Build It Yourself from QST Part 1—Thinking about starting to build some of your own gear? Here’s how to turn a QST project into reality. By Bruce S. Hale, KB1MWI7 2238 168th Ave NE Bellevue, WA 98008 latest OST, but you don’t know where to start? This series of articles can help. In it, Pll show you how to move a OST construction article off the printed page and into your hham shack. Asa sample project for the series, we'll build a 20-meter VXO- controlled QRP transmitter developed from Zack Lau’s popu- lar 18, 21 and 24-MHz transceiver design. Fig I shows the cir- ‘cuit, and Zack describes its design and performance in the sidebar, “A 20-Meter VXO-Controlled Transmitter.” P'ltake you through buying the parts, building the circuit using simple ground-plane construction or by installing its parts on a ready-made PC board, installing it in a box, testing it, and putting it on the air. ; id Fig 2 shows the differ oes nen pend. S © you've decided you'd like to build that project in the plane and PC-board construction, in case this sounds mysterious 10 you. Although you « buy a ready-made ci cuit board for this project,? 1 haven't ‘asked anyone to make up complete kits of parts for it. Ordering a kit doesn’t take much effort or skill— and every project you'll want to build probably won't be available as a kit. 1 want you to get the feel of being your own, purchasing manager. That means sniffing ut parts sources and dealing with them in person, by mail and by telephone to get the parts you need. You won't be able to find all the parts at Radio Shack, so you'll have to order parts by mail. You'll also have to order from more than one mail-order company. (It’s almost a corollary to Murphy's Law: No matter how wide a selection you find in one mail-order catalog, you'll always find at least ‘one part you have to buy somewhere else!) Building 2 Catalog Library For starters, you'll need catalogs from part suppliers. Chapter 35 of the ARRL Handbook contains an excellent lst of mail-order parts dealers. Some of these mail-order companies are listed in Table 1. If you have enough catalogs, you'll be able to find almost any part, $0 I suggest writing to all the companies in Table 1 ‘Notes appear on page 36. Be sure to check QST advertisements, too. The part suppliers repre: sented there want to help you build what you read about in QS71 Putting Together a Parts List While you're waiting for your catalogs, let’s look at the parts list for the transmitter (see the Fig 1 caption). Hold it—we can’t just photocopy this and send it off to a mail-order company with a note that says “please send me these parts."” We need to con- vert the part-placement list into what I call a part order list that shows the type and quantity required of each part. Resistors We'll start with the resistors. First, check tolerance and power rating. If we needed resistors with different power ratings or toler ances, we'd group them by those parameters be- fore grouping them by value. For this project, all the resistors. are specified as watt, '5M%-tolerance parts, sO all we need to know is how many of each value to order. If all of the circuit's resistors are already grouped by value on the parts list, we can just count the number of each value. Each time you add parts to the order list, check them off the pub lished parts list. Some- times the pars list does not include common components like resis- tors and capacitors. If this is the case, make a copy of the schematic and check off the parts as you build your shopping list. Capacitors Next, check the capacitors. There will usually be a number of different capacitor types in an RF circuit, so group these by type first. Put all the common disc-ceramic caps in one column, the ‘metal-film caps in another, and so on. Include any variable capa- citors or trimmers. Then count the number of each and add them to the list. Solid-State Parts: Transistors, Diodes, Integrated Circuits Count the solid-state