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And the average age of those 700,000 license holders? Anybody?

I hold an extra class license, which I don't really use, and my impression was that the average age was around 65. If you want to tune in and chat with other oldsters about medical problems... then amateur radio is for you! Though some will treat you as a lower class of operator for not being a "brass pounder" (i.e. someone proficient in morse code). And you might feel unwelcome if you're LGBT; they're, um, a little on the conservative side.

On the other hand, the tech stuff is pretty cool, and if you're comfortable with algebra, trig, complex numbers, and memorizing some stuff, a good geek should be able to test all the way to extra class on the first try with some studying. I did, and my math skills were quite rusty. It just took a little practice.

And building radios is actually quite fun. I recommend:
http://www.elecraft.com/k2_page.htm
from
http://www.elecraft.com/
which is a nice blend of "the old days" and "somewhat modern stuff". Fancier radios are built by plugging the boards in, just like PC's. This one gets soldered together one part at a time.

There are also lots of plans for building radios from scratch that are drifting around the net. From a modern day perspective, it's fascinating how much you can do with a handful of discrete components.

So, in conclusion, if you're interested, amateur radio is worth checking out, just beware of the subtle demographic issues that might present themselves.

And the average age of those 700,000 license holders? Anybody?

I hold an extra class license, which I don't really use, and my impression was that the average age was around 65. If you want to tune in and chat with other oldsters about medical problems... then amateur radio is for you! Though some will treat you as a lower class of operator for not being a "brass pounder" (i.e. someone proficient in morse code). And you might feel unwelcome if you're LGBT; they're, um, a little on the conservative side.

On the other hand, the tech stuff is pretty cool, and if you're comfortable with algebra, trig, complex numbers, and memorizing some stuff, a good geek should be able to test all the way to extra class on the first try with some studying. I did, and my math skills were quite rusty. It just took a little practice.

And building radios is actually quite fun. I recommend:
http://www.elecraft.com/k2_page.htm
from
http://www.elecraft.com/
which is a nice blend of "the old days" and "somewhat modern stuff". Fancier radios are built by plugging the boards in, just like PC's. This one gets soldered together one part at a time.

There are also lots of plans for building radios from scratch that are drifting around the net. From a modern day perspective, it's fascinating how much you can do with a handful of discrete components.

So, in conclusion, if you're interested, amateur radio is worth checking out, just beware of the subtle demographic issues that might present themselves.

http://www.elecraft.com/ The performance of which blows away anything that Heathkit or TenTec ever made.

If someone's looking for a small, low-power CW-only unit, I humbly suggest the Elecraft KX1. Pluses: about the size of a paperback, runs on 6 AA batteries, claimed battery life at 1-2W is 20 to 30 hours of "casual operation", base model operates 20M and 40M, has an optional internal antenna tuner so a random-wire antenna will provide good results, and by all reports is a very reliable unit. Minuses: it's a kit, so if you're not comfortable with a soldering iron it's probably not for you, and doesn't have its own key unless you buy the optional plug-in paddles.

Were it me, I'd plop down the bucks on the kit, add the tuner option and maybe the 30M and 80M modules as well, spend a few evenings putting it together, and stash it and a couple of fifty-foot rolls of hookup wire in my pack, along with some extra batteries "just in case". I may not need it, but added to whatever other personal-safety equipment I have along, it's one more possible avenue of communication.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with Elecraft.

On mountain peaks and ridges you do have a good chance of accessing a repeater. Check the Colorado Connection system of linked repeaters, it covers much of the state. But if you are down in a canyon or valley, repeater coverage is much less reliable in the back country.

If you are competent in Morse, there are several sub-pound transceiver options (this is a manufacturer's marketing page, read it as such). Morse gains about 7dB improvement over SSB radiotelephony from reduced noise bandwidth (typically 500Hz vs. 2500Hz) and about 6dB more because the peak-to-average power ratio is 1:1 instead of 4:1 or worse. Net improvement: 13dB, making 5W of Morse about equally effective as 100W of SSB (a result which my experience and that of other QRP fanatics confirm).

