** Latest WVARS Project ***
WVARS Winter 2021/22 Project
RF Signal Generator
At the club in November 2021,
we started to build our winter construction project, an handheld RF Signal
Generator. Most of us completed the build in the 2 hours we were
at the club, and all worked which is always great to see. Help
was also on hand at our meeting on Monday 17th January
2022 to get the remaining kits finished off and tested.
Welland
Valley Amateur Radio Society Winter 2021/22 Construction Project - RF Signal Generator.
(1) What is it?
An RF signal generator that produces a signal from 10kHz to at least 200MHz.
The power output can range from 10mW to a few uW making it suitable for many purposes from
a temporary Local Oscillator to a receiver test signal. It's intended to be a useful bit of test equipment in the shack.
The signal is normally non-modulated CW.
Included is the ability to send a short CW modulated message of 32 characters. This message can be
edited into the source and is non-volatile and repeating, so the unit becomes a CW beacon.
Control of the functions is by a rotary encoder and two push buttons. There is a 4 X 16 character OLED
display. RF output is by 3 SMA connectors.
The power source is a PP3 type 9V battery.
This is a picture of the prototype.
(2) How easy is it to build ?
The unit has been designed to be easy to put together. Everything mounts on a single PCB.
There are no Surface Mount components to solder. It's all Thru Hole apart from the SMA connectors.
They solder to the top end of the PCB. There are some fairly small parts, but nothing too bad.
This is the PCB, and yes they really are this colour.
This drops straight into a 60 X 100mm plastic box.
The box has pre-cut holes for the connectors, and the lid of the box is pre-cut for the
display and the controls. The code is pre-installed on the 28 pin IC, so it all should just work.
I reckon it should be a relaxing 2 hour build. No need to rush.
(3) What does it cost
The complete kit costs £12. This includes everything apart from a PP3 type (MN1604) battery.
(4) What tools do I need to build it
Essential:-
Small soldering iron and suitable solder
Small cross head screwdriver
Small flat end screwdriver
Pair of small wire cutters
Useful to have:-
Tweezers/Small pliers
Good light source and suitable extension cable
Multimeter for testing
Tim (G8JFX)
DVB-T SDR
Receiver
Club Construction Project
M0UKD's 9:1 Un-Un Balun
These are usually called a Magnetic Longwire Balun. Its really an impedance transformer (9:1) to feed a high impedance long wire (~450 ohm), down to a 50 ohm unbalanced coaxial input. I have heard them called an UnUn which seems more appropriate. I almost bought one of these for around £30, but then decided to make one. The toroid is a T130-2 Iron Powder core, with 3 x 9 turns of 18SWG enammeled copper wire, and the connections can be seen below.
Construction Project 2008/2009
RX/TX Computer Interface.
(Originally by Rahul Srivastava, VU3WJM)
These days it's very easy to dig deep into your pocket and pull out £100 and buy an off the shelf black box type interface to use on the "DIGI MODES". However it's much more rewarding to build your own for a few pounds.
This interface can be used on one of the many DIGI Modes such as PSK31, MFSK16, MT16, Hellschriber, SSTV, RTTY, AMTOR, PACTOR, PACKET, CW, Echolink and EQSO. Not forgetting the later WINDRM or FDMDV Digital Audio over analogue radio modes.
The original design by VU3WJM can be found on the following webpage http://www.hamradioindia.org/circuits/digivu.php
Step 1. Making the PCB.
Wear eye protection and protective gloves.
Carry out the etching in workshop/shed or garage and wear old clothing.
Avoid splashing the Ferric Chloride solution, it stains clothes and wallpaper!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Equipment Required
Photosensitive PCB (Positive) material 60mm x 80mm.
Transparency of the PCB overlay track.
UV Light box.
Laser Printer.
Ferric Chloride Hexahydrate Granules.
Universal Developer.
Container for developing the PCB.
Container for etching the PCB.
0.5Lt Water.
PCB Drill.
Eye protection goggles.
Latex protective gloves.
Transparency of the PCB Overlay
Right Click image above and "Save As"
When printed the two holes shown below
should be 70mm between centres
(Check as different printers vary)
Download the PCB overlay.
Print the overlay image of the PCB tracks onto a transparency sheet of the type used on overhead projectors. You will get much better results using a laser printer. Also print in monochrome and not greyscale or colour. When you look at the black tracks they should be solid black in colour.
Place the Overlay in the Light box and then place the Photosensitive PCB on top of the Transparency.
Expose to UV light (Time depends on UV light source).
Remove the Photosensitive PCB from the light box and you should see a fait outline of the tracks on the PCB.
Dissolve the universal developer powder in warm water (50°C). Use 25g of universal developer powder to 1/2 litre of water. Allow to cool down to about 22°C before use.
Pour your developer solution into a suitable container and placing the UV exposed PCB into the dissolved developer solution.
Gently rock the container to create a small waves in the solution. You should see the tracks starting to appear. Leave in the developer and keep rocking the container gently until all of the tracks appear clear.
Remove the developed PCB and rinse under running water.
Dissolve the Ferric Chloride Granules in warm water (50°C) in a suitable container.
Allow the dissolved Ferric Chloride solution to cool to about 22°C before use.
Place the developed PCB into the Ferric Chloride solution and again gently rock the container from side to side, it can take between 10 to 20 minutes for the etching process to complete.
Once the PCB has been etched and you can clearly see the tracks of the PCB, remove it from the solution and rinse the board off under a running tap.
Use a small PCB drill to drill the component mounting holes.
Homebrew PCB
Components Required
Component | Description | QYT | |||
PCB1 | PCB | 1 | |||
D1 & D2 | 1N4148 Diode | 2 | |||
R1 | 3k3 ohm 1/4 watt Resistor | 1 | |||
R2 & R3 | 1k5 ohm 1/4 watt Resistor | 2 | |||
R4 | 100 ohm 1/4 watt Resistor | 1 | |||
R5 & R6 | 33 ohm 1/4 watt Resistor | 2 | |||
OP1 | Opto Isolator IC | 1 | |||
SK1 | 6 pin DIL Socket | 1 | |||
T1 | 600:600 Audio Transformer | 1 | |||
VR1 | 500 ohm potentiometer | 1 | |||
C3 | 1 uf 63v Electrolytic Capacitor | 1 | |||
C1, C2 & C4 | 0.01uf Ceramic Capacitor | 3 |
Step 2. Soldering components to the PCB.
The PCB below shows where all of the components should be installed. The component layout is very straight forward. Just take care to install the electrolytic capacitor the correct way around and also the two 1N4148 diodes
Your board should look something like this below.....
Here is the circuit diagram