It's time to get some more input! If you haven't been following along with my Crowd-Sourced Project series, you can either start from part 1, or stick around for the 60 second overview! Also, if you hate being left behind, don't forget to subscribe to stay up to date. As a reminder, this project is crowd-sourced, NOT crowd funded - I don't want your money, I'm just looking for ideas as I work on this project!
Quick Review
This project started because I ended up with a neat little box, that was begging to become a ham radio project. Rather than just start building something, I decided to do an experiment and at each step along the way, ask all of you "what would you do here?" It's been interesting to see where that takes us.
With the quick overview out of the way, it's finally time to vote for the radio that will be the core of this project. If you don't feel like reading through the old posts to see what types of things were factored into the scope, these are the things that are driving the list you are now voting on:
- It has to fit in the box I'm using
- Per voting, we're focusing on HF
- Per voting, the radio should NOT be software defined
- Per my veto power as the sole financial contributor, some options were eliminated due to cost
- It needs to be able to run off the battery that was already in the box
The Contenders
If you are familiar with all of these radio's, feel free to skip straight to the voting if you'd like. If not, here is a quick overview of each one, and a couple comments from me on my thoughts (but remember - in this case my opinion matters less than all of yours collectively!)
photo courtesy of hfsigs.com BITX40
If you don't already know about this little radio, you've got some catching up to do, and a good place to start is here. This little radio fits all of the criteria for this project, and has the benefit of being very "hack-able" to changes in the future. Another benefit of this one, is that the HamRadio360 Workbench crew is currently talking through builds of these little radio's, so this would fit that theme for anyone like me who is a fan of their podcast. This is a very simple kit, and it would be a pretty quick build.
Bands: 40, others with simple modifications
Mode: SSB, others with simple modifications
TX power: 7 watts
Rough Price: $60
Mode: SSB, others with simple modifications
TX power: 7 watts
Rough Price: $60
Photo courtesy of qrpkits.com Hendricks PFR-3B
This kit comes from Pacific Antenna. It should work well, but may require a different battery mounting method then what is already in the box (simple enough to change!)
This kit comes from Pacific Antenna. It should work well, but may require a different battery mounting method then what is already in the box (simple enough to change!)
Bands: 40, 30, 20
Mode: CW
TX power: 5 watts
Rough Price: $275
Mode: CW
TX power: 5 watts
Rough Price: $275
Photo courtesy of lnrprecision.com Mountain Topper 3B
This is a small radio from LNR Precision that comes as either a kit or prebuilt. With it's small size, fit would be no concern!
This is a small radio from LNR Precision that comes as either a kit or prebuilt. With it's small size, fit would be no concern!
Bands: 40, 30, 20
Mode: CW
TX power: 2.5 watts
Rough Price: $260 / 270 (Kit / Prebuilt)
Mode: CW
TX power: 2.5 watts
Rough Price: $260 / 270 (Kit / Prebuilt)
Photo courtesy of elecraft.com Elecraft KX1
This radio meets all the criteria, and was suggested by a couple of different folks. The only catch is that it is discontinued, and finding a used one may be a bit hit or miss. Luckily, the details about this radio are still available on Elecraft's site.
This radio meets all the criteria, and was suggested by a couple of different folks. The only catch is that it is discontinued, and finding a used one may be a bit hit or miss. Luckily, the details about this radio are still available on Elecraft's site.
Bands: 40, 20
Mode: CW
TX power: 4 watts
Rough Price: $300
Mode: CW
TX power: 4 watts
Rough Price: $300
W7EL Optimized qrp transceiver
This is actually not so much a radio, as it is plans and a parts list to source and build it on your own. The ARRL has a copy of the build information available here for reference.
Bands: 40
Mode: CW
TX power: 1.5 watts
Rough Price: depends on sourcing, but probably very inexpensive.
This is actually not so much a radio, as it is plans and a parts list to source and build it on your own. The ARRL has a copy of the build information available here for reference.
