Weber MTR

[KK0G]

Looks like he is going to send out new processors.  Hopefully I will get it before next Friday.

You lucky dog ;D


I guess this is what I get for assuming a kit is actually ready to build when I buy it. :o >:(

[KK0G]

I think I'm done modifying my MTR for a while (at least until I can get the new firmware flashed). Today I added integrated paddles and finalized the battery box. The paddles are pads made of copper clad board super glued to the RF corner of the enclosure that are wired into the touch keyer board I also installed today.

The touch keyer kit was without a doubt the fastest and easiest kit I've ever built. It literally took me less than 15 minutes to stuff the 10 components into the board then solder and trim the leads. This would obviously be pretty easy to replicate with a homebrew circuit but with the kit costing $19 delivered to my mailbox in 3 days, why bother? The board has a pot for each paddle to adjust its "touch sensitivity" and the adjustment is just that, very touchy, going from constant keying with out touching it at all, to not keying with full finger pressure on it at all in a very small range of pot motion, but I think I have it where I want it now.

The second battery box arrived and even though it's slightly larger than the other on I much prefer it. The lid is much more secure and the built in power switch solve my previous problem of having to remove a cell from the box in order to hook up external power via the coaxial jack, now all I have to do is shut off the battery box switch - it's almost as if I planned it that way. 8)

[KK0G]

More pics.

[KC3AOL]

That's a pretty slick setup with the touch keyer. Nice work.

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[cockpitbob]

Very nice work!  How you handled the touch keyer pads is so simple it's brilliant.

Keep us posted on how you like the touch keyer please.  I may do that too, but with the sensitive pot adjustment I'm now worried that it will be finicky:  not work on dry or cold days or something like that.

I got called away on a long business trip on short notice so I haven't started building mine.  I guess that's lucky with the processor needing to be replaced.  The boys are gone on a Scout canoe trip this weekend so maybe I'll have time to start.

[KC3AOL]

I didn't have the whole day to work on it as I had hoped, but I did make progress on it. I got all of the IC's on and a most all of the resistors on. It'll probably be a few weeks before I can get back to work on it. Funny how after doing U8 and U10, everything else looks HUGE!

Magnifiers, good tweezers, and good lighting are must-haves.

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[KK0G]

I didn't have the whole day to work on it as I had hoped, but I did make progress on it. I got all of the IC's on and a most all of the resistors on. It'll probably be a few weeks before I can get back to work on it. Funny how after doing U8 and U10, everything else looks HUGE!

Magnifiers, good tweezers, and good lighting are must-haves.

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Yeah, the leads on those two IC's are TINY aren't they!? Did you solder them all simultaneously and then use solder wick to clean it up?



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[gil]

Chris, any luck on reprogramming your soldered microcontroller?

Gil.

[KC3AOL]

Yeah, the leads on those two IC's are TINY aren't they!? Did you solder them all simultaneously and then use solder wick to clean it up?



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Yeah, it was pretty much a big blob of solder and the wick cleaned it up. The only thing is that it almost looks like the wick took too much solder because many of the pads look like there's no solder. I'm just hoping that there's solder between the pin and the pad.

[KC3AOL]

BTW, I noticed while I was at the maker space that they had a couple launchpads. So I guess I have access to equipment if I ever need to reprogram.


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[KK0G]

Chris, any luck on reprogramming your soldered microcontroller?

Gil.

I'm still waiting on a Windows laptop from my boss. I love my Mac but admittedly it's a pain in the ass when the very rare times come up that I need to do something that requires MS. 

[cockpitbob]

How you guys doing with the MTR V2s?  Any QSOs yet, or still not finished building?

A work emergency with a 1 week trip and all the associated peripheral lost time means my kit is still sitting in its virgin state.  It's killing me to look at the box, but there's chores, kids, piles of paperwork,...  I'll just have to operate vicariously with your rigs for a couple more weeks.

[KK0G]

Oh yeah, I've had several QSO's with my MTR, although all of them from my shack, I really want to get it out in the field for some portable work where it truly belongs.

The good news is my keyer now sounds normal like it should. Since I built mine long before Steve sent out the replacement IC's to fix the keyer firmware problem, I was going to flash it with a Launch Pad to install the firmware update but I had some problems getting a hold of Windows laptop (ick :P ) to do it with since there is no suitable Mac software. Long story short, I just desoldered and removed the old IC and installed the replacement Steve sent............. much better now.

A work emergency with a 1 week trip and all the associated peripheral lost time means my kit is still sitting in its virgin state.  It's killing me to look at the box, but there's chores, kids, piles of paperwork,...  I'll just have to operate vicariously with your rigs for a couple more weeks.

Look at the bright side; all the bugs and inconsistencies should be worked out by all of us early builders by the time you get to yours. Let us know when you get it built, good luck.

[gil]

I had an unconfirmed one with the Island of Tuvalu, T2UN. Also a few with Eastern Europe, Hungary, Slovenia... All with about 3W into my PAR end-fed. If only they were willing to chat a bit, it would be so interesting, but no, it's 599-73  :(

Gil.

[KC3AOL]

It'll be a few more weeks before I can get back to work on it. But after the email flurry about S/N, I looked and mine is #357. I'm thinking that I'll make up a decal for the back that's a drawing of a revolver with S/N 357 "Magnum" on the barrel and my call sign logo on the grip. ;-)

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