December 12, 2007 Taking the Plunge

I ordered the Softrock RxTx 40m/80m kit on Dec 12 and was immediately notified by Tony that my kit would be mailed on 12/13. I really wanted a kit to build, and was looking for a Ten Tec 1340 on eBay, but became interested in the Softrock SDR after reading Dave Ingram's (K4TWJ) article about it in the December issue of "CQ" Magazine. The price was right, so here we go! First a little about me. I got my General class ticket on Sept. 29,2005 after studying for it since February, 2005. This is my first ticket and I wonder why I hadn't gotten it years ago. I had been discharged from the U.S. Navy in July of 1970 as a second class radioman. Except for use of the radio in my employment as a Locomotive engineer with Norfolk Southern RR. I had been out of radio since then. I learned the code in Radioman "A" school, and it came back pretty easily, though I hadn't used it since "A" school. Radioman "A" school first requires an 8 week course in basic electricity and electronics. Radio teletype was the navy's favored mode of operating during the late 60s, and, after school, I never once used the key. I've built a working "Bare Essentials" single tube transmitter, also from a Dave Ingram QRP column,("CQ" Feb. 06) and used it to QSO with Dave, ("CQ" Nov. 06). I've built the Picokeyer, but havn't found a use for it yet. I've always prefered to do a lot of my own home repairs and improvements, auto and motorcycle repair and maintenance, reasoning that it was cheaper and often looked and performed better than some so-called "professional" work. I'm not afraid to try most any project, and, am usually successful. With that background, I'll attempt to build this kit and get it on the air. I can only lose the cost of the kit. The time will be well spent in learning some electronics needed to upgrade my license. More to follow.

December 15, 2007 Kit Arrives

Here it is! Everything is much smaller than it looks in all the pictures I've seen, and I think that maybe I've gotten in way over my head. The picture on the yahoo groups site will show you just how small the board is by comparing it to ther USB connector in the picture. I'll try to tackle it anyway. I've downloaded the necessary files from the Yahoo groups site, and now I'll set about gathering the tools and supplies(solder wick. correct size solder, etc.) that I need to begin construction. It'll be a slow build, and a slow blog. I'm not a blogger either, this being my first blog, so if you're here now, try to stick with me for a little while til I can get the hang of it. (The first comment to this blog as you can see was added by myself, and should have been here, where it is now located. Its part of my learning to blog. Sorry!)

December 22, 2007, Gather tools and supplies, add SMCs

Now after acquiring some needed tools and supplies, I finally began assembly of my Softrock 40m/80m RxTx radio. I needed some size .015 solder, and after rereading the build notes from the files section of the Yahoo group, I determined that I needed a smaller soldering iron tip. My iron does not accept a tip as small as .01 to.05 inches, so buy a new iron ($40), and a .03 tip ($5), then some flux. The hobby glasses from eBay came today, as well as the solder wick. I had taken the time to sort the capacitors and resistors into the divided sections of a Plano plastic fishing lure box obtained from Dick's Sporting goods store for less than $5, and I couldn't wait to start on my project. In the last few days, I had read and reread the builders notes and, g7nbp's blog. I cannot say enough about how much help the g7nbp blog has been both for its content, and teaching me something about blogging. I also found a video by googling which clearly showed the soldering of the SMD caps. I haven't figured out how to put the video into the blog yet, but here is the url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWeAOemTY_E . I must have watched it 4 or 5 times before I felt that I could do it.

First, I lost one of the caps somewhere on my workbench among the builder notes and the printout of the g7nbp blog. Fortunately for me, there were 26 caps in the kit, and only 24 were needed. Be careful. Don't lose any of these caps. They are so small, that they may be impossible to find. The caps went on almost like the video, and after the last couple, I felt as if I had been worrying over nothing. The hobby glasses worked great, and magnification was definately necessary. These glasses fit around the head like a cap, and have a hook and loop adjustment. there is a light on each temple piece powered by two AAA batteries which illuminates the work area. There are four different lens combinations. They fit right over my glasses, and once I found the right lens combination, the work went along smoothly. Glasses were $11.95 plus shipping. Checking my work, It's not the prettiest, but not bad. No solder bridges, and I didn't have to use any solder wick. I took my time, and it took me about two hours, with a few short breaks.  On only a few caps did I have to resolder the first end. Examining the work with strong magnification, everything looks good. I tried to take a picture of my board, but the camera's flash ruined all attempts. I do have one concern. I'm not sure how to adjust the temp. of my iron so that the soldering can be done quickly without damage to the components. At first, things were heating up too slowly, so, I turned the temp. up. I hope I didn't turn it up too high. I have a 35Watt Weller iron plugged into my Elenco station. Now on to the ceramic capacitors.

