[NLRS] Transverters

[Dan Larson]

On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 20:43:20 EDT, W0ZQ@aol.com wrote:

>Hi Dan, welcome to the NLRS reflector.   Looking forward to working you on 
>2m's and up.    Regarding what is the cheapest way of getting on 2m, the answer 
>to your question is dependent on what you may or may not have already in your 
>shack.

well, I realized that once I discovered that Ten-Tec's 1210 was the
cheapest way
to the "other modes" on 2m at least. I've been building for years. Just
recently with
RF, but I've listened to many digital engineers at work and had plenty
of fun with
homebrew robotics. I was happy to find that everything that I learned
as good 
construction practice with digital, just perhaps a little more
shielding for RF to keep 
RF from growing where it doesn't belong. The use of inductors for
coupling
in addition to caps for bypassing completes the picture in many ways,
and I look
forward to building my next "smoke free" h-bridge for robotics. I few
changes makes
a nice class C amp for HF!    B-)

>Transverters are favored because they can be added to an existing HF 
>rig to add a new band.   If you have to buy that HF rig for IF duty then it 
>may not be as attractive.

The dilemma I see is that I can spend a lot more buying pieces instead
of a 
whole rig which can meet my HF and my VHF desires, BOTH. An HTX-10 and
two transverters is about the same price as a used / new 100W mobile
All band/ all mode
rig. Then I could add transverters to *that* for
900,1.2,2.3,2.4,3.3,5.7 and up.....

>  Regarding long range planning, if you are thinking of adding 6m, 432, and 
>1296, when you look at the total cost for all transverters you may have been 
>better off buying a used (or new) all-in-one rig in the beginning (plus you 
>don't have the tangle of cables and controls lines and roving is a bit easier).   

However, the 1210 gave me *some* amount of fun with the  least extra
cash outlay
for now. But, I see that this is going to get expensive so it one band
at a time for me!
Maybe I should skip the 432 transverter and get the allmode rig. In the
mean time I can
build something for a 144MHz IF.

>Regarding performance, if you live in the Twin Cites, be prepared for some 
>very strong local signals from time to time that will punish the front end of a 
>lower performance receiver ..... there is a reason that the big contesters run 
>high performance transverters with high performance IF rigs.

I have had a blast going camping up north even before I became a HAM, I
found
that any cheap Am/FM radio magically opens to the world at night, away
from all 
the QRI/QRM of the 'cities.

>
>One issue that you may have with the HTX010 is that it does not have CW.    
>CW is used during aurora propagation and when signals get weak.   Yes you can 
>have lots of fun on 2m without CW, and people do, but there will be times when 
>you will hear people working DX that you will not be able to work.   CW is an 
>important mode for weak signal work.   Slow CW is just fine.

I've seen the mod. Something about changing a time constant in the 
mike key switching circuitry,

>
>DEMI makes some good transverters that work well .... they are fun to build 
>.... I've built the 2m, 902, and 2304 versions.   The good news is that there 
>is lots of help available locally should it not work for some reason.

Well, I'm hoping that someone around here can point me in the right
direction
to build from scratch cheaper than buying kits (if it can be done
cheaper). I know
I can handle the construction part and maybe making a converter or
spectrum
scope from VCR tuners & radar detectors for now... The semi's ain't
cheap in this 
"neighborhood". I would probably need help tuning / aligning because
the Tek 
475 and MFJ 269 won't help me much beyond 2m.

>
>73, Jon
>W0ZQ

Thanks for the advice.

Dan KC0LUY.

>