parts next, This includes diodes, transis tors and integrated circuits (ICs). Make sure you check each part off the published list as you add it to the order list April 199231Coils and Cores ‘There are a number of coils (inductors) {in our project, and each is wound on a toroi- dal core. Count the number and type of each toroid and add them to the list. The parts list also specifies the gauge of the wire for each coil. This is important—using a different size wire from that specified will give you a different inductance. Add all the different wire sizes to the parts list. ‘Connectors, Cases and Miscellaneous Stuff ‘When you're done with the coils and cores, there are a few miscellaneous parts—a switch, some connectors, a box, a piece of circuit board (or a ready-made PC board) and a crystal. You'll also need a heat sink for the final transistor, some heat-sink ‘grease, some solid hookup wire (#22 or #24 insulated wire) and—maybe—a short piece of RG-174 coaxial cable to connect the transmitter to the antenna connector. [ used ‘one piece of hookup wire between the cir- cuit’s Antenna point and the center termi- nal of my ANTENNA connector. A second piece connects circuit common and chassis near the ANTENNA-connector shell. You can use a short piece of coax, shield grounded at both ends, for ANTENNA-jack connection in both versions. ‘Choosing connectors for the antenna, key and power supply is a controversial issue. ‘Some people swear by SO-239 and PL-259 RF (“UHF") connectors, while others will use nothing but BNCs.° For my version of this transmitter, I used a BNC connector be- ‘cause it's easier to mount with simple hand tools than an SO-239, (0-239 require 5/8-inch holes. BNCs need holes no larger than 3/8-inch, depending on whether you get flange- or single-hole mount versions.) Tused a 1/8-inch phone jack for the KEY Jack because my keyer uses a 1/8-inch plug, and I used two-pin polarized Radio Shack ‘connectors (#274-222) for power connectors. You can use a different combination of Jacks, but always use different connectors for the antenna, power supply and keyer, if possible. If you use a phono jack for both the antenna and power supply connectors, ‘you'll eventually plug the power supply into the ANTENNA jack. In some projects, this ‘may let the smoke out of some components by short-circuiting the supply. (Not in Zack’s transmitter, though. Its output ter- minal has no de connection to chassis.) ‘Once the Catalogs Arrive ‘Now that your catalogs have arrived, let's see who's got the parts we need. You'll be able to get the resistors just about anywhere, including (for common values) Radio Shack, But wait a minute: Most of these ‘mail-order companies will only let you order ‘a multiple of five resistors of one value, and you only need one of some of them. Does this seem like a waste of money? Well, I hope this isn’t the only project you'll ever build, and you'll need parts for your next project. If you get more parts than you need now, you can use some of them in the next project. Keep the parts where you can find 32 Ost them, and after you build a few projects you'll be able to reach into your junk box (containing all these good parts, not really junk) any time you see an ‘interest project. If you need fewer than five resis- tors of one value, order five and save the rest for your next project. They're cheap, ‘Ordinary disc-ceramic capacitors will be easy to find, but you can’t use them every- where in a circuit. Most disc-ceramic capa- citors are rated at a tolerance of 20%, and some are rated at + 80% and — 200%. This ‘means that the actual value of the cap: tor might be 80% more than the value printed on it! Obviously, this won't do ‘where the value is critical (in a timing, tuned or filter circuit, for example). Ifthe project, design specifies metal-film, silver-mica, or some other type of capacitor, don’t substi- tute disc-ceramic or other capacitor types! Zack specified silver-mica