December 25, 2007 Merry Christmas All -- Add Ceramic Capacitors

Last night, I had a chance to add the ceramic capacitors to my board. I fitted them onto the board one at a time in the order in which they appeared on the BOM. After rechecking the values obtained in the sorting, the location was found, first on the board map from the files section of the Yahoo Groups site, then, on the board itself. Each was then fitted by the method described in the build notes with one deviation. After the capacitor was snugged to the board, both leads were soldered before the excess wire was snipped frim the back of the board. The installation was then checked with a high powered glasss for dry joints or solder bridges. Everything OK! the routine for each capacitor became easier with each successive installation, and all ceramics were installed in aproximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. I feel good now about starting this project as opposed to my aprehension before beginning, and feel that I will be able to complete the project and get my Softrock radio on the air with more than a little help from the Yahoo Groub and the bloggers here.

I have wanted to add a picture or two to the blog here but, alas, I'm illiterate on this matter. So, if anyone can describe the process of adding the pictures to the blog, Please add a comment describing how it is done. I thank you in advance.

Now, I'll have to lay this project aside in favor of Christmas Cheer, and return to it later in the week. Happy Holidays to all.

December 27, 2007, Add Remaining Capacitors

This afternoon, while my wife was at the grocery store, I added the remaining capacitors without distraction. Each electrolytic cap was added one at a time while checking and double checking polarity. After soldering, each was checked with the high powered glass for solder bridge between + and -. I found soldering these leads to be a little more tedious than even the SMCs. The leads are soldered very closely together, and care must be taken to avoid using too much solder. I'm using a .03 in. soldering tip, and perhaps a .01 tip would have been easier, but all is well. No visible bridges to these old eyes. I'm not sure if its necessary, but I used a toothpick to dab the tiniest bit of soldering flux paste on each joint. and after all soldering was done, soldering flux residue remained on the bottom of the board. This, I cleaned off with a cotton swab and contact cleaner before examining for solder bridges. During examination, I picked off all the tiny cotton strands left behind by the cleaning, with a pair of tweezers. I'm not sure if any of this is accepted practice, having never done one of these projects. The application of soldering flux takes more time, but, I feel more confident that each solder joint is a good one. .015 solder cannot have much rosin in its core for the small amount of solder needed for each joint. Total time for the electrolytics was about 1hr. and 45 min.  Work time was definitely made shorter by having the same value for all the electrolytic capacitors. Now on to the resistors.

Note: I found in the, "Users Articles" section of this web site directions for adding a picture to my blog. Following the directions, I was successful at adding the picture, but the picture was GIGANTIC , and not acceptable for the blog----edited out. I'll need to figure out how to shrink it!!! Maybe the Yahoo Group. 

Febuary 07, 2008 - Resistors

I've been away from the building project for some time now and am looking forward to returning to it. My last work on the project went undocumented here. During the first week of January, I added a dozen resistors. I found adding resistors in the hairpin fashion was tedious. First rechecking the resistor's value, then bending the wire so that, when inserted, the resistor could be read from the top toward the board, then, making sure the wires went in the right places, in the right locations, are all very time consuming. After all this, I still managed to get the R21 resistor in the R2 location AARRAAAGGGGHHHHH! This, I do not want to happen again. Most of my time during this building session was spent removing the R21 from the R2 location and then re-soldering the correct 1K ohm resistor in the R2 location. Removing the incorrect resistor was not difficult. The difficult part was trying to re-solder the correct resistor in the R2 location with the board's wire holes full of solder. The wick wouldn't remove the solder from the hole, and my solder sucker was too large to be of use. Consequently, The wire would only go into the hole a short distance before the solder would set. Heat/melt--pull the wire. Heat/melt--pull the wire. etc.etc.etc.  I didn't have enough hands to hold everything and pulll the wire at the same time.  Ironically, the solution, as told to me by an ET friend, is to add more solder. Puddle the solder in the hole, then use the wick. This, he says wicks the solder from the hole. I've yet to try this tecnique, but, though anxious to see if it works, am willing to wait til I'm finished with this build before trying it on some scrap board.

 Now that the Holidays, the SKCC anniversary operating event, and the Super Super Bowl are all behind me, I,m hoping I can continue through the completion of the build and begin to work on the software/soundcard issues without too much delay. Things always seem to surface to interrupt the continuity of any of my projects, and I still don't want to rush this project. Its a good thing that I found the misplaced resistor before the project was completed, and then wouldn't work, so I'll continue to check, check, double check. Now back to the bench. 

