Like 7-8 bucks for this kit. Just bought it - definitely going to put this together and try it from the tops of a few mountains around where I live. If anyone out in the US picks up a real low strength and sloppy fist CW signal from Japan in the next few months, that's probably me.
Hi Dave, This is a great informational video. I built this kit and burned up Q2 while soldering , which I got a replacement for, made the repair, and the radio came to life on 7.040.0 MHz (the crystal I installed instead of 7.023.0 MHz), as soon as I attached the antenna, earphones, and battery.. That's when I discovered that the pot tuned the frequency, not the volume, and there was no side tone for CW transmission. Your video is a pretty good front end manual. A friend and I plan to transmit back and forth across the garage as he teaches me CW.
Thank you VERY much. I'm pretty good with most electronic components but I wasn't figuring out those inductors. Your picture made the rest of it simple. Thanks again!
Nice to see one of these on here. I built one and put it on 5.262 MHz where there is less activity so less QRM. I had a few contacts, my first one 180 miles, and others 80 - 120 miles on my inverted Vee. The best was an SWL report from the Netherlands at 220 miles. Not bad for 350 mW out. Until it blew up, a transistor and electrolytic cap. blown, then when I tried replacing them the copper track lifted. Fun while it lasted. Not the best quality, had to solder the BNC socket six times before it took solder and the jack sockets look very fragile. Worth having a go, try one. I'll build something similar on Veroboard one day. I run nothing over 5 Watts these days. 73, Bill, G4GHB.
What I really like about the Pixie is that it has so many obvious problems. :) So I added a couple of tweakable AM filters to the front end of mine to attenuate the local AM broadcast interference. Then I noted it had insufficient selectivity, so I added a narrow audio filter. Then since it only put out about a Watt I added an adjustable low drop-out voltage regulator and a Class E stage to give me a output from less than 100 mW up to to a full 5 watts, variable. I had already added a low-pass filter to the output since it was pretty dirty. Since I'm an Extra I can operate on the frequency range of the crystal included in my kit, but who wants to chat with a limited number of Extras on a narrow range of frequencies that could be noisy or have a big gun sitting in the middle of it? It was just not sufficiently frequency agile. So I'm adding a SI5351 module and Arduino controller and display to be able to pick my frequency. Then I think I'll add a decent sidetone to it from the SI5351. I'll probably need to put another filter on that output, too. All in all it's turning into a real Rube Goldberg radio, and I'm having a ball with it. I use a NanoVNA for filter tuning, and a TinySA to see how well they work, since fortunately those 2 devices are now available as cheap consumer grade test gear. It is all so much more fun than just plugging in my appliance rigs and talking, even the old tube rig. There's a bit of challenge to it and some real learning involved. But now I need a bigger box for it. On the air I'll just tell people I'm running a Pixie Goldberg+. :)
Just assembled what looks like an identical kit. Thanks for the tip on getting rid of most of the receive buzz by switching to a 9V battery! My power output is 5 dB down from 0.5 watt so apparently my power amplifier transistor or that part of the circuit is not working. Any ideas on cause? Have kept voltage between 9V and 12V during testing. 73, KE4TH.
Just ordered one of these and I am hoping to mount it into an altoids tin and change the xtal to 7040khz. I am just wondering if it would be possible to change the 47k trimmer pot (w1) on the circuit board to something I could attach a knob to. If you had any suggestions that would be great. Thanks for the video
I scored a few of these for $3.50 each on eBay the other day. I'll get them put together once they arrive, and I would like to try to do the classic construction in an Altoids box. I'm not sure if a 9v battery would be the best way of powering one of these. This should be interesting.
