Find hiding radio stations with a, PCA-2T-200 Panadaptor
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- This video shows the operation of a Panadaptor. The video also explains some modifications to my Hammarlund HQ-120 receiver, that allows me to attach that Panadaptor without circuit loading. These modifications can benefit any old tube receiver, even if your only looking for performance gain. Schematics of these modifications are in the video.
I am going to recommend Mr. Carlson's videos to as many of my fellow enthusiasts, engineers, and technicians as I can. If you're reading this and are new to this channel I highly recommend you keep watching. Even if you're not knowledgeable in this field you will learn something. This type of amazing content has honestly made me more passionate about my own job and it could spark a new hobby, passion, or profession for you too.
I literally have no knowledge of any of this and yet I am still watching and listening so you must be doing something right.
+David Herron
That's good to know David! Thanks for your comment.
It's like watching Star Trek
haha you have to make sure the negative frequencies, an undesirable anomoly from the phase cancelling are reducted serially by the vaccum tube.
I now have an Icom 7300 and it's just fantastic to see the a whole band at once and also be able to identify most of the various modes being used instantly. Or be able to zoom in for super narrow digital modes. Seeing radio adds a great dimension to the hobby.
Im also a lucky owner of the icom 7300 with a modification so i can hear and transmit over the whole band.
Its a great thing to listen to radio stations from all over the world
I was raised on valve (tube) equipment, and made a lot of homebrew valve equipment as well. Nice mods! It's so much easier to modify equipment that does not use a PCB. Yes, the heater voltage is not critical - consider that heaters are typically fed from a raw secondary winding on the mains transformer, so it will vary with line voltage anyway. Unless you go way back when many radio sets had no mains transformer and the heaters were wired in series with each other, the panel lamps and a resistor, and fed direct from the mains, with the HT also obtained from rectified raw mains, making a heater-cathode short very interesting! You could always tell a set that used that arrangement because all the valves would light up white-hot at switch-on then quickly fade back to red.
It looks like there is space on the main chassis of your receiver for a couple of extra valve bases, so the extra valves could have been mounted externally if you had a suitable chassis punch to make the holes easily without creating metal filings.
Mr. Carlson, I thoroughly enjoy your videos. I don't totally understand them. but as a new ham and someone that loves to build and tinker with mechanical stuff they are fun to watch.
As an retired RadOp, this is brilliant content. Thanks young lad. Great stuff.
Thank you Mr. Carlson. For years I have been trying to understand the difference between Amplitude Modulation and Frequency Modulation. I have had electronics teachers get exasperated and walk out in disgust for trying to impart the knowledge. Generally, if I can "see" the phenomenon I can understand, and when you turned up the gain at 34.18, for the first time I could finally "see" what was being described. At least for this, now that I truly see what an amplitude looks like inside a carrier wave, (as opposed to a frequency which I would now know would be uniform tops and bottoms in the carrier?). Thank you very much for what you do. You have a wonderful gift and thanks for sharing.
Absolutely wonderful. I had no idea what the big black box with a nice front panel did. And I also had no idea what was the handsomely finished smaller top box for. Then I watched the Hammarlund HQ-120 restoration video and this Panadaptor video and now I know what both do. Thank you, Mr. Carlson!
Visualising and hearing those spread spectrum sounds was really intriguing! Makes you realise there is so much stuff going on in this world you can't normally see!
That signal you heard when tuning around, the spread spectrum was CODAR. Ocean radar :D
Another interesting vid... I cut my teeth at 14 years old building a kit 1 valve shortwave regen radio with plug-in coils ....
my greatest achievement with that little radio was picking up HCJB Equador here in Ireland.
The world seemed like a very big place back then (early 70's)
BTW Paul ....Your attention to detail in your builds & modifications is a joy to behold...
Thank you & keep up the wonderful educational work ... you're a natural teacher...
