User:Jhasslinger/enes100/HamV2

Link to project HAM_V2 team page. Link to team page.

Write problem statement

 * Design and build a low power 30 MHz transceiver matching dipole antenna.
 * Work on getting the Foxhole radio working

Assign Task1

 * Work on getting the foxhole radio to recieve a signal
 * Organize equipment and come up with projects using it
 * Locate parts for antenna build
 * Contact CARA and other local HAM clubs for testing place

Compare actual work done to Task1

 * Went through and organized donated equipment
 * Worked on foxhole radio/ Rebuild

Week1 Narrative
This week, Felix and I went through the boxes of random stuff that Dave donated to us. I started by going through some of the boxes and doing a quick general organization of the items. Felix went through some of the other boxes. We found a lot of neat things including the following; a high voltage probe, a temperature controlled solder gun, multiple routers/network tools, components and antenna wires. Once this was done, i went through the component box in detail. I found some kits and microchips that i could possibly use to make modifications on my FHR. Hopefully i can get my FHR to work.

During this week I worked some more on my FHR. I ended up rebuilding the radio. I replaced the inductor with a sold 24 AWG insulted wire and replaced all the wire with this so that I knew I would have good node connections. I also hooked up the radio up to my 5.1 Speakers with amp so that I could amplify the signal. Once it was reconstructed I tested it. My testing didn't go so well. I got some distortion through my speakers as I moved the pencil over the razor blade however I didn't receive a radio signal. I recorded a video of this test and posted it on youtube:
 * FHR Test1 Video

After testing i tried one of the troubleshooting tips i found in this video: Foxhole radio video (From my first HAM project). It recommended bluing the razor blade which would help improve the detector. Here is my video of me bluing the razor blade: After letting it cool i went and tested the FHR again with this razor blade. I did notice a difference between the non blued and this blued razor blade. there was a little louder distortion, however i still didn't receive a radio signal.
 * Bluing of Razor Blade

I also I worked on one of the kits that I found in the boxes that Dave donated. This Kit was a Low Voltage Audio Amplifier module. I put this kit together in class and plan to use it with the FHR. Instead of using my surround sound system i will use an old pair of headphones and connect the kit in series with a pair of headphones. Here are some pictures of the kit and manual:
 * Low Voltage Audio Amplifier Manual (from Website)



Assign Task2

 * Continue work on FHR
 * Work in battery to circuit
 * Work in Low voltage audio amplifier


 * Come up with presentation on antennas
 * Realign self with team mates project goals
 * Look into other possible projects

Compare actual work done to Task2

 * Worked on presentation for Wk2 work
 * Talked to teammate about future of HAM project
 * Looking into building hovercraft for future project

Week2 Narrative
This week was slow. I didn't have time to work on the foxhole radio much this week and I believe it is a dud. It has been frustrating to work with seeing that I have not been able to get it to work. I plan on moving on with this project in the next week or so.

Also this week i got a speaker to come in and talk to the engineering club on Wednesday. Dr. Gold from JHAPL came in and talked about his MESSENGER mission. The mission's goal was to send a probe to mercury and have it orbit the planet to collect data. It was interesting to learn that the project has been in the works since the early 1990s however it wasnt approved until 2000. This was due to the initial cost in the billions of dollars and as time went on and technology advance, the final cost came down to 350 million dollars. It was also very interesting to learn how they got the probe into mercury's orbit. This was done by a series of flybys that would decrease the speed (energy)of the probe so that by the time it got to mercury it would have the right speed to stay in orbit. This probe was the first one sent to mercury to collect basic data. There are other countries working on probes to be sent to mercury with better instruments for further studies on the planet.

Finally, i started to look into some other projects this week. While going through the list of possible projects i took an interest in the hovercraft project. I have been working on the basic layout of the project and where I plan to take it in the next few weeks. I plan to start up a project page sometime later this week and pursuing my plans. This is a work in progress that I plan to push forward.

Assign Task3

 * Go to National Electronic Museum
 * Prepare presentation on IEM visit to the class
 * Finish up team done page and start work on Hovercraft project

Compare actual work done to Task3

 * Went to the International Electronic Museum
 * Created power point presentation for class presentation

Week3 Narrative
This week i went to the National Electronic museum. It was a great experience for any electrical/electronic enthusiast. They had 12 different exhibits which included : Fundamentals, Communications, Early radars, Cold War radars, Modern radar, Countermeasures, Under Sea, Electro-Optical, Space Sensor, Past, Web and WWII radar exhibits. I found the Fundamentals, past and electro optical exhibits really fascinating. The fundamental rooms covered all the basic theory that has aloud for the evolution of electronics to this day. It also had some great hand on demonstrations that i have at the end of my power point presentation. In the past exhibit, they had original designs of early electronics. They had two straight key setups in the room which is used to communicate with Morse code. They also had a old foxhole radio on display. The thing i found to be the most interesting was a radio setup. In this radio setup you had to turn a dial which would turn a wire through a magnetic field. The only time you would here the radio was when the wire was moving otherwise you wouldn't hear anything. Below is my powerpoint presentation i showed this past week in class:

Here is a link to the National Electronics Museum

I found this neat video on youtube this weekend:|MIT Physics Demo -- Dipole Antenna. This is a demonstration made at MIT to show how energy is transmitted through a RF transmitter. The energy transmitted has enough power to light a light bulb as the angel increases to 90 degrees.

Here is another video i found on youtube. This video explains some basic principles of dipole antennas and how current moves through the antenna with different parameters applied. Wire Antenna Currents

Assign Task4

 * Finish up Team done page
 * Work on next project
 * Order some parts for hovercraft

Compare actual work done to Task4

 * Finished Team done project
 * Created new project pages

Week4 Narrative
This was an easy week. I worked on finishing the team done page.

Complete Project Page
Follow the "project done" format.

Start Next Project Week0 activities

 * HCJ
 * HCJ Team Page