Hi Bought a version 3 pixie kit. Has a side tone sounder on board and a blinky red led that BuzzLightyear would love! I found that it needs 12volts to turn on. 9 Volts not enough. Frequency in Europe needs to be 7030KHz
Hello! Im korean. I want to ask you something. It is about antenna.I also bought as you used in video and i made it.It worked. But because of the antenna i cant talk with anyone. If you read this sentences,would you tell me whan antenna did you used?(thanks for reading)
HI Dave. I just got a pixie from China that has an extra switch on top of the rig- a kind of flimsy thing- do you happen to know what the switch is for? Appreciate your videos, thank you and 73 de WA5SAT
I just watched another demo of the Pixie by NG9D and I think I heard his callsign near the end of your demo. It would be amazing if he was sending with his Pixie. Do we know why 7.023 MHz was selected as the operating frequency for this kit? I ordered a Pixie about a week ago and expect to receive it in 2 or 3 weeks.
excellent as always dave!!! mine says 7.023 -7.026, does that mean it will transmit on 7.026 , or that is the cut off, i got mine on ebay here as well, im just getting ready to complete it , and you do not need a transceiver to trans and receive just antenna and a key?
Hi there, I bought 2 kits. Both have the same issue of 50hz Hum ( UK mains ) even on batteries. They just pick up anything mains that's nearby. A trip out away from wires might help. Its around 50% hum 20% cw 30% mush. Although you can pick out the cw of course but with difficulty. If you have any improvements please let us know . Thanks for the video.
my daughter jut finished hers, it started to smoke haha :-) we will get another one and keep attempting until we get it right? i notice it seemed to be reverse when keyed it did not transmit when not keyed it transmitted then it started to smoke, any ideas :-)
It means that this transceiver will only work on the 40m band meaning between 7.0 and 7.3 Mhz. Even then it will only work one preset frequency inside the CW portion of 40m.
I just put this together, and all im getting is a loud hum. I double checked all the components and cant figure it out. Any idea how to fix this? thanks
A loud hum can be caused by the headphone jack and plug connection. Also check your soldering around the IC chip as it is an audio amplifier. Using an AC power adapter can also cause a very loud hum. So if you're using a "wall wart" then disconnect it and try batteries.
dave i got a question off topic.. i am currently tracking commercial aircraft with my hobby.. i was wonder would it be possible to make a beam antenna for 1090 mhz if so how big would it have to be....
ahhh, your tracking ADS-B, etc signals...your antenna will be very small...i was into that, then got out of it, now just love monitoring HF VHF and UHF air voice comms....But definitely love the airband...
KuriosPC For receiving, the antenna length isn't really important, but the longer the better. For transmitting, the antenna will need to be SWRd for either 1/1 wavelength (40m), 1/2 wavelength (20m), or 1/4 wavelength (10m). Other lengths won't work as well, including 5/8th wave antennae. Alternately, you can cut a long antenna at a random length and hook it to a tuning unit (ATU)
3' antenna will do fine. As far as antennas go...for receiving you want the largest antenna you can use. For transmitting you will need a tuned 40-meter antenna. BEWARE...you may have a problem using mobile ham-stick as they are made for the voice portion so may be a little short.
3' antenna will do fine. As far as antennas go...for receiving you want the largest antenna you can use. For transmitting you will need a tuned 40-meter antenna. BEWARE...you may have a problem using mobile ham-stick as they are made for the voice portion so may be a little short.
Check out the even smaller KeychainQRP HF Transmitter. It's fully built, ready to use and so small you can keep it attached to your car keys: www.etsy.com/listing/506756455/keychain-qrp-the-worlds-smallest-hf-ham
with minor mod with lm386 amplifier YESSSS!! look for "lm386 sw transmitter" on Google images, the audio is fed near where the key is with cap to ground.. 😎👍🇬🇧
Well - murphy struck. Couldn't find my three prong to two prong converter to plug the soldering station in. So I ordered a bunch online. Should have them in a day or so.
Hello Dave, great job, and good job on your presentation, however; I guess no one believes in using dummy loads anymore? I've been licensed since 1975 and was always taught to listen twice before transmitting. It sounds like you were transmitting over another station. With everybody these days doing their best to run full lrgsl limits, ignoring FCC Rules on using only the power needed to maintain communications, we QRP operators need to be extra careful not to transmit over other stations. Dummy loads are always needed during the initial test trails. Just my 2 cents sir. But great job, and thank you for sharing. --73-- Jim K7QI/ Z81A
+bbjunkie1023 Because he only has one frequency and I don't imagine 0.8W is going to interfere much with others. Besides it was short enough not to inconvenience anyone for more than a few seconds. Theory (what you are taught) vs Real World (what really happens)....
