Small Radio --- Big Signal!

A Shirt Pocket SSB Transceiver for 20 Meters!

Several years ago I built a shirt pocket sized SSB transceiver --well actually two of them with the second one being 2X2X4 -- yes that is inches. The overall size was actually dictated by the need to have a front panel. If I had used surface mount it could have been smaller still. The transceiver was the subject of an article in QRP Quarterly. This may be one of the smallest SSB transceivers to be homebrewed. Note for the purists I did not say the smallest!

Recently I made a modification to the driver stage which actually was posted on this blog. I now get about two watts out and driving an outboard amp it is good for about 60 watts PEP. Imagine my surprise the other day when ON8KW was calling CQ and I answered him (60 watts) and he came back to me. I got a 5X8 report. Now keep in mind I am using a beam antenna. So once again a good antenna will level the playing field. The LO is a crystal switched two range VXO that covers from 14.162 to 14.188 and 14.194 to 14.225 MHz or roughly about 60 kHz of 20 Meters. The output device is an IRF510.

Here are a few photos and today I had about 20 minutes so I built and painted blue a case for the rig. Another cool blue radio! By the way the inspiration for this radio was an article written by Ben Vester W3TLN who built a small 20M SSB transceiver that ran off of 6 VDC and put out 200 MW. The 6 VDC was because he had it installed mobile in a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle where pre-1966 Beetles were 6 VDC.

There story here is that you can build an SSB transceiver (large or small) and have meaningful contacts including DX stations. Get off the couch and start building.

73's

Pete N6QW

January 26, 2024. A simple CW Transceiver/Transmitter

Cruise through the lower part of the ham bands bands and what do you hear? Well, FT-8 and CW. Often you will not hear any SSB stations yet go to the lower part of the bands, and it is a cacophony (I love that word) of bad sounding signals and some high-speed keying. Fast is not so much of the issue as is bad, run together and jerky keying. But none the less our hobby started there. So, you could crank down your ICOM 7300 and watch the waterfall on CW or you could homebrew a radio. Actually, to do CW right you need more thought up front than you do with a SSB transceiver. Often, I will state that a CW Transceiver is much more difficult to build than a simple SSB rig. I published two articles in QRP Quarterly on CW transceivers and all I got was a yawn so maybe history will repeat itself. Yawn! 30M CW Transceiver with RIT! Of interest is that the LO is a Varactor tuned LC oscillator using a NE602. Look closely at the RIT circuit which is only activated on ...

March 31, 2024. Happy Easter to those who celebrate this day.

What a great day to Binge on Chocolate and experience the pain of that filling that has been leaking. I would be in that category with the leaking filling(s) had I not just spent an amount equivalent to one of the fancy new uptown appliance box transceivers on two filling repairs. Well at least I can binge on the Chocolate bunnies without fear of pain. Regrettably everything appears to have jumped in price including the price of parts. Well not so much the parts as the shipping costs. That notably is seen in the eBay treasures. I spotted a nice heathkit DX-20 for about $50 and the shipping was $65. Likely it is a twofer with part being a way to in effect charge a higher price by inflating the shipping and in part by increased shipping costs. Shipping with insurance across the US was about $150 for this jewel and that was three years ago. 6AM on the Left Coast ~ 20M Easter Sunday! My only hope is the cost of Chocolate Bunnies remains steady although a pound of See's Candies f...

August 30, 2024. A PNP 20M SSB Transceiver

Shown below is the Block Diagram for the 20M PNP SSB Transceiver steered in the Transmit Mode . The components shown in the dotted block are relay steered so that the block module is single pass and amplifies in a single direction. The Block diagram show steered in Transmit. Essentially the steering process works so that the IF Module input follows the Balanced Modulator on Transmit and then the input side follows the Receive Mixer on Receive. All done with some relays and a bit of RG174U coax. For those who count things in detail, this block diagram is not unlike what was used for the PSSST Transceiver which can be found on my website . Yes, a warmed over P3ST only using PNP devices. TYGNYBNT. 73's Pete N6QW

Pay More and Get Less. Flash the Cash!

Search This Blog