J-Pole antennas are one of the true works of electrical engineering that gives us a smaller footprint vertical with no need for a ground plane. But how do these things work? Here is a great presentation from Dr. Ed Fong WB6IQN explaining. Other articles and information on J-Poles available here: The DBJ-1: A VHF-UHF Dual-Band […]
Building
Building Superheterodyne Receivers 101 with Chuck Adams, K7QO
Soldering iron calling your name? Here’s an excellent YouTube series from Chuck Adams, K7QO that shows you step-by-step how to construct and test the “Universal HF Receiver Kit” from kitsandparts.com. http://www.kitsandparts.com/receiver.php These videos go through each set of components, showing you how to build the kit in steps, and how to test each step along the way. […]
Build and Review – Dual Band J-Pole 144/440Mhz
(Tips added at the end of the article below on 10/26/2019) If you’re like me, you like to save some money. One place that I like to save is by constructing my own antennas. When I was looking to set up my base station at home, I looked through all kinds of designs, and ended […]
Review of the Zeny 853D – Solder and Hot Air Rework Station
Great Value/3-in-1 Solder Station First, a Safety Caution!! The included cable with my unit was wired incorrectly for North America, and could result in the unit being powered despite being turned off, or the fuse being blown. This could result in exposure to electrical shock! Recommend checking your cable against the included images, and replacing […]
Circuit Board Holder Review
“Call the spouse in here, I need a third hand!” This is probably not the best idea when dealing with hot molten solder and funny smelling smoke, but it may be necessary to get those components soldered on for the newest ham radio kit you’ve acquired. May I suggest that you may have a steadier […]
Component References and Charts
A collection of component references and charts to help amateur radio operators and builders access information they may need.
Those Horrible Toroids!
Here we go… I’m new to kit building, and pretty open to expanding and testing my skills. In looking through stories of others building kits, I became extremely intimidated by the horrible stories of seasoned builders would absolutely never tackle kits including toroids that must be wound by hand. Seemed that kit designers were somehow […]
Soldering Tips and Tricks
Here are a few soldering tips and tricks that I’ve found helpful. Elecraft Soldering Tips (PDF) Elecraft essential tips on soldering stations A nicely illustrated soldering tutorial