'Summit Prowler 7': Scratch-built SSB CW 50 watt transceiver for 80 to 20m 

Thanks for commenting, I like to show the whole story. It's not finished until you can use it in a field or on a mountain.

Thanks Ian!

Thanks Tom, your inspiration played a part!

Thanks, I don't have a TV, maybe that explains it!

Wow, thank you! I hope you can check oit some of my other projects, I have two more recent transceivers, 73 Paul VK3HN.

Thanks, it's just pure old fashioned linear circuitry from antenna to speaker.

@@Paul_VK3HN cant beat that. I am getting ready to build an airpal radio kit. Not at your level but should be fun

Thanks. Its nit that hard. I have been known to wind toroids while train commuting to work. Well, other passengers knit. Toroids winding isn't that different. At least I'm not another smartphone addicted sheep! Haha, well I am most days! 73.

Vk3hn.wordpress.com

Thanks Patrick!

Thanks Adam!

Good luck with uSDX!

I've never had a problem with an SA612 product detector; my PCBs are hand drawn with a range of felt tip pens, then FeCl3 etched, sometimes tinned, sometimes sprayed with clear satin enamel. Thanks for commenting!

Thanks Andrew!

Nearly as good as your high energy ZL SOTA outings, hi!

Thanks!

You can do it! Take your time, one board at a time, and you will learn more than you know! Good luck 👍

@@Paul_VK3HN 👍

Thanks! I still use this rig quite regularly. And thanks for all your brilliant explanatory videos!

​@@Paul_VK3HN Thanks for the kind words! I was wondering, you used quite a few relays in the signal path to switch between the various filters, did you use a special type or relay or does it not really matter? I'm thinking if the relay contacts pose a discontinuity for the RF... I know there are special "RF" relays where the contacts are built to have controlled impedance, but I'm wondering at what frequency those start to become necessary

@@FesZElectronics I use what the retailers call a miniature telecom relay, DPDT, 2A contacts. www.altronics.com.au/p/s4130c-2a-12vdc-dpdt-pcb-mount-telecom-relay/ These are compact and in my experience work fine as small signal RF mechanical switches. I have used them up to 28mhz. I think the common thinking on relays is that they are fine at HF, to 30mhz, and some may be OK up to 144mhz. The limiting factor is stray C (a few pF) and L (I've never measured it). Also RF power level. In the past, it was 'best practice' to pass a small DC current through the closed relay contacts (as well as the RF signal) to prevent contact oxidation. This was called 'wetting'. This was done in a homebrew transceiver called the HBR 2000, pages may still be online. However this practice seems to have disappeared and I think it's because relays these days are sealed and have much better quality contacts. There are many HF commercial, kit and homebrew transceivers that use these kinds of relays in the signal path. For RF power above a few watts, or above 100MHz, I would use an RF relay. However, this page from W6PQL illustrates how even $5 relays can work at VHF. www.w6pql.com/using_inexpensive_relays.htm It is better practice these days to use solid state switching of low level RF with PIN diodes or a cheap substitute, or with a RF switch such as SA630 of FST3253. Hope this helps! 73 Paul VK3HN.

@@Paul_VK3HN Thank you for the very detailed response and the article link, I'll study it in more detail

Hi Steve. No CW filtering, only one IF filter and it is SSB bandwidth. So it's not a CW contest rig. We do not suffer from the same band congestion at peak times that other regions do so I would argue that a narrow filter is not essential to enjoy CW in my part of VK. Receiver draw is approx 220mA, Tx 5 watts about 1.5A, Tx 50 watts about 5 to 7A. Using a 5AH LiPo I can get three activations on 50 watts CW, averaging about 10 QSOs each time. It's a good all round package for HF portable. Could be lighter, but then, you lose features. 73.

A good suggestion Andrew. There are lots of CW decoder on the Interwebs, so in the mean time see what others have made. Thanks for subscribing!

@@Paul_VK3HN still would like to see how u build one

@@Paul_VK3HN i dont need a decoder but i know people who would like to see one be built regardless what others build

Thanks Ivan. Careful layout, keeping the transmitter input well away from the output, some use of physical screening, lots of conventional supply bypassing, good earthing . Include an LC RF filter between mic and first mic amp. I too expected RF feedback problems in this 50w rig, but I have avoided it. Maybe a bit of luck as well!

Thank you

Thanks, I have watched your bush survival QRP videos, some tough expeditions!

@@Paul_VK3HN thank you my friend, hope we meet on the air one day. Cheers...

Thanks! Do you mean how many pulses or interrupts per turn, or how many kHz? The optical encoder generates far too many pulses per turn, so I added a line of code to increment a counter and ignore 3 of every 4 pulses. It might have been 7 of every 8 pulses. The code is on github. I cannot recall for sure and the rig is not in use at the moment, but it's tuning rate with 100 Hz increments is about the same as other commercial rigs, say 10kHz per turn.

@@Paul_VK3HN I was just wondering what encoder you used i was going to get one "100/200/360/400/500/600P/R Photoelectric Incremental Rotary Encoder" wondering if to just buy a 100p/r?

​@@klejzbigniew I used this one , they are available from lots of sources. www.minikits.com.au/ENC-360-6 I have tried a variety of mechanical encoders, all have worked.

Not really, I've just gotten into the habit of high side switching, low side is probably conventional, as you imply!