[K3PZN-List] Club Project Idea

[Curt Milton]

I have run across a need from time-to-time in my own shack for a signal generator to test receivers.  A commercial version is available from Electraft, and the Norcal QRP club was kitting a SMT version - but they are currently 'closed.'  Sometimes it is better to make your own - and get it just the way you want it.  

The device is designed to produce either a S9 or S1 signal, working in conjunction with a crystal for the band of interest.  The electronics involved is very simple - a single transistor and some discrete parts.  This device is especially useful to folk who restore old rigs or build rigs.  

(Yes I have an old signal generator - but trust me is not stable enough to test good receivers with narrow filters - which is nearly everything we have in use).  

I sense this could be built without a circuit board - but it will take a little ingenuity - which I suspect we can supply.  Yes I would propose conventional parts (not SMT).  The schematic is located on the last page of this manual:  

http://norcalqrp.org/files/NorCal_S9_Assy_V1.pdf

If there are enough folk interested in making a homebrew version of this, we could 'commission'  a team, request a small budget from the treasury to purchase needed material - then sell the kits (to recoup the treasury) to interested builders.  Depending upon how many bands of xtals we supply (maybe just 40 and 20 meters) cost should be under $10 each.  

Or maybe this will spawn other ideas.  

73 Curt