But no matter what radio you carry, including satellite phones, don't assume you'll be able to reach it and use it if you have a serious fall or accident. You may lose it down a slope, hit it on a rock and break it, or be incapacitated and unable to communicate with anything. The best advice is to not go it alone: hike with a companion. If you do go solo, stay on well-traveled main trails where help is likely find you. Technology does not ensure safety in the back country.

Long time ham here too and I love low power (QRP) operation but it isn't for wimps or beginners. Still, I definitely recommend it once you acquire some operating skills. I have a FT-817 and love it - I use it mobile, portable, while camping, and even at home and have worked an amazing array of countries including New Zealand with its 5 watts and a 12 foot whip fastened to a hotel balcony. Small and capable as it is, it's still heavy if you are watching every ounce as you would on a long trek.

The lightweight champ I recommend is the Elecraft KX-1. It's a kit, so electronics assembly skills are required, but the manuals are very clear (think Heathkit) that anyone who knows how to solder to a circuit board can build it. Smaller than a paperback book, it measures 3x5 inches x 1 inch thick, weighs less than a pound (plus 6xAA batteries), will work on 20, 30 40 or 80 meters and has its own built-in antenna tuner and battery pack, so all you need is a key, your iPod earphones and a roll of wire to throw up into a tree for an antenna, and you are on the air. It is a Morse Code-only rig, though, so you'll have to know the code, but if you are serious about it, it isn't difficult. I take mine on campouts as well, and it's nice to kick back in the sleeping bag and have a few contacts before dozing off.

A couple years ago a ham hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and his communications was a KX-1. He kept a schedule with another ham and would check in regularly. His story was featured in one of the ham magazines. If you want to keep in touch with non-ham family members or associates, you could do the same. You'll meet plenty of hams through your local radio club, and it's likely someone would be willing to set up a sked with you. In that case, he is not only a hiker but was a ham already - he didn't get into ham radio solely as a means of communication while hiking. If you do, you might end up enjoying it - it adds another facet to being outdoors, off the grid but still in touch with just what you carry in your pack.

... there are several ultra-portable rigs that can broadcast huge distances (thanks to atmospheric effects) with just a loop of wire thrown over a tree.

The KX1 comes to mind: http://www.elecraft.com/KX1/KX1.htm

Or ....

Get yourself a best-of-class kit radio from Elecraft - K3 or K2 or one of their other kits. Or a cutting edge Open source High Performance Software Defined Radio from HPSDR and TAPR.

Get yourself a radio kit from Ten-Tec, or MFJ.

Or from Oak Hill Research, or Hendrick's QRP Kits, module kits from W8DIZ who also sells parts, or from various non-profit QRP groups selling kits from time to time, like NorCal QRP Club.

Get yourself a copy of Circuit Cellar or Nuts and Volts from the US, or Everyday Practical Electronics (EPE) and Elektor from Europe or Silicon Chip from Australia.

Heck, you can even get vacuum tube based kits still.

Forget it, just go buy a new chinese made mp3 player!

Wow, +4 Insightful for a parent Troll..

The resurgence of American amateur radio equipment companies is one of the great untold stories recently. I mean, one still has Japanese industry stalwarts Icom and Kenwood, who led the Japanese domination of the industry in the 1970s, but even Yaesu was bought by Motorola a few years back. The real news, though, is the new, innovative startups, doing state-of-the-art, truly wonderful designs, with simultaneous high performance, high quality, and reasonable prices. Companies like Elecraft and software-defined radio pioneer FlexRadio Systems come to mind, producing products unmatched by any of the mainstream companies.

It's a refreshing change.

I don't know about the "small influx of energy," that's basically one of objects of research here. The Sun is definitely far away, but Saturn is close, and its gravitational interference should be considerable, so far that Titan is locked in position just as our local Moon is. There are also clouds forming and dissolving, which must influence the weather.

perhaps the lander will use strong signals transmitted to it from Earth as a beacon?

