Recently, I built a simple little TRF receiver for the AM broadcast band using a TA7642, a modern equivalent for a chip that was quite popular with electronics homebrewers in the 70’s and 80’s. The ZN414 was a device made by the British semiconductor company Ferranti. Housed in a metal TO-18 can with three leads, […]
In the previous post, I described my recent build of a very simple little TRF receiver for the AM broadcast band. It happened as the result of a month or two spent with much more complex projects, namely a scratch-build of the receiver section of a Norcal 2N2/20, and a kit build of a complete […]
My last project, a Norcal 2N2/20 kit build, which also involved a partial scratch-build of the same circuit, rather took it out of me. As a result, I’ve been revisiting some of the circuits I built in my pre-teen years. Giving myself permission to play around with simple circuits is really fun, as well as […]
Note – this is a rather long and wordy post, with a lot of pictures. Perhaps surprisingly, after 16 years, there are still some unbuilt Norcal 2N2/XX kits floating around in the wild. If you have one, or are hoping to aqcuire one, and are interested in suggested and recommended minor mods and parts substitutions, […]
My continued apologies to long-term blog readers, most of whom are probably more interested in posts detailing my builds of QRP ham radio projects. This will probably be my last post on micropower Part 15 broadcasting for a while, as my interests have shifted back towards QRP ham radio. I just completed a rather nifty […]
I first discovered the world of legal micro-broadcasting back in 2010. The AM broadcast band was my focus, as the regulations in the US for that band are more generous than those which cover the FM broadcast band. My first transmitter was an SSTRAN AMT3000. It worked well throughout the house, but didn’t radiate much […]
14 years ago (where does the time go?) I was looking for a way to broadcast very locally, to my neighborhood, legally. The operative word was legally and, somehow, I discovered the world of Part 15 broadcasting on the AM broadcast band. FCC regulations under Part 15 allow for a wide variety of unlicensed devices […]
It’s not too often that I post about projects which are incomplete, but this one has reached a stage where, although I’m not sure if I will fully finish it, I feel that my progress so far is worth sharing. I appreciate the feedback I receive on my posts, so there’s always the chance that […]
Every year in the summer, The California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) in Alameda, CA host their annual “Radio Day by The Bay”. If you live in the area, or are visiting, it is the very best time to get a feel for all the things that CHRS do to preserve the history of radio and […]
My, how time flies. This is a post I have been meaning to write for nearly 3 years now. Back in late 2018, after a search for a small portable SW receiver, I purchased a C Crane Skywave SSB. It had a lot of the things I wanted in a portable radio and, at the […]
Dave Richards AA7EE 