DIY No Frills AD9850/Arduino Antenna Analyzer 

Congrats on the new license. GL Jim(KW4KD)

José Manuel Díez Cool!... I'd like to hear how it works out for you. Also to ensure that you are working with the same sketches, that I'm using here, please check the github link, just before starting.

+Joel Caulkins That's cool... The Pro Mini is a great choice. Especially if you think you want to case it. Hope you'll post a pix of it when you're happy with the end product 73's Jim

+hiDDenVS DND Glad to do it. And if you build a version of it, I'd like to hear how it works out (both good & bad ;-)

Thanks for the kind words. Hope your surgery goes well. FWIW: I still use this project. It, with an outboard adjustable attenuator, makes a great low level signal generator, which is useful for checking receiver performance.

Thanks for the comment. Go to the GitHub site (see link above) and find the "Antenna Analyzer R1 Board Layout.pdf" file. The pin with the square solder land is the #1 pin. Looking down on the chip itself, with the pins running vertically, and the notch in the chip at the top, the #1 pin will be the top pin, on the left. If your chip doesn't have a notch, look for a dot (in the corner), that will be the #1 pin. GL, Jim(KW4KD)

Well it is a D Y I project - Do Yourself It. or didn't you catch that too? LOL :P Nice one Jim, you did a great job anyway and entertaining too!

"ardruino" also made me laugh

+E Pasko Appreciate the Kudos. And I'm glad that the Bluetooth vid helped. That one had me stumped for a couple days. Anyway to your real question, if I follow it correctly. This antenna analyzer is just for the hf bands (1.8 to 30 Mhz.) The local Osc (the 9850) is clocked from a 125mhz source, and only has useful output up to ~40Mhz. Far short of the 2.4 & 5.8Ghz that I think you are wanting it to work at. However, if I've missed the point here, please let me know. Again, thanks for the comments Jim (KW4KD)

It would be brilliant if this could be made to test antenna for 1280mhz (1.3ghz), 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz! I've just got into making my own Antenna's so this tool would really help me.

+Denis Dimick Hi Dennis You're correct there is no separate parts list. Just use the schematic as a parts reference. However, not shown on the schematic, but I found needed, was a 0.1 mfd bypass capacitor (mounted as close to the 9850's dc input as possible). Also keep your RF runs as short as possible, and mount the schematic components in a rigid way. While you are rounding up components, you might also want to get some extra "test" resistors (like those shown at the end of the video). 15, 22, 33, 47, 100, 150, and 220 ohms are fairly easy to come by, and are nice to have. Remember though I was happy if my analyzer reported within 20%. GL, and hope you will let me/us know how it works out. 73 Jim (KW4KD)

To anyone who still thinks that 50 ohm reference must inevitably be made of single resistor: there are two values readily available in any component store: 100 ohm and 150 ohm. Putting two 100-ohm resistors in parallel gives 50 ohm, same for three 150-ohm resistors. Plus 150-ohm can easily be used for measurements of 75-ohm cables used for TV and radio (at least in Europe 75 ohm is standard, don't know for other regions). Sorry for writing comments so many years after original publication :-)

No... Not with an AD9850.. 10 Meters is about as high as this project/setup is good for. Thanks for asking the question though. Suspect others have wondered the same.

I agree, but those frequencies are way beyond the capabilities of the DDS and the building techniques shown here.. But don't let that stop you from building antennas for those bands. The good news is you are working with small antennas, and are often fairly easy make, so its possible to make several with small changes, and see which one performs best . Good Luck and keep building. Jim (KW4KD)

Yes. What I do is set the Sweep step increment to zero. Similarly I/you can modify the code so that rotating the encoder switch changes the frequency ( in any step interval you want; i.e, 1 hz, 10hz,.... 10khz, 20Khz, 100khz,etc) FWIW: I found that the same circuit with a slightly modified sketch will display inductance. Handy for winding your own toroids

Thanks for your interest in the project. The impedance reported is the combined value of the resistive and reactive components. No. I have not done any extensive comparisons between this unit an other "commercial" units. But using resistive terminations, of various values, and comparing their measured value to what the analyzer reports, my unit tracks pretty well for SWR's of 5 to 1 or less. How well your analyzer performs will depend on how its laid out, and how much time you devote to calibrating the finished project. FWIW I still use mine today, and have written companion sketches for it that allow me to find the inductance of a unkown inductor, (helpful when winding your own toriods). So I still consider it a useful tool. Maybe not as sophisticated as a VNA, but easy to build and use. Jim (KW4KD)

@@jmhrvy1947 Hello, I have successfully completed your project. Thank you very much for your sharing. I also added Arduino and ad9850 to the board design in your eagle file. You test the resistors in the last part of your video. How should I add or replace in Sketch? Also do you have any advice for calibration? 73 (ta1sor)

@@jmhrvy1947 and can we see results live while tuning with antenna tuner?

