My name is Geoff Haines, my call sign is N1GY, and I have been an amateur radio operator since 1992. I was licensed initially
as a Tech Plus, (N1LGI) and over the years I have upgraded as the spirit moved me until I attained the Extra rating in 2005.
I am a member of five amateur radio clubs plus the ARRL and the West Central Florida Section of the ARRL. I am currently
the President of The Manatee Amateur Radio Club Inc. and Assistant Section Manager and Technical Coordinator for The West
Central Florida Section of ARRL.
Occasionally I write an article for QST Magazine, more frequently I write for a web-based publication called "The Experimenter".
This is a web-zine put out quarterly by the Technical Specialist Group of the WCF. I am it's editor and coincidentally I am
also the Technical Coordinator for the Section.
I enjoy homebrewing those little gadgets for the ham shack like mic selectors and foot switches. I also enjoy constructing
antennas in order to solve the needs of my particular situation. I write about these gadgets and antennas frequently and some
of these articles wind up in QST or The Experimenter. They will also wind up on these pages as time and skills permit. As
I note below in the "Updates", I have finally replaced the old and dated photo with the new one above. This one shows the
"earset" that I now use for most of my operating on almost all of my radios. I have built them for the Icom IC-703, 706 (all
variants), the Yaesu FT-817, 857, 897, FT-7800, 8800,8900, The Alinco DR-150T and DJ-F1T. It will not work with the IC-7000
because of a fundamental difference in how the transmit audio gets amplified in the 7000 versus the 706. If anyone has a solution
for that problem, please let me know.
On this web site, as my comfort level with building the site grows, I will add articles and links to other ham-related
pages.
I do notice that to properly view some of these pages, you will have to maximize the window in your browser.
I do not understand why this is so, it appears to be just the way Site Builder works.
My purpose is to develop a resource for those hams who are intrigued by DIY amateur radio, but do not want to get
into a major project right off the bat. "Walk before you run" is a good way to approach homebrewing electronic devices. I
want to help other electronically challenged hams like myself to get comfortable with this wonderful hobby.
CELLULAR "EARSET" ADAPTERS AVAILABLE:
For those among the amateur radio community who do not have the time to build one of these devices that adapt
a wired cellular headset (or "earset, if you like) to many of the most popular amateur radios, I do offer the adapter complete
with a new "earset" for a reasonable price. These are completely "plug and play" devices and all are tested by me before shipping.
Units are available for the following radios:
Icom IC-703, IC 706 (all variants)
Yaesu FT-7800, FT-8800, FT-8900, FT-1802, FT-817, FT-857, FT-897
Alinco DR-150
I may be able to design circuits that will fit almost any radio that uses an electret mic element. The IC-7000
is a notable exception because of the basic design of the radio. Even radios that use a dynamic mic may be converted if a
DC voltage is available at the mic connector.
The basic headset (earset) and adapter are priced at $45.95 shipping included. Additional auxiliary buttons such
as the UP/Down, and Fast on the FT-817, 857, and 897 are $20 extra. The same applies to the IC-703 and 706 series. It
is not possible to add auxiliary buttons to the adapter for the Yaesu FT-7800, 8800, 8900 and 1802 again due to the original
design of the radio.
Shipping is via USPS Priority Mail and I can only accept USPS Money orders for payment.
If you are interested in purchasing one of these units, please e-mail me via the link on the "contact me" page
of the web site.
About my "Blog" (see below): As I think of some subject that I want to make a short comment about, whether it
be something new on the site, or something of import elsewhere, I will make an "UPDATE" to this home page. The latest "UPDATE"
will appear at the top of the "LATEST UPDATES" text below. As older "Updates" become dated or no longer of importance, I will
remove them from the site.
LATEST UPDATES FROM N1GY'S RADIO ROOM
UPDATED 7/15/09
I have been informed by the staff at QST that my article on my "flagpole" antenna has been accepted for publication.
When it will appear is still unclear, but it could be up to a year or longer. This is simply the nature of writing in the
amateur radio arena. Articles have to fit into the needs of a particular issue and also fit within the page count for that
issue. This means that given article may wait quite a while until the proper slot is arrived at. Still, it is very nice
to know that my efforts are appreciated. On another note, you will see that I have added a guest book page to the site. My
lovely wife, Audrey, has suggested this for a long time, but I only discovered how to do it today. Isn't it amazing? I have
been using this web site program for quite a while and only now did I learn how to do that!
73
UPDATED 6/28/09
Field Day is over and a good time was had by all. We got some very nice press coverage from the local paper,
The Bradenton Herald who came out, took many pictures and spent some real time getting to know what amateur radio really is
all about. My thanks to the photographer and the reporter who covered our event. Here is the link to the coverage on the Internet:
http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/story/1539875.html
UPDATED 6/21/09
As I write this, it is "Father's Day". I have just come back from a very nice brunch with some of my family.
It is nice to know that they appreciate dad/grampa as they do. Unfortunately, the other half of the brood down here in Florida
had a sick grandchild at the moment, so they could not make it. Our other "child" and his family reside in the Northeast so
they could not attend for obvious reasons.
