New Life For Old Radios! Just $2.29 for this Wide Band Amplifier!

[@Cassius609]

That tube radio is huge! A proper boat anchor.

[@rfburns3472]

Yes indeed! My first ham radio receiver my father gave me 60 years ago.

[@KF0NNQ]

Dang cheap and awesome gain. I appreciate how you tested and explained each step. It runs off a 9V rechargeable? Incredible. I need one of these rigs. Thanks and 73, Bill.

[@rfburns3472]

Well, it surprised me Bill! The lithium-ion battery is best since it will hold out at 9 volts till it’s time for a recharge. This is better than a 9-volt alkaline battery that losses voltage with time which makes the gain of the amp go down slowly. Also, if I use 12 volts, I get about one more S-unit out of it!

[@jertres2887]

If you put it between a band pass filter and the receiver it might help more with the signal to noise, if… it’s a single band receiver.

[@rfburns3472]

Good comment…I agree.

[@bdg77]

Very useful little gadget!

[@rfburns3472]

Yes indeed!

[@cheesedoodlefeeder]

I use a similar LNA for a loop on the ground antenna (kk5jy design) and the LNA makes a hugh improvement. Note that the LOG antenna has a very low noise floor.

[@rfburns3472]

I appreciate your comment!

[@curtchase3730]

Ahh, Is that battery one of those real 9v output types, or the traditional 7.2v types? Many of those Lithium batteries have a smps in them that could generate EMI. Take a AM transistor radio and hold it's antenna up to the battery with your amp off. Tune the dial and listen for noise/squealing sounds. Anyway, that little board is wild. Amazing the bandwidth! Crazy. I see the switch there will do a proper bypass of the signal when amp is off, otherwise I'd expect a super weak signal, if any, leaking though the circuit when it is off. Nice.

[@rfburns3472]

Great observation Curt! The battery puts out a solid 9.1 volts and shuts down immediately when exhausted. I like that. The amp doesn't lose gain when the battery loses its supply capacity. I have heard others say they can cause EMI, especially the musical instrument folks. Is it possible their is some kind of chemical action going on in these lithium ion batteries? I will try the transistor radio test you suggested.

[@Stewart-HA5RV]

This looks perfect for a Loop on the ground receive antenna!

[@rfburns3472]

Yes, and perhaps worth the the effort to try. 73's

[@pyrlik6968]

Obwohl mein Englisch schlecht ist, sehr interessant, Daumen hoch 👍

[@rfburns3472]

Glad you liked the video!

[@Subgunman]

A source for this board assembly?

[@rfburns3472]

www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803352141378.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.79.6d4a1802DstVqb&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

[@John151283]

Thanks for the Information., Interesting ✌️👍👍👍

[@rfburns3472]

Your welcome John!

[@countryside8122]

Is WWV still at 2.5,10,15,20 and 25MHZ??

[@rfburns3472]

"The station radiates 10 000 W on 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 15 MHz; and 2500 W on 2.5 MHz and 20 MHz." - NIST

[@Tobys-Dad]

And 25 mhz as well.

[@G6MDX-Dai]

⁠@@Tobys-DadNot 25 MHz. It’s easy to check on the WWV/NIST website.

[@sirmister4411]

Nice for a deaf old man like myself

[@rfburns3472]

It’s a nice little device.

[@javiermac381]

Can I download your cheat sheet?

[@gordselectronicshobby3853]

It amplifies noise as well.

[@rfburns3472]

Correct....About 3.1 dB. On my radio it added 1 S-Unit of noise.

[@willthecat3861]

@@rfburns3472 Not sure how you are getting that? What is the noise figure?

[@alainblazit9504]

It amplifies the noise from the antenna, but not the one of the input stage of the receiver.

[@barrymayson2492]

The noise figures are in the specs for the RF device used . They use different devices on these boards so hard to define. The way I use one is with an attenuation and I can tune it for the least amount I need but can hear the signal and use the signal enhancement etc to get a good clean signal. I just had a thought are you asking about noise generated in the device ? Or the amplified band noise?

[@HughTVDX]

Is the led adding noise? For a quick check just disconnect it.. If it is just put a small value cap across it. Are those wires going to the switch from the in/out connections causing stray noise? The preamp may be oscillating way up around 1GHz with the wires like that and the gain involved, just a thought.