Let's say the distance from Earth to Saturn is 10 A.U. (it varies, obviously). That would be 149.60×10^10 meters. The path loss (using the Friis transmission equation) is 300 dB at 30 GHz. Antennas of Deep Space Network give you gain of 80 dB. The antenna on the lander, as a guess, will give you 40 dB at best if it is a fixed parabolic dish. 300 - 80 - 40 = 180 dB (in either direction.) If we transmit from Earth at 1 MW, that would be 90 dBm. Then the signal at the front end of the receiver on Titan will be -90 dBm. This is not a problem in itself, modern receivers can work with even smaller signals. A ham receiver (like K3) will detect a signal at -136 dBm within 500 Hz.

But there is still a problem. High gain antennas have, by definition, a narrow beam. It's like a telescope. But you can't look through a telescope to find a star! Your field of vision is too small. But if you make the beam wider the signal disappears! So here is the catch 22 - you can receive the signal from Earth only if you already know where it is coming from :-) Phased antenna arrays are kind of convenient for beam-forming on the fly, but they are typically not as good as a simple dish (or else we'd all use only them.)

There may be a way to do it still. First of all, you may make your receiver so good that it will detect the signal even with antenna configured for a wide beam. You only need a few bits per second at that stage. It helps a lot that you are swimming in the sea of cryogenic liquid, you can cool your front stage somewhat - not as He would allow, but still -160C is better than nothing.

Alternatively, look for a signal with a wide beam, but that signal won't be coming from Earth. Find a stronger signal - from the Sun, or from some pulsars, or from anywhere else that can be used as a good astronomical marker. That assumes that your communication system covers the right frequency band.

But all in all, it's too much risk for such a trivial [today] problem. Your mission may easily fail just because the lander can't find Earth - and that happened more than once with other probes, it's not unusual. Especially when you don't have a clue what you are landing into. If I were to plan the mission, I'd splurge on a proper set of one orbiter and one or two landers. It's a good distance to Saturn, many years in transit, so you want to make one mission count. Cost should not be such a concern when you are doing the most complex rocket science that there is.

Can you block the transmission of higher sideband frequencies by using a properly tuned crystal or one that can't possibly oscillate at those higher sideband frequencies?

Harmonics are caused by nonlinearities in the oscillator and the amplifier; they are not "oscillations" as such, but components of the spectrum formed by imperfections in transistors (or even vacuum tubes.) Harmonics can be greatly reduced in a single-frequency system by just using an LC filter (several configurations exist) and that also helps with antenna matching. Wideband systems require low-pass filters, and that is less efficient. I think a wireless microphone or a guitar would use just a single FM channel with undetectably low power. The ERP at 900 MHz could be about 1 mW (say, 0 dBm,) and the second harmonic could be *easily* suppressed down to 1 microwatt (-30 dBm). Typically RF equipment suppresses harmonics by 40 or 50 dB. Elecraft K3, for example, guarantees at least 50 dB suppression of harmonics - and that with several bands that are not that narrow.

almost anyone who solders gets burned at least slightly with any major project.

I don't know if two PCBs with about 100 SMD parts on each are to be considered a major project, but I finished it today and haven't burned myself, not even once. The secret is simple - use tweezers. It also helps that parts are so small (even 1206) that you can't handle them otherwise.

But even when I worked with through-hole parts (K2 with all options) burning yourself is a sign of bad practice. You do not need to hold a resistor from the component side of the board (and resistors are probably the most thermally conductive components in an average design.)

And now to contribute something to the original question. I think it is terribly wr0ng to ban microcontrollers. An inexpensive chip (Atmel 8515, for example, in a DIP package) requires only power (3.3-5V) to start running. And that chip, though old by now, is *packed* with all kinds of complex hardware blocks which are all available to students. Using an MCU you minimize time wasted on soldering and maximize time wisely spent on understanding how things work. That includes analog principles if you want them, since the IC has several analog blocks (ADC, comparator, timer pins etc.) in addition to powerful digital blocks (like timers, UARTs, SPI, TWI/I2C etc.) Note that TWI requires no parts (other than wires) to connect a large number of devices together.

