AMAZING, Adam!! Your Cool Waving Pixie is almost small enough to be worn as a wrist radio a la "Dick Tracey" ...@600mW proves your EFHW is doing the heavy lifting ...QRP rocks and never ceases to amaze us! Very clever exemplary work and execution!! You da GOAT, Dude! ~~ wGOAT
Awesome! I'm all for QRP, but would never have considered trying a Pixie for a SOTA activation. Gutsy move - but successful. Proves again and again the importance of a good antenna - regardless of the radio. I heard you on one of the online SDRs, but not directly here in CO. Maybe when condx improve 👍!
Wow! Very impressive, thanks for the video and sharing, because I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it, including NJ7V reception of you. My whole approach to my SOTA has some new inspirations thanks to this video, thanks! 73, de W7SWA
I just got a pixie QRP with 9 crystals. I am currently learning CW ( signed up with CW academy ) and am about to take my General. But in the mean time the pixie will be helpful to practice sending with a dummy load attached. I could just use my IC-7100 or FT-950. but something about the Pixie seems a little more fun. Hopefully after I get a little more proficient and the weather gets a little more stable here in CO I can do some SOTA activations using the Pixie, and maybe my FT3DR and Aroww II for sat contacts. Great video! I just subbed and am looking forward to watching your other videos. Keep up the great work!
Wow. You’re amazing the way you can make that tiny key work and copy so well. I’m in my 70s and have a hard time with CW but have made quite a few contacts with my three pixies at home. 73s N9EGT
That antenna is just like the one I need, did you make it? do you have instructions or a video? 😁, I'm scrolling though your videos, but haven't found it yet.
What a brilliant key solution. I just bought one of these pixie kits. But I don't think it fits into a mini Altoids tin. You sure do make this fun and especially interesting. Thanks again for a great video!
@@K6ARK brilliant! Well, that’s definitely over my head. Your work is admirable! I was thinking of a similar antenna idea. I have some small ferrite cores coming in an attempt to dry my eyeballs out on your tiny EFHW video!
Cool video and thanks for showing us how well it can work. SO the question is, where can one get the mini-pixie that you were demonstrating? Tnx de Arnie W8DU
They aren't available just yet. I need to make some final design tweaks, then I can have some manufactured for sale. Just need to find the free time...
I have been looking for the Mini Pixie Transceiver that you have in your mini tin but no luck in finding it. Do you have a link to where you got yours at? 73's KI5IUF
I saw your other video with the 2.7gram micro pixie. I'd love to have one of either of those! I love the one in the Smalls tin that turns on when you open it! I know how much trouble it is to kit a radio, but maybe you could just put the board on FAR Circuits and publish the BOM and some assembly instructions someday. That'd be a real kick, to have a rig that small! I'm going to be building the QCX-mini for 40m and a Japanese VN-2002 for 20m, and they're pretty darned small, especially given that each is ~5w. I built a Soda Pop II, but something's flaky in either the filter stage or the PA stage, because I only get 1/4 watt out. That 1/4 watt was STILL heard on RBN halfway across the country (Philadelphia to northern Illinois), so I know it works, but I really want to get that 5w stage working on that rig. It's the only KD1JV radio I have, and I'd like it to work, hi hi! I just found out about your videos, and they're great! Keep it up as long as they're still fun! DE NG3P
Thank you for the kind words! The problem with the micro pixie as a kit or just a bare board is that the 0402 size components make for a very difficult build. It's really not possible to assemble them with just a soldering iron. My eyes are pretty darn good, and I still use a magnifying lens, tweezers, solder paste on a needle tip, and a hot air rework station to build them. If someone is truly interested and understands the requirements to assemble one of these, I'd be happy to mail a spare board and send the bill of materials. If that's you, let me know.
Well jeez, thank you both! I sure have fun doing it, and that's what counts the most. I also really enjoy sharing with you all. There were others who were similar inspirations to me and I am stoked that I can do the same in return.
Hello, nice video! I have also bought a similar pixie kit, but I don't know how to make an antenna. Did you use the 7Mhz 50ohm antenna as specified in the kit instructions? If so, how?
See my other videos. I build EHFW antenna for most of my QRO rigs. I also have kits for my antenna matching units now. Check www.k6ark.com and email me if interested.
The pixie itself is a kit, but I heavily modified it to make it fit in the Smalls tin. The wire straight key was a simple solution to the problem, and the Auto-on switch in the lid eliminated the difficulty of managing tiny battery connectors.
The Pixie transceiver circuit is so simple that it has very poor filtering. As a result, it received signals from a broad scope of the band, and even outside the band in some cases (broadcast AM, for example).
With this 40m unit, probably about 800 miles. I was able to reach Pennsylvania from San Diego with a 20m version. Right now, nearing the peak of the solar cycle, a 10m or 15m build should easily reach EU or ZL/VK from San Diego, CA.
Did you replace any of the final transistors to get any more power out of this? I am working on my own PCB version of the Pixie with everyone's mods built into it, and I'm calling it the Megapixie. I started a thread on Reddit here but it never really went anywhere. I know one of the mods is to replace a few transistors and get way more power out, but then you probably don't want to be using it in an Altoids tin and would want proper heat dissipation etc. Even so, a cracking build, and I love the contact switch. Here's the thread if you want to see where this ended up (a PCB that I haven't fabbed yet) www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/ft29qx/i_want_to_build_a_megapixie_pcb/
No, this one is just stock. I am familiar with the mod and it certainly works. You can also tweak some of the components in this circuit to get more out of this transistor. thanks for the link!
There are some simple mods which really improve this little kit. Join the Pixie fb group and look in the files section. facebook.com/groups/881071735273852/ The Pixie Max article published in Sprat is particularly helpful.
For a Pixie? Or a different radio? I'm a big fan of end fed halfwave antennas for portable operations because you don't need any bulky coaxial cable. I always recommend building your own. Www.QRPGuys.com has some good kits, as does KM4ACK but if you're not up for the task, consider a Packtenna antenna.
It's even painful to watch. I mean rolling your finger over a small tin housed TX and tapping a wire as a key. Believe me, you could fix easily a voice transmitter in that tin. A simple 3 transistor SW TX at, say, 7.2 MHz. With SMDs, it could be reduced in size even more. Anyhow, your life, your choice!
Make a video, show us how it's done. Or not. You can choose to be a helpful mentor and inspire others, or you can choose to act like this. Your life, your choice.
@@K6ARK no offence, I'm no mentor material but yes, it'll be an experience, even I could do a silent one. For your information, I've already made the TX I mentioned in my last. If you have an email address, please, do provide me and I'll try to mentor you as best as I can.