Solid State Boosted Retro Receivers!

Early Solid State Ham Project Receivers from the 1957-1967 era. Germanium Transistors!

[@tennesseered586]

I still get a thrill listening to those Mercury 7 missions. Huge at the time. The whole world stopped to watch and listen. Great video. True spirit of the experimenter.

[@MIKROWAVE1]

Thanks for watching! Yes I remember collecting space tokens from Potato Chip boxes. It was space fever all right.

[@creative27feb]

❤❤Good Old Memory.🙏

[@frycz66]

I like your films are so calm and substantial. Best regards from Poland SP5RF :)

[@radioguy19510]

Your videos are the best radio videos on the net.

[@intotheblue50]

Really appreciate you giving your experience here over the early years, thanks I love your videos.

[@loverofthelostnarc]

I love your vernier drive.

[@MIKROWAVE1]

They show up regularly on EPay

[@Timtron432]

You bring back the good old days! N1LRF 73's

[@khalidtarawneh2289]

my favorite channel, well presented and a great wealth of info for the tinkerer.

[@Dazzwidd]

That last receiver... put your cascode preselector on it and WOW! I reckon

[@robertpendergast2620]

Another excellent presentation.

[@jansugalski4856]

Brilliant series of videos

[@Theelderdragon01]

I loved the old dc receivers, so easy to build, fun to tweak. I never used a chip, nor any fets or toriods. I lost interest when all the plans called for chips. Took all the fun out of building.

[@BruceNitroxpro]

I LOVED hearing the angelic chorus introducing the regenerative radio!

[@alancordwell9759]

Great video Mike, lots of nostalgia- I built many a regen with transistors but essentially using tube circuits with very variable results! Many thanks and best 73 Alan G0NFY

[@m0dad]

Great video Mike and some very nice homebrew receivers 73 M0DAD

[@michaelkeeling4385]

the book you have on screen making a transistor radio was my first radio diy book

[@billflake8015]

thanks . looks good.my first one failed 1969..in 1974 got one to work..last year built 12as7 sur rgen works great !

[@chappyhappy3675]

A great video. I enjoyed it very much. Thanks!

[@Gordonseries385]

Still using 1967 Realistic DX150 all original except for the condensers, transistors all original. Enjoyed your video!

[@steelcity321pb6]

I’ve very much enjoyed watching this video. About a month ago, I restored/reconstituted a bench amplifier I built way back in 1971, at the beginning of my apprenticeship. Its circuit is very close to the audio amplifier circuit you built to accompany the radio projects seen in this video. The circuit I used all those years ago was OC71 1st driver; OC81D 2nd driver, and 2xOC81 for push/pull output. During the mid-70s I built two valve bench amps which are still in use today. As I’ve almost completed constructing a LW & MW three transistor tuner (based on a Bush, model TR82 circuit), which is performing reasonably well at present, I wonder if you could produce a video that elaborates more on the circuit operation, construction, and operation of your ‘Kitchin Variant’ SW receiver that incorporate FETs, or SW receivers like it …perhaps a superhet type also? I also enjoyed viewing your valve SW receiver that used 1920s circuitry. Regards, Phil.

[@Theelderdragon01]

I'm gonna have try that proto dc version. It suits my aesthetics. Puts the ham back in radio.

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Motor boating 386 chip.had to keep fresh batteries. Have the Sylvania diode in a 98 year loose couple receiver . ( A gift from an elmer) it's found its place besides a guitar amp and I've listen to many a ball game. Good show tks kv4li.

[@jamesho703]

OC serious transistors, even I couldn’t buy them in early 70’s. I subsituted them by 2SB56 or 2SB77.

[@MIKROWAVE1]

Did the world really need so many types of transistors?

[@jeromegrzelak8236]

DUDE WHERE HAVE U BEEN EXCELLENT VIDEO IM GOING TO BUILD THIS KG6MN

[@mktwatcher]

Mik is definitely Radio-Active. He's an RF Genius!

[@emanuelmekhi2458]

I guess Im randomly asking but does someone know of a trick to log back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly forgot my account password. I appreciate any help you can give me!

[@leonardkian4305]

@Emanuel Mekhi Instablaster ;)

[@KennethScharf]

In the 1930's, the term autodyne was used for any regenerative receiver. The famous 'rationalized autodyne' by G.Grammer, had a tuned RF stage, a regenerative detector, and one stage of audio. (Type 6D6, 6C6, and '76 type tubes, or similar with 2.5 volt heaters).

[@kvlteacher5911]

Fantastic! Thanks for this! KE3HL

[@mohinderkaur6671]

Nice project videos ... Great work! Note: there is hum on audio... can you please check

[@edmaurus2511]

@ 24:50 is that regen control to high like on the Morgan 1 tube regen?

