electrolytics take down a $1,000's transceiver. Some transceivers have known, common problems easy to fix but very expensive to get fixed unless you can do the repair yourself. Making equipment brings pleasure, using it adds to the pleasure and you know enough to repair it if needed and you don't need a second mortgage. Reg????????????????? G4NFR |
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Re: Homemade Circuit Boards
Hello,
Hello, thank you for seeing that my Kicad design problem interested you. I¡¯ll get you pictures of my adapters as soon as they¡¯re done. For the manufacture of PCB, I use the transfer method for a simple pcb. In the case of my manufacture, my pcb having double-sided holes of 0.6mm and very thin tracks, I have them made in China. It¡¯s not very expensive. I had found manufacturers here, they admitted to me that they make them also in China and charge twice the price!! J'ai une tr¨¨s belle qualit¨¦ here see my first PCB made with transfert method second PCB from China. there is no comparison possible. cdt |
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
I think it's less the Thalidomide situation than politics.? $200 is a lot cheaper than any other price I've heard/seen - a LOT cheaper. Enough so that when I heard about the paperwork... I was immediately suspicious.? It most definitely won't be the first time!
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Lots of innocent lives lost in the last year (SIGH!).? I just hope we can save more lives today. On 4/26/21 10:07 PM, Jack, W8TEE via groups.io wrote:
For those who don't know, Farhan and Gordon Gibby did Herculean work to develop a working ventilator that could be produced for about $200. Then, the FDA stepped in with massive amounts of paper work and pretty much buried things under that paper mountain. Like Friedman once said, the FDA likely has killed more people than it saved because of its knee-jerk reaction to the Thalidomide drug in the 50's and the delays that resulted from it. |
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Re: Shipping Question
Hello Bob, Your order is ready for shipping and will be done so in the next couple of days. We will inform you via a private mail the dispatch details. It usually takes between 5 to 10 days once dispatched with many even having received it? on the 3rd day. Thanks and Regards, Thomas On Tue, 27 Apr 2021 at 02:20, <kk0mg@...> wrote: Hi, All, Support@HFSignals --
Support@... |
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Re: Homemade Circuit Boards
It took a LOT of fiddling and diddling to get it to work. I too, have a laminator. Actually two of them. It was VERY fussy re: board cleanliness.
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The ultimate solution was a paper especially made for toner transfer. This stuff is magic. It floats right off in the water. It wasn't cheap. I see Mouser has it. $13.71 for ten sheets. If you cut them in half, that's enough for 20 good sized boards. Just google "toner transfer paper pcb". The same maker has a foil that you iron over the transferred toner to protect it from etchant - because toner is porous, and you get ugly little holes in your traces. I haven't tried that. - Jerry KF6VB On 2021-04-26 19:35, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
I have had horrible experience with homemade PCBs. The press and peel |
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Re: Homemade Circuit Boards
I have had horrible experience with homemade PCBs. The press and peel invariably smudged for me. One needs the PCBs only when using SMD with small footprints. They are hard to resolve with laser print + ironing. I even both a laminator. Nothing worked to any satisfaction. Invariably one part or the other of the pcb got smudged. Finally I gave up.? Is there a simple and repeatable system that works well? Maybe I should try the photoresist. I looked at othermill, a pcb prototyping cnc machine. It needs special pcb material and it doesnt do SMD very well. - f On Tue 27 Apr, 2021, 7:54 AM Jack, W8TEE via , <jjpurdum=[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: Homemade Circuit Boards
Jack, W8TEE
Chuck Adams has a video on YouTube using "Muppet" PCB fabrication. It works well. Jack, W8TEE
On Monday, April 26, 2021, 4:09:01 PM EDT, jerry@... <jerry@...> wrote:
