RHdb - An Explanation
Radio Hobbyist’s Designbook or RHdb (for short) was designed to guide you into design of electronics apparatus that relates to radio. It assumes you know something about electronics but you can skip Chapters which cover familiar subjects. Mathematics needed in design is down to simple algebra and trigonometry. Topics cover the frequency spectrum of DC through VHF.
You must supply the brainpower. But RHdb can be your main reference, a guidance toreaching your personal hobby goal. RHdb is written in a sort of Reader’s Digest format: Short and to-the-point, covering things simply with a minimum of words. Grouping is in 5 sections as givenbelow with a synopsis of Chapters:
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Title page, dedication, brief history of origin, Table of Contents |
| Chapter 1: |
Bare bones of what is needed to do design at home, a common-sense approach. |
| Chapter 2: |
Mathematics needed in design, often-used constants; Greek letter common use. |
| Chapter 3: |
Waveforms, Heterodyning, Mixing; with easier form of mixings’ spurious products. |
| Chapter 4: |
Bandwidth, Modulation, Noise; Shannon’s Law, John Carson’s original formulas for basic modulation to get AM-FM-PM, Noise sources. |
| Chapter 5: |
Basic sources, E-I-R, DC laws; a review of basic DC with Kirkhoff’s Laws. |
| Chapter 6: |
Passive R-L-C Components; a quick look at AC Laws and basic components. |
| Chapter 7: |
Resonance, single and multiple; more on AC Laws and introduction of Q. |
| Chapter 8: |
Two-component matching circuits; going into complex arithmetic and circuits used in most automatic antenna tuners at LF to HF, narrowband. |
| Chapter 9: |
Three-component matching circuits; some control of bandwidth versus Q, stepping up or down in impedance. |
| Chapter 10: |
Basic L-C Filters; Based on Modern Network Design, the Lowpass Prototype, Component value design tables (of a simpler kind). |
| Chapter 11: |
Bandpass, Highpass, Bandstop Filters; Transforming Lowpass Prototype into the other three types, effect of Q versus bandwidth, component value tables. |
| Chapter 12: |
Resonator bandpass filters; easier-to-calculate relatively narrow bandpass filters. |
| Chapter 13: |
L-C Practicality and Stagger-Tuning; Limits on L and C practical values; using stagger tuning over several stages to get wide bandwidth. |
| Chapter 14: |
Quartz crystal units and Narrowband bandpass filters; basics of quartz units and types of narrowband filters commonly used in IF stages. |
| Chapter 15: |
Variable L-C Tuning methods; Changing tuning spans of variable capacitors or inductors through series or parallel components, ganged-tuning with a BASIC program to find lowest tuning error. |
| Chapter 16: |
Low Frequency Transformers; Practical construction of E-I Core transformers for AC Mains input in power supplies with exampled, materials. |
| Chapter 17: |
Wideband Transformers and BALUNs; General wideband transformers, types of Baluns, changing impedance magnitude. |
| Chapter 18: |
Transmission Lines; General discussion of lines, characteristic impedance, structure of a Smith Chart, Noise Figure Meter to measure R and X with BASIC program. |
| Chapter 19: |
Homebrewing, Construction, Packaging; Where to do it, suggested workshop basic tools, jigs and fixtures, where to buy materials. |
| Chapter 20: |
Vacuum Tubes; General discussion, types from diode through pentagrid; simple biasing, load lines, vacuum tubes becoming a rarity, specialized tubes. |
| Chapter 21: |
Semiconductor Basic Applications; biasing, major connections, typical circuits and parameters, variations, specialized semiconductors. |
| Chapter 22: |
Basic Power Supplies; AC Mains powered capacitive-input rectifiers, half-wave and full-wave types, multipliers, Dry-cell batteries common as of 2014, charging re-chargeable batteries. |
| Chapter 23: |
Digital Logic Basics; from Relays through TTL to Advanced CMOS, basic Gate types, Fan-Out for TTL, DC supply current estimation for modern CMOS. |
| Chapter 24: |
Selection, Arithmetic, Switching Logic; Forms of gate arrangments with and without MSI and LSI logic packages to do the same thing, debouncing contacts of a pushbutton, making a ganged pushbutton selector with gates. |
| Chapter 25: |
Flip-flops, Counters, Dividers, Registers; how they work with emphasis on Internal gate propagation delay, types of counters and dividers, serial register use. |
| Chapter 26: |
Pseudo-Random Shift Generators; Lengths, periodicity, tables of feedback, using them as artificial noise sources. |
| Chapter 27: |
Other Stables: Monostable (one-shot) and Astable (free-run) multivibrators, types, the 555 Timer replacement. |
| Chapter 28: |
Position, Detection, Conversion Logic; Gray Code, methods of detecting movement from two or one-line tracks, conversion from BCD to Binary and Binary to BCD by parallel or serial means. |
| Chapter 29: |
Oscillators; Common types shown for L-C and quartz crystal control of frequency, tested examples of basic types. |
| Chapter 30: |
