The OpenQRP 40m CW Transceiver kit is now available for delivery to the USA and Canada from OpenQRP.com (USA) at $150.00 plus $10.00 shipping (USD).
This provides around 6 to 8 Watts output at 13.5 V on 7 MHz. It includes an LCD display, CW decoder, memory keyer, and has 400 Hz IF selectivity. The processor is based on Arduino technology, allowing experimentation with the firmware. It is designed by Steve Elliott, K1EL, well known for his WinKeyer family of keyers.
The kit is priced at £89 (GBP) and has an LCD display and front panel controls for Tune, RIT, RF Gain, and 6 push buttons. Output is 6 to 8 Watts at 13.5 V. [T]he Open QRP transceiver also includes a separate chip that decodes incoming CW and CW sent via paddles!
The transceiver was designed by Steve Elliott, K1EL, of WinKeyer fame.
(Kits are also expected to be available in the USA at some point from a separate supplier.)
I was fortunate to be able to purchase one of the kits at the Hamfest. Although I haven’t yet had time to put it together, one purchaser already has his transceiver up & running.
This is an exciting product for us in the UK, as normally items like this are imported from the USA, suffering high tax and import charges.
It begs comparison with Ten-Tec’s Model 506 Open Source QRP CW Transceiver, which is more or less the same concept based on Arduino technology (probably the Rebel was inspired by K1EL’s design, which he started in 2009). The Open QRP is single band and a kit, whereas the Rebel has two bands and is ready-built. The Open QRP has an LCD display and 6 push buttons, where as the Rebel has no display and two push buttons.
When UK companies sell USA amateur products such as the Rebel, they quite often adopt a “dollar – UK pound equivalence” pricing, which makes them far more expensive here than they are in the USA (although the UK companies do have to shoulder the import costs). On this basis, if the Rebel is priced at £199 (GBP), it will make the Open QRP kit less than half the price at £89 (GBP).”
Many thanks for the info, Graham! Please let us know about your experience building and getting the OpenQRP transceiver on the air!
It is has been a few months since we announced the FX-4 Transceiver but it is getting very close to being available for purchase. For those of you that are friends of our Facebook page or visited our booth at Dayton Hamvention got an early peek at it. Here is an updated picture and it will be a very sharp black color. Other pics are on theFacebook page. We have been making some last minute tweaks that we think you will really like. We plan to offer it for purchase under $500 and you can add your name to the wait list which can be found at the bottom of our purchase page.
FX-4 Specs
Transceiver size in inches
4.10L X 2.8W X 1.5T
Transceiver Weight
12.8 oz.
Current Drain on receive
250-270 ma
Current Drain on transmit
1200 ma
Receive/Transmit Bands
7.000.00 to 7.300.00 MHz
14.000.00 to 14.350.00 MHz
9.999.00 to 10.150.00 MHz
18.068 to 18.168.00 MHz
Frequency control
75 MHz
Display type
LCD-128×64
Transmitter Max output power
5 watts CW
5 Watts SSB
Spurious emissions
-43dB at 5 Watts
Side tone pitch
550Hz to 1500Hz adjustable
Receiver sensitivity
0.3uV
Selectivity
-3dB/ 2.6K -40db/ 4.5K
Audio Output
1 Watt with 8 ohm speaker
Keyer
Iambic A & B adjustable speed from 5 to 40 wpm
Memory Storage
10 per each Band total of 40
DSP filtering
300KHz, 500KHz. 1.3KHz, 1.6KHz, 1.9KHz, 2.2KHz, and 2.5KHz.
VFO Drift
<5Hz after 5 minute warm up at 30c (<10Hz after 30 minute operation @ 40c)
Many of you know that I’m not only into QRP, but I’m an avid shortwave radio listener, as well.
If you’re an SWLer, too, you might might consider venturing over to my shortwave radio blog, The SWLing Post, where I just published a review of the Elecraft KX3. Unlike other reviews of the KX3, this was originally written for the May 2013 issue of Monitoring Times Magazine and focuses on the KX3 as a shortwave radio receiver.
I was very surprised to find this handy talkie, the Tokyo Hy-Power XT-751 HF handheld transceiver, at the Dayton Hamvention. This radio will cover from 40 meters to 6 meters in both SSB and CW. It will also have an internal ATU. It is only a concept radio at this point.
Tokyo Hy-Power hopes to have this radio in production mid 2014.
