6AB4, Shawnee

Well, I did it, I made a tube amp. I used a 6AB4 tube, because when I sorted them, there were 3 of these at the top of the sort, I went by the letters.

Now, on to Shawnee for fall colors! Big day for Emo. Yes, I'm taking the camera. Later!

Circuit 1

Got stuff warmed up with a simple regulator circuit. LM317 for variable output, LM7812 for 12V, LM7805 for 5V. Running off a small 13.8 VDC supply.

This will be useful when I decide to mess with discrete transistor circuits. I need to mount it on standoffs. I'm in no hurry, I want to mess with tubes first. Waiting on some circuit board sockets, should be here this week.

The Radio Room / "Tube Lab"

This is about as neat as it is likely to get, so I took some pictures. I operate Ham radio from here, and work on electronics projects. Last night I repaired 3 old meters I got from eBay, I got all 3 working great! I need a fuse holder to get a Fluke nixie tube meter going. Everything else

you see here works just fine, except a little Conar frequency counter, I haven't gone into it yet.

Here's the view from the entrance:

A shot of the workbench. On the bench are XM radio, and an isolated variable power supply for AC line voltage, to bring up old equipment slowly. Look for smoke...ha! I should add a fire extinguisher, I guess.

A bunch of components I've come across various sources. Lots of tubes, IC's, transistors, resistors, capacitors not pictured, tons of coils, connectors, etc. I sort stuff while the ball games are on, I actually have it well organized.

Here's my view of the world! R-390A was my Cold War weapon of choice in the ASA, this one is supurb! I've got parts to re-cap it and replacement tubes, should the need arise. Kenwood stuff - the TS-570 and I have made several thousand CW (Morse Code) contacts, I love the TS-830s with the great receiver, I've got both narrow filters, and the tube finals put out a solid 100+Watts. F6a handheld gets little use, it's FM VHF. I built the Elecraft K1 and a RockMite in an Altoids can. The kiloWatt amp doesn't get much use, either, as I am 99.9% CW.

That's all for now, I hope to get some fall color pics this weekend.

Tube Lab

I finally got all the tubes I bought off eBay sorted and displayed. I tested about a dozen of them, only one was bad. I think most of these are in good shape. I have data sheets for all the bigger ones, and several of the little ones. I've been studying some tube circuits, and after I get a few more things sorted and boxed, etc. I will be ready to design and test some tube circuits. I want to have a home brew tube transmitter on 80 meters before January.

I like the old blue display board. I can find the one I want now. I think I'll start with 6AB4's. They are first, and they are simple triodes.

I have a lot of sockets in the top couple rows. I also got a great deal on some test adaptors, you put it in the socket, it has leads for testing, and the tube goes in the adaptor. Today I hope to get some circuit cards with provisions for 7 and 9 pin tubes. Pictures of the lab and test equipment, power supplies, more components, soon. This is going to be a fun winter!

Getting ready for Fall Colors

I joined Thousand Trails this Spring. I've got the RV set up @ Wilmington TT, next weekend, Columbus Day weekend, is the last weekend the park is open. I plan to figure a way to wash the beast, might have to drive it home to do that. After our stay, I'll winterize it and maybe move it from under the trees to an open place where no damage will occur in a snow or ice storm. I'll also take the little motorcycle back to the house.

No camping reservations for fall colors, I think I'll just day trip it, but we might do it twice. Pictures, I promise!

Been playing with electronics more than hiking. Work situation has improved a lot, I might stay around after 2012 if things continue to go well. Who knows what the future holds?

20 years sober August 14th, I scoped cancer free 2 years after the operation for colon cancer, my cardiologist says the treadmill test looks good (I had a heart attack in 2003) so I'm on triple bonus time.