ELECTRONIC KITS AND RADIO PROJECTS Rob Orr, K9RST
ELECTRONIC KITS AND RADIO PROJECTS
Rob Orr, K9RST
Confessions/background Double Major English and AstroGeoPhysics in
college, but never had electronics background
Profession is in electronic media field
Passion for building things
Not much of a math background…
Loved building stuff that works
Kit Building tools
Read English
Good eye sight or heavy glasses!
Good Soldering skills
Simple tools
Patience
Time
OK. money helps, but not necessary
Instructions
The best kits come with plenty of guidance
i.e. Elecraft instruction manual
Read twice, test, check again, do task
(lots of horror stories when I did not follow this plan)
Then solder
Mark that part of project complete
Eyesight
Everything is getting smaller
Lots of strategies for seeing what you are doing
Good lighting
Test equipment can be useful to verify component values
Double check your work and examine joints
Simple Tools
Small set of screw drivers
Side cutters
Small pliers
Tweezers
Vise, tape, extra hands
Volt meter
Component test meter
Good soldering station
Ready to begin
Finding a kit that matches your interest, passion and needs
Start humbly…and work your way to bigger things
Kits and projects come in all sizes, flavors, complexities and prices.
Lots of help on –line
Let’s start shopping!
Where to Find things to Build Dayton HamVention
Seminars
Venders
QRP events
4 Days in may – Dayton
QRP clubs
Ham Radio Stores (AES)
AES, Ham Radio Outlet, etc.
Internet
Local Store
Yeah, right…but, hey, wait a minute
Radio Shack is changing! Simple Electronic Kits
Components (somewhat better quality than in the past)
Arduino Kits (more on that in a moment)
Even books, thanks to the new emphasis on STEM anything in schools (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
Robotics
What about Radios?
Where can I go to build something I can use?
You can build almost anything…from a kit to your own radio
Enter Elecraft
Heathkit dominated this market for years…and then simply faded away
QRP market energized a DIY revolution
Elecraft set the bar very high
Achieve world class specs
High Production Quality
Price
Great Customer service
Value
K3 Among the Finest Radio on the Market
www.elecraft.com
Assemble your basic 10 watt radio, $1500
K1, K2 Radios you build from component parts
http://www.elecraft.com
Perhaps, this is too big a leap to start…
http://www.fix.net/~jparker/wild.html
NorCal40 still in production, $150
SST Simple Superhet Transceiver, not available, but it was a fun project to build!!
Wilderness Radio Brand
Small Wonders Labs
The Rock-Mite is a crystal-controlled direct-conversion transceiver available for 80M, 40M, 30M or 20M. Available for $30
New Generation of Tools
Arduino – small programmable computer to experiment, teach, learn.
Welcome Colorado Rob!
Robert Riggs, wx9o
Arduino!
Arduino?
Nano!
Arduino?
What do I make?
BeRTOS
Arduino!
Arduino TNC!
Arduino?
Look, Ma! No Arduino!
Fritzing!
Fritzing!
Started as an Arduino!
New Generation of Tools
Raspberry Pi –
Testimonial:
Warren Pugh, KC9IL
World of Sources http://www.qsl.net/va3rj/homebrew_kits.htm
All Spectrum Electronics QRP Kits, Receivers, Transmitters, Amps, and more
Almost All Digital Electronics Amateur Radio Receivers CanaKit Canada - High quality electronic kits & modules
Carl's Electronics electronic kits, robotic kits, test equipment & more
Chassis Kits & Custom Enclosures by Charles, K3IWK
Circuit-Test Kits Communication Concepts HF/VHF/UHF amps, LP filters, broadband RF transformers
Crystal Radio Kits and Parts DFD2 Digital frequency readout kit for Collins S line, FT-101, SB-301 and TS-520
DX Kits G6LBQ Multiband HF Transceiver and parts
Elecraft Innovative Electronic Kits
EMTECH QRP kits and more
Etherkit Devoted to open source hardware
Far Circuits Printed circuit boards
Five Dash Inc. SoftRock transceiver, receivers, SDR, by KB9YIG
Fox Delta Amateur Radio Projects & Kits Excellent website by Dinesh, VU2FD
GenesisRadio SDR radio transceiver kits
Hendricks QRP Kits Kanga (U.K.) Kits, TiCK keyers, crystals and much more
More on the http://www.qsl.net/va3rj/homebrew_kits.htm
Hendricks QRP Kits Kanga (U.K.) Kits, TiCK keyers, crystals and much more Kanga (U.S.A.) Importer of QRP kits manufactured by Kanga U.K . Lake Electronics NorCal 40A by Wilderness Radio Oak Hills Research Parallax Educational and custom kits Quality Kits Canada RP Electronics - Canada Experimenter kits and modules Ramsey Kits - Headquarters Red Hot Radio Small Wonder Kits (NN1G) S & S Engineering Transceiver and test equipment kits Ten-Tec Worldwide reputation for excellent radios and kits The 'Rock-Mite' Simple CW transceiver for 40 or 20 meters Vectronics Receivers, keyers, etc Vectronic Kits Canada Velleman Kits U.S.A. Wilderness Radio QRP rigs for the outdoor enthusiast YouKits Technology Quality, well designed kits ... check them out!
