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Assorted QRP Gear

September 2, 2006 - 19:22 — N1RX

I've started a Gallery page for general pics of home-built QRP gear. Feel free to post pics of your favorite projects.

Have a look here: QRP Gear Gallery

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September 3, 2006 - 22:30 — KB1LQC

SDR

Saw the picture of the SCR radio, been very interested in SDR... any way to get into it fairly easily?

TNX ES 73'S
Bryce Salmi
KB1LQC

CO-Founder/ President
Chelmsford High School Amateur Radio Club
KB1NAY

September 4, 2006 - 07:28 — N1RX

Software Defined Radio on a budget

One of the best bargains in Amateur Radio today is the SoftRock series by Tony KB9YIG and Bill KD5TFD. All the info and happenings take place on the SoftRock40 Yahoo Group (sorry, Seab) at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40

The SoftRock40 shown on the main page of the Yahoo group was kitted by AmQRP, and is no longer available. However, Tony has continued the evolution of the hardware beyond the original 40M only version (for which I designed a 30M mod).

Tony currently makes the SoftRock version 6 that is a dual band RX (usually 40M and 80M) but can be built for other frequencies (with some limitations). The board is small and relatively easy to build, but does use surface mount technology. If you can't/won't work with the tiny parts, Tony will build one for you for a VERY reasonable cost.

To play with SDR, you need a computer with a sound card with stereo input. Note that many laptops only have a mono input. People often use external, USB connected sound boxes for these. The software to run these is FREE, and downloaded from the internet. Among the easiest to use, and most popular, is ROCKY, by Alex VE3NEA.

There is far more to say about this evolving technology than I can possibly put in this note. I strongly suggest anyone interested to join the Yahoo Group, and prepare for some real fun. The performance of these simple receivers, when coupled with the power of the PC, is simply astounding. (can you tell I like em?)

72,
Bruce