If this is the first you are stumbling upon my "Crowd-Sourced" project series, feel free to go back to part 1 to come up to speed.  For the less patient, here's the "what you missed last time" version:

One of the pieces of equipment that my work revolves around comes in these neat little boxes.  We had a couple that were getting scrapped, so I nabbed one of them, and gutted it down to the box, and the battery that was built into it.  I figured I would use it as a ham-radio project, but since I was undecided exactly what I wanted to build, I started putting it up to a series of votes.  Through that voting, it was decided that I should build a small/portable HF station into the box.  In the most recent installment I asked for feedback on what radio architecture to use, whether I should do a kit, build from plans, or use a pre-built radio, and whether or not I should try to squeeze a computer into the package.

Since you are probably most interested in the results, I'll share those first, but please stick around after that, because in the voting process, there were, as C+C Music Factory says, some "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm"

With this, we were deciding whether to go the route of an SDR radio, or something based in hardware.  I must admit that the results here surprised me, but the overwhelming majority - 70% - voted to go with a "traditional" architecture.

This was a resounding yes, 60% of the vote.

Since going the SDR route wasn't chosen, this question is no longer applicable, but just for fun, 55% said to use a computer, 35% said to go computer free, and 10% didn't care.

With this question, I was basically deciding if I should do a kit-built radio, build something from scratch/plans, or just buy an off-the-shelf radio that's ready to go.  This category did not have a clear winner, with 35% voting to buy something finished, 30% voting to build from a kit, and 30% voting to build from scratch/plans, and 5% that didn't have an opinion.  

I did ask for comments along with the votes, and many individuals had input that I'll put into the next round of planning as I share the next steps.  For now though, the results of this vote, and the prior votes, bring us to this point:

I'm going to be building a small HF station into this box, and powering it from the existing battery.  The station will be based on a traditional architecture (non-SDR), with a small form-factor computer included.  Because the final vote was so close, the radio itself might be off-the-shelf, a kit, or built from plans.  

Choosing the actual radio will be what we vote on in the next installment.  For that, I will be using the input from everyone that gave it, along with some research on my own.  I will also narrow down the options to things that are feasible - some of the suggestions, while great, were either too physically large for the box, or are out of the range of what I'm willing to spend for this project.

I hope you stuck around this long, because I think there are some good educational nuggets in here.  

That's all I have for now folks!  Sometime in the near future I'll have the next part in this series ready to go, and we'll decide on things like which radio and which computer to use!

This is something I've been meaning to share for some time, but just haven't gotten around to actually sharing.  As some of you may be aware, I am an "adult-learner."  The company I work for has been graciously paying for my BS in Information Systems (I currently hold an Associates Degree, which they also paid for!)  For one of my classes we had an open-ended assignment to do a fairly significant project.  Obviously, I chose something radio related!  Some of the information here might be a little confusing if you're only a computer appliance operator, but I'd encourage you to skim through it - even if you learn just one small thing it's worth it!  If you're a software developer, this stuff is probably all very elementary, but I'm sure there are lots of folks like me who land somewhere in the middle that might get some benefit from this!

For the class, we had to write a project proposal, a plan, do the work, and then present our project.  I'll share all that so that you can look at the details if you want, but my "secret" mission was to learn a bit more about how software rig control actually works.  With that in mind, I wrote a software Class (huh? Whats that?) which I called yeasuControl, that would handle interfacing my Yeasu 857d with a Raspberry Pi.  To verify that yeasuControl worked as intended, I also wrote a very basic, text-based rig control program, which I named "radioInterface3" (I wrote it in Python 3, and my first 2 versions were a bust, so it just kind of worked out that there were 3's all around.)  For some wow-factor when I did my demonstration in the classroom, rather than run it straight from the Pi, I accessed the Pi via a separate PC over Broadband Hamnet (I wasn't yet aware of AREDN) with everything running off 12v power, to demonstrate the possibility of a field deploy-able, remotely accessible, radio station.

Technically, the software I wrote doesn't do anything new, but just like some people enjoy building their own radio's (even though you could just buy one), I think it's fun to write my own software (even though I could just download something!)  Pretty much everything that the software Class I wrote will do is already included as part of hamlib, but writing this myself helped me learn exactly what's going on when I connect those magic wires between my rig and computer!  Oh - this was also my first foray into Python, so I also used this project to learn a new language. (although, really, once you know any C based language, the rest of them are usually pretty easy to pick up.)

