Podcasting since 2005! Listen to Latest SolderSmoke
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Ciprian YO6DXE Puts the Michigan Mighty Mite on AM! (video)
Monday, August 28, 2023
But How Does the Michigan Mighty Mite REALLY Work?
Dean KK4DAS and I were talking to Mark, a new homebrewer. After we sang the praises of the Michigan Mighty Mite, Mark asked us a good question: How does it really work?
I guess the starting point for analysis is the Barkhausen criteria (that Pete N6QW taught us): essentially you need enough feedback to overcome losses in the circuit, and this feedback has to be in phase with the signal at the input. The MMM is clearly oscillating, so the question becomes, "How does this very simple circuit meet the Barkhausen criteria?"
Here goes:
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Sam WN5C Builds a Michigan Mighty Mite and Takes it to Lake Thunderbird
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Retro QRP Rigs of the 1960's, 70's, and 80's -- Video by Mike WU2D
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
W2UO's Michigan Mighty Mite -- Made a Contact!
Hi Bill,
I found SolderSmoke about six months ago, and it's quickly become one of my favorite podcasts.I've been a ham since I was 11, but never tried my hand at homebrewing anything. I've always heard how hard it would be, and how a project like a SSB transmitter is just too far out of reach.
You and Pete are inspirational, so I set out to build a simple starter project, the venerable Michigan Mighty Mite. However not just any mighty mite, a usable one, not just a proof of concept. One intended to sit on a desk and look good doing it. Complete with built in low pass filter, tx/rx switching, and an internal dummy load.
I don't know if I accomplished all that, but I did make a contact on it this afternoon. Next logical step I suppose will be to build a DC receiver to sit next to it.
Please find pictures attached, I've learned a lot about what not to do with project, so criticism is welcome.
73!
-Jim W2UO
Monday, August 22, 2022
Mike Caughran KL7R's Last Podcast
Mike Caughran, KL7R, SK: Well-known low-power (QRP) and homebrewing enthusiast Michael S. "Mike" Caughran, KL7R, of Juneau, Alaska, died January 22 of injuries suffered in an automobile accident in Hawaii. He was 51. Caughran may be best known as one-half of the team -- with Bill Meara, N2CQR/M0HBR -- that created and produced the weekly SolderSmoke podcast <http://www.soldersmoke.com/>. "I think people were drawn in by Mike's friendly voice and manner," Meara commented on a memorial page for KL7R <https://kiwi.state.ak.us/display/mc/Home>. A member of ARRL and the Juneau Amateur Radio Club, Caughran also wrote articles for the Michigan QRP Club's T5W newsletter and he was an active ham radio contester. "Mike was one of those people who you instantly like because of his honest, straightforward and humble way of talking and expressing ideas," said Mike Hall, WB8ICN, who edits T5W. "His co-hosting of SolderSmoke provided me hours and hours of enjoyment." Caughran was an IT professional with the State of Alaska. Survivors include his wife and son.
Monday, July 4, 2022
Ciprian Got His Ticket: YO6DXE (and Romanian Mighty Mite FIXED!)
Ciprian writes:
Thank you so much to you all... and thank you SolderSmoke for always writing about my learning in homebrew gear. I did finally got my license... just waiting for the paperwork to arrive. But now I'm finally YO6DXE ( DX Explorer lol ). I did found my issue with the power... it seems that it's from the cheap BD139 that doesn't seem to work as expected. I get about 500mW with a 2n2222. So I ended up making another version of the transmitter that I'm really happy about. 73 to you all DE YO6DXE.
SolderSmoke posts about Ciprian: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search?q=Ciprian
Ciprian's QRZ.com page: https://www.qrz.com/db/YO6DXE
Ciprian's blog: https://dxexplorer.com/
Ciprian's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/DXExplorer
Monday, May 16, 2022
Some Links for the Michigan Mighty Mite and the Color Burst Liberation Army from Dave K8WPE
Dave K8WPE has been one of the podcast's best friends and one of its most loyal listeners. Dave was recently going through some back issues of SolderSmoke. This sparked a renewed interest in the Michigan Mighty Mite and the Color Burst Liberation Army. Dave sent us some useful links on this subject. (I had forgotten about the .io CBLA mailing list!) Thanks for this Dave, and for all your support and friendship over the years.
