K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part IV

     Due to health issues, the holidays, and waiting on ordered components to arrive this project is going slower than the speed in which most people would do. I don't have an endless supply of parts just laying around the shack. So we will continue as we can. 

    I redid the picture showing what components that have been soldered to the board. I decided to simply color-code each type of component. I have found that this is easier to find parts that I have missed. Again I am not an EE (Electronics Engineer) I'm just an amateur radio operator and the word amateur is the keyword, trying to learn this stuff. This morning I finished all of the resistors. You need to pay attention because some of the resistors are rated for 1/8 watt and some are rated for 1/4 watt. 

Here is a drawing showing my progress so far.

Here is a photo showing the same progress as the drawing above.

Next up I will be doing the ceramic disk capacitors. Once you sit down and take a good look at it, there really aren't that many parts to this. The board itself is only 99mm x 87mm. I know for sure that I will be needing the single-row headers and the transistors. When you do order components, you really should order more than you need. The parts themselves are pretty cheap, sometimes the shipping and handling is more than the actual order of the parts. So order more than you need, like resistors. Even if I need only one resistor that is 1/4 watt 100 ohms is only two cents each. Order at least 100 of them and you will use them in later projects. You should just use your best judgement on the number of parts that you order. 

Stay Radioactive until next time

'72

Aaron K5ATG

Email: Aaron@K5ATG.com

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part IV

     Due to health issues, the holidays, and waiting on ordered components to arrive this project is going slower than the speed in which most people would do. I don't have an endless supply of parts just laying around the shack. So we will continue as we can. 

    I redid the picture showing what components that have been soldered to the board. I decided to simply color-code each type of component. I have found that this is easier to find parts that I have missed. Again I am not an EE (Electronics Engineer) I'm just an amateur radio operator and the word amateur is the keyword, trying to learn this stuff. This morning I finished all of the resistors. You need to pay attention because some of the resistors are rated for 1/8 watt and some are rated for 1/4 watt. 

Here is a drawing showing my progress so far.

Here is a photo showing the same progress as the drawing above.

Next up I will be doing the ceramic disk capacitors. Once you sit down and take a good look at it, there really aren't that many parts to this. The board itself is only 99mm x 87mm. I know for sure that I will be needing the single-row headers and the transistors. When you do order components, you really should order more than you need. The parts themselves are pretty cheap, sometimes the shipping and handling is more than the actual order of the parts. So order more than you need, like resistors. Even if I need only one resistor that is 1/4 watt 100 ohms is only two cents each. Order at least 100 of them and you will use them in later projects. You should just use your best judgement on the number of parts that you order. 

Stay Radioactive until next time

'72

Aaron K5ATG

Email: Aaron@K5ATG.com

Japan will put QRP Amateur Radio Transmitter on the Moon

    If you are a Starseeker like me then you may well indeed go nuts over this. This is just pretty darn cool. 

    The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is tossing together some bits and pieces to make the OMOTENASHI, the world's smallest moon lander. They say that it is the world's smallest moon lander, so is it the smallest on Earth or the Moon, because if it is the smallest on Earth, then it would not be for long because once it is launched, it will no longer be on Earth. Anyway, OMOTENASHI is an acronym for Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor. OMOTENASHI is a 6U CubeSat (6U refers to the size of the satellite which is 20 cm x 10 cm x 34.05 cm)

    OMOTENASHI is made up of two separate parts, one part will be placed in lunar orbit, and the second part will land on the lunar surface.  The is expected to last just 4-5 days, so now is the time to start to make sure that your shack can receive the signal because it is not going to last very long. The orbiting module will transmit a 1-watt PSK31 digital telemetry data on 437.31 MHz. The surface probe will also transmit a 1-watt signal on 437.41 MHz but it will transmit using FM, PASK31, and PCM-PSK/PM.

    Japan's JAXA does not have a world wide system of listening posts like NASA does, so they elected to transmit their signals on the 70 cm amateur radio band and allow ham from around the world to report if they have been able to receive the signals. Wataru Torii of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Ham Radio Club said radio amateurs can play a role in gathering data from the spacecraft. 

