Category Archives: Ham Radio

Dave unveils the Sproutie MK II regenerative receiver

My talented pal, Dave Richards, has built yet another home-brew regenerative receiver––which he dubs the Sproutie MK II––and wow, it’s a thing of beauty.

Dave tells me has been working on this receiver for many months, and upon viewing the following photos of it, it’s clear to see why he took his sweet time. As in his original Sproutie, a vintage HRO dial has taken pride of place as the centerpiece of his rig; it looks stunning.

But the Sproutie MK II is not only painstakingly-crafted on the outside; like Shaker furnishings, wrought for the eyes of God both outwardly and within, the interior of Dave’s receiver is equally well-crafted.

Okay, maybe that’s a little over the top…but if you doubt me, just join me in admiration of this board:

As for performance? Of course, with such a clean interior, the Sproutie II performs like a champ. Dave posted a few videos showing how his new receiver commands the airwaves and aptly handles AM, SSB, and CW.

That’s an amazing piece of kit you’ve created there, Dave! Hats off to your incredible craftsmanship.

Check out Sproutie II on Dave’s blog, where you can read a full account of how he designed and built this gorgeous regen receiver.

A photo tour of the 2015 WCARS hamfest

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A few weeks ago, on July 25th, I made my way to Waynesville, NC, to the WCARS hamfest. This is a much smaller hamfest than, say, the Shelby Hamfest I recently attended.

In the past, however, I’ve found some real gems among the tables of this small hamfest.

I took a few photos but should note they’re not at all a representation of what was available at the hamfest, rather the things I found of interest (ahem…vintage gear).

This Hallicrafters SX-100 was on one of the first tables I noticed in the main building. I have an SX-99 and have always thought about “upgrading” to an SX-100. The seller was asking $150.

My buddy, Mike (K8RAT) believes the Omni D is one of the best CW rigs ever made. He purchased one–in excellent condition–with matching power supply at a hamfest in Ohio for $200. I believe this one, and another OMNI D at the WCARS hamfest were selling for $300+.

I would have loved a little radio/TV combo like this when I was in middle school. The two inch black and white CRT screen reminds me of the devices everyone carried to open doors and communicate on Space 1999.

I still find the IC-R70 and IC-R71 appealing. Maybe it’s that classic Icom green.

This National NC-173 really caught my attention. The seller had kept this radio in excellent cosmetic condition.

Indeed, the temptation was too much! I purchased the NC-173 and took it home. After turning it on, though, I felt voltage on the chassis (50V, in fact) and no audio. I contacted the seller, who lives locally, and took it to his home work bench. He happily refunded my money and then began looking for the fault. My life has been so hectic, I haven’t gotten back to him yet, but he was holding it for me should I want to purchase again. I may very well go back and purchase it. Hey, if it’s good enough for Thor Heyerdahl, it’s good enough for me!

While none in working order necessarily, these ARCs were being sold for about $25 each. I probably should’ve gotten at least one.

The seller wanted over $700 for this Clansman manpack transceiver and accessories, if memory serves. Someday, I’ll snag one of these.

I did come home with this beautiful 1946 Phillips Model 46-350 with roll-top dial cover. The 46-350 was a very popular model for Phillips after WWII; over 220,000 were produced. Original sales price? $49.95

The seller–an avid antique radio collector–sold this 46-350 to me for $25. I feel like I got a deal, too: the receiver is amazing and the audio is beautiful. The chassis shows wear, but I like that (gives some chronological context–!). The inside is in great shape for a radio that’s almost 70 years old.

This Model 46-350 has become my bedside radio; one my sweet wife didn’t object to at all. When not listening to a local AM station, or one of the night time clear channel stations, I tune to my (very) locally transmitted 1570 kHz which typically relays the UK 1940s Radio Station.

I also brought the following items home from the WCARS hamfest:

a Griffin Powermate USB Controller ($5)
an Ambery IP-P2 remote power switch ($20)
a dozen pair of Anderson Powerpole connectors ($10)
and some assorted coax cables and connectors ($10)

All in all, a good haul! I’ll certainly visit the WCARS hamfest again next year if my schedule allows.

Silent Key: Clive Ward, G1EUC

The Enigma Event: an on-air exchange of encrypted messages

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(Source: Southgate ARC)

Members of the ARI Fidenza will be activating special callsigns IO4ENG and IQ4FE during the ‘Enigma Event’.

The Enigma Event consists of exchanging ham radio messages over the air encrypted with the Enigma code of WW II memory to commemorate its importance in the history of communications and encryption.

The Event Enigma is one of the “European Researchers’ Night” events on Sept 25th, when a number of initiatives will be organized by European research and cultural institutions.

An Amateur Radio Award (ENIGMA AWARD) is associated with this event. The ham activity of the ENIGMA AWARD will start on Sept. 12th.

All details and rules are available on the official Web site at: http://www.enigma-reloaded.it

This should be a fun event to hear on the air and one of the very few sponsored by ham radio operators who will intentionally transmit “encrypted” messages. I will try to tune in.

A photo tour of the 2015 Shelby Hamfest

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For the first time in over a decade, my Labor Day weekend was free of travel, so I was able to make a short pilgrimage to the Shelby (North Carolina) hamfest with my good buddies, Vlado (N3CZ), Dave (K4SV) and Phil (W9IXX).

The Shelby Hamfest–referred to, locally, as “The Grand-Daddy of them All”–has long been regarded as one of the largest hamfests in the southeast US. The last time I attended–most likely in 2004–I was amazed at the number of vendors and, especially, the size of the flea market section (my favorite part of any hamfest).

We arrived just after the gates opened at 8:00, yesterday morning. While there were quite a number of vendors sprawling the Cleavland County Fairgrounds, attendance must have been down as it seemed there were more vendors than attendees.

