Many thanks to Pete Eaton who notes that Hans Summers has won the 2019 Homebrew Heroes award. Congratulations, Hans!
Tag Archives: QRP
The CommRadio CTX-10 has landed
[Note: This is a cross post from my other radio blog, the SWLing Post.]
Yesterday, UPS delivered a much-anticipated package: the CTX-10 QRP transceiver from CommRadio.
CommRadio dispatched this loaner CTX-10 for evaluation and I’m excited to get my hands on it since it’s not everyday I get to evaluate a transceiver designed around field portability (my favorite category of gear).
Yesterday, I took a few shots of the CTX-10 as I unpacked it:
I’ll need to build a fused power cable with the supplied pigtail and also sort out an 8 conductor (Yaesu compatible) modular plug microphone. Of course, I’ll give this radio a thorough review testing it on SSB, CW and digital modes (especially FT8).
Since the CTX-10 is built on the CommRadio CR-1 and CR-1A I anticipate a capable receiver section (in other words, expectations are high). Of course, I’ll test the CTX-10’s ability as a broadcast receiver as well.
Follow my progress by following the tag: CTX-10
The Elecraft KX3 still impresses
Note: this post was originally publish on my other radio blog, The SWLing Post.
I’ve owned my Elecraft KX3 for five years, and this little rig continues to amaze me.
In 2013, I gave the KX3 one of the most favorable reviews I’ve ever published–and it continues to hold its own. That’s why last year I recommended the KX3 to my buddy and newly minted ham radio operator, Sébastien (VA2SLW), who had already been eyeing the KX3 as his first HF transceiver.
A few weeks ago, Sébastien bit the bullet and is now the proud owner of a KX3 with built-in ATU. He purchased the KX3 with plans to do a lot of field operations including SOTA (Summits On The Air) and also use the KX3 at home.
Wednesday, I popped by Sébastien’s flat to help sort through some low-profile antenna options. I had suggested that he not invest in a factory made antenna just yet, but instead explore what he’s able to do with a simple wire antenna directly connected to the KX3 with a BNC Male to Stackable Binding Posts adapter. I’ve had excellent luck using this simple arrangement this in the past with the KX3, KX2 and even the KX1.
I did a quick QRM/RFI survey of his flat and balcony with my CC Skywave SSB. While there were the typical radio noises indoors, his balcony was pleasantly RFI quiet. At 14:00 local, I was able to receive the Voice of Greece (9,420 kHz), Radio Guinée (9,650 kHz) and WWV (both 10,000 and 15,000 kHz) with little difficulty. His building has incredibly thick concrete walls–I assume this does a fine job of keeping the RFI indoors. Lucky guy!
We popped by a wonderfully-stocked electronics shop in Québec City (Électromike–which I highly recommend) picked up some banana plugs and about 100′ of jacketed wire. We took these items back to the flat and cut a 35′ length of wire for the radiator and about 28′ for the ground. We added the banana plugs to the ends of each wire.
Sébastien temporarily attached one end of the antenna wire to the top of the fire escape and we simply deployed the ground wire off the side of the balcony. Neither of these wires interfere with his neighbors and neither are close to electric lines.
I had planned to cut both the radiator and ground until we found the “sweet spot”: where the ATU could find matches on 40, 30, 20 and 17 meters (at least).
Much to my amazement, the KX3 ATU got 1:1 matches on all of those bands save 80M where it still could achieve a 2.8:1 ratio. I couldn’t believe it!
Frankly, Elecraft ATUs are nothing short of amazing.
Even the ATU in my little KX2 once tuned a 20 meter hex beam to 40 meters and found a 1:1 match to boot. In contrast, the Icom IC-7300 sitting next to the KX2 wasn’t able to match that hex beam even though we performed a persistent ATU search. Not surprising as I wouldn’t expect a 40 meter match on a 20 meter antenna, but the Elecraft ATU did it with relative ease.
Sébastian did a quick scan of the ham radio bands where we heard a number of EU stations. I also took the opportunity to point out how well the KX3 operates as a broadcast receiver with the AM filter wide open and using headphones in the “delay” audio effects mode. The Voice of Greece sounded like a local station–absolutely gorgeous signal.
