ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear that the
ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE were in the computer
assisted category. Publication is scheduled for Feb 2008 QST


A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:10:27 +0000, John Tartar wrote:

The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear that the
ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE were in the computer
assisted category. Publication is scheduled for Feb 2008 QST


A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.

Four entries? This does not bode well for the hobby :-(

IMHO, building at least some of your own stuff should be a prerequisite
for the license.

Cheers,
__
Gregg

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

Part of the reason might be that building piece by piece is getting
pretty expensive for what you end up with. For $700 or so, you can buy
a radio that works all the HF bands plus 6, 2 and 432 with all kinds of
features. Try homebrewing that for $700... :( Seems that most stuff
homebrewed these days is station accessory equipment that just makes
some task around the shack a little more convenient (I'm guilty of this
as well). I do still hombrew all of my own antennas :)

Scott
N0EDV

geek wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:10:27 +0000, John Tartar wrote:


The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear that the
ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE were in the computer
assisted category. Publication is scheduled for Feb 2008 QST


A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.


Four entries? This does not bode well for the hobby :-(

IMHO, building at least some of your own stuff should be a prerequisite
for the license.

Cheers,
__
Gregg


--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

"Scott" wrote in message
.. .
Part of the reason might be that building piece by piece is getting pretty
expensive for what you end up with. For $700 or so, you can buy a radio
that works all the HF bands plus 6, 2 and 432 with all kinds of features.
Try homebrewing that for $700... :( Seems that most stuff homebrewed
these days is station accessory equipment that just makes some task around
the shack a little more convenient (I'm guilty of this as well). I do
still hombrew all of my own antennas :)

Scott
N0EDV

Not really so Scott. Try the PicaStar group. By the grace of Analog Devices
in their enlightened policy of providing samples of even their most
expensive devices, and the price of SMD ((NOT really so difficult to work
with, just different. And you purchase new resistors and capacitors at
$0.003 each (Not a typo, 3/10ths of a cent) from DigiKey!)) Mine came in at
something under half your $700 figure for a 160-10 meter transceiver with
more bells and whistles than the average $2000 radio, and more performance
than most radios costing twice that!

W4ZCB

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

And you purchase new resistors and capacitors at
$0.003 each (Not a typo, 3/10ths of a cent) from DigiKey!)) Mine came in
at
something under half your $700 figure for a 160-10 meter transceiver with
more bells and whistles than the average $2000 radio, and more performance
than most radios costing twice that!

W4ZCB

Well, Really not a typo, but at $0.31 for ten each, for the mathematically
unchallenged, that comes out to THREE cents each. Going to have to go sweep
up all those that have flipped out into never never land, hardly ever to be
seen again and restock my supplies. Them things is more valuable than I
thought. (Although I HAVE purchased SMD parts as inexpensively as $0.003
each at hamfests)

Regards
W4ZCB

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

On Oct 29, 1:42 am, geek wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:10:27 +0000, John Tartar wrote:
The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear that the
ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE were in the computer
assisted category. Publication is scheduled for Feb 2008 QST

A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.

Four entries? This does not bode well for the hobby :-(

It's astonishing that anyone was able to meet the requirements: A $50
HF CW and voice transceiver meeting FCC spectral requirements. That's
astonishing.

I mean, 40 years ago some of were cobbling together crystal-controlled
CW transmitters for $10 or $15 plus a lot of raiding of old TV's and
radios for tubes, transformers, etc. The fact that the same inflation-
adjusted amount of money allows something that is way superior
functionally with modern stuff is good news!

IMHO, building at least some of your own stuff should be a prerequisite
for the license.

Maybe, but requiring someone to build a multimode HF transceiver from
scratch would have been even more onerous 40 years ago than it is
today. Some folks will complain about the cost of a rig (and in fact
these complaints were the impetus behind the homebrew challenge), but
with used, all-band, multimode HF rigs available for just a few
hundred dollars I don't see how cost can matter much.

There was a really funny letter that QST published over the summer,
saying "there's no way to do anything on HF without a $6000 radio and
multiple towers filled with beam arrays anymore". My response: I
turned on my old Heath HW-16 (paid $50 for it a few months before) and
worked a dozen European/Eurasian countries and Senegal without even
trying. It's like some are setting the bar way too high or way too
low, when really it's about having fun.

Tim.

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

On Oct 29, 8:26 am, wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:42:11 -0700, geek
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:10:27 +0000, John Tartar wrote:

The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear that the
ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE were in the computer
assisted category. Publication is scheduled for Feb 2008 QST

It's the $50 limit! Thats way too low under $100 then it's doable.

A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.

Four entries? This does not bode well for the hobby :-(

No it may speak badly for the challenge. I've built a lot of SSB
VHF radios and $50 is a tight budget even with a large junkbox
assist.

