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Well the KX3 is almost completed and this is the 3rd of a 4 part assembly video of the radio. In this YouTube video I go over the problems I had with the ATU installation, the roofing filter board issue and the battery holder oops I had and needed to correct before there was damage. The build is almost complete but have a look and either get excited about purchasing one or pick up some pointers before you do  your build.



Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

There’s been a higher than usual level of activity on the AT-Sprint email list over the last few days as  hints have emerged of a possible new offering of the popular MTR (Mountain Topper Radio) the latest of Steve Weber KD1JV’s radios that define the possibilities of ‘trail friendly’. To get a view of one in action check out this video from G4ISJ shot on a SOTA activation.

Steve KD1JV is the designer behind the PFR-3 and a number of other radios offered by Doug Hendricks’ QRP Kits along with the new Tri-bander Transceiver kit. But he also enjoys a passionate following for his high performance but tiny (Altoids tin size) radios in the ATS series where ATS stands for Appalachian Trail Sprint. These radios (especially the ATS-3B and the MTR) are prized by ham hikers and walkers who watch the ounces and milliamps. They are also an example of masterful interface design using small push buttons and minimal LED display. As Steve mentioned recently in a post reflecting his deep field operating experience “Little tiny rigs and knobs don’t work well together”.

During the buzz earlier today about whether he would offer more of the MTR kits (he will), Steve also announced his latest project “An 80/160 dual band rig with direct conversion receiver and a DDS/PLL hybrid VFO using all through hole parts.” (The ATS series made extensive use of microscopic SMD components and lots of the assistance Steve offers via the AT Sprint Yahoo group is concerned with discovering and rectifying makers’ errors assembling these devices.)

His website carries a pretty detailed three-page description of the design thinking behind the new rig which he’s calling the Super Deluxe Direct Conversion Transceiver. Tantalisingly he’s suggested it may be able to work at 500kHz. The new rig also features an “LCD frequency read out, built-in keyer and rotary tuning”.

He’s planning to offer only 50 kits at about US$75 at the end of November. Expect to see them sell out in two minutes! I suspect if he offered 200, they might last an hour or two.

Stephen Rapley, VK2RH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New South Wales, Australia. Contact him at [email protected].

I took this week off as it was the kids half term and the great British weather meant that not much of it was spent outside. The idea was to get out on the bike and get on the air on the fells. Not a chance! Time for a bit of radio with the helpful hands of a 4 year old and a bored 6 year old.

The shack PSU had packed up again and after wrestling with it for a few hours I gave up and took the Atmega 328 IC out of my Arduino Uno after programming it with the MSF clock code to attempt to build a very bare bones design that will be my first PCB since about 1990, when I made a truly iconic lights on reminder for my non existent car at University.

The video is just me powering up the clock and getting quite excited that it worked. Enjoy.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 2 November 2012

No WSPR yesterday as I had to keep a hospital appointment. Today you can see that propagation is appreciably worse than on previous days when I have run WSPR. There were significantly fewer and fainter traces on the WSPR application screen as well.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

I monitored a QSO between W2LJ and W1JSB this evening. Then I had a QSO with Larry myself. He has been out of power in South Plainfield, NJ since Monday night around 8:00 pm. He is using his KX3 at 5 watts on 3560 with a doublet. He says his antennas all survived the storm. The power came back on briefly Wednesday but went out again and has been off ever since. He’s OK but says the house is getting chilly. I hope to work him again tomorrow evening. 73 Jim W1PID

Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Dr. Bob Heil, K9EID, is the founder of Heil Sound and host of TWiT.tv's Ham Nation which streams live each Tuesday at 6:00pm PT (9:00pm ET) at http://live.twit.tv. Contact him at [email protected].

I have good news and I have bad news.  The good news, with less than 60 days to go, I’m happy to report I’ve managed a QSO per day for over 300 consecutive days this year.   The bad news, my streak of working one new DX entity each month has come to an end.  However, the 2012 challenge was not about working a new DX entity each month.  That was just simply a product of being more active in the shack.  I’m focused to continue to push and complete my 2012 Challenge.   

The QSO breakdown for October is as follows:

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
38

SSB    
15

PSK31 
0

2m FM  
1

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked in October – 8

New DX Entities in October – 0

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 1337

Total consecutive QSO days – 305

Days left in 2012 – 61

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is the host of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Contact him at [email protected].