caps for the fl ing circuitry in our transmitter. They're Widely available Solid-state parts and toroids can some- times be hard to find, too. Most parts sup- pliers carry a good stock of digital logic ICs, but don’t carry as many linear ICs or RF parts, A number of suppliers specialize in Fig 1—Schematic diagram for the 20-meter VxO-controlied QAP transmitter. Tho inset shows how to connect jacks (J1, KEY; J2, RECEIVER; J3 (ANTENNA) and POWER binding posts (BP1 and 8P2) to the circuit board. You can usually depend on the circuit ‘common foil and mounting hardw complete ground connections for d Circuits (KEY, POWER). Thorough authors will tell you when you shouldn't. For signal connections (ANTENNA, AECEIVER) though, Use two wires (one for common, one for the hot {ungrounded} lead) or coaxial cable. ‘The panel bushings of J1, J2 and J9 usually make sufficient contact with metal ox walls to complete the chassis. connection shown for them. BP1, BP2—Plastic binding posts (Radio ‘Shick #274-662) to serve as POWER terminals, red for + and black for ~ This is just a suggestion; you can use ‘your choice of connector as necessary. (C1—0.082-4F ceramic or plasticsiim ‘capacitor. Even though this is an ‘uncommon value, don’t substitute a different value. This capacitor is important in determining the transmitter’s keying characteristics. €20:22-F ceramic or plastic-fim ‘capacitor. Don't substitute a different value. This capacitor is important in determining the transmitte's keying ‘characteristics. (©C3=1.8- 10 8.7-pF air variable. Johnson "160-104 used, but any panel-mountable air-gielectric variable with a maximum ‘capacitance between 8 and 35 pF should work acceptably. If you're willing to forgo feasy frequency adjustment, you can use ‘2 PC-board-mountable Wimmer capacitor ‘and mount it on the circuit board as shown in Fig 2. (Ceramic- and plastic- dielectric trimmers wil also work, but may be a bit less frequency-stable than al dielectric types.) (C4-C11—Generai-purpose disc or ‘monolithic ceramic capacitors, values from 0.91 to 0.1-sF suitable. Don’t use Plastic-film types (Mylar, metalized polyester, etc) here. Such capacitors {generally don't work as well as ceramic- dielectric typos in radio circuits. 612-120 pF, silver mica. C13, C14—390 pF, silver mica. 615-180 pF, sliver mica, C16—22 pF. iver mica. 1-03, D5, DB—1NOT4, 14148 oF 1NGI52 silicon switching diode. D433, 0.5-W Zener diode (1N5257). ‘J1-J3—ANTENNA, RECEIVER and KEY ‘connectors of your choice (see text) Lt, L218 tus #22 enameled wire on 7.37.6 toroid core (0.8) L215 turns £28 enameled wire on T-37-6 toroid core (0.9 wl), L4—35 turns £30 enameled wire on T-90-2 toroid core (5.9 uH) 1, 02—2N3806 bipolar transistor. ‘Qa_2No18, MPSO18, 2N5179 or MPSS179 bipolar transistor. (94—2N2222 or 2N2222A bipol ‘Metal- and plastic-cased vers (PN2222, MPS2222) are suitable (Q5—2N5109 bipolar transistor. ‘Q6—2N3553 bipolar transistor, with added heat sink. The Fig 2B version usot ‘Thermalloy 22156) heat sink, but ot types are suitable (s00 text) FI—22 kf. This and all of the ott resistors are 5%-tolerance, 1/4-watt cr sistor. 7, RI0—4.7 ke 8, R13, Ri—100 0. Ro_47 0. Fn1—15 ke. R12—470 0. 152.2 ko, Rie—47 0. RFC1—Toroidal AF choke. Use 20 turns of #25 enameled wire on FT-37-67 ferrite toroid (7.7 nH). 6 turns on FT-37-4 should aiso work. ‘$1—Normally open, momentary push button (Radio Shack #275-1547 suitable). ‘T1—Broadband transformer, 6:1 turns ratio. 