1. main@4SQRP.groups.io
   Date   
Re: Cricket 40 No Receive Audio

John - KK4ITX
 

Michael,

Welcome to the wonderful world of CW, I am not too far ahead of you CW wise but it truly is fun learning.

On your Cricket.  Have you checked your headphones for correct plug and to be sure they work ?  

John
KK4ITX 

Visit:  www.zaarc.org.   👁

On Jan 24, 2020, at 13:05, K5KAB <mberry1172@...> wrote:

Good afternoon:

I'm hoping someone may have experience with this issue so I'll put it out here for review.   I recently received and built the Cricket 40 kit.   When I first built the kit, it was discovered (only after testing) that I was missing the SS8550 for Q7 and instead had a 2N7000 in that location.    The result of this was that when turned on it sounded as if the keyer was constantly pressed.   After receiving a replacement I changed Q7 to the SS8550 and now it will key correctly.   Now my issue is that I have no receive audio whatsoever.   After digging through some forums I found one instance where it was mentioned to check for flux contamination so just to be sure I did make sure I cleaned the board thoroughly, although my soldering was kept as neat and clean as possible.   I found also a note about checking the center leg of Q4 to see if voltage here was above 6 volts.   In my case it was around 4.   The recommendation was to place a 1 M ohm resistor across D1.     I have done this and now the voltage on Q4 center leg is about 8.5 volts but I still have no receive audio.    when I press the keyer,  I do hear the sidetone and having a receiver nearby I do seem to receive.    It seems something is causing the receive side to be muted but I'm stumped at this point.    Has anyone experienced similar or does someone perhaps have a suggestion to check further?

I'm new to the 4 State QRP Forums so I apologize if I entered this in the wrong place.  I'm currently holding a technician license,  working to learn code as well as studying for the general test.   I wanted to build a small kit and play around with it a bit but it's turned into a troubleshooting project more than using a transceiver.   All part of the fun. 

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

73,

Michael Berry,  K5KAB 

Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Gwen Patton
 

There's a lot of good books on electronics, many of which focus on RF circuits, but here's the list from my own library:

  • The Art of Electronics, by Paul Horowitz. This one is very pricy, but very complete. I have both the paper and ebook versions.  https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz-ebook/dp/B01BYJO2JU/ 
  • Practical Electronics for Inventors (various editions) by Paul Scherz. I like this very much. Very readable, but also complete. I have both the Third and Fourth editions. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D5LXUYI/
  • Electronics: A Top-Down Approach to Computer-Aided Circuit Design by Allan R. Hambley. This was a hardcover I purchased because it had more of the engineering of designing circuits with computerized tools. Might not be precisely what your looking for, but inexpensive enough to be worth a look anyway. It has some good sections on circuit simulators, like PSpice. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0023493356/
  • Complete Electronics Self-Teaching Guide with Projects, by Earl Boysen. This is a decent hands-on book for basic electronic information. Like with most works, there's a heavy emphasis on the formulae that underpin electronics, like Kirchhoff's Circuit Laws. A decent book with some useful projects to help cement the info in your mind. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008K9AH6A/ 
  • Electronics from the Ground Up: Learn by Hacking, Designing, and Inventing by Ronald Quan. This is one of those books where the paperback edition is cheaper than the Kindle edition. I'm not entirely sure why. I got this one because of the dreadful pun in the title, but it's actually a fairly good book. The author is an RF engineer, so there may be more of what you're looking for in this, but the learning curve does steepen as you go further into it.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O2A7H9G/ 
This is by no means an exhaustive list of books that you might want to look at. It's some of the ones I have in my personal library, notably the most basic and fundamental texts on the theory of electronics. How-to guides are fine for what they are, but you at some time need to learn WHY these things do what they do, and the math is an unavoidable part of the why. Why does a circuit have two resistors, with a line going off from where they connect to one another? Because it's a voltage divider. Learn the formula, and why you'd use one. How do you know how the value of an unknown resistor or capacitor that the markings have rubbed off of? Kirchhoff's Laws can help you figure it out. I'm not extremely far into these books myself, as I have limited "spoons" for wading through them, and a memory so bad it might better be termed a forgettery, but some of these books are considered classics in the field regardless of my opinion.

You might find one or more of them at a local library if you want to look at them first.

