Antennas and things
I finally went & got a round tuit & made up a 30/60 trapped dipole which I was able to put up as a near flat top at 6 meters high. The results have been outstanding on both bands with numerous contacts into Europe & Scandinavia on 30metres. Apart from Summits, Lakes & Parks on the air I hadn’t used 60 metres too much. That’s changed now although with only 15 watts eirp patience is needed.
With the outdoor qrp radio activity in mind, I’ve set to & made a doublet antenna covering 60 to 10 metres. Even the ladder line is homemade using irrigation risers cut down to 3cm to keep the strands apart. Fed into a 4:1 balun with a 1:1 common mode choke balun in line just before the rig it does need a good atu. I haven’t used it yet, but I’ve heard good reports about it, so I thought I’d take the plunge. (No. Not in the next lake I’ll be activating.) I also put together a table top stand for the Elecraft AX1/AXE1 multi band whip antenna, so it can fit comfortably on a BBQ table when activating a park or lake. I found that this is far superior & more stable to having it mounted on a camera tripod (and cheaper). Other projects are on the go, but I need some more round tuits.
Photo’s and words by Rick ZL3RIK
The “Pixie L4 QRPp 40m CW radio” (work in progress)
Over lockdown, I designed this PCB for a radio I found on the net called the “Pixie”. It will run off 9-12V and should manage around 1W or so on 12V or 750mW on 9V. It has a crystal for 7.023 MHz and can be adjusted around 1 kHz or so. In this design, I have added an RC phase shift oscillator to generate a side tone, however this circuit is particular about the values of components used, and I haven’t got it to oscillate yet. The radio isn’t complete yet as I’m waiting for the crystal, inductors and other bits and pieces to arrive from overseas.
The dimensions of the PCB are 62x45mm, and it will fit into an old pipe tobacco tin I’ve got. Once it’s finished I guess it’s time to learn morse code and go climb some SOTA hills.
Photo’s and words by Tim ZL3PIE
