1. Ham radio fun without complexity Roger G3XBM www.g3xbm.co.uk
“Kitchen Sink” Radio
Ham radio fun without complexity
Roger G3XBM

2. Tonight My approach Homebrew techniques Ideas for homebrew fun
Useful links
Good kits
Good value commercial rigs

3. My Ethos Modest power Simple equipment Simple antennas
Small is beautiful
Simplicity is elegance
Don’t waste money

4. Homebrew Approach Bursts of energy – long gaps without building much
Go for projects that will get finished
PCBs not required for “one offs”
Projects that don’t need lots of test gear.
Go for good kits
Hasn’t got to be amateur radio related.
Use the gear you make/own.

5. Components Choice Ugly construction Discrete parts
VXO/crystal controlled
Standardise on parts: 2N3904/6, MPF102, T50-2, T50-6, 0.1u, 10u, 1k, 10k etc
Re-use parts
Recycle boxes

6. The Humble Crystal Set Simplest radios to get going
Possible to hear real BC DX on HF
More to them than you might think
Amateur band DX reception possible
-55dBm

7. 40m Regen Receiver
9 parts, works well
CW/SSB, -100dBm

8. Single FET transceiver
Sensitive, stable, non-fiddly, regen RX
1 active device
Stable, crystal controlled, TX
14 parts !

10. VLF/LF Converter

11. Micro 80
4 transistor HF transceiver
PA is the mixer

12. Pixie
250mW HF transceiver
PA is the mixer
Breakthrough problems

13. OXO HF QRP Transmitter
Any HF band, 1W, VXO controlled

14. Pipit 15m CW transceiver

15. Kitten 10m CW transceiver
Pipit derived cct.
0.5W RF out
0.5uV sens.
Full break-in
25kHz VXO
5 transistors

16. Fredbox 2m Transceiver

17. Homebase 10 Antenna Simple horizontal halo for 28MHz
Low cost, easy to build and tune up
Works well

18. 70cms Moxon Antenna Made in 30 mins from a metal coat hanger !
3-4dB forward gain
100 degree -3dB points
Best DX 327kms with 5W

19. Earth Mode Communications
Communicating at <10kHz through the ground
Use audio power amps and ground rods
Ranges 0-10kms (typically <1km)
PC based RX/filters & QRSS for greater range

20. Useful “Simple” Links HOMEBREW GQRP club www.gqrp.com/
Rick Anderson
JF1OZL
Harry Lythall web.telia.com/~u /
Gollum’s Xtal RX
Hans Summers
N4DKD
G3XBM
KITS
Elecraft
Small Wonder
Hendricks QRP

21. Some Good Kits MFJ Cub Elecraft T1 ATU Elecraft K1, K2 and K3
Hendricks kits
SoftRock RX

22. MFJ Cub 15m 1W QRP CW 8000kms DX with a dipole Easy 3-4 hour build
Decent superhet RX

23. Elecraft T1 Auto-ATU Matches 160-6m
Instant retune when band changing FT817
No-hands retune from 80-10m
6hrs build

24. Elecraft K1 4 band CW Transceiver
Excellent kit in the Heathkit style
5W on 40, 30, 20,15m
Narrow CW filters
Keyer + memory modes
Auto-ATU
Works well

25. Elecraft K2
“The best kit in the world producing a first class HF transceiver”
K3 now available

26. Future projects 500kHz QRP TX 10m QRP DSB transceiver
Improved single FET transceiver
A DSB Fredbox
Earthmode comms tests with QRSS

27. The G3XBM Shack Fits in corner of spare bedroom
Homebrew rigs plus FT817 and IC703
“Lab” in back of the garage

28. FT817 Simply the best HF/VHF rig for the price
Worked 4 continents on SSB handheld!

29. Miracle Whip Auto-transformer matched 1.5m whip
With counterpoise is just 2 S-points (12dB) down on a decent vertical
DX 11000kms from the bedroom table with 5W SSB!

30. IC703 First class QRP radio 0.5 - 10W 160-6m Speech processor Auto ATU
DSP filters

31. Summary Build something simple this weekend!
Nice to own a few commercial rigs
DXCC with QRP SSB and CW possible with simple antennas (even handheld)
Operate – use the bands
Call CQ
Diversify
Have fun!