I was more than surprised to find Palstar showcasing a transceiver at the 2013 Hamvention. Palstar is well-known for their tuners and their receiver, the R30A, but they have never sold a transceiver to my knowledge.
As you can see from the photos, the Palstar TR-30 has a simple faceplate with a touch screen display. It is all aluminum, thus is very light. TR-30 is rated for 20 watts PEP and has an 11 pole filter on board.
I hope to review one once it is in production. Palstar expects the TR-30 to be available August 2013.
(Click to enlarge)
When I asked about the price, the told me a range of $1,500-2,000 US. (Gulp!)
The TEN-TEC Model 506 Rebel 20/40 meter QRP Transceiver (Photo: TEN-TEC–click to enlarge)
Today, at the QRP ARCI convention–Four Days In May–TEN-TEC will announce a new QRP transceiver based upon a completely different platform than any others rigs they have in production: a QRP radio, built on the chipKIT™ Uno32™ (Arduino-based software) to be known as the Model 506 Rebel.
And, folks, I’ve been lucky enough to get my mitts on a prototype…!
The Model 506 Rebel
The TEN-TEC Model 506 Rebel is an open-source (meaning, anybody can program it), factory-built QRP transceiver based on a Chip Kit Uno 32 Arduino-compatible prototyping platform, which serves as the main processing unit that holds the Rebel’s program. (For those of you not familiar with the Arduino series, check out this article.)
And I have to admit, I love the concept: TEN-TEC delivers a factory-built, uber-simple transceiver, with just enough programming to reliably get you on the air with a basic radio (see details below). Users then have full access to develop and program the Rebel via an open-source platform, themselves. No need to wait on firmware revisions; firmware, in a sense, will be crowd-sourced! That’s to say, it uses online collaboration–a great idea.
According to TEN-TEC, the programming environment is very safe. Users can tinker with code without fear that they might harm their Rebel 506. The original base program can be re-flashed to the radio at any time. So if you can’t get past an error, you can always revert to a safe default copy.
In addition, even if you don’t have any idea how to program, someone has already created a web-based email group where users can upload and share code packages, and you can select someone else’s programming to test drive. Click here to join the group.
The Rebel is a CW-only transceiver that operates on 40 or 20 meters. The user changes bands by moving jumpers inside the chassis, mounted on the PC board.
The basic Rebel comes with no frequency display. When you turn on the radio, it comes up on the QRP calling frequency of 7.030 MHz or 14.060 MHz, depending on which band is selected. There is no VFO, but a DDS chip that is highly stable and that allows the Chip Kit Uno 32 to select a frequency upon which to operate. Of course, since the Chip Kit controls the DDS chip, you can re-program how the Rebel manages frequencies.
(Click to enlarge)
Initial impressions
Last week, TEN-TEC sent me a prototype of the Rebel to Beta test. I’ve had it on the air several times–I’ve also popped the cover and given it a thorough inspection and workout. I’ll share my initial impressions below. I’m not commenting, however, on some specs like filtering, as they have not been finalized for production and are still subject to change. The unit I tested, keep in mind, was a prototype; production units will be still more polished and incorporate changes Beta testers have provided.
(Click to enlarge)
Front Panel Layout
The front faceplate of the Rebel 506 is reminiscent of TEN-TEC QRP Kits, gloriously clean and simple. There is a large tuning knob in the middle with a SELECT button on the left and FUNCTION button on the right. Both buttons are large enough that you could comfortably use them even if wearing winter gloves. Above each button is a vertical row of just three LEDs: green, yellow and red. These colored LEDs simply indicate the position of the function/selection buttons.
(Click to enlarge)
Function button controls
Band Width
Step Size
User-programmed functions
Select button selects
Bandwidth: Wide, Medium and Narrow
Tuning steps: 100 hz, 1 kHz or 10kHz
User, U1, U2 or U3
There are only two knobs: one for volume (AF gain) and one for RIT (+/- 500 Hz). There is also an ON/OFF simple toggle switch, and a rather classy touch from TEN-TEC–namely, a small LED light in the TEN-TEC logo itself. And that’s all, folks–bare-bones design.
No frequency display
The Rebel 506 does not come with a frequency display. However, there are features to help you understand where you are on the band as you turn the encoder:
As you tune within the selected tuning steps, the LED in the TEN-TEC logo flashes as you pass each step; for example, if you’ve selected 100 Hz steps, then when you pass each 100 Hz step, the LED in the logo will flash once. When you reach either band edge, the LED stays lit. Again, a nice touch.