It was getting late in the day, so I couldn’t hang around to call CQ with Séb, but I left knowing that he is going to have a blast playing radio at home and, especially, in the field. Next, he plans to build a simple mag loop antenna, get a BioEnno LiFePo battery and eventually add other Elecraft accessories to his station. I’d say he’s off to a great start!
Want more info? Click here to read my review of the Elecraft KX3 and here to read my review of the Elecraft KX2.
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The uBITX Transceiver: Pricing and more details
Many thanks to Pete Eaton (WB9FLW) who shares pricing and additional information about the uBITX general coverage QRP transceiver:
Here are the details, if purchased before Christmas $109 delivered!
From uBITX creator, Ashhar Farhan:
1. The ubitx is now available for sale, for $109 dollars (includes the shipping), but only until Christmas. *After Christmas, the price will increase to $129 dollars. for this initial batch, a few ham volunteers and I pitched in to sort the crystals, test the coils, tune-up and box these initial kits, we won’t be able to do that any more. we will have to hire more people (which is not a bad thing) and get them to do it.
2. The ubitx is on sale at hfsignals.com, not hfsigs.com. it is easier to remember. we will soon point hfsigs.com to the new website as well. The new site is in wordpress, that means that we can have volunteers writing and updating it rather than waiting for me to hand code the content in html and vi editor.
3. We need help with proof reading the web content.* If you find any typos, please mail me on [email protected] address (not the bitx20 list),
These apart, the early buyers must be aware that they are beta users of sorts, the firmware will sure get updated. i hope there won’t be any revisions of the PCB.
Pete adds:
Just as an aside the original price of the Heathkit HW-8 was $139.95 (in 1970 dollars) and it became a QRP Classic. The uBITX may become one as well and like the HW-8 there will be (and already are) all sorts of mods/additions one will be able to do. The uBITX is 10 dollars cheaper (after 12/25) works 80-10 M, does SSB in addition to CW, and is a Superhet to boot!
Farhan your hit this one out of the Ballpark!
Very cool, Pete! I am very tempted to purchase the uBITX transceiver before Christmas and have it delivered via DHL service. The only thing holding me back is simply the amount of projects I have on my table at the moment! $109 is an incredibly low price for a full-fledged QRP transceiver!
I’m absolutely amazed that it is also has a general coverage receiver. Perhaps the uBITX could serve the SWL as well as the ham radio operator? I suppose we shall soon find out!
Click here to read our other posts regarding the uBITX transceiver.
Click here to order the uBITX transceiver kit.
Please comment if you plan to or have purchased the uBITX. We’d love your feedback!
The uBITX Transceiver: An Update
Many thanks to Pete Eaton (WB9FLW) who shares the following post:
Last March Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE the designer of the very popular BITX20 and BITX40 series of mono-band HF Transceivers announced a new low cost Rig called the uBITX (micro BITX) a full blown 80-10m 10 Watt SSB/CW Transceiver. Now comes word that after many months of very hard development work by Ashhar this much anticipated Rig will soon be available.
For those not familiar with the Project this is *not* a kit, rather like its sibling (the BITX40) it consists of two assembled and tested Circuit Boards. The RF board measures 5.5 x 6 inches and a second small plug in daughter card that takes care of the digital portion of the design including the 2X16 LCD, Arduino Nano, and Si5351 which are used in the VFO. Add a Cabinet, Knobs, and Connectors and you have a full blown HF Rig. An added plus is that except for the Gerber PCB files everything else (including the firmware) is Open Sourced!
The original description can be found here:
http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/ubitx/ubitx.html
Farhan has just released the Firmware, Schematics, and Wiring Diagram for the production version on GitHub
Arduino Sketch:
https://github.com/afarhan/ubitx
RF Board Schematic:
https://github.com/afarhan/ubitx/blob/e481ea2a2457fc4e7be7a6a4bc9a0fba12bf2cde/ubitxv3.pdf
Digital (Raduino) Board Schematic:
http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/ubitx/raduino.pdf
Wiring Diagram:
https://github.com/afarhan/ubitx/blob/e481ea2a2457fc4e7be7a6a4bc9a0fba12bf2cde/ubitx_wiring.png
Farhan has a social conscience as well giving several local Ladies much needed employment for final assembly and checkout of the Rigs.