    At this time OMOTENASHI is expected to launch as early as February 2022 using a NASA SLS Rocket. To learn more visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMOTENASHI

Feel free to leave comments in the comment section below or you may contact me at Aaron@k5atg.com

Japan will put QRP Amateur Radio Transmitter on the Moon

    If you are a Starseeker like me then you may well indeed go nuts over this. This is just pretty darn cool. 

    The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is tossing together some bits and pieces to make the OMOTENASHI, the world's smallest moon lander. They say that it is the world's smallest moon lander, so is it the smallest on Earth or the Moon, because if it is the smallest on Earth, then it would not be for long because once it is launched, it will no longer be on Earth. Anyway, OMOTENASHI is an acronym for Outstanding MOon exploration TEchnologies demonstrated by NAno Semi-Hard Impactor. OMOTENASHI is a 6U CubeSat (6U refers to the size of the satellite which is 20 cm x 10 cm x 34.05 cm)

    OMOTENASHI is made up of two separate parts, one part will be placed in lunar orbit, and the second part will land on the lunar surface.  The is expected to last just 4-5 days, so now is the time to start to make sure that your shack can receive the signal because it is not going to last very long. The orbiting module will transmit a 1-watt PSK31 digital telemetry data on 437.31 MHz. The surface probe will also transmit a 1-watt signal on 437.41 MHz but it will transmit using FM, PASK31, and PCM-PSK/PM.

    Japan's JAXA does not have a world wide system of listening posts like NASA does, so they elected to transmit their signals on the 70 cm amateur radio band and allow ham from around the world to report if they have been able to receive the signals. Wataru Torii of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Ham Radio Club said radio amateurs can play a role in gathering data from the spacecraft. 

    At this time OMOTENASHI is expected to launch as early as February 2022 using a NASA SLS Rocket. To learn more visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMOTENASHI

Feel free to leave comments in the comment section below or you may contact me at Aaron@k5atg.com

The Premiere of NIGHT, the Movie

I got this in a ARRL Newsletter and that I would push my local hams and friend Mark N5HZR. Way to go guys. 

During this year's ARRL Field Day, a visitor from John D'Aquino's Young Actors Workshop arrived at the Edmond Amateur Radio Society's location. Marcus Sutliff, N5ZY, talked with them and found they wanted to make a short film with an amateur radio plot, and they needed some help. They were filming in Stillwater, OK, and needed someone with film/video experience and someone who could be a technical advisor. So, they got Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW, involved, and in no time, he had assembled radios, props, consulted on the script, and was ready for a long day of filming.

The purpose of this film is to give young aspiring actors a chance to hone their craft in a real movie environment. Thanks to the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, https://okfilmmusic.org/, they filmed three short movies in Oklahoma. So, when you watch the film, you can see the improvement in the youngsters as the movie progresses.

This week the movie premiered in September and is available on YouTube as a 34-minute short at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf1Q4tS32Ww

Kevin stars as the radio voice of Colonel and should be up for an Emmy for best supporting actor. Kevin says any requests for autographs should go through his agent, Wilma, W5WRO. Both Kevin and Marcus have their name in the credits, so make sure you stay through the ending!

Thanks, Kevin, for putting a great light on amateur radio!

Mark Kleine, N5HZR
ARRL Oklahoma Section Manager

The Premiere of NIGHT, the Movie

I got this in a ARRL Newsletter and that I would push my local hams and friend Mark N5HZR. Way to go guys. 

During this year's ARRL Field Day, a visitor from John D'Aquino's Young Actors Workshop arrived at the Edmond Amateur Radio Society's location. Marcus Sutliff, N5ZY, talked with them and found they wanted to make a short film with an amateur radio plot, and they needed some help. They were filming in Stillwater, OK, and needed someone with film/video experience and someone who could be a technical advisor. So, they got Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW, involved, and in no time, he had assembled radios, props, consulted on the script, and was ready for a long day of filming.

The purpose of this film is to give young aspiring actors a chance to hone their craft in a real movie environment. Thanks to the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, https://okfilmmusic.org/, they filmed three short movies in Oklahoma. So, when you watch the film, you can see the improvement in the youngsters as the movie progresses.