Most of modern electronic design is digital anyway. Those who work with analog modules have good (university) education that allows them to fully understand principles behind even a simple RC circuit. Even linear circuits will be black magic to students without proper math background. Sure, you can tell them to do this and that and the LED will blink; but will they be happy with such a canned solution, without understanding the processes that make it tick?

But with a MCU students can work at their level of competence. Digital circuits are easy to build and easy to debug. On top of that the same MCU can be programmed to do many tasks, thus making it possible to give not one assignment but many. For example, one team digitizes an analog signal and sends it over I2C, and another team receives it and restores the original analog waveform using PWM. And suddenly they understand how their cell phones work!

I totally sympathize with you. I'm always looking for stuff to build but there really isn't much complex out there. I would love a little 16 bit computer or something. Something like the replica 1 only more complicated.

Of what I've built, there is one and only one answer. The ultimate kit, the best out there, the Elecraft K2. I've built that, the KPA100 power amplifier, the KAT100 tuner, and a few little modules for it. It took me weeks to build it all. It was amazing.

Kit building is why I got into Ham Radio. The only problem is... I don't seem to care about the rest of ham radio. I haven't operated much. I keep meaning to do more to see if I like it better, but I don't seem to care enough to get around to it. I'm thinking of selling my K2 since it's just sitting around.

Other than that there are a few kits out there. A Nixie tube clock, while not too complicated, looks interesting. I ran across an all transistor clock kit the other day. It looks quite neat.

If you are into ham radio, and have got the coin, I'd suggest an Elecraft K2 (or KX1).

http://www.elecraft.com/

Ramsey's BEST offerings can't hold a candle to the worst of the old Heathkit, particularly in terms of the quality of the assembly manuals.

There is one modern company that comes pretty close, but they are solely in the ham radio market, with a very small (but wonderful) product line.

http://www.elecraft.com/

>"Heathkit". Damn, I miss that company.
Try Elecraft.

It looks like it's about 20:1 for actual responses, so I'll add mine.
I built an Elecraft K2 (more pix). Mine looks pretty much like the one in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and used it on Saturday and Sunday and got my radio to signal to Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, and England. (OK, some of these were also with another kit, a handheld KX1, but it's smaller and took only a weekend to build; more info, magazine article with more pix)

It looks like it's about 20:1 for actual responses, so I'll add mine.
I built an Elecraft K2 (more pix). Mine looks pretty much like the one in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and used it on Saturday and Sunday and got my radio to signal to Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, and England. (OK, some of these were also with another kit, a handheld KX1, but it's smaller and took only a weekend to build; more info, magazine article with more pix)

It looks like it's about 20:1 for actual responses, so I'll add mine.
I built an Elecraft K2 (more pix). Mine looks pretty much like the one in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and used it on Saturday and Sunday and got my radio to signal to Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, and England. (OK, some of these were also with another kit, a handheld KX1, but it's smaller and took only a weekend to build; more info, magazine article with more pix)

It looks like it's about 20:1 for actual responses, so I'll add mine.
I built an Elecraft K2 (more pix). Mine looks pretty much like the one in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and used it on Saturday and Sunday and got my radio to signal to Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, and England. (OK, some of these were also with another kit, a handheld KX1, but it's smaller and took only a weekend to build; more info, magazine article with more pix)

It looks like it's about 20:1 for actual responses, so I'll add mine.
I built an Elecraft K2 (more pix). Mine looks pretty much like the one in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and used it on Saturday and Sunday and got my radio to signal to Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, and England. (OK, some of these were also with another kit, a handheld KX1, but it's smaller and took only a weekend to build; more info, magazine article with more pix)

It looks like it's about 20:1 for actual responses, so I'll add mine.
I built an Elecraft K2 (more pix). Mine looks pretty much like the one in the picture.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Amsterdam and used it on Saturday and Sunday and got my radio to signal to Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, and England. (OK, some of these were also with another kit, a handheld KX1, but it's smaller and took only a weekend to build; more info, magazine article with more pix)

I have been around Hams for twenty years and the tech has usually stayed interesting. During the late 80's packet radio was starting out. When most people were calling bbs's using modems, hams were sending wireless data. Check out Phil Karn's site. He has a lot of wireless experience as both ham and engineer responsible for much of the CDMA standard.

