Hello,
I'm looking to rig up a cheap way
to monitor the local repeater without having to invest in a complete
transceiver.

I've just gotten into VHF ham radio (HF is more familiar to me). I'm not too
strong in making radio receivers, but I made VCO's, so I have some homebrew
skills:-)
I need a 2m receiver circuit, with good selectivity and stable frequency.
I've seen some easy to build circuits with good performance on Motorola
IC's, but I can't find that circuit in my country. Well in my country there
is a bit difficult to buy any kit or specific parts, so I will do everything
from parts I could find at local radio shack store.

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Edgar
73!

Cheap scanner from your local Buy & Sell paper?

--
Gregg
*It's probably useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca

Cheap scanner from your local Buy & Sell paper?

--
Gregg
*It's probably useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca

Gregg wrote in news:ZF1Gb.21839$6b2.4981@edtnps84:

Cheap scanner from your local Buy & Sell paper?


BUY something?? Sort of misses the point of posting to
rec.radio.ameteur.HOMEBREW, doesn't it? Anyway, none of us have any money!
;-)

For my money, I would probably follow a design of a crystal controlled RX
(one channel with probably the same drift as the TX you want to hear!).
There are several designs for this, but consider a few small things first:

1. How local is local? Is the repeater within ~10km - and is there
another powerful signal on a close frequency)? If there is a powerful
local signal, you might have to select your design to be more selective.

2. What aerial can you have? Again, if the repeater is strong and the
other close signals are weak, you can use a very simple radio and still get
good results.

3. How much radio building and fault-finding experience you have.

Gregg wrote in news:ZF1Gb.21839$6b2.4981@edtnps84:

Cheap scanner from your local Buy & Sell paper?


BUY something?? Sort of misses the point of posting to
rec.radio.ameteur.HOMEBREW, doesn't it? Anyway, none of us have any money!
;-)

For my money, I would probably follow a design of a crystal controlled RX
(one channel with probably the same drift as the TX you want to hear!).
There are several designs for this, but consider a few small things first:

1. How local is local? Is the repeater within ~10km - and is there
another powerful signal on a close frequency)? If there is a powerful
local signal, you might have to select your design to be more selective.

2. What aerial can you have? Again, if the repeater is strong and the
other close signals are weak, you can use a very simple radio and still get
good results.

3. How much radio building and fault-finding experience you have.

In article ,
says...
Hello,
I'm looking to rig up a cheap way
to monitor the local repeater without having to invest in a complete
transceiver.

I've just gotten into VHF ham radio (HF is more familiar to me). I'm not too
strong in making radio receivers, but I made VCO's, so I have some homebrew
skills:-)
I need a 2m receiver circuit, with good selectivity and stable frequency.
I've seen some easy to build circuits with good performance on Motorola
IC's, but I can't find that circuit in my country. Well in my country there
is a bit difficult to buy any kit or specific parts, so I will do everything
from parts I could find at local radio shack store.

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Edgar
73!


Look at the chips in the Philips SA604AD/SA605AD line. They're great
for FM receiver construction.

-- jm

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.qsl.net/ke5fx
Note: My E-mail address has been altered to avoid spam
------------------------------------------------------

In article ,
says...
Hello,
I'm looking to rig up a cheap way
to monitor the local repeater without having to invest in a complete
transceiver.

I've just gotten into VHF ham radio (HF is more familiar to me). I'm not too
strong in making radio receivers, but I made VCO's, so I have some homebrew
skills:-)
I need a 2m receiver circuit, with good selectivity and stable frequency.
I've seen some easy to build circuits with good performance on Motorola
IC's, but I can't find that circuit in my country. Well in my country there
is a bit difficult to buy any kit or specific parts, so I will do everything
from parts I could find at local radio shack store.

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Edgar
73!


Look at the chips in the Philips SA604AD/SA605AD line. They're great
for FM receiver construction.

-- jm

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.qsl.net/ke5fx
Note: My E-mail address has been altered to avoid spam
------------------------------------------------------

Elektor Magazine did a 2M FM receiver a few years ago. They have good
quality PCBs so most of the job is done. The only problem was that the
oscillator was free running and tunable. This might not be stable enough. In
this case I would suggest a crystal osc for a single frequency, multiplied
up. If you want it programmable, you will have to use a PLL circuit, and
things start to get a bit harder. Could you try E Bay for an old FM rig and
modify it?

Richard

Edgar wrote in message
...
Hello,
I'm looking to rig up a cheap way
to monitor the local repeater without having to invest in a complete
transceiver.

I've just gotten into VHF ham radio (HF is more familiar to me). I'm not
too
strong in making radio receivers, but I made VCO's, so I have some
homebrew
skills:-)
I need a 2m receiver circuit, with good selectivity and stable frequency.
I've seen some easy to build circuits with good performance on Motorola
IC's, but I can't find that circuit in my country. Well in my country
there
is a bit difficult to buy any kit or specific parts, so I will do
everything
from parts I could find at local radio shack store.

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Edgar
73!

Elektor Magazine did a 2M FM receiver a few years ago. They have good
quality PCBs so most of the job is done. The only problem was that the
oscillator was free running and tunable. This might not be stable enough. In
this case I would suggest a crystal osc for a single frequency, multiplied
up. If you want it programmable, you will have to use a PLL circuit, and
things start to get a bit harder. Could you try E Bay for an old FM rig and
modify it?

Richard

Edgar wrote in message
...
Hello,
I'm looking to rig up a cheap way
to monitor the local repeater without having to invest in a complete
transceiver.

I've just gotten into VHF ham radio (HF is more familiar to me). I'm not
too
strong in making radio receivers, but I made VCO's, so I have some
homebrew
skills:-)
I need a 2m receiver circuit, with good selectivity and stable frequency.
I've seen some easy to build circuits with good performance on Motorola
IC's, but I can't find that circuit in my country. Well in my country
there
is a bit difficult to buy any kit or specific parts, so I will do
everything
from parts I could find at local radio shack store.

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Edgar
73!

Thanks to everyone, I found pretty easy to build 2m receiver. And it is
working quite well, all I have to do is to find box to it.
Well digital readout would be advantage, but I'll try to manage it later.
Maybe on 2004.

Happy DX next year.

Your sincerely,
Edgar
73!