Back to Analog Basics

Recognize this?

Your current digital product, appliance or service is offering you daily problems. You're fighting your way through settings via zillions of sub-sub-menus, hoping to get that one simple task done. In fact your 'life-style experience' thingy is a product of guaranteed instant stress.

Now there are always some geeks nearby, offering 'help' by friendly telling: you are doing it all wrong. Your settings are incorrect and additionally need to be tweaked(by principal), upgrades installed and special geek-tricks added to the equation before such a device can work at all... This takes time. Yes a lot of precious time (hours), during which you're told how you are living your life utterly wrong, explained at the same geek tech level, which slows down your present perception of (lost) time even more.

And then it shows; the offered intervention did not help.

Surprisingly this does not change the mood of your geek-friend. Quite the opposite; you receive an even longer explanation about why it did not work. In many details that is, until you finally surrender by nodding that you understand him completely...

Why these creatures are willing to spoil so many consecutive hours of what could have been a fine day is beyond my comprehension (I already exploded mentally twice). I know the world needs them for propelling our technical development. And basically, I am a technician as well. Professionally I'm creating bridges between Planet Geek and Earth, thereby understanding both entities. But in my free time I find myself more often in the base camp of the average John Doe nowadays. Effectively I'm pulling myself away from the interventions and want to call it a day. However my friend is more focused than ever and does not let go.

More geek tricks are pulled in and, since the challenge level is rising, others step in soon, turning this into a geek frenzy. After much longer it is finally your product bursting up in flames at which the whole pack is joy-ably agreeing it is you who choose the wrong Operating System in the first place.

Well I'm sorry, but back on earth I find it an insult if one imposes such a discussion to a consumer in the year 2010. I know consumers are indeed slowly mentally degrading, but geeks lack common sense. The product is just crap, period.

Daily Digital Crap Products

Getting to my current affairs; I have been trying some 5 different types/brands Digital Cordless Telephone sets these last couple of years and concluded it's crap.

Battery charging issues, never correct battery indicator, non-responsive number buttons, blinking lights, alarm messages on the display etc...

My favorite annoyance is the "missed call" message on the display. It took 18 (!) button pushes to clear that message from the display, every-time. Why is it that manufacturers aside from implementing a hundred ridiculous options, cannot create a selectable basic simple operating mode, offering nothing but making a call?

I have installed one complete set with 4 handsets at my parents house. Their world is different and they do not recognize any of the display messages at all. And the one in their bedroom is blinking red from day one. Every time a unit does not work or responds differently, they conclude it's probably their operating error and accept that. Hmmmm...... maybe a small learning opportunity for the control freak?

Back to Analog Basics

Out goes the digital crap phone stuff, in comes the Beocom 2000 from Bang & Olufsen. I bought this telephone sometime during 1990-1995. It has an astonishing design. It's greatest asset was and still is its superb audio quality. I used this great device for over 12 years without a flaw ever...

The brown leather pouf is over 35 years old and needed a 2 hour leather creme polish as it was totally dried out. Both are milestones from the past. Guess what? They both still function well.
This model has just a few basic functions like 20 memories, a red emergency number button, an LCD showing the dialed number (no call ID recognition) and 3 selectable true analog ring-tones.
Installation process takes 1 single non-dramatic step: connecting your RJ11 cable. No batteries to install and charge 24hrs, no firmware upgrade, no operating system settings, no help desk and no on-line manual.



That long greyish thing on the left is your handset(wired connection!). As soon as you pick it up from the hook-switch you hear the analog line buzz. Not that digital created artificial sound image from the past, just the real thing.
No answering machine, mailbox, Call ID and/or hide call ID. Just the basics needed for a phone conversation between earthlings.

Es IV, more nostalgia

President Madison
The Bentley of ancient CB radio.
I bought this rig via a local auction website. It is fully functional and has the following specs:

• 120channels, 40 low, normal, 40 high
• AM/FM/LSB/USB
• +10KHz switch for the so called Alpha Channels
• Upgraded power supply
  

All is due to modifications done, as the unit originally only has 40ch and AM/SSB.
The mic is neccessary for operation of the speaker. Need to get that fixed sometime, cause I do not use this rig for TX.
The sound is lush and shows good selectivity. On opening the hood I found a real SSB IF filter having 6 crystals. Now that's truely amazing !

Now take a look at those large meters, they are dying for or what?




Es?
Ah yes, I'm drifting off again. Sorry about that.
The Madison is for 3 days in use now and usually parked on 27.555 (triple-five). Its sensitive receiver shows Es openings already from 09:00 (local) onwards from Italy (what else is new) and later Spain. At 10:30 the band is filled with many loud signals from all southern Europe.
And 6m, which was quiet for two days in a row, is starting too. I'm hearing Italy, Greece and some Ukrain stations.
The Es openings on 27MHz come in waves too, just like 50MHz. However, there's always life on CB, whereas 6 usually stays total quiet in between.

I need to start becoming active on 28MHz again.