20 turns of #26 or 28 enameled wire on an FT-37-43 ferrite toroid (primary). Secondary has 4 turns of #24 or 26 wameled wire over primary winding. T2—Broadband transformer, 3:1 turns rato. ‘tums of #26 or 28 enameled wire on an FT-37-43 ferrite toroid (primary). ‘Secondary has 3 turns of #24 or 26 ‘enameled wire over primary winding. Y1—Fundamental crystal, HC-25/U or equivalent holder (International FM-2), Parallel resonant, 20-pF load capacitanc Foom temperature calibration. Specify a frequency 4 kHz lower than the spot frequency (or bottom edge of the frequency range) you want to cover. (Example: For 14960 kHz, the 20-meter QAP calling frequency, specify 14056,000 ktHz,) You'll probably be able to hit your ‘spot frequency by adjusting C3, FREQUENCY. Frequency” swings of 7 to 42 kHz, beginning at 3 or 4 kHz lower than the frequency marked on the crystal holder, are in the ballpark for this circuTable 1 Parts Suppliers All Electronics Corp PO Box 567. Van Nuys, CA 91408, informationicustomer service tel 818.904.0524, fax 818-781-2659 ‘order tel 800-826-5432 DighKey Corp 701 Brooks Ave S PO Box 677 ‘Thiet River Falls, MN 56701-0677 tel 800-344-4539, fax 218-681-5380 Easy Tech 2917 Bayview Dr Fremont, CA 94538 tel 800-582-4044, fax 800-582-1255 International Crystal Manufacturing Co 701 W Sheridan PO Box 26330 (Oktahoma City, OK 73126-0330 fax 800-322-9426 JAN Crystals 2941 Crystal Dr PO Box 06017 Fort Myers, FL 93906-6017 tl 800-526-9825, fax 819-936-9750 Oak Hills Research 20879 Madison St Big Rapids, Mi 49907 {enclose 50 conts for catalog) tel 616-796-0920 Ocean State Electronics PO Box 1458 Westerly, Fi 02891, {1 401-596-3060, fax 401-596-3590 ‘order tel 800-866-6626 Because QST space is limited, this list is necessarily incomplete. See GST ‘advertisements and the 1992 ARAL Handbook’s ARAL Parts Suppliers List (Table 42, Chapter 95) for additional supplies. RF parts, however, and our list includes some of them. All of the solid-state parts (and the variable capacitor) in our project are available from Ocean State Electronics. ‘Although you'll probably be abl to order ‘exactly the right number of each capacitor and transistor for this project, consider buy- ing a few extras for your junk box. It’s always good to have a few extra paris on hhand—you may break a lead on a part when you're assembling the project, or damage a solid-state component with too much sol- dering heat or by wiring it in backwards. If you don’t have extras, you'll have to order another part. Even if you don’t need the extras for this project, they'll always come in handy, and you'll be encouraged to build another project! Pick up an extra toroid or two as well— ‘Zack used common types that you'll sec in Other shortwave transmitting and receiving, projects. We need several different sizes of ena- ‘meled copper wire for the coils. Sometimes called magnet wire because of its use in 340 OST Table 2 ‘Transmitter Part Order List Resistors Quantity Valve 1 470 1 470 3 100 1 2700 1 4700 2 tka 1 22 ko 2 47 ko 1 10 ka 1 15 Ko 1 Bako 1 100 Ke Capacitors (Quantity Value 0.082 Type a coramie 0.22 pF ceramic. 0.01 nF ceramic 120 pF Silver mica 180 pF silver 390 pF silver mica 1.8- to 8.7-9F ait-dielectric, anel-mountable variable (Wohnson 160-104) Solid-State Devices ‘Quantity Part (Possible Replacement) 5 1N914 diode (1N4148, 1N4152) 1 1NS257 Zener diode (1N4752) 2N3806 transistor (2N2905, 2N2907), 1 2N2222 transistor (2N2222A, PN2222), 1 2N5109 transistor 1 2N5179._ transistor (MPS918, PN5179) 1 2NQ553 transistor Toroidal Cores/Inductors Quantity Part 2 FT-87-43 ferrite core 1 FT-37-67 ferrite core 31-8746 ironpowder core 1 1-80-2 iron-powder core ‘pound #22 enameled magnet wire ‘pound #26 enameled magnet wire pound £28 enameled magnet wiro ‘pound #20 enameled magnet wire (#22, #26 and #30 are currently available at Fadi Shack; order #28 from Ocean State) Miscellaneous (see text for details) Quantity Part ‘normally open push button project box or other enclosure PC board (optional; see text) antenna connector key jack ower connector heat sink small tube of heat-sink grease knob for 1/8inch shaft 20-meter fundamental crystal, ‘20-pF parallel load capacitance, FM-2 holder (International Crystal part number 434173) For JAN Crystals, specify frequency, HC-25/U holder, 50 ppm tolerance, parallel resonance, 20-pF load capacitance, non-oven. 1 FM2 or HC-25/U crystal socket (International Crystal part ‘number 035006; JAN Crystals CE-25) 10 foot