Dang Billy, that looks NICE! What're the two IC's it's using?
Thanks Simon,
LM386N for the audio. CD9088CB does all the radio stuff. I have repaired a few old tube radios but this is only the second transistor radio. It is also the first one I got to work...lol
It sounds just like I remember the first transistor radio sounding.
The main criteria that needs improving is selectivity, sensitivity, and bass boost. I gave some thought to improving those issues but I want it to stay "1950's"
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
Thanks guys...I try, some days are better than others. Some days my hands shake pretty bad, other days they are pretty steady.
No big deal...old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill any day...lol At least I got to play something today even if it was just the radio...lol
Off to bed...see you guys in the funny papers.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
When I was in school, we built a superhet with vacuum tubes. They probably don't make them anymore (and that's a good thing). They were at the tail end of their lifespan back then.
This is one of many tube kits that are for sale now days. They may be more popular today than when you were in school.
This is a superheterodyne FM kit that does the same thing the little transistor radio does. The only difference is it is made to last for ever. Solid state is made to toss in the trash when it fails.
This kit comes from England. They are currently closed due to the pandemic. The cost is normally 13 euros. I am not sure where they get the 6F12P, 6K13P (EF183), EM87 (6E2, EM87) vacuum tubes.
The board without tubes. This could be easily built on a turret board by anyone will a small drill press.
The schematic is much easer to understand than looking at a bunch of little black rocks...lol
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 05/13/2103:05 AM.
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
If the kit is from England, isn’t the FM broadcast band a bit different there?
Oops - never mind. I just read that they fixed that starting in 1995.
This is really a question for Trever. I think the frequency is band 87.5 to 108 MHz more or less the same here in the USA. BBC use to take up some of that.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
Sorry Eddie...FM is line of site. Short wave from England's BBC I assume is still operating. Not sure, I had a zero to thirty MHz transceiver on my old sailboat but I been to sleep since then...lol
The Amplitude Modulated (AM) band uses frequencies from 540-1700 kHz. AM signals follow the curvature the earth through the ground wave and ideal for reaching a regional audience. The Voice of Hope’s 100 kilowatt AM station in Israel can cover over 200 miles during the day. At night the coverage expands to almost 1500 miles due to a nighttime condition called Skywave. Better known here as skip. Certain short wave frequencies can reach around the world at night. I have listen to the BBC a lot in the past but don't remember the frequency.
Most likely more information than you ever wanted to know...lol
Billy
Oh...and all that depends on the sun spot cycle...lol
Last edited by Planobilly; 05/13/2105:35 AM.
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
This is really a question for Trever. I think the frequency is band 87.5 to 108 MHz more or less the same here in the USA. BBC use to take up some of that.
Billy
Yes, those frequencies are what are used here in Australia for the FM band, but I can't speak for the U.K. I would be surprised if they were different.
As well as A.M., we also use DAB here (Digital Audio Broadcast) which is Digital Radio. The received data is processed by a digital signal processor, converting the received digitally encoded signal to analogue audio output.
It's certainly available in large parts of Europe and the U.K. but I'm not sure if Digital Radio is (still?) used in the States. Maybe something to do with the Military?
Eddie will be overjoyed with his A.M. job though
BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
No DAB in USA that I know of. XM is what in in vouge here.
XM Radio's ground station transmits a signal to its two active GEO satellites, which bounce the signals back down to radio receivers on the ground. The radio receivers are programmed to receive and unscramble the digital data signal, which contains more than 170 channels of digital audio. Well, there is digital radio, it is just satellite based.
The only Military radio I have listen/talked too was flying my airplane in California. It did not sound like any other radio I have ever listen too. Have no idea what the technology is.
This is a FAA web site with aircraft frequency information both civilian and Military.
Hey Billy, after seeing your solder work I was inspired to grab a photo of inside the headphone amplifier kit I built about 25 years ago. It still works today and comes in real handy when recording garage bands. The kit was from Paia and was under $100. It runs on a 12 Vdc wall wart. The HeadAmp.jpg link below is just a bigger version of the inside for detail.
If you want to do some soldering I have a Navy tube tester I need to rebuild...lol Actually it is working fine. It just needs calibrating. I don't really care too much about the calibration because I just put a known value tube and read that then use that reading as a bass line.
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 05/13/2107:42 AM.
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
Very professional looking soldering. That's a good looking assembled kit.
Both USA AM and FM radio stations are licensed to broadcast digital and analog broadcast signals concurrently.
Digital AM radio is advertised as sounding as good as an analog FM radio broadcast. To my knowledge there are no AM radio stations presently broadcasting a digital signal. A digital FM radio is advertised as sounding as good as a compact diskette (CD). It is not unusual for a FM radio station to broadcast at least 1 analog signal and up to 4 digital signals.
Because AM Stereo radio was handled badly and lessons were learned the US regulatory agency, the Federal Communications Commission, made the switch to digital radio voluntary. They also only supported one method of broadcasting digital transmissions which is labeled +++ HD Radio +++.
AM radio was licensed to broadcast in stereo back in the eighties. However the US regulatory agency, the Federal Communications Commission, approved three competing methods of transmission. If you invested in one method you could not receive stereo from the other two methods. So very few station owners invested in the technology and very few receivers were built.
Wow thanks Jim...all new information to me. Most likely because I have satellite in my car and don't listen to the radio to begin with except internet radio.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed. I remember the switch to digital TV. I guess all this is related to band width issues. We have been running out of space for a long time.
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 05/13/2108:26 AM.
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
If you want to do some soldering I have a Navy tube tester I need to rebuild.
That's cool! I haven't seen a tube tester in years....
There are fewer and fewer left. At one time TV tube testers were in most food stores. People use to change tubes in their radios and TVs. Electric shock? What's that...lol
I use to think they were important and I do use it from time to time to see if a tube is dead when troubleshooting amps. To try to get real values for tubes using even the best of these types of testers does not really work.
There are only a few "real" tube testers around owned by people who sell tubes in volume. They cost in the thousands.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
If you want to do some soldering I have a Navy tube tester I need to rebuild...lol Actually it is working fine. It just needs calibrating. I don't really care too much about the calibration because I just put a known value tube and read that then use that reading as a bass line. Billy
Looks much like my tube tester on the inside - I've got an old Canadian military Stark tube tester, which is one of the ones that actually puts a fairly high voltage on the tube and measures transconductance. Like you I don't use it that much.
You'd probably be interested to see my similarly ancient Eico VTVM (Vacuum Tube Volt-ohm Meter) - I was given it (with a beefy variac) by a coworker at my last job. I'll try and get pics later.
And it works pretty well to pull in the college station from Akron University. I don't pull it out often but it's a nice keepsake from Plain Ol' Billy!
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
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