Bands: 40
Mode: CW
TX power: 1.5 watts
Rough Price: depends on sourcing, but probably very inexpensive.
Photo courtesy of phonestack.com/farhan uBITX
Does this sound familiar? It should! Ashhar Farhan designed this, the multi-band successor to the BITX40. It isn't available yet as a kit, but plans and parts lists are available on Ashhar's site. This would take longer to build, but would probably be a rewarding project!
Does this sound familiar? It should! Ashhar Farhan designed this, the multi-band successor to the BITX40. It isn't available yet as a kit, but plans and parts lists are available on Ashhar's site. This would take longer to build, but would probably be a rewarding project!
Bands: 160, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10
Mode: SSB, CW
TX power: 5 - 10 watts depending on band
Rough Price: $50 and a well stocked junk box
Mode: SSB, CW
TX power: 5 - 10 watts depending on band
Rough Price: $50 and a well stocked junk box
Photo courtesy of 4sqrp.com 4sqrqrp Bayou Jumper
This is an interesting little crystal controlled qrp rig. The receiver is a regenerative design, making this radio more "old school" which can have a certain charm to it. The only bad part of this is that being crystal controlled means you're restricted to whatever frequencies you have crystals for.
This is an interesting little crystal controlled qrp rig. The receiver is a regenerative design, making this radio more "old school" which can have a certain charm to it. The only bad part of this is that being crystal controlled means you're restricted to whatever frequencies you have crystals for.
Bands: 40
Mode: CW
TX power: 5watts
Rough Price: $80
Mode: CW
TX power: 5watts
Rough Price: $80
Photo courtesy of connectsystems.com ConnectSystems CS108G (Xiegu X108G)
This a rig from a new company, that is trying to break into the portable rig market. They are surprisingly full featured for the price, and they seem to be starting to get a loyal following. It's at the top end of what I had in mind for this project cost-wise, but if this is what everyone votes for, I'll set aside some pennies for a little bit!
This a rig from a new company, that is trying to break into the portable rig market. They are surprisingly full featured for the price, and they seem to be starting to get a loyal following. It's at the top end of what I had in mind for this project cost-wise, but if this is what everyone votes for, I'll set aside some pennies for a little bit!
Bands: 160, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10
Mode: SSB, AM, CW
TX power: 20 watts
Rough Price: $400
Mode: SSB, AM, CW
TX power: 20 watts
Rough Price: $400
Lets Vote!
We'll pause here for the official vote, but if you happen to be curious about a rig you suggested and why it isn't on the list, I'll give some "bonus material" after the vote for those who want to stick around.
We'll pause here for the official vote, but if you happen to be curious about a rig you suggested and why it isn't on the list, I'll give some "bonus material" after the vote for those who want to stick around.
Voting is Now Closed - Stay Tuned for Results!
The Rejects
As promised, here's the short list of some of the commonly suggested radios that didn't make the cut for the vote, and the reasons why:
Yeasu FT-891: Fit, Cost, and if it is similar to my 857d, even on low power the surge during startup will trip the safety circuit in the battery, rendering it out of scope
Yeasu FT-817(ND): Borderline Fit, Cost (for new, might find used within range), out of scope bands (project was voted to be HF focused)
Elecraft KX2: Scope (this is an SDR), Cost
There are quite a few other radios that might have made the list, but these were the options that were suggested most often, that I felt warranted an explanation as to why they weren't being considered.
Thanks for your input!
Yeasu FT-891: Fit, Cost, and if it is similar to my 857d, even on low power the surge during startup will trip the safety circuit in the battery, rendering it out of scope
Yeasu FT-817(ND): Borderline Fit, Cost (for new, might find used within range), out of scope bands (project was voted to be HF focused)
Elecraft KX2: Scope (this is an SDR), Cost
There are quite a few other radios that might have made the list, but these were the options that were suggested most often, that I felt warranted an explanation as to why they weren't being considered.
Thanks for your input!
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