[SMCARA] Youkit QRP TX/RX

Thu Jan 22 12:10:11 EST 2015

Jason, et al

That is a neat looking little box!  I had a very short opportunity to play with one at Dayton this year and it seemed to work well.  YouKit sold all they had by the second day!  They also have a kit version ($349 vice $399 for the wired and tested version) available that does not require soldering at the component level.  The Elecraft  K-2 and K-3 kits are the same, just plug various boards into a motherboard, plus some mechanical assembly.

Although it doesn't do all the "gee whiz" stuff that the FT-817NG does, it does come in at about half the price.  The 817 also has much greater band coverage including WARC and V/UHF. The TJ-5's lack of the 80 M, 30M and the WARC bands is puzzling in view of the popularity of 30 and 17 to QRPers.

QRP is fun, but probably not for the "newbie" to HF.  It is nice to run QRP with an FT-857 or an Icom IC-706/7000, as you have the option of cranking up the power to 100 watts (depending on your power source) when nothing is going into your log running QRP! The Elecraft KX-3 is a super QRP rig that enjoys a sterling reputation.  A 100 watt "afterburner" is available also when QRO is called for.  Ten-Tec has some nice rigs like the Eagle (100 W) and the new Argonaut (QRP) that work well, albeit are missing some popular bands.  Happens when you design a radio to a price point.

For an experienced ham, I would look at the Elecraft rigs. Although they are a bit more expensive, they really deliver the performance.  I am still on the upside of the learning curve for my K-3, but it really does work well.  It was fun to build also.  You can start out with the basic 10 watt K-3 kit and then add more filters, a 100 watt PA, built in autotuner, built-in 2M transverter, etc.

When making a decision on any rig, QRP, mobile, or home station check out Sherwood Engineering's test results. http://www.sherweng.com/table.html   Elecraft is always near the top, but some of the high end Japanese rigs, as well as the latest Flex radios are near the top too.

One thing to consider with a QRP rig, is that there are amplifiers available.  The HF Packer kit (http://www.hfprojectsyahoo.com/ ) by K5OOR is good, as is the new HardRock amp (http://www.hobbypcb.com/ ) see recent QST for review.  Tokyo High Power also has some amps, as does a company in Italy.  Avoid using CB amps as they tend to have poor RF filters and do not meet FCC spectral purity specs.  I have seen these amps modified by adding band pass filters, but tend to be a bit "Kludgey" (Kludge is a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, difficult to extend and hard to maintain, that are invariably at odds with good engineering practices,  yet are an effective and quick solution .... there are some non-Politically Correct terms that you may hear in place of kludge also!).

Whichever way you go, I am sure you will have FUN!

Trivia:  did you know that in Jamaica (6Y5), FLEX is slang for chilling, or have a good time?

73 Tom/W4OKW

-----Original Message-----
From: SMCARA [mailto:smcara-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of jbr13 at md.metrocast.net
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2015 10:30 AM
To: smcara at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [SMCARA] Youkits QRP TX/RX

	 BODY { font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px; }I just ran across these guys and their TJ5A kit.  With all the talk lately on the repeaters about kits and QRP kits, I thought this was interesting.  
	http://youkits.com/#TJ5A_HF_20W_SSB_CW_Transceiver_Kit_and [1]
	SSB and CW transceiver

	RX= 3.500 to 30.000

	TX= 40M 20M 15M and 10M

	0.25 to 20 watts SSB and  0.1 to 10 watts CW

	I figured some others may not have seen this before.
	N3YUG

	Jason Rearick

Links:
------
[1] http://youkits.com/#TJ5A_HF_20W_SSB_CW_Transceiver_Kit_and
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