Sidney Harris was a newspaper columnist columnist and cartoonist whose work appeared in the 1970s and 1980s. If you were reading at all during those years, I’m sure you’ve seen his work. He was a keen observer and a wry wit.
Every now and then, he’d write a column entitled “Things I Learned While Looking Up Something Else.” If I recall correctly, there were seven or eight little tidbits in each column. If he were still writing today, I’m sure he’d write columns with the title, “Websites I Found While Searching for Something Else.” So, with apologies to Mr. Harris, here’s my first installment…
- Phil’s Old Radios. Many hams are also collectors of antique radios. There are many reasons for this, the first being that we just like radio, in all its forms. And if you’ve been around for any length of time, you’ve probably formed a sentimental attachment to a particular brand or model of antique radio. It may have been the first shortwave radio you bought or used, or you may just like the design of a particular set.
you’re into old radios, then you’ll want to check out this website. Phil has an extensive photo gallery of his own collection, including not only shots of the front panel, but shots of the chassis, and sometimes, manual pages. There are also articles on antique radio collecting, including good ones how to start a collection and how to restore old radios. All told, there are 34 articles on Phil’s restoration projects. There is also a big list of links to other old radio sites.
Another cool feature of this website is the free classified ads. There are hundreds of listings from readers offering radios for sale and looking for particular antique models. There are also a number of postings just looking for information. The ads are not organized in any particular fashion, but they’re all fairly recent. The oldest is from May 1, 2003, so it looks like Phil deletes anything older than six months. - Discover Circuits. This site is the work of David A. Johnson, P.E., an electronics engineering consultant. According to Johnson, this site has links to more than 7,000 electronic circuits, including some that Johnson designed himself. Johnson has categorized the circuits into more than 500 categories to make the circuits easy to find.
If you do visit this site, also check out the stuff Johnson is selling on EBay. When I visited, I noted that he was selling a foot switch with 1/4-in. phone plug for $7. That’s not a bad deal. - The Homebrew HFpacker-Amp Project. A while back I wrote about how it would be nice if QRPers would have an amp they could switch on when conditions were marginal. You could make the contact with low power, then switch on the amp to make the QSO easier and more enjoyable.
Well, I found one today. It’s called the Homebrew HFpacker-Amp Project and is the baby of Virgil K5OOR. For only $122, you can get a kit of parts that will allow you to build a solid-state, wideband, 35W amplifier. Also available are power supply and filter modules. Not only does this look like a nice design, but in the QRP spirit, it’s being sold by the HF Projects Group at or near cost.
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