QRP Show Tell A Report on QRP kits

QRP Show & Tell A Report on QRP kits and QRP Projects Low-Power Ham Radio – Less than 5 watts Jim Larsen, AL 7 FS 907 -345 -3190 AL 7 FS@AL 7 FS. us QRP Alaska Ver 1. 0 5/6/05 By Jim Larsen, AL 7 FS (add’l credit: N 2 APB “Why QRP? ”) 1

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 2

What is “QRP? ” A telegraphy Q-signal “QRP” = To lower ones power “QRP? ” = Can you lower your power? Five watts RF output power (or less!) Only 5 watts? Use a “QRP” rig, or You must be Turn down your present radio kidding. . . QRP 3

Pretty Amazing Stuff AL 7 FS – Jim Larsen – Anchorage Worked All States - 67. 548 watts total QRP & In Year 2000 – 1. 5 M Miles per Watt 4

Why QRP? Many Reasons but let’s focus today on: • Quality and simplicity of equipment • Joys of homebrewing & kit-building ? ? ? QRP 5

QRP Optimization 1) Size & weight increase with maximum output power 2) Minimize current draw No lamps (except LEDs) No digital display unless LCD Maximize TX efficiency 3) Use few components & pack the board tightly 4) Use ICs if possible 5) Sensitive RX - If you can’t hear ‘em, you can’t work ‘em QRP 6

Size and Weight vs. Max. Power QRP Conventional 100 w setup Icom 735, etc. Tuner Astron RS-20 TOTAL TRANSPORT 12 lbs. 6 lbs. 25 lbs. 43 lbs. Trunk of Car QRP setup 5 w setup QRP rig Tuner Power supply/battery TOTAL TRANSPORT 2 lbs. 3 lbs. 7 lbs. Small Briefcase 7

Power Requirements for a Day To run for 24 hours - 10% xmit, 90% receive: Conventional, compact HF rig (IC-706, Yaesu FT-890) Receive - 2 amps…Xmit - 4 to 20 amps (avg. 10 amps) TOTAL CONSUMPTION - 67. 2 A-H (a car battery) QRP- optimized rig Receive - 100 milliamps…Xmit - 500 milliamps TOTAL CONSUMPTION - 3. 36 A-H (a 3 -lb. gel cell) QRP 8

Kitbuilding & Homebrewing QRPers are natural builders and experimenters Thousands of schematics are available Hundreds of kits and projects are available today QRP 9

Showing off homebrewing projects QRP • George N 2 APB • Jim AL 7 FS • Brian KF 2 HC • Antenna Analyzer - DDS VFO - Micro. Beacon 10

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 11

The “Tuna Tin 2” AL 7 FS to W 1 AW – 20 meters QRP • Simple Transmitter, less than 1 W • W 1 FB original design 12

“Herring Aid” Receiver QRP • Simple Receiver project • Mate to Tuna Tin 2 transmitter 13

The “Pixie” QRP Bruce Hopkins - KL 7 H built his for 3. 920 and 3. 933. Checkins were successful with net control on both Motley and Snipers Nets • Simple 250 m. W transceiver kit from HSC Electronics 14

The Nor. Cal “ 38 Special” QRP • 30 m superhet CW kit from Nor. Cal Club • 2 W output, wide VXO • Very popular as instructional kit • Kit no longer available but full doc online 15

N 2 APB’s “ 38 Special” • Custom cabinetry in LMB enclosure QRP 16

The N 0 SS HF Noise Source • Noise Source Kit • Easy to build w/o kit • Spectrogram software • Easy readout – filters • This is 150 Hz BW on K 2 QRP 17

A Simple and Inexpensive Morse Frequency Display • Small Wonder Labs’ “Freq Mite” • PIC microcontroller as digital frequency meter QRP 18

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 19

Small Wonder Labs’ “SW 40+” • Built by AL 7 FS QRP • 40 m 2 W CW transceiver • Improved, simplified • RIT add-on now avail. • Educational Project Elmer 101 http: //www. qsl. net/kf 4 trd/faq. html 20

