Category: DC40

The Phaser: A Digital Only QRP Radio Kit

Recently we looked at a digital DSB transceiver kit for FT8 that’s been making the rounds, and talked about the pros and cons of such a design. There’s also been discussion about the DSB digital FT8 rigs on several groups.io and Facebook groups. Another vendor has entered into the arena of digital-only QRP radios. It …

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Toroid Tip #4: Counting!

As a collector of tips and tricks that I can use when building radio stuff. I’m also a writer and I love sharing knowledge. When Todd, N0IP shared a tip that I can’t believe I didn’t think of myself, I just had to write it up! For the other three tips, see the link at …

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The DC40 is complete- and dual band!

In December 2018, we published 5 articles all based on the DC40 project, starting with Part 1. We last left off with a few pieces that definitely made up a receiver. But, it was just parts on the bench and really needed a case. Then in February 2019 we picked up a Panasonic AM/FM Cassette …

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Panasonic AM/FM Clock Radio Teardown

Have you ever been at a thrift store and wondered if you should buy that super cheap bit of electronics and salvage or re-use it? In this video we discuss how to tear down such a beast, and discuss things like what makes a good find, what parts can be easily re-used, and how industrial …

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Dabbling in Circuit Art: The LM386 Spider

Last month I built the DC40 receiver (and wrote a giant series on it: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. And somewhat unofficially Here!) and at the same time, Hackaday.com posted their Circuit Sculpture contest. Would it be possible for me to combine projects, and submit the DC40 as a circuit sculpture of some …

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Building a Direct Conversion Receiver: Part 4

We last left off with having built the Diode Ring Mixer portion of the DC40 direct conversion receiver that we started on in Part 1. As was discussed, the Diode Ring Mixer accepts input from two sources: The antenna (through a Band Pass Filter) and the VFO. Now it’s time to examine these two critical …

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Building a Direct Conversion Receiver: Part 3

In the first installment, we talked about choosing a Direct Conversion receiver design to build and getting started with the most basic parts. Part 2 dove into Manhattan construction and building the amplification stages. For this third installment, we’re going to discuss the functions of the Diode Ring Mixer, Band Pass Filter, and VFO stages. …

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Building QRP Labs Band Pass Filters: 3 Tips you should know!

QRP Labs Band Pass Filters are these wonderful little kits that largely take all the question of building a filter. They use a proven design, the kit includes the inductors and wires, and the build instructions are top notch.  One thing I love about the QRP Labs Band Pass (and Low Pass) filter kits is that …

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Building a Direct Conversion Receiver: Part 2

In the first installment of this series, we discussed why we’re building a Direct Conversion receiver and talked about some basic ideas. In this installment, we explore what it takes to make the leap from a printed schematic to something physical that works. Follow along! Schematic Semantics The DC40 was originally designed by Ashhar Farhan …

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Building a Direct Conversion Receiver: Part 1

QRP Labs VFO, bare PCB with just the audio amplifier stage and a power strip to the left side of the board.

In this series of posts I’m going to take you on a journey. We’re going to explore the Direct Conversion receiver together, and I’m going to show you every bit of the journey that I can. Let’s get started! Why build a Direct Conversion receiver? When I restarted in ham radio in December 2016, it …

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