RG-174 coaxial cable (optional; see toxt) 22. or 24-gauge insulated solid hookup wie lectric-motor windings, it’s usually sold by the pound, with a minimum order of % pound. A quarter pound of each size will bbe more than enough for many RF projects, so we'll have plenty left over for the junk box. You may find a supplier who will sll wire by the foot, but you'll probably pay extra for this convenience. Radio Shack has ‘a magnet-wire package containing three of the sizes we need, and Ocean State Elec- tronics carries all of them. All Electronics hhas the hookup wire and 10-foot lengths of RG-I74 coax. T ordered my crystal from International Crystal Manufacturing. JAN Crystals is another good source. (Some part dealers list ‘crystals in their catalogs, but I recommend ‘eoing right to the source.) A variety of crys- tal holder styles are available that differ pin spacing and how the can pieces are bonded together. Hams have long known them by their military nomenclature (desi nators that start with HIC and end with /U)- The crystal holder we want is generically known by hams as HC-25/U. Its pins are 0,040 inch in diameter, 0.25 inch long and (How the two holder pieces are sealed—solder, cold weld or resistance weld—determines the holder’s actual HC designator. For our purposes, this doesn't matter. If you order from In ternational, just specify FM-2.) The HC-25/U holder plugs in, so you'll also need to buy a socket to hold it. Crystal ‘manufacturers usually sell sockets in addi- tion to crystals. Table 2 lists particulars for crystals and sockets from International and JAN. recommend plug-in crystals because you can easily use them in other projects. You may prefer to solder your crystal in, though. You can order crysials in an HC-25-sized wire-lead holder known generically as the HC-18/U. HC-18/U holders solder in and don't fit HC-25/U sockets. If you're after ‘maximum miniaturization, International's solder-in FM-S holder is the way to go: it's Tess than 5/16 inch across. You'll see an FM-S crystal in my transmitter in Part 2 of this series.‘A 20-Meter VXO-Controlled Transmitter ‘The QRP Three-Bander” can be ‘modified for single-band operation at 20 meters by substituting a different rocoiver-nput transiormert and ‘modifying the transmitter. Because the Three-Bander's NE602-based receiver performs marginally under the strong- signal conditions. common on this busy band, | decided to develop only ‘a 20-meter transmiter trom the Three- Bander design and use a separate receiver. The 20-meter transmitier’s output circuit isa bit more rugged than the original Three-Bander’s MRF237 final, ‘The main text's Fig 1 shows the sircuit. The 20-meter transmitter's \VXO and butfer amplifier are almost identical to the Three-Bander's, the ‘major change being the use of a 4-MHz crystal. (By the way, if you're looking for the ultimate in ‘miniaturization, you might consider using FM-S cased crystals {International Crystal Manufacturing Co order number #434193). Note, however, that | found the frequency swing available with FM-S crystals to be about 1 kHz less than that achievable with standard HC-25/U- ‘cased [International FM-2] crystals—14048.5 to 14055.9 kHz with ‘crystal cut for 14045,00 kHz {parallel resonant, 20-pF load Capacitance],) The VXO exhibits some voltage sensitivity: | measured a 50-Hz shift when varying the supply ‘voltage from 11.0 to 13.8—not enough 10 warrant building in a voltage egulator, in my opinion. ‘Compared to the original Three- Bander, the final amplifier (Q6 and its associated circuitry) is a bit more complex. | added a bypassed 47-0 ‘emitter resistor (R16) for thermal stability (one MFF237 | tried without Now's the time to decide whether you're ‘going to build your project ground-plane or with a ready-made PC board. If you need a PC.board, FAR Circuits has them. (Its 5 x 2inches in size.) If you're going to give ‘ground-plane a go, buy a good-sized piece Of single-sided copper-clad board—at