DIY QRP rig

[muscall]

Just finished a Forty-9er build. It does have a few modifications. We added an internal memory keyer using a K1EL chip, a hypermite CW filter, audio amp, and blue tooth control of most functions. Here are a couple pictures.

And another with the lid on.

Also a link to youtube with a demo of the radio...such as it is. I sure ain't a video guru, but maybe you can get an idea of how the little rig operates.


Thanks Michael for the recommendation on the Arduino book. It should be here on the 5th.

73's
RCC
WB5YYM

 

[KE4EST]

Thanks Michael for the recommendation on the Arduino book. It should be here on the 5th.

No problem! I watched your video yesterday, great job!
Read that book and make sure to not just lie in bed and read it...actually do the examples as you read it. If you don't understand something read that sentence or paragraph over ten times and let it sink in.
If you still are stuck, ask myself or Jack, or one of the many other knowledgeable guys on Arduino.
The main thing is make sure you understand before moving on, because as things get deeper you will only get lost more.
That is a great book, I even bought the second edition to help Jack out.

I am talking to him right now in emails, trying to talk him into writing a book on OPP(Object Oriented Programming), that is geared toward the Arduino.
Feel free to start a thread here and ask or email me directly!

73,
KE4EST

 

[KC7NOA]

Youtube link seems broken

 

[muscall]

Let me try this again. I edited out a few seconds where I sounded really stupid. Probably those edited seconds didn't improve the video or make me sound any smarter Hope this works.

Bet ya'll didn't know RIT was a two syllable word

Here is the URL if the below doesn't work.

 

[muscall]

Here is the second part of the build. The amplifier board is 1 irf510 driving 2. I'm not expecting this to take long at all, and hopefully it will match the radio and make me one of the big guns with 20 watts or so out.

 

[KC7NOA]

Do you like 10m or the lower bands?

 

[muscall]

I actually haven't done any operating at all except on 40 meter CW. I took a big lightning strike in the early 90's which wiped out most of my gear both vhf and HF. What wasn't melted down went into a closet and some was sold. I still have a few pieces. I have a HTX100 in the closet which was working when I put it there in the 90's. I have a KW amp I built which is out in the shed. It may need new capacitors and cleaning out. The chassis that I put the forty-9er in was in a junk pile and I dug it out and polished it a little. I had built the chassis back in the 80's for some project. I have a hygain th6dxx out in the shed that I will probably never use again. In the last two years, twice I have found myself home bound for medical reasons, and radio/fta has been my go to therapy. The first time I was down, I bought a Baofeng UV5R, and made some satellite contacts with it. I built up a 440 11 element yagi and a 5 element 2 meter yagi. I mounted them together with a 20 watt 2 meter amplifier. Rather than use a diplexer, I simply added a 3rd so239 to the amp and connected the 440 yagi to it as the receive antenna. When the radio transmitted, it would go through the amp and out the 3rd so239 to the 2 meter antenna. This got me interested about what was floating around above us, and I started trying to receive FTA satellites off of converted dishes. After recovering, the radioing came to a halt. It has been two years, and again, I have found myself home bound. Again, I turned to radio for a little therapy for the hands and the mind. I have made only a few contacts, and the fist is really rusty, but I have really enjoyed building. It looks as if I may be down for another 2 weeks, and hopefully I will be rolling again.

I found this site a couple years ago, and used it for a source of information for FTA projects. I'm pretty sure I have purchased a few items from Michael when I first started doing the FTA thing. I was a member of a SDR yahoo group and I recognized Michaels call sign and knew he had the site here. Of course Titanium is well known, and he had gained my respect by assisting an older gentlemen down in Florida who was having trouble with his satellite setup. He went way above and beyond the call of duty help, and I had pm'd him about that on another FTA site. This was well before I knew he was a HAM. I can't remember the handle of who he helped, but I know I could do some searching and dig it out.

I am amazed that the world has become as small as it has. The cool thing is, the smaller it gets, the more good people I cross paths with. I guess I read your question as an essay question. The short answer is the only band I can operate now is the 40 meter CW portion and only running 1 watt. When 10 meters was open in the early 90s, I really enjoyed working DX with a 7 elelment monoband yagi into the 4-811a amp and maybe some day, I will have a decent HF station back on the air.

Hope you had a great Independence Day

RCC
WB5YYM

 

[KC7NOA]

Then no mods for the qrp amp needed ....

My qrp, and now 100w sdr is also shown on my qrz page

 

[muscall]

Looked you up and love the picture of the dog. I see you like to build also. Good to meet you here. Got the front panel mounted on the amp this morning and am taking a break. Thunder storming like crazy here.

 

[KC7NOA]

If u wanted 50ish wats ... u could try irf530, but power drops right around 20m

 

[muscall]

Here is the amp running. I am showing 14 watts out with .75 watts drive. My meter is not a high quality unit, and I question its accuracy. This is with 27 volts to the amplifier module. I probably need to recheck the bias current. If I can get a cover bent up by the weekend, I may be able to lay this project to rest, and spend some time operating.

 

[muscall]

One last picture. I need to order some new feet for the amp that will make them the same height. I just need to make a few contacts and get the fist back into shape. Gained 1 watt from the amp when I put the cover on??? Must have changed the capacitance going to something. Now meter showing exactly 15. Is anyone a label guru? I see the volume control knob needs to be turned black too.

 

[KE4EST]

Here is what I use: Front Panel Express: Front Panel Design Software and CAD Conversion Service: Front Panel Designer
You can go to hobby stores or even sometimes Wall-mart and get clear plastic sheets with peel and stick back.
Design to your hearts content and then print it out and put it on.
If you good Front Panel Designer and go to images you can see some of the stuff others have done to give you an idea.
It has a small learning curve, but not too bad.
Just print on plain paper a couple of times and cut it out and hold it up to the rig to see if spacing and everything looks correct, before printing on the more expensive media.
You can order all this of course too. I think I got mine on Amazon or eBay.

 

[muscall]

Thanks, my friend. Will take a look. "The Book" came in today. Been doing a little reading.

 

[KE4EST]

"The Book"

 

[muscall]

Pretty neat panel design program. I started with the amp front panel and it pretty well took me a whole evening to get it right. Printed the label and stuck it on today. Not too bad for the first effort. On the amp, the rear labels are more important than the front. Gotta get the in/out connectors labeled.

I am really enjoying "The Book". I am at the end of chapter two. I am going back and review since I did not know the answers to the exercises without looking. I imagine it will be a brain scrambler for me before I get very deep in it.

 

[KE4EST]

Yes, make sure you have a good grasp on what has been covered so far, or you will get lost later.
If you are still lost after a couple of goes at it, move on a little and maybe when you start writing some code things will click.