The Cub Lives!!!!!! (For Real, This Time)

 Yep, you read it right, the transceiver that I gave up on months and months ago sprang to life. I had a feeling that it wasn't dead, my heart of hearts told me that. 

So, what happened, and what did I learn? Here's the important thing: There's more than one way to do something. Ben Franklin once said, "I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways of doing it wrong," and that's what I did. 

With the help of various QRZ.com members, namely KL7KN, I figured out that the receiver can be adjusted with the probing of U2's Pin 1. U2 is an SA602 and is the filter mixer. Probing Pin 1 bypasses the filter circuit, which in essence creates another antenna. The antenna will generate a buzzing or hissing noise. From here, tune L1 and L2 for maximum noise. If you can't hear any stations when you bypass the filter, you still have a problem, unfortunately (once again, thanks A LOT KL7KN!).

I can't tell you how much joy I felt when I began to hear stations when I connected an antenna. It really made me happy when I could hear the FT8 frequency, which means that my tuning was dead on where I wanted it. I could also hear CW stations with ease.

By now, many of you are wondering how well this stacks up to the Pixie. I will tell you that it blows it out of the water completely. The Cub has a crystal filter, an onboard audio amplifier, a great tuning range, and about 2W of output power that can be varied if you want to work QRPp. While the Cub sounds impressive, there are some drawbacks to it. It needs to warm up for a couple of minutes before you transmit so the frequency is rock solid. I also found the alignment to be a bit cumbersome, but that may be because I haven't built a kit like this before. While the audio is acceptable, I feel that it could be a bit louder, but it definitely beats the Pixie's quiet and wide-open receiver any day. For the completed project, I took some photos.

I set the Cub aside and waited to touch up the transmitter side of things until the next day. Turns out, the transmitter side of things was not as complicated as I had thought. In a matter of under 30 minutes, I had a fully-functional Cub, with 1.5 watts of output on 20m. 

In addition to this, I built my own 50 ohm dummy load with a wattmeter output. That can be found here: https://www.qsl.net/kc6wdk/QRP/wattmeter.htm. Here is what mine looks like. I do want to note that my copper chloride etchant, used with a nail polish resist, works very well.

To close, this has been an exciting and fun adventure. Now I'm off to build a dipole antenna and perfect my Morse Code! My next test with this is to see if I can show up on the Reverse Beacon Network, or RBN. 

If you also want to use the RBN, it's easy! Just send the following in Morse Code:

CQ RBN CQ RBN DE [callsign] [callsign] K

CQ TEST CQ TEST CQ TEST DE [callsign] [callsign] [callsign] K

The RBN looks for CQ calls, so even if you just send out CQ, there is a good chance that you'll show up on the RBN. There are thousands of operators listening on thousands of frequencies and reporting daily. If you know how to send CQ and your callsign in Morse, you'll have no problem showing up on the RBN. It is popular with QRPers in particular since QRP can be a little unpredictable as to where you will reach. Having your callsign show up on the RBN site can give you a generalization of where you can be heard and what you can work.

That's all for now from my shack. Hope you have a great New Year! Until next time...

EDIT 1/2/2023 - Just a few moments ago, I sent out a quick CQ call on the Cub using my EFHW. As soon as I finished sending my callsign, I got a report from the East coast at a distance of 963 miles, which equates to around 647 miles per watt! Not bad, especially for 1.5 watts and a crappy end-fed antenna. I'm off to build my dipole now and brush up on my Morse skills...

2022 Holiday Greetings from KE0SBX

 Hi everyone!

Wow, it's been a year already! It's nice to finally see faces again after almost 2 years. Hopefully, you are staying healthy and keeping ham radio alive and well. At my QTH, it's beginning to look (and especially feel!) like Christmas.

This year has certainly been an interesting year for my ham radio adventures. I feel that I officially have my station set up to the point where I can make full-on contacts. I have already crossed the pond on 15m to Italy successfully and have made dozens of FT8 contacts in and out of the continent. I am experimenting with many different modes including RTTY and Feld Hell, so hopefully, I can carry on a QSO using one of those modes.

