Tag Archive: Communication

October 23rd, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Transistor Radio Repair

I recommend the G.E. transistor radios. The technology was improved slightly with the SupeRadio series, which was made for G.E. in Japan starting in the 1970s. These used a perfected superheterodyne circuit and large speakers for full, rich sound. When paired with an inductive antenna enhancer (such as a Terk, Select-A-Tenna, or Kaito brand) to boost the built-in ferrite rod AM antenna, you have a great AM and FM DXing radio with quite good monaural sound.

I was impressed by this guy’s threads on basic, old, transistor radio “revival”.

His simple, well-illustrated threads at Instructables are written for the novice radio tinkerer.

First, instructions for a GE P780B.  (I have one of these, they’re built like tanks and are worth seeking out.)

Second, an American made, Zenith portable. The Zeniths from the 1950s to 1970s are very well made and have audio and DX qualities that place modern portables to shame.

Some other links to check out:

http://www.vintage-radio.com


http://www.transistor.org


 Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.


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October 1st, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Currently Available QRP Radio Kits (ham radio)

I’d like to discuss a couple of low power (“QRP”) ham radio transmitters. The first kit is a 10 Watt 75M SSB transceiver appropriately named The Survivor. For the modest sum of $140 you get all the parts required to build a practical rig with a digital frequency readout capable of making voice contacts at night out to a range of 200 to 300 miles using simple (low to the ground) wire antennas in NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) mode. Another ham radio operator provided some additional tips and advice on building this kit on his blog.

The second kit is a crystal-controlled half Watt CW (Continuous Wave -an operating mode for amateur radio gear, used for Morse Code) transceiver with a built in iambic keyer called the RockMite. This is available in versions for the 80M, 40M, 30M and 20M ham bands. The basic kit (minus knobs and connectors) runs $29. For an additional $16 you can purchase the knobs and connectors. The kit is designed to fit into an empty tin Altoids container, or you may purchase a deluxe enclosure called the ‘MityBox’ from American Morse Equipment.

These compact radios can easily be powered using a 12 volt gel cell and used to provide long range communications during off grid/grid down situations.

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.


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May 10th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Ham Radio Show on TWiT.tv

For those of you who are interested in amateur radio, there’s a new online weekly show about ham radio on TWIT.tv called HAM Nation.  Here’s the information on the show from their site: “HAM Nation is the new TWIT show about ham radio. Bob Heil, with various co-hosts and guests will cover the excitement and importance of ham radio – from tossing an antenna wire in a tree allowing you to talk to the world, to the importance of ham radio operators in time of disasters. HAM Nation airs live each Tuesday at 6:00 PT/ 9:00ET”

The shows are every Tuesday (yeah, that was last night–sorry for the late notice!) at 6:00 Pacific and the first show was May 24th, so there have been three shows already.  The good thing is that they are available for download after the show, so it’s okay if you miss some of them.  You can download just audio or high or low resolution video.  So if you’re a ham operator, or if you’re wanting to learn more about it or get some refresher information, tune in and get some education on one of the best forms of emergency communication.  Thanks to North Mountain for the heads up about this show!  I have a ham license, but only a vague idea how all the radio stuff works, so it has been really fun and informative watching these shows.  Now I’m wanting to build some antennas . . . in all my spare time. 😉

 

Even if a Ham Nation show is missed, it is available both as a videocast or podcast on the TWiT site at any time.

http://www.twit.tv/hn

Choose the show you want to watch/hear from the list and then enjoy. Thus far, show number 2 was especially good as it featured a Ham that went to help in Joplin, MO right after the May 2011 tornado.

By the way, the TWiT owner, Leo Leporte said he is going to take all the training and tests to get all three ham licenses, Technician, General and Extra, as part of the show as time goes on.

Hopefully, his example will encourage a lot of other folks to get their licenses too.

 


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