> I made a very big mistake on the choice of the footprint in Kicad for > relays. This sort of thing is a good argument for homemade circuit boards.? I used to do it with pcb-express.? I downloaded their software but did not order their boards.? I would print out the copper layers mirror image on a laser printer. Then iron the paper onto my copperclad board with a clothes iron.? The paper would be stuck to the board.? Then dunk it all in water and peel the paper off, hopefully leaving the toner on the board. ? Then dunk the board in ferric chloride etchant.? When it's etched, pull it out and scrub off the laser toner.? I use a Dremel mounted on a drill press fixture and little tiny drill bits ( used to be available in boxes really cheap at Harbor Freight, but no apparently longer alas ) to drill the through holes. ? ? The devil is in the details with this thing - lots of experimentation with different papers.? But I have successfully done 25-grid parts with it. ? The boards don't turn out nearly as nice as something from a board house, but you can design a board in the morning and have it in your hands the same afternoon. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? - Jerry KF6VB On 2021-04-26 10:18, Gerard wrote: > Hello, > > I made a very big mistake on the choice of the footprint in Kicad for > relays. Therefore, it cannot necessarily work. So I desoldered the > relays and so I¡¯m going to make an adapter to fix it. This is the > cleanest solution than cutting the tracks on the PCB > The relay will be offset by 2.54 mm and the connection of the shot > will be corrected. > Only drawback we will see the support on 2.54mm, but it is the best > solution. > > I read that we can add a protective diode on K1, can you tell me where > exactly > > cdt > > > > Links: > ------ > [1] /g/BITX20/message/87917 > [2] /mt/79553656/243852 > [3] /g/BITX20/post > [4] /g/BITX20/editsub/243852 > [5] /g/BITX20/leave/10189903/243852/952924773/xyzzy -- Jack, W8TEE |
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
Jack, W8TEE
For those who don't know, Farhan and Gordon Gibby did Herculean work to develop a working ventilator that could be produced for about $200. Then, the FDA stepped in with massive amounts of paper work and pretty much buried things under that paper mountain. Like Friedman once said, the FDA likely has killed more people than it saved because of its knee-jerk reaction to the Thalidomide drug in the 50's and the delays that resulted from it. Jack, W8TEE
On Monday, April 26, 2021, 9:06:34 PM EDT, Robert D. Bowers <n4fbz@...> wrote:
I saw a little while ago that equipment to produce medical O2 is also being sent.? That will make a big difference, and I'm tickled at the doses being sent. Ventilators, on the other hand, were being dumped - in Miami.? I hope that stops and they're redistributed to the other countries that need them.? The image I saw suggests that they should be salvageable (still in boxes/cases and on pallets) - and they too save lives. It looks like we're pulling together - and that makes me relieved. Those that need help should get it. Ashar, tell everyone you can that we're pulling for you all! On 4/26/21 6:50 PM, Bill Cromwell wrote: > Hi, > > The U.S. is sending about 50 or 60 million doses of the vaccine, an > unspecified amount of oxygen, and personal protective gear to India. I > didn't catch all of what they said on the news. On one of my military > newsfeeds I saw that Mexico is sending materials to help India with > the covid, too. The cavalry is mounting up. > > My best wishes and prayers for everybody over there. > > Bill KU8H > > bark less - wag more > > On 4/26/21 3:40 PM, Arv Evans wrote: >> Farhan >> >> Got my second Covid shot last week. >> >> News in the US says that Biden is sending our stock of AstraZeneca >> vaccine >> to India.? Not sure when though. >> >> Please be careful.? We are waiting for that SDR rig. >> >> Arv >> _._ >> >> >> >> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 11:42 AM Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@... >> <mailto:farhanbox@...>> wrote: >> >> ??? thanks all, i wish there was a hack that could fix it. some of us >> ??? here even tried. i worked with a few really fabulous? hams to >> ??? develop an open source ventilator project that got jammed in some >> ??? red-tape. the ventilators are moot right now. what we needed was >> ??? to have everyone vaccinated well in time. we wasted it on petty >> ??? politicking and haggling away. the vaccine manufacturers were give >> ??? a very raw deal and they had to wind down their capacity at a time >> ??? like this. anyway, this is not a forum for this discussion. >> ??? The interesting part is the science of it. Very very few of those >> ??? vaccinated caught the second wave. those that did, (like over >> ??? ex-prime minister Man Mohan Singh who is 88 years old and has had >> ??? a heart infarct a few months ago), survived with very mild >> ??? disease. so look at the data coming out in the Nature, the Lancet, >> ??? etc. and decide for yourselves. Much like we read the datasheets >> ??? of our devices. it is not different at all. It is even fun! >> ??? - f >> >> ??? On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 10:19 PM Jack, W8TEE via groups.io >> ??? <> <jjpurdum=[email protected] >> ??? <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> ??????? Farhan: >> >> ??????? Know that you and the others are in our thoughts and prayers. >> >> ??????? 