I'm assuming you are working with the sketch, "Ant_Analyzer_w_128x64DisplayPlusKY040RotoryEncod er.ino". There are 3 sketches , not counting the PSK sketch) found at the github site. In this sketch, there is a function called, "CorrectReading(double ReadVal)". If you wanted to change how your unit reports, this is the function you would play with. Basically, this function breaks the raw A-D value into three curves. Unfortunately I don't have a "simple" calibration procedure you can follow. What I did was basically take a number of known loads and see what the unit reported. Then used the three equations found in this function to get the results I wanted. The trick is, if you change a coefficient in one curve, you will need to check the other two (and adjust accordingly) to ensure there's not a significant discontinuity as the A-D output changes, and uses one of the other two equations to calculate the new value. "Congrats" on following through and getting the unit put together. I hope you find it to be as useful as I have. Tnx & GL, Jim(KW4KD)

@@TA1SOR I've added to the Github site the sketch "Ant_Analyzer_w_128x64DisplayPlusKY040RotoryEncoder_R1" This sketch differs from the earlier versions, in that starting at line 526, it has several "case n: //Set Freq Limits for Special Fixed Freq" options These can be used to do "live" tuning adjustments and at line 559 there is a "case 12" that can be configured to manually change the DDS frequency Think when you see the code there, you will know how to modify these lines to suit your needs. Hopefully, these additional decoder settings will be useful to what you're doing there Tnx & GL Jim(KW4KD)

+john corr John, I've not worked with either of these platforms. But taking a quick look on-line, they both look like they would be good candidates for this project. I'm assuming you're thinking about building the rotary encoder version (Not shown in the video, but available at the same github site). That being the case, the project needs 10 digital connections, and 4 analog inputs. What I'd suggest is download the sketch, and get the board you want to use, install headers on it, and then do a test trial using just jumpers [Don't worry with the bridge components at this point, just the digital parts]. When you get the sketch open( in the Arduino IDE) you will see that the pin assignments, are declared early on in the sketch. The encoder uses an interrupt pin. So that will place one constraint on your connection choices. The OLED display is assignable to pretty much any set of 5 digital pins,. And the same is true for the 4 digital pins needed to drive the AD9850. Because I used ribbon cable, I selected pins (as laid out on the Leonardo) so that the connections could be made in the same sequence the ribbon cable presented them. And I'm betting you'll be able to find a combination that work for your project. Let me know how it works out for you. 73 Jim (KW4KD)

I will try. But I can't tell if its the "How", or the "Why" with these lines (and their comments) that are giving you grief. So at the risk of over explaining, I'll try to cover both . The value "30" was the correct value for FwdSCVal in my unit. But yours will probably be different. To find your values, set both FwdSCVal = 1 and RevSCVal = 1., Then short the Antenna input & Run a sweep, As it sweeps note the readings ("FWD: aaa" & "REV: bbb" ) shown in the display. (Note, these readings will fluctuate, so take a mental average). Next, replace FwdSCVal = 1; with FwdSCVal = aaa and RevSCVal = bbb;. That's the "How". What you are trying to do, is correct for the fact that the DDS (9850) isn't a perfect voltage source (has zero resistance), plus the diodes have losses as well. If everything were perfect then, when the antenna leg was shorted the "forward" and "reflected" voltages/readings would be exactly the same; i.e "aaa" would equal "bbb", Line 345 [FWD = (RevSCVal*FWD)/FwdSCVal;// apply "Short Circuit" offset] corrects that, and assures that the two will be reported as equal when the bridge sees a short circuit condition. The part involving the variables FwdOpAmpGain & RevOpAmpGain should be set/established before trying to do the above. What it does (by shorting the two cathodes together) is temporarily force the two DC inputs to see the exact same voltage. And like in the above step, you will note (and set) these variable to their found values. When done, the sketch, at line 341, [REV = (FwdOpAmpGain*REV)/RevOpAmpGain; // apply Op Amp Gain loop compensation] will execute and, that difference gets factored back into real time readings to "even up" the differences related to opamp gain and or A to D channel variations . Hope that helps & thanks for taking an interest in this project.

