Way back in 2016 I purchased a QRP multi-protocol transmitter kit from QRP Labs (https://qrp-labs.com). I believe my thinking was that SOARA could use this to replace the clubs K6LLL memorial 10 meter beacon at Temple Hill.
The current K6LLL beacon consists of a BASIC Stamp microcontroller that generates the keying for a Radio Shack HTX-100 10 Meter transceiver. When running at 100% duty cycle, the HTX-100 transceivers would fail regularly. I updated my STAMP code to reduce the duty cycle to transmit every 30 seconds which has increased the life-span of the HTX-100 greatly!
Fast forward to July 2022 and I’ve finally taken the time to gather the instructions and kit parts and put it together.
The main board contains the ATmega328 AVR microcontroller, LCD display, Si5351A clock-generator and RF Power Amplifier. Two momentary contact pushbuttons enable configuration of the various settings. A single or relay switched Low Pass Filter board provides the necessary output filtering.
Assembly was fairly straight forward. There are several toroids to wind. The surface-mount synthesizer is already pre-soldered. The rest of the parts are through-hole. There are quite a few components on the circuit board that are not populated which adds a little confusion. The most important thing for me was to find the right construction manual for my kit version as the circuit and components has changed over the years.
QRP Labs has a lot of different kits including a new 5 band digital modes transceiver. I highly recommend their excellent kits.
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