Transcript Kit Building on the “Cheap” - Longmont Amateur Radio Club

Kit building
“for the cheap”
Kit Building on the “Cheap”
The beginning
The beginning
Far Circuits Bitx20 Board set $25
EB7HPM’s
board layout found on the internet
The board layout reworked
After much rework
First Contact - W4WEL in North Carolina
1500 miles using 4 watts and a low dipole
2nd Kit – QRP Kits Bitx20a
Not bad for $165.00
Also available in 17 meter band
1 last 20 meter QRP Rig
• The Bitx20 Version 3
• Semi-kit from India. This one takes a little
more work
• Different options available for some of the
harder-to-get parts
• $20.00 - $42.00 including postage from
India
Exciter board
Linear and power supply
Fully functional 20 meter ssb rig
KitsAndParts.Com
• RF Toolkits are Electronic Building Blocks.
Most RF Toolkits include a small 1.2" x
1.9" PCB plus parts to create
an electronic building block.
Think of these small kits as a QRP
Erector Set.
• Most kits cost $8-$10.
Kitsandparts.com
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Universal LowPass Filter
Universal BandPass Filter
Universal Dual BandPass Filter
HF RF Amplifier
Crystal Filter
Discrete IF Amplifier - available spring 2009
High Gain IF Amplifier
Universal Diode Ring Mixer
Universal Gilbert Cell HF Mixer
Gilbert Cell Audio Detector
Universal VFO
Universal BFO
Discrete Audio Amplifier
LM386 Audio Amplifier
Universal Voltage Regulator
Generic Development PCB
Transmit Diode Ring Mixer
5 Watt CW RF Amplifier
10 Watt 40+ dB gain 1.8-30 MHz Linear RF Amp
Universal PIN Diode Switches
Memory Keyer
Universal SWR bridge
SWR/Power Display - available spring 2009
Freq Counter Display - available spring 2009
Very Stable Freq Standard/Ref Kit (TCO)
Universal Interconnect Kit
Kits and parts 40 meter CW
Receiver
The Future - Software Defined Radio
Softrock Lite II
$10.00 (includes postage)
Softrock Lite II Receiver
• Tunes 48-192khz of selected band
depending on soundcard
• Frequency centered in the CW portion of
the band
• Available in choice of 160 – 15 meter
bands
• $10. including postage
• $12 for 15, 20, and 30 meter version
Softrock "Xtall+Lite" V9.0 Software
Defined Radio
Multiband for $45
4 Individual plug-in bandpass filter
boards to cover 160 – 10 meters
Remember the plug-in coil days?
Electronically switched bandpass
filter add-on
• 1.8 MHz to 30 MHz - $13
or
• 3.5MHz to 30 MHz plus 6 meter - $13
What kind of kit do you want to do?
• If surface mount doesn’t scare you –
Softrock II Lite as a starter
• If you want SSB and you like a little
challenge – Bitx Version 3
• If you just want to solder – Bitx##kit
Softrock lite
• Probably can be built over 2-3 saturdays
• $10 - $12 dollars total expenditure
• Good starting point to try SDR
Bitx20 version 3
• Great kit for someone that wants to
“experiment”
• Will need to collect parts. Most
components not included
• Plenty of room for “fat fingers” while
building
Bitx##a kit
• Turnkey kit available. Everything included
• 12 watts output vs 5-6 of version 3
• Professional looking case with decals
Web Sites
• kc0wox.com
• Pictures and videos of many kits
• qrpkits.com
• Bitx##a kits
• wb5rvz.com/sdr/
• Softrock information
• Kitsandparts.com
• RFtoolkits
Kit Forums
• Yahoo Bitx
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BITX20/
• Yahoo Softrock
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40/
?yguid=294830569
• Kits and Parts
http://kitsandparts.com/fluxbb/