Things have been pretty busy around MiscDotGeek, and we’ve barely had time for Radio Related things. As I mentioned in the July 2020 update, my BITX40 quit transmitting while sitting stationary on my desk, dutifully doing its job as a JS8 radio, it quit transmitting. I put the uSDX in its place, only to have …
Category: QRP
Aug 24
Experimental Methods in RF Design is on Clearance
Hey everyone, just a short post to let you know that Experimental Methods in RF Design (EMFRD) is now on clearance at the ARRL’s store for just $20. This is an incredible deal for anybody who’s the least bit interested in Amateur Radio home brewing. Where to get EMFRD You can get it right now …
Aug 12
QRP Labs HQ Tour and QCX Mini!
Just a quick post today to point you in the direction of an exciting announcement from Hans Summers over at QRP Labs. When he discontinued the QCX in favor of the QCX+, there was a strong contingent of hams who cried out in unison: “It’s too big!” and expressed that they wanted a small version …
May 27
SSB and Digital with… a QCX?
In January 2019, a ham named Guido, PE1NNZ posted to the QRP Labs groups.io group. The title of the post was “QCX-SSB: SSB with your QCX transceiver“.If you’re familiar with the QCX, then you’ll realize that this is a profound statement! The QCX is a high performance 5w CW transceiver. So how on earth did …
May 14
Goodbye QCX, Hello QCX+!
Today in the QRP Labs Groups.io group, Hans Summers announced an updated replacement for the QCX, which he’s calling the QCX+. It’ll be $6 more than the old QCX, but there’s some wonderful improvements. It’s designed specifically to fit a case a lot more easily, and the PCB itself is 2.2x bigger than before, which …
May 13
Salvaging old CB’s for QRP Parts: Part 4
In the previous three installments, we tore down two old CB’s and an even older tube based CB linear amplifier. Those teardowns were a lot of fun and a great way to look at the way things used to be done before frequency synthesis took over. In this final CB teardown, we’re going to look …
May 10
Easy Bitx: More details, Tentative Pricing and Release Date
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 …
May 09
Salvaging old CB’s for QRP Parts: Part 3
In this third installment of Salvaging old CB’s for QRP Parts, we’re taking a slightly different turn. I still have another CB to tear into for the next post, but for this one, we’re changing it up a bit. Pictured below is a Mystery Box Thing that I purchased at a garage sale. It was …
May 01
Salvaging old CB’s for QRP Parts: Part 2
Welcome to the second installment of “Salvaging old CB’s for QRP Parts”! In part 1 of this series, we described how we found a bin of CB radios and accessories at an estate sale some time back. The first radio we salvaged for parts was a Pace CB 145. The radio was disassembled to see …
Apr 26
Finishing a QRP Guys Para40Set
A few weeks ago, David KA4ZUC posted on the QRP Amateur Radio Facebook group: He was unable to finish his Para40Set radio kit because of some physical limitations, and asked if he could pay somebody to wind the T1 toroid for him. Apparently, another ham had done so for a fee, but did it wrong. …