The Micro80D and thoughts on the 80m band.

[gil]

Hello,

I'm back to kit building... I have been thinking about the different ranges preppers need, from local to regional and global. Most of us are well equipped for local with VHF and global with HF radios. We don't think much about the 20-400 mile range, because it is a problem. You're beyond line-of-sight and probalby in your first skip zone. So, communicating at a medium range is a challenge. The answer of course is NVIS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywave. The military knows it well. We should too. It is a very useful way of getting your signal around.

I have built an 80m antenna before but gave up because of the length. It's not easy to string up 135ft of wire; not at my house anyway. Then I thought well, going camping it wouldn't matter. There is no difference between shooting a wire up a tree and setting up a 40ft or 135ft wire. Except that the long wire won't be vertical, mostly horizontal, which means NVIS, and that's what 80m is good for anyway. So I'm back experimenting on 80m. I just received an 80-40m end-fed tuner from SOTABEAMS: http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/valley-endfed-halfwave-tuner-80-60-40m. It is slightly bigger than I imagined but looks very well built. It doesn't have an SWR LED and a bridge, but tuning by ear should be easy. I am waiting for 135ft of #534 wire from http://thewireman.com/antennap.html.

The problem remained of which rig to use... I still have an old two-band board for my K1 which I plan on converting from 40/20 to 80/20m, but switching boards on the K1 is a chore. I thought about getting either a Ten-Tec T1380 (http://www.rkrdesignsllc.com/-13/) or MFJ Cub (http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-9380K), but that's $124/$99, and I'm pretty broke right now after ordering a BitX20A kit from http://qrpkits.com. There is always the Rock-Mite 80 (http://qrpme.com/?p=product&id=RM8).. Though not being able to tune around the crystal frequency gets old pretty fast. I mean, I love my Rock-Mites, but I want to be able to tune, even a few kHz.

I wouldn't mind building a KD1JV (Steve Weber) Survivor SSB rig on 75m, but maybe another time. See: http://qrpkits.com/survivor.html

Then I found the Micro80D: http://qrpme.com/?p=product&id=80D

You have to look for it, it's not very well known. Here is an 80m transceiver with a VXO, which allows you to tune a bit around the crystal frequency. No built-in keyer but I have a touch keyer looking for a good home.. Power is unknown, until I build it tonight! We all know power doesn't matter that much.. Best part is, it's only $35. My soldering iron is warming up ;)

Stay tuned...

Gil.

[cockpitbob]

Too fun!  I assume it will fit in an Altoids tin.

Do you have any idea what the tuning range is?

[gil]

Darn, it's missing a transistor, a 2N3906. A capacitor was missing too but I had one in my junk box. Also the two Russian KT3102 are a different package and marking, which doesn't fit in the holes. Capacitors were missing from my Rock-Mite as well. Not very happy with qrpme.com right now.. Two kits from them, missing components both times. And those are not large kits, they are tiny QRP rigs with a few components.. Oh well.. I can get 40 KT3102s on Ebay for $12.95 and 100 2N3906 for $3.54 from China, shipping included. Rex Harper will certainly send them to me, mistakes happen, but darn..

Update: I got an email reply from Rex Harper tonight, that was quick. He's sending me the 2N3906 and photos showing how to mount the weird Russian 9402 transistors. There is hope again :D

I assume it will fit in an Altoids tin.

Not this one. It is pretty small though.

Do you have any idea what the tuning range is?

No idea. The manual doesn't mention tuning range or power output. Probably not much, I would expect 2-3 kHz.

I completed the kit, except for the three transistors in question.. To be continued...

Gil.

[RadioRay]

Please do keep us posted.  You're pretty much tropical where you are, so T-storm noise is more of a problem, but I'm certain that you'll have fun! When I live up in the more northern climes, 80m in winter while up snow camping was wonderful, as during low sunspot cycle and quiet winter nights, I had many an enjoyable rag-chew from inside of a snow cave. I couldn't care less about DX awards, so the NVIS and occasional longer range QSO was desirable, both for letting those at home know my location and status, , sharing the trips highlights, but also for passing the looooong winter nights - usually snowcaving (try THAT in Florida!)    ;D


Time for Zzz! (Been making a kit of accessories for my new LNR LD-5 ).


de RadioRay ..._ ._

[gil]

Well, I think that the converted 80/20m K1 filter board will be much better, though I wouldn't want to switch very often.. The Micro80D might output a few hundred milliwatts; the K1, 6-7W... I do have a frequency display, touch keyer and audio filter for the Micro80D, which will make it a much more attractive rig...

Gil.