73,
Gwen, NG3P

On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 12:54 PM w0rw <w0rw1@...> wrote:
Check out the W0RW Lending Library at:
Go to: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/W0RW
W0RW Lending Library. This is a Free Lending Library. If you have never ordered books before then you have to send me an email so I can approve your name and address, (Send email to w0rw1@...).
 
 
 
  where you can see all the books in the Library. 
   If you have never requested books before then you have to send me an email so I can approve your name and address, (Send email to  w0rw1@...).
   After you get approved you can double click on a book from the scrolling banner or add a key word in the search block to find one (like Spy or ARRL).
That's it. I will pack it up and mail it to you.
 



--

-+-+-+-+-
Jenny Everywhere's Infinite: Quark Time
http://quarktime.net
Cricket 40 No Receive Audio

K5KAB
 

Good afternoon:

I'm hoping someone may have experience with this issue so I'll put it out here for review.   I recently received and built the Cricket 40 kit.   When I first built the kit, it was discovered (only after testing) that I was missing the SS8550 for Q7 and instead had a 2N7000 in that location.    The result of this was that when turned on it sounded as if the keyer was constantly pressed.   After receiving a replacement I changed Q7 to the SS8550 and now it will key correctly.   Now my issue is that I have no receive audio whatsoever.   After digging through some forums I found one instance where it was mentioned to check for flux contamination so just to be sure I did make sure I cleaned the board thoroughly, although my soldering was kept as neat and clean as possible.   I found also a note about checking the center leg of Q4 to see if voltage here was above 6 volts.   In my case it was around 4.   The recommendation was to place a 1 M ohm resistor across D1.     I have done this and now the voltage on Q4 center leg is about 8.5 volts but I still have no receive audio.    when I press the keyer,  I do hear the sidetone and having a receiver nearby I do seem to receive.    It seems something is causing the receive side to be muted but I'm stumped at this point.    Has anyone experienced similar or does someone perhaps have a suggestion to check further?

I'm new to the 4 State QRP Forums so I apologize if I entered this in the wrong place.  I'm currently holding a technician license,  working to learn code as well as studying for the general test.   I wanted to build a small kit and play around with it a bit but it's turned into a troubleshooting project more than using a transceiver.   All part of the fun. 

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

73,

Michael Berry,  K5KAB 
Re: Temporarily Out of Stock

ohwenzelph
 

Thanks!

”The excitement is building!”
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

w0rw
 

Check out the W0RW Lending Library at:
Go to: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/W0RW
W0RW Lending Library. This is a Free Lending Library. If you have never ordered books before then you have to send me an email so I can approve your name and address, (Send email to w0rw1@...).
www.librarycat.org
 
 
 
  where you can see all the books in the Library. 
   If you have never requested books before then you have to send me an email so I can approve your name and address, (Send email to  w0rw1@...).
   After you get approved you can double click on a book from the scrolling banner or add a key word in the search block to find one (like Spy or ARRL).
That's it. I will pack it up and mail it to you.
 
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Jim
 

Any of the handbooks, articles or pamphlets written (and illustrated)
by Paul Harden NA5N, are also gold.

Solid State Design, while long in the tooth, really gives you enough
theory to begin to design your own circuits.

Have a blast!

73, Jim KK0U
Re: Temporarily Out of Stock

Johnny Matlock
 


That was supposed to say “Re Kitting”
Sorry 


On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 10:24 AM Johnny Matlock via Groups.Io <jomatlock=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:
Good Morning
The parts are In and we’re remitting.
So hopefully about a week or so, they should be back in stock.
73
Johnny AC0BQ 

On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 10:22 AM ohwenzelph via Groups.Io <Ohwenzelph=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Any word on when the Nouveau 75 and Murania might be available again?
tnx
aa1of

--
Check out the 4SQRP website at 4sqrp.com

--
Check out the 4SQRP website at 4sqrp.com
Re: Temporarily Out of Stock

Johnny Matlock
 

Good Morning
The parts are In and we’re remitting.
So hopefully about a week or so, they should be back in stock.
73
Johnny AC0BQ 

On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 10:22 AM ohwenzelph via Groups.Io <Ohwenzelph=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
Any word on when the Nouveau 75 and Murania might be available again?
tnx
aa1of

--
Check out the 4SQRP website at 4sqrp.com
Temporarily Out of Stock

ohwenzelph
 

Any word on when the Nouveau 75 and Murania might be available again?
tnx
aa1of
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