I very much enjoyed this video. I´m not really understanding most of the "tech-talk" but i can follow, You´re a good explainer. The real fun began when You were coasting along and watching the Panadaptor. When i was a kid, i got my first own radio at 4 years old. That was 1976 and we lived right next to the border West/East Germany 30 kilometers away. The sw-band was common use and getting the World into my room by turning a knob seemed like pure magic to me, it was so much fun.
Owning such equipment now would kind of driving my cats nuts but imagining i´m surfing on the short wave again with my little "tv" on the top, seeing what i´m listening to- that brings back nicer times.
I very much appreciate what You´re doing by sharing that knowlege and bringing all that beautiful old stuff back, even better than ever because You put so much brains into- i´d be glad if i could just sweep Your lab. You´ve got a new fan :)
I absolutely loved this video. What a great job you did explaining your modifications and the theory behind it all. I love the look into old-timey tech. You know what they say... Glass has class! Thanks so much for sharing!
+Nicholas Hyer
Your welcome Nicholas!
@@MrCarlsonsLab , And you're welcome, too, Paul!
Большое спасибо за смешай господи и удевительно что это все работает
Hi there again Paul. That Panadaptor is certainly doing the job nicley now you have done those modifications. Great stuff. It changes the whole outlook of Shortwave Listening to be Shortwave viewing also. It certainly makes life more interesting being able to see the modulation pattern of a signal has opposed to only being able to hear it. Better than watching "Soaps" on TV.
Going back some time ago. I was paid a visit from the TV Licencing department due to the fact my QTH did not have a TV licence registered. I was polite in answering the guy's questions by the fact that I was a liceced Radio Ham and did not have the time to carry out my hobby and pay to watch a load of rubbish on a TV. He agreed with me and made a note to the fact that I was Anti-TV. Exccept of course unless it was for Amateur Radio. Never had a call from them again. 73 de John - G0WXU.
Mr Carlson, you have put the magic back into Electronics for me. Thank you kind sir. Love the channel!
I up-graded from all my arcane 'tuber' , , , amature radio equip. for computer/internet equipment ; without regret,, over 20 years ago!! So,, I'm able to appreciate your remarkable
technical expertise!! Thank you!!
so band spectrum tuning isn't a new invention. we now all see in high end radio's and sdr computer systems .
Love it .
+Dhr Willemsen
It's definitely been around for some time. Thanks for your comment!
Paul you have a very good way of explaining a complex subject
Thanks Mark!
Magic stuff Paul yet again.
+Les Johnson
Thanks again Les!
He’s the guy who discovered the extra layer of data transmission in the movie Contact.
Good to go. I'm good to go. Good movie, Ellie.
I have not seen a panadaptor in a long time. Had one back in 1968 and it was old then.
I'm hooked! This is truly fascinating.
Geeze, a Panadaptor! I haven't seen one of those since the early '60s.
Always fun to watch you with gear that I remember from way back when. Thanks.
The first time I used a panoramic display was when I was a volunteer operater in the Ham station at my local science museum. Kenwood donated their TS-950 and an SM-220 station monitor. Working the bands with that was a relevation. If I ever get back into the hobby I'll hook up an sdr dongle to my radio's IF in a similar manner.
When I went through electronics school we stuck close to solid state components. I really didn't learn about vacuum tubes - That being said I understood perfectly well how this tube circuit is designed as a follower. The isolation it provides makes an awful lot of sense. I can only imagine, omitting this design from the original product must have been a cost consideration. Obviously this is a far superior design.
Lost me after he said Carlson !
Why can't I get any of this 🤔
This gent is gifted !
Why is it that I could be watching football games or porn ??? But I get much more enjoyment from listening and watching this great teacher
What an amazing instrument and a very fantastic description!. Many thanks for sharing.
Bet they weren’t cheap.
What an explanation. Loud and clear.
Bravo! Excellent videos--rich with knowledge! Thank you!
Cool, Very ahead of its time. As compared to today's Websdr and other digitally generated radio band spectrums of modern software defined radios.
