Thinking about getting this

[N2CHX]

http://www.qrpkits.com/bitx20a.html

I'd roll my own from scratch but quite frankly I just don't have the time anymore. I don't really enjoy building stuff THAT much, especially when I have a full-time job where that's pretty much what I do 40 hours a week. I do however, like kit building because I know I'm not gonna have to screw around tweaking and twiddling and hunting down hard-to-find parts to make it work (hopefully).

Anyone have any experience with these? It'll do 20 meter phone (QRP) and of course, PSK.

[kb2vxa]

Hey you with the funny hat, welcome back! I haven't built anything since the days of tubes and point to point wiring so I can't help, just wanted to say good luck cuz I missed ya.

[KC2UGV]

This kit also gets pretty rave reviews: http://ea3gcy.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/iler-20-4-5w-qrp-ssb-monoband.html

[N2CHX]

Hey you with the funny hat, welcome back! I haven't built anything since the days of tubes and point to point wiring so I can't help, just wanted to say good luck cuz I missed ya.

Missed you too Warren. Thank you. :hyper:

[N2CHX]

This kit also gets pretty rave reviews: http://ea3gcy.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/iler-20-4-5w-qrp-ssb-monoband.html

OK.. I see they have a 40 and 20 meter version. I'm leaning toward 20 meters. What do you all think? Which band would you choose? I'm mostly interested in doing PSK with people I know stateside, but DX also interests me.

[KC2UGV]

OK.. I see they have a 40 and 20 meter version. I'm leaning toward 20 meters. What do you all think? Which band would you choose? I'm mostly interested in doing PSK with people I know stateside, but DX also interests me.

Personally, I prefer 20 meters (Seems to be more active). I've made all of my Euro contacts on 20M. 40 and 30 were all stateside contacts.

[N2CHX]

Personally, I prefer 20 meters (Seems to be more active). I've made all of my Euro contacts on 20M. 40 and 30 were all stateside contacts.

Looks like you can get a VFO for those rigs that will make them cover everything from 0 to 40 mHz. I'm not sure if they will actually transmit on all bands with it or not, the manual and FAQ really aren't all that clear.

[KJ3N]

Personally, I prefer 20 meters (Seems to be more active). I've made all of my Euro contacts on 20M. 40 and 30 were all stateside contacts.

Sounds like an antenna issue. ;)

[KC2UGV]

Sounds like an antenna issue. ;)

Likely, to be honest.

[KG4CGC]

Haven't done a kit in loooong time. WB BTW.
Been wanting to find a hole through receiver kit that would cover AMBCB and SW ... but ... I probably have enough parts laying around ...

[W3WN]

OK.. I see they have a 40 and 20 meter version. I'm leaning toward 20 meters. What do you all think? Which band would you choose? I'm mostly interested in doing PSK with people I know stateside, but DX also interests me.Welcome back.

My understanding is that 20 meters is a hotbed for PSK, so if you have to pick one band, that's a good one.

[N8YX]

Welcome back, Kelli!

We talked to the purveyor of those kits at Dayton. IIRC, they had a 3-band (40/30/20M) version and if I was going to operate a lot of PSK, that would be it as far as a purchase is concerned.

An area ham friend has a different setup based on a Softrock. Start here:

http://www.wb5rvz.org/ensemble_rx_ii/

[mw0uzo]

http://www.qrpkits.com/bitx20a.html

I'd roll my own from scratch but quite frankly I just don't have the time anymore. I don't really enjoy building stuff THAT much, especially when I have a full-time job where that's pretty much what I do 40 hours a week. I do however, like kit building because I know I'm not gonna have to screw around tweaking and twiddling and hunting down hard-to-find parts to make it work (hopefully).

Anyone have any experience with these? It'll do 20 meter phone (QRP) and of course, PSK.

WB :D

I built one of these, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bitx-Version-3-Qrp-SSB-TCVR-MINI-KIT-FLL-FREQUENCY-COUNTER-KIT-/141039345183?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item20d6999e1f

It took a little bit more fiddling to get working than the usual kit, but it works well. I haven't cased mine up yet, it on the to-do list. A lot cheaper than the qrpkits version, but of course more work to do. It comes with a PSU/5W amplifier, which can do more with higher amp voltage and has its own regulated supplies so no mods required to do more power. You'd have to select a transformer, you probably have something suitable kicking around in a box somewhere. It would certainly end up bigger than the qrpkits version. It also has an LCD display with frequency locked huff'n'puff controller. There is some annoying work to do setting up the VFO to work as you want it, I used a 10 turn resistor and a load of varicaps to get the tuning range required.