IMHO one of the basic premises of the challenge - that the lack of sub-
$50 radios is limiting access to the hobby - is the problem. After the
designs are published and we don't see a huge influx of new hams, I
think we'll finally be able to abolish the thought that sub-$50 radios
aren't the silver bullet and move on to facing the real challenges
instead of stupid lines in the sand.

That said, I really look forward to the clever things done to make a
multimode HF transceiver for just $50.

Tim.

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

Well $50 is definitely Do-Able, for a SSB/CW radio.
There's a picture of one on the front page of the yahoo group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

The fact that the are only 4 entries is a little disappointing,
especially since none were Software Defined Radios.
However, the task is difficult, and the prize was only a token $100.
I know of a few hams who started designs but didn't finish in time.

I've looked at the Picastar group, and that's real homebrew, they want
you to iron Xerox paper onto blank PCB stock to make your SMT boards. So
it's $300 in material, and probably 300 hours of your time. But saving
money is not the normal reason for homebrewing these days. For $300 you
could buy a decent used 160-10M HF radio on EBay.

The first radio I built (in the 60's) was a simple 1 tube crystal
controlled transmitter featured in an Electronics magazine that you could
build for $7. Adjusting for inflation, $7 is about equal to $50 today.
And for $50 you get much mo a VFO, digital readout, TX&RX, CW&SSB.

I think the point of the $50 HF radio, is to attract VHF only hams to try
HF. What's the statistic? 75% of all hams never operate on HF? The new
no-code license should let these Tech class hams get a general pretty
easily.



On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:10:27 +0000, John Tartar wrote:

The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear
that the
ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE were in the
computer
assisted category. Publication is scheduled for Feb 2008 QST

It's the $50 limit! Thats way too low under $100 then it's doable.

A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.

Four entries? This does not bode well for the hobby :-(

No it may speak badly for the challenge. I've built a lot of SSB
VHF radios and $50 is a tight budget even with a large junkbox
assist.

IMHO, building at least some of your own stuff should be a prerequisite
for the license.

I do but, I am in a minority.

Allison


Tim Shoppa wrote in
s.com:

On Oct 29, 1:42 am, geek wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:10:27 +0000, John Tartar wrote:
The deadline for the ARRL homebrew challenge has passed and I hear
that the ARRL received 4 entries, all NO computer radios. NONE
were in the computer assisted category. Publication is scheduled
for Feb 2008 QST

A Yahoo group was started to discuss developments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARRLHBC/

Some of the entrants have posting info about their entries there.

Four entries? This does not bode well for the hobby :-(

It's astonishing that anyone was able to meet the requirements: A $50
HF CW and voice transceiver meeting FCC spectral requirements. That's
astonishing.

I mean, 40 years ago some of were cobbling together crystal-controlled
CW transmitters for $10 or $15 plus a lot of raiding of old TV's and
radios for tubes, transformers, etc. The fact that the same inflation-
adjusted amount of money allows something that is way superior
functionally with modern stuff is good news!

IMHO, building at least some of your own stuff should be a
prerequisite for the license.

Maybe, but requiring someone to build a multimode HF transceiver from
scratch would have been even more onerous 40 years ago than it is
today. Some folks will complain about the cost of a rig (and in fact
these complaints were the impetus behind the homebrew challenge), but
with used, all-band, multimode HF rigs available for just a few
hundred dollars I don't see how cost can matter much.

There was a really funny letter that QST published over the summer,
saying "there's no way to do anything on HF without a $6000 radio and
multiple towers filled with beam arrays anymore". My response: I
turned on my old Heath HW-16 (paid $50 for it a few months before) and
worked a dozen European/Eurasian countries and Senegal without even
trying. It's like some are setting the bar way too high or way too
low, when really it's about having fun.

Tim.

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

Tim Shoppa wrote:

SNIP

IMHO one of the basic premises of the challenge - that the lack of sub-
$50 radios is limiting access to the hobby - is the problem. After the
designs are published and we don't see a huge influx of new hams, I
think we'll finally be able to abolish the thought that sub-$50 radios
aren't the silver bullet and move on to facing the real challenges
instead of stupid lines in the sand.

That said, I really look forward to the clever things done to make a
multimode HF transceiver for just $50.

Tim.

How about the BITX20? That can made for $50 surely.
http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/bitx.html



Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org

ARRL Homebrew Challenge
 

Hi,

On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:26:50 +0000, no.spam wrote:

snip
It's the $50 limit! Thats way too low under $100 then it's doable.

I'm not an RF collector by any means, but a HiFi guy and I'm sure I have
enough stuff kicking around to make such with a $0 output.

I did breadboard a tube SSB exciter for 27MHz... dunno of its spectral
purity but it got out *shrug*

Cheers,
__
Gregg