Crystal control and a transistor radio: Good enough for Field Day contacts?

[@SpinStar1956]

You know, if Peter had not spent so much on this fancy receiver and transmitter, he could've afforded a pair of shoes! 73...

[@hispacor]

Enhorabuena Peter. Para mi eres ya el MacGyver de la radioafición ;-) Mucha gente te tiene que estar agradecida por que haces que la radio no tenga límites......

[@morethan4mph]

What a fantastic antidote to all the boring IC-705 videos appearing on KZbin. This is real radio, and a barefoot transmitter!

[@gibbywankenobi66]

Awesome!! This is ham radio! Building, improvising and then using it! People talk about how expensive ham radio is. This setup would be very economical!

[@MirlitronOne]

Next time I'm shipwrecked on a desert island I'll take Peter with me.

[@kq6up]

missing the battery from coconuts, lol

[@markjacobsen302]

Peter - pretty amazing job with just a consumer portable rcvr and a little ten minute xmtr. I wonder if you've thought of lashing up a 455 KHz BFO for that Panasonic. I made one with 2 transistors, a yellow core IF transformer, and 2 LEDs back to back as tuning diodes. Also A plastic painting drop cloth tacked to the rail to take shelter under might make operation in the rain on that boardwalk a bit more comfortable - not much extra weight to carry either - Good job though! de WB8YMV

[@vk3ye]

No need for a BFO. The transmitter crystal oscillator is running all the time. That acts as a BFO provided you offset it slightly. Its advantage is that the rx can drift yet remain on frequency.

[@m0dad]

Fantastic video Peter and a great job with all the distractions around you at the beach. Its great to see someone having some enjoyable contacts with minimalist equipment that doesn't break the bank. Well done.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

I noticed that there were a few people walking about but they didn't seem to pay to much attention. This is generally not my experience when operating on beaches or any public area. Even if there are very few people around and I try to find a quiet out of the way spot, one or two people always seem to make a beeline for me and start asking what I'm doing - sometimes mid-QSO. I never want to be rude and always want to try to take every opportunity to promote ham radio. So, quite frequently, a good chunk of operating time is spent just explaining to the curious folk what ham radio is and what I am doing.

[@m0dad]

@@Steve-GM0HUU Agreed Steve, most times I go out pedestrian mobile I get people coming over but other times its as if im not there and nobody notices. I have a friend who has prepared printed sheets explaining about his Amateur radio activities for when people approach him in mid QSO which I think is a great idea.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

I do remember noting that some /P and SOTA ops have printed sheets to help manage the distraction. To be honest, I had thought this was maybe overkill. However, if it works, I am having second thoughts and might try this. Assume it would be along the lines of "Hi, thank you for your interest, I am busy right now and will happily talk to you in a few minutes. In the meantime, here is some basic info about Amatuer Radio....". Alternative versions when you really don't want to be disturbed might include, "Congratulations, you have just won a competition, please enter your bank details in the form below" or "I am a one man fanatic religious cult. Once I have finished communicating with the Astral Supreme Being, I shall happily discuss your acceptance into the order". Only joking, of course 😃.

[@mostlypostie1]

This is awesome. Great work!

[@josephhager1933]

I love your QRP efforts great job.

[@dennisbauer3315]

I really do believe, if I want to do any good at Amateur Radio, I am going to have to find a beach in Melbourne, make Peters radios and success will be guaranteed. lol, All top stuff.Thank you, Peter Parker.

[@kq6up]

I love how you make EVERYTHING from scratch. Onlookers must rubberneck, lol

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

👍 Well done Peter. Though, I am curious - what happened to the tuning knob on the National Panasonic receiver?

[@sixsix4025]

Judging by the scratchy volume potentiometer, that's likely the very same radio he recorded that shortwave radio program from 1995 that he has on his channel. God only know what that radio's been through

[@G7VFY]

The salt water amplifier helps too!

[@vk3ye]

Possibly but not much. The VK5s were partly over salt water but the VK2s weren't. And the VK2 at the end was the furthest contact. Also my first try with that rig was not by the beach.

[@G7VFY]

@@vk3ye Excellent work though Peter. Just shows how little you need.

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

Hey Peter. I love that setup of yours. Been working on the $10 QSO and tried the Pixie on the vertical. The broadcast interference was out of control. Looks like it’s going to have to be a tuned mag loop to make it usable. I used it once before on the mag loop. Didn’t have that problem Let’s see if I can make one that works for under $6

[@vk3ye]

Thanks Chris. The problem with the mag loop is the loss on transmit. The Pixie is already about 10dB down on a full 5 watts. A magnetic loop will make it another 10 or 20 dB worse. That will be below the noise level of 90% of stations you could otherwise potentially work. I strongly suggest keep the vertical (or other full sized antenna) on transmit and have a toggle switch to switch to the loop on receive. Or keep the full sized antenna and add a tight band pass filter to shut out the broadcast interference.

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

@@vk3ye I’ll have a go. But I only have $10 to spend on the transceiver, match and antenna I’m thinking 10m of alfoil on some scrap cardboard packaging rescued from Ikea or maybe there is enough RG6 left over from a strip out. 10-12m makes for a reasonably efficient antenna with a few chunks in parallel for the capacitor The more surface area the more efficient and the higher the Q. The longer the more efficient over a broader range $10 is the limit. Anyway, I have 3 tube guitar amps that need attention before I get around to this challenge de VK2NAP

[@WFSteury]

Amazing! 73’s N9EGT

[@G7VFY]

Suggestions 1. Make your own transistors kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ7SpZ6ggrh-pKs 2. Negative resistance oscillator / transmitter kzbin.info/www/bejne/q328gpqoe7V1ac0

[@josephhager1933]

How long is your 40 m antenna? Great job!

[@vk3ye]

About 20m. 1/2 wavelength end-fed.

[@gabrymir-radio]

Superlike,73 de IV3MIR !!!

[@submarineradioman5535]

Hello Peter, do you use a manual antenna switch or 2 separate antennas? Tnx de Howie wa3mck

[@vk3ye]

Neither. I just have the telescopic whip connected to the earth connection on the antenna coupler. So it acts like a short counterpoise on tx.

[@submarineradioman5535]

@@vk3ye - Tnx fer ur reply de Howie WA3MCK - ur method of providing a beat for the receiver is quite clever - simple elegance!

[@peterkempenaers479]

Amazing ! 72 de OO7Z

[@qrplife]

You don’t make it easy on yourself, do you?

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

He could power it all off a dynamo and sit there furiously peddling while doing all of this :-) Hmmmm I probably shouldn’t be giving Peter ideas :-)

[@vk3ye]

@@MidlifeRenaissanceMan I've done hand-cranked with a dynamo. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4PLmoaLoZ1ga9k

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

@@vk3ye wow. Is there anything you haven’t done with budget QRP ?? I probably would have thrown some super caps into the dynamo to hold a bit of a charge between cranks. Speaking of Gibson Girls....there’s a Clifford and Snell UK built device for 500KHz and 2182KHz with a transmit only on 8364KHz up for sale on Gumnut www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/kwinana-town-centre/antiques/antiques-clifford-and-snell-antique-morse-code-floating-device/1266404731 They have almost halved their price since I first saw it. I’m sure they’re open to offers. I can think of better things to purchase with that sort of coin, like things with tubes, but it is interesting to see the technology... So Peter, have you gone push bike mobile yet ?? Using CW of course :-)