With the intro out of the way, I figure the easiest way to go about this is to just share the documents, and give a summary of each one.  You can feel free to download them, read them, and use them, if you want to see the nitty-gritty details.  Alternatively, you can just skim the descriptions to see what I did.  I'm sharing all of this under the "Karma License." (I just made this up - it means do whatever you want with it, but know that Karma will come for you if you deserve it based on what you do...)  

So, there you have it!  I hope at least some of you can glean some useful information out of my work.  In the interest of the betterment of the ham radio hobby, and doing whatever I can towards our collective Elmering in the hobby, I'm offering all of this info, and the work I put into it, with no strings attached.  If you play around with it and have questions (like what serial interface I used with the Pi, etc.) feel free to check out my contacts page and reach out to me.

​  Enjoy!

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Before I start - Don't forget to vote!  I'm still asking for your ideas on Step 5 in my Crowd Sourced Project.  As always - keep your money, just give me your ideas!  With that little ad out of the way, here we go...

​Its a miracle! I started and finished a project in the same week!

​I shouldn't be too rough on myself - quite a few of my ongoing projects are rather large, so progress tends to be slow, doing small amounts of work as time allows. This project however, was one that was a complete workshop tangent.

There it is - a "homebrew" speaker for ham radio use! The day I started this, I didn't even know I was going to do it. It all came about becasue I was working on another radio project (the "secret project" that I allude to from time to time) in the garage, and I wanted to be able to hear my rig over all the noise I was making. I started to look at powered speakers online, when suddenly it dawned on me that I probably had everything I needed to make one, primarily becasue the key components (a speaker and a small amplifier) I had left over from tearing this thing apart in order to work on version 2 (which still isn't done....sigh.)

So realizing that I had those parts, I started to dig in the piles in the garage and presto, within a couple days I had a small powered speaker! If you follow me on twitter you saw these pictures as I did each step, but here they are again with a few more details. Enjoy!

If you have a hardware store near you, that is probably the best place to get MDF and aluminum, but you can order both of these things online.  Shipping rates can get strange with sheets of plywood or 4' lengths of aluminum, but there are places like online metals that will cut things to size for you.

The 3.5mm jack on the small amp turned out to have a "bonus" functionality! It was really meant (I think) to be an alternative input from the ones on the board itself. It is just wired in parallel with the other inputs, so by plugging a mono to stereo adapter (remember that I was only using the left channel). I can use traditional stero headphones to monitor the input source for the amp.

Why is that a bonus? In field-day like situations, the speaker can be plugged into the rig, and the operator can plug headphones into the speaker. The operator can then use the rig's AF gain (volume) control to set a comfortable audio level for the headphones, and then anyone who wants to listen in on the action can adjust the speaker volume until their heart is content, without impacting what the operator hears in their headphones. I think thats a slick, unplanned for feature! You could always get the same effect by plugging both a speaker and headphones into a "Y" cable, but this has a more polished feel to it.

There you have it! A powered 12 volt speaker enclosure for the times that I need more punch than I can get with a more traditional passive one, and I made it entirely from stuff that I already had on hand!  If you're as luck as I am and have a good stash of parts, maybe you can do the same - if not, most of the individual part pictures in the post are Amazon links, so you can get what you need if you want the joy of rolling your own!

Welcome to 5th installment of posts centered around my crowd-sourced project!  Before I get to far, I just want to remind everyone that this ongoing project is crowd sourced, NOT crowd funded.  Keep your money.  Just share your ideas!  See Part 3 of this series if you need some details about crowd-sourced vs. crowd-funded (hint - they are NOT the same thing!)

If you are just joining us, you can go back to part 1 to come up to speed, or you can just read on for the quick summary.  For everyone else, sorry for the long delay between part 4 and this update - life happens!  

​Basically, what we have going on here, is that I ended up with a pretty neat box, complete with a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, because it housed a piece of equipment at my work that was getting scrapped.  

As a ham, it was obvious to me that this box needed to turn in to a project.  Rather than just strike out on my own, I solicited input from the internet at large, to get ideas for what to do with the box.  The overwhelming majority said that I should built it out into a small HF station.  With that decision made, it's time to revisit this, and put some additional details around how we should go about that.  This means that it is once again time to put it to a vote!  If you have a couple of minutes, I'd recommend going back and reading the scope in part 1, so that you have it fresh in mind when you vote, but if don't, feel free to just start voting!

Thanks for your input! 

     N3VEM wants you (yes, you!) to help design a project!
     Many of you are probably already aware of the idea of "crowd-sourcing." For those of you that aren't familiar with it, Google defines crowd-sourcing as "the practice of obtaining information or input into a task or project by enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the Internet."