The Nor. Cal 40 A • 40 m 2 W CW transceiver • Grandfather deluxe QRP 21

The Nor. Cal 20 • 20 m superhet CW • Great front end • Norcal kit for 3 rd world countries • Red Hot Radio QRP 22

The “Sierra” by Wilderness Radio QRP • All band CW transceiver • Superhet, VFO • Dig display & key options • Removable band modules • Rivals quality of rigs 5 x $ • ARRL Hndbk cover ‘ 96 23

Small Wonder Labs’ “White Mountain 20 m SSB” QRP • 20 m 2 W QRP SSB transceiver • Solid design • Easy construction • No longer available 24

OHR – Oak Hills Research • Single band superhet CW rig • + improved QRP 25

OHR – Oak Hills Research • 5 band superhet CW rig • 5 band + improved QRP 26

Some Commercial QRP Kits Ten-Tec Model 13 xx (single band) Oak Hills Research 100 A (single-band) MFJ 90 xx (CW), 94 xx (SSB) (single-band, not kits!) S&S Engineering TAC I, ARK-series (single-band) NN 1 G Small Wonder Labs SW 40+ W 6 EMT Emtech (single-band) Kanga UK/US Wilderness Sierra, Cascade, SST, and Nor. Cal 40 A And many, many more… QRP 27

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 28

Elecraft K 1 transceiver A compact, high-performance CW rig that you can build. five watts is all you need to work worldwide DX four bands into the affordable, easy-to-build K 1 -4 transceiver QRP • http: //www. elecraft. com 29

John Hendricks – AL 7 OK Bird Point, Alaska with Elecraft K 1 Transceiver (kit) 2002 QRP 30

Elecraft K 2 transceiver • The K 2 is a full-featured HF transceiver • Build the K 2 for QRP or 100 W Operation • Can challenge even the Yaesu FT 1000 Mark V on Rx • And you build it yourself…just like the old Heathkits QRP • http: //www. elecraft. com 31

Elecraft K 2 - AL 7 FS QRP 32

Elecraft KX 1 Portable QRP • ultra-light, multi-band CW station with internal battery and automatic antenna tuner, full 20 and 40 meter ham bands, with 30 meters optional. 33

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 34

Manhattan Construction QRP 35

Manhattan Construction QRP 36

Manhattan Construction QRP 37

Manhattan Construction QRP 38

Manhattan Construction QRP 39

Manhattan Construction QRP 40

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 41

Commercial QRP Radios • Turn back the power on your big rig • Turn back the power on your semi big rig • Buy a QRP radio QRP 42

Use 100 watt Rig as QRP Equipment Kenwood TS-450 S fully adjustable – zero to 100 watts QRP 43

Other QRP Equipment Direct Conversion Radios Heath HW-7, HW-8 Ten-Tec Century 21, 22 Superheterodyne Radios Heath HW-9; Ten-Tec Argonaut 505, 509, 515, Argo 556, Argonaut II A&A Engineering K 9 AY 20, 30, 40 m Index Labs - QRP+, QRP++ Yaesu FT-301 S, Kenwood TS-130 V, Icom 731 QRP 44

Index Labs’ “QRP Plus” • Super stable QRP rig • Great user interface QRP 45

Argonaut 515 • QRP for CW and SSB QRP 46

Heathkit HW-8 • 4 band direct conversion CW QRP rig QRP 47

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 48

Club Projects Northern California (Nor. Cal) QRP Club Sierra, Cascade, NC 40 a, 40 -9 er, 38 Special, SST, NC 20 a, SMD BC Receiver NJ QRP Club Rainbow Tuner, Fireball 40, Micro. Beacon, SOP Receiver, PSK 31 Audio Beacon Columbus QRP Club MRX-40 ultra-compact receiver St. Louis QRP Club And much, much more. St. Louis Vertical QRP 49

