{"id":381,"date":"2002-10-30T19:00:03","date_gmt":"2002-10-30T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pa3hcm.utreg.net\/?p=381"},"modified":"2021-01-18T20:20:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T19:20:44","slug":"pixie2-qrp-transceiver-for-80m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pa3hcm.nl\/?p=381","title":{"rendered":"Pixie2 QRP transceiver for 80m"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The smallest QRP transceiver for 80 meters, called “Pixie 2”, is a very nice project to start building your own equipment. Minimum components, maximum fun. The spec’s are poor, but what else might you expect for just a few dollars?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The G QRP Club compiled a nice booklet called The Pixie File<\/a>, which includes the history of this little transceiver and some variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Circuit description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The crystal oscillator is a simple parallel-mode Colpitts type (actually it’s a Clapp oscillator), designed for 3.5 MHz. The frequency depends on the used crystal, the preferred value is of course 3.56 MHz, the worldwide QRP-frequency! The “PA” is made with a 2N2219, delivering max. 400 mW to the antenna. But, this transistor is also a mixer for receiving signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LM386 is a populair AF amplifier, and gives enough gain to hear the stronger stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m currently building this ‘toy’ for myself. So I don’t have any experience with it yet, but Jan PA3AGP was very enthousiastic about his results with this tiny transceiver. He made QSO’s from France with dutch amateurs during his holiday, which was a distance of over 600 km. But even much greater distances must be possible. A good antenna will give much better results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course it’s possible to do lots of modifications and improvements to this transceiver, but for most people it’s just the fun to keep it as simple as possible. Just add the TX\/RX shift modification to make operating somewhat easier and to increase the chance on a QSO. If you want to do more mod’s, don’t do that, but start a new project to build a more serious transceiver and leave your Pixie 2 this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some hints<\/h2>\n\n\n\n