I'm anxiously awaiting a special delivery of a transmitter myself, although on the other end of the spectrum, where moving pictures are formed and beamed into our brains.
Eventually I plan on nabbing one of these AMT 5000's as soon as I get bored with my other works and have enough cash.
heres pic's of the kit. arrived last week
(can you tell I'm trying to keep this one at the top of the active list?)
USPS claims mine was 50 miles from here 90 minutes ago and is scheduled for delivery tomorrow. Unfortunately, I'll be at work and will miss the delivery but I have something exciting to be thinking about all day!
This is all new to me. Last broadcast was in 1982 and definitely not of the Part 15 persuasion. Marriage and family calmed me down, but the bug bite never healed and I'm looking forward to jumping back into the game. This time, all I want to cover is a campground and Part 15 should do it well.
I'm happy to be a part of this excellent online community and thank all of you for the great info I've found here.
Keith
Same thing here, I'll get my other end of the spectrum Transmitter tomorrow too, good thing I get home right after the mail arrives!
Either, RiversideRadio, you worked for a licensed station back in 1982,
OR
You did it some other way.
The story must be interesting, either way.
One thing is being commonly shared:
We all have AMT500 Mania!
On a fine fall day at noon, the mail van pulled out front and I wondered if this would be the big day. Trying to remain calm I passed the suspenseful moments by remembering to breath, while reminding myself not to exhibit rapidly blinking eyes with head bobbing in all directions.
Up the steps he came, pyth helmet and official post office blue, and the mail box clanked. Acting falsely casual while suppressing the desire to kick the door open and rush out, I saw it.... just the size of the mail box, not an inch smaller, nor too big to fit. How did PhilB know the exact size of my mail box?
Once inside, I admired the package and labeling. Everything was perfectly straight and symmetrically placed with even the sealing tape applied precisely without wrinkles or bubbles.
Popping the box, the first thing on top was the manual, an exact match for its companion AT3000 younger sibling. Beneath this was a fully packed box with items that fit like the real design went into making certain that everything would fit perfectly in the box.
Paging the manual revealed a schematic that looked surprisingly simple, but a set of instructions that looked more detailed than any kit I'd ever built.
A whole new chapter in low power life is begun, and I wonder who will be first to get their kit built and on the air?
Part 15 dot US is so quiet because everyone is busy building their new AMT5000 transmitter from SSTran.com
I can't get past the beauty of it to start construction. I've been around a while and built a lot of kits, especially Heathkits back in the 80s, and this is one top-notch kit. I decided to purchase this due to the online reviews and it looks as though it's going to live up to its reputation in every way. The quality of everything from the case, board, and parts to the well-designed packaging are of extreme high quality.
It arrived packaged so well and tightly that damage from shipment shouldn't be a problem. Upon opening, the manual was placed just below the packing slip and is the first thing I grabbed. It's extremely well-documented and comprehensible. I then reached deeper and pulled out the parts bags. Everything is grouped and labeled well, just as I've read in other reviews. So far, I consider this kit to be as high quality of any I've ever constructed, if not better.
If you aren't familiar with SSTRAN and are planning to build an AM transmitter, I highly recommend this kit - it's going to be a blast to build and use.
Keith
KD4PI
PS I'd never heard of SSTRAN until a couple of weeks ago and have not been paid for this endorsement...etc...etc...
Isn't it neat how easy and quickly human beings can be steered in the modern age?!!
Careful now....too much excitement tends to lead to overlooked steps or outbursts of excitement causing sudden movement of limbs that might knock the table over or cause faulty solder connections.
Steady......steady now......easy......that's it. Patience young padawans...all good things come in good time.
Once the honeymoon is over, it would be nice to read up on actual field tests and measurements to see if all the hub bub is warranted....that is what will make or break the decision here if one is to be added to the "X" box.
I look forward to the followups.
Happy assembling!
RFB
We should listen to RFB and not be too hasty trying to slap this kit together.
In fact PhilB speaks in the manual of the importance of being organized and arranging a neat work space.
On the other hand I don't have time for all that. The circuit cards for the Big Talker shortwave transmitter are strung all over the work table and they are on the air, not yet in their cabinet. I could just build the AMT5000 right on top of all that and there wouldn't be an electrical accident nor lost pieces. Until a minute later.
I remember when I ordered a Panaxis AM-100 kit back in 84 and anxiously awaited its arrival. Like many awaiting their AMT 5000 kit, I too kept an eagle's eye out for that delivery truck, checking every day, even sometimes sitting outside at the curb looking up and down the street!
Then it arrived, and like a kid in a candy store, rushed inside and began to open up the package. I was so excited my hands were shaking and I felt a rush of anxiety and wonder as I put all the parts onto the workbench. I used a cup cake baking pan to sort out all the parts into their own little section, making organization easier.
Fired up the trusty soldering pencil and it seemed to take a lot more time for that thing to heat up! Funny how that seems to work out that way!
After I started assembling the unit, about 10 percent into the project I had to stop and go take care of some other things. Securing the workbench by making sure the soldering iron was shut off, and power strip turned off, I left and was gone for only an hour.
Well to my surprise upon returning, my cat, which loved to use my workbench as a sleeping perch, decided to jump up onto the workbench and landed right on top of the cup cake baking pan which was still filled with sorted parts! Well..needless to say those parts ended up scattered, even a few flung across the room over thick shaggy carpet!!!
What was worse was that my sister who had the duty to vacuum the rooms of the house, had no idea what the cat did, and proceeded to vacuum the rug in the room!
After returning home, I found my cup cake baking pan missing, all those parts missing, and the cat happily snoozing on the workbench. My sister had taken the cup cake baking pan back into the kitchen, and no mention of vacuuming up small parts or anything, just the puzzling look of why I had a cup cake baking pan on my workbench.
In a haste, I ran for the trash can she used to dump the vacuum cleaner's catch bag...only to find that the trash can was empty!! I proceeded at warp speed to the dumpster out in the alley...only to find it empty as well!!
I thought "well..there goes that project".
Fortunately my sister had not taken the full trash bag all the way to the dumpster in the alley. She left it in the garage next to a few other large trash bags that were used to store extra blankets and sheets. It did not occur to me that one of those bags would contain the missing parts.
After sifting through the bag, I found the vacuum cleaner catch bag and started the process of recovering the missing parts....not exactly a clean thing to have to do, but necessary!
The things we will do for our hobby..even sift through smelly sticky icky vacuum catch bags!
I recovered every single missing component and completed the kit that evening.
Moral to the story....always expect the unexpected and never overlook the obvious.
RFB
WOW!
What a story RFB.
In the past I had used 2 different
AM-100s. Boy, did that transmitter
sound good!
Bruce, Dog Radio Studio 2
The moral of the story told by RFB is....
If you have a sister or a cat, hide your small parts in a fire-proof bag up in the ceiling light.
I will be waiting quite a while to build my kit. one of them is i want the excitement to fade so i can take my time building it the other is i live in a 1200 sq/ft 3br apartment with my lady and her son. the lady don't appreciate the studio sitting in the living room much less a work bench with test gear and projects sitting on it for extended period of time.
it may wind up waiting till i can get someone to build it for me or we move into a house where i will have a mancave er shop 🙂
Getting ready to go on a 2-week trip, so there's no rush here either. It has given me time to read through the manual a few times and get familiar with it (which is always a good idea). I've built much larger kits in less time than I plan to construct this one - going to take it nice and easy. Besides, the plan is to set this up at my retirement home in 2 years and anything I do now is experimentation.
But the delivery woman sure did take an eternity to get from the corner to my house.
Keith