 So, why am I talking about crowd-sourcing? Here's why:

Did I lose you yet?
​      I hope not, because I'm finally ready to get to the point. One of the pieces of equipment that my work revolves around comes in these boxes. Recently, we had one that went bad, and it was getting scrapped. After pulling out the proprietary bits, I was left with this box that was just too cool to get rid of. My mind was instantly racing with radio-related ideas to use this for. For some reason, as I was brainstorming, it dawned on me that this could make a fun "community" activity - with the community in question being anyone who happens to stumble on my corner of the Internet, who also has even the slightest interest in, or curiosity about, ham radio.

So, what exactly is the activity? If you haven't figured it out yet, I want us to collectively brainstorm / design / build a project around this box. The brainstorming and designing will be the community effort. The building part will be me, probably exclusively, but a couple of you live close, so I might request to bring in some help if the ideas get too wild :-)

So, with introductions out of the way, I'm going to start with ground rules, then the project constraints, and what we have to work with. Since I am the ultimate builder, and probably the sole financial resource for this project, I will proudly hold the right to change/clarify the ground rules and/or scope at any time I feel it is necessary, and will also hold final go or no-go decisions on anything that involves my personal financial input. With that being said, I will strive to stick to the crowd-sourced intent, and will try to give details and reasons if I veer from that at any point.

This will be pretty loose as far as project scopes go, but here's the current scope/constraints. This should be interesting, because we're starting with a box, and working backwards, instead of the other way around:

• The end product must be ham radio centric
• ​The end product should fit 100% within this box for storage and transportation. Things that need to be taken out of the box and "deployed" for use are okay.
• This box is a Seahorse Model SE-300. (P.S.  as far as this type of case goes, the Seahorse cases are very reasonably priced!) Inside dimensions of the bottom are approximately 9.5"x7.4"x3". Inside dimensions of the lid are approximately 9.5"x7.4"x1"
  
• The parts remaining in the box from it's previous life can either be re-used, modified, completely removed, or replaced, unless otherwise noted
  
• The box contains a 12v 6000mAh LiFePO4 battery (and charger). Preferably, this should be the power source, if the end product requires power.
• The mounting bracket that holds the battery is also the ground plane for a 900MHz antenna that was used in this box's prior life (I have no particular attachment to it, but wanted to let you know that it's there)
• The box has the following bulkhead connectors that, in the past, interfaced equipment in the box to the outside world: (2) RJ45 Jacks, (1) DB9 male, (1) USB, (1) coaxial power connector currently used to connect the battery charger
• Box "display" panel has a 2amp fuse/holder, voltage meter, power switch (switched power from the internal battery), and some holes that previously had LED's shining through them.
• The lid of the box has a panel and door, making a storage compartment in the lid.
• Drilling holes / screwing things into the box / panels is okay
• Frugality is important. This doesn't mean things have to be cheap, but any cost has to have an associated benefit (I may ask to be "sold" on ideas if they seem pricey)
• I prefer to reuse / recycle things wherever possible, but will buy parts if suitable things can't be found to re-purpose
• I have, or have access to, most tools that could conceivably be needed. I am willing to beg/borrow/ask for help for anything I would need to use that I don't have, or don't have experience with (I don't own an Oscilloscope, or Spectrum Analyzer - yet)

Here are some pictures to help stimulate all those creative juices out there!  (As a note - excuse my bad photo-editing.  I had to hide some proprietary markings.  As the project moves forward I'll paint over those if the panels get re-used.)

​Now, as a member of the "crowd" here is the first assignment. Using the form below, submit your ideas for:

1. ​The name of the project (as we learned from Amazon and Monster a name doesn't have to reflect what the thing actually is, so we might as well come up with that first - it will be easier to share what we're working on if we have something to call it!
2. A short description giving a high-level idea for a project. The key here is short - we'll get into details once a project is picked - for now, just stick to ideas like "VHF/UHF go kit", "Flux Capacitor Module", "QRP station", or "Dilithium Crystal Power Box".

After ideas have have been gathered, we'll take a vote! Feel free to discuss and/or ask questions in the comments or on social media, but the final list of things to vote on will be compiled from the submitted forms.

Lastly, be sure to share this with everyone you know! A crowd-sourced project is more fun and more exciting the larger the crowd gets!  We'll keep the suggestion pool open for about a week before I make the list and put it out for a vote!

     Thanks for the suggestions everyone!  The time for submitting ideas has closed, but you can you use the links below to see where the group is in the project, and add your input!