[N2CHX]

WB :D

I built one of these, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bitx-Version-3-Qrp-SSB-TCVR-MINI-KIT-FLL-FREQUENCY-COUNTER-KIT-/141039345183?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item20d6999e1f

It took a little bit more fiddling to get working than the usual kit, but it works well. I haven't cased mine up yet, it on the to-do list. A lot cheaper than the qrpkits version, but of course more work to do. It comes with a PSU/5W amplifier, which can do more with higher amp voltage and has its own regulated supplies so no mods required to do more power. You'd have to select a transformer, you probably have something suitable kicking around in a box somewhere. It would certainly end up bigger than the qrpkits version. It also has an LCD display with frequency locked huff'n'puff controller. There is some annoying work to do setting up the VFO to work as you want it, I used a 10 turn resistor and a load of varicaps to get the tuning range required.

I was looking at this same kit last night and asked a question about it. Tell me about the VFO. It says they don't supply the parts for a VFO but it comes with a circuit board for it. I'm wondering how hard the parts are to find. Of course, I will likely hack whatever I get to pieces and make it multiband. If I could do 20, 30 and 40 I'd be tickled.

[N2CHX]

Welcome back, Kelli!

We talked to the purveyor of those kits at Dayton. IIRC, they had a 3-band (40/30/20M) version and if I was going to operate a lot of PSK, that would be it as far as a purchase is concerned.

An area ham friend has a different setup based on a Softrock. Start here:

http://www.wb5rvz.org/ensemble_rx_ii/

Thanks Fred. Interesting kit and something else to consider. Looking it over right now.

[KJ3N]

You might also want to look at getting into JT65. It's the up & coming mode as of late, or so I hear.

[N2CHX]

You might also want to look at getting into JT65. It's the up & coming mode as of late, or so I hear.

Yep, I see that. Well I've decided... I'm going with what Fred suggested. Everything I've seen looks really good, but QRP on an SDR radio is intriguing and I can always add an amp if I want more power. I'm going to test it with my laptop but will likely switch to using a Raspberry Pi.

This is what I'm getting: http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=7

I can use it on 20/30/40. I'm going to put up a vertical for 20 and possibly for 30. For 40 I will probably just use the 20 meter vertical and tune it.

[WØTKX]

Cool.

Whattarya gonna use for a transmitter?

Edit:

OK, the linkies were confusing, I presume you mean this kit:

http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7

SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver Kit
http://fivedash.com/images/large/rxtx-ensemble_LRG.jpg

[kb2vxa]

"I'm going to put up a vertical for 20 and possibly for 30."
As a broadcast engineer you know the advantages of a half wave vertical. You have three choices, a dipole that requires neither a tuner nor radials, an end fed that requires both and a grounded vertical folded monopole that again requires both. The grounded folded monopole if you've been following my recommendations is an electrical half wave a tad shorter than a quarter wave high so that's the way to go if you lack a high support or room for guys.

Room for guys... and I had to say that to a YL??? EEK!

Hey, if you have the formula for that one please pass it along. I saw it in the back of an old Collins broadcast transmitter catalog a long time ago but that's another thing that went bye bye when I lost my tech library and a bunch of other irreplaceable stuff in a flood... RATS! (They swam for their lives...)

[WØTKX]

Vertical dipole. I like my GAP antennas, quite a bit. Need to put 'em back up.

Home brew is easy-peasy on higher frequencies. Use yer hat.

http://users.skynet.be/on4bai/VDIPHAT/assets/image/4baivhatdip40.png

http://users.skynet.be/on4bai/VDIPHAT/4BAIVHAT_bis.htm

[N2CHX]

"I'm going to put up a vertical for 20 and possibly for 30."
As a broadcast engineer you know the advantages of a half wave vertical. You have three choices, a dipole that requires neither a tuner nor radials, an end fed that requires both and a grounded vertical folded monopole that again requires both. The grounded folded monopole if you've been following my recommendations is an electrical half wave a tad shorter than a quarter wave high so that's the way to go if you lack a high support or room for guys.

Room for guys... and I had to say that to a YL??? EEK!

Hey, if you have the formula for that one please pass it along. I saw it in the back of an old Collins broadcast transmitter catalog a long time ago but that's another thing that went bye bye when I lost my tech library and a bunch of other irreplaceable stuff in a flood... RATS! (They swam for their lives...)

I have very limited room for anything here. The verticals will be 1/4 wave. I definitely have no room for a dipole. I had one for 30 meters but it required an extraordinary amount of support to wrap it around the house and under the power lines and it did not perform that well. The verticals I can run up near the side of the house and I have plenty of stuff to use as ground. So verticals it is. If I had trees in the front yard I could run a dipole from the front yard, over the house to one of the trees in the back, but unfortunately that's not an option. A properly cut vertical won't need a tuner at least on the band it's designed for, but even if it does, that doesn't bother me. Most of my antenna's have required a tuner and really there is very little loss from using a tuner.

