[Lowfer] Need Homebrew Help---$$$

[craig wasson]

Les;

I understand your situation.  I also tend to have more money than time
(not that I have much money - just very little time!), and appreciate
being able to purchase completed circuit boards.  The last kit I
bought to assemble was a software defined radio that I ended up giving
to a co-worker who did have the time and skill to put it together.  I
don't do well with surface mount device soldering.   Bought a SDR-IQ
instead which is fantastic.  Being a software guy I prefer to hack
together software.

You might check out the www.northcountryradio.com web site.  I have
their LF90 1-watt longwave beacon transmitter and am very happy with
it.  It's nice that it has the QRSS keyer built in.  With a little
creativity you can get it to send both regular CW and QRSS IDs in
sequence.   The guy who runs the site is very helpful and may be able
to provide an LF90 that works at MEDFER frequencies at 100MW if you
don't want to try modifying it yourself.  It's listed under "Longwave
Receivers" on their web site.

They also have the AM88 low power AM transmitter which is designed for
100mw MEDFER operations.  This does not have a built-in keyer so you
would have to supply an external keyer or PC.  Otherwise it's very
similar to the LF90 and a little cheaper.

Both of these transmitters are synthesized so you don't need to mess
with crystals to set the frequency which makes them more expensive,
but it's handy.

They have some useful information on antennas, tuners, etc too - in
addition to links to more information.  The antenna ends up being the
hardest part of the project, but you get to learn all about
variometers and antenna current so it's not all bad.

Now if I could only get my antenna back up to get my beacon back on
the air!   I'm modifying a cellular phone loop antenna design for
187khz which has turned out to be a mechanical challenge involving
lots of trees, tangles of wire and a tennis ball bazooka.  An antenna
that is very small at 1900MHz gets very big at 187KHz.  You will
probably want to stick with a traditional vertical if you can get it
up in the open away from trees and obstructions.


Craig - N6IO  (and hopefully IO back on 187khz soon)


On Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Les Rayburn <les at highnoonfilm.com> wrote:
> Yes, I'm for real.
>