Yesterday's posting about ZL2CTM sure must have struck more than a few chords given the higher than usual hits to this blog. While still a single data point, this signals the interest in SSB transceivers and perhaps looking at the work of others. Thanks to those of you who read the blog. Again, Charlie is a terrific resource -- like I said bookmark his blog site.
An SMD Bilateral IF Module using the Plessey Circuit
That said, ultimately a phase of your project entails the actual hardware build and that in turn involves the how you do it and finally the size of the build. I once saw a homebrew SSB transceiver built on a plank 10 inches wide by 4 feet long. That is a lot to lug up a summit while engaged in a SOTA weekend. Another consideration is that you may want to eventually build several variants of the project.
By using two tools, CNC Milling and SMD hardware it is possible to 1) shrink down our circuits and 2) have PC Board repeatability. Whilst there are those who champion Manhattan Glue down, the SMD and CNC facilitate rapid prototyping. Mind you nothing wrong with the Glue Down but it does add time and starting from scratch for a second build.
Yesterday's blog showcased ZL2CTM's strip board Audio Amp stage. I built this same circuit some 12 years ago for my KWM-4 and just recently cut another PC Board for the same circuit. See below. Of note -- the new board needs a cleanup, and the burrs sure signal my engraving cutter is getting dull. The important message is that if I want another board -- just punch the Start button.
Use of the CNC goes way beyond cutting circuit boards. A huge additional use is cutting holes in panels and even engraving panels. You are only limited by your imagination. Once I even made a custom bumper mount for my Jeep Wrangler using my CNC.
Shown below is a unit suitable for cutting those nice rectangular holes and available from Lauren Sanchez's boyfriends gift store (Amazon). A bit more info on CNC milling is at: https://www.n6qw.com/CNCMILL.html
Lunyee 3018 Pro about $350
In the above Gantry Style CNC, the bed moves in the Y direction while the router head itself moves in the X and Z directions.
The bed on the CNC my #3 son built for me does not use the gantry system. My bed moves in the X and Y direction and the router head only moves in the Z direction.
TYGNYBNT. Don't eat your pet!
73's
Pete N6QW