Mon DU1FV

A forty seven year old trick. Some of the readers here may remember the post I made on the Pioneer tuner I converted from Japanese to local standard. Before I made the mod. I had to repair the tuner. Right out of storage, when turned on, the tuner audio out would produce what I would described as a loud crackling sound intermittently. To many radio techs, the word "intermittent" is a dreaded word. An accompanying symptom included diminished sensitivity. I had just repaired the oscilloscope the day before. I had to replace a resistor in the focus section of the CRT circuit as the normal dot trace was as big as a grain of corn. The 'scope is the best instrument to track down the source of the noise. Poking the 'scope probe here and there lead me to a AM section IF amp stage which had an odd reading of voltage. So the immediate thought was that the transformer was shorted. I took it off the PCB and examined using a good magnifier. There was no apparent short between t...

(Long) Many years ago, I went to Paranaque to visit a guy who advertised used Japanese HiFi equipment and a smallish Pioneer AM FM tuner caught my fancy. Since it is a digital tuner and the FM band can only receive a couple of local stations (because the Japanese FM broadcast band is from 78 to 90MHz, while ours is from 88 to 108 MHz) and haggled with the shop keeper to get a good price. Unfortunately back then, no information can be obtained even from the internet on this particular tuner model. Two weeks ago, I got a small 40W p.a. and thought I'd dig up the old Pioneer tuner and listen to AM. By the way, it turns out it is one of the rare models that could receive AM stereo (C-Quam standard -used in the states and Japan. Unfortunately, AM Stereo boradcasting has been on the decline and Japan stopped AM stereo broadcast a few years ago. DWWW at 774kHz still lights up the stereo indicator but the audio received is monoraul. I don't know why but maybe the engineers at...

GP antenna support Here is a preliminary design of a ground plane antenna support designed for three legged towers. A swivel arrangement is used to accommodate any spacing between tower legs. each brace could be at least two and a half feet long (the longer the better). This is the clearance between the antenna and the tower, Note that as the antenna flexes in strong wind, the antenna may hit the tower if the brace length is insufficient. The setup may be further improved by using clamps to attach it to the tower leg instead of lashing it with GI wire. This will depend on budget constraints. Please mind the specified mast diameter.

Walking into a room filled with the sound of Morse Code as the girl scouts warmed up for the contest can make any ham feel like he or she is walking on air. One cannot help but feel that Ham Radio will have a bright future with the way these girls scouts are taking to Morse Code, the native tongue of Ham Radio. It is an ecstatic feeling. If you want to experience it first hand, consider asking your club members to sponsor such kind of activity for the girl scouts in your area , specially those from councils you have worked with during INFEX.  I have found that for many scouts, speaking into a microphone of a radio is no challenge as they are used to cellphones and what not, but Morse Code? That is something new to them, at first mysterious, at the same time way cool and challenging. It requires that something EXTRA. It may be the best way to attract young people to Ham Radio. I believe a code based ham program for girl scouts is the way to go. Morse...

We have many to thank for the happy success we had in the recently concluded "Fun with Morse Code" inter high school contest. Many years of close association between the Mandaluyong Girl Scout Council and our club 480 Homebrewers (Dick de Jesus DU1DT, president ) through countless Jamborees on the Air, and INFEX contests (a Girl Scout of the Philippines Radio sponsored activity) has honed the communication skills and confidence level of many girl scouts from Mandaluyong. The  Scout Council has several INFEX championships under its belt. Only a month ago Dick, DU1DT donated 12 morse key / practice oscillator sets to 12 schools in the council. Today, I was pleasantly surprised that the first placer got 142 points out of 300 points maximum score in CW copy, which to me was remarkable. Note that all team members had to take turns at the key, sending. Some had a better fist than me. HIHI. I suppose one factor that made them do well is the fact that many practiced well and some ...

The First "Fun with Morse Code" Inter highschool Contest - Mandaluyong Girl Scout Council with 480 Homebrewers DX1HB. Ten high schools participated. Mandaluyong Science High School won first place.  Congratulations ! True to the contest title, all girl scouts had a Fun day, from fist warm-up to awards ceremony! Icom IC-735 sidetone used as oscillator, VOX off) with German Junker straight key. Photos by Maria Teresa Rdy

Ramon Reyes September 25 at 10:19am The 480 Homebrewers DX1HB is proud to part of the first Girl Scout Inter High Morse Code contest in Mandaluyong this Friday. We hope the project, brainchild of DX1HB members Cynthia DV1SGD and Banjo DU1SGD will be the start of a nationwide Amateur Radio awareness program for the Girl Scouts. With your support, we look forward to the day when more scouts will be licensed and owners of a CW QRP station.

Nowadays, with diminished spending money, I am always drawn to any defective radio gear being offered, particulary when I feel there is some chance of repair. Before the turn of the century, on or about the PARA presidency of DU6BG (Ed Reyes Sec Gen), I was given a broken Kenwood TS-450S. It had been in a small yacht when it ran aground during a typhoon. Previously. Bob Brooks KB6VAT (SK) had introduced me to this boat owner who wanted to have some repairs done on boat electronics. When the boat ran aground, Whoever was boat caretaker at that time, apparently abandoned ship and local folks started stripping the contents of the boat. The owner arrived just in time to re claim the boat but he had to run after the folk who got the boat electronics and other fixtures. I managed to salvage most of the boat electronics as many had rubber seals which gave them some protection. Unfortunately the Kenwood rig was not really built for sea duty and after it was stripped from the boat during the ...