+Patrick Bouldin Understand the need, and its a good question. But unfortunately this simple circuit is just a pair of peak detectors. To do what you're looking for needs something that can detect the phase angle between the two signals. They keep putting more and more things into IC packages these days so wouldn't be too surprised if something usable turns up. But for moment all this project reports is the Z value. Tnx for Asking Jim

+jmhrvy1947 Thanks Jim, sounds good. Well I guess I can temporarily load up a picture of a smith chart! Thanks and the project looks great. KM5L

+Edgar Gonzalez Edgar, It worked OK for me, I just downloaded the github files using their zip download. Then downloaded Eagle 7.5.0 to a new computer (Windows 10; 64 bit) and extracted all the zipped eagle files to the eagle folder, under Documents. And found that both the Board layout & Schematic opened without error. I was afraid when I saw your comment, that I had left something out, but I used what I call a "clean" computer to test with, so I'm not sure what to say, beyond what I've just described.. Maybe there's a nugget in what I just described, and you get it to work on your setup.. I hope so. Tnx Jim (KW4KD)

+jmhrvy1947 Thank you - now it works. I downloaded the file manually via "rightclick" and "save-as". With Zip-Download everything is okay.

+Edgar Gonzalez That's good to know. Maybe this exchange will save others from falling into that trap.. If you elect to build a version of this project, I'd love hear/see how it worked out for you

+Steve Wright I'll try: The bridge circuit is two voltage dividers. One leg has a known resistance ( in my build, it was 47 Ohms) and the other leg has an unknown resistance ( the Antenna) . If the voltage across the antenna is exactly equal to the voltage across the known resistance, then the antenna's resistance (impedance) has to be 47 ohms. On the other hand, if the voltage across the antenna was twice that of the 47 ohm load, then the impedance of the antenna must be 94 ohms. If we ran another test, and found that the voltage across the antenna was 1/2 that of the 47 ohm resistor. Then the antenna's impedance would be 23.5 ohms. In both cases the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) is "2". So the VSWR lets us calculate the antenna's impedance, by either multiplying, or dividing the known bridge resistor by the VSWR. Now the trick is to know whether you need to multiply or divide. If the Antenna's impedance greater than the known resistance, the voltage across known resistance will increase, and if the impedance is less, then the voltage will be lower. Luckily the AD9850's output is fairly flat across the frequency range of interest. So I noted the reading (FWD) when the VSWR was 1 and found it to be 116. The code uses this value as the divide or multiply decision maker. Depending on how your setup performs, you may need to tweak this value. Thanks asking Jim (KW4KD)

+jmhrvy1947 Thanks so much Jim. What a wonderful time to be in ham radio with everyone sharing toys and information. Very best regards and hope to speak to you on the air. Steve ZL1BHD

+hightensionlabs After the Build is complete, there's two sets of calibration numbers that need to be setup in the sketch. the lines involved are these: int FwdOpAmpGain = 92;// initialially set to 1; then set to FWD reading found when Cathodes of D1 and D2 are shorted together; (Op Amp Gain loop compensation) int RevOpAmpGain = 88;// initialially set to 1; then set to REV reading found when Cathodes of D1 and D2 are shorted together; (Op Amp Gain loop compensation) // Next determine these two values int FwdSCVal = 30;// initialially set to 1; then set to reading found when antenna leg of bridge is shorted; Diode sensitivity compensation int RevSCVal = 40;// initialially set to 1; then set to reading found when antenna leg of bridge is shorted; Diode sensitivity compensation They should be established/setup in the order that they appear. Initially set all 4 variables to 1: FwdOpAmpGain = 1; RevOpAmpGain = 1; FwdSCVal = 1; RevSCVal = 1; Step 1, Temporarily short the outputs of the diodes to each other (and run a "Sweep"). This ensures that the Op-Amp inputs are exactly the same input signal (during the sweep), and as a result, lets you see/read value differences related to components in the Op-Amp circuit not being exactly the same. The readings may not be steady, but I would not expect the values to fluctuate a whole lot. the important thing is to take them as pairs Once you're comfortable with a set (pair of) values and have them loaded into the FwdOpAmpGain" & "RevOpAmpGain" variables respectively. You should then see (during the sweep) readings that track very close to each other, on the Fwd and Rev lines of the display. When your happy with that, remove the short tying the two diode outputs together and go to step 2. Step 2. You start with the Ant input shorted to ground (everything else should be configured for a normal run) and FwdSCVal = 1 and . RevSCVal = 1.. This time (since the Antenna input is shorted both the forward and reverse legs (diode outputs) of the should be sending the same voltage to the A to D unit, and most of the difference in readings seen now will be due to differences in the two diodes. Again the readings you see will probably fluctuate some, but like before I would not expect it to be a whole lot. You might want to make several runs to be sure what is a good set (pair) of readings. The important thing is to try to use FWD and REV readings as pairs. So when you have them loaded (like before) the readings track very close to each other, on the Fwd and Rev lines of the display during the sweep. After that your Analyzer should be ready to use. But verify by using some test resistors as "dummy antennas" to confirm that you are getting reasonable results; i.e. A 50/47 ohm test load reads close to 1:1 (and 50 ohms); A 100 ohm resistor reads 2:1 (and ~100 ohms), and a 25/22 ohm resistor also reads close to 2:1. Hope this helps, and thank you for taking the time to build this project. Jim (KW4KD)