It's been a bit since I touched upon the MFJ Cub, and I wanted to update everyone on my progress. Last night I powered it up using the Hammo Can and to my surprise, it generated some background noise! This is significant because I can't recall hearing anything when I initially tested it. Needless to say, it's best to go back over your work. Testing and tuning up is the next thing for me on the docket.

I finished up my college finals on December 11th and have been looking for things to do in between work and daily life. Ham radio seems to always come to mind. There is never a dull moment on the airwaves where I live, and tuning into my new Eton shortwave radio has given me more access to the airwaves than before.

By the way, I have a new YouTube channel up and going! There isn't anything on there yet, but I will definitely be putting things up. I have a few things in mind including my antenna setup and some background on the TS-660. You can find it here at KE0SBX. Stay tuned for some content!

As we go into 2023, I want to wish you all the best in your ham radio experiences and in your daily lives. Keep being amazing human beings and keep exploring what wonderful things the hobby has to offer. My New Year's resolution is to be proficient at Morse Code by the end of the year. I've put it off for far too long and I have too many CW rigs lying around and collecting dust! I'm aiming for 15 wpm, but I'd feel fine at even 10.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Hope to hear you in the new year!

73s, 88s, and all the best,

- Owen Graham, KE0SBX

Updates on the Cub's Conditon/Hammo Can Completion

From the looks of it, the Cub is in stable condition, but unfortunately, I haven't tested it yet. 

Recently, I went back over my board and resoldered the bad pads. I also went ahead and rewound the toroids since I didn't scrape off the enamel properly. The board looks 10x better and now all that's left is to clean off the excess flux - and test to see if it works.

For anyone wondering how I solved my problem, I started a thread on QRZ.com with a little common sense to help. You can find the posting here. What started as a simple question about testing tools soon turned into a diagnosis forum (also, just build a proper dummy load/wattmeter!). Other hams began offering me helpful tips and possible problems, and the number one problem was my solder connections, followed by my toroids.

Fixing both, I opted to uninstall the BNC connector. I just didn't feel comfortable mounting it to the board, so I opted for the RCA jack. Amazon sells adapters so this won't be too much of an issue for me. 

In addition to fixing the board, my Hammo Can is fully complete! Running between 12.6 and 13.8V at 15Ah, I have calculated and estimated that it will run for about 3 hours continuous on transmit and about 13 or 14 hours on standby. This, of course, is if I use my TS-660. On my FT-2200, I expect that the battery life will be much shorter. I have an additional 3.1A coming off of a USB accessory plug, but this shouldn't be too much of an issue. It is a little heavy, but it weighs as much as if it were full of ammunition. Charging time is about 15 hours max, and the most I could get out was 13.8V on one charge - perfect for ham radio! The wiring harness isn't too bad - I solved the bunching-up issues with nothing but zip ties. With some help, the wires lay nicely in the case.

Believe it or not, there is still room for cables. There is even room for the charger which is not very large at all. Now I have a power supply I can use at home or in the field, and here's the best part - there is NO switching noise at all on the Kenwood! There's nothing but a beautiful and flat noise floor. Bye-bye, Lyle/Pyramid 30A power supply!

How much was it, you ask? I'm putting it around $50 or $60 - exactly how much I wanted to spend, and exactly how much anyone should spend on power. Here are the links to everything I got:

• Battery: Mighty Max 12V 15Ah
• Charger: 12V SLA Charger with Short-Circuit Protection
• USB Port: 3.1A USB Hub w/ Fuse
• Binding Posts: 10pcs 4mm Binding Post
• Switch: Heavy-Duty Rocker Switch, ON/OFF
• Ammo Box: Plastic Ammunition Box Waterproof
• Wire Connections: 79-Piece Assorted Kit Crimp Connectors
• Wire: 12AWG Red and Black

Here are some photos:

I used this power supply to talk to Italy, so I'd consider this a huge success! It's easy to build, so if you're going out to the field soon or helping with EMCOMMs, consider building one of these. For a bit more, you could put it all in a metal ammo can rather than plastic, but either will work just fine. I'd recommend recharging it after you come back from your adventure or connecting it to a float charger. This will give you a full battery for next time!