Want to start with some small radios and learn more about electronics at the same time? There are many interesting kits around if you look. You certainly don't have to spend huge amounts on radios to get started. I paid ~$120US for my VX-2R when they were first introduced. It makes a great general purpose scanner too.

Newer modes like PSK31 are incredibly efficient. A couple of watts of power and 31Hz of radio spectrum and you have error free world wide digital communication at 50wpm. It is difficult to audibly detect the signal while listening, even when you know it is there.

My experience, and I've had a technician's license for about 15 years, is that nowdays most amateur radio operators just want to talk. There's very little interest in electronics, building your own rigs and antennas and any sort of technical stuff.

Not necessarily true. There's a lot of interest, but it's widely-dispersed. You may not hear people talking about designing a homemade spectrum analyzer on your local 2M repeater, but that doesn't mean they're not out there.

And somebody must be building all those K2s you hear on HF, right?

Look past the repeaters and the contests. That's not where the fun stuff is happening.

If it is Emacs, yes.
I now use Emacs to control my Elecraft K2.

If it is Emacs, yes.
I now use Emacs to control my Elecraft K2.

• Sofware Defined Radio kits
• Elecraft kits
• PSK31
• APRS
• ARISS
• AMSAT

• Sofware Defined Radio kits
• Elecraft kits
• PSK31
• APRS
• ARISS
• AMSAT

Morse code certainly works well with QRP, but so does PSK31

Yes, but for PSK31 you need more than just a contact closure to send a message. With Morse, you just need a key, or a paper clip to bridge the key connection. Some QRP rigs like the Elecraft KX1 allow you to use the front panel pushbuttons to key the rig (it's clumsy but it works), so you don't even need to bring a key or paddle.

There's no question that PSK31 is the low power champ for busting thru the QRN, and it's very efficient on bandwidth, but you need to haul your Powerbook around with you in order to use it.

It takes several keypresses to send a single character in morse

True, but so it also does using a telephone keyboard, where, depending on the protocol used, it takes one to three keypresses (and sometimes a short wait) to send a single character. It would be a simple matter to set up the keyboard with two buttons, one for dit and one for dah, just like a paddle would be configured. (Some ham rigs, including the cute little Elecraft KX1 allow you to do this with the front panel buttons if you don't happen to have a key handy.) Add an iambic keyer (which alternates between dit and dah when both levers are pressed simultaneously -- a highly efficient way of sending at high speed. More on this here [27k PDF] ) and you can send multi-element characters with one or two keypresses. Example: the letter Y is dah-di-dah-dah. You hold the dah, then tap the dit once, and keep holding dah until the last dah is sent. The keyer forms the character for you. Result: you only need two presses instead of four. In the case of our telephone handset, you have to press the 9 button three times to send a Y (W..X..Y). Result: With Morse, 33% fewer keystrokes for that character. Want another example? E, the most common letter. Morse: dit. Phone: 33. 50% fewer with Morse!

Ergonomically, you could even set it up so that the buttons you find on the outside edges of the handset (like on some Motorola phones) are your keying buttons so there would be no need to locate the right keys on the keypad.

it takes ages to learn morse

Not really. One can become proficient at about 5 words per minute in just a few weeks or even shorter if you work at it. The average person needs about 30 hours of study - about a half hour twice a day for a month. I've taught Morse to the level of proficiency needed to obtain an Amateur license in about six weeks.

morse code (designed for carrier wave)

Not really - it was originally designed for use on a DC wire circuit, where the key opening and closing would click a sounder at the other end. It was designed, and works, anywhere you can signal with an on-off state, such as signal lights on Navy ships or even conceivably smoke signals. It is said that Thomas Edison's wife communicated with him after he became deaf by tapping out Morse on his knee. Actually, its first use in radio was to key a spark generator, which produced not a carrier wave but a broad spectrum of noise. (Modern Morse radio transmission only occupies a few tens of Hertz bandwidth, making it one of the most spectrum-efficient forms of communication in existence.)

