To:	PDouglas12@aol.com
CC:	Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion <qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU>
Subject: Re: Traffic net on 3686?
References: <11aeed3e.34d27979@aol.com>
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PDouglas12@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hi Gang,
>
> Did I miss something?  I keep hearing a relatively high speed traffic net with
> all those QNI sigs and stuff in the eves on the freq my KnightSMiTe is on.  It
> isn't the KL net, that's for sure.  I am afraid to call CQ for fear I will be
> QRMing that net (fat chance with 100mW, but you never know).  So, when do they
> go away?
>
> 72,
>
> Preston Douglas WJ2V


The FIST CW CLub has a net on Tues and Thurs on 3.682 starting at
0200utc.  Runs until all checkins have been processed.

--

Date:	Sat, 31 Jan 1998 14:00:52 -0500 (EST)
From:	Chris Cartwright <ccart@dns.vidtel.com>
To:	QRP Reflector <qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU>
Subject: Knightlites SMiTe arrive in MD!
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.93.980131135016.838A-100000@dns.vidtel.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

This thing is neat!  This thing is tiny!  (two would fit in a 9V
battery case) This thing is another kit to add to the ever growing pile of
stuff I'll never finish in two lifetimes!  Actually SMiTe's #25 and #26
are moving to the top of the pile and will certainly get played with
before/during FYBO.  I've looked at lot of surface mount stuff in my time,
and those parts sure look a lot bigger when someone else sticks 'em down!

The KL's have done an amazing job, parts are all taped to a placement
chart, (someone has saintly patience and good eyes) directions are clear,
and they even send solder with the kit. Many thanks Bob (and all the other
KL's) for a wonderfult job.  And just this morning I started on my Norcal
paddle...   Guess it'll have to wait a little longer :)  See 'ya on 3.686

-- Chris Cartwright,   Technical Engineer  |      ccart@vidtel.com        --
-- N3XRV     ARRL-VE   QRP WAS 28/13(w/c)  | http://dns.vidtel.com/~ccart --
-- QRP-L #655 NORCAL #1891 QRP-ARCI #???? NJ-QRP #105 LIQRP #???? MDmW #5
--

Subject: SMiTe and Pixie II
Date:	Sat, 31 Jan 1998 22:03:34 GMT
Organization: Aviholics Anonymous
Reply-To: n4js@pobox.com
Message-ID: <34d39ec5.659238@mail.cyberenet.net>
X-Mailer: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452
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Well, the Pixie II and the SMiTe kits both arrived today. Make me glad
I'm myopic (I can see up close....VERY close). The Pixie II (from
njqrp) is for 40 M and the SMiTe is for 80, so 'll be all set....and
still have a TIXIE on order. Good thing I have a lot of Altoid tins.
Of course, the SMiTE looks like it ought to go in an aspirin
tin.(Hmmm...).

Subject: Pixie II (or other xtal) frequency
Message-ID: <19980130.212205.16199.22.KA7YOU@juno.com>
X-Mailer: Juno 1.38
X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 1,6,9,11-13,15
Date:	Sat, 31 Jan 1998 00:11:29 EST

I have built a couple of Pixie II's and am having trouble with the
frequency of the beat note during receive.
  It seems that whenever I hear another station, the beat note is very
high.  My Pixie is set up with a SPDT (center off) switch, so that I have
three different frequencies to listen to.  The trouble is It seems that I
need to lower the xtal frequency to be closer to 'zero-beat. I've tried
several different xtals and they all seem to be the same.
   I have three frequency counters here, and they all agree  in
frequency, at about 3686.9 to 3687.4, depending upon which 'RIT' cap is
switched in, or the xtal is grounded directly.
   I'm looking for ideas to 'rubber' the xtal down slightly. Will a small
inductor help, if placed in series with the xtal?
   Thanks

Rod Johnson  KA7YOU  from CN97ak  near Issaquah, Wa.  160M thru 1296 MHz
(3456MHz still in the wings)