I agree, and there is nothing like owning old radio gear (analog tube stuff,) making contacts on cold winter evenings with a warm coffee, and the shack smelling like warm carbon comp resistors.
Mr Carlson's Lab dude, you are my hero lol. Future electrical genius here. Just letting you know how much you inspired me.
ive never owned a radio in my house lol but i love electronics and learning about older technology. i love seeing what we came from
Very interesting and educational. You certainly know your stuff when it comes to tubes.
Hey Mr. Carlson, I'm a great fan of all of your videos and enjoy them so much I became a patreon member. My question is, do you plan to do the restoration of one of these panadaptors any time soon? I know you mentioned it in the above video which was shot in 2015, but I've not seen it yet and don't want to miss it! I plan on doing the above mods on my Hammarlund HQ 150 so that I can run this same type Panadaptor. Thanks again for all the great content, it's truly inspiring to watch someone with such skill and knowledge.
Now that is cool. You’d think reviewers would’ve come with this for the coolness factor alone. But I guess it takes a lot of extra circuitry to achieve.
You know, I'm really glad a good friend of mine posted this channel to me in an IRC. after seeing this I really want to sit down and pick your brain a bit lol. I have a couple scopes identical scopes that had been given to me an I would love to have some help with. I have a feeling they could be used for this kind of application. If that is the case I will be probing deeper into using them.
shortwave Glad your enjoying the channel!
I greatly enjoy this gentleman's presentations as I did Bob Ross the artist.
Your videos are great! I really like these old Receivers.
Best regards from Germany :-)
Mark Hoppenstedt Thanks Mark! Glad your enjoying.
I love all your videos, I only have basic electrical skills. I can build equipment from schematics but do not understand all the workings.
Hi! Very very good video! Although I have some forty years in electronics I never heard anything about this pan-whatever. And I loved it. Now, due to this video, I discovered that "waterfall" SDR wonder. I have no access to this cute CRT pan, but I do have access to SDRs. Thanks a lot!
You're Welcome Joao!
Those spread spectrum signals are CODAR, a type of radar that's used to monitor ocean wave patterns.
I have a few great CB’s that I now have the confidence to work on.... thanks
I had one of the early models of the Panadapter back in 1958 when I first became a ham. I used it on my Drake receiver using a similar scheme to prevent loading the IF... but I could have used that IF filter because it sure was peaked at the center! LOL
Beyond me at present but I watch your videos and learn. :-)
nice piece of vintage electronics
smbrob Thanks!
+urbex2007 Q in an inductor is the ratio of the inductive reactance of the coil to its winding resistance. For example, a coil with a reactance of 300 ohms at a given frequency and a resistance of 30 ohms would have a Q of 10. The Q value desired would depend on the purpose of the circuit. In a resonant circuit, a high Q would generally be desired to get the sharpest tuning to eliminate undesired frequency components from your circuit. This is necessarily a very brief explanation; whole books have been written!
Thanks for your comment!
vonzigle I like pizza
Left eye is looking at the panadaptor, right eye is looking at the Icom in the background. My brain is thinking that big black box has now been reduced to a surface mount part. But still..., real radios GLOW!
You remind me of one of my college professors, the only difference is he teaches theology, you teach vintage tech (the interesting stuff lol)
Collage professor that teaches theology? The hell was that for school?!
LOL ... there were theology professors before most of the current sciences were even named or discovered. I doubt they're going away anytime too soon, although the classes typically aren't required any longer.
@@dtiydr , Just like one of the colleges I went to... back in the beginning of time.
@@BruceNitroxpro Wow, if today a school like that would have been closed right away in my country.
Wow carlson that is one sweet kit you got there... 73's from norway.
Lovely little band analyser. Probably two a penny in the US... Never seen one in the UK. Though we did have a military spec version on our main CCR console aboard the Ark Royal. It also reminds me of a UA9 ECM receiver, or a wartime early radar set.
Very nice, thankyou for posting this..
I really enjoy your videos, thank you. LU7HDM from Argentina, 73!
