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Thanks Steve! - Next to get it on the air, followed by investigating the TX side health and the key clicks in the receive audio.

Thanks Nick! - so many thought provoking comments! - On the click/tick - exactly! I first thought it might be rerouting and bundling the KC1 wiring, then watched the video and could hear the loud clicks as well. Some debug to come. Since the NC40 uses the received signal as the sidetone it may be in the FET tx mute. Stay tuned. (the lower KC1 tone is sooo good) - I also want to try a QMX - they look very full featured and really look like fun. Twenty five years of embedded control advancements have made a huge difference. The NC40 objective was minimal parts count and easy to build - I think that was achieved, but it does make it a homebrew platform more than an a polished radio. - Video Quality - Agree exactly I started with a goal to "upload whatever I got" without edits. That made uploads almost real-time with my projects. Interruptions from the washing machine, family, phone calls made it necessary to learn how to edit with CAPCUT on the phone. That allows me to stitch two recordings together and edit out some boring parts. Still almost real-time. I have had feedback that most viewers are ok with the lack of polish making it their option to skip forward when needed. I've lost track of how many videos now. Still pretty rough, but improving over time :) I also grew up with my dad in broadcasting, so understand the need to produce polished output. I'm now over that in favor of having fun. 73, Bruce AA7AR

Danke!

Thanks Johnathan! It was pretty close, but either the offset programming was lost or wasn’t done. I did an update to show that process. It is now reading the correct frequency and the radio currently covers 7.000 to 7.040 Thanks for tips and for watching

Are you missing one or more of the NE602 8-pin DIP packages? They are available online with some careful searching. Another solution is to get the more common surface mount part with a surface mount to 8-pin DIP carrier/adaptor.

​@@tyrueiIMay be able to use NE612 as a straight swap for NE602. The NE612 is more readily available and possibly less expensive?

@Steve-GM0HUU good point. NE602/NE612/SA602/SA612 will work. I had a thought too. You could also search on eBay for a “QRP Rockmite” and buy the kit for about $13 USD and use it for parts.

We are about 20 years too late to get the original KC1, but the QRPGUYS have solved that problem. I haven’t tried one yet, but it looks like a cool kit. qrpguys.com/dj3kk-sprat-audio-counter

Sounds interesting. You can start by working on the sensor in receive mode. You can get to the board on the sensor by removing the tuning knob. There are 4 long screws that will let you put it out enough to check the signals

It sounds like some fun debug on the Tx might be a quick break from the QRP Labs project(s). 😊 did you get a QCX or QMX, or both? 💪

I think he had the power turned so low that the needle wouldn't even wiggle.

I’ll try a 90 to 100 watt effort. Up to know the power control has been all the way down at about 6 watts

I don’t have a “wall of radios” like I’ve seen on some profile pages and QSL cards, but there are a few radios in a cabinet not too far from the bench. Some sales are needed to keep the budget in balance 💰

I’ll show you the Dynaco SCA-35. Is that the kind of amp you were thinking? It sounds great

It did look pretty messy! The IR sensors are not even through-hole… all three leads go through a slot and get soldered like point to point wiring. It doesn’t seem to be as precision and delicate as some posts mention.

Thanks for the congratulations 🎊 - next is to decide if I want to take the next step and disassemble the sensor to clean and lubricate it for smoother tuning. 🤞

Thanks Nick! You really nailed the intent of reviving “Rusty”! It’s the challenge and the fun of seeing if I can get it going again! I already have a perfectly fine IC-735, but this one is way more fun. The $60 LCD was the part that made it feel a little silly, but it certainly came out looking good. I’ll get Rusty a new battery back-up and get it on the air! 73, Bruce

I haven’t tried to lubricant mine as I trying to avoid a new issue to resolve, but this old article from the internet archive seems to give a good step by step process: archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6039508

I was a bit shocked when the “good” side of the sensor became the “bad” side, but happy when I noticed the missing solder. Nice to be able to change bands!

The filter is a 500 Hz unit, so not as narrow as the K2, but definitely easier to listen to with the S4+ local QRM. I’ll see if I can work some POTA stations on the weekend. Pretty fun radio.

