Update 5/11/2020: Article updated to reflect correct information regarding band availability Ever since HF Signals discontinued the BITX40, there’s been a gap in the available SSB QRP kits out there. Sure, there’s the uBITX, but that’s more complicated multi-band radio. For a beginner, a single band radio is easier to build and understand. Thankfully, the …
Category: JS8Call
Dec 14
QSX Update and Winter Project Ideas
Most of us have been waiting patiently for the QSX, but some have been waiting a little less patiently. Unfortunately this has put a lot of pressure on Hans over at QRP Labs, but he’s stood his ground: It’ll be ready when it’s ready, because quality comes first. And to that we say, bravo! Given …
Dec 09
Why Windows 10 is my Desktop OS of Choice
In the comments section of a recent Hackaday.com article about some Windows 10 updates, there was a lively discussion taking place regarding the merits of using Linux instead of Windows 10. Many sung the woes of how awful Windows 10 is, how bad the updates are, and how switching to Linux saved them in some …
Dec 03
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 …
Oct 22
DSB Digital: Friend, or Foe?
I recently became aware that there are companies selling Double Side Band radios for use on digital HF frequencies (FT8 specifically) on 40m, 30m, and 20m. In this post we’re going to take a look at what these rigs are, what they were originally designed for, and then you can decide whether these should be …
Feb 07
The W7RLF BITX40: Finished at last!
Last year I thought the BITX40 was “done”. It successfully worked on 80, 40, 30, and 20m. It was truly multi-band! The trick to doing that was to make the Band Pass and Low Pass filters pluggable using QRP Labs filters. One only needed to open the radio, change the filters, and retune the VFO. …
Nov 22
Getting Started with JS8Call – One of best things going in Digital HF!
Today we’re going to talk about JS8Call. What’s JS8Call? If you’re a ham radio operator on HF, then you likely know all about FT8 and what it’s done for (or to, depending on your perspective…) amateur radio. It’s made a simple 5 watt QRP station capable of truly worldwide contacts! Here in Washington State, I …
Nov 30
BITX40 PTT Enhancement for Digital or CW
The BITX40 PTT is a simple circuit: A switch grounds out the PTT Relay and the transceiver goes into transmit. As a stripped down SSB radio, this works fine and is simple and uses few parts. Why modify it? The challenge is that the PTT circuit is not solid state. The PTT circuit is just …
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