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My junk box isn't 50 years old but some of the parts in it are 55 years old or older.
(Lots of stuff that came out of ARC5's and such.  Also some tubes made in the 30's)
I probably started collecting electronic junk in the late 60's.  Wish I hadn't gotten rid of all the sub-miniature tubes I used to have.
Also that box full of used 4CX150's (marked stolen from FAA).

W4GNS wrote:

Have you figured out about what price range your DDS is going to be in yet Diz ? with a parts count and software near completion you should have a general idea, maybe

Looks like about $25.00 for the Kit base kit.
DDS chip (AD9834CRUZ) will be sold separately at $12; you may want to order a sample from Analog Devices.
LCD will also be sold seperately as you may have your own stocl.
I will offer no-backlight, yellow-backlight and white- backlight at $10, $12 and $15
73, Diz, W8DIZ

I bought one of these 
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d … mber=97448  and it's the best money I ever spent, for working with SMT's and inspecting through the whole work also, and identifing parts such as caps. I have also found the blob and wick method to work well on SMT's such as the 9834. I shake like a leaf, so the blob and wick works well for me, and I have never damaged a componet using the method.  Here is a link to a demo and some good writing on what I'm trying to say  
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/tutori … ials_id=96    On another note, I ordered and used the Quick Chip stuff that Tom suggested, it works as advertised and should be in everyone tool box, only drawback is, it not very cheap, but it works very well

wa2mze wrote:

Will you be offering a board with the DDS chip already soldered in place for those optically challenged?
W4GNS sent me two of your AVR development boards that had the DDS chip already mounted.  The AD9834 isn't the hardest part in the world to mount (the AD9952 was worse) but for anybody just starting out with SMT it might be bitting off more than they can chew.

Last edited by W4GNS (2010-02-13 10:26:14)

wa2mze wrote:

Will you be offering a board with the DDS chip already soldered in place for those optically challenged?

I am selling the AD9834 as an option to the kit.
Soldering the SMT part is not my favorite thing to do but I will at $4
I'd rather spend my time doing oher things
-Diz

Hey Diz, will the low pass filter bank of the MultiPig + handle 20 watts ?  If so it will save me time and money

W4GNS wrote:

Hey Diz, will the low pass filter bank of the MultiPig + handle 20 watts ?  If so it will save me time and money

The toroids will handle 20 watts no problem, but the CAPS I use are rated for 50 volts.
I would replace them with 100 Volt caps in case you have a bad SWR ab\nd have wild voltages in your circuits.
Then again, the 50 vold "spec" caps will most likely work at 100 volts.
Worst case is one goes bad you you replace it.
-Diz

I just received a share package that has 1 each of the following, 12SJ7GT,5W4GT, and a 7B8, any use for these ? I don't do tubes

wa2mze wrote:

My junk box isn't 50 years old but some of the parts in it are 55 years old or older.
(Lots of stuff that came out of ARC5's and such.  Also some tubes made in the 30's)
I probably started collecting electronic junk in the late 60's.  Wish I hadn't gotten rid of all the sub-miniature tubes I used to have.
Also that box full of used 4CX150's (marked stolen from FAA).

Crownhill has come out with a Microchip version of the Arduino. No "C" involved , and Open Source , they have there own Basic Compiler  Amicus (Free), wish I had the bucks for the board  http://www.myamicus.co.uk/content.php?116      http://www.crownhill.co.uk/level3.php?cat=270&sec=1    Let me rephrase that a tad, you can use C or any other lanauage that is known by Pics. They have a basic compiler which makes it ever so easy, I have there Proton Compiler, which is very simular the Pic Basic Pro, by MeLabs  BTW The Amicus Compiler download has some super Docs

Last edited by W4GNS (2010-02-27 20:12:16)

Good Point, I like it cuz' there is no need to know or learn "C".   The Aurduno and Amicus or most likely not the best tool for folks who are comfortable with Pics or Atmel AVR's, but for us that or learning and or clueless its a cool tool, I'm gonna sale an item or 2 that I'm not using to get me a baord. Of course, its and open source project so the hardware could be homebrewed. But at any rate the Amicus does not expect you to know or learn C

wa2mze wrote:

Well I suppose if you like PICs it's a nice idea.   I still prefer the AVRs for most projects because I can program in C, and if I have (or want) to program in assembler I don't have to deal with the $%@#! bank switching.  I've built one project so far using a PIC (the LC meter) where the code was already written and didn't need any tweaking (though I did have some ideas on possible improvements).  This application actually made sense for the PIC because its' IO was more suited for the task (timer and comparitor) built in that were more suitable than what was available in a similar AVR.

I need help from any computer Guru's, Today I ran a Serial Terminal via USB cable to a Microchip® hardware platform, On 20 meters my noise floor jumped from S3 to S7, I have a generous lengh of USB cable so I wound 10 turns of the USB cable around a Kits and Parts FT240-61 ferrite toroid , but it was of no help, how do I quiet this commication down ? Other than stop the serial terminal ? I like to monitor HF while doing other things

Last edited by W4GNS (2010-03-22 19:12:49)

Hi Ken
  Yes, I have really bad noise with a usb CD/DVD and have to keep it disconnected at all times, until I need it, then promptly unplug when done. I have other devices pluged in and running via USB with no issues. When I plug this Microchip®  (actually an Amicus board from Crownhill)in, I get a 4 second burst of hash, then it stops, (the board is powered via the USB cable) and all is well until I open the Serial Commications, then the noise level jumps up to S7 until I stop the commication, then all is well again. I have not checked all bands, but it appears to be just on 20 meters, I checked 17/40 and there was no noise.   So in short, all is well until I open up serial comms

wa2mze wrote:

Do you have similar QRN problems with other usb devices such as printers, mice or flash drives?  Is the usb cable plugged into a port on the front of the computer box, or on the back?  Have you tried other usb ports on the computer?  The USB cable between the computer and the micro might be bad, try a better cable (USB 2.0 cables are better shielded than 1.1 cables).  Do you get the QRN with the usb cable plugged to the computer but not the micro? The other way round?  You need to find out where the noise is coming from the micro or the PC.

Last edited by W4GNS (2010-03-22 20:31:44)

That fixed it ! Thanks Diz, I owe you a brew

W8DIZ wrote:

W4GNS wrote:

I need help from any computer Guru's, Today I ran a Serial Terminal via USB cable to a Microchip® hardware platform, On 20 meters my noise floor jumped from S3 to S7, I have a generous lengh of USB cable so I wound 10 turns of the USB cable around a Kits and Parts FT240-61 ferrite toroid , but it was of no help, how do I quiet this commication down ? Other than stop the serial terminal ? I like to monitor HF while doing other things

Change the toroid to a FT240-43 or FT240-31 - Diz