Updated 2/2009

Small Parts 2/2009

On a budget, I'll begin adding links for for parts online to help control costs for those of us who are always homebrewing circuits.  The local dealer is charging $2.69 for a 5mm barrel connector, something that should be 50 cents.

Reference Books
ARRL Handbook.  If you are into home brew construction or just need a great reference book for the arts, the ARRL Handbooks are excellent and each year is loaded with useful projects. I find the books printed prior to the late 90s to contain projects more attractive to home brew radios including QRP.  On the plus side, the handbook CD ROM features a search which is excellent when trying to find obscure information or multiple references.

ARRL Antenna Handbook.  Excellent theory and practical articles

SGC Publication Go Mobile at 500 Watts www.sgcworld.com         
Don Johnson, W6AAQ   40+5 Years of H.F. Mobileering.  The newer version of this interesting book is at: http://www.wr6wr.com and http://www.hamradiotoys.com/    .  The original version is very informative and entertaining as it captures some of the history of ham radio and illustrates some clever antenna tuners and worth while projects.   Complete construction details for the DK-3 screw driver antenna are contained in this book.    
 

Favorite HFPack HFProjects and Portable Equipment for Battery Portable Operation

K5OOR's HFProjects pages at www.hfprojects.com and the Yahoo group //groups.yahoo.com/groups/hfprojects each  feature HF kits for 100 & 35 watt HFPacker Amplifier, a low cost 160 through 10 meter SSB/CW/PSK amplifier, a QRP and Mobile Z-Match Tuner and the very latest in high performance Lipo and nano phosphate battery packs.

W3FF Antennas.  The BuddiPole portable antenna is one of many popular antennas but the Buddipole is configurable as a dipole or one of many modified configurations.  http://www.buddipole.com

SuperAntennas  http://www.superantennas.com/

Elecraft KX1: Excellent, always making contacts that amaze me. The internal AA battery life is good for days of operating but an external 9 pack of AAs (13.5VDC) gives a substantial output boost to 3.8 - 4.2 watts.

Elecraft T-1 Auto Tuner.  I use mine with a HFPack amp but tune up using low power.

ICOM 706 Original and MKIIG

A world of difference but the original 706 has served me well and I have no complaints about H.F. operation under average conditions.  Everything is there and if I had one thing to change, it would be to use an amber display.  Polarized sun glasses are not compatible with a green display making the readout virtually invisible.

The MKIIG looks the same but is vastly improved especially for 2 meters and 440.   If you are moving up to the MKIIG from the original, you'll be familiar with most of the menu options and will have fun discovering the new features.  Sure beats my old DX40, incredible.  For H.F., I'm making good use of the built-in DSP and optional narrow IF filter but have not decided if the new sub-channel arrangement is better than the old band change and frequency storage method.  Maybe the older unit is better in the one area.

Received and transmitted audio is even better with the new 706, seems like a better loud speaker arrangement.  I don't hear the internal cooling fan but actually, I liked the noise from the old fan as it gave me a hint as to the operating temperature.   More in time.

My Favorite Accessories

K1EL Keyers Keyboard Keyer K40 and QRP Memory Keyer K10. 

New England QRP Club NESCAF Audio Filter, NORCAL and 4 State QRP Club for all their fun QRP Kits.

CW DecoderXP Sound Card Software by WD6CNF seems to work very well and trouble free.

The Garmin eTrex Legend hand held GPS and the Kenwood TH-D7A(G) make a great APRS pair.  Highly recommended.  Try GPSTRackMaker software to download Garmin GPS tracks and transfer to Google Earth Maps, pretty slick.

LDG Electronics Auto Antenna Tuner.   Great tuners, reliable and excellent service from this company.  First I want to thank LDG for their rapid response to a problem that developed. I smoked the tuner, actually, one of the inductor switching relays shorted. LDG had new relays in my hands in 3 business days. Thanks ! I'm glad to see the popularity of this product grow. Mine are the original 100 watt tuner and the original QRP tuner. These are  automatic antenna matching devices designed to feed into 50 ohm coax or a balun then line. I use it to match my CB whip from 15 meters to 10 meters and match untuned masts to 17 through 6 meters. The tuner extends the band width of 40 and 80 meter center loaded whips.

The 706 Tune Control initiates the LDG when the IC06 TUNE button is pressed.   Recommended for all HF mobile and portable operations. QRP version available.

LDG Electronics Inc. 410 586-2177   Email ldg@ldgelectronics.com  http://www.ldgelectronics.com

Small Wonder Labs  http://www.smallwonderlabs.com

VE7BOL/W6's New Stealth Mobile Antenna  : I don't own this motorized antenna yet but I know it will be a perfect multi-band mobile antenna.   Check this web site for information on each model. 

Heil Sound Products are well known for their quality and performance. I now use the HM10 Dual for Kenwood and the HS706 head set for the Icom. Check their web site for microphones specifically designed for your rig including a new line of microphones for the '706. Great for QRP SSB too. www.heilsound.com   or directly to the catalog at http://www.heilsound.com/CATALOG.HTM

706 Tune Control: Enables the  ICOM 706 Tuner button to function with the LDG tuner. The 706 is programmed for a low power carrier during tune to prolong the life of the auto tuner relay contacts .  This excellent device works up through 10 meters on the original 706 and through 6 meters with the later versions.  The small plastic module plugs into the 706 accessory connector and works immediately.  $32.95 as seen in QST.

The Better RF Co. 800 653-9910, email qth.com/BetterRF  http://qth.com/BetterRF/

Ameritron ARB-70212 Interface Relay Buffer:  Use this transistorized switch to key an external amplifier such as the SG-500.   It's really plug and play, no power needed although there is a 9 volt connector.   Relay, ALC, Handshaking outputs and 2 cables included.  Perfect !

