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kids

Building the 2P3 AM Radio

January 29, 2019

In an Episode of Ham Nation or Amateur Logic featuring Joe Eisenberg (K0NEB), I saw him recommend a few radios as good beginner projects. The 2P3 radio looked like an entertaining project and something I could probably tackle with one of the kids. Amelia had recently discovered an old “boombox” from my youth and was playing the radio a lot. We decided it might be fun to listen to a radio that she had built.

The 2P3 mid construction

I ordered the kit from Amazon. The instructions come on a beautiful HUGE poster. It has an enormous schematic of the radio. I had wanted to build the radio by stage and is recommended when home brewing a radio. We started from the power conditioning part of the circuit. Once we had all the parts of the power we went back and installed the audio amplifier and worked our way backward.

I had intended to test the build frequently as we went along. Initially I couldn’t get any of the measurements to come out according to the schematic. I would go back and study the schematic and I was absolutely certain we had put the parts in the right polarity, etc. and continued forward. On the final day of the build I finally figured out why. . .

The way the circuit is designed there are purposefully installed breaks in the circuit. There is an X to mark the spot in the 3 points. basically they don’t allow power from the power rail to the circuit block you just finished. Being confident I had quintuple checked everything I bridged the circuit breaks and turned on the power the tested all the levels on the schematic. It worked! first try!!

The completed 2P3 is a nice finished product

The 2P3 is definitely NOT a beginner kit. But it is a great kit to build with someone who knows just a little and the finished product is a really nice radio.

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Steve Parks

I’m a relatively new ham. Got my license, joined a club and I’m having fun! I enjoy CW, pedestrian mobile, backpacking, and I dream of building radios at some point. At present I have a wife and daughters so my building time is limited.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: AM, kids, kits

Ham Gadgets Ultra Pico Keyer

January 1, 2019

As I mentioned in a previous post, Berkley decided she wanted to learn CW.  After having learned a few letters, I was pretty confident it was going to stick, but we needed to have a way for her to practice.  I have used the Ham Gadgets Ultra Pico Keyer for a few years on my HomeBrew 630M transmitter.  Disconnecting and reconnecting is super annoying, so I opted to get her one of her very own.

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mm
Steve Parks

I’m a relatively new ham. Got my license, joined a club and I’m having fun! I enjoy CW, pedestrian mobile, backpacking, and I dream of building radios at some point. At present I have a wife and daughters so my building time is limited.

Filed Under: CW, Family, Ham Radio, kits Tagged With: CW, kids, kit

Kids and Amateur Radio

December 18, 2018

I’ve recently had a break through with the kids.

As a dad, one of the great struggles in life is how to help your kids develop their God-given talents.  This must be balanced with not losing yourself at the expense of your children believing the world revolves around them.  OK. . . this isn’t a parenting blog.  It is possible that we won’t agree on this, but. . . I think we all want to share what we are passionate about with our kids.  I enjoy the outdoors, hiking/camping, and amateur radio.

My daughters are forever telling me radio, is for boys.

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mm
Steve Parks

I’m a relatively new ham. Got my license, joined a club and I’m having fun! I enjoy CW, pedestrian mobile, backpacking, and I dream of building radios at some point. At present I have a wife and daughters so my building time is limited.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Amateur Radio, family, kids

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