[@scharkalvin]

Autodyne is a term that can mean a regenerative detector, or a self oscillating mixer. In the case of a regenerative detector, it's only an autodyne if the circuit is oscillating, because then it is operating as a product detector (mixer-oscillator). In a superhet circuit, the autodyne is used as a converter. There is a subtle difference though, as a converter two tank circuits are used because the incoming frequency and the oscillator frequency are at least several hundred khz apart. As a regenerative detector, only a single tank circuit is used, but this means that the detector can back feed into the input circuit and cause interference, so an RF stage should precede the detector to block this. In the early days, a sharp cutoff pentode was used as an autodyne converter, and the circuit was very similar to the transistor autodyne converters commonly used in germanium transistor radios. Autodyne does NOT refer to a circuit having a superhet front end and a regenerative detector, though both the converter and the detector CAN be autodyne circuits.

[@servetbayer3258]

thank s sir :D

[@MIKROWAVE1]

Most welcome!

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

BF244 FETs might work well here, if you are designing a vacuum tube radio then you might implement a SO42P using 3x 12AT7 vacuum tubes, you can use the NE556 as a power amplifier where one side is used as a clock and the other half used as the PWM modulator with the signal to be amplified going to the CV pin on the second half of the NE556, Intermediate Frequency Transformers can be replaced with Collins Mechanical filters, that push pull amplifier can be converted to a converter by putting a transistor in the emitter leads if they are NPN that take a signal from the Local Oscillator, what about replacing the two transistors with a Ring Of Two transistor amplifier to drive the transformer, transistors from the CCCP might be worth getting, what about implementing a Diode Ring Mixer as a demodulator for CW and SSB.

[@DavidHuber63]

I liked it, over

[@pauloandrade243]

Aqui vai uma dica para a conversão directa tentar montar bias (balanço resistencia variavel ) entre a bobine e os diodos para um Q mais elevado experiencia obviamente...ainda não lançei a minha experando lança-la a qualquer momento...

[@khalidtarawneh2289]

Mike I just built your Chuck Kitchens varient, got some great signals on 40m both CW and SSB, But I don't seem to have any control on regeneration, I changed the 2.2M resistor and the Diodes varicaps as well as the regen Pot with no difference in result. The radio is always in regeneration and i cant tune to any AM BANDS, PLZ HELP

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Like the SO42P which is not made anymore except the ones made in Russia, implement the SO42P using 3x ECC88 vacuum tubes, what about using the AF117 PNP Germanium transistors or if you have a broken VEGA Radio form the CCCP then the transistors in it might be worth using as long as they are not burnt out.

[@zappatx]

Was the HW-8 any of these circuits you covered here?? I was wanting to add in switchable preselectors to that as a test.

[@MIKROWAVE1]

I have no real experience with the HW QRP radios, but they may be on my path at some point. The preselection can be done outboard at low power levels like this. Really just a 2 section rotary switch and some L and C components.

[@mohinderkaur6671]

1970s straight bc receivers - using japanese and euro transistors ac125 ac128 2sb77 2sb75 2sa12 2sa15 af115 which would burn itself out due to static

[@acmefixer1]

The AF115 probably went bad because of Tin Whiskers which plagued the AF117.

[@glenbirbeck4098]

Why would anyone put ICs on a protoboard sideways?

[@warplanner3258]

SA602, SA612

[@jeromegrzelak8236]

UBITIQUIS I GOT TO GOOGLE THAT SWEET KG6MN

[@MIKROWAVE1]

I love using words that I can not pronounce! Heee.

[@tubeDude48]

Where did you get the transistor sockets from? Also like to build the receiver at 15:00. Where can I get the schematic?

[@MIKROWAVE1]

I found some on EBay and some on an old computer card. Schematic sure. Email via QRZ using my ham call.

[@user-bo8eq7ki5w]

Is it a reflex superheterodyne ?

[@MIKROWAVE1]

The Self Oscillating Mixer is technically a Reflex Circuit because it is doing two things and it does convert down to a lower frequency, so yes, it is a superheterodyne. Самосциллирующий миксер технически является рефлекторной схемой, потому что он выполняет две вещи и преобразует их на более низкую частоту, так что да, это супергетеродин.

[@user-bo8eq7ki5w]

@@MIKROWAVE1 Thank you. 73 !

[@frankhughes_vk6fh]

Hi Mike, thanks for the solid-state & Germanium nostalgia! Two of my early (Eu design), successfull builds are here www.vk6fh.com/vk6fh/Australian Reflex Rcvrs cct.png Also just did a webpage on "nostalgic" tube CW rig, here www.vk6fh.com/vk6fh/1948cwtxmr.htm Always enjoy your video's, Cheers from Frank Australia