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).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

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).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

Thanks. Ramsey have 10m and 6m RX kits, but they're FM and
the beacons that I was hoping to hear transmit CW. I have a
TenTec kit, but it's more complex than I had hoped and I'm
told that it will work better on 80m or 40m than 10m, so I
will probably build it for 40m when I eventually pluck up
the courage (and source a nice vernier for the tuning).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Try http://www.hamtronics.com and scroll down the menu bar on the left
side to Receiving & Xmtg Converters and then select VHF & UHF Receiving
Converters. These will listen to any mode (AM,FM,SSB,CW,PSK31,etc.)
that your I.F. rig can copy. I've built many Hamtronics kits over the
years and they are simple and tune up with a voltmeter. A frequency
counter might be nice to get the oscillator exactly on frequency, but it
probably isn't absolutely necessary.

Scott
N0EDV

Andy Ball wrote:

RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

Thanks. Ramsey have 10m and 6m RX kits, but they're FM and
the beacons that I was hoping to hear transmit CW. I have a
TenTec kit, but it's more complex than I had hoped and I'm
told that it will work better on 80m or 40m than 10m, so I
will probably build it for 40m when I eventually pluck up
the courage (and source a nice vernier for the tuning).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Oops. I see the Hamtronics 6M to 10M receive converters are only sold
as assembled units, so you don't have to worry about getting the crystal
on frequency! The have obviously redesigned the converters since they
now use surface mount technology. Still wish they offered them in kit
form as I'm not scared of surface mounting anymore...building a 10 GHz
transverter right now and it hasn't been that tough. However, I need to
keep up the allergy medication so I don't sneeze!

Scott
N0EDV

Scott wrote:

Try http://www.hamtronics.com and scroll down the menu bar on the left
side to Receiving & Xmtg Converters and then select VHF & UHF Receiving
Converters. These will listen to any mode (AM,FM,SSB,CW,PSK31,etc.)
that your I.F. rig can copy. I've built many Hamtronics kits over the
years and they are simple and tune up with a voltmeter. A frequency
counter might be nice to get the oscillator exactly on frequency, but it
probably isn't absolutely necessary.

Scott
N0EDV

Andy Ball wrote:


RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

Thanks. Ramsey have 10m and 6m RX kits, but they're FM and
the beacons that I was hoping to hear transmit CW. I have a
TenTec kit, but it's more complex than I had hoped and I'm
told that it will work better on 80m or 40m than 10m, so I
will probably build it for 40m when I eventually pluck up
the courage (and source a nice vernier for the tuning).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Hello Scott,

Thanks for the reference. The transvertors aren't quite
what I'm after, but they may come in useful at some point so
it's good to know about them.

73,
- Andy, KB9YLW

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).

don't know about 10M being a tech, but only time I hear 6M cw is FD

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

"an_old_friend" wrote in message
oups.com...

don't know about 10M being a tech, but only time I hear 6M cw is FD

10M CW is fairly active when the band is open, which at this point in the
sunspot cycle is infrequent. 10m catches a little of the Es that you get on
6, but in addition, it gets real F openings which are really amazing. But
with the flux hanging under 100, that doesn't happen very often.

...

In article t, 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).

Andy-

Check out http://www.elecraft.com/ for some quite good kits. They may not
have exactly what you are looking for, but the equipment has a first class
reputation.

I understand you can buy a simpler kit and add to it with upgrades later.
I don't know if they have a receive-only kit or not.

73, Fred, K4DII

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