The "glitch" in the first response captured with the device was traced to a flyback issue (the point where the voltage controlled oscillator flies back from the top of its sweep to start over at low frequency again).
Here's a decent response of one of my experimental IFTs in close-to-critically coupled tuning, made with the Wobbulator...
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_71-IkTH3uDw/S2lJmG2vr2I/AAAAAAAACkA/msOheJHkDGc/s320/Critical+Coupling.jpg)
Having gone to the trouble of brewing up the Wobbulator and finding it useful, I decided that I would put it in a box for longevity and ease of use...
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_71-IkTH3uDw/S2lJ5n7veeI/AAAAAAAACkI/Uo-kwsaim5E/s320/Wobbulator.jpg)
The front controls...
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_71-IkTH3uDw/S2lKCBPeCUI/AAAAAAAACkQ/R97NDlO2dEI/s320/Wobbulator+Front.jpg)
... give me manual frequency selection (via the knob), manual / swept frequency (switch at lower left) and low / high impedance output (switch at centre). Speaking of high impedance, it is so high that the shunting capacitance of a 1meter coax connector becomes very significant in measurement - I'm learning all the time in this strange, high impedance world!
Having enjoyed more success with the experimental IFT homebrewed with axial RF coils than with home-wound coils on sewing machine bobbin formers (described here , I made a second "axial IFT"...
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_71-IkTH3uDw/S2lLJJ4EuQI/AAAAAAAACkY/AQMRXpDn-0o/s320/2nd+Axial+IFT.jpg)
... and popped it into the valve superhet project (blogs passim).
The result is pretty convincing - best performance so far (although still with too little overall gain - working better into headphones than speakers). I could use the Wobbulator to measure an IF response in situ (this is important, given the effects of stray capacitances etc mentioned earlier)...
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_71-IkTH3uDw/S2lMB4t8EMI/AAAAAAAACkg/fy_w0MJ8QGE/s320/Overall+IF+Response.jpg)
Must dash now - got a bout of business travel to attend to!
To tell you the truth, I made this post from the Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge in Hong Kong Airport during the business trip - but that's another story. Come to think of it, Bill Meara has a "travelogue" section on Soldersmoke, so perhaps I'll post some travelogue too!
...-.- de m0xpd
No comments:
Post a Comment