There are still a few final tweaks being done to the design so pricing is still to be determined. But if it’s offered at a similar price point as his earlier Transceivers it should sell like Hotcakes!
For the latest info check out the BITX User Group at:
Wow! Amazing project! Thanks for the tip and updates, Pete!
QRP Activities at Shelby Hamfest
Many thanks to Bill (W4SFV) who shares the following announcement:
QRP advocate Bill Minikiewicz, of Breadboard Radio, will present a talk on QRP at this years Shelby Hamfest. Although the presentation will focus on the why and how of QRP operation designed to get hams excited about low power operating there will also be time for discussion about your experiences as QRPer’s.
Hopefully, this will turn into an annual QRP get together for the Southeast QRP gang. Several Breadboard Radio Kits will be given away, so be sure to attend. Also look for W4FSV operating QRP pedestrian in the Tail Gate area!
The Shelby Hamfest will be September 1, 2 and 3, 2017 at the Cleveland County Fairground, Shelby, NC. Bill’s talk is at 12 noon. Check out www.shelbyhamfest.com.
Excellent, Bill! Though I’m hosting a table in the flea market at Shelby this year, I will certainly plan to attend your QRP session!
micro-BITX: a homebrew general coverage SSB/CW QRP transceiver
Many thanks to Pete (WB9FLW) who shares the following:
Farhan VU2ESE Does It Again!
http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/ubitx/ubitx.html
A compact 10 watts, easy to build, general coverage SSB/CW transceiver for HF bands
Homebrewers have traditionally avoided making multiband transceivers as they can get extremely complex and difficult to make. There have been some remarkable successes in the past, the CDG2000 (designed by Colin Horrabin G3SBI, Dave Roberts G8KBB and George Fare G3OGQ)is one such design. The SDR route as followed by several designs offer some simplification at the cost of bringing digital signal processing and a PC into the signal path.
On the other hand, many of the homebrewers do need a general coverage transceiver on the bench as well as as a base transceiver for bands beyond the HF. I ended up buying an FT-817ND that has been a reliable old warhorse for years. Two years ago, I attempted a high performance, multi-band architecture with the Minima transceiver. The KISS mixer of the Minima, though a very respectable receiver front-end, had serious leakage of the local oscillator that led that design to be abandoned as a full transceiver. Over months, I have realized that the need for a general coverage HF transceiver was wide-spread among the homebrewers. Most of us end up buying one.
While achieving a competition grade performance from a multiband homebrew is a complex task as evidenced by the works like that of HBR2000 by VE7CA, it is not at all difficult to achieve a more modest design goal with far lesser complexity. The uBITX shoots to fulfill such a need. It is a compact, single board design that covers the entire HF range with a few minor trade-offs. This rig has been in regular use on forty and twenty meters for a few months at VU2ESE. It satisfies for regular work, a few trips to the field as well.
A key challenge for multiband transceivers has been to realize a local oscillator system with such wide range. Silicon Labs has now produced a series of well performing oscillators that solve this challenge trivially : You connect the oscillator chip over a pair of I2C lines and it is done. The Si5351a is one such a part that provides 3 programmable oscillator outputs in a small 10 pin TSSOP package. We will exploit this chip to build the multiband transceiver.
Having exclusively used homebrew transceivers all the time, I get very confused whenever I need to use a commercial radio. There are too many switches, modes and knobs to twirl around. The uBITX use an Arduino to simplify the front panel while retaining all the functionality in a simple menu system that works with the tuning knob and a single ‘function’ button. The rig supports two VFOs, RIT, calibration, CW semi break-in, meter indicator, etc. In future, more software can be added to implement keyer, SWR display, etc.
Click here to read the full description of this project and download diagrams/schematics!
This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing, Pete!
Ham takes SOTA activation to new level
(Source: Southgate ARC)
Amateur takes unusual route to SOTA
Colin Evans, M1BUU, from near Haworth, West Yorkshire attained SOTA Mountain Goat on Saturday 28th January on the summit of Whernside, G/NP-004.
Colin took rather an unusual approach to his activation of Yorkshire’s highest mountain, by constructing his equipment whilst on the summit.
Colin had taken a QRPme 20m RockMite kit, a home made key kit, a home made vertical antenna kit and a gas powered soldering iron along with him. Sheltering from the wind, rain and snow in a small tent, Colin successfully constructed the RockMite, key and antenna in just under 4 hours.