When you turn on the (factory default) Rebel, the frequency starts on QRP calling frequencies 7.030 MHz (40M) or 14.060 MHz (20M)–of course, you could change these with programming.
There are (already) third-party frequency displays that plug into the Rebel’s board, an easy addition.
Since I had neither frequency display nor frequency counter, I simply used my SDR’s waterfall display to locate where I was on the band. It’s also fairly easy to count the steps with the logo’s red LED.
Rear view (Click to enlarge)
Connections
On the rear panel, you’ll find a standard BNC antenna connection, a key/paddle port (1/8″), a speaker/headphone port (1/8″) and a standard DC port (10-15V reverse polarity protected) that equates to 4-5 watts output depending on supply voltage.
Key/Paddle input from the factory is only for straight key, but you can modify the code to make it a paddle input. Also, the headphone/speaker port defaults to headphone use from the factory, but there is a small jumper on the PCB that can me moved to drive a non-amplified speaker.
On production units (not on my prototype, however, nor on those at FDIM) there will be a CW side tone volume control pot via a small hole in the side of the Rebel’s enclosure. Also, production units will have a hole on the rear panel to allow for access to the ChipKit’s USB port.
The PCB has hooks, test pins, and inputs for the following:
Battery read pin: reads 0.20 of the supply voltage.
Power-out read pin: reads 0.50 of the RF pickup
Code read pin: ties to low level audio line, can be used to build a CW code reader
CW-speed read pin: DC voltage used to determine approximate speed of CW routine
All connections of the Chip Kit Uno32 are available on the top of the PCB.
The unit accepts Arduino-compatible Shields for such things as:
Prototyping
Displays
Audio DSP
Evidently, the Rebel has a lot of memory space for writing CW memory-keyer functions or whatever the user desires/dreams up. Even a voice synthesizer could be installed in the Rebel; indeed, I believe there are many mods and possibilities for the Rebel. The greatest limitation might simply be…the imagination of the user.
TEN-TEC was clear with me about the goal of the Rebel 506: “To provide a platform for users to experiment and to learn to program using Arduino-Compatible Code.”
The Rebel has a small form factor (Click to enlarge)
I like it!
I have thoroughly enjoyed putting this little radio on the air. Let’s be clear, though: this is no Argonaut VI or Eagle, nor should it be expected to be. Receiver performance is on par with other QRP kits and rigs of its class. The Rebel is fairly sensitive and the noise floor is fairly low. Selectivity is adequate for most conditions, although I imagine crowded conditions could overwhelm this modest receiver.
When I had the Rebel on the air, I engaged in a bit of a rag-chew and found the audio quite pleasant from my GoalZero portable amplified speaker. And other than needing to adjust the side tone volume, the Rebel was ready to go, straight out of the box.
Criticisms? Well, it’s just too early to have many. I’ve passed along all my frank observations to TEN-TEC and they’re actually addressing them now (yet again, one of the many benefits of an American-based radio producer). If this were a $900 rig, performance-wise, I would complain about selectivity. But I’m willing to bet it’s at least as good as the Index Labs QRP ++ I once owned. In fact, though it’s not a full-featured general-coverage rig, it has that same sort of bare-boned fun factor the Index Labs radio provided me, along with many other QRP kits.
Field? I would totally take the Rebel into the field or backpacking. I have a hunch it uses less than 200 milliamps on receive. It’s modestly-sized and built like a little tank.
The Rebel lives up to open-source philosophy
The Arduino chipKIT Uno32™ Prototyping Platform
Here is the amazing part about the Rebel: TEN-TEC only shipped me the radio–no connectors, no adapters, no power cord. At first, I thought I’d have to find an appropriate plug and solder my own power cord, not to mention figure out what other adapters I would need for my key/speaker…but I didn’t. The power port is very standard; the same one my LDG ATU, Elecraft K2 and KX1 use, with standard positive tip polarity. The Rebel’s antenna connector is a BNC, speaker and key ports are standard 1/8″ and the ChipKit board has a mini USB connection. The top cover is easy to remove–even the toggle switch, LEDs and selection buttons are all standard and easy to access for servicing. Everything is standard!
But it doesn’t stop there. The Rebel is truly an experimenter’s radio, and is meant to be. The programming is completely open-source and TEN-TEC is encouraging and facilitating users to tinker with the code and make hardware modifications at will.
