Is anyone here able to point me in the direction of a 10m or
6m CW receiver kit? I would like something that's fairly
simple to build (I don't have a lot of test equipment) but
would perform well enough to let me monitor a few beacons
and perhaps some fairly local CW activity (if there is any).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 06:43:34 GMT, Andy Ball wrote:


Is anyone here able to point me in the direction of a 10m or
6m CW receiver kit? I would like something that's fairly
simple to build (I don't have a lot of test equipment) but
would perform well enough to let me monitor a few beacons
and perhaps some fairly local CW activity (if there is any).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

Thanks. Ramsey have 10m and 6m RX kits, but they're FM and
the beacons that I was hoping to hear transmit CW. I have a
TenTec kit, but it's more complex than I had hoped and I'm
told that it will work better on 80m or 40m than 10m, so I
will probably build it for 40m when I eventually pluck up
the courage (and source a nice vernier for the tuning).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Try http://www.hamtronics.com and scroll down the menu bar on the left
side to Receiving & Xmtg Converters and then select VHF & UHF Receiving
Converters. These will listen to any mode (AM,FM,SSB,CW,PSK31,etc.)
that your I.F. rig can copy. I've built many Hamtronics kits over the
years and they are simple and tune up with a voltmeter. A frequency
counter might be nice to get the oscillator exactly on frequency, but it
probably isn't absolutely necessary.

Scott
N0EDV

Andy Ball wrote:

RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

Thanks. Ramsey have 10m and 6m RX kits, but they're FM and
the beacons that I was hoping to hear transmit CW. I have a
TenTec kit, but it's more complex than I had hoped and I'm
told that it will work better on 80m or 40m than 10m, so I
will probably build it for 40m when I eventually pluck up
the courage (and source a nice vernier for the tuning).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Oops. I see the Hamtronics 6M to 10M receive converters are only sold
as assembled units, so you don't have to worry about getting the crystal
on frequency! The have obviously redesigned the converters since they
now use surface mount technology. Still wish they offered them in kit
form as I'm not scared of surface mounting anymore...building a 10 GHz
transverter right now and it hasn't been that tough. However, I need to
keep up the allergy medication so I don't sneeze!

Scott
N0EDV

Scott wrote:

Try http://www.hamtronics.com and scroll down the menu bar on the left
side to Receiving & Xmtg Converters and then select VHF & UHF Receiving
Converters. These will listen to any mode (AM,FM,SSB,CW,PSK31,etc.)
that your I.F. rig can copy. I've built many Hamtronics kits over the
years and they are simple and tune up with a voltmeter. A frequency
counter might be nice to get the oscillator exactly on frequency, but it
probably isn't absolutely necessary.

Scott
N0EDV

Andy Ball wrote:


RAMSEY and TENTEC might be two sources...

Thanks. Ramsey have 10m and 6m RX kits, but they're FM and
the beacons that I was hoping to hear transmit CW. I have a
TenTec kit, but it's more complex than I had hoped and I'm
told that it will work better on 80m or 40m than 10m, so I
will probably build it for 40m when I eventually pluck up
the courage (and source a nice vernier for the tuning).

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Andy Ball wrote:
Is anyone here able to point me in the direction of a 10m or
6m CW receiver kit? I would like something that's fairly
simple to build (I don't have a lot of test equipment) but
would perform well enough to let me monitor a few beacons
and perhaps some fairly local CW activity (if there is any).

don't know about 10M being a tech, but only time I hear 6M cw is FD

Thanks,
- Andy, KB9YLW

"an_old_friend" wrote in message
oups.com...

don't know about 10M being a tech, but only time I hear 6M cw is FD

10M CW is fairly active when the band is open, which at this point in the
sunspot cycle is infrequent. 10m catches a little of the Es that you get on
6, but in addition, it gets real F openings which are really amazing. But
with the flux hanging under 100, that doesn't happen very often.

...

Hello Scott,

Thanks for the reference. The transvertors aren't quite
what I'm after, but they may come in useful at some point so
it's good to know about them.

73,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Hi Andy,

Well, the reference I sent originally was for a receive only converter.
Technically, a transverter does both transmit and receive.
Personally, I would build a transverter at the start. If you hear
someone, you will invariably want to talk to them as well...

Scott
N0EDV

Andy Ball wrote:

Hello Scott,

Thanks for the reference. The transvertors aren't quite
what I'm after, but they may come in useful at some point so
it's good to know about them.

73,
- Andy, KB9YLW

Hello Scott,

SAL Technically, a transverter does both transmit and
receive. Personally, I would build a transverter at
the start. If you hear someone, you will invariably
want to talk to them as well...

I don't want to talk to beacons, but I imagine I'll hear
some hams too and eventually once I upgrade my license it
would make sense to have invested in a transvertor rather
than just a receive converter. I no longer have a radio that
that can receive CW on any band though, so a transverter
doesn't help unless I buy a receiver too...

73,
- Andy, KB9YLW