Yesterday, I participated in the annual NI4CE picnic. The Board of Directors (of which I happen to be one) hosts
this yearly bash at a park in the central part of our coverage area. You can see more about the NI4CE repeater system and
the picnic at: www.ni4ce.org The picnic is funded by the BOD at no cost to the repeater system general fund as a way of thanking our users for their support
of NI4CE throughout the year. According to the information I got from other members of the BOD, we had over 120 people show
up. The National Weather Service did Skywarn training during the day and the Laurel VE Group came and administered 17 tests.
While not all of them passed, we gained 10 new Techs, 2 new Generals, and 2 new Extras all while having loads of fun eating
lots of good picnic food and drink. I don't know the exact numbers from the Skywarn training but it sure looked well attended
to me. Great picnic and I look forward to next year.
UPDATED 6/7/09
I have added another page to the site. The new page is about creating a desk mic for ham radio from one intended
for a computer. Really easy to do and it works really well. On another note, I was interviewed on a local radio talk show
last week. The subject was amateur radio and hurricane preparation here in Florida. I have added a link to that episode on
my links page. Many thanks to Matt Bruce, KI4VOB, the news director at WSRQ 1220 AM for giving amateur radio the chance for
some air time on the broadcast side of the spectrum.
UPDATED 6/3/09
It was a real kick to open the ARRL web site this morning and see one of my writing efforts featured on the news
page. I have placed a link on my "Join a Club-WHY" page so that (If one desires) you can take a look at it. All very enjoyable
to see ones work on a really popular web site.
On a different note, the web site of The West Central Florida Group, operators of the NI4CE repeater system,
have added some links in their Net Schedule Page so that any interested operator can quickly go to a brief explanation of
each linked Net and find out quickly what that net is all about. Concurrently, the webmaster of the WCF Section web pages
has added the explanatory summary to the Section web pages. Click on a link on the NI4CE web site (Net Schedules) and it takes
you to the Section web page. I also have that explanatory summary on my web site, since I wrote it, Hi. You can find these
links and several others on my Links Page.
73
UPDATED 5/21/09
For the past couple of days I have been emailing back and forth with a ham from California who wants to install
a Yaesu FT-8800R on his motorcycle. By itself, not much of a problem, but he wants to integrate the motorcycle "Autocom" system
with the 8800. Now that is a really interesting project! With a few emails back and forth with the manufacturer of the Autocom
system in England, we determined that the project was not only feasible, but actually fairly easy. The plug from the Autocom
system that plugs into the radio uses a five pin DIN connector similar to a PS2 computer mouse. A mating connector is then
wired to the mic selector unit (I forgot to mention the ham also wants to keep the availablity of the stock hand mic as well
as the helmet mounted system, for use when he is stopped and has his helmet off.) and the selector unit is married to the
radio in the way I describe on the Mic Selector page on this web site. An external speaker will be mounted for use with the
hand mic and the whole deal switches from one to the other with a flip of the dial.
The electronics necessary to match the helmet mic and the PTT switch to the radio are inside the mic selector
and no changes have to be made to the Autocom system at all. Very Neat! I wish I was in CA to help work on this project, it
sounds really fun to do. I used to ride 30 years ago, but time and wear and tear on my back preclude doing it anymore. Ah
well, back to the bench.
73
UPDATED 5/18/09
I got an email yesterday from a ham who wanted to build a headset adapter for a fellow ham who is blind.
The radio in question is a Yaesu
FT-450AT. I checked it out and to my surprise found that it uses the same microphone as the FT-817, 857 and 897.
That means that the adapter design on the Yaesu adapter page of my site should work with the FT-450 series of radios.
In fact, it should work with any Yaesu radio that uses the
MH-31A8J microphone. A slightly different and earlier design, also on that page will work with any Yaesu radio
that uses the MH-48 mic.
The MH-31 mic is a dynamic mic, but the pinouts at the mic connector on the radios that use it also include an
unused source of 5Vdc at PIn 6. Thus, by utilizing pin 6 in my schematic, an electret mic can be powered and used quite easily.
Even all of the buttons for UP, DOWN, and FAST can be included in the adapter and operated normally.
The MH-48 is a different matter. The MH-48 uses an electret mic so that is no problem, but because all of the
buttons on the mic except the PTT are "multiplexed" the design of a successful circuit to use them would be very complex and
beyond my meager skills. Even the PTT requires a resistor (Iuse a 22K ohm) to make the PTT operate properly. That done, the
circuit only uses that one extra component and a slightly different value for the resistor on the mic power line to work well
with the FT series radios that use the MH-48 as compared to the circuit say for the IC-706 series of radios. The pinouts are
of course a little changed, but the circuit is equally simple. Give it a try, the parts are easy to obtain and not expensive.
The completed adapter lets you use a cellular "earset" weighing less than one ounce versus the much heavier commercial units.
The audio quality is good and reception reports are "fine business".
