QRP Station > Builder's Corner

CW Kit suggestions?

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AG6QR:
This is a slightly old thread, but I thought I'd report back with results.

I ended up getting the KD1JV Tri-Bander, for 20, 30, and 40 meter bands.

The qrpkits business has been taken over by Pacific Antenna, and Doug Hendricks is no longer running it.  I ordered from them, and received my kit promptly.  It was straightforward to assemble, until it came time to apply power for the first test.  The first test, with all the IC's out of their sockets, is a basic check to make sure the voltage regulators are putting out 5V.  One of mine was at about 3V and falling, and it was getting hot.  Seems like thermal limiting due to too much current being pulled through it.  Time to double-check my soldering.

After a frustrating amount of diagnosis, I tracked the problem down to a pre-installed surface mount crystal oscillator (60.000 MHz reference for the DDS) being installed backwards on the board before I got the kit.  I contacted Pacific Antenna to confirm the diagnosis.  They were apologetic, and offered to fix the kit and finish the assembly and alignment for me.  But I preferred to fix it myself, now that I understood the problem.  They sent me a new oscillator, in case the old one had been damaged by being powered up backwards.  I borrowed a SMT rework station from a friend, removed the old oscillator, installed the new one in the correct orientation, and everything else went smoothly.  The folks at Pacific Antenna were really good about things -- customer support was excellent.  But of course I'd prefer not to have needed that sort of support.

The radio works well now.  Tuning is easy with the DDS synthesizer and digital frequency display.  The receiver's crystal filter is not adjustable, but a nice width for general CW operating.  I'm happy with my choice.  It's a good, simple, rugged, portable, CW radio.

But I'm still pondering a K1.  Maybe some day...

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