I'm so pumped. I have a beer in my hand and have had a great two days of amateur radio.

I connected yesterday with Bill Maera (N2CQR) of Solder Smoke Podcast fame. He and I had been in contact for the past few weeks about how to get started with scratch building. 

Granted, credit goes to Paul Taylor (VK3HN). I saw Paul's presentation at the QSO Today Expo in mid-March 2021. Paul presented his scratch built QRP radios. Just amazing. Thought I could never do that. And I can't today. Felt compelled to learn more: how do these radio stages work? How do you figure out which capacitor value is best for this tank circuit? How? What? Lots of thoughts. I wrote Paul, eager as a beaver, and asked his advice. He told me two things: one, sit at the feat of the masters and two, start slow and simple. The masters being: Charlie Morris (ZL2CTM); Peter Parker (VK3YE); and definitely Pete Juliano (N6QW) and Bill Maera who both produce the Solder Smoke Podcast.

I wrote both Bill and Pete with this impassioned plea:

Name here is Jack Haefner, NG2E. 

I saw Paul Taylor's (VK3HN) presentation at the QSO Expo last month and was completely blown away by his work. Scratch building--at least his approach--seems very logical, throughout, and, frankly, rewarding. But I completely lack knowledge in this area.

Frankly, I am looking for advice on how to get started. Per his suggestion, I've looked at plenty of sites (Peter Parker (now there's a name) (VK3YE), Charlie Morris (ZL2CTM), and others). While there's plenty there, I just don't know where to begin. 

Now, I do have a parts bin and am not afraid to solder something up and see what happens. But I wonder if you might have advice about how to hone in on what I see as some high-level objectives:

1. I'd like to build in stages and test/understand what is going on in between each stage.

2. I'd like to build QRP/portable sets since I Iike to do some SOTAs and, well, I'd like what I build to be useful.

3. No problem starting with CW since I have passable proficiency there.

I have a multimeter, a scope (never used since, well, I wouldn't know how to use it). I'll probably buy an inexpensive inductor tester since I'll probably need to wind a few of them.

I have the ARRL Handbook (2011) and Build Your Own Transistor Radios (Quan). There are some explanations in those texts, but they accelerate pretty fast. And I've built kits (Rockmite, Elecraft KX1)--I can certainly follow directions, but, I frankly don't know what is happening under the hood.

Other than that, happy to take any ideas that you might send my way.

Pete's reply a few days letter with echoes provided by Bill:

Hi Jack,

 

Thank you for your email and I will be glad to help as best as I can. The first important point is that you have connected with some of the best homebrewers in the world, Paul, Peter and Charlie. –These truly are some of the most talented HB specialists. Charlie has several series of homebrew you tube videos that step you through a project and includes the theory not just solder tab A to Slot B. So check out his channel and work/follow along with him.

 

As for my contribution here are some suggestions:

 

1. Start with a small project that will let you take that project and learn the two salient aspects – the physical construction and the why it works. One of the best to launch that effort is a low part count (less than 15 parts with the Low Pass Filter and 8 without) transmitter called The Michigan Mighty Mite. Because it is a low part count – not expensive and it will let you understand the why it works. Other projects like this include The Tuna Tin Two from Doug DeMaw W1FB now a SK.
2. Next would be a receiver and I recommend a Direct Conversion Receiver. With these two projects you can have a working station. There are many forms of the DCR but if you look on my website you will see one using a MC1496 IC – these can be bought in SMD for less than $1. See www.n6qw.com  and this link
3. https://www.n6qw.com/MC1496.html

 

There is a video on that link and you can hear how good it is.

 

I would stay away from the $4 Pixie radio kit on eBay as that is essentially a single fixed channel receiver and you might not hear much. The key here Jack is to start small and take some time collecting info on the Michigan Mighty Mite and Direct Conversion Receivers. You might try to find a copy of Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur as that is a super publication that has many projects and a great stepping stone on the technical side. You might also consider joining the GQRP Club as that is a great source for simple  projects that are usable rigs. Connect with the Membership Secretary – Daphne – she will fix you right up!

 

Chew on what I have sent you and then contact me with any further questions.

 

There is nothing finer than to be able to tell the station at the other end “the rig here is all homebrew!”  Thanks again for your email. You already have many of the things you will need to get launched. Another good starting point is to learn how to use that scope –that is worth its weight in Gold!

 

73’s

Pete N6QW

 I collected the bits and pieces for my Michigan Mighty Mite the day following his email. The only thing missing: a 80M or 40M crystal. Bill offered me some, but he was layed up for a few days. Well, I finally connected with Bill yesterday. Stopped by his shack. Yup, in person. No masks. Very cool. Showed me his MMM and the JOO (Joy of Oscillation). 

I quickly returned home assembled my MMM and, sure enough, got a carrier wave on 3.579:

So, here's my "way forward" for you Govies and former military:

1. Capture this MMM into a semi-permanent design: ie, perf board.
2. Measure performance. What does the carrier wave look like on a scope? Is it a good sine wave? Are there distortions at multiple frequencies? I bet there are! How would I remedy that?
3. Build a low-pass filter to choke out the IMDs for frequencies above 3.579 MHz. How does the carrier now look?
4. Can I amplify the signal? Maybe add an amplifier stage or two. Transistor? LM386?
5. Next, let's look at receivers. Pete & Bill recommend that I build a Direct Conversion receiver. I know Peter Parker (VK3YE) has a simplified version. Can I use these two in tandem with a transmit/receive switch?

That's good for now. I'd like to see how I can use a microcontroller for a better VFO, but I'd like to understand a superhet receiver architecture first. So much to learn.

And next, I activated Blue Mountain today. Jeep. Top down ride out to the summit. Made a few contacts first off the bat on VHF FM. Then CW on 20M and 40M. Lots of QRM on the peak and hard to make out some of the weaker stations, but had QSOs with the veritable Christian (F4WBN) in France and Bob Daniels (AC1Z) on a peak in New Hampshire.

What a great weekend!