73
UPDATED 5/6/09
Well, I have been using my new HF "flagpole" for a few days now and I must say I am quite satisfied with the
results. Being able to access 80 meters is a real treat. It works on most of the other bands as well, although I have not
heard much activity on 10 meters. That is probably just the band conditions at the moment so I remain well pleased with the
outcome. I continue to get emails from hams wanting to know more about the cellular headset adapter. If anyone is having trouble
copying a decent version of the schematic from the web site, please email me and I will be happy to attach a copy of the original
schematic to a reply email. Keep building!
73
UPDATED 5/3/09
The job is finally done! Today I connected all of the wires and cables and dressed them under the house. I built
an enclosure for the base of the antenna and the AH-4 tuner out of an old wastebasket. Cut down by about 4 inches and modified
to fit around the mast, it fits perfectly and hides al the electronics and cables. The first tune up showed good SWR on 80
through 10 so I am happy as a clam. Tired, too. I am finally back on HF after almost five months.
UPDATED 5/1/09
I have placed a "hotlink" on the archive page on this web site which takes you to the West Central Florida Web
site pages where many of the older "Experimenters" are archived. This will permit you to download those editions if
needed.
On a different subject, the radials for the "Flagpole" antenna at my QTH have been laid
down. The remaining task, and it looks to be a big one, is to bury the coax, the control cable for the AH-4 tuner and a 6-gauge
wire to connect the antenna ground rod to both the station ground rod and the house safety ground. The purpose of this wire
is to assure that all grounding is at the same potential and thus eliminate "ground loops" as a problem. Still a lot of work
to do before I am back up on HF.
73
UPDATED 4/22/09
Well, my article in QST has seen the light of day. I wrote an article about building the cell phone "earset"
adapters that I feature elsewhere on this web site and the response has been gratifying. I have had several emails from hams
who are building their own versions of my little gadget and so far all are working quite well. The "earsets" shown in the
article are getting a little harder to find now that the cellular industry has moved to "Bluetooth" but they are still available
from several on-line retailers. Any wired cellular headset or "earset" will work so that is not a major problem so far. At
the time I wrote the article on page 40 of the May issue of QST, I had not yet built them for several Yaesu models like the
FT-817, 857, and 897. Those designs are available here on my web site and the schematic is not all that different from the
others, so have at them. My goal as a member of the ARRL and as an appointed official of my local ARRL Section has always
been to encourage other hams to build their own projects and gain the confidence and pleasure of being able to say "Yes, I
built it myself" Whether the project is an entire radio or an accessory for a commercially manufactured rig is unimportant.
Building something yourself is very empowering and lots of fun too!
UPDATED 03/27/09
My cellphone earset and adapters have been selling well since the blurb appeared in the Feb. QST a few weeks
ago. I have another supplier for the headsets for the time being. The HF flagpole/antenna project has been on hold for the
moment. The flagpole is up and looks great. You can see it on the QTH page on this website. Transforming it into an HF antenna
is on hold until the seasonal residents (snowbirds) go back north for the summer. I have 300 feet of 18 gauge insulated wire
that will be tucked under the sod for the radial field and sufficient coax (direct bury type) and control cable for the AH-4
coupler to connect it to my radio room. All in good time as they say. Sometime soon we will be headed north to visit our son
and his family and while there, I will of course make my pilgrimage to ARRL HQ. I always visit with my editors while I am
in the area and also hope to visit my old Ham Radio Club in Wallingford CT while I am in CT. I will, of course, also
be bringing my "Radio in a Box" to my son's house so I can be on the air while I am there. The RIB is an old Epson Projector
case that now contains an IC-706MkIIG along with a Z-100 LDG autotuner and an MFJ-4125 switching power supply. There is room
in the case for a G5RV antenna, coax and accessories. The RIB gets packed into the trunk of the car along with a home-brewed
dual band antenna for 2 meters and 70 centimeters. The whole system works rather well, both for recreational operating and
for disaster response. For use where "mains" power is not available I also can bring along a big deep cycle battery on a luggage
cart to provide the needed voltage. (See the webpage on this site on Portable Power) Since my son's house is some 750 feet
above sealevel the setup gets out pretty well. As I was putting this on the web site I realised that I had not yet put in
a page about the RIB. That oversight has now been corrected. You can go to that NEW page by clicking on it's title in the
navigation menu to the left.
UPDATED 03/13/09
I mentioned in a previous update that my HF antenna was going to be a flagpole type. Well, the deed is almost
done. I have added more photos and text to my N1GY QTH page showing my new flagpole. Converting it to an HF antenna will proceed
as soon as the snowbirds go back north so they will not see me slicing the lawn for all the radials and the trench I will
have to dig for the coax and control cables. By the time they come back all will look fine and I will be on the air again
on HF. Many thanks to Jim, KE4INM who donated a 22 foot aluminum boat mast to the project and to Bill's Welding of Bradenton
who fabricated the tilt mount to my specifications. If anyone wants more specific details, just email me (see the contact
me page) and I will be happy to oblige. Life is good!
73
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