Other Resources
http://www.elenco.com Education kits, toys and robotics
http://www.allspectrum.com Kits, parts, Ramsey kits, Vellman
http: www.arrl.org_ Handbook, QRP, Books
http://www.oregon-electronics.com
http://www.k1el.com/
http://www.ac6v.com/kits.htm massive compendium of sources and ideas
http://www.electronickits.com Toys, kits, electronics, test equipment
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com
Dayton
Early 90’s – heyday, boasted 33,000 visitors!
Today more like 20,000
Still big
3500 Vendors
Every major ham radio manufacturer
Every aspect of the hobby (and some not)
Dayton is
Educational
Fun
Social
Overwhelming
Need a plan
What you make it!
Hara Main Hall
The Market
What to do Thursday?
CONTEST U (THURSDAY)
City attractions Tour Bus (Dayton
QRP FOUR DAYS IN MAY (FDIM)
National Museum of the Air Force (Wright Patterson)
Indy Motor Speedway (Indianapolis)
America’s Packard Museum (Dayton)
Aviation Trail (Wright Brothers)
D-Star Meet and greet
Other Events During Dayton
D-Star info com (Drury Inn Ballroom)
Contest Super Suite (Crowne Plaza Hotel)
Satellite Demo (all day)
Hams on Twitter meet up
Balloon Launch event
Top Band, SWODXA,AMSAT/TAPR
ATV Dinner
Dayton Contest Dinner (Sat)
CONTEST U Crown Plaza Hotel
Contest U Topics
2013 CTU Topics are:
2013 Contest Radio Performance
RTTY Contesting – multiple sessions
How to Improve your Contest Station
Contest Preparations
2013 Contest Propagation
Operating ideas to improve your score
Contest Antennas multiple sessions
2013 VHF Contesting
The Spirit of Contest Rules
CW Skimmer
Reverse Beacon Network
Contest U Topics (Cont)
Tower Safety for Contest Stations
Feedline - cable loss and maintenance
Multi Operator Contest Strategies
Short Vertical Receive Antennas
2013 K1DG Eye Ball Sprint
Logging Software Review
Feedline Chokes and Baluns
Optimizing your Station
Contesting Clubs - organization and motivation
Small Station Optimization
Contest Operating from Outside of the USA
Selecting Rotors and Antennas
PDF copy of the Course Outline now available
FOUR DAYS IN MAY
FDIM – Seminar Schedule
Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB Techniques For Kit Building Success
Rick Campbell, KK7B Next Generation Direct Conversion Receive & Transmit Modules for LF-MF-HF-VHF Bands
George Dobbs, G3RJV Putting the 'L' Back In Solder
Colin Turner, G3VTT Salt Water, Medium Waves and QRP
Roy Lewallen, W7EL Baluns: What They Do and How They Do It
Jeremy McDermond, NH6Z The Softer Side of OpenHPSDR
National Museum of the Air Force WRIGHT PATTERSON
Dayton Forums A.M. 9:15am Room 1 - TAPR Digital Forum 9:15am Room 2 - Homeland Security Training 9:15am Room 3 - Radio Society of Great Britan 9:15am Room 5 - Doing More With Less — the
QRP Challenge 10am Room 3 - Instructor's Forum 10:30am Room 5 - iOS and Android Rig Control 11:30am Room 1 – APRS 11:45am Room 5 - Kit Building 12:15pm Room 2 - Balloon Sat 12:15pm Room 3 - Ham Radio and the Law:
Getting it
Forums Friday P.M.
1pm Room 5 – YLRL 2pm Room 3 - Ham Nation 2:30pm Room 1 - Antenna Forum 2:30pm Room 2 - Using Amateur Radio in the
Classroom 2:30pm Room 5 - ARRL Presents: Power-line
Interference 3:45pm Room 3 - Advances in Software Defined
Radio 3:45pm Room 5 - Techniques of the Best Operators 4pm Room 2 - County Hunting
Forums – Sat A.M.
9:15am Room 1 - Youth Forum 9:15am Room 2 – SATERN 9:15am Room 3 - Amateur Radio at the National
Hurricane Center 9:15am Room 5 - ARRL Member Forum 10:30am Room 2 - Drake Equipment 10:30am Room 3 - Getting Started with Antenna
Modeling 11:15am Room 5 – AMSAT 11:45am Room 2 - Ham Radio Town Meeting 12pm Room 3 - RTTY Contesting 12:30pm Room 1 – Contesting
Forums – Sat P.M.
1:15pm Room 3 - ARRL & FCC on Amateur Radio Enforcement
1:45pm Room 5 – SSTV 2:15pm Room 2 - Embedded Linux and Micro-
controllers for Ham Radio Projects 2:30pm Room 3 - The ARRL Laboratory Dayton Hamvention Forums 2:45pm Room 1 - DX Forum 3:15pm Room 5 - Joint Service Military Auxiliary
Radio System (MARS) 3:30pm Room 2 - Fast Scan Amateur Television
(ATV) 3:45pm Room 3 - VHF/UHF/Microwave
Forums – Sunday A.M.
9:15am Room 1 - DXing with DXLab
9:15am Room 2 - Exploring Our World through
9:15am Room 3 - Collecting and Restoring Ham Radios of the Past
9:15am Room 5 - Bicycle Mobile
10:30am Room 1 - Digital Mobile Radio (DMR)
10:30am Room 2 –QCWA
10:30am Room 3 - Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
People Watching!
Name this Frame!