least 3 x Sinches. Get glass-epoxy board if you ‘can. Phenolic board is distinetly inferior because it’s brittle and deteriorates rapidly with soldering heat, You can use either single-sided or double-sided board, and ‘Ocean State has a good selection of sizes. Radio Shack sells a 4-1/2- x 6-3/8-inch Piece of double-sided board; I cut this with a hacksaw to 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches. ‘We'll also need a box for the transmit- ter. This is often overlooked in parts lists for most projects, because different builders like different enciosures. Zack likes die-cast aluminum boxes. They are easy to work with, provide excellent shielding, and can probably protect your project against a pet an emitter resistor went into thermal runaway). Q6's base clipping diode, 1, is optional, but | recommend including it because it seems to lower ‘Q6's drive requirement about 1 a8. D4, a 33-V Zener diode, protects 6 ‘when its output (circuitry to the right ‘of C10) is shorted to ground. Short circuiting the low-pass filer capacitors (C12-C15) in succession caused no apparent damage to Q6, £0 the circuit seems pretty rugged. (G6 may oscillate under some conditions of very high SWR, however, so the circuit's stability could be further improved.) ‘The low-pass titer (L1-L3, 612.015) may raise a few eyebrows. Yeo, all three inductors have the same ‘number of turns, but L2 uses thinner wire (#28) than that used in L1 and 13 (22), causing 12's inductance (0.9 1H) to be higher than that of L1 and {3 (0.8 sH). (Wind these inductors according to Fig 708 in the 1992 ARRL Handbook—with a single layer covering most of the core.) Measured at the Receiver point (L4’s ree end), the fiter's insertion loss is only 1-48 throughout the 20-m CW band.tt | measured the worst-case transmit feedthrough to the ReceiveR jack point as ~6 dBm (0.25 mW). (Some authors suggest that the Receiven tap should be on the ANTENNA jack end of the'low-pass filter, but this makes the ‘edd harmonics [3, 5, etc] stronger) ‘As t0 performance: The Fig 28 transmitter’s second harmonic is 57 48 below the fundamental carir; higher-order harmonies avo al loast {64 dB down. Connecting a receiver to the RECEIVER jack decreases the ‘second harmonic slightly (fo ~ 60 dBc) but lowers the circuit's higher-order- harmonic suppression to 60 dB at the panda. They're a bit expensive, however. Radio Shack sells two-piece aluminum boxes that are a bit more difficult to work with, but they're cheaper. Boxes of both types, and many more, are available from many ‘mail-order companies as well Make sure there’s room in the box for the variable capacitor and connectors as well as your ground-plane or PC board. Some people like to cram projects in the smallest Possible box, but miniaturization can be ex: tremely frustrating if you're not good at it (V'm not, but Zack is a master.) I used a Radio Shack P-Box measuring 5-1/4 x 3 x 2-1/8 inches (part #270-238) for both the PC-board and ground-plane versions of the The variable capacitor specified has a 3/16-inch shaft, and it’s hard to find a knob that will fit this shaft. You can use a 1/4-inch-shaft knob by building the shaft up to 1/4 inch using plastic or metal shim stock. Another approach is to find knobs to fit third harmonic, 54 dB at the fi and 60 dB at the seventh. Those numbers ‘meet current FCC requirements for signal purity, assuming that your harmonics cause no harmful interference, ‘As for transmitter output power, you ‘can expect about 1 W with an 11:V supply and 1.8 Wat 13.8 V. The transmitter’s frequency should be stable. With decent heat sinking at Q6, so should the transmitter’s power output. If your transmitter's output power rises when you hold the key down for a long stretch, you're not ‘witnessing miraculous transmitter se. improvement—that’s the onset of thermal runaway! if this happens with your transmitter, improve Q6’s heat Sinking and/or don't hold the key down for so long.