VFAs, CFAs, and Related; Operational Amplifier circuits of Voltage feedback and Current feedback to set gain, analog arithmetic addition and subtraction, integration and differentiation. |
| Chapter 31: |
Switching Converters; types and value calculations of switching power supplies, many examples. |
| Chapter 32: |
PLLs and DDSs; Phase-Lock Loops and Direct Digital Synthesis types for precise frequency generation using a single quartz crystal oscillator timer, selection of Loop Filter values for voltage-output and current-output Phase-Frequency detectors, making one’s own Phase-Frequency Detector from logic gates. |
| Chapter 33: |
Modulation and Demodulation; Methods of the basic types in hardware and arithmetic blocks (for SDR), typical circuits. |
|
Chapter 34:
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Miscellaneous Subjects; Various terms and formulae of older laws that have been largely superceded in modern times but are still found in some texts. |
| Chapter 35: |
PIC Microcontrollers; General treatise and command set of the Microchip Technology 8-bit family, chosen for simplicity and one-cycle execution of nearly all commands. |
| Chapter 36: |
Elemental Metrology; Analog meter circuits, differentiation of Response and Stimulus, common measurement equipment. |
| Chapter 37: |
Advanced Metrology; More complicated test equipment and circuits. |
| Chapter 38: |
Military Radio Systems and History; A look at military radio from 1938 to present-day in the USA land army with photographs from WWII and into the Vietnam. |
| Chapter 39: |
A TRF receiver for WWVB on 60 KHz; With construction details of a Loop Antenna and method of calibrating a local frequency standard. |
| Chapter 40: |
Genesis of a SW BC Receiver Project; Largely from memory and notes of 1964, descriing a tube receiver to cover 4 shortwave broadcast bands using two local oscillators. |
| Chapter 41: |
Requiem and Resurrection of the SW BC Receiver; Describes the general form of a succession of types to reach a 0 to 30 MHz receiver spectrum in 60 bands, each having the same 500 KHz tuning span. |
| Chapter 42: |
Multi-Band Converter; Front end for any low-HF Monoband receiver to reach the tuning of Chapter 41 with aid of a microcontroller and a single stable quartz LO, uses a SAW filter made for TV receivers, can work with CW or CCW tuning direction variable capacitors. |
| Chapter 43: |
Monoband Receiver; a converted ARC-5 receiver from WWII surplus modified for 3.5 to 4.0 MHz with all regulated supplies (including filaments). |
| Chapter 44: |
Regulated Voltage Supplies; All those required for the Chapter 41 to 43 receivers done with discrete transistors and specialty ICs, particularly for +100 VDC and above. |
| Chapter 45: |
A Microcontroller for the LF-MF-HF Receiver; A PIC microcontroller with highly remarked Assembler coding to indicate Tuning Frequency and do the arithmetic band-change tasks. |
| Chapter 46: |
Finesse in Microcontroller Programming; A step-by-step method of successive check-out of various functions of the microcontroller, with Assembler code. |
| Chapter 47: |
A Discrete-IC Digital Dial; Frequency Read-Out function of the Chapter 45 microcontroller done with standard logic ICs output to LED numerics. |
| Chapter 48: |
Evolution of the Monoband Receiver; Various specialty ICs that can incorporate all Monoband receiver functions in one IC package. |
| Chapter 49: |
An All-Semiconductor Monoband; A solid-state version of the Monoband of Chapter 43, includes new power supplies. |
| Chapter 50: |
Re-Building the LF-HF Receiver; That of Chapters 41 through 43 re-built into a better physical form, slightly smaller and better-looking. |
| Chapter 51: |
Simplest-Control SW BC Receiver; Design details never fully built to show the possibility of a very-simple-control, stable HF receiver for HF BC bands. |
| Chapter 52: |
Converting a Heath SB-300 series receiver; An intellectual exercise to examine converting an SB-310 into an all-band MF-HF receiver, never built. |
| Chapter 53: |
Simple RF Generator for Testing; Making a frequency-control-by-switches type of AF through RF generator, largely for use as a sweep generator marker. |
| Chapter 54: |
A Conclusion; Some personal commentary on commercial electronics production, more suggested larger references, plus caring for a PC. |
That’s it for RHdb...as it is this date. There may be more things added later. Those who build things from this book collection have the resources to figure out operation with aid of resources listed. Sorry, but I cannot spend the time to answer general questions by mail or post; there is only so much time left each day. There may be some slight errors here which I will acknowledge despite prolonged and thorough self-editing; those will be posted as they are discovered. This is, after all, a free set of comprehensive information for all to use for their own purposes.
Happy hobby to you all,
Leonard H. Anderson, K6LHA, 20 June 2014
Note: Emails sent via the Contact Page in regard to this book, will be forwarded to the author.
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