The build of my TR-25 is complete and it is off to Penntek to fix my bonehead mistakes. Again, the kit is very well done and was fun to build. The joy was diminished somewhat by my own doing. I can only hope the damage was not too great.
I never wound toroid inductors before. For a very small dollar amount they could be purchased pre-wound with the TR-25 kit. However, I felt I would be more a part of the build if I wound them myself. #28 magnet wire is very thin. Winding was not so bad, but taking the enamel coating off the wire and tinning them was no picnic. The worse was to untwist the two wire for the transformer. The twist caused difficulty in taking the coating off and tinning. Also, once a wire is tined if becomes brittle.
I guess skill displayed in building Heathkits back in the old days does not carryover to kits of today. I decided to build a Penntek TR-25. The kit was very well done in both build documentation and parts packaging. It was the builder that went wrong. I will not go into detail as it is too embarrassing, but I messed up. I sent an e-mail to Penntek asking for a possible solution to my woes. I will update this post as the situation evolves.
Note: I even went so far as purchasing a new soldering station and a pounds of fresh Kester thin solder to do the build right.
I like to work DX, but as of late this has been a challenge. A challenge because I am using an attic antenna in a not so tall house, running 25 watts and the band conditions have not been so kind. This week as fall approached condition were a bit better. I worked into EU on 20 meter CW. Not every station I called, but a few. The highlight was working a station in Nairobi Kenya. I am sure a high percent of the stations I am competing with are running more power and have much more effective antennas. A big part of being able to make the contact goes to the DX station/operator, but I hope finding the right frequency to put my signal and some operating skill contributed a little.
I was surprised by comments made in the September 2021 QST by the CEO on page nine paragraph six. He was saying the important members are only the ones out in front or give a lot of money. (Please read for yourself.) I sent an e-mail questioning his comments only to get confirmation in a nice and polite way that I am really not all that important.
As I said in my e-mail to the CEO – The ARRL has done things throughout the years I did not agree with, but felt it was the only voice the hobby had to protect its survival. Maybe 55 plus years of membership is enough.
For a long time I have wanted to go to the Huntsville Hamfest. In fact, several years ago I tried but was too late to buy tickets. So with tickets purchased, hotel reservations made, COVID shots in the arm, masks in the ready, and the car serviced, my wife and I were ready to go to Huntsville. Then one by one the vendors I wanted to see cancelled coupled with an already weak set of forums that was getting weaker, we cut our losses at $20 and cancelled the trip. Even sadder, we may never get to another Hamfest again in our lifetime.
There is an annual yard sale along Route 127 traversing several eastern states. Traveling a small portion of the sale in TN I thought a few Morse Keys might be found. I was hopeful because a few years ago an old Hallicrafters S-20 receiver was spotted for sale. As remote a chance of finding Morse Keys may be, finding a Heathkit Dip Meter is more remote. But, that is what was found. It was sitting there on a table of stuff, aka junk.