73, >> ??????? Jack, W8TEE >> >> ??????? On Monday, April 26, 2021, 11:27:37 AM EDT, Ashhar Farhan >> ??????? <farhanbox@... <mailto:farhanbox@...>> wrote: >> >> >> ??????? Peeps >> ??????? The situation has been very depressing. It could have been >> ??????? handled much much better. The second wave has hit some of the >> ??????? cities very badly. They are out of beds, oxygen, drugs and >> ??????? vaccines. >> ??????? We lost many hams as well. Bhogi, who was probably a quiet >> ??????? member of this forum, died last week as did slokapriya, who >> ??????? also ran radiojitter.com <>. >> ??????? People seem to have given up on distancing and keeping >> ??????? indoors. It is a bizzare situation. >> ??????? HF signals is working skeletally. I am fully locked up along >> ??????? with my family at home. We are a large house with 9 people. We >> ??????? play board games, carroms, bridge, read to each other and i am >> ??????? working on the SDR. >> ??????? My partner and the man dude of HF Signals, Ehsan, is just >> ??????? recovering from a mild bout of Covid. Others are doing good. >> ??????? Thanks for your concerns and we hope to see you all in the >> ??????? other side of this nightmare soon. >> ??????? Keep the solder burning, stay safe. Use science to fight this. >> ??????? 73, f. >> >> ??????? On Mon 26 Apr, 2021, 7:48 PM Jerry Gaffke via groups.io >> ??????? <>, <jgaffke=[email protected] >> ??????? <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> ??????????? The news from India has been on my mind as well, check out >> ??????????? the graph at the top: >> >> <> >> >> ??????????? As the article suggests, the US could choose to better >> ??????????? support other nations in this. >> >> ??????????? Jerry, KE7ER >> >> >> ??????????? On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 05:09 AM, Tom, wb6b wrote: >> >> ??????????????? I see in the news that India is having a severe >> ??????????????? outbreak of Covid. Hope all is well for Ashhar and all >> ??????????????? our group members in India. >> >> ??????????????? Tom, wb6b >> >> >> ??????? -- ??????? Jack, W8TEE >> > > > > > -- Jack, W8TEE |
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
I saw a little while ago that equipment to produce medical O2 is also being sent.? That will make a big difference, and I'm tickled at the doses being sent.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Ventilators, on the other hand, were being dumped - in Miami.? I hope that stops and they're redistributed to the other countries that need them.? The image I saw suggests that they should be salvageable (still in boxes/cases and on pallets) - and they too save lives. It looks like we're pulling together - and that makes me relieved. Those that need help should get it. Ashar, tell everyone you can that we're pulling for you all! On 4/26/21 6:50 PM, Bill Cromwell wrote:
Hi, |
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Re: Best wishes to our friends in India
Hi,
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
The U.S. is sending about 50 or 60 million doses of the vaccine, an unspecified amount of oxygen, and personal protective gear to India. I didn't catch all of what they said on the news. On one of my military newsfeeds I saw that Mexico is sending materials to help India with the covid, too. The cavalry is mounting up. My best wishes and prayers for everybody over there. Bill KU8H bark less - wag more On 4/26/21 3:40 PM, Arv Evans wrote:
Farhan |
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Re: Talk: Does price buy Performance or Satisfaction in an HF Transceiver? by Frank Howell K4FMH
I'll leave it to the experts to discuss performance. But, as far as satisfaction goes...
There's nothing like he thrill of making a QSO on a rig that you built yourself and being able to proudly proclaim "The rig here is homebrew.". I can tell you from experience that on SSB at least the other side rarely believes it? 73, Dean KK4DAS
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Re: Shipping Question
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI guess snails can be sent by rocket.? That's some rapid delivery! Gerry Sent by the Thunderbird On 2021-04-26 4:38 p.m.,
f.ketterman@... wrote:
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Gerard
Trystan G0KAY
to navigate to use esc to dismiss