+jmhrvy1947 Thanks Jim I'll give it ago. Out of interest would you expect to see different fwd & rev values when swapping bands?

+jmhrvy1947 Hi Jim, I've done as you said and it now works. Thank you so much for the assistance, what a great project. :-) 73's Mark

+Liquida Decor Decorações The project presented in the video is for the hf band. To convert it UHF frequencies would require frequency doubling circuits plus build techniques suited for UHF work. The end product, while electrically the same, would look quite different

tks

There are no step by step instructions. The Arduino sketch, and a suggested component layout can be found at GitHub (See link under the video's introductory comments. However; you indicate your need is for an analyzer working in the 1 to 2 GHZ range. The DDS used in this video isn't capable of generating frequencies that high. At least not directly, as i used it here. Also the components, and layout probably wouldn't be appropriate for those frequencies. But don't know for sure, as I wasn't thinking about part of the spectrum, at the time I did the video. GL with your project.

Thanks, I was wondering if the chip determines the frequency range or is there other components that do that?

That's true. I probably oversold it

+john corr John, I apologize, I posted a reply last night, but now it seems to have disappeared. Yes, you can add as many band options as you need. To add one, find the the "// Splash Screen" method/routine. Go to the "switch" section, in this routine, and using "copy" & "paste" create a new band plan, by changing the parameters in the "pasted" section to match your needs. Then renumber the "switch" options so that your new plan appears in the sequence that you want. After that, find the interrupt routine [find/search "isr()"]. near the bottom of this routine, you should see these lines of code: virtualPosition = virtualPosition+ IncDecVal; if( IncDecVal > 0 && virtualPosition >=6 ) virtualPosition = 1; if( IncDecVal < 0 && virtualPosition

+jmhrvy1947 Thanks Jim, that works for me. Now just waiting for some components to arrive.(on a slow boat from China) 73 John VK5COR

+john corr I know about that boat ;-) After you get everything together (and assembled). You will need to set some compensation parameters found in the sketch (to work with components used in your build). I talk about it (in general terms) in the last part of the video, and there are some notations in the sketch, but I'm not sure how clear they are. So if you have questions about finding/setting them, please ask. 73

+jmhrvy1947 Hi Jim, Yes I would like some walkthru of the compensation proceedure.I have read the notations but was going to wait for the unit to be completed. I don't want to hog this site but Iam sure the info that is being explained here is of benefit to all. Thanks again . 73 John VK5COR

+jmhrvy1947 Hello again, so far some progress. I have built my rendition with a buffer amp. It's spread across two breadboards.It seems to work but with some peculiarities. The sketch runs the first 3 selected bands ok, and reports swr ok. The last two or three (higher bands) the swr reading is missing, just a blank line? Tried the standard sketch with encoder and my added band plan, both the same problem.(40,30,20 ok 15,10 no swr reading?,blank line) could it be my build "spead across two breadboard" affecting higher freq? 73 John VK5COR

If it is not accurate, it certainly *will be* an antenna tantalizer. 8>)

There probably is. But I don't have a 5351 so will have defer to another reader to offer up a work around. Thanks for your interest in this project & hope you find the answer to your question

You sure can. An LT1013 will work for sure. But there are other op amps out there that should work just as well. I'm not able to offer up an extended list to pick from. But here are a couple thoughts that may help you decide what you can use. If you are using my parts layout then you will want to pick one that is pin compatible, If you are using your own layout then you can use almost any op-amp that can run from a single 5volt supply, and is ok with the input pins going to ground. Having a high Gain Band Width Product, isn't really needed here, since the input signals change fairly slow. So in that since the LT1013 is an over kill for this application . . GL

jmhrvy1947 thank you for quick and clear answer. I can find MCP6002 here, but I just found MCP601. Looked at datasheet and those are similar but the offset voltage. Very kind of you by the way. I am not ham operator by now, but I am planning to join as soon as possible.

