Allied Knight R-100A Receiver

 

13 October 2022 - Purchased an Allied Knight R-100A to go with my T-150 transmitter.  This is a future project.

Pluto Plus

9 September 2022 - Trying to get the built-in ethernet to work - no joy.  Here's the inside of my Pluto Plus.

2 September 2022 - I finally added the 40MHz external reference to my Pluto Plus - using a Leo Bodnar Mini set at 40MHz and added a switch to enable/disable the external reference.

6 June 2022 - I have added the 1W amp and have it and the LNA switched with the USB relay.

19 May 2022 - Here's a block diagram with the W6PQL Latching Relay Driver board.  Block diagram update 6 June 2022.

Video of my Pluto Plus system receiving the 432.370 beacon.

18 May 2022 - The relay I have is a latching relay - it requires a pulse on the RX or TX leads to change it to one of them - looks like https://w6pql.com/latching_relay_driver.htm has the perfect solution - thanks to Herbert AF4JF for this link.  I ordered two of the boards.

17 May 2022 - I have the USB relay connected which works with SDR Console - it routes/switches TX and RX connectors out to a single antenna. and will eventually switch the LNA off during TX.

Testing a broadband LNA below.   

16 May 2022 - Pluto Plus arrived - more on this to come.

Si549

1 September 2022 - Calibrated my Pluto to match the Si549.

31 August 2022 - I GPS locked my Pluto Plus and the signal from the Si549 is very stable.

30 August 2022 -  I also received some Si549 chip samples and I purchased an evaluation board to test them with.  I was able to use their software to change the frequency but it did not retain the changes after a power cycle - I'm looking into this.

10GHz CW from Huntsville

 

I am unable to decode this - if you can please let me know.

10GHz Issues Resolved & Box for my System

 15 August 2022 - Finished putting my 10G system in a box.

14 August 2022 - Was able to find time today to check out my 10GHz setup - power was low and it didn't seem like the 3W PA was working.  I found a bad SMA jumper and replaced it.  Now I get 12.426dBm/17.5mW without the PA and 32.428dBm/1.75W with the PA.

Without PA (Below)

With PA (below).

Bell Mountain - 10Ghz

 August 5, 2022 - Up on Bell Mountain to work some 10GHz SSB - I was able to work Ott (W4WSR) as my first 10GHz contact.  Ott was at Mike's (NC4W) QTH (4.41 miles) and after I worked Ott I worked Mike who was using Ott's rig.  My 10GHz 3W amp was not working so this contact was with the low power 10mW transverter alone.  We were waiting on Ben (K4QF) to make it to a location on the Cherohala Skyway but I encountered a few drops of rain and nearby thunder to the north and left just minutes before Ben was in position - Ott tried to work Ben but was unable to hear him.

Below is Ott (W4WSR) at the other end.

Heathkit from W4QO SK Estate

 

29 July 2022 - Picked these up today - now to test them.  SB-401 left and SB-303 right.

25 July 2022 - Future projects purchased from the W4QO (Jim Stafford) SK estate.  Jim taught the no-code technician class I took many years ago to get my ham license.  These will be very special items and I am honored to have the opportunity to own them.

HB-401 Transmitter (below)

HB-303 Receiver (below)

Directive Systems 60cm 10GHz dish

 28 July 2022 - I ordered some 1/4-20 x 36" threaded rod to replace the original rods with some rusty pieces holding the feed - received those threaded rods and cut them to length and installed them temporarily - next I will work on getting the length correct from the feed to the dish and then test with my 10GHz setup.

12 July 2022 - Back to work on this project - I purchased the tripod mount for it - it had a heavy ring mount which is more suited to a permanent mount - the new mount fits my portable tripod.  This is also much lighter with the new mount and will eventually replace my "white box" dish.

13 December 2021 - Picked this up from an estate sale a few weeks back.  Working on cleaning it up to test it as a potential replacement for my "white box" dish.

Allied Knight T-150 Transmitter

24 May 2022 - Finished and painted!

23 May 2022 - I have the unit tuned for 6 meters - little output but happy it's working.  I have started painting the cabinet.

7 May 2022 - changed out an unsafe 10 ohm resistor - before photo first and after in second photo.  Obviously someone thought the electrical tape was safe - NOT!

6 May 2022 - Replaced 6DR7 modulator, 7189 Buffer/Mult., and finally 12AX7 Speech Amp and I have good power on all bands and modulation on AM after some rewiring of the microphone jack.  The 12AX7 was replaced with a nice 12AX7a which should provide better fidelity.  Next I am gong to replace some of the poorly done work on the 10 ohm resistor near the power supply and clean the chassis as best as I can.  Below is a video of the AM from the T-150 received by my 705 and a schematic.

\18 April 2022 - Looking at tubes. Also removed the relay and socket (near OA2 tube).

18 April 2022 - Re-tested - 80 watts on 80M!

I took a second look at my BIRD meter - when I last used it I was testing my 1296MHz transverter and still had the slug in it for that range (DOAHH!) - using the HF slug I was able to see power and peaked the transmitter on CW to 80 watts.

17April 2022 - TX Test - there is life!

I removed all the connections to the relay (not an original part) and I removed the other two original coax connectors.  

Keying in CW produces the signal below on my SA at nearly the right frequency on the dial - I'm TX'ing into a dummy load and receiving on a small rubber duck on the SA.  

No power is read on my BIRD meter - will check it tomorrow.

13 April 2022 - Power UP - no explosions.

First I wanted to fix the the band selector - it was extremely hard if not impossible to move - some contact cleaner fixed that.

I did not attempt to transmit - just powered it up slowly on the isolation transformer.  Next time I will check the tubes and replace as necessary and try to transmit some CW.

12 April 2022 - New eBay buy - Knight T-150 Ham Transmitter