I'm really enjoying this video, though I only understand about 1% of the electronics behind it ;)
good job and well explanation 👏👍
Super video Mr Carlson! Thanks for the detailed break down.
+Richard Cunningham
Glad you enjoyed Richard!
Ribbon wire di pole lets me scan the band on 2 meters and a MFJ tuner gets me into everything ! 160 on my long wire is awesome ! 40 meters is sketchy on my on my long lines . But my foot warmer lets me kick it up !
An alternate method for a good receiver having two or three circuits tuned to the input frequency would be to couple the plate of the first RF amplifier to the grid of an added 6BE6 converter tube: Its oscillator input would be fed from the HF oscillator and its plate circuit would feed out [through a capacitor] to the Panadapter. This way, the receiver would not narrow the bandwidth as much.
Sounds like a neat idea Lee!
OK im sold. Ill get this for my hideout.
RE: short wave radio antenna outside: "I could probably hold up a pipe and receive a thunderbolt" ROTFL!!! Genius comedy!
Your lab is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Where do you buy this stuff? What books do you read about how to do these things?
Another great video! I would like to have seen an SSB signal on the Panadaptor.
Thnks mster Carlson's your videos is BEST
I'm so, impressed with your vids; I've subscribed . . .Thank you!!!
Just finished a scope just like this one(SP-44), really looking forward to your effort!
Mark Fritz Great on the SP-44! Nice little machines. I also acquired an SA-1 Pan scope. That will also be an up coming project. Thanks for your comment!
Great video, well presented and easy to understand,
that is a gorgeous unit
Thanks, I have a larger version to restore as well.
Wow that Pan-adaptor must have cost big bucks back in the days.
VIDEOSUPERHIGHWAY I never did look at the original asking price, I imagine your right! Thanks for your comment!
Huh, that's really cool man!
Awesome video and content, as always !
It can tell how wide people are. Ha ha ha!!! You didn't really have to clarify that remark, Paul.
The noise at around 32:40 is an Over The Horizon Radar. I hear them frequently in many places on the dial - all over HF. 73, de VE7WNK.
Thanks for stopping by Bob!
Hello from Sault Ste Marie
I enjoyed your video on the PCA-2T, it looks like a great project. I have just restored a Hammarlund HQ-120 and this Panadaptor would fit right in. To do this I believe that I would require a Spectrum Analyzer. Can you recommend one a at reasonable cost? Thanks again
Jerry
"....yes sir , there were 4 bodies found in the attic, next question......go ahead ma'am...."
That is a wonderful device
rainbow waterfall displays are dope. haha... i really like that pandapter though.. that thing looks totally fun :) rf =lyfe
Have you ever found any old numbers stations or other weird signals?
All the SDR and digital stuff has taken the magic out of it... I have a $19 USB dongle that does this...Yawn... Tubes rock. I had no idea they could scan spectrums like this so far back in the 1940's.... I looked at boatanchor's and see it is a Panoramic Radio PCA-2 T-200 Panadaptor. Cool.
+gmcjetpilot
I agree, all this waterfall dongle stuff is removing "the good feeling" of operating radio. I have many more Pan scopes that will be future video's. I'm also going to make a converter circuit to use a 10.7 MHz IF pan scope with 455kHz IF receiver... Should be fun.
***** You are preaching to the choir. However if you have never used, owned, worked on tubes you are missing something. I have a Degen DE1103, under $100 radio that rivals some solid state sham rig receivers. I also have SDR radios (software defined radios). However tubes still rock for many applications, especially for transmitting finals, they are more forgiving. Commercial transmitters are still using tubes. Some say tube audio amps for stereo or guitars has been replaced by solid state... Replaced yes, but as a substitute, no. Tubes still have a sound all their own, like vinyl records have a sound that CD's or MP3's can not match. Again if you have no tube gear you are missing the fun.