Portable Paddles QRP • N 2 APB enclosure for New Zealand ARC project 50

N 2 CX “Rainbow Tuner” QRP • Kitted by the NJ-QRP club • Resistive (absorptive) SWR bridge w/LED indicators • Built-in tuner suited for half-wave end-fed antennas 51

N 2 APB’s “Rainbow Tuner” QRP • Custom enclosure with panel mounted switch for tuner inductor settings 52

The N 2 APB Field Stack • Batteries • Rainbow Tuner • 38 S Xcvr • QRP paddles QRP This is what N 2 APB takes on biz trips (along with “Halfer” half-wave end-fed wire for 30 m). Easily fits in small briefcase! 53

Mini-Keys from Whiterook QRP • Great for portable use! 54

The Nor. Cal Paddles QRP • First club project not being electronic-related • Unfinished kit … yields superior quality 55

Miniature QRP Paddles • Original design by WK 8 G QRP 56

Overview of QRP Stuff • What is QRP and Why Use it? • Overview of QRP Kits – a sampler – Small projects – Intermediate kits – Advanced kits • Manhattan Construction • Commercial Radios on QRP • More Fun Stuff • QRP Magazines and Clubs • How to read more on QRP 57

Alaska QRP Club • No officers, no directors, no constitution & No dues. • Meets the Third Friday of every month - 7: 00 PM (Some show for dinner at 6 PM) • Meet at Dennys (in the back room) on De. Barr near Bragaw. • Contact is Jim Larsen, AL 7 FS, 345 -3190. Jimlarsen 2002@alaska. net • http: //www. qsl. net/kl 7 aqc/ QRP 58

American QRP Club QRP • Am. QRP carries “journal-quality” articles, project descriptions, event coverage, etc. • http: //www. amqrp. org/ 59

QRP Publications QRP • The mainstay of QRPer information Homebrewer from Am. QRP Quarterly from ARCI SPRAT from G-QRP 60

QRP Amateur Radio Club International • QRP ARCI is superset of all QRP clubs QRP • http: //www. qrparci. org 61

• One of the premier QRP Clubs in America • http: //www. njqrp. org/ QRP 62

The Nor. Cal home page • Northern California QRP Club • http: //www. norcalqrp. com/ QRP 63

G-QRP Club – Great Britain • http: //www. gqrp. com/ QRP 64

Support Groups for Addicts QRP Amateur Radio Club International (ARCI) http: //www. qrparci. org/ Internet QRP Club (QRP-L mailing list) http: //qrp. lehigh. edu/lists/qrp-l NJ QRP - http: //www. njqrp. org Nor. Cal - http: //www. norcalqrp. com. Adventure Radio Society, Knightlites (NC) Maryland Milliwatts, NW QRP Alaska QRP - http: //www. qsl. net/KL 7 AQC 65

QRP Kits-Not all avail. QRP 66

QRP Kits-Not all avail. QRP 67

QRP Kits-Still Available And Kits from lots of Vendors http: //www. amqrp. org/ misc/links. html QRP 68

QRP Kits-Documentation Available QRP 69

QRP Kits-Documentation Available QRP 70

KD 1 JV – AT Sprint 3 QRP Kit-still available – about $160 80 -40 -30 -20 meter CW at up to 5 watts QRP 71

Nor. Cal Keyer QRP Kit - still available – $16. 50 Memory keyer, with 3 programmable 40 -character memories, iambic A & B mode, straight key and bug mode, 2 beacon modes, and variable speed control by either a 100 K pot or the paddles themselves. QRP 72

You might ask, “Why QRP? ” • It’s FUN! That about says it all. QRP !!! 73

QRP References: Literature • QRP Power, published by the ARRL • QRP Classics, published by the ARRL • W 1 FB’s QRP Notebook, published by the ARRL • The History of QRP, by Adrian Weiss, W 0 RSP, ISBN 0 -9614139 -1 -3 • The Joy of QRP, by Adrian Weiss, W 0 RSP, ISBN 0 -9614139 -0 -5 … and many, many more! QRP 74

Questions ? ? ? QRP 75