EMRFD Message Archive 10875

Message Date From Subject
10875 2015-03-17 08:42:25 genedorcas lettering
I need to add some nomenclature to a front panel and need some white transfer lettering.  Does anyone know an online source???

thanks,
Gene, W5DOR
gene@w5dor.com
W5DOR, Parts, Homebrew Parts, Ham Radio Parts, QRP Parts, QRP, CW, keys, ham radio, homebrew, SS-40, DDS, DSP
10881 2015-03-17 11:17:52 Jim Strohm Re: lettering
Gene,

I think that Miller Blueprint here in Austin still sells Chartpak lettering, but I don't think they do mail-order and I haven't shopped them for Chartpak for quite a while.

You might google or use the yellow pages for a drafting products supplier in your neck of the woods.  Otherwise ...

73
Jim N6OTQ

10883 2015-03-17 11:49:33 Gene W5DOR Re: lettering

Thanks!   I couldn't remember the name "Chartpak" .   I googled "chartpak lettering" and found several sources.

 

Thanks,

Gene, W5DOR

gene@w5dor.com

www.w5dor.com

 

 

10919 2015-03-24 16:23:40 cwfingertalker Re: lettering
Gene,

Just posted a picture of my complete uR2 receiver with the decal lettering I told you about.  Take a look in my photo folder.

Bill N7EU
10920 2015-03-24 17:17:54 Gene W5DOR Re: lettering

Looks great !!!   I'm using an old Heathkit enclosure also.  I recognized its front panel layout.

 

Thanks,

Gene, W5DOR

gene@w5dor.com

www.w5dor.com

 

 

10921 2015-03-24 17:28:45 jwolczanski Re: lettering
Nice job!

any photos of the inside?

Jerry
KI4IO
Warrenton, VA
10922 2015-03-24 18:54:08 iq_rx Re: lettering
Wow Bill, that looks sweet.  Also perhaps a bit ironic.  The guy up the street when I was a kid had an HW-12 and folded dipole.  When I was ready to take my novice test I knocked on his door, introduced myself, and he showed me his shack.  That left an impression on me, and ever since then I've thought of the HW-12 as how a radio should look.

Nice work, and I'm honored to have contributed a bit of the circuitry inside.

Best Regards,

Rick KK7B
10923 2015-03-24 19:27:54 kb1gmx Re: lettering
Bill,

Sweet!

Nice looking work.

I bet you like the uR2 as well.

Allison
10924 2015-03-24 20:19:28 cwfingertalker Re: lettering
Rick,

Thanks for your kind comments.  And to tell you the truth there is a little on you, W7ZOI,  W1FB and a host of others inside that radio besides myself. 

I have two uR2 receivers.  This one was the second and more complicated project.  The first one is in a Heathkit Lunchbox, covers just the CW band and uses the onboard VFO.  That one is really simple and cute. 

The design criteria was a bit more complicated than my first uR2.  I wanted digital readout, RIT, 10db antenna attenuation, full band coverage on 40 meters, an audio amplifier that could drive a speaker and headphones and use the meter in the HW22 chassis for something.  I solved each problem one at a time and came up with a pretty good 40 meter receiver. 

I did not want to drill any new holes in the front panel and also wanted to use all the features I could.  I got a little creative with the S-Meter.  Using the slide switch I built a simple voltmeter to check the battery voltage in one switch position.  The other switch position is an audio voltmeter.  I sample a bit of audio from the audio amplifier, rectify it and that drives a transistor that makes the meter swing.  Surprisingly it does demonstrate relative signal strength.  I just had to use the meter for something. 

I built the second uR2 without the onboard VFO.  I built a W7ZOI VFO in a Faraday Box to solve the drifting and hand capacitive affects.  Also the ZOI VFO provided full 40 meter band coverage.  The ZOI VFO goes into a power divider that drives the uR2 receiver and the digital readout.  The digital readout is a kit I bought and installed behind the HW22 window.  The RIT circuit uses varicaps and was by itself a learning experience for me about many different RIT circuits.  I settled on one that in hind sight became more complicated than I planned for but very stable and useful in the end. 

The Antenna Attenuator is a simple 50 ohm impedance minus 10 db circuit that is relay activated.  My first uR2 showed me that really strong signals can distort the audio and that needed to be dealt with. 

The mute system is a little more complicated too.  I borrowed the circuit you use in the other receivers where you cut off the RF amplifier in the receiver.  I also use an audio FET switch to cut the audio.  Working together the mute circuit is fast and quiet.  I have a sidetone oscillator hooked in with the mute circuit for a future CW transmitter. 