The first QSO for Colin with his 250mW RockMite was with N1EU near Albany, New York, over 3000 miles away, the three subsequent QSO’s were with European stations, satisfying the SOTA rule requirement of four QSO’s to claim the activation points.
SOTA Mountain Goat is awarded for gaining 1000 SOTA Activator points. For more information, visit www.sota.org.uk
Kickstarter: HobbyPCB 5 Watt SDR starting at $239
Many thanks to Jim Veatch (WA2EUJ) who shares the following:
HobbyPCB is offering their RS-HFIQ 5W SDR on Kickstarter starting at $239. Check it out here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hobbypcb/rs-hfiq-5w-software-defined-radio-sdr-tranceiver
BITX40: A Fully Assembled $45 SSB QRP transceiver
Many thanks to Pete (WB9FLW) who writes:
Don’t know if you have seen this or not. VU2ESE of BITX20 Fame has just introduced the BITX40.
This is a fully assembled and tested SSB Transceiver for $45 including shipping from India!
Wow! I may have to purchase one of these and try it out.
I’m currently teaching a HamRadio 101 course to a group of 13 year olds. One of them recently asked how much it would cost to get a basic HF radio kit with SSB mode. HF rigs–even basic ones–tend to be quite expensive if they include SSB.
Here are details from the BitX40 order page:
BITX40
Work the world on 40 metersWhen was the last time you used a radio you had built? The BITX40 board is single circuit board 40 meter SSB transceiver module. Inside an evening, you can be on-air with this SSB transceiver module, chatting with the local gang or chasing DX. Plug in the earphones, the included electret mic, tuning and volume controls and you are on air! Included are high quality connectors, all the needed sockets and jacks, tuning and volume controls, mounting hardware, etc.
Technicals
The BITX40 is a very clean, crisp and quite receiver. The front-end has a triple tuned circuit that cuts out-of-band signals from getting inside, a diode ring mixer front-end with a very low phase noise, all analog oscillator makes this a crisp receiver that doesn’t overload easily. The all analog signal path to your ear makes provides outstanding signal clarity that is to be heard to be believed.
7 watts of SSB provides you with enough juice to have thousands of contacts on 40 meters, daily rag chew and occasional DX chasing. Any common 2 ampere 12 linear volts supply will provide enough juice for this transceiver. Or you could simply run it from a battery!
Hackable
The BITX40 will inspire you to experiment. Modify it, mount it, tweak it, change it.
The PCB uses all analog large sized SMD components that are laid out on an easy to understand manner on a double sided board with broad tracks. This can be your main module around which you can start experimenting. There are jump-points from where you can add more modules like the DDS, more bands, better audio amplifier, etc. Imagination is your limit. You can separately increase the power amplifier’s supply voltage to 25 volts to be more than 20 watts of power : You will have to add a better heat sink. The mods are on the way!
The board can be installed inside any box that you like. Make your own station rigs, man-packs, trail radios or mount it in a cigar box and leave it on your bedside table. The tuning capacitor has been replaced by a varactor tuning so you can place the tuning knob anywhere as it only carries a DC voltage. Watch the instructions video.
Box Contents
We have tried to include connector/hardware you might possibly need to build a full radio. However, we also had to balance the shipping weight to keep the overall cost down. You will have to supply your own box, power supply and earphones/headphones/speaker.
- 4-1/2 inches by 5 inches tested SSB transceiver module, covering any 150 KHz segment of the 7 MHz band
- Small electret microphone
- High quality BNC connector for the antenna
- Two earphone style audio jacks for the mic and the earphones/speaker
- A set of DC power socket and plug
- Volume control with on/off switch
- 100k linear pot for tuning
- 4 Brass stand-offs with mounting nuts and bolts
- Connectors with wires for all connections on the board
* Note : A speaker is not included in the kit as earphones/headphones/speakers are easily available locally. No cabinet is included to save on the postage cost. Almost any box maybe used.
Manufacture
The BITX boards are hand assembled by a collective of women. Each of the toroids is hand wound. This provides these women with livelihood. The assembled boards are then DC checked a final RF check is performed to check the receiver’s sensitivity as well as transmitter’s output before being shipped. Each board is individually numbered.