Open-source technology is all about alteration and collaboration, the kind of environment we hams have always embraced. In the open-source world, nothing is proprietary; rather, everything is transparent, standard, accessible; supporting changes and modifications of every stripe. And in my humble opinion, it’s about fun. On these points, the Rebel delivers.
I have done some scripting in my past, but I am no professional programmer. Though many of my Maker friends had been urging me to give it a go, I hadn’t jumped on the Arduino band wagon until, well, now. The Rebel will serve both as a great intro to Arduino Compatible Code and a truly fun QRP rig. If TEN-TEC is lucky, this little rig may actually nudge some of my Maker friends to get their ham radio tickets.
(Click to enlarge)
Price
TEN-TEC will be announcing the price of the Rebel 506 in Dayton, literally in just a few hours. I have no idea what it will be, but I’m fairly sure it’ll be competitive with other dual band QRP transceivers and kits on the market. I’ll post an update here when the price has been published. Stay tuned…
UPDATE: Pricing for the Rebel is $199 US.
By the way, if you’re at FDIM or the Hamvention this year, drop by booth 411 in the Ball Arena: I’d be happy to talk with you about the Rebel further (and my radio-based non-profit, Ears To Our World).
Disclaimer: Just to be clear, although I own TEN-TEC (also Elecraft and Yaesu) products, and although I Beta test for TEN-TEC on occasion, I have no formal relationship with TEN-TEC. Nor am I compensated by the company in any way. The opinions in this article and others on this site are frank and my own; they are not those of TEN-TEC.
A news release from Andy (G6LBQ) & Adrian (2E0SDR):
I have a news release about the NEW version of the world famous G6LBQ multiband transceiver. Andy G6LBQ is releasing the MKII version through a partnership with Adrian Lane (2E0SDR). They have formed a company called DX KITS, it will trade from www.dxkits.com, it is currently in the development stage.
We are having manufactured industry quality PCB’s for the NEW linear board that us 3 x RD16HHF1 Mosfets, along with a digital VFO board coming soon that utilises the SI570. Andy then intends to update the Filter Boards and also create a new and improved exciter board, both the Linear Board & the new VFO board will be compatible with the existing exciter board that will become obselete when the new MKII exciter board is relesed later this year.
There are lots of new development going on with Andy (G6LBQ) and DX Kits for a very brite future and large upgrade for the G6LBQ and Homebrewer all round. DX Kits will be the sole worldwide supplier for the G6LBQ MKII and all of Andy’s future developments. Please visit us at the G6LBQ Yahoo group at groups.yahoo.com/group/G6LBQ/ and keep an eye on our developing site at dxkits.com. We are awaiting our first batch of PCB’s, then the sky is the limit for the HF Homebrewer.
And now, what we’ve all been waiting for: the Ten-Tec Argonaut VI has finally hit the market. Manufacturer Ten-Tec has already begun shipping the new units–I hear they’ve already sold out the first production run. For the past two months, I have had the pleasure of beta-testing this newest QRP transceiver, and I’m ready to share my findings. [Do please note that, other than beta-testing, I have no relationship with Ten-Tec.]
The Ten-Tec Model 539, A.K.A. Argonaut VI
I authored a post about the Model 539 when Ten-Tec first disclosed it at their 2011 Hamfest. The reactions and questions from readers came flooding in–so many, in fact, that I invited readers to send in those questions to share with the engineers at Ten-Tec. I presented these to the company, and posted Ten-Tec’s helpful responses.
Prototype of the Ten-Tec Model 539 QRP transceiver from the 2011 Ten-Tec Hamfest. Note that the speaker no longer has an externally mounted grill.
In truth, I don’t think that Ten-Tec was quite prepared for all of the interest in their modest QRP transceiver. But it was no surprise to me: I’ve always been a fan of Ten-Tec, and although I’ve not been as excited by the QRP offerings since the early Argonauts, I knew I wasn’t alone in my appreciation of this US-based radio company’s quality products.
The following review is not a test-bench review–it is, rather, a consideration of the usability, ergonomics, design, basic performance and, well, fun factor of the new Argonaut VI. It’s only fair to note that I don’t review transceivers often; rather, I focus primarily on receiver reviews at my alternate radio blog. But I could not resist the opportunity to investigate the newest in this venerable line of transceivers.
Size-wise, the Argonaut VI is smaller than the Elecraft K2 in every dimension.