Subject: Toroid Help
Message-ID: <19980131.142907.4839.0.penzo@juno.com>
X-Mailer: Juno 1.49
X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 5-8,10-13
From:	penzo@juno.com (Michael A Penzo)
Date:	Sat, 31 Jan 1998 14:32:05 EST

I couldn't resist any longer, so I decided to build a Pixie 2, 40 meter
version, this afternoon with parts out of my junk box.  I got the
oscillator working right off the bat.  Now I'm scrounging for the
inductors for the amp.  I have a molded miniature choke for L2 (100uH)
but no luck for L1 (15-22uH) or L3 (1.5 uH).  I've never had much luck
with toroids but maybe it's time to try.

Could someone check my math and let me know if this will work?
For L1 (15-22uH) I'm coming up with 6 to 7 turns on a FT-37-43 core.
For L3 (1.5uH) I think my best bet is 17 turns on a T-50-2 core. I don't
have any T-37-2 cores on hand, so I have to use the larger 50.

Thanks in advance for the sanity check and 73,
Mike


Date:	Sat, 31 Jan 1998 12:01:49 -0800
From:	Stan <stan@cruzio.com>
X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.02Gold (Win95; I)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To:	penzo@juno.com
CC:	Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion <qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU>
Subject: Re: Toroid Help
References: <19980131.142907.4839.0.penzo@juno.com>
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Michael A Penzo wrote:
>
> I couldn't resist any longer, so I decided to build a Pixie 2, 40 meter
> version, this afternoon with parts out of my junk box.  I got the
> oscillator working right off the bat.  Now I'm scrounging for the
> inductors for the amp.  I have a molded miniature choke for L2 (100uH)
> but no luck for L1 (15-22uH) or L3 (1.5 uH).  I've never had much luck
> with toroids but maybe it's time to try.
>
> Could someone check my math and let me know if this will work?
> For L1 (15-22uH) I'm coming up with 6 to 7 turns on a FT-37-43 core.
> For L3 (1.5uH) I think my best bet is 17 turns on a T-50-2 core. I don't
> have any T-37-2 cores on hand, so I have to use the larger 50.


I was just looking this up.. in the QRPp number 3, the one with the Norcal
40 on the front, Mike Czuahajewski, wa8mcq has published a chart for inductance
on the standard cores.

An ft 37-43 with 6 turns= 15uh and 7 turns= ~21

The t50-2 w/ 17 turns =~ 1.42 , 18 turns = 1.59

Looks like your math is spot on.

Stan , N6XU


Date:	Tue, 17 Feb 1998 13:39:19 -0500
From:	Nick Franco <kf2ph@bnl.gov>
Reply-To: kf2ph@bnl.gov
Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.03 [en] (Win95; I)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To:	qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU
Subject: FOX: W5FN and SMiTe stuff
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Well last night was very strange.  I was working on finishing my
KnightSMiTe.  I had to put the connectors on it and test it out.  I have

output and I hear signals out there.  I haven't made a contact yet and
I'm trying to figure out how to adjust the offset to someplace
reasonable.

While I'm calling CQ and playing around on 80m I decided to look at the
Fox Schedule hanging on the wall.  Wow!  There's a Fox Hunt tonight -
Yep, there it is Feb 17 0200 - 0400 UTC  KK5RO.  So in a slight panic, I

flip the Icom on and over to 40m I go.  I'm listening and listening and
adjusting filters, etc ( you know the story). I hear someone give a
Fox-like exchange and listen real hard.   Nothin'  - I didin't get on
40m until 0305 so I'm listening real hard now.

