ChrisArthur.com

Repeaters
   NV4B Repeater

Station Equipment

Weather
   WX4FC Wx Stn
   SKYWARN
   NALSW
   SPC Outlook
   Watches/Warnings
   NEXRAD
      Memphis
      Columbus
      Hytop
      Birmingham
   NWS Huntsville
   NWS B'ham

Links

ARRL
Contest Corral

DX Summit

eHam.net

QRZ

QTH.com

Used Gear Dealers

USPacket.net

Homebrew & QRP

This is the page where I will document my homebrew and QRP activities.

Current Projects

QRP Portable Station

I have a Yaesu FT-817ND and LDG Z-100 autotuner that I use for portable operation. I recently acquired a B&W AP-10 portable antenna, but have not tried it yet. For 20 meters, I have a 1/4-wave wire vertical that I have used with success while portable.

QRP Projects

The Centennial - 80m SSB QRP radio. I bought what may be the last unsold kit of this radio in existence from Dan's Small Parts last year. This radio was designed by Paul Daulton, K5WMS, and was available from Dan's for several years. I have built the VFO but have not proceeded further yet.

MMR-40 40m CW/SSB QRP radio - Built and working -- but haven't built a mic yet.

NN1G 30-40 - I built this radio up on the FAR Circuits PC board while sourcing the parts myself. I used a 7.68 MHz IF rather than the 8 MHz IF in the original design. While the VFO was easy enough to move, I am having problems aligning the radio and have set the project aside temporarily.

20m CW radio: Small Wonder Labs SW-20+. I built this radio several years ago and it works. I recently integrated a Norcal Keyer.

80m 1-watt transmitter - 2N3904 crystal oscillator with 2N3053 final based on the transmitter from the Pixie 2. Power out is about 750 mW. Completely homebrew using ground-plane construction

40m Vectronics VEC-1140 and VEC-1240 - I built these in the late 90's while still in high school. The transmitter is a stable, clean VXO controlled multiple staging transmitter with electronic TR switching. The receiver is a very simple direct conversion type with an LC VFO driven by the NE602. It is more advanced than the famously simple MRX-40, but only in that it has a VFO, not crystal control. Though it does drift a bit at power up, when properly enclosed and with the VFO cap connection set to the 40pF post, it is not that bad! I am surprised at what can be heard with such a simple rig.

I have since acquired a 20m version of the same receiver and another 40m transmitter with enclosure that someone else built.

Future Project Ideas

80m MC3361 receiver - Homebrew from the ground up. I've acquired quite a few 49 MHz cordless phones over the years for parts, and I'd like to see if a common FM receiver chip found in these phones, the MC3361, can be used as a product detector for a direct conversion receiver. These IC's have a mixer, crystal oscillator, and other features tailored for FM operation. If successful, I'll post all the information here.

DDS Multi-Bander - I am working my way towards building a DDS-controlled multi-band radio. I'd like to at least cover the five main HF bands.

I have built a NJQRP DDS-60 module but haven't tested it yet. This will be the primary building block of this rig, on which serious construction will not start for quite some time.

Books That I Like

Hams should have a basic library of radio-related books. Homebrewers can most benefit from having a well-stocked radio library. Here are some of my most favorite amateur radio books.

Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur by Wes Hayward, W7ZOI is an outstanding book for homebrewers.

The Radio Amateur's Antenna Handbook by Bill Orr (W6SAI, SK) and Stuart Cowan (W2LX) is a small book, but it's my favorite antenna book out of my vast library of antenna books. I like it much better than the ARRL Antenna Book.

Aerials II by "Kurt N. Sterba." Aerials is more of an "antenna talk" book than construction project book, but anyone who wants to know the truth about antenna should read Kurt N. Sterba whenever they get a chance.

Honorable mentions: the 1994 ARRL Handbook, Hints and Kinks (older editions), W1FB's QRP Notebook

Links for the Homebrewer
This is only a small listing; I'll add to this as time goes on.

AE5X QRP Page (plus 10-meter beacon)

Dan's Small Parts and Kits

KD1JV

Ocean State Electronics

Small Wonder Labs

Sparkfun Electronics (microcontrollers)