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I need your help with an Elmer Night at the club

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paul @removeppinyot.removecom Paul_P

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Dec 11, 2009, 9:05:19 AM12/11/09
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The radio club I belong to http://www.skyviewradio.net/ has Elmer nights
every 4th Tuesday. A couple of year back I Elmered on Vintage Radio
Restoration http://www.ppinyot.com/S/slides.htm with a multi week lab where
participants acquired and restored "starter" radios. It was fun.

I would like to prepare and present an Elmer night on building a single (or
dual) tube simple radio. The requirements are:
1) Affordable (i.e., Cheep!)
2) Buildable over a few nights. (i.e., simple to construct. Perhaps
literally on a board).
3) Battery operation would be desirable. Have some degree of safety
involved. Some hams do not have a handle just yet with the "Hands-On" of
electricity. I do have three isolation transformers for the lab environment.
I could use individual isolation trannys on a case by case basis. I could
have a separate Elmer night on building a battery eliminator type of B+
supply.

I need:

a) References to specific schematics. I prefer not to reinvent the wheel.
b) Tube type not important. Only that it has the required vacuum.
c) Source of tubes and sockets (in case I do not have enough).
d) Speaker output for the Wow factor (Hey hear that! I built that!). An
amplified computer speaker would do the job. Mostly all Hams have them.

Is there a 117 volt hot chassis heater tube that did the whole job?

I want to completely mull this over and construct one before I present.

You can send me private emails at your discretion to paul at ppinyot dot
com.

Thanks,

Paul P
kb3lzp

Jeffrey D Angus

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Dec 11, 2009, 9:41:44 AM12/11/09
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Paul_P wrote:
> I want to completely mull this over and construct one
> before I present.

Look into the little 1 - 2 tube sets using 12 volt miniature tubes.
Some of them used 12 volts on the B+ as well.

Should cut down some of the "Bzzzt!" factor.

Jeff


--
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paul @removeppinyot.removecom Paul_P

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Dec 11, 2009, 10:46:37 AM12/11/09
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> Look into the little 1 - 2 tube sets using 12 volt miniature tubes.
> Some of them used 12 volts on the B+ as well.
>
> Should cut down some of the "Bzzzt!" factor.
>
> Jeff

Now that would be cool. Most hams have 12 volt supply equipment.

Does a Tube number, circuit or URL come to mine??? :~)

Paul P.

Bill Noble

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Dec 11, 2009, 12:45:24 PM12/11/09
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1H6 comes to mind - one tube radio

and please, what is the origin of "elmer" in the phrase "elmer night" - I've
never heard that before

"Paul_P" <REMOVE paul @ REMOVE ppinyot . REMOVEcom> wrote in message
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Randy

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Dec 11, 2009, 1:16:15 PM12/11/09
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On Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:46:37 -0500, "Paul_P" <REMOVE paul @ REMOVE
ppinyot . REMOVEcom> wrote:


>Does a Tube number, circuit or URL come to mine??? :~)

12FX8 Heptode + triode (converter + AF preamp)
12AD6 self-excited pentagrid converter
12AC6 Remote cutoff pentode (RF / IF Amp)
12AE6 twin diode MedMu Triode (det AF amp)

and of course the mighty (for a space-charge tube) 12K5 - just
remember-with the 12K5-- that grid 1 is the space-charge grid - and
grid 2 is the control (signal) grid... (rather than signal on grid
1).

Three 12K5s would make a pretty good regen... with enough power to run
a small speaker...

best regards...

jughead

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Dec 11, 2009, 1:51:58 PM12/11/09
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On Dec 11, 9:45 am, "Bill Noble" <nob...@nowhere.invalid> wrote:
>
>...and please, what is the origin of "elmer" in the phrase "elmer night" - I've
> never heard that before.

An "Elmer" would be a kindly old radio guy who mentors aspirants in
the craft of vintage electronics. I actually knew a real 'Elmer',
Elmer Bennett, who owned Bennett's Radio Service in Globe AZ in the
early 50s.
Bill(oc)

Bill M

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Dec 11, 2009, 1:55:55 PM12/11/09
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Bill Noble wrote:

>
> and please, what is the origin of "elmer" in the phrase "elmer night" -
> I've never heard that before

Named after "Elmer Osterhoudt". I hope I am spelling that correctly.

-Bill

jughead

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Dec 11, 2009, 1:58:55 PM12/11/09
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Well i'll be ... Whodathunkit, but a quick Google turns up Elmer
Bennett's obit from 1960.


jughead

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Dec 11, 2009, 2:00:07 PM12/11/09
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Forgot the link.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~azclips/1960a-c.html

tchrme

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Dec 11, 2009, 6:44:19 PM12/11/09
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On Dec 11, 11:00 am, jughead <oldcoot7...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Forgot the link.
>
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~azclips/1960a-c.html

Check out the book Radio Receiver Project You Can Build by Homer
Davidson. He has 33 different tube and solid state projects that would
meet your needs for a group project. He also tells the sources for the
materials. 73 Mike KF6KXG

J. Severyn

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Dec 12, 2009, 5:47:57 PM12/12/09
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Paul,

Not tube, but very safe and easy to construct
http://www.qrpkits.com/scoutregen.html
This unit all ready has coupling caps and would probably run a set of
computer speakers (with amps) very well.

If it has to be tube, it would not be hard to copy one of my first radio
projects of about 50 years ago
http://www.qsl.net/k5bcq/REGEN/regen.html
You'd have to add a coupling cap, but this one would work also.

73
John
AF6QO

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