[10m] Status of the KO6BB/B 10M beacon

[Philip KO6BB]

Hi All,

I haven't given up on this project.  It's progressing right along,
all-be-it, not quite as quickly as I'd have liked, primarily due to having
to wait on the arrival of a few needed parts.

Due to budget restraints and the fact that this project isn't very high on
my priority list, it had to be either a "zero cost" or very low cost
project.  This included antenna, 10M beacon transmitter AND CW keyer.  So
far, thanks to help from others it has been basically "zero cost".

Here is the overall status of the various components of the beacon.

1.  Transmitter:  The project was kicked off when the owner of the mobile
home park here gave me a defunct JC Penny 40 Channel CB Radio.  I quickly
repaired it, determined it was then functional and planned/started the mods
to make a CW transmitter out of it.
    A.  ALL extraneous receive/audio circuitry was removed, including the
modulation transformer, Audio output IC etc.  By jumping across the
secondary of the Mod transformer and the associated isolation diode, RF
output was increased from 4 to 6.8 watts (only slight RF tweaking was
needed).
    B.  A new, higher power replacement "Final" transistor is expected to
arrive next week.  My "Target" power output is 8-10 Watts.
    C.  Experiments were conducted to determine what Xtal frequency was
needed for the Transmit mixer.  A want was then put out for something
"close".  Two Xtals arrived in my mailbox this week.  One wouldn't work at
all, the other one functioned just fine and gives me 6 "channels" in the 10
Meter Beacon Sub-band (28,200-28,300 KCs) at 10KCs increments, just by
switching the channel selector.
    D.  In checking the "Key-line" current on the radios original PTT
circuit it indicated about 50mA of current through that line.  Removing the
"TX Indicator" lamp the key current dropped to ~20mA.  I will replace the
light bulb with an LED to indicate transmitter "Keying".
    E.  A transistor is being added in the keyline to handle the actual
keying current and that will be switched with an actual Opto-coupler for
isolation from the keying computer's RS-232 port.

2.  Antenna: What prompted me to start this project in the first place was
the "free" Ringo 11 Meter half-wavelength antenna and JC Penny Mobile CB.
    A.  This antenna had obviously been up for very many years and required
extensive clean-up and overhaul.  ALL hardware was heavily rusted, requiring
some screw-heads to be cut off with a Dremmel tool.
    B.  The matching "ring" was broken right at the bolt-down point,
requiring flattening and drilling of a new mounting hole.  This makes the
ring about an inch shorter, but since the frequency is higher (and it's
adjustable) I don't anticipate problems tuning it.
    C.  All of the "Clamping hardware" (like hose clamps) are heavily rusted
and may have to be "cut off".  For the sake of economy, these clamps will
NOT be replaced, but rather each section will be secured with a screw
through it, similar to the way my Butternut HF-2V is assembled.  ALL except
the top section which will use a clamp to make it adjustable/tunable.
    D.  A friend from Sacramento is planning to come down here next week and
bring me some more RG-213 coax cable for this antenna (ALL my HF antennas
use this RG-213).  Perhaps overkill for a 10 Watt beacon, but I may also
want to use the antenna for "hamming" when the "Spots" arrive back.  Also
the lower loss will allow more RF to be radiated!

3.  Keyer:  As mentioned before, I intend to use the OLD NEC Pentium lap-top
for a keyer.
    A.  At first I'll be using Lyle Koelor's keyer software, which allows
for 2 keying speeds and messages of about any length. I plan to have the
beacon ID at roughly 13WPM, occasionally interspersed with a "slower" ID.
The slower ID WON't have the additional information like Grid Square etc.
The slow ID will be for the benefit of those who aren't "CW proficient"
(MOST of the new operators coming out).
    B.  After the total project has been on-air "proofed" I will probably
buy one of the little PIC keyer kits and put it INSIDE the transmitter.  But
that will probably do away with the dual speed ID etc.

So, that's the overall status of KO6BB/B.  Target on-air date is STILL
around the middle of March.

73 de Phil,  KO6BB
DX begins at the noise floor!

THE BEACONEER'S LAIR:   http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/
MY RADIO-LOGS:       http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/Logs/
QSL GALLERY: http://photobucket.com/albums/f306/KO6BB/
Merced, Central California,    37.3N  120.48W  CM97sh