This week the movie premiered in September and is available on YouTube as a 34-minute short at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf1Q4tS32Ww

Kevin stars as the radio voice of Colonel and should be up for an Emmy for best supporting actor. Kevin says any requests for autographs should go through his agent, Wilma, W5WRO. Both Kevin and Marcus have their name in the credits, so make sure you stay through the ending!

Thanks, Kevin, for putting a great light on amateur radio!

Mark Kleine, N5HZR
ARRL Oklahoma Section Manager

2021 Veterans Day Parade

This morning I got to help out my club, the Mid-Del Amateur Radio Club (MDARC) help out with Midwest City's 2021 Veterans Day Parade. It was really good to help out especially since it had been several years since the last Veterans Day Parade. The last several have been cancelled by weather, COVID-19 etc.

I was in the position of the Spotter, which meant I was positioned about 1/4 mile from the grandstand and as a float go to my position I would radio another amateur radio operator that was at the grandstand and tell him what floats and in what order was coming up. Then he would take that information and give it to the announce who then announced the floats. We had about 50 floats this year when we usually have around 100 floats. 

The Mid-Del Amateur Radio Club has a great relationship with Midwest City, OK. We help the city out with the Veteran's Day Parade and the 4th of July celebration. We also help out during emergency conditions. Since we are in central Oklahoma we get tornadoes, wildfires, blizzards, ice and snow storms etc. In return, the city of Midwest City helps the club out for Field Day and Winter Field Day. The Midwest City Fire Department comes out to the park that we have Field Day at and they set up a really nice shelter.

 

This shelter comes with a really large generator and has AC. 

It was nice and chilly in the morning right up until the parade started and then the weather was just about perfect. 

It was a real good time to come out and show our gratitude to America's finest soldiers. Midwest City was built in the shadow of Tinker Air Force Base and every day we show our pride in America's armed forces. We owe everything to our soldiers. I live about 2 blocks west of the flight line so needless to say we hear planes coming in and taking off 24/7. To some the loud noise is annoying. To my family, the noise of a big military jet like the B1 Bomber, well that is just the sound of Freedom and is to be savored. 

2021 Veterans Day Parade

This morning I got to help out my club, the Mid-Del Amateur Radio Club (MDARC) help out with Midwest City's 2021 Veterans Day Parade. It was really good to help out especially since it had been several years since the last Veterans Day Parade. The last several have been cancelled by weather, COVID-19 etc.

I was in the position of the Spotter, which meant I was positioned about 1/4 mile from the grandstand and as a float go to my position I would radio another amateur radio operator that was at the grandstand and tell him what floats and in what order was coming up. Then he would take that information and give it to the announce who then announced the floats. We had about 50 floats this year when we usually have around 100 floats. 

The Mid-Del Amateur Radio Club has a great relationship with Midwest City, OK. We help the city out with the Veteran's Day Parade and the 4th of July celebration. We also help out during emergency conditions. Since we are in central Oklahoma we get tornadoes, wildfires, blizzards, ice and snow storms etc. In return, the city of Midwest City helps the club out for Field Day and Winter Field Day. The Midwest City Fire Department comes out to the park that we have Field Day at and they set up a really nice shelter.

 

This shelter comes with a really large generator and has AC. 

It was nice and chilly in the morning right up until the parade started and then the weather was just about perfect. 

It was a real good time to come out and show our gratitude to America's finest soldiers. Midwest City was built in the shadow of Tinker Air Force Base and every day we show our pride in America's armed forces. We owe everything to our soldiers. I live about 2 blocks west of the flight line so needless to say we hear planes coming in and taking off 24/7. To some the loud noise is annoying. To my family, the noise of a big military jet like the B1 Bomber, well that is just the sound of Freedom and is to be savored. 

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part III

 Following along the build instructions from the K5BCQ website on page 5 it mentions that if you are going to build all of the modules for the K5BCQ then group components together starting with the smallest ones and build up from there. See I can read, so that means that I made it past 4th grade. Those were the best three years of my life I tell you. 

