About

I have been a radio amateur since 1978, when I was licensed as G8RYQ, and then G4IFA in the UK.  About 10 years later, I became AA7EE here in the US.

In a previous life (which ended in 2009), I was the “voice” that represented Virgin Megastores in the US; being both the voice in all radio and TV commercials, as well as the voice on the telephone on-hold systems, and the presenter of in-store programming in all the stores in the US.  I produced all of the above too, with the exception of the TV commercials.  I also did voice-overs for outside clients from time to time for companies such as United Airlines, Taco Bell, and BT Infonet, as well as doing on-air presentation at a few commercial radio stations in Reno and Los Angeles. Now I am semi-retired, which gives me a little time to figure out what to do with the next part of my life, as well as the time to try to get an antenna in the tree at the back of my apartment building with the slingshot I just bought.

Edit – 4 years after stopping work, I am still doing the same thing, so it looks as if semi-retirement might be gradually morphing into a permanent lifestyle of homebrewing, riding my bicycle around Oakland, and pandering to my cats 🙂

Extra Edit – Another 4 years on, little has changed so at this point, it looks as if there is no hope of my turning back into a productive member of society. My cats don’t mind though.

My e-mail address is good on QRZ.

36 thoughts on “About”

  1. Dave, Nice chat on 40M today 11/29/09. Your 2n22 sounds great. Perhaps you know about Pacificon held each October (except this last time) in San Ramon, I usually go and they have a great QRP get together. http://www.pacificon.org/

    October is a long way away but you should come if you haven’t known about it.

    Mike Scott AE6WA
    Tarzana, CA

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  2. Mike – I was hoping that Pacificon would be in Reno again this year. It’s cheap to get there on the Greyhound from my QTH in the Bay area (if you let them drop you off at a Casino) and besides, it’s a fun break. I haven’t been to Pacificon before, but may go in 2010.

    Ur sigs were varying from 429 to 599 due to the slow QSB and later on in the QSO, the fact that you upped your power! The readability only dropped below 5 for a total of about a minute in the entire QSO – sigs being around 569 – 579 most of the time.

    Good to talk to you about Elecraft. I don’t think things have ever been better for amateur radio kit builders. Thanks once again for the chat and I hope we do it again soon.

    Good luck with those early mornings!

    Dave,
    AA7EE.

    Reply

  4. Dave,

    Curious about the orange case you are using for the FT-817 and your tuner….I have been looking all over for something like it.

    Love the blog…..I basically am running the same station out here in MD. Hope to run into you on the air.

    73’s,

    Jim KB0JTC

    Reply

  5. Jim – the orange case was made by Mountain-Ops Communications. They went out of business some years ago unfortunately. I don’t know why – their cases were exactly what I wanted for my FT-817. As well as the case for the 817, I had an orange case made by them for my Z-11 tuner, and a separate orange bag for holding accessories for portable ops (microphone, key, antenna etc.) At the time, though several other companies were making cases for the 817, only this one did exactly what I needed.

    Sorry I couldn’t help, but good luck in your search Jim!

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  6. Hi Dave,

    Your 40m regen receiver and its PCB enclosure is nothing less than inspiring. Beautifully done.

    I would love to build this. Do you happen to have a contact email for a kit, circuit and/or build details for this RX and may I have it?

    73’s

    John

    Reply

    1. John – there are a few QRP clubs who are organizing group builds for this receiver. I may be able to put you in touch with someone, but the one group build I know a bit about is not going to be until 2013. I believe that Far Circuits sell the PCB, but in my opinion this circuit is ideal for a Manhattan build.

      This was really a roundabout way of saying that I don’t know of a full kit as I don’t believe there is one. As I mentioned in my blog post, the original article was in Aug 2001 QST and has been reprinted in the ARRL book “More QRP Power”. It’s one of those projects that you have to source all the parts yourself I’m afraid (feels so much better when you finish it though!)

      I bought my PCB material from seller abcfab on eBay. I already had most of the rest of the parts, but I’m pretty sure they’re all available (including the knobs) from Mouser.
      Some 4-40 hardware is available from Radio Shack (such as bags of nuts) – they sell circuit board standoffs too. I often use my local Ace Hardware for other 4-40 hardware. It gets a bit pricey paying 20 cents for a screw or a couple of washers, but when you’re close to completing a project, a few bucks to finish it off doesn’t seem so bad.

      I actually think this is such a good regen that it would be worth someone working with N1BYT and putting a kit together. There are so many regen designs out there that utilize RF preamp stages, and this circuit doesn’t need one. It doesn’t radiate into the antenna, has no hum, and smooth regeneration which doesn’t need constant adjustment. It’s a good ‘un.

      Reply

    1. I’m honored that you considered it worthy enough to reference somewhere else – thank you John. FYI, by clicking on the title of the post in my blog, that will give you a page that contains just that one post, which is better for linking to than the url to my entire blog. If people click on that link in a few months, they’ll have to scroll down quite a bit before they get to the post you intended them to.