N2EI
 

If you are specifically interested in QRP, in addition to "Experimental Methods in RF Design", I would also recommend looking for copies of the books written by Doug Demaw W1FB and Rev. George Dobbs G3RJV. They are many and some may require a search for used copies but they are worth the effort.  Of course "Experimental Methods in RF Design" is a must have but, if you can locate it, "Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur" written by Wes Hayward W7ZOI and Doug Demaw W1FB previous to that work is also a treasure. Don't forget the ARRL Handbook and Antenna Book. 
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

W4OED
 

The FCC recommends the US Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series for those seeking to obtain the FCC certification.

You may download the entire course (25 modules) by going to https://www.fcctests.com/neets/Neets.htm.

101science.com also has a great Electronics page (http://101science.com/Radio.htm).

Good luck!

Oscar
W4OED
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Nick Kennedy
 

It's a tough request because there are so many books and what any individual is ready and wanting to learn on a given day varies so much. I'd second EMRFD as a good one. The Art of Electronics comes to mind as well.

It's hard (but not impossible) to learn highly technical stuff just by reading. Building simple circuits, checking their performance and reading about them in a book all work together. I guess you can't build everything you read about but maybe have a pencil and paper and calculator handy and run through some of the calcs and equations you are given. Copy down the circuit just to reinforce it in your mind.

Some of the best (if most frustrating) learning comes when you build something and it doesn't work, or shows performance that's hard to explain. Troubleshooting, researching and asking for advice on the web are all good learning tools.

Speaking of the web, there are lectures on YouTube that can be useful. Some by hobbyists and some professional, like Analog Devices' ("AD") tutorials - Filtering 101 as an example.

Lots of good stuff in magazines like our QRP quarterlies. And QST had a tutorial series by Ward Silver that ran quite a while. Hands On Radio, maybe?

I find good stuff in email discussion groups ("reflectors") and sometimes copy and save good stuff by big names like Hayward, Reg Edwards, Win Hill, Lewallen and others not so well known but very sharp anyway.

While there's no substitute for solder and reality, I find modeling circuits in LTspice (or the spice of your choice) to be useful and educational. Of course, that spice program will have a learning curve all its own. Take your time.

When your project uses integrated circuits, downloading and looking over the data sheet can be very useful. I usually gather all the data sheets applicable to a project. In PDF form of course. But let me admit that they can be very complex and confusing. Still, there's often valuable information in there somewhere.

On the down side, there's a ton of misinformation and questionable opinions out there. Plus explanations that drone on endlessly about the simplest point while glossing over highly complex ones in a few words. Whew, how do we ever learn anything?

But we do because it's fun I guess. So enjoy.

72,

Nick, WA5BDU

On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 7:19 AM Scott WZØW <scott@...> wrote:
Thanks all, for the great recommendations!

Scott WZ0W

On January 24, 2020 2:13:04 AM CST, Ronald Morrison <rmrrisn@...> wrote:

--
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: Recommendations for electronics books

John
 

ARRL handbook is a really comprehensive, approachable reference book.
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Scott WZØW
 

Thanks all, for the great recommendations!

Scott WZ0W


On January 24, 2020 2:13:04 AM CST, Ronald Morrison <rmrrisn@...> wrote:
You might find this one helpful as well



--
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Ronald Morrison
 

Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Ronald Morrison
 

Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Ronald Morrison
 

Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Ronald Morrison
 

This is a good read and it is free.
Re: Recommendations for electronics books

Tim N9PUZ
 

The ARRL has two books I normally recommend:

Basic Electronics and Basic Radio. Good explanations and discussion.

Tim N9PUZ

On 1/23/2020 6:07 PM, Scott WZØW wrote:
Hi all,
I've built some QRP kits, and had fun doing it, but found that after I'm done, I really don't understand how they work. I see articles in QST and QRP Quarterly with interesting looking projects, but I'd like to develop a better sense for how they work. Can anyone recommend some good books or websites that explain how RF circuits work?

Thanks,

Scott WZ0W


--
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: Anyone heard from Marshal at OHR?

Casey
 

They are or recently relocated. Not sure of the Date. The CQC has changed their Meeting Location as a result. This might be the reason (and maybe not). 

72 de KC9IH / WD9GKA