AmateurRadio.com

My son is beginning to take a real interest in electronic circuits. As a ham, I should feel uniquely qualified to show him the world of radio and electronics.

But I never really learned how to solder. Not well, at least. Sure, I can solder a PL259 onto the end of some coax and it works OK, but the connector usually hides the sloppiness of my handiwork. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared of a soldering iron — I just am not as practiced with it as some of the QRP kit builders that frequent this blog.

I searched online for an interesting kit to build and stumbled upon Elenco’s AmeriKit AK-100 Learn to Solder Kit (about $15). What better opportunity to teach myself teach my son how to solder!

The kit includes a 25-watt soldering iron (Elenco SR-1N), a pair of diagonal cutters (Elenco ST-1), a spool of lead-free solder, and a solder practice kit containing a printed circuit board and various components. Also included is a nice 15-page guide to soldering and very detailed instructions about how to assemble the practice project. (I’ve yet to be disappointed in anything from Elenco. If you have kids or grandkids and they don’t have Elenco’s Snap Circuits Jr. Kit, it’s the best $20 gift you can buy them!)

Copyright by Elenco Electronics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission.

This kit was a huge hit with my son. He had a great time placing each component in its clearly labeled place. After doing a few of the practice exercises, I was amazed at how proficient he became! I learned so many tips from the instruction manual about how to create good solder joints and electrical connections. The manual itself is well worth the price — the soldering iron and practice kit are a great bonus!

The included soldering instruction booklet covers general electronics basics like determining resistor and capacitor values, paying attention to polarity, and safety precautions. It also covers specific soldering (and desoldering) techniques for different types of work. There is an in-depth look at the different types of solder (when you would or wouldn’t use them) and many tips and tricks to making your job look more professional. You’ll have to excuse our solder joints in the pictures, however — there was a lot of learning and practicing going on! 🙂

After about an hour and a half, the project was done! We had a working siren with flashing red LEDs.  My son couldn’t have been more proud of his work! Although we have done quite a few “tech” projects together, this was the first time we’d really gotten into circuit fabrication. It was time very well spent and I’m very excited to be creating a solid foundation of good habits.  It’s always better to learn the right way instead of trying to erase bad habits later!

If you have a son or daughter (or grandchild!) interested in electronics, don’t hesitate to check out Elenco’s Learn To Solder Kit. Like Elenco’s other educational kits, it was well worth its modest price.

The UKAC contest series is a vhf contest that runs throughout the year on Tuesday evenings. Each Tuesday has a different band allocated and last night’s was the turn of the 2m band.

This normally quiet band (up here at least) has plenty of activity to keep even the most relaxed operators busy for 2 and a half hours. I count myself in that category. Although last nights entertainment was far from relaxing.

I operate portable from ai reasonable hill close to home. The car is my qth with the ft 817 providing the noisey end and a portable mast with my excellent 5 ele lfa yagi doing the ‘pointing’. A drive on plate holds the outside parts in place. Except last night when very strong winds were rocking the yagi and the car so much I thought I was going to end up with a mast and antenna as a bonnet ornament.

By 9:30 I’d had enough but tried a few more station before packing up and retreating to a cosy house.

It’s a very addictive thing this contesting but I really think I should get extra points for enduring fierce weather!

I picked up the office chair that I had ordered from Staples on Saturday. It is their Lockridge Manager’s chair which is currently on special. It normally goes for $89.99, but is $50.00 off for an online price of $39.99.

It is definitely filling the bill. I spent 90 minutes behind the key tonight hunting Foxes on 40 Meters. Not only did I bag two pelts, but when I got out of the chair to head upstairs, my back and hips gave nary a whimper. This sure is a far cry from that folding metal chair that I was using. When I would get out of that thing, I felt like I was ready for either a walker or a chiropractor.

Band conditions were so-so. Both Foxes were loud for a good portion of the hunt, but at times the QSB was tough to deal with.  I am also pretty sure both Foxes had high local QRN to deal with as each one was asking for multiple repeats of exchange information. Once again, persistence paid off and both Foxes were worked. Hats off to Paul K4FB and TJ W0EA.

I am going to be placing an order in the next few days with either Mouser or Jameco for some parts.  There are plans in the latest Sprat for a rather simple 40 Meter WSPR transmitter. I don’t plan to get too involved with the mode, but it looks like a rather easy build, and I am itching to really homebrew something.

I haven’t built anything in a while that wasn’t pre-kitted. I enjoy the process of buying and gathering the parts. From the looks of the article, this seems to be a project that lends itself well to perf board construction. I already have an ample supply of NE612s, so this will be a purchase of various needed resistors and capacitors, depending on whatever is not already in my junk box.

The final cost should be way under what I have seen some kit prices going for.

73 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Yesterday I wanted to experiment with using a ferrite rod antenna for WSPR. I was using my AA-200 antenna analyzer to try to tune the antenna when it suddenly restarted. I switched it off and on again and as soon as I chose any function the analyzer restarted again.

The last time I used the AA-200 I remember the batteries ran out so I charged it. It appears that after 6 years of use the rechargeable battery pack won’t hold a charge.

AA-200 antenna analyzer and open battery pack

I’m useless at taking things apart but Olga managed to open the battery pack to reveal a shrink wrapped pack of 4 AA cells. I could have ordered a replacement from Strikalite but their price was £20. I found an Ebay seller in Hong Kong whose price was a quarter of that. So for the sake of a few days wait I could save myself £15.

I ordered the battery pack, but this morning there were two emails in my inbox saying “We are sorry to tell you that we are not allowed to dispatch batteries recently for the customs are very strict on exporting batteries.” Is this something new? It’s the first I have heard of it. I’ve certainly bought battery packs (including batteries for handheld transceivers)from China on Ebay before.

The seller has refunded my money (or at least he has said he will.) In the meantime I found a UK seller of Chinese batteries, Vapextech UK, which, while not as cheap as the Hong Kong seller, is still a third of the price of Strikalite. Having said that, Strikalite is still a good firm to go to if you want to refurbish a ham radio battery pack and like me you are useless at taking battery packs apart.

Link sent to me courtesy of my good friend, Marv K2VHW:

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!