      Reply

  8. Dave, I’ve enjoyed your posts on building the K2. I’m just not at the point where I can afford one. But I sure want one! It was nice to “watch” you build yours.
    I also wanted to ask your permission to use the picture of your “Manhattan Project” in a PowerPoint presentation that I’m presenting to my local club. I had never seen the QRPme square pads. They’re kind of neat looking. Nice looking little rig too!
    I couldn’t find an email address for you so just thought I’d leave a comment here.
    You can email me at ‘on30ng at gmail dot com’ with your reply.
    Thanks.
    Dan Reynolds KB9JLO

    Reply

    1. Dan – I saw the Powerpoint presentation on QRP-L and am really flattered that you considered my home-brew project worthy of inclusion in the presentation to your club. Permission most definitely granted, and I will send you an e-mail too to make sure you get this message,

      Dave
      AA7EE

      Reply

  10. Hi there,

    Very impressed with the quality of construction. Internally your radios look almost like miniature sculptures!

    Just a suggestion. I don’t know how stable these VXO’s are? what about linearity? Have you ever built a radio with permeability tuning (moving ferrite)? They tend to be very stable, linear, and, if you want to avoid fiddly construction, you’ll find everything you need in a 2nd hand MW/LW AM car radio. I’ve bought old AM car radios for £1 each on ebay (including a few valve ones)

    There is a nice CHEAP kit for a PMO based DC receiver (Or just get the PCB) (It looks like NORCAL’s tin ear RX?

    http://hamshop.cz/pcb-c7/plosny-spoj-dc-rx-40-m-s-pto-i180/

    http://blog.ok1cdj.com/2012/03/prijimac-pro-pasmo-40-ladeny-pto.html

    I’d be interested in your comments.

    Stephen Walters G7VFY

    MISTER35MM at yahoo dot co dot UK

    Reply

    1. Stephen –

      Thanks for the link. I’ve seen hamshop.cz but don’t think I’ve seen that particular project before. No, I have never built a RX or TX with a PMO (I think we call them PTO’s over here). I like the idea of the tuning linearity. There are several projects knocking around the shack right now and on top of that, my work pace has slowed down considerably. Funnily enough, the slower I go, the more I enjoy myself, which of course is not a good thing in terms of productivity! It might be an idea for the future though.

      Reply

    1. I don’t have information for a 40 or 20M version, I’m afraid. It has been built for 40M though – I think it was Peter Parker VK3YE who did it. You can find the schematic and other information for the ZL2BMI version of this transceiver on ZL2BMI’s website at http://www.mightymessage.com/

      There is a schematic showing Chris G3XIZ’s mods at http://www.gqrp.com/sprat.htm near the top of the page. There has been some discussion of the rig on the GQRP Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GQRP/

      It is a circuit for seasoned experimenters, rather than someone who needs a schematic that is reasonably forgiving of layout, which is probably why mine has been suffering from RF feedback. Best of luck, and please let me know how it goes if you decide to have a go.

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  12. Dave
    You should be a professional photographer, or perhaps you are one. Outstanding shots of the K2 build. Thanks….Lynn

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    1. I’ve seen this John – it’s fantastic. I love the combination of SMT with more classic methods of construction. Great stuff!

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  14. Hi Dave – trying to get in contact but I can’t find an e-mail anywhere! If you could give me an e-mail address or send me a quick e-mail, I’d be much obliged.

    Thanks!

    Joe

    Reply

    1. Joe – I’m good on QRZ, if you’re a licensed ham. If not, there is a link to an e-mail address somewhere on this site. I have to go out now but will look for it later if you’re not able to access my e-mail on QRZ.

      Reply

  15. I’m afraid not…and please excuse my blindness, but I just can’t find that link! An e-mail would be grand, thank you 🙂

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  16. Hi Dave: I am interseted in your 40 meter direct conversion receiver. I purchased the hyper mitr filter and would like a copy of the receiver circuit.
    thank you. What is your E mail address? Dave wa2djn3@verizon.net

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  17. Hi Dave, wonder if you could email me some time re some extra info I have about my circuit
    best 73 Eric Sears ZL2BMI (my email on the article in Sprat)

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  18. DearOm,
    I’m recently suggested by a friend to see your blog, as I’m also a QRP enthusiast and an active homebrewer. I admire your work and thoroughly appericiate it. It is very artistic and quite pleasing. But we have limited component resources here. Things like NE602 are a dream for us as being living in this remotest part of world we can not actually manage to go through lengthy bank procedures to arrange currency transfers for purchase of such items. I remember well that
    I wanted to get a kit of hypermite filter for about five to six years but it still is on to-do charts…..!! However all that is a part of hobby and we have learned to live with what we have in hand and we are homebrewing with parts available to us locally. You can see some of my ideas in back issues of SPRAT.
    Nonetheless, salutes to your dexterous work once again…….!!
    Cordially,
    Kang.

    Reply

    1. Thank you Kang. Great home-brew is all about using the parts that you have to make something. It is a testament to your ingenuity that you are succeeding!

      73,

      Dave
      AA7EE

      Reply

    1. Thank you Robert. I do too. For some reason, the old theme was not displaying the images in the correct size, and there was some loss of detail. I looked around for a new theme/layout, and this one seemed to work quite well.

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  21. I have enjoyed reading your blog. I’m trying to get a PDF of N1BYT’s article on the OCR regenerative receiver. It does not seem to be available from the ARRL website. Any idea where I can get it? Tnx

    Reply

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