2013-09-19 Kit Ideas
Meeting Summary
The overall goal of the meeting is to present a variety of kit building ideas to the DARA Thursday Event Group and narrow down the selection of a kit or kits that the Group would like to build. Jeff Ullery KD8SHF presented a comprehensive list of kit building ideas to the DARA Thursday Night Group. The Group members reviewed and discussed the candidate kit building ideas. The members also suggested additional items that were added to the candidates list. There was also a short discussion on building small radio and learning about the circuits as a group.
After some discussion the members voted and agreed to build a Romex Dual Band J-Pole Antenna. Each person building the antenna is responsible for bringing parts shown on the Project page. Click HERE for the project page. Builders are encouraged to bring their soldering equipment and hand tools. If possible, a soldering gun - 200 watt or better and solder would be most helpful. If you don't own your own tools, a member with tools can help you. The Romex Dual Band J-Pole Antenna will be built at the next DARA Thursday Night Group meeting on September 26, 2013 at 7:00 PM.
Members also recalled several kit building vendors along with their websites and these were recorded and listed below.
A winner of the SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver kit chosen by random drawing is Steve Coy, K8UD. Congratulations Steve!
Winner of SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver Kit
Congratulations to Steve Coy, K8UD for winning the SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver kit.
Ham Nation Video Episodes (Start Time Mark listed) covering assembly of the SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver:
Current List of Group Project Suggestions
1. Frequency Generator
2. 60 MHZ Frequency Counter
3. Build your own Oscilloscope
4. Digital (Digi) Interface kits (Computer sound card to Radio interface)
5. APRS I-Gate
6. Raspberry PI projects
7. Mobile heads up display for D-STAR
8. Satellite projects (CubeSat , etc.)
9. PIC Controller Projects
10. Antenna Projects (Build Antennas; Satellite, J-Pole, Colinear, Walking Stick, 5/8 wave 70 cm and 2 m Antenna’s, etc.)
11. Power Supplies (Build from scratch and how to modify your Computer Power Supplies for bench use)
12. Software Defined Radios (SDR’s) (modifying USB TV Dongles, build your own SDR kits, etc.)
13. Antenna Tuner (Build your own, theory of operation)
14. HF Triplexer (June, 2010 QST) also good DIY HF beam article (Sept, 2002 QST)
15. Alternative Power Systems (Solar, Wind, Alternative Fuels Generator (Propane, Natural Gas, Alcohol, Wood Gasifier, Etc.) Proper conditioning of alternative power systems (UPS’s, Power conditioners, Etc.), Energy Storage
16. 2 Meter pre amp kits
17. Rig Runner Power Pole’s
18. DIY Rotors, Controllers, Satellite trackers, etc.
19. Build a radio stage by stage (learn theory along with project build)
Suppliers of Kits, Parts and Information
Northern California QRP http://www.norcalqrp.org/
Elenco http://www.elenco.com/index.php/product/testequipment
Jameco http://www.jameco.com/
Digi-key http://www.digikey.com/
Mouser http://www.mouser.com
Newark Electronics / Element 14 http://www.newark.com/
Midwest Surplus Electronics http://www.midwestsurplus.net/
Consolidated Electronics http://www.ceitron.com/
Parts-Express http://www.parts-express.com/
MCM Electronics http://www.mcmelectronics.com/
Electronix http://electronix.com/
Debco http://www.debcoelectronics.com/
All Electronics http://www.allelectronics.com/
Kits and parts http://www.kitsandparts.com/
Small Wonder Labs http://www.smallwonderlabs.com/
radiokits.co.uk http://www.radio-kits.co.uk/
The Parts Place http://thepartsplace.k5nwa.com/
QRP Me http://www.qrpme.com/
QRP Kits http://www.qrpkits.com/index.html
G-QRP Club http://www.gqrp.com/
KD1JV Designs http://kd1jv.qrpradio.com/
Kanga US http://www.kangaus.com/
WebSDR http://www.websdr.org/
USB2SDR http://www.wb5rvz.com/usb2sdr/
DGK Electronics http://www.dgkelectronics.com/
Ramsey Electronics http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/
Ten-Tec http://www.tentec.com/categories/Kits/
Elecraft http://www.elecraft.com/
Far Circuits http://www.farcircuits.net/
Dan's Small Parts and Kits http://www.danssmallpartsandkits.net/
Communication Concepts http://www.communication-concepts.com/
Downeast microwave http://www.downeastmicrowave.com/
Kent Electronics http://wa5vjb.com/
SDR Kits http://www.sdr-kits.net/
2N2222 Rigs http://www.k8iqy.com/qrprigs/QRPRigs.htm
Manhattan Madness http://www.k8iqy.com/index.html
SoftRock40 http://www.amqrp.org/kits/softrock40/version5.html
Bing Search for Modifying USB Dongles for SDR http://www.bing.com/search?q=modifying+usb+dongles+for+sdr&go=&qs=n&form=QBLH&pq=modifying+usb+dongles+for+sdr&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=afd2d39bc5e64f339f679788d7d11d74
List of Software Defined Radios http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software-defined_radios
HamSDR http://www.hamsdr.com/Home.aspx
Elektor http://www.elektor.com/
AdaFruit http://www.adafruit.com/
SparkFun https://www.sparkfun.com/
Dangerous Prototypes http://dangerousprototypes.com/
Meeting Announcement
"This Thursday, September 19, 2013, at 7P.M."
We will be talking about what kits we may build.
Jeff Ullery - KD8SHF will be heading this up.
Everyone is invited!
Charles - KD8JZR
kd8jzr@arrl.net
Since Thursday is "kit building" night,
A member of DARA contacted me with a kit to give away. We will give this kit away Thursday night, September 19, 2013.
The only stipulation is that whoever get the kit must keep us updated and/or do a presentation on it.
The kit is: SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver Kit with Enclosure
SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver Kit
Info website: http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=7
Build notes (for 30m/20m/17m) website: http://www.wb5rvz.org/ensemble_rxtx/index?projectId=14
The SoftRock RXTX Ensemble Transceiver Kit provides a 1 watt SDR transceiver that can be built for one of the following five band groups:
160m
80m/40m
40m/30m/20m
30m/20m/17m
15m/12m/10m
Components are included for all five options and can be assembled at the builders choice. The circuit board measures 5 inches by 2.5 inches.
NOTE: This product is a kit. The product photo shows what it should look like once assembled. A sound card with stereo line-in connector for receive and stereo line-out connector for transmit and a computer running SDR software are required to operate this radio.
Charles - KD8JZR
kd8jzr@arrl.net