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!