—Zack Lau, KH6CP/1, ARRL Lab Engineer *Z. Lau, "The QAP Three-Bander.” QST, ‘Get 1980, pp 25-30. See also Feedback, '55 and 91. QAP "The ARR er article, but went to press belt the Foodbact was published ‘For 20metor reception, replace the anal Theo-Sandor’s wih a ier wound as follows: Primary, 3 tres of #54 camo to ‘7.504 toroidal, powderedron core, ~80" spacing between winging stant and fish; Stconday 2 tna oF enameled wwe ound e primary. Ve Mie eral at 1 (nthe receiver loca ociato ret yt have Bat ary treesuring th hte Cos ‘Foo much ndvtance can reduce aftr that cus of cowed signal 1/8-inch shafts and carefully drill the hole out to 3/16. It's best to do this with a drill press, but you can do it with a hand drill and a vise if you're careful. I don’t even have a vise—I did it with a hand drill and held the knob in a pair of pliers. I used a KNB-65 knob from All Electronics, but a KNB-181 might work better. (Get at least ‘one of each; they're cheap and you might need a backup if you make a mistake.) ‘Several heat sinks in the Ocean State cata Jog will work in our transmitter (anything that fits a TO-S or TO-39 transistor will be fine). Ocean State's #HS-05 works well, and it’s cheap. You'll need a small tube of heat sink compound. (You apply a thin film of heat-sink compound to the transistor body where it contacts the heat sink. The com: pound, also known generically as silicone ‘grease, greatly improves heat transfer from the transistor to the sink.) You don’t need ‘much, so the smallest tube will be plenty for several projects. Both Ovean State and Ra- April 199235Fig 2—Most audio and MF/HF projects work equally well in ground-plane (A) and PC-board (8) forms. (Where there's a difference, ‘ground-plane construction usually has the edge because of improved grounding.) Most published projects stem from ground-plane prototypes (see Fig 7 in Chapter 36 of the 1992 ARAL Handbook, for instance). Hams experienced in ground-plane (sometimes called ‘dea-bug o ugly) Construction can often build a ground-pla ‘prototype faster than its PC-board equivalent! Part 2 of this series describes how to build a 20-meter transmitter using ground-plane techniques. If you prefer to use the PC board available as per Note 2, you'l learn how to install parts on it in Part 3 of this series. dio Shack have heat-sink grease, and in this case Radio Shack’s price is slightly cheaper. For this project, then, we can buy every~ thing but the crystal and a few of the capa- citors from Ocean State Electronics, we can buy the crystal from International or JAN, and we can buy the capacitors from All Electronics. You'll also have to make a trip to Radio Shack for the box, PC board, and screws and nuts to put it all together. Redistributing the Parts to Reach Minimum Order Remember I said there would almost always be a few items you can’t get from fone company? All Electronics has a $10 ‘minimum order, and the capacitors are ‘much less than this, so we need to redistrib- lute the order. If we get the resistors and some of the transistors from All Electron- ics, we can bring the order up to $10. All Electronics has a minimum purchase of 10 resistors of one value, but they're still cheap, Zack used common values in the transi ter, so you'll be able to use the extra res tors in your next project. Even if you can ‘get something you need from Radio Shack, consider adding it to a mail order if it helps you meet a minimum-order requirement. Why did I pick these suppliers? Ocean State was easy—they have almost all the parts. I picked All Electronics because they hhad good prices on the rest of the compo- nents, a reasonable selection and low ship- ping charges. Some companies put out ‘beautiful catalogs, but their minimum order i $25 or they charge $5 for shipping if you place a small order. I've ordered from All Electronics before, and 1 know they're pretty quick. You can get the parts from ‘ther companies, of course. You'll find out which