Since that is my plan I will start off with the resistors and go from there. Now I'm not going to show you every single resistor that I solder on the board. I will save you and myself a lot of time and just show you the K5BCQ board with all of the resistors soldered on. Just make sure that you are using all 1/4 watt resistors and keep them as close to the board as possible. It adds an additional step but I recommend that you check the value of each resistor with your handy dandy digital multi-meter. It is always wise to go slow and be correct. Once you have soldered both leads on, trim them close to the board so that they are kept nice and neat. 

I'm going to take a little bit of a break right here. I don't have some resistors so I had to take inventory and go on over to Digikey and place an order and now I wait for the resistors to come in. I also ordered C4 the 100uF electrolytic capacitor and that is on backorder so it could be a wait of a week or two before I get it.  

When I populate a PCB board one thing I like to do is to get a map of the PCB board and mark each and every component on the map as I install the components. Here is a picture of the map of components that I have installed on the PCB board. Since this is an electronic picture I'm just using a yellow line to mark what has been installed. 

I also have the headers for the Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini installed on the bottom side of the PCB board. 

Here is a picture of the actual PCB board so far. 

That is the progress so far. Feel free to contact me at Aaron@K5ATG.com

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part III

 Following along the build instructions from the K5BCQ website on page 5 it mentions that if you are going to build all of the modules for the K5BCQ then group components together starting with the smallest ones and build up from there. See I can read, so that means that I made it past 4th grade. Those were the best three years of my life I tell you. 

Since that is my plan I will start off with the resistors and go from there. Now I'm not going to show you every single resistor that I solder on the board. I will save you and myself a lot of time and just show you the K5BCQ board with all of the resistors soldered on. Just make sure that you are using all 1/4 watt resistors and keep them as close to the board as possible. It adds an additional step but I recommend that you check the value of each resistor with your handy dandy digital multi-meter. It is always wise to go slow and be correct. Once you have soldered both leads on, trim them close to the board so that they are kept nice and neat. 

I'm going to take a little bit of a break right here. I don't have some resistors so I had to take inventory and go on over to Digikey and place an order and now I wait for the resistors to come in. I also ordered C4 the 100uF electrolytic capacitor and that is on backorder so it could be a wait of a week or two before I get it.  

When I populate a PCB board one thing I like to do is to get a map of the PCB board and mark each and every component on the map as I install the components. Here is a picture of the map of components that I have installed on the PCB board. Since this is an electronic picture I'm just using a yellow line to mark what has been installed. 

I also have the headers for the Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini installed on the bottom side of the PCB board. 

Here is a picture of the actual PCB board so far. 

That is the progress so far. Feel free to contact me at Aaron@K5ATG.com

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part II

This here is the beautifully crafted PCB that you can get from K5BCQ. For the five dollars that it costs for this board, you get a pretty darn good deal in my opinion. 

Here is another prize-winning pic of the top of the K5BCQ Board.

Here is another awesome pic of the bottom side of the board. 

The first step of building the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer on the K5BCQ board is to install the header that holds the Arduino. The regular K3NG Arduino CW Keyer build calls for the Arduino Mega 2560. Because one of the ideas for the K5BCQ board is to reduce the size of the keyer. So instead of using the Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini. I'm also building a homebrew breadboard version of the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer where I am using the Arduino Mega 2560. Here is a quick pic of the regular Arduino Mega 2560 on my breadboard compared to the much smaller Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini.

The Pro Mini is the first component that I add to the K5BCQ Board since it is the most important part of the project. 

Step one was to get some 2.54 mm male and cut them down to fit the pin layout on the Pro Mini and put them in the holes on the Pro Mini

Then I cut down some 2.54mm Female Headers and cut them down to the same size as the male headers. I then put the female headers on the male headers that I have already soldered on the Pro Mini. Putting the female headers on the male headers that are one the Pro Mini and then fitting them to the holes on the K5BCQ ensure that all of these headers are in proper alignment. 

Be sure that you put the Pro Mini on the BOTTOM of the K5BCQ board. 

Then solder the headers to the K5BCQ board. 

So that will complete the first step of our grand project. To follow along and be notified when the following steps are uploaded to this blog, then please subscribe. Feel free to leave any comments in the comments section below and as always you can contact me at Aaron@K5ATG.com

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part II

This here is the beautifully crafted PCB that you can get from K5BCQ. For the five dollars that it costs for this board, you get a pretty darn good deal in my opinion. 