Sounds fun. We could put a note here and see how many drop by an outdoor coffee shop patio to say hi

@@tyrueiI That sounds good to me. I will be in town from Jan 13-16, hope to see a group! Ken N0HRL

Wait until you see it with a main tuning knob 😃

Slowly making progress. I even filed and sanded off some of Rusty’s rust this morning!

Thanks Nick! I had the same thought. I plan to get out the Hakko and clean off those joints/blobs of solder. Amazing what a dirty iron and the wrong glasses can do! Do you have a favorite brand of flux? I’ve been lucky on the new-build kits that my old 5-core solder has been doing pretty well, but the oxidized boards in the Rusty IC-735 are a different story! Cheers and thanks for the advice

I use Topnik TK83, though I’m sure there are plenty of suitable alternatives. It’s marketed as ‘no clean’ but it does leave a sticky residue, which is worth removing. I’m currently building a QMX+ from QRP Labs and am using it on all the joints. I wouldn’t normally, but the PCB has 6 layers, which are mostly ground plane and sucks heat out of a 50W iron, like you wouldn’t believe. Those Hakko guns aren’t cheap. I was fortunate to pick up a used Weller desoldering station for a reasonable price years ago.

I was going to make the same suggestion. Liquid flux often works magic in getting surfaces to accept solder and flow nicely. 73 de W5RST

Ok 👌 solder joints cleaned and resoldered this morning. For the ground lugs I found the Hakko has a lot more heating wattage so I reflowed the grounds with it. Good to go now!

Thanks! I looked all over on the web and found that TK83 seems to be available only from various UK and Western European stores. Finally settled on Kester 951 on Amazon for about $15 USD

Did you also get the CW Keyer? The IC-735 is really a nice radio for the features and size. The rusty one has been pretty fun

@@tyrueiI You have done a great job. Yes, I have the keyer as well. I have thought of selling the radio, but it looks, and acts like new. I have an Icom IC7300, but I use the '735 a lot..

Great news 👍 Glad to hear you’ve found the issue. Thanks for posting the detail as well. Wonder how many others are building a NC40 or variant today? 73, Bruce. P.S. I really should get back to mine!

I ended up paying $60 for a front panel with a good LCD and swapping the LCD onto my front panel. The Hakko desoldering tool made that task both possible and fairly easy.

You should have a light or drum light area on the top panel

Yes, the w60P has a 2-wire cord and the w60p3 has a 3-wire cord.

Interesting! Next I would measure the same voltages with and without the RIT on. After that I would look at the output of the 8V regulator and the voltage across R20 and the voltage on each end of R20 to ground (maybe it is the wrong value?)

I’m not the right guy to answer since I don’t know the voltage or weight requirements for a typical drone. I think I would start with a commercially made drone and then try to modify or add cells to get more flight time

Just enjoying on the bench. Glad it was useful! 73

Let’s also check the voltage from ground to each side of the tuning potentiometer

Interesting! Thanks. What is your new “go to” battery brand? I’ve recently been using Costco branded batteries for things around the house.

@@tyrueiI So far, I'm having excellent results with RayOVac for the last ~3 years and no leaks at all. If you are going to use duracells, please check them frequently..Some others seem to be having good luck with EverReady cells Good luck !

Thanks! It looks as though I should look around online for the latest tips. I admit I haven’t read any of the documentation either. I had to try it out!

Kind of… sort of… at least I can change bands now… haha

Hi Michael, sounds like a lot of fun and solder smoke at your place. I can do an update for setting VFO low, high and range, but in general set up low frequency with L9 and C50 (change L9 to move f if the range of C50 isn’t enough). Then change the range (delta f) with c49. Lower value for less range, higher for more range. Try doubling it then measure how much you gained as a start.

Yes 👍 all the way down is currently about 6 watts. I seem to have become a QRP guy. Maybe one of these days I’ll turn up the Rusty ICOM to 100 watts and see how that goes :-) Glad u are enjoying the bench time. Feedback is always welcome. Like when I fail to notice that the camera is looking at the bench top. Haha