Broadcast - 14 July 2024
As mentioned in last week’s broadcast there are a few carry over items from the Technical Night.
First up was Peter VK7KPC, who brought in a battery powered temperature controlled soldering station, complete with a fine tipped detachable soldering iron. Battery powered is nothing new I hear you say, but this one has a bit of a twist to it! It is available in multiple versions to suite most 18 Volt mainstream cordless power-tool batteries. When you purchase this Australian made unit, you specify the manufacturer of the batteries that your power tools use and it will arrive ready to clip onto your chosen battery pack. It is in two parts, the main body which clips onto the battery and contains the electronics, temperature adjustment knob, digital temperature readout and holder for the soldering iron plus a plug in soldering iron. A very neat little package.
At Friday’s morning tea Peter brought in the products of his labour, a nearly finished multi band filter from Mini-Kits. This small double sided printed circuit board contained components ranging from toroidal transformer coil wires down to small surface mounted components, all soldered using his new battery powered soldering iron. Peter certainly has obtained excellent results.
As soon as I finish penning this part of the broadcast….. it’s off to Cross-Fire-Power’s web site to look for one compatible with my cordless tool battery type. Thank you Peter for bringing this versatile battery powered soldering station to our attention.
Link to “Cross-Fire-Power” web page is included in the text version of the broadcast: Cordless Soldering Iron | Portable Soldering Iron Station & Batteries – CrossFirePower
Ross VK7ALH, brought in a Ten-Tec Jupiter, circa 2000, that he was working on. It was quite startling to realise the difference between this and conventional analogue transceivers. The case certainly was not empty but nowhere as many modules as you would initially expect. As I was informed it was based on the previous model or version the Pegasus. The Pegasus was the first amateur radio based on the Software Defined Radio or SDR principal where radio functions were handled in firmware and the user interface was hosted on a Personal Computer. The Jupiter was basically the same transceiver but very importantly included all the front panel controls amateurs are accustomed to. It still maintained the PC interface and the ability to update software whenever available. So this was probably the first SDR amateur transceiver that was stand alone. It was manufactured to the same very high standards that Ten-Tec had obtained, but was a startling insight as to what technological innovations and progress was to bring. Thanks Ross for the chance to inspect such a transitional piece of engineering.
Did anyone guess the picture of the mystery device mentioned in last week’s broadcast?It was brought in by Lionel VK7ZLB but had nothing to do with valve testers, hihi. Evidently it was part of the payload from a weather balloon! But as it incorporated a single thermionic valve you would be correct in assuming it was part of a very early telemetry system for a weather balloon. It would have been used decades before the ones that Eric VK7EV and fellow amateurs from NWTARC were tracking down and recovering recently. The next task is to track down any information or circuits, just for fun of course! Thanks for the mental stimulation Lionel.
As always, pictures will be available on the NTARC Web site under “Blogs” for this broadcast. NTARC Blogs
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TechNet session - Every Wednesday, TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7 pm till 7.30 pm, then a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30 pm till about 8.30 pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. So why not pop in check the QSL cards and join us for a cuppa, there is endless tea and coffee along with biscuits available for a donation.
Club Room Technical night session - The next session will be on Wednesday the 17th July and will commence at the usual time of 6.30 pm at the Club Room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
Finally - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5 pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73, Stefan VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC Inc.
