EICO signal generator

I got this EICO signal generator off one of the swap sites for 10 bucks.

It had a few problems:

Would not power on.
It needed to be recapped, the old paper ones had leaked all over everything.
The band selector switch was frozen solid.
The AC cord was bad enough to replace also. (old style 2 prong non-polarized)
Well what did ya expect for 10 bucks :)

I pulled a handful of old caps out, carefully noting the location of each.

All caps replaced except for the one electrolytic a dual paper cap. I opted to use 2 matching caps tied together at the negative side. Worked just fine.

Cleaned up, recapped, and a new AC cord. (hey it lights up now)

The band switch was a bugger to get going though. After a soaking in dexoit and various other penetrating assailants. I decided to take it apart. A very thin keeper (clip) ring on the shaft was removed and I was able to pull it out. Wax from one of the caps, or old dried lubricant maybe was the culprit. Anyhow it turns freely like it is supposed to now.

I downloaded the manual and prints off the internet to do the alignment. All the bands were pretty much good except one. It looked like someone was playing with it for some reason.

It's good to go now, a little work and a few bucks worth of caps....

LC METER II B

Another project that i just finished is the LC METER II B kit from http://www.aade.com/

I shot a few videos of the build, but do not have proper editing software for videos yet. (I have a new found respect for the guys who do a lot of videos for the web) :)

This nifty little meter is a hand held inductance and a capacitance meter, with a 4 digit digital display. Nice fit and finish on all parts. I used this just fooling around with a few disk caps i had on hand. Measured a few air variables I had of a know value.

I LIKE IT!

The specs are as follows from thier website:


Range

.001 Hy (1 nHy) to 100 mHy (most units measure to 150 mHy)
.010 pF to 1 Fd (most units measure to 1.5 uFd)
(Capacitors must be non-polarized)

Accuracy 1% of reading Typical

Typical means the average error for 60 inductance calibration standards:
20 HP 16470A standard calibration inductors
16 Booton type 103A standard calibration inductors
6 Booton type 62-2A standard calibration inductors
18 Marconi type TM 4520 standard calibration inductors
and 83 capacitance calibration standard
7 Heathkit 0.25% capacitance calibration standards
37 Vero 0.1% capacitance calibration standards
39 0.5%  decade capacitance calibration standard
10 2% high value capacitance calibration standards

AUTOMATIC RANGING
SELF-CALIBRATING

ID OMATIC II

Here is a little project I bought sometime last year, and stored away for a rainy day. Well it didn't rain but I needed something to do...

d

Easy build, just be careful of the placement of parts.

Ready for the smoke test...

Works fine! Added a small speaker and a battery. Changed the settings to my preferences.
I'll add a box and a reset switch later.

From the supplied documentation:

In a nutshell, the ID-O-Matic II is the original ID-O-Matic, combined with the features of the Connection Kit and a few more, all on one board. There's an audio amp, low-pass filtering to smooth out the sidetone, volume control and de-emphasis for external audio input, and input level converters all included on the board. In addition, all inputs and outputs are now available on a single header with an optional terminal block for quick and easy connections with no soldering.
The ID-O-Matic II is a multipurpose, PIC microcontroller based device that nearly everyone can use. Like the original ID-O-Matic featured in the 2008-2010 ARRL Handbook, it can act as a simple 10-minute timer with audio and visual outputs to remind you when it's time to ID.
Now for the more interesting features! How about a programmable delay timer that announces your call sign or any other message, in Morse code at a speed and audio tone you choose? How about CW keying and PTT outputs so you can attach it to a "fox" transmitter, or an emergency cross-band repeater? And how about squelch/COR inputs to make a repeater IDer that works the way you want it? And how about a serial interface to connect to your shack computer, laptop or terminal for quick and easy configuration? It's all there.
The ID-O-Matic II can meet a pretty wide range of needs. Out of the box, so to speak, it will light up a green LED until nine minutes have passed. The LED then turns yellow, and at 9 minutes 30 seconds starts blinking yellow/red. At ten minutes the ID-O-Matic beeps at you until you reset it with a pushbutton or logic signal, then starts over.
But of course this would be a little overkill for a simple 10-minute timer! Using the built-in RS232 serial interface, connect the ID-O-Matic II to a terminal or a PC with a terminal emulation program (PuTTY, Hyperterminal, Minicom, etc) and you can use the simple menu to set your own delay from 1 to 65535 seconds (over 9 hours). You can control when (and if) the LED turns yellow and when it starts blinking. You can also choose between the default beep, or just type in your call sign or any other message up to 64 characters long to hear it in Morse code. When in CW ID mode the ID-O-Matic II will send the message, then automatically reset and start timing again.
You can also select repeater mode. In repeater mode two additional inputs can be used to control when ID-O-Matic II sends your selected Morse code ID. You can use a squelch, COR, PTT or other signals of your choosing. Built-in input level converters let you use either active-high or active-low signals. You can optionally have the ID-O-Matic send a courtesy beep at the end of each transmission (with user-selected delay), and you can specify a PTT "hang time" to keep PTT active for a few seconds after the input stops. If you want the repeater to ID every so often when it's idle, there is a beacon timer and a separate message for that too. You can, for example, have the repeater ID with its call sign while being used, and a longer message every hour or two when it's idle. There's a PTT watchdog timer to keep your repeater from being "hung" by stuck mic buttons (or long-winded users). And, you can use the ALT MSG input to send a different ID message based on the state of an input signal - useful if, for example, your site switches to backup power.
Regardless of the mode used, the PTT output is active 100ms before and 100ms after the CW ID. Speed is variable from 5 to 40 words per minute, and the audio pitch for the CW ID and the courtesy beep is also variable via the menu. Both the CW and PTT outputs are equipped with robust 2N7000 MOSFETs that can handle up to 60V at up to 200 mA to key transmitters or other loads.
Improvements have been made to the original ID-O-Matic's Morse audio output. Where the old chip used a square wave signal, the new one uses pulse-width modulation followed by a low-pass filter to generate a much smoother, much better sounding audio signal.
The on-board Morse ID is filtered and fed to an LM386 audio amplifier. An input is provided for external audio from you r receiver or other source; this input is also amplified and mixed with the Morse audio. You can optionally install the parts for a simple R-C de-emphasis filter on the external audio input. On board trim pots adjust the volume of each audio source.
The ID-O-Matic II kit includes the ID-O-Matic chip along with a high quality, double-sided PCB with silkscreen and solder mask. All parts needed to build the board are included. A speaker is not included, but the on-board LM386 audio amp can drive your speaker. All you need to supply is an enclosure and a source of power. For external connections you can choose between soldering your wires directly to the board, or order with the optional 10-position, screw clamp type terminal block.

New shack Improvements

Well it has been a long time coming but ye old ham shack has had a makeover. The shack (my wife calls it the man cave) got all the cracks fixed, new paint, (a charcoal Grey color), new commercial grade carpet. I also removed the old four tube florescent light fixture and put in new lights. I arranged the tables and benches in a little better ergonomic fashion.

So far I have been quite happy with the layout. It is not anywhere need as dark as the pictures would suggest. I have more lights on the ceiling fan (gifted to me by my darling wife after the renovation of the kitchen).

The two 5 foot long white tables are my main work benches. I also have a mini table top drill press that I have used countless times. The large bookshelf is new as well. It's nice to have all your books handy.