Actually, this is an idea I've had for some time, after fumbling around trying to compose a SMS message while walking through the mall, and got to thinking that if only you could use Morse to enter the message, it would be a lot easier (for me, anyway).

Elecraft has the best tutorial I have ever used. I thought I knew how to solder until I read their guide. They will have you wanting to buy a fancy soldering station in no time :)

Try the tutorial on this page. (I'm not linking to the pdf directly as they are not a huge company so don't kill their bandwidth)

http://www.elecraft.com/

There are quite a few hams out there in tech land, not all doing "big" work, although probably more than a few pulling down big paychecks.

Among many radios built or collected over the years (I've been a radio amateur since the early 80's) I have the Elecraft K1's bigger brother http://elecraft.com/ (which is still very small) the K2.

These are not your father's HeathKit! Fabulous design, terrific functionality, and they are truly excellent radios, comparable with commercial gear from overseas easily, better in many cases.

Building them is great fun - something anyone with patience and the desire can do, with barely more than a multimeter and a good soldering iron like a temp controlled Weller. Being a ham first might be a good pre-req here..., although the K2 might convince some to become one.

Soldering is a good diversion from writing web apps. de VE7__

The 1000 miles per watt award is fairly easy to get. I exceeded it twice recently, when I worked ES5MC in Estonia from California with 4.5 watts with my Elecraft KX1 and a pack of AA batteries and a 28ft wire in a tree in central California, and OH9SCL in Santa Claus Land (Rovaniemi Finland, news, news) with the same radio from a parking lot by the San Francisco Bay.

One word: Elecraft

Personally, I've ejoyed the following lately:

• PSK-31 -- a cheap soundcard-based text-to-text mode that uses only 31Hz of bandwidth and goes around the world on 5 watts
• XML for Ham Radio -- I've started a consortium to develop XML standards for ham radio, starting with an extensible logging format, and working with everyone from QRZ and eQSL.cc on the server side to xlog for Linux and Ham Radio Deluxe for Windows and others.
• RPSK -- a TCP/IP based protocol for remote operation of a PSK station with a Java applet client and a hiptop client. (The antenna is not hooked up right now so don't expect the applet to work.)
• HFPack -- portable and picnic table operation with HF radio; I talked to Estonia with an Elecraft KX1 and about 4.5 Watts
• An RSS feed for APRS -- working with APRSWorld I developed an APRS to RSS converter to help HFPackers let people know where and when they are operating, so people can listen for them.
• Kit building -- I have built an Elecraft K2, one of the most sensitive ham transceivers in the world, their KX1 (one of the smallest and most featureful), a Small Wonder Labs PSK-20 specific to PSK on 14.070 MHz, and a variety of American QRP Club and Four-State QRP Club kits. For more power, I built an 50 Watt HF Amplifier in a group project and am working on a 100W one.
• CW -- I learned Morse Code at 5 so it was easy to pick back up after a couple (ok, a few) decades of disuse, and it's been a blast as well.

Check it out and take a look at my Ham Web Log for more stuff.

Personally, I've ejoyed the following lately:

• PSK-31 -- a cheap soundcard-based text-to-text mode that uses only 31Hz of bandwidth and goes around the world on 5 watts
• XML for Ham Radio -- I've started a consortium to develop XML standards for ham radio, starting with an extensible logging format, and working with everyone from QRZ and eQSL.cc on the server side to xlog for Linux and Ham Radio Deluxe for Windows and others.
• RPSK -- a TCP/IP based protocol for remote operation of a PSK station with a Java applet client and a hiptop client. (The antenna is not hooked up right now so don't expect the applet to work.)
• HFPack -- portable and picnic table operation with HF radio; I talked to Estonia with an Elecraft KX1 and about 4.5 Watts
• An RSS feed for APRS -- working with APRSWorld I developed an APRS to RSS converter to help HFPackers let people know where and when they are operating, so people can listen for them.
• Kit building -- I have built an Elecraft K2, one of the most sensitive ham transceivers in the world, their KX1 (one of the smallest and most featureful), a Small Wonder Labs PSK-20 specific to PSK on 14.070 MHz, and a variety of American QRP Club and Four-State QRP Club kits. For more power, I built an 50 Watt HF Amplifier in a group project and am working on a 100W one.
• CW -- I learned Morse Code at 5 so it was easy to pick back up after a couple (ok, a few) decades of disuse, and it's been a blast as well.