companies you like to deal with and which ones often back-order parts or take forever to send anything. Back-ordering is what many suppliers automatically do if they're out of stock on something you've ordered. They fill your order as fully as they can, ship it to you, and tell you on the invoice when you can 360 OST expect to receive the out-of-stock parts, Sometimes the delay can be a month or longer! That's back-ordering, and it can be terrifically frustrating because it ties up your ‘money and your project. If the order form includes a box you can check to indicate that you don’t want back orders, check it. Ifthe ‘order form doesn’t give you this vote, write it in in big red letters: PLEASE DO NOT BACK-ORDER OUT-OFSTOCK PARTS. If you're in a huge hurry, most compa- nies will accept telephone credit-card orders. If you order by phone, you can also check at order time to be sure that none of the parts will be back-ordered. Be aware, though, that phone credit-card orders may compromise your credit-card security. So, I don’t routinely place credit-card orders by phone. If you're in a bit less of a hurry but still, ‘want your parts quickly, you should pay for your order with a bank check or money ‘order. If you pay with a personal check, some companies will hold your order until your check clears their bank, and this ean take up to ten days. Even if you pay with ‘a check, you can still call the company to ‘check on parts availability, but most com- panies don’t like it if you use their 800 order umber just for this. ‘When I’ve filled out the order forms from the catalogs and the bank checks are ready to g0, I like to make a photocopy of the ‘order form and the check before I send it off. I've only had an order lost in the mail ‘once, but it was good to have the photocopy so I could reconstruct the order and send it off again. This also tells you when you ‘ordered the parts, o you know when to start looking for the UPS truck. ‘Summary, Part 1 For now, get busy with your parts orders. In the next article, we'll look into construc- tion techniques. We'll build the transmitter using ground-plane construction on a piece of copper-clad circuit board. We'll also con- sider building a power supply if you don’t already have one. (Radio Shack carries the parts for this, by the way!) In article three, we'll build a transmitter using a PC board, and think about adding a sidetone oscilla tor. In the last article of the series, we'll put the transmitter in the box and put it on the air. You really can build good radio gear yourseli—stay tuned! Notes 12, Lau, “The QAP ThreeBander,” QST, Oct "1909, pp 25.90, See also Feedback, QST, Jan 1992, pages 55 and 91. 2PC boards. are avalable from FAR Circus, “TaN6AO Field CX, Dundee, IL 601 18; price, $4 plus $1.50 shipping and handling. Check or ney order ony, credit cards are not accepted. ‘PC board emplates and part overlays fr the 20:meter VxO-controlleg transmitter featured hho are avallable ree of charge rom the ARAL. Technical Department Secretary. With your ‘request fr the HALE 20-M TRANSMITTER PC BOAAD TEMPLATE PACKAGE, send a #10 selFaddressed envelope with one First Sry 20) Newhit, “Connectors for (Amos) All Ocea- ion Par 1, OST: Ap 994, pp 3038 Par 2 GST May 1984s pp S040 ol Strays Aa’ I would like to get in touch with. . D Hams who operated club station KJ6DO fon Johnston Island. Any information, QSL. cards or photographs would be appreciated, as I'd like to track down the history of my call sign. Dr Chuck Bowers, KJ6DO, 837 Ridgeview Ct, Oakdale, CA 95361. anyone who has a schematic and/or manual for a Black Widow 10-meter trans- ‘mitter/receiver manufactured by Rogers Elec- tronics, Louisiana. Austin Gutman, W3FOG, 8480 Limekiln Pike, C-401, Wyncote, Penn sylvania. 1D anyone who has a manual for the follow- ing: A Clegg FM-8 2-meter rig, Hitachi 222 oscilloscope, HP-410B VTVM or an Eico DX-718 receiver. Steve Hammerberg, NIB, PO Box 822, Thompson Falls, MT 59873.