@rugster You know... I might more readily consider at trade for a small handful of crystals.. That is something I do need.. I'm just thinking aloud right now though.
@richpowers I am using the Schlockwood and it does work great with FM too. With FM a few jumper changes are needed.
Have tried the Sean Cuthbert one and there was one flaw.....every time a song starts, especially with a drum beat but not just with that, speech too, there's a fraction of a second of distortion (like what overmodulation sounds like) and it's very annoying so I couldn't use it. It's fine after that. The Schlockwood is much better and the limiting works along side the compression not either or.
Think of how much I had to pay for the Schlockwood with the exchange to Canadian dollars and the shipping also in Canadian dollars, a lot more than you would in the US. The good thing is you have it forever once you have it and is good for AM and FM.
The Sean Cuthbert is good except for that glitch on the initial note or drum beat of a song.
I wish it wouldn't have had that flaw as I liked it.
@rugster The only way to stop the "pumping" is to have multiband compressors like the Schlockwood or Sean cuthbert. A demo of this...
@mark Interesting demo. I had heard of Sean Cuthbert, due to his AM stereo transmitter. I didn't know he also had an audio processor. Thanks for the info on that one flaw. Unfortunately, it sounds like a deal breaker (at least, to me it does). I have an SW200, as well as an SW300. I got lucky and came across deals on both of them. I feel the same way about both of them that you do about your SW200 - once you've got it, you've got it. These were both long-term acquisitions for me. Ideally, I will have advance warning before I transition to the big radio shack in the sky, so that I have time to pass them along to someone else who will use and appreciate them. As long as I'm alive and kicking, they're staying with me!
@rugster You know... I might more readily consider at trade for a small handful of crystals.. That is something I do need.. I'm just thinking aloud right now though.
The only AM band crystals I have Rich, are a couple of HC-6/U ones for 1600KHz. I believe that HC-6/U is the size that was used in the Rangemaster. I kind of want to hang onto them though. I'll keep an eye out for any others that I see and let you know. If you can ever spare the funds for one of Keith's frequency agile modules, you'll be set for any frequency you want to broadcast on.
By the way @richpowers Surplus Sales of Nebraska have HC-6 crystals for 1000 KHz ($12), 1500 KHz ($8), and 1600 KHz ($8). I bought a couple of the 1600 KHz ones and they work.
https://www.surplussales.com/Crystals/Crystals-2.html
@rugster Thanks, I've tried to locate some several time without success, but I was also confused at the array of types.
HC-6, That is what the style of our crystals are? And the 1.6000 MHz is the correct pick?
I didn't even know that and if I had I would have been still been looking for 1600 mhz and not 1.6 mhz
Shows what I know..
@richpowers 1600 KHz and 1.6 MHz are the same frequency. It just depends on whether you choose to express the frequency in terms of kilohertz or megahertz.
I am about 95% certain that the Rangemaster takes HC-6/U crystals. I cannot find mention online of what size crystal the old Rangemaster took, but I'm pretty sure that's the size. You could always check with Keith, or perhaps someone here will chip in. On the Surplus Sales of Nebraska site, they refer to them as HC-6. HC-6 refers to the size of the can, while the HC-6/U is a variant, with pins that are designed to be inserted into a socket, as opposed to wire leads. It's HC-6/U you want. The 1.6 MHz one on the site that they refer to as an HC-6, is actually an HC-6/U. I know because I bought two of them. To complicate matters further, there is an HC-6/U variant with thicker pins. It's the 0.05" pins you want, and not the 0.093" ones. Most HC-6/U crystals have the 0.05" pins.
Ha! Sometimes I think that I should end every post with an apology for being wordy 🤣
So let me get this straight, I need HC-6/U crystal's because the regular HC-6 will not fit my transmitter, but I still want to buy the Hzc-6 crystal's because they are really HC-6/U crystals.
So let me get this straight, I need HC-6/U crystal's because the regular HC-6 will not fit my transmitter, but I still want to buy the Hzc-6 crystal's because they are really HC-6/U crystals.
No. HC-6 refers to the size of the metal can that holds the crystal. It doesn't say anything about the wires or pins that are coming out of the can. You need HC-6/U with 0.05" pins, but you should confirm that with Keith before buying anything. I have never owned an older Rangemaster that takes crystals, as mine is a newer one, and doesn't have a crystal socket.
If you want to verify for yourself what type of crystal is in your Rangemaster, take it out and measure the metal can. If it measures about 19.7mm high x 19.2mm wide x 8.8mm thick and has 0.05" thick pins, then it's an HC-6/U.
What did you buy the crystal's to put in if not the Rangemaster?
I bought them for homebrew projects, as I was thinking of building my own Part 15 transmitter. I still might. By the way, just to make sure, measure the spacing between the pins on your crystal. If the pins are spaced 0.486" apart (12.34mm) in addition to what I mentioned in my previous post, then it's an HC-6/U, for sure.
@rugster I was guessing it something like that. I checked your website which I hadn't been back to in years and was blown away at how much it evolved.. I browsed and browsed and couldnt find an end to all your projects. Most all of it was over my head.
30% off select products. But...? Exactly what products? The Hurricane, evidently, but what about the Mosquito?
And where are the actual prices shown? I can't figure out what costs what on the linked website. And prices seen on Amazon for these devices doesn't state whether they are the full price or the 30% off price.
What bothers me about all four of the transmitters is that they all have 50-Ohm outputs, not ideal for a short 3-meter antenna.
The reason the Mosquito interests me is that it could be suitable to explore my curiosity about boosting nighttime power so the area of full quieting matched that achieved during the day with 100mW. But there's no power variable control so that the output could be dialed down from 1-Watt to 100mW to find the exact amount of power required to achieve the objective. Then, once the experimentation was over it could be set for ordinary 100mW legal operation.
@carl-blare I don't know anything about it requires 50 ohm input.. over my head, but the prices are right there in the drop down for US and Canada
So they start at $137
The Mosquito on their site is $137, it doesnt say anything about a 30% discount. It also says it's one watt
https://www.6v6.co.uk/transmitters/solid-state-transmitters/mosquito-am-one-watt-transmitter-us.html