Here’s a useful tool for the kit, a digital angle gauge/protractor. These use a silicon sensor to show the number of degrees the unit is out of level. Magnets are provided in the base, so the tool can attach to any ferrous surface. Power is provided by a single AAA
For a long time I’ve needed a decent vacuum desoldering tool, as I do much stripping of old PCBs for random parts. Solder wick works well for most things, but it’s expensive & can be fiddly. It also doesn’t keep very long as the copper braid oxidises & after that
Continue readingDuratool ZD-915 Vacuum Desoldering Station Teardown
Finally, after a couple of weeks wait time, the fan controllers for the power supplies have arrived. They’re small boards, which is good for the small space left inside the case of the supply. Here they are. I’m not certain what the pair of potentiometers are for – there’s no
Continue readingDIY SMPS Fan Speed Control – The Controllers
Now the final bits have arrived for the SWR Meter module, I can do the final assembly. Here the SMA connectors are installed on the side of the eBay meter, for forward & reverse power tap. These are simply tee’d off the wiring inside the meter where it connects to
Continue readingArduino SWR Power Meter Final Parts & Calibration
The latest addition to my radio shack is the GY561 frequency & power meter, which has already come in useful for measuring the output power of all my radios. It’s a small device, roughly the same size & weight as a stock UV-5R. Power is provided by 3 AAA cells.
Thanks to Lewis, M3HHY for lending me this one 🙂 Here’s a quick look at a Sainsmart frequency counter module. These are useful little gadgets, showing the locked frequency on a small LCD display. It’s built around an ATMega328 microcontroller (µC), and an MB501L Prescaler IC. The circuit for this
As I’m building up my radio shack, I figured an SWR meter would be a handy addition to my arsenal. This is a cheap Moonraker brand meter, which also will measure RF power. Above the front of the meter is shown, with the moving coil meter movement on the left,
After watching a video over at Scullcom Hobby Electronics on YouTube, I figured I’d build one of these precision references to calibrate my multimeters. It’s based around a REF102P 10v precision reference & an INA105P precision unity gain differential amplifier. For full information, check out the video, I won’t go