Electronics ⁽²⁴⁾

So I need 28V at 15A for a 2.4GHz linear so I can finally do DATV via QO100. Meanwell do a 27V PSU that is sufficiently adjustable to get the 28V needed and they have a good reputation. I finally got round to ordering one from one of the suppliers I use. I was rather surprised to be told they cannot sell it to me because of the CE / UKCA business caused by good old Brexit. I would need to be a VAT registered business and be purchasing for business use. Drat. I found the same PSU from a UK supplier but again I cannot buy from them as I do not have a business account. Double drat. Ok... they (the UK supplier) have a PSU from a different manufacturer, Tiger, which has the same rating as the Meanwell one. I am hoping that this is of similar quality to Meanwell, has EMC components (rather than just a space where they would be!) and holds up under load. Time will tell. These Brexit benefits just keep on coming...

I have finally removed the remaining X10 controllers having replaced the outside light controllers two days ago and the main room lighting dimmers today. Time will tell if any of these suffer from interference being 2.4GHz Zigbee but so far, so good. All of the X10 stuff is destined to go on eBay but it doesn't seem to sell well - I guess I waited far too long to update everything here. It's not a major setup, one Zigbee controller / hub or whatever it's called - USB and currently stuck in the front port of the server, two dimmers, two bulbs, and three relays. The setup is Mosquitto and Zigbee2mqtt on the server and Homebridge on a Pi. The server is due to be replaced by another Pi shortly to save space and watts. So now Siri rules our lighting - well some of it! Be nice to Siri...

I have always dabbled in home automation, pretty much since before it even became a thing. Most of the control was, and mostly still is via X10 devices and controllers which use mains signalling. This is rather old fashioned now and, being mains signalling is susceptible to interference. At one stage the outdoor light, which are controlled via an X10 appliance module in the workshop were very intermittent, until I discovered the wall-wart on one of the internal cameras was injecting awful noise that caused a scanner AM to buzz wildly when held near any mains outlet in the house! Anyway, that isn’t radio related, but this is… enter Zigbee. I have not read very far into this yet but it uses 2.4GHz among other frequencies for its signalling and there are lots of modules available. I plan to change our two dimmers to Zigbee and it will be pretty much plug and play. Apart from removing the mains signalling path the modules communicate both ways, so the controller can see their status as well as control them. Some of the newer X10 modules do this but very few of them and none of the ones I have. The current…

I plan to use the FT817 portable but also for VHF and UHF FT8 and other digimodes, so I wanted to upgrade the standard oscillator to the TCXO version (Yaesu's TCXO-9). But these are scarce, at least in the UK. I've searched for a while and got nowhere so I ended up buying one from Wimo in Germany as they had them in stock. The original TC1 unit (left) and the TCXO-9 (right) are, of course identical in size and sit on 7 pins. There are at least two variants of the TCXO-9 and I guess this one is the newer of the two. The unit is easy to install. Obviously - or it should be! - disconnect the battery, wear an anti-static bracelet or take appropriate measures, then the old unit simply pulls off of the 7 pin connections and the new unit presses in to replaced it. With the set back together and given a little time to warm up, and set up for CW it holds steady just 2 hertz high. That should be good enough for data modes!

I seem to have a lot of stalled projects currently. And then I got a kit of parts to build another Minitiouner... so I did that, and still have the same number of stalled projects! Oh well... The build went as well as the first one I constructed, very easy to put together and test. When connected to the Windows PC the test software all runs fine. This will go into the box I had for the previous Minitiouner the board of which is now inside the (stalled!) Portsdown.