Actually it's the other way around. The modern stuff is good for eye candy. The older stuff is more sensitive to weaker signals and the audio you get from them just can't be beat.
bigsky1970 That is a blanket statement I am not sure you can back up with data, Tubes are more robust in many ways, especially for finals, but as far as sensitivity and audible phone, the new digital signal and audio processing is hard to beat. Even guitar players are going away from tube amps to solid state, simply because of reliability and remaining in adjustment. Same with old tube radios. However I love tubes....
Great Site! My CRM 114 Discriminator receiver needs repair, ha ha
I enjoy your videos . Why did you not use a mosfet as a follower for the panadaptor?
Vincent
I had to keep it all "tube"
words to live by Always make it easy for the next tech Because it will more than likely be you
I do have a question, why did you use a single diode to rectify the current to the 6k8 rather then a full bridge rectifier. Wouldn't this reduce the current available to the 6k8? Was it that you adjusted the voltage with the 2 resistors, so a half wave rectification was acceptable?
I'm curious. Have you found any interesting broadcasting hidden channels? Anything weird? Made contact with those people (if they are 'people'...just kidding)?
Looks very Cool.
Coll, never even heard of the little spectrum analyzer.
I soo, wish I'd had one of these jewels when I was running my FR 101E,, years ago!!
So it was the early version of todays waterfall display.
Well, not really, but the same "sort of" outcome. The waterfall and spectrum display content is different. Panadaptors are still in use today, just with newer LCD screens.
I just acquired one of these and wish I had any idea what your technical descriptions meant. Can you show how the panadaptor connects to the receiver?
Cool device that 👍
Did you ever restore that pan-scope / panadapter? Would love to know how it does FFT in old analog hardware
Thanks again for your information
i like the video it is very interesting to which i like every video you do from gary 73.
+Gary Seward
Thanks Gary!
These improvements would work with the WWII Navy Hammarlund RBG series of receivers.
You confused me for a while by the use of kc instead of khz for your frequency measure. I had to look it up to discover that kc is the former abbreviation and quite common when those devices were manufactured. For other viewers - kc is short for kc/s or kilocycles per second. Essentially the same as kilohertz or khz.
In case anyone is like me and didn't know, DX refers to distant signals
So I’m watching this today and the problem with hum was something I encountered years ago with my SB-300 receiver. I identified the problem as the ground side of the filament heater was too close to the tube ground and too far from the chassis ground. I added a braided connection between the ground plate of the circuit board and the chassis near that tube and suddenly the hum was gone. In my head I pictured a drain without the needed capacity. I added enough to handle the current level “drainage” and problem solved.
You do such nice work, it must be hard deciding which ideas to carry out, and which to leave for another time, eh?
Hi Colin! You are right, I have many projects, and friends that want their stuff working again too. So I mix it up a little, it makes for some interesting topics here on you tube. Thanks for the kind comment!
Hi Mr. Carlson,
I like your Videos very much. Would it be possible you once make a Video about a Wavetek Stabilock 4040 Comminucation Tester?
I have one which has Problems. Would like to learn more about it.Mr Carlson's Lab
Eberhard Hewicker Hi Eberhard. At one time I had a chance to own one, but never purchased it. I would do a video, but I don't have that unit here. Thanks for the comment!
Mr Carlson's Lab Hi Paul, as I live in Germany, there is no way to take the unit over to your Lab.
Eberhard Hewicker Hi Eberhard. What I meant was, If I owned the 4040 that I had a chance to purchase, I would do a video. I wasn't suggesting that you bring yours. That unit looks very heavy too.
You gotta have a CRT... Yep love a CRT
How does the scope know what frequency you've tuned your radio in to? Pretty neat thing... all radios should have one :)
The Panadaptor scans the IF of the receiver. The center of the scan is always watching 455kHz. So no matter where you move the dial on the receiver, the center screen of the panadaptor is always where your listening.
Ah, so they're not actually connected, it's just picking up the side-effect emissions from the receiver itself? One of those smart ideas that seems simple once someone else comes up with it...
"how wide someone is (er uh) ..." :D