I believe the MCP602 will work just fine. Again GL, & hope to see/hear your call on the air soon. :-)

+Joel Caulkins Good question, other than within the sketch itself, its not been documented. What it does is let the user select which band to scan. In the original "No frills" version, the user has to define the band (frequency range) to scan before "pushing" the sketch to the Arduino. Out of the box, the "encoder" based sketch is provisioned for 40, 30, 20, 15, & 10 meters. I believe once you see the code, and if you want (or need) to, its no big deal to add other bands, or change the parameters of the ones that are there. These encoders also have built into them a momentary push button switch. Once the band has been selected, the sketch uses this button to start the scan. For some reason the encoder breakout board doesn't normally come with a push-button pull-up resistor installed. So you'll probably have to add it. The two that are already on the board are surface mount types. And the space provided for the missing one is also for a surface mount. But I had no problem soldering a standard 1/4 Watt 10K resistor in its place. On E-Bay, the Encoder Switch cost ~$2.50. So I couldn't resist adding it; However, once I started down this path, I found writing the encoder detect code was more challenging than I would have guessed. But that was , in part, because, other than the encoder (and the missing resistor) I didn't want to add any other components to project. Bottom line, The original sketch is still a good place to start. And if you like the results, and have a multi-band antenna system, then I think you'll find adding encoder is nice touch.

Jim, I have it all hooked up and the new sketch loaded and the 10K pull up resistor added to the bottom of the encoder board. Problem: It is cycling thorough the bands without me turning the encoder. If I push the button down it will select whichever band it had cycled past at that moment and start the scan as normal, but at the end of the scan it goes back to the original screen and starts cycling though the bands again before I can read the results of the last scan. It does this whether the encoder is plugged in or not. have you any ideas what I should do? I could make a video and show you if necessary. Joel KB6QVI

+Joel Caulkins Joel, if you would, go back to the github site (github.com/jmharvey1/DDS_AD9850_AntennaAnalyzer) and pull the latest version of the encoder sketch (github.com/jmharvey1/DDS_AD9850_AntennaAnalyzer/tree/master/Arduino%20Sketch%20Files/Ant_Analyzer_w_128x64DisplayPlusKY040RotoryEncoder) I just revised it to detect which Arduino board is being used. I suspect your are using the UNO board, where as I used a Leonardo type board. FWIW: I had a comment in the original sketch on how/what interrupt vector to change. But admittedly the way the sketch was written, it involved something like a half dozen lines scattered through out sketch. Which, in my book, is way more complicated than it needs to be. Otherwise, it sounds like you are making good progress, and please keep me posted on what you find. Tnx Jim

+Joel Caulkins Not that I know of. Like you most of of the boards I do here are "One-Of" efforts. But my understanding is there are companies out there that do small runs and I believe at least some of them will work directly from an eagle file.

Not straight out of the box. I think the 9850's upper limit is ~ 40/50 mhz. So to use it as a source @ 144 mhz, a freq tripler circuit would be needed. Next, the diodes used here, and component layout would also become another set of issues that would need to be reevaluated. Tnx for the comment, and interest in the project 73 de KW4KD

please contact me by email! I would like to share my construction of this project! mamutcnc@gmail.com regards

+Hans Otto Nielsen by the way I use an Arduino micro board

+Hans Otto Nielsen Hi Hans The short answer is, "I don't know". The Micro uses the same processor as the Leonardo. So would not think that is a factor I can confirm that with the display shown in the video, it doesn't do that. What you might try (and maybe you already have) is creating a bare-bones sketch that does nothing but print "Hello World" and see if you still get the Chinese characters. I wish I had something better to suggest, but I don't have access to this particular display, so I'm just having to guess. Do appreciate your interest in the project, and hope you will report back the results of your testing

+jmhrvy1947 Hi Jim Thanks for the quick response, I found the solution to my problem. Pin 15 on display print name PSB must be added to GND, so now it works. Many thanks for a very good project, that I get much pleasure from here after.