Here is another prize-winning pic of the top of the K5BCQ Board.

Here is another awesome pic of the bottom side of the board. 

The first step of building the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer on the K5BCQ board is to install the header that holds the Arduino. The regular K3NG Arduino CW Keyer build calls for the Arduino Mega 2560. Because one of the ideas for the K5BCQ board is to reduce the size of the keyer. So instead of using the Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini. I'm also building a homebrew breadboard version of the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer where I am using the Arduino Mega 2560. Here is a quick pic of the regular Arduino Mega 2560 on my breadboard compared to the much smaller Arduino Mega 2560 Pro Mini.

The Pro Mini is the first component that I add to the K5BCQ Board since it is the most important part of the project. 

Step one was to get some 2.54 mm male and cut them down to fit the pin layout on the Pro Mini and put them in the holes on the Pro Mini

Then I cut down some 2.54mm Female Headers and cut them down to the same size as the male headers. I then put the female headers on the male headers that I have already soldered on the Pro Mini. Putting the female headers on the male headers that are one the Pro Mini and then fitting them to the holes on the K5BCQ ensure that all of these headers are in proper alignment. 

Be sure that you put the Pro Mini on the BOTTOM of the K5BCQ board. 

Then solder the headers to the K5BCQ board. 

So that will complete the first step of our grand project. To follow along and be notified when the following steps are uploaded to this blog, then please subscribe. Feel free to leave any comments in the comments section below and as always you can contact me at Aaron@K5ATG.com

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part I

 Since homebrewing the fabulous K3NG Arduino CW Keyer will take longer than expected mainly due to me playing with the components and Arduino Sketch, I decided on a second project that will allow me to put this keyer to use much faster. For this build, I will be using the K5BCQ board. This is just a straight-up PCB board that Kees K5BCQ has come up with for the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer.  

The K5BCQ Board version of the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer (Pic is from K5BCQ Website)

The K5BCQ board is only $5 and it gives you the option of building just the parts that you want to build for your keyer. You can use different sizes of LCD's (16X2, 16X4, 20X4) and you also have the choice of using 3X4 and 4X4 number pads. 

You can find the board here: K5BCQ Kits

On his website, you will also find a number of other kits and a PDF file containing instructions written by Josh Wood W0ODJ. Kees also has pictures of his company's Quality Inspectors and you can rest assured that they will keep everything going smoothly.  

Also if you have any questions or issues with building the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer with or without the K5BCQ board on your own the best place to go is the Radio Artisan IO Group  This group has well over two thousand members that are more than happy to help out. 

If you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments section below or email me at Aaron@k5atg.com

K3NG Arduino CW Keyer K5BCQ Board Build Part I

 Since homebrewing the fabulous K3NG Arduino CW Keyer will take longer than expected mainly due to me playing with the components and Arduino Sketch, I decided on a second project that will allow me to put this keyer to use much faster. For this build, I will be using the K5BCQ board. This is just a straight-up PCB board that Kees K5BCQ has come up with for the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer.  

The K5BCQ Board version of the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer (Pic is from K5BCQ Website)

The K5BCQ board is only $5 and it gives you the option of building just the parts that you want to build for your keyer. You can use different sizes of LCD's (16X2, 16X4, 20X4) and you also have the choice of using 3X4 and 4X4 number pads. 

You can find the board here: K5BCQ Kits

On his website, you will also find a number of other kits and a PDF file containing instructions written by Josh Wood W0ODJ. Kees also has pictures of his company's Quality Inspectors and you can rest assured that they will keep everything going smoothly.  

Also if you have any questions or issues with building the K3NG Arduino CW Keyer with or without the K5BCQ board on your own the best place to go is the Radio Artisan IO Group  This group has well over two thousand members that are more than happy to help out. 

If you have any questions feel free to post them in the comments section below or email me at Aaron@k5atg.com

Oklahoma Sunset 13 Oct 2021

 We had a bunch of tornado-producing storms last night and I guess that they influenced the sunset. So I had to get a few pics. 

Both pics were taken with the same camera from the same spot and were about 5-10 seconds in between. The sunset was changing really fast.