开云体育

On Jul 29, 2021, at 12:49 AM, Dennis Friedbauer <wa2zor@...> wrote:

?Steve,

I'd enjoy building the kit, please let me know if it is still available.

73

Dennis

w4zor

________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Steve Walters via groups.io <k3sw@...>
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2021 5:30 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [softrock40] Softrock rx/tx 6.1

I’ve had this kit laying around for years. If anyone wants it just let me know. I only want $7.70 for a small flat rate box from USPS.

厂迟别惫别…Kilo Three Scotch Whisky ?

Thanks Alan...
My RXTX 6.3 with Mobo 4.3 is successfully sorting to action...
What is more surprising is that the Softrick + Mobo combination is preforming better over 7300 under low signal conditions probably due to the BPF acting as preselector in RX mode aiding the reception &? that its what is missing in 7300...
Thanks again Alan...
73'sde Ravi
On Mon, 19 Jul 2021 at 13:22, Ravi Shanker<ravishankerp@...> wrote: Thanks Alan, the link I shared was strangely not opening for me.
What you sent has opened up.
Let me try & use it & in case i need something else, I will get back on this post.
Thanks,Ravi
On Monday, July 19, 2021, 12:52:46 PM GMT+5:30, Alan G4ZFQ <alan4alan@...> wrote:

> Google search for this leads to the below link which is unavailable:?

? Ravi

That link is good, goes to
Do you see it? Is
something else missing?

73 Alan G4ZFQ

Hi,

I've been on a tour of a Snake River hydroelectric dam, and the way
the engineers' there talked about how much they monitior the AC
signal it sounds like perfection is what they expect at all times.

As mentioned before, there could be a problem in your house mains
connection.? Some troubles there can result in low voltage in one
circuit and high on the other.

However, I would much more expect that for the low cost irons it
just "you get what you pay for."? Manufacturing low cost products
nowadays means quality just enough to last before you lose the receipt.

For the Weller iron, we don't know the history of the unit.? Did you
buy it brand new?? Is it still under warranty?? Even a good quality
iron could need repairs at some point.? And I think Weller does make
some low-end units that likely are not made to the standard of their
professional stations.

If you can swing it, a new Hakko or Weller station would most likely
last a lifetime and you wouldn't have to buy another one again.? My
Hakko station is 10+ years old and still works like new (and has
seen a lot of use).

Diagnosing the problems of your old irons.? You might check if the
heating element still gets hot, but not the tip?? Then the problem
is with the heat conduction to the tip and something may be loose or
corroded there.? Or if nothing gets hot at all, a wiring problem.? I
remember with my old 25W Radio Shack iron, the tip would get loose
and stop heating.? The tip was also not iron plated and would
sometimes require filing the whole tip to re-expose pure copper
again as corrosion would eventually wreck the tip.? And replacements
elements were available for those, so obviously sometimes the
element would burn out (mine still works though).

73

Hi,

I've been on a tour of a Snake River hydroelectric dam, and the way the engineers' there talked about how much they monitior the AC signal it sounds like perfection is what they expect at all times.

As mentioned before, there could be a problem in your house mains connection. Some troubles there can result in low voltage in one circuit and high on the other.

However, I would much more expect that for the low cost irons it just "you get what you pay for." Manufacturing low cost products nowadays means quality just enough to last before you lose the receipt.

For the Weller iron, we don't know the history of the unit. Did you buy it brand new? Is it still under warranty? Even a good quality iron could need repairs at some point. And I think Weller does make some low-end units that likely are not made to the standard of their professional stations.

If you can swing it, a new Hakko or Weller station would most likely last a lifetime and you wouldn't have to buy another one again. My Hakko station is 10+ years old and still works like new (and has seen a lot of use).

Diagnosing the problems of your old irons. You might check if the heating element still gets hot, but not the tip? Then the problem is with the heat conduction to the tip and something may be loose or corroded there. Or if nothing gets hot at all, a wiring problem. I remember with my old 25W Radio Shack iron, the tip would get loose and stop heating. The tip was also not iron plated and would sometimes require filing the whole tip to re-expose pure copper again as corrosion would eventually wreck the tip. And replacements elements were available for those, so obviously sometimes the element would burn out (mine still works though).

73

VERY possible. If they're not sending out a pure sine wave, that indicates a really bad problem on their end - for instance RMS measurements would be way off. Also most places have 240vac going in, and if the ground/neutral isn't solidly connected all the way, you can get really weird problems (like motors running noisy or hot, and so on). We had that problem and blew light bulbs until it was found and fixed - one leg was high, the other too low a voltage.