+Hans Otto Nielsen That's good news, and appreciate you describing what it took to get the display working (as I am betting there others who would like to know too). If you are happy with the original version, and you haven't already found it, there is 3rd sketch (same Github location) that adds a rotary encoder switch (~$2.50 USD). It simplifies using the bridge/Analyzer to test different bands. Again thanks for the feedback on how you fixed the display

+jmhrvy1947 Hi Jim Yes I use the encoder and associated sketch

Joel Caulkins I would appreciate it if you would. And let me how it works out for you. The link to the code & schematic got hidden behind the "Show More.." button. I'll repeat here, because I suspect others didn't know it was there too: github.com/jmharvey1/DDS_AD98... BTW: In the video, I called it a one time use project, but am finding, that now that I have it, I'm repeatedly using it. Either for tweaks to the antenna, or to see if and how weather may have effected it. tnx, gud luck, & 73 Jim, KW4KD

jmhrvy1947 That Link goes to a 404 error, but I did find it on Github. Joel KB6QVI

Joel Caulkins Your right. Apparently when I tried to copy it from the original post, it copied exactly what was showing, not the complete link. Glad you pushed through it, and found the files. To anyone else looking, please see the "intro" comments for the complete link. Joel, when you turn up other issues, please let me know.

Hi Dale I just tried the link and it worked ok. Maybe something was temporarily down. So if you're still interested please give it another go. Tnx Jim (KW4KD)

Ok got it. Just wished it came in kit form, posibly preprogrammed. Already have the uno and sweep gen coming.

Ok good deal. The Uno should work. FWIW, If I were building it new today, I'd use the SS micro (size & price). Sorry, there's no kit. But using a piece of pref-board like shown here, its a pretty easy build. Keep the runs short, and ground connections robust.

+Hakuna Matata No need to apologize for your English, but I must confess I am confused by the hyper Link you included. Is that something you added yourself? And how is it linked to the Arduino program? It might help me understand better, if you could send a link to a picture of your circuit board, and or any other photos that shows how you have your Analyzer setup. Best Regards Jim

+jmhrvy1947 Hi again, its mine link. I want to mark in beginning that I could not get the AA143, however I have AAP 153, and BAT85. In both cases I have the same problem. It is a main problem? The pins linked below: P1-A0 in arduino ;P2-A1 in arduino ;P3-D1 in AD9850 DDS ;P4-GND ;P5-+5V . W_CLK-D9 in arduino ;FQ_UD- D10 in arduino;DATA7- D11 in arduino;RESET- D12 in arduino. I am an amateur, I tried to realize layout as best as I can. Paths do not touch, I was checked it. drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5BIsYIUsoGtS3AyaDBTa09UMGM&usp=sharing

+Hakuna Matata Hakuna I apologize for taking so long to get back to you. Your pictures are excellent, and I think for many projects your build method (layout) would be fine. But this project needs the RF leads to be as short as possible. Particularly those traces (runs) related to the bridge circuit. And they also need to be as symmetrical as possible. From what I can see (in your pictures) the bridge resistors are arranged well but the diodes leads are too long, and don't appear to be close to the bridge resistors. Also you need to keep the RF run from the ad9850 to the bridge resistors as short as possible too. I could not tell if you had a 0.1 mfd bypass capacitor accross the 9850's DC input, but that capacitor needs to be located as close to the 9850 as you can get it. I know its frustrating but component placement is important to the success of this project. You may be able to get the circuit to work using a three holes per pad board like what is shown in the picture. But if possible, I would recommend you use a one hole per pad board, and arrange the components like I have them shown in the PDF Board layout file. I hope you will continue to work with this project and ultimately get it working. 73 & GL Jim (KW4KD)

ok, big thanks, i try to make a pcb by marker and etchant. In few days i write here. ;-) Again thanks for answers, 73's :)

Ok. I maked a pcb by marker and etchant. Can see the effects in comparison to the previous, but the layout does not see whether it is connected or not. Now I go sleep, maybe in few days i again try. Thats all news from me ;-)

Pref board! Ardween-o!

LOL! AHd-REE-no is another of his "alternative" speech patterns. Yes, his special way with some words may be unusual - but his electronic engineering is spot-on!