[N2CHX]

Cool.

Whattarya gonna use for a transmitter?

Edit:

OK, the linkies were confusing, I presume you mean this kit:

http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7

SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver Kit


http://fivedash.com/images/large/rxtx-ensemble_LRG.jpg

Yup, that's the one!

[N2CHX]

Vertical dipole. I like my GAP antennas, quite a bit. Need to put 'em back up.

Home brew is easy-peasy on higher frequencies. Use yer hat.

http://users.skynet.be/on4bai/VDIPHAT/assets/image/4baivhatdip40.png

http://users.skynet.be/on4bai/VDIPHAT/4BAIVHAT_bis.htm

Wish I had room for that. I'm just going to have a simple vertical. Some top-loading may be involved though.

[mw0uzo]

I was looking at this same kit last night and asked a question about it. Tell me about the VFO. It says they don't supply the parts for a VFO but it comes with a circuit board for it. I'm wondering how hard the parts are to find. Of course, I will likely hack whatever I get to pieces and make it multiband. If I could do 20, 30 and 40 I'd be tickled.

I messed around with some fixed capacitance on top of 5 or 6 varicaps to get the tuning range I wanted, then the 10 turn resistor connects across a 9V supply on the main board. It was a PITA, to get the whole band turned out to be quite unstable, so had to take one or two varicaps off to regain stability and lose the CW portion of the band. Really, the FLL and VFO should be binned and a DDS used to tune.

Given the choice again I would go for a multiband SDR transceiver kit with a suitable amplifier.

[W3WN]

I have very limited room for anything here. The verticals will be 1/4 wave. I definitely have no room for a dipole. I had one for 30 meters but it required an extraordinary amount of support to wrap it around the house and under the power lines and it did not perform that well. The verticals I can run up near the side of the house and I have plenty of stuff to use as ground. So verticals it is. If I had trees in the front yard I could run a dipole from the front yard, over the house to one of the trees in the back, but unfortunately that's not an option. A properly cut vertical won't need a tuner at least on the band it's designed for, but even if it does, that doesn't bother me. Most of my antenna's have required a tuner and really there is very little loss from using a tuner.Do you have room for a flag pole in your front yard?

20 feet of aluminum tubing... some of the surplus tent/camo support poles that are floating around hamfests for a couple of bucks each. Fed at the base, a dozen radials, and voila! with the use of the tuner, should load quite well on 20, 30 & 40 (and some other bands as well)

[N2CHX]

Do you have room for a flag pole in your front yard?

20 feet of aluminum tubing... some of the surplus tent/camo support poles that are floating around hamfests for a couple of bucks each. Fed at the base, a dozen radials, and voila! with the use of the tuner, should load quite well on 20, 30 & 40 (and some other bands as well)

Probably not feasible at this moment, but we have been talking about doing landscaping next year that may include a flagpole and a small pond with a waterfall. If we do that, then I will probably work the flagpole into being an antenna as well.

[N2CHX]

I gotta admit, I am tickled that I will be back on HF. I really like QRP and I really like digital modes, so this is gonna be fun.

[W3WN]

Probably not feasible at this moment, but we have been talking about doing landscaping next year that may include a flagpole and a small pond with a waterfall. If we do that, then I will probably work the flagpole into being an antenna as well.Understood.

Some of the RV places sell portable fiberglass flag poles, that go up to about 24 feet in height. They collapse into about 5 or 6 smaller segments (one inside the other) which brings the net length for transport down to about 4 to 5 feet, depending on the brand. That's what we have in front of the house at the moment.

I mention this because they are hollow, and it is VERY easy to run a wire right up the inside.

New they're around $50 -60, but I see them occasionally at garage sales for as low as $5 - 10.

Just food for thought.

[NQ6U]

Harbor Freight sells a telescoping 20' aluminum flag pole. Regular price is around $50 but it frequently goes on sale.

[WØTKX]

I wanna say NEENER NEENER to ya on PSK. :yes:

[kb2vxa]

Kel, it's pretty obvious you missed something here:
"I have very limited room for anything here. The verticals will be 1/4 wave."

Now why erect something HIGHER than my favorite vertical? I did a bit of math to find the height of quarter waves, they certainly won't require guys sooo...
"The grounded folded monopole if you've been following my recommendations is an electrical half wave a tad shorter than a quarter wave high so that's the way to go if you lack a high support or room for guys."
It would make a funny looking flagpole, I've never seen a lanyard spaced 12-15" from the pole. (;->)

[N2CHX]

What I'm thinking about doing is putting up two 1/4 wave verticals 1/4 wavelength apart and building a little phasor. I can adjust the phase delay between the two for optimum signal in the direction of the station I want to work, or use one or the other for non-directional operation. Not a bad idea, especially considering I'll only have a watt at my disposal. Great for cutting out QRM as well.

