[Elecraft] Re: 10 M Beacon

[Mike Fitzgibbon]

Stephanie, All

    Here's my suggestion for a 10 M beacon.  If you homebrew currently 
with modest success you can probably build it...

    Mix a 24.0 mHz crystal and a 4.194 crystal with a 612 mixer...yup, 
no expensive custom-cut crystals, just a couple of  half-buck uP 
crystals.  That will get you to the bottom of the US beacon band I 
believe...28.194 mHz.  For the crystals oscillators use VXOs...you can 
bend the crystals up into the beacon band a ways, no doubt, in that 
manner.   Might try using a couple of old air varicaps to tune the 
crystals to maximize stability as much as possible...no tuning diodes. 
After the mixer-- a double-tuned bandpass filter, then a couple of amps 
to bring it up to the output level you desire.  I would use a keyer chip 
with a memory to run it...maybe from Jackson Harbor, they have some with 
memory, perhaps enough for a beacon.  Also, if you wanted to get a bit 
fancy... build/install it in an insulated box with a small light bulb 
for a heater to stabilize the temp even more...ah...the possibilities 
are endless...

    Now, I'm just a farmboy with an active imagination, not an RF 
engineer...

             Mike     N0MF