I find it strange that soldering irons aren't lasting. When I was in business (industrial electronics repair), I soldered all the time. I'd go through tips on a regular basis, but the rest of the iron kept going - a cheap iron, well, I've got one that I've had for many years (admittedly, I didn't use it on a daily basis and haven't used it in some time). I used a propane iron in the field, and did go through those rather regularly, maybe once every couple of years. I think that you might be onto something because of how quickly they go bad - a bad waveform could possibly do that. If the peak voltage was high, but the actual area under the curve (overall) being low, it could wear out the elements but not get hot enough. I've seen something similar to that in the past (on a plasma cutter/torch).

I'd be real interested in seeing the waveform.

Right now I'm using a temperature controlled iron from Radio Shack - purchased in 2012. I had to replace the iron itself because of bad internal connections once (I suspect factory defect), but other than that, no problem. I have a small 15w pencil iron, and my old 150(?) watt monster (very old and I've had it for several decades - great for coax connectors and ground plane connections).

Bob
N4FBZ

From: Tony Parks <kb9yig@...>
Date: July 17, 2021 at 6:37:50 AM EDT
To: Alan G4ZFQ <alan4alan@...>
Subject: Re: [softrock40] LCR recommendations?

Good Morning Alan and others,

I appreciate the thoughtful comments from you and the group. Each day when I am having fun with the Softrock kits I think that it is the Softrock users that have contributed so generously to my enjoyment. Thanks to all !!!

A little more information:

Used multiple irons for about six years until the local Radio Shack stores closed up:

15W 120 VAC, ~956 ohm (cold), CAT. NO. 64-2951B, MFD TAWAN

Also used Radio Shack solder, 0.015 inch diameter, 62/36/2 silver-bearing


Used approximately the last two years, one iron good for about two kit builds:

Walmart 30W 120 VAC, ~505 Ohms (sample of 4, cold), Model 5133-30W,
Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial Co. LTD

Also used Walmart EverStart solder.

I have used a some a Weller soldering iron station that has a knob for adjusting soldering iron temperature. Soldering iron temperature is adjusted by setting the voltage level at which a thyrisror in series with the soldering iron heating element turns on for both the positive and negative half cycles of the AC waveform. Thus there is the starting portion of each AC half cycle that is not applied to the resistive element of the soldering iron and hence less energy, as in lower temperature of the soldering iron tip.

Is there any possibility that the problems I have been having in the last few months with not hot enough soldering irons has anything to do with the AC wave shape my local power, i.e. ENERGY, company is distributing?

Again, thanks to all !!!

Best regards,
Tony, kb9yig



Sent from my iPad

On Jul 16, 2021, at 5:37 AM, Alan G4ZFQ <alan4alan@...> wrote:

Hello Tony,

I wonder if you have changed the type of solder?
I still use the "hazardous" lead/tin, the later lead-free is not nice to
use.
Otherwise maybe someone could recommend a temperature-controlled iron?
I hope you find a solution, you are still providing good SDRs.

73 Alan G4ZFQ

On Jul 16, 2021, at 11:55 AM, JonI via groups.io <ji425bt@...> wrote:

I thought I'd also mention picking up one of these some time back when I was in a bind, did not have a lot of extra funds, and needed something besides solder wicking and/or solder plungers, neither of which I have had very much luck with over the years:

tinyurl.com/btz9rtrc

The motivation behind this was a cracked slug when I was attempting to retune a bandpass filter in a rig I've been trying to tune up and align.? Only way to remove the slug was to desolder the bandpass filter and I knew wicking/ plunger wasn't going to do it very well.? Well, the above device took about 6 weeks to arrive, I tapped into my 220 VAC lines, and the device ensured success.? Keep in mind that it's quite crude compared to much more expensive desolderers and may take several tries (orientation and heating have to be exact), but it works.? My advice would be to keep it activated as solder is removed from a joint, then release over a trash can/ towel, etc otherwise solder flies right back onto the board if you release it right away.? And you don't want it to remain activated too long as I believe it uses a electromagnetic coil which could get hot quickly.? I try to use a duty cycle.

Not a bad little device for the price, however.

Jon

I thought I'd also mention picking up one of these some time back when I was in a bind, did not have a lot of extra funds, and needed something besides solder wicking and/or solder plungers, neither of which I have had very much luck with over the years:

tinyurl.com/btz9rtrc

The motivation behind this was a cracked slug when I was attempting to retune a bandpass filter in a rig I've been trying to tune up and align.? Only way to remove the slug was to desolder the bandpass filter and I knew wicking/ plunger wasn't going to do it very well.? Well, the above device took about 6 weeks to arrive, I tapped into my 220 VAC lines, and the device ensured success.? Keep in mind that it's quite crude compared to much more expensive desolderers and may take several tries (orientation and heating have to be exact), but it works.? My advice would be to keep it activated as solder is removed from a joint, then release over a trash can/ towel, etc otherwise solder flies right back onto the board if you release it right away.? And you don't want it to remain activated too long as I believe it uses a electromagnetic coil which could get hot quickly.? I try to use a duty cycle.

Not a bad little device for the price, however.

Jon