Nostalgia; Radio & TV Broadcast Antennas

Current summer weather does not allow for weekend HAM projects. Being that ”radio-nerd” doesn’t mean I do not actively enjoy sunshine and outdoors activities like sports. In fact I do and I care less about the missed opportunity to HK and JY on 6m these last few days (new ones so, do I really???).

Anyway, while swimming in Bückeburg (Germany) I noticed a typical classic german Radio& Television tower in the background. This kind of view brings back early memories of our summer holiday car travel to Switzerland, Italy or Austria, during which I spotted many of those Radio/TV towers along the german highway (Autobahn).

During the trip home we passed this one more closely while taking an alternative route(B65) to the Autobahn (A2). This Radio&TV tower is situated on top of the Jakobsberg near the city of Porta Westfalica. More detailed info on the geographical site and the tower can be found on:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernmeldeturm_Jakobsberg#Neuer_Fernmeldeturm


According this website: http://www.senderfotos.de/nrw.htm , the site is open for public. This 135m high tower can be visited at the first level (25mtrs). The two large surroundings are at 50 and 58m height.

Before the closing down analogue TV it served:
ZDF UHF ch 26/300KW
WDR UHF ch57/330KW
NDR UHF ch54/20KW
These analogue transmitters have been shutdown since may 2006, from which DVBT was started.

Today the tower serves:
95.7MHz FM "Radio westfalica"
WDR-Bouquet 1 UHF ch26/5KW
WDR-Bouquest 2 Bielefeld UHF ch31/5KW
ZDFmobil-Bouquet UHF ch33/5KW

That 'other' radio hobby...

"FIRATO" at the RAI exposition in Amsterdam

From 1950 till 1998 the Amsterdam RAI exposition centre hosted the Firato every two years. This was a consumer electronics show, mainly focussing on Hi-Fi and TV&Video.
Several new introductions took place at the Firato, like:

• 1963: The second national Television Channel (NED 2)
• 1963: The Philips Compact Audio Cassette
  
• 1967: Colour television by Philips
• 1978: Text view by the BBC
  
• 1982: Compact Disc by Philips

From the 90's onwards, people slowly lost interest in Hi-Fi and TV/Video. Home computer slowly took over...
During the period 1978 till 1985 I had a great interest for Hi-Fi. Every show I dragged tons of folders and stuff :)
I have been drooling at the top models of Philips Hi-Fi equipment, which at that time were accordingly high priced. Definitely not in my league, not even with my saturday-job at the local gas-station. It was mainly Akai I could afford and which suited me very well.



From early 2006 onwards I have slowly started collecting some of those legacy Philips products.
Local Flea markets and internet are superb for this. Even E-bay is useful, as I have collected rare Philips products for only 25 euro. These beautiful products did cost some 700 euro, back in 1979.



Philips AM/FM tuner type 22AH105 and Amplifier type 22AH308








The second CD-player ever: CD300, a second '105'tuner and a receiver 22AH306.
There is more; like a record player and , and.....etc.

Short note: this is all in my shack. Not the living-room.






Dating from 1978; the 22AH794 receiver, accompanied by the '541' Motional Feedback active loudspeakers (1976).
I own several 'Philips MFB' loudspeakers. What makes these special is that the typical non-wanted woofer cone movements (in and out-swing ) on bass impulses, are monitored by a small element and feed back into its internal amps. The result is a very clean and low base performance.

Is there some HAM related stuff involved here??

Yes some, because for receiving FM stereo in good quality you need an outdoors antenna nowadays.
For our 2007 holiday we built a 5el yagi (K6STI design:http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/small.htm).
It is now on my roof and serves me well for receiving distant FM radio stations in the range from NNE to South. Its clean pattern and a stone roof on its back does help as it ignores all the local commercial stuff and brings out stations from 150km distance and beyond.
While enjoying the flexibility of a good directional antenna it does have its disadvantages too.
Switching direction to the other favourite station, needs digging out that old rotor control unit and takes ages of time. Now I also have several tuners, which I want to feed as well.

An old VHF vertical was found on a flea market. Its a typical fibreglass version of 1mtr length. Inside I found a small burned ceramic cap. That's also 'typical', as some operators never read the specs.
I tuned this one into a FM radio GP with only 1 radial, made from some brass length.
In my collection of more flea-market stuff I found a small aluminium side mount. Neat !
Last weekend offered lovely sunny weather. I mounted the new omni-vertical to the existing FM antenna setup. Two different coaxes enter my house just at the point where both tuners are located in my shack.





This K6STI type FM radio antenna was made from alum and 40mm PVC pipe. A true home made 1:1 balun is installed to keep the pattern clean. This antenna is easy to build and does a wonderful job.
It was used during our 2007 holiday activities in HB0 .

The new vertical is just parallel to the mast, on the right side.







The vertical was painted black with some 'green spots'.
The radial and mounting bracket were painted too, all just to lower the visual impact.






Does it work?
Yes, the vertical offers my favourite local stations (e.g. Classic Arrow Rock radio) in a range of max 50km. It does not offer the 'FM-DX' like the yagi does. Very, very few stations can be heard and those have S1 and R2-3 only...
But on domestic reception of FM stereo radio stations it performs as expected.

You can never have too many antennas.

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