Then I heard what sounds like a CQ Fox but from a W5 call not KK5.  I'm
thinking maybe a callsign change or something.  Maybe I'm hearing the
other end of the Q.  There it is again CQ Fox W5FN?  So, I think maybe
I'll figure it out later and just try to work him now.  I send my call
and bingo, work Tim.   Good ears Tim, you were in the mud here on Long
Island and I figure I wasn't too strong to you either with the returned
339 report.  But we made it.  When that happens - I just turn the rigs
off and go to bed.  It don't get much better that this :-)

Well the SMiTe is a fantastic little kit.  I enjoyed putting that
together.  I wouldn't have even gave it a thought cuz I thought you
needed all special equipment and all that.  There's  a lab in my work
building that now has the latest SM equipment.  So I figured I'd give it

a shot.  When the kit came I read the instruction and looked at the
parts (very nicely laid out on a placement chart by Bob AE4IC).  I
decided to just use my soldering iron and tweezers and the thin solder
that was included in the kit.   In one lunch time, I put all the
on-board components in place and just had to add connectors.  What a
great experience.  I can't wait to try more surface mount stuff now.  In

fact I want to make all add-ons and mods using SM components.   You can
take the PC board when you're done and just foam tape it to the bottom
of the tin if you want.  There's no little component leads sticking off
the bottom of the board.  This stuff is great.  All old hat to you heavy

duty builders, but a revelation to me.

My wife gave me a tin of Altoids mints for Valentine's Day so I could
have the tin.  Now that's love.  I scrambled around to fine a nice
little container to put the mints into and use the tin for my SMiTe.  I
can fit the SMiTe, the connectors and the 9V battery, and probably some
of the mints too into the same Altoids tin..  What a blast.  Thanks
KnightLights.  We gotta have more SM kits and projects coming out soon.

Have a great day all ,
Nick - KF2PH
QRP-L # 13  .  .


To:	QRP-L@Lehigh.EDU
Subject: Pixie II question
Message-ID: <19981003.191448.6831.3.ka7you@juno.com>
X-Mailer: Juno 1.38
X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 1,4-5,9,12-16
Date:	Sat, 03 Oct 1998 23:01:26 EDT

I have constructed a Pixie II on an etched circuit board, am I am having
dificulty with the audio.  I am getting lots of motorboating.
I built one earlier, via the UGLY route, and it works fine, but was very
large by comparison.  Both seem to put out about the same power on
transmit-200mw.

I've swapped out all the caps around the LM386, and checked the polarity.
 I've also traded the '386's from one unit to the other.  Unless I've got
a bad circuit board, and I have checked it so many times the traces are
wearing off just from my glaring at it,  I don't know what to do next.
What am I missing?  It seems like there was some mention about a similar
problem some time ago, but alas, those files are gone.  IS there a Pixie
FAQ page somewhere?
Thanks,
Rod Johnson  KA7YOU from grid CN97AK near Issaquah, Wa.
160M thru 1296 MHz-higher bands pending
ARCI-QRP #7251   QRP-L #844   NWQRP #120   and others


From:	"Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich" <inforhc@mail.infocom.etecsa.cu>
To:	<qrp-l@lehigh.edu>
Subject: RE: PIXIE II problems
Date:	Sun, 4 Oct 1998 08:40:57 -0300
Message-ID: <01bdef8b$da43a200$07199e03@inforhc>
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PIXIE II when built in a very small printed circuit board may
prove to be unstable, both RF and audio, but especially
the audio !
So... spend some time re-designing the pc board amigo !
Basic rules apply :
1. input and output leads far away from each other
2. avoid ground loops
3. lots of area for ground plane
My UGLY Pixies work beautifully , but a well designed pc board
model works quite well too...

One final comment... tested the VFPIXIE with a very simple
VFO with good results.. it is certainly needed here were
crystals for the right frequencies on the ham CW bands
are very hard to find...
VFPIXIE uses a few more parts, but makes the rig quite
reproduceable under these circumstances... all it takes is
two more NPN transistors and a few resistors and capacitors !
Arnie Coro
Host of Dxers Unlimited
Radio Habana Cuba
PO Box 6240 Habana Cuba
e-mail: arnie@radiohc.org
e-mail  inforhc@mail.infocom.etecsa.cu
Phone: 53 -7 - 814243

                       RE: VFO for PIXIE II = VFPIXIE


For those requesting the circuit diagram for the VFO...
I got it from " Solid State Design for the Radio Amateur "
Tested both the 3 bipolar transistor version, and the
version using FET's... both work OK, but FET has an edge
on stability....
To save time , I used the ex-oscillator transistor of the
PIXIE II as my last transistor in the VFO.
Enough drive available to generate up to 1 watt of nice
RF output , while using BD137 in the output stage...
See... I work with locally available components... test
everything I have that "looks more or less like" the original
speficied part in the design I am building...
Sometimes it works... sometimes not... But , every time
is fun... and everytime I learn something new !!!