February 10, 2008 Remaining Resistors - Plus First Batch of Transistors

Yesterday I was able to add the remaining resistors to the board, and continue on. Adding the remaining resistors took about 3 hours and was completed with no further problems. In fact, by the time I had finished with the rsistors, I was much quicker than when I started.  What helped things move along, I think, was that I took each line on the BOM, which was sorted into separate bins in my sorting box, and bent each wire then returned the resistors to the proper bin before beginning the soldering. After all resistors were on the board, this left the bins empty for sorting the transistors next. After adding the diodes to the board, and sorting the transistors, I began to solder the transistors into the board. after the second one, Q9, was soldered, and before proceeding to the Q11, i noticed something amiss. OH NO!!!!!  I'd soldered the Q9 onto the board backwards. The shape of the transistor didn't match the shape of the silk screen on the board. Now, I had to get it out of there, and turn it around.  OK, tough job, and thoughts that I'd ruined everything!!!!!!!!! Drat!!  While removing the Q9, the tiny copper insert in the center pin's hole came out with the pin. Another bad sign!! Double Drat!!! I used a pin vice to carefully remove the solder from the other two holes, and pressed the transistor back into its place on the board and in its proper orientation, and soldered it back together. Everything seemed to be OK, and I can only hope that all the circuit continuity is maintained. Adding the remaing transistors, (except for Q1, Q2, Q3, Q5, Q6,  Q7, and Q8) and U4 wentpretty smoothly, and took about 1hr and 45min including removal and resoldering of the Q9. I can only now hope that I did no damage to the circuitry by removal and resoldering of the Q9. Folks-- I was not careful enough! This SNAFU could have been avoided if only I had learned the lesson from the Nr. 2 resistor....  Now, I'll take the experience as another lesson, and strive again not to repeat this same mistake. Even if the radio doesn't work, I've learned many lessons already by having attempted this project, and I'll be the better for having done it.

Also, I was finally able to add a picture of my sorting box to the blog, Its the same as, or similar to, the picture of the sorting box in the G7NBP blog, but- - I'm learning to blog! While trying to add another picture, the wind took my power out momentarily, and the  computer went down possibly taking the original picture with it. The original picture of my sorting box does not show up in this editing window. If it doesn't show up when I save this edit, I'll have to return at a later time and insert it again. That's it for now...

Feburary 17, 2008  - Trouble Rears Its Ugly Head

Now, after adding the JP1, and visually checking everything over, it was time to make my first tests with the meter. My meter(s) both analog and digital were giving me all kinds of different measurements which I could never seem to duplicate. The PTT- to +5V measurement Was 766 ohms, close to what was expected; but when the test leads were reversed, the reading was 620 ohms. I expected to see the same reading no matter which way the test leads were connected.  (Here's where the, "little electronics background" is causing the project to suffer even more.) The measurement from PTT- to +12V was even more confusing with either the analog or the digital meter. I got values from 6K ohms to 180K ohms. When the leads were reversed, the values obtained were never duplicated. remembering that I had another small Radio Shack autoranging DMM in my HT go bag, and using it to remeasure values from PTT- to +5V, I obtained a value of 845 ohms, no matter which way the leads were connected. Right in the ballpark. Then, the measurement from PTT- to +12V reveal an open circuit, no matter which way the leads were connected! Now, I think I'm getting somewhere. First, I'll chuck the first two meters used, and look for a better quality autoranging DMM. In the meantime, I'll use the RS meter, and to try to find out where the circuit is open. I'm trying to learn to read the schematic from sources in books and on the internet, and have fount the Q9 transistor is involved in this circuit. Its a good place to start looking, but I need to find out how to trace the circuit from one end to the other through each component to find the opening. Then, can I fix it? Will I be able to add a jumper wire to connect the circuit, or have I messed it up so much that the project will have to be abandoned?  I don't know if I can do this myself, or if I need help from someone with more electronics experience? For now, the whole project is in limbo.

I thought I had done a good job with most of my work, in fact, my board looked a lot neater than some of the pictures of other's work on this web site which radios actually worked as expected. Some of the work looked downright sloppy, but still worked.  Looking back, I'm seeing the two glaring mistakes that I've made, and can see ahead to now when those mistakes may have cost me the project. The removal of the Q9, and with it the plate through hole for the base is where the circuit is probably open. all the good work I've done won't correct this one error. I'll be consulting the collective community on the Yahoo reflector in order to get help to sort this out. - - - - - -