On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 06:43:34 GMT, Andy Ball wrote:

Is anyone here able to point me in the direction of a 10m or
6m CW receiver kit? I would like something that's fairly
simple to build (I don't have a lot of test equipment) but
would perform well enough to let me monitor a few beacons
and perhaps some fairly local CW activity (if there is any).

Any receiver capable of receiving SSB or DSP will be able to receive
CW i.e. some kind of BFO is required. I don't know any way to make a
CW _receiver_ in any simpler way than a DSB receiver.

Making a direct conversion receiver would be quite hard for the 10/6 m
bands, since there would be a lot of problems with stability. A more
practical approach would be to use a crystal controlled convert to
convert the signal down to say 3.5 MHz and then use a tunable direct
conversion receiver.

Most simple Rx kits for 6 m are FM only (as well as some 10 m
versions), which are usually not usable for CW reception. Of course if
there is only a single very strong CW in the band (e.g. monitoring if
a local beacon is functioning), you might take an FM kit, locate the
signal strength output at the FM-detector IC and use it to key an
audio oscillator :-). Replacing the ceramic filter in the last (455
kHz) IF with a narrow filter will also help, provided that the
receiver is stable enough, so that the signal will remain within the
narrow filter bandpass. However, such systems are useless in any
crowded bands or for receiving any weak signals.

Paul OH3LWR