You will note that I compare the Argonaut VI to the Elecraft K2 a number of times. Why? In my opinion, the K2 is the Argonaut VI’s closest competitor. It, too, is a front-panel QRP transceiver not for general coverage. While there are a number of differences, of course, I nonetheless feel the K2 is a closer match than the new Elecraft KX3, the Yaesu FT-817, or the Icom IC-703. Plus, I have a K2 that I already know and love here in my shack, so by default it has been my point of comparison throughout the beta-testing period.
Argonaut VI: first impressions
The Argonaut VI is an attractive, simple, sturdy little radio. It reminds me a great deal of the Ten-Tec Scout outfitted with its simple front panel. The front features two knobs: one controls the AF gain, while its outer ring controls RF gain; the other controls the bandwidth, while its outer ring controls the pass band. There is also an appropriately-sized display panel, quality tuning knob (see below), four multi-function buttons, and a three-position toggle switch.
The TMB switch is a simple and effective way of giving the Argo VI’s four function buttons multiple assignments.
A toggle switch? I can’t think of a recent front-panel radio in production that has had a proper mechanical toggle switch. On the Argo VI, this makes for a simple method to give the four function buttons a total of three one-push functions, each, for a total of twelve functions. Ten-Tec refers to this switch as the “TMB” (i.e., “Top-Middle-Bottom”) switch.
Size-wise, the Argonaut VI is smaller in every dimension than the K2 (see photos). Its physical dimensions are 2.25″H x 6.5″W x 7.6″D, less the knobs and connectors. It weighs a mere 3.6 lbs, and feels very light in my hands. The Argo VI has a sturdy Ten-Tec bail that snaps into the perfect position for tabletop operations. The display is crisp and clear, and actually contains a lot of information:
The Argonaut VI display is compact, yet crisp, clear and displays all important information.
Frequency
2nd VFO frequency
Mode
AGC speed
S Meter/SWR
Output power
Pre-amp
The display can be switched (via an internal setting) to blue (default), green, or red. One nice touch: the dot in the Ten-Tec logo is actually a red LED that lights up on transmit and ALC peaks.
Tuning knob
This is the best tuning knob I’ve ever used on a QRP rig
Perhaps I place more emphasis on a tuning knob that other hams. I liken it to shutting the door on a quality car: you want the door to shut solidly and feel substantial. But it may be more like a car’s steering wheel–after all, the tuning knob is how one interacts with the radio.
To me, the tuning knob is often a measure of a radio’s overall quality, in my humble opinion. As for the Argonaut VI? Here’s the answer: I was so impressed with the tuning knob on the Argonaut VI that I actually confirmed with Ten-Tec that the beta-unit’s tuning knob would also be used on production models. In short, the Argo VI’s tuning knob is heavy, perfectly-sized, has a light tactile grip, and is silky-smooth to operate.
There is no play whatsoever in the action. I like the adaptive tuning, too–when you tune slowly, you’re changing the frequency by hundredths of a kHz; spin the knob quickly and you’ve just shot across the band. After tuning the Argo VI for a bit, other small radios’ tuning knobs begin to feel cheap. Continue reading A review of Ten-Tec’s Argonaut VI QRP transceiver, Model 539→
Ten-Tec is discounting their 1380 and 1330 QRP kits for the holiday season. They’ve also extended their discount on the R4030 QRP tranceiver (details below).
(Source: Ten-Tec)
The 1380 and 1330 QRP transceiver kits, which are regularly priced at $124.00, are $99.00 through Christmas. These are great QRP kits and many are used on the air daily and in QRP contests. It is great fun to work 80 meter QRP in the winter months, so order yours today. http://www.tentec.com/products/80-Meter-QRP-Transceiver-Kit.html
The R4030 transceiver is still at $188.00 from their list of $249.00 and this price will continue through Christmas. This is a great trail friendly QRP transceiver with lots of features like an LCD frequency readout display, cw memories and much more. This is a great price for a full-featured QRP rig. Read more about the R4030 at http://www.tentec.com/products/Sale-Price!-Two-Band-CW-QRP-Transceiver-%252d-40-%252d-30-Meters.html
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Many thanks to Graham (G3ZOD) who writes:
A news release from Andy (G6LBQ) & Adrian (2E0SDR):
Ten-Tec is discounting their 1380 and 1330 QRP kits for the holiday season. They’ve also extended their discount on the R4030 QRP tranceiver (details below).