Crossing the Pond on 10W and a Prayer

We did it, I officially crossed the pond today! And I learned some valuable lessons along the way.

I came home from school to eat lunch and figured that I should operate on 15m for a while. Lately, 15m has been super active, so I figured I should throw out my callsign to see if someone came back. I heard a few people collecting callsigns, so I waited to send mine out until I was confident that's what they were doing. One station, in particular, was IK4GRO in Northern Italy. I'm not quite sure what he was running but I was getting 5x8 and 5x9 signals on my meter. 

After waiting a few minutes, I threw out my call. Nothing. I tried again, but still nothing. After a dozen or so tries of trying to break through the QRM and QRN, I got through. Unfortunately, he got my callsign wrong, but that's expected since I was QRP. Instead of KE0, he got KE1. I let it go for a while before throwing my call back out.

After 5 or 6 tries, I got through! I got a 4x4 report and I gave him a 5x8 report. Not bad for a contact I had been hoping for for a long time!

Of course, I learned a lot just from this single contact, and I'd like to share that with you...

1. Patience is everything!

It took me dozens of tries to get through to IK4GRO. It wasn't easy. Sometimes, you just have to persist until they hear you. A 4x4 report means that I could be heard with a little noise at an S4 or so on the meter. On QRP, you will have to try harder to make contacts.

It may take you 1 call or maybe 50 calls, but you will eventually get through. On other occasions, you might have to give up and move on. It's all part of the fun!

2. Get a good antenna

Okay, hams are all about amplification, but in theory, an antenna makes the difference. Amplifiers don't add much, maybe only half or up to 1 S-unit. That would've only gotten me to S5 - not much of a difference.

I ordered a tactical antenna from HRO which I plan on taking to the field. Speaking of the field, that's the next tip I learned.

3. Get out of the house!

Find a place where there are little to no buildings and obstructions. You'll want some trees to mount your antenna in. Try to find a place that is elevated, flat, or near water (water is a good reflector!). I have many places around where I live to go out and operate QRP. 

Here's the other perk - you get to go into the great outdoors and enjoy some nice weather! You might walk into one of your friends and start a conversation. I have found that the more I talk to my friends about it, the more interested they seem. Had I gotten out of the house today, I hypothetically think my signal report would've been better.

4. Time of day matters

My TS-660 is a daytime radio - that means that it will only work from a bit before sunrise to a bit before sunset. I'm gone during the day so I don't get much action unless I listen to stations on my shortwave receiver. For the past week, I have listened to 15m via my shortwave, and I have heard at least 100 stations over the past week or so. This was all done around 2 or 3pm in the afternoon. 

5. A decent microphone works best

Stock microphones aren't bad, but they're basic - a condenser and a PTT button. Higher-end microphones have everything from preamps to audio filters. It's not really necessary but it might help. I found myself cupping the mic constantly trying to get the best acoustics for my voice. 

I have several more lessons that this contact taught me, but these have got to be the most important ones. I also want to say thanks to IK4GRO for calling me back despite operating QRP and the QRM that we experienced. Although I got a 4x4 rating today, it's better than not getting a call at all. 

Many, if not all hams say that 10W SSB is impossible. Today, I did the impossible and defied the odds. I wonder if this is how Marconi felt when he made the first radio transmission...

Here's a Snapchat video clip of the signals I received from IK4GRO today on 21.332.8MHz:

Until next time, I'll see what else this great little rig can pull off!

The Cub Is...Dead???

 Yep, you read the title correctly.

The MFJ Cub is dead.