[K7SGJ]

Check the Startrek web site for phasor plans.

[kb2vxa]

Using that approach the electrical wavelength of the antennas is not important, the spacing and phase delay makes all the difference. Since the feed point impedance of a series fed 1/4 wave isn't always 50 ohms and varies a bit seasonally you still may need a couple of the ham versions of the tuning house, the dog house. Now you'll need a couple of dogs...

You reminded me that Phil K2PG built the same arrangement for 40M at his Iselin, NJ QTH a whole lot of years ago using coaxial delay lines. When I was growing up in Rahway, NJ there was a landmark in the next town Clark, 2 130' masts made of pipe and it's not hard to figure out what they were for. Then there were the biggest ones in the area, a couple of 208' pipes on a hill opposite the Union toll plaza on the Parkway, WNJR. They're all gone today, Phil moved, the Clark ham went SK and WNJR moved too, all around the same time.

[N2CHX]

Using that approach the electrical wavelength of the antennas is not important, the spacing and phase delay makes all the difference. Since the feed point impedance of a series fed 1/4 wave isn't always 50 ohms and varies a bit seasonally you still may need a couple of the ham versions of the tuning house, the dog house. Now you'll need a couple of dogs...

This is very true. Also, if I used two masts and shunt fed them I wouldn't have to worry about insulating the bases. The matching networks would be interesting but easy to build at 14 mHz.

I'm probably going to use a Raspberry Pi to run the radio and simply use a WiFi dongle. Connect directly to the dongle and SSH right into the Pi. That means I can put the radio and the Pi right where the antenna is, in a weatherproof box and all I need to do is supply power to it, which I can do with solar panels and a car battery (probably will use the same setup that powered all our stuff while we were camping last month). I could even use varactor diodes and the GPIO port on the Pi to tune the array.


You reminded me that Phil K2PG built the same arrangement for 40M at his Iselin, NJ QTH a whole lot of years ago using coaxial delay lines. When I was growing up in Rahway, NJ there was a landmark in the next town Clark, 2 130' masts made of pipe and it's not hard to figure out what they were for. Then there were the biggest ones in the area, a couple of 208' pipes on a hill opposite the Union toll plaza on the Parkway, WNJR. They're all gone today, Phil moved, the Clark ham went SK and WNJR moved too, all around the same time.

Very cool. Having worked on AM arrays for so many years, LC networks are my first choice. But the coax delay line idea is intriguing. I do want to be able to swing the array around to any angle though, so I will likely go with the LC networks for phase control.

[n2ize]

OK.. I see they have a 40 and 20 meter version. I'm leaning toward 20 meters. What do you all think? Which band would you choose? I'm mostly interested in doing PSK with people I know stateside, but DX also interests me.

40 meters because anything 8 mc and above is inherently evil.

[n2ize]

Check the Startrek web site for phasor plans.

Uh... I was looking at the sthar thweck websthite and ah...

[n2ize]

I have very limited room for anything here. The verticals will be 1/4 wave. I definitely have no room for a dipole. I had one for 30 meters but it required an extraordinary amount of support to wrap it around the house and under the power lines and it did not perform that well. The verticals I can run up near the side of the house and I have plenty of stuff to use as ground. So verticals it is. If I had trees in the front yard I could run a dipole from the front yard, over the house to one of the trees in the back, but unfortunately that's not an option. A properly cut vertical won't need a tuner at least on the band it's designed for, but even if it does, that doesn't bother me. Most of my antenna's have required a tuner and really there is very little loss from using a tuner.

Do you have at least 1 tall tree ? If so build an inverted vee doublet. I use one. They work great.

[KJ3N]

40 meters because anything 8 mc and above is inherently evil.

Cranky old fart... :roll:

[kb2vxa]

I was thinking about building a Startrek phasor but I'll leave that to Stewie, Startek however is more in line with Amateur Radio. (;->)

Yanno Kel, you come up with some FABULOUS ideas and you're sure headed in the right direction. Uh huh, LC networks ARE first choice because (for the sake of lesser than ham gods such as ourselves) they give "infinite" phase rotation rather than a few switchable patterns given with coaxial delay lines. One thing however, I'm trying to steer you toward grounded folded unipole antennas rather than quarter wave no matter how they're fed because those are not only shorter but more importantly as electrical half waves they spit at lower angles, you know the advantage. You only have a watt, less than a watt ERP so you have to gain all the advantage you can and I see a greater advantage in a combination of the two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy_JXPixTRA