--------------------------------------------------------
Guys and Gals
Monday, March 28, 2022
Vienna Wireless Winterfest Hamfest 2022
Friday, February 11, 2022
Bill Talking about Homebrew Radio with L’Anse Creuse Amateur Radio Club (Michigan) -- February 2, 2022 (Video)
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Jack NG2E's Winter SOTA Marathon in the Shenandoah
Our friend Jack NG2E is a homebrewer. He is also a Summits-On-The-Air guy. He does much of his SOTA operations along Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. Jack's Story Map method of documenting this SOTA trip is very cool.
Elisa and I are frequent visitors to this amazing park. Both my kids went to college in the Shenandoah valley, and the park starts just one hour by car west of us. It is a beautiful place. The Appalachian Trail runs through the park; we have crossed paths with "through hikers" who are walking from Maine to Georgia. We have also met up with more than one Black Bear in the park (see below). My son Billy and I launched our Green Hornet rocket from a farm in the Shenandoah valley: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2017/05/still-photos-and-slow-motion-video-from.html
I really like Jack's use of both HF and 2 meter FM. This makes me think that I should blow the dust off my Baofeng HT and bring it out to the Shenandoah next time we visit. Jack's 20 meter CW contact with Christian F4WBN in the Pyrenees added a nice element of transatlantic mountain symmetry.
Check out Jack's Shenandoah Story Map:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c9ff4a13eca24b37bc9dcda0d2dce989
Here's another story map from a SOTA trip into the Adirondacks with info on his gear:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/594ca069a27147c1a8d8b79dc1513a72
I know that Jack wants to include a homebrew rig in his SOTA operations. That would significantly add to the already very high level of operational coolness. Perhaps Colin M1BUU or Paul VK3HN could provide some suggestions or encouragement in this area.
Thanks Jack. Happy trails. Regards to the bears!
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Another M^3: The Michigan Micro Mote
Move over Michigan Mighty Mite and Mate for the Mighty Midget. There's a new M^3 in town. And it is SMALL.
Hack-A-Day had an article on this today, and while it seems only tenuously connected to ham radio, I found it intriguing.
Sunday, July 4, 2021
Romanian Mighty Mite and Ciprian's Knack Story
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Michigan Mighty Mite, Joy of Oscillation, and the Color-Burst Liberation Army in Washington State
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Ciprian's Romanian Ten Minute Transmitter with Roots in SPRAT, KA4KXX, and the Florida Sunrise Net
Monday, May 3, 2021
A New Michigan Mighty Mite Oscillates in Northern Virginia
- Capture this MMM into a semi-permanent design: ie, perf board.
- Measure performance. What does the carrier wave look like on a scope?
- Build a low-pass filter.
- Can I amplify the signal? Maybe add an amplifier stage or two. Transistor?
- Next, let's look at receivers. Pete & Bill recommend that I build a Direct Conversion receiver. I know Peter Parker (VK3YE) has a simplified version.
Saturday, August 1, 2020
SolderSmoke Podcast #224: Mars. Spurs. Bikes. SDR. NanoVNA. Antuino. MAILBAG
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
A Quarantine Mighty Mite
Saturday, July 18, 2020
Overcoming the Complexity of the Michigan Mighty Mite: Walter's Sunrise Net Special
June 21, 2020
Michigan Mighty-Mite: Why So Complicated?
The April 2020 issue of QRP Quarterly magazine featured an article by Bob Rosier K4OCE which included a schematic for a “Ten Minute Transmitter” by G4RAW (SK), which apparently first appeared in SPRAT 82 in 1996.
It is even simpler than the Michigan Mighty Mite, so this transmitter can truly be built on a solderless breadboard in about 15 minutes, because a complex coil is not required.
The only tuning needed was for me to establish the correct value of the output series capacitor.
This rig allowed me to check-in to the Sunrise Net (see details in blue text on my QRZ page) today on my very first attempt, and landed me a 549 signal report from 250 miles away.
The first photo shows the transmitter connected to a Transmit/Receive Switch mounted in an Altoids box. In the Transmit position the antenna is disconnected from my 1979 Heathkit HR-1680 receiver, which then coincidentally supplies a sidetone at an ideal volume level. That little black pushbutton which can be seen in the second photo serves as my key, and works just fine for a five-minute daily QNI on the Sunrise Net.
Of course, part of the secret is having a crystal exactly on the Net frequency, and I have a few left, free to whomever in the Eastern U.S. is interested in building one of these simple Sunrise Net Special Transmitters and participating in our Net.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Adam N0ZIB's FB Station (and UGLY Michigan Mighty Mite)
Bill and Pete,