LBS2 Project

Not much soldering going on these days, however the noodling process is ongoing.  This time I’m going to take my own advice and think out the entire project before etching boards and soldering components.  Might prove interesting.  I suspect that this process will prove to have a better end result but take much longer to get there.

The case for the LBS2 transceiver arrived the other day so I can now actually see how things can or cannot fit as envisioned.  I’ll mock up all the boards in cardboard and confirm the fit in the case.

Pretty much if not all the circuits are already done in Kicad and therefore only a re-work of the circuit board layouts will be required.  I was going to combine some boards but have decided against that in order to allow for full flexibility of modifications.  One change for sure will be space for an additional board for future expansion and another slot for another amplifier board to boost the power up to about 20-25watts or so.

The mother board will only have DCV traces etched and all rf and audio signals will be in coaxial cables.  AND I will be sure to leave one end of the shields open so as not to create ground loops.  A lesson well learned with LBS1.

All the boards except the control board, consisting of the dds, lcd and the Arduino, will be mounted via sockets on the motherboard.  I’m having a little trouble with the Nokia display so it may be time to plan for the colour touch screen modification.

Here’s a picture of the case. For $10 CAD I’m ok with it been plastic and not metal.  In fact for 10 bucks I should have ordered a couple.  Figure out a project for the case later. Hihi.

73, Peter

The latest on a hot summer day.

For a change of pace I’ve done a little operating. Can’t always build and not use the creations.

I worked 5 stations in the 13 Colonies Special Event. Did that for about 3 hours or so.  Wished I started earlier.  Worked Italy with 5 watts using the KX3 and was happy with the 54 report.  Tried to check into the Trans Provincial net with the LBS. No luck this time.  Nor did I contact friends in Toronto either with the LBS.  However using CW that mode did get thru.  Hmm.  Back to listening to code again.

Christmas came early today in the mail. Package of thru hole 2N7000’s, smd’s J310’s and LM385’s along with a Nano terminal adapter.  Still waiting for some larger pcb’s, copper rivets for the other side of the pcb,(see how that works out) zvp3306 mosfets, smd caps, rg316 and some sma connectors.

I must be gearing up for my next generation LBS rig.  I haven’t really decided how I’m going to go about it. For sure shrinking down boards and I may just go with 1 or 2 main boards and some daughter boards as well.  Things to ponder on the patio with a beer. And that is a good idea. Out I go.

73, Peter

Field Day and Homebrew Rigs. (well I did put the kx3 together)

I took the KX3, SW40, and the LBS rigs to the Kingston Amateur Radio Club’s (VE3KBR) Field Day located this year on Wolf Island.  Great site, great bunch of guys, and a great time.

I made 36 contacts with the KX3, but it was tough getting through the pileups (ya think?) with 5 watts.  It got much easier Sunday afternoon in the last hour for some reason and was nice to work a few in a timely fashion.  I fired up the SW40 and though I’d give CW a go. That was a laugh. I’ve never heard so many cw signals at the same time and all way too fast for my ability.  I thought I could spent a couple of minutes and get all the information and then jump in.  I’d have been happy with one contact but it was not to be.  However I did get one contact that I’m extremely happy about.  The LBS rig is alive and well.  I managed to get one and encouraged, I tried for more, but to no avail.  There were a couple of partial attempts but I was really too weak.

Now that I’ve managed to prove the rig is working, I wonder how well I sounded. I wish I thought about it more and had my phone ready to record the QSO just in case but to be frank about it, I didn’t really expect anyone would hear me. I kind of suspect that during Field Day people put up with less desirable signals than during the course of a standard QSO.   

So up next is to try and check into the Trans Provincial Net and get a signal report.  From there it will be to decide the next steps to take in the LBS design.  Other than the pre-amp for rx, it is built as outlined in the original article.  Well I suppose my construction technique is different as well, but the circuits built are as designed. 

Software improvements and the big challenge, board designs. All things to think about with a cool one in hand. Hmm, that's a good idea.

73, Peter