Check it out and take a look at my Ham Web Log for more stuff.

Here's a story of creativity and innovation in ham radio. Check out Elecraft -- this all sprouted from the brain of Wayne Burdick and others who designed some innovative low-power ham tranceiver kits for the Northern California QRP Club. Elecraft kits are not only superior to the old Heathkit kits, but the end result is a high quality transceiver comparable to the expensive commercial gear.

I was interested in building a kit radio and had heard of a company called Elecraft. After checking their page today, seems they have open sourced their DSP source code used in some of their HF rigs. Users are free to modify the code and post to web site to share with other users.

They and TenTec are the last of American made and assmebled hame radio equipment makers left.

Wonder how this will spur interest in custom DSP desgined radios. There's also a link from the elecraft page to a samll and inexpensive DSP development platform.

73's

N2PDB

That's true for most of amateur radio like you said. But go check out the QRP guys. They are truly the next revolution. Making it real again.

The receiver section in the Red Hot 20 I just built pretty much holds it own or kicks the crap out of anything that is commercial. The designer just kicked butt. Plus, I learned a ton about RF electronics.


Red Hot Radio


Plus don't get me started about the K2. High performance direct conversion receiver that has some serious mojo....and I'm going build it next!! yeehaw!!


K2 and Elecraft site


Go check out the QRP guys. Get on QRP-L or just go through the archives on the web. Those guys are just RF ninja masters (well, at least a few of them).

The commercial guys never get it. They want to build stuff that is all things to all people.

Melt Solder!!!
Snort Rosin!!!

FT-817.. nice QRP rig.

I've been torn between one of those and an Elecraft K2.

Hamming from the dorm is difficult but not impossible. Of course the greatest difficulty is getting an effective enough antenna up.

I'd suggest you try to track down an AEA Isoloop. Small enough to fit in the dorm and quite effective, so I've heard. If you can somehow hang it out the window, even better.

That is what I did with my K2. Don't remember the actual parts count, but I think it was close to 1,000,000. :) Actually, I believe it was somewhere around 600. It took me a week to build the K2. The first night (a Thursday) was devoted to inventory. I soldered the first part in on Friday night, and worked every minute I was able to in order to finish the radio - so, that ended up being like 6 hours Friday, 25 hours spread over Sat and Sun, and 6 hours each night from Monday to Thursday... so pretty much right around 55 hours build time.

There is no comparisson between building a PC and building a radio. You don't have to have any knowledge or talent to put a PC together.

Randy NV0U

I decided pretty much at the last minute that I should go on FD this year. So, I packed the car then headed out to my mom's house on the other side of town where she has plenty of land to put up big wire antennas. I ran class 1B-Battery this year, and was 100% solar powered for the duration.

Setup was not much of a problem. I did blow a fuse in the PV combiner box (one of the wires to one of the solar panels came loose and shorted everything). Then the Rippoff Shack cable I bought was screwed up - the idiots did not strip the center conductor of the coax when they made it. Note to RS: insulators make poor conductors. Note to self: Never by Radio Shack parts ever again as you can buy floor sweepings of much higher quality for much less money at the electronic junk stores.

My K2 worked flawlessly. I got a few much needed QRP DX out of the way too, including KL7 and KH6 on 10, 15, and 20, voice and CW. Got a lot of new states too. Oh, and I broke a pileup with a SP8 on my first call while running 5 watts out on SSB. There were a bunch of QRO stations calling him too. I was impressed with myself.

Not sure of my final count, but I don't care. I had fun and proved to myself that everything works. Well, kinda works. I fell asleep 12 hours into FD. I woke up a few hours later and got back on - only the MFJ tuner I was using decided to not give me any reading on the meters any more. Not sure if a bug has made a home in there or what as I have not been able to pull the cover off yet to look.

Randy NV0U