Arnie Coro
CO2KK
e-mail: arnie@radiohc.org
e-mail  inforhc@mail.infocom.etecsa.cu


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Wed Oct 07 1998 - 04:30:56
EDT

From:	ka7you@juno.com
Received: (from ka7you@juno.com)
 by x12.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id DQRFWAMF; Sun, 04 Oct 1998 18:13:35 EDT
To:	QRP-L@Lehigh.EDU
Subject: Pixie audio question results
Message-ID: <19981004.142725.9935.5.ka7you@juno.com>
X-Mailer: Juno 1.38
X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-3,7,9-10,12-16
Date:	Sun, 04 Oct 1998 18:13:35 EDT

Of the many responses received, there are three main items suggested.
   Low current capacity of the battery
   Low headphone impedance
   Poor circuit board layout
Of those three, the only one whaich has not been proven on my unit, is
the circuit board layout.  The circuit board was done by me along with
several others.  All the others which were completed , work OK.  So I
guess either I have a bad board, or some other problem.
   I think the next step is  to build another audio circuit, on another
piece of board, and try it.
   Thanks for all the wonderful responses.
    Asking a question on this list is like having an Elmer Genie in every
parts drawer.  They are just dying to be released, so they can help.
   7 3,
Rod Johnson  KA7YOU from grid CN97AK near Issaquah, Wa.
160M thru 1296 MHz-higher bands pending
ARCI-QRP #7251   QRP-L #844   NWQRP #120   and others


To:	ka7you@juno.com, qrp-l@lehigh.edu
From:	Fran Flynn <fflynn@together.net>
Subject: pixie audio


>I have constructed a Pixie II on an etched circuit board, am I am having
>dificulty with the audio.  I am getting lots of motorboating.

If you don't have a bypass capacitor from pin 7 of the LM386 to ground,
try adding one.  I would start with something like a 47uf/16v electrolytic.

Some circuit designs that use the '386 leave out this bypass cap.  Sometimes
you can get away without it, sometimes not.  It's a lot less sensitive to
things like ground loops and a power supply rail that maybe isn't all that
"stiff" with the bypass there.  You could play with the gain strapping too
if that doesn't cure it, or if you already have that pin bypassed.  You may
have to lower the gain to settle it down.

72

Francis  Flynn
ARS: KM1Z  Grid: FN34

                              RE: Pixie Rx Hum

1. Use battery power.... NEAT... but expensive too !!!
2. Use my standard ferrite ring toroidal decoupler from the
    power supply to the PIXIE... don't forget to use SHIELDED
    POWER CABLES... it's always a good idea with any RF
    circuit
3. Take a look at the power supply you are using, if it does not
    have capacitors in pararell with the diodes, add .01
    disk ceramics across each diode... This may be next to
    impossible with a potted bridge rectifier... Once I  REMOVED
    the encapsulated bridge rectifier, replaced it with 4 diodes
    with the .01 disk ceramics in pararell... and the HUM went
    dowm many dB's ...
4. Be careful were you use the PIXIE... if you are too near a
    transformer , you may pick up a lot of HUM into the PIXIE's
    audio !!!
Hope this helps...
Arnie Coro
Host of Dxers Unlimited
Radio Habana Cuba
PO Box 6240 Habana Cuba
e-mail: arnie@radiohc.org
e-mail  inforhc@mail.infocom.etecsa.cu
Phone: 53 -7 - 814243

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Wed Oct 07 1998 - 20:31:50
EDT