SGC-235 Auto-Tuner :  The SGC-235 auto tuner is referred to as a 'coupler' by SGC as they recommend mounting this seemingly weather proof box at the antenna feed point. It is obviously well built and this model is rated at 500 watts.  Operation is quiet and when ordered from AES, it's delivered with RF, DC and computer cables. The 12 VDC connection is at the far end of the cable where I use a 12 volt 7 amp gel cell.

This tuner works best with a 80 foot end fed inverted V and 2 lengths of 100 foot #8 stranded copper cable for ground radials.  Keep the coax feed line straight away from the tuner to reduce internal RFI that WILL prevent tuning or drop tuning.  The SGC DC power coax couplers work well.  Keep the DC power above 12 volts DC.  See   My SG-500 Review

SGC Inc.                   (800)   259-7331         http://www.sgcworld.com

SGC-500 Smart Power Cube: If your mobile system is up to the power requirements, this power amp is a good choice.  Solid construction, drives easy from 15 to 20 watts and up to 100.  Don't mess with the switch settings, it works as delivered similar to a 2 meter power amp brick, plug and go, I stopped using copper wire PTT and set the COR to on. Check  My SG-500 Review.    

More Solid State Power Amplifiers

SkyWalker Low cost HF 500/1000 watt amps  http://members.aol.com/rfelectron/rfelect.htm

HF/VHF/UHF low and high power amplifier modules using Motorola App Notes  http://www.communication-concepts.com

Motorola RF Application notes      http://www.mot.com/SPS/WIRELESS/documentation/rfifappnotes.html   Excellent information for designing all facets for solid state amplifiers.

300 and 600 watt HF amplifiers are featured at http://www.worthmore.com

Screw Driver Antennas, Whips and Fiberglass Telescoping Tower

Check VE7BOL/W6's New Stealth Mobile Antenna  . 

High Sierra motorized antennas work fine and have a very good finish.  I would prefer larger diameter wire on the pheonolic coil form however the performance seems excellent.  This, like all antennas requires proper installation and cabling to the mobile rig. I have not found a need for a automatic tuner.

Fiberglass Vertical Masts.  A 4 - 20 Foot Telescoping fiberglass mast is available, see B & M's Black Widow Model BM6 and http://www.superantennas.com .  These are large masts for portable operation, have low weight and collapse into a fiberglass tube with end caps to keep the weather out.  I put a straight conductor up the center for the high HF bands and adjust the total length for 7 through 6 meter operation with the help of the LDG or SGC tuners.

I purchased my Black Widow mast at a obscure booth at the Orange County Market (swap meet) at booth H3.  Try your local swap meets or email me for more information.

Combine the Black Widow mast with the flexible wire rope from The Wiremen http://www.thewireman.com to create an excellent portable antenna. 

The SG-303 replacement whip is 9 feet long and resonates at 10 MHz and 24 MHz for use with an auto tuner.

Quiet Battery Chargers

Gel-Cells and deep charge lead-acid batteries require careful charging and maintenance. Common switching battery chargers emit very strong RF hash that interferes with reception and seems to be impossible to cure.   A solution can be found with A&A.  Contact A&A Engineering for their line of linear Smart Battery Charger assemblies or completed 1 and 5 amp 3 stage battery chargers.  The assemblies can be setup to charge at higher rates.   
http://www.a-aengineering.com

     A&A Engineering 2521 W. LaPalma, Unit K, Anaheim, CA 92801 Phone 714 952-2114 

K5OOR HFPROJECTS is anothe excellent source for complete portable power packs. http://www.hfprojects.com

Progressive Dynamics: Excellent high capacity RV Chargers work excellent and default to 13.2 volts DC without a battery.  I parallel a Progressive Dynamics 9260C across the station Sears Platinum AGM battery for excellent performance.  A model 9245 should be more than sufficient for a 100 watt station.

Equipment and Supplies

      Amateur Electronic Supply                          http://www.aesham.com
     Ham Radio Outlet                                       http://www.hamradio.com
     McMaster-Carr, Braided ground cable and much much more  (310)  692-5911
      The WireMan, full line of antenna wire                http://www.thewireman.com 
     Radio Shack              White or Yellow pages
     Radio Works more antennas and wire            www.radioworks.com
 

Part Sources
Quality DC wire and copper lug connectors can be found at marine supply houses such as West Marine.  Car Stereo shops now carry high current DC hardware which is functional and pretty.

Braided Ground Strap and Cable Shield, 1 Inch wide: McMaster-Carr, 9630 Norwalk Blvd, Santa Fe Springs CA 90670 , 310 692-5911,  Flexible braided sleeving tinned copper, 25/32" nominal diameter cat # 5537K28  .  This strap is great for grounding purposes or for shielding cables.  Open the shield by dropping a screw driver down the inside length then pull your signal cables through.  Pull the shield snug around the inside cables and ground each end of the cable.  Great TVI remedy.

Plastics

Plastic resins are great for forming special parts and these can be found at your local hobby or craft store. Careful with the fumes !

Save some mailing tubes, they make great round stock molds using the plastic resin for mast insulators and cell phone type mounts. Tape cassette containers make good flat stock molds and leave a window like finish on the end product.   

Those plastic kitchen cutting boards are a great source of construction material.  The plastic is somewhat rigid, light weight and easy to cut, drill and tap.  I used this material to make my robust gutter mount and support for the 16 foot SS mast.  Cost for a large board is about $10.