My big worry was the audio amplifier.  Would it generate more burps, whistles and feedback than useful audio.  I picked a low gain path and found a compromise between enough gain for a speaker and no gremlins barking in the background.

Originally I was planning to put some converters inside the cabinet and I actually built a 6 meter converter for the receiver but decided to keep it a monobander.  I does work on 6 meters just fine by the way. 

I named it the uR2 HW-22D to reflect the original Heathkit hotwater chassis it was built into.  The D for digital and the uR2 for the receiver.   

The receiver is very stable and the audio is very quiet even on loud signals.  All in all not a bad project.  It took some time.  I had to solve each problem one at a time and do some research and experimenting but it sure works good. 

Bill N7EU

Sam's Valley Oregon
10925 2015-03-25 05:09:46 ve3ghm Re: lettering
Bill,

your uR2 HW-22D looks great. I have a HW-32A which I am using in a
similar way. These older Heathkit radio make very good doner chassis. I
have always thought that these radios just looked right. I note that you
started with the non A model, basic chassis is the same, just the front
panel decoration and knobs differ.

I am still fussing over some details but am continually moving forward. I
want to maintain as much of the look and feel as the original Heathkit
and am planning not to repaint the front panel. However, I am still
undecided about what to do for the dial / frequency readout, there are
far too many choices, many of which require some cutting but I would
prefer to retain as much of the original look as possibly. What you have
done with your digital frequency readout really looks nice and fitting.
What is the source of your digital readout? I have found a number of
designs but I don't recall a four digit display like the one you have
used.

cheers, Graham ve3gtc


10926 2015-03-25 08:03:36 William Martin Re: lettering
Graham,

Thanks for the kind comments.  I have about five of those dead HW panels and chassis in the shop.  Right now one is being used in the uR2 receiver and one for the Progressive Receiver.  

The digital dial is from QRP Kits.  http://www.qrpkits.com/freqcounter.html  I bought a few of them for other projects and they worked out well.  They only show the last four digits which is fine for me.  There is a toggle switch to change the readout to the first four digits.  I found some red thick plastic in a hobby shop and mounted that behind the HW22 window.  The digital dial just fits behind the Heath window.  No cutting needed.  I did have to drill four mounting holes to keep the digital dial in place behind the window.  Recently I found some four digit readouts on eBay made in China for a reasonable price that are LCD and back lighted.  I bought one to play with and might use it in another project.  

I chose to repaint both the front panel and chassis.  My Heath rigs were pretty dirty and beat up.  With the water transfer decal lettering method it is easy to re-letter the front panel and make it look good.  If you have gutted a HW rig you know there is one big board in that rig.  I put an aluminum sheet in the first version and chose to use a double copper clad board in the second.  I would recommend using the copper board.  It is easier to solder other boards to it or create Faraday Boxes using smaller pieced of copper clad boards to enclose circuits.  

As for the circuits.  Like I mentioned to Rick they are just about all from previous projects that have been published in ARRL books, QST or other ham publications.  All I did was meld them together to solve a particular problem.  I have a notebook with "crude" circuit drawings.  I might upload them to the files section.  

Yes I wanted to retain the original hotwater rig look and use all the features I needed.  Cutting up the HW panel for me was not an option.

Regards,

Bill N7EU
Sam's Valley Oregon.







10927 2015-03-25 08:08:58 William Martin Re: lettering
Allison,

Thanks for the comments.   

Yes the uR2 is a surprising receiver.  The sound quality is such that you can listen to it for a long time and not get fatigued.  It was a long road to complete this little project.  

Next I need a home brewed transmitter.  I have a few more HW boxes left to play with.  I am thinking about a 50 watt CW 40 meter transmitter.  It is still in the pencil stage.

Bill N7EU






10930 2015-03-25 18:46:41 kb1gmx Re: lettering
Comment on the meter.

Good use and the method you used is reasonable.  The fixed gain of the 
receiver its a very accurate  (it can be calibrated) indicator of received 
signal strength.  Likely more accurate then the original S-meter.  I 
can be certain it drifts less. ;)

Good work and some  good ideas.

I have a cabinet, subchassis with VFO coil, tuning cap and front panel from 
a HW32, also the case from a wreck of a SBE34 as the outer case can 
always be painted (that has a handle on one side...portable?)..  
Call it resource material.


Allison