Still, it was nice to hunt for treasures without so much competition at each table!

This BC-348-R (above) was one of the first radios that grabbed my attention. Though I already have a BC-348-Q, I certainly wouldn’t mind having another one of these classic WWII era receivers.

This BC-348-R was very clean inside and in pretty good original cosmetic shape on the outside. To power this BC-348, I would need to add a transformer or a 28 volt Dynamotor. The seller had it priced at “$100 OBO” (or best offer). I was willing to make him an offer, but even though I kept checking back, I never found the seller at his table. Too bad.

This BC-348-Q–priced at $125–needed a new transformer and a “tune-up,” per the seller.

It’s rare to find a GPR-90 this clean and with a matching speaker.

The seller only wanted $40 for this Hammarlund speaker.

There were a number of Hammarlund SP-600s scattered across the flea market. I have one and can confidently say that it’s a joy to operate–especially on the medium wave band.

The seller wanted $200 for this Harris–it needed substantial repairs internally.

This gorgeous WWII era ART-13 was the most tempting thing I found in Shelby.

It would look so good sitting next to or above my BC-348-Q.

This one had been professionally restored and was in perfect working order. I’ve seen ART-13s at other hamfests, but never as clean as this one.

The seller wanted over $500. While I know an ART-13 in this condition could command that price, I simply didn’t have the budget for it on this trip. Fortunately, the seller is a friend-of-a-friend and if he still has this ART-13 post-fest, I might just contact him!

The Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 is a classic little QRP transceiver! Someday, I’ll pick one up.

If memory severs, the seller wanted $275 for this used Satellit 750 and $325 (or more) for the 800. I noticed he had sold the 750 by my second pass.

This Sharper Image shortwave receiver (above) has BFO and tone controls on the back(!) of the unit. Very strange–imagine tuning in an SSB station by reaching behind the radio and tweaking the BFO knob!

The seller wanted $100 for this Hallicrafters portable receiver. Knowing my weakness for anything Halligan, I forced myself to slowly back away. It wasn’t easy leaving it on the table.

There were very few console radios at this hamfest; all of them were in poor condition which made it much easier for me to pass them by.

This 1960’s era Signal Corps TG-34-A Morse code reader was also tempting and one of the last items I viewed in the flea market. The seller wasn’t at the table, so I never bothered asking about the price. If it had been a WWII era reader, it would have come home with me.

Elecraft had a nice indoor display and a steady number of attendees inquiring about their new K3s transceiver and, of course, the KX3.
In the end, I came home from Shelby with very little: only two patch cables and a male SMA connector.

I did, however, get to spend time with my friends, re-connect with a buddy I hadn’t seen since high school, and meet a few SWLing Post readers. I certainly call that a successful hamfest!

Ken’s low-profile, low-cost vertical antenna

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Ken’s antenna “deployed” in his back yard.

SWLing Post reader, Ken Hansen (N2VIP), writes:

A few months ago I purchased a couple S9V18 18′ vertical antennas for $65 at cheapham.com, with the intention of deploying a quick HF aerial at my HOA-laden home for ham radio use. I found they work great for SWL.

The S9V18 antenna is made to slip over a 1″ o.d. pipe driven into the ground at least a foot, with 12″ of the pipe rising off the ground. You can pound a two foot pipe half-way into the ground, or do as I did and fill a bucket with cement and stick the pipe in that half-way.

This is a ‘close-up’ of the bucket. Note the plate the ground radials are attached to–it’s from Home Depot, it’s a bus bar designed to bond the ground wire for each circuit in a breaker box.

After adding a reasonable ground plane of 8x 14 ga wire cut about 15′ long I hooked up a 4:1 balun and ran it to my Kenwood TS-570D.

What I found was the aerial not only worked well on 20 meters, it also made a great shortwave aerial! Stations were booming in here in Texas at night.

The antenna slides over the pipe sticking out of the concrete in the bucket. Here is a picture of the bucket before the antenna base is slipped over it.

My ‘discovery’ was that a nice, modest vertical antenna can really improve reception on SW bands…

Cheapham.com sells the S9V18 antenna on close out for $35/each, the 2′ pipe is a few dollars more, add in a bit of coax and a modest ground plane and you can really up your SWL ‘game’.

Antenna on closeout:

http://www.cheapham.com/s9-v18-18-vertical-antenna-closeout/

I suggest anyone buying this antenna seriously consider buying additional clamps at the same time, they are just a few dollars and will help extend the life of the antenna:

http://www.cheapham.com/products/S9V18-Replacement-Clamps.html

For shortwave broadcast listening a direct connection without balun would probably suffice, but I used an LDG 4:1 balun to support multi-band ham transmitting:

http://www.cheapham.com/rba-4-1-voltage-balun/

Just thought I’d share my ‘discovery’…

And we thank you for sharing your discovery, Ken! This is a great, simple solution for those who cannot erect a permanent “high-profile” antenna. I’m especially impressed with how budget-friendly your solution is, Ken.

Post Readers: If you have other suggestions for inexpensive low-profile antennas, please contact me or comment below!

Icom introduces the IC-7300

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Icom introduced a new general coverage transceiver this year at the Tokyo Hamfair: the Icom IC-7300.

Icom has released a preliminary spec sheet (click here to download), but no pricing information yet. The IC-7300 will most likely be the least expensive Icom transceiver with a full spectrum display.

At first glance, I like the form factor and touch screen display–the panel appears to be less cluttered than many other large-display models. The ‘7300 has dedicated knobs for passband tuning and AF/RF gain (major plus in my book). It also comes with a built-in automatic antenna tuner.

I’ll post more info once Icom releases pricing and availability.

You can follow IC-7300 updates by bookmarking this link.