40m QRP CW Transceiver Build

[harleymac1]

Are you planning to use a key for sending and receiving or are you using a computer? I apologize for my ignorance. Last time I used morse code was about twenty years ago when I passed the General's exam.

I bought the DCP (Dirt Cheap Paddle) kit from American Morse last year and built it. Pretty cool set of paddles that I like alot.

 

[Backpacker]

Nice piece of gear. My hat is off to those who master code. I didn't use it enough to be good. I had a friend who was so at ease with code he could carry on a QSO and participate in conversation with guys at the table while eating a sandwich.

 

[harleymac1]

Congrats on nice build. Eyes and skill preclude much building but I do dabble in qrp. Have a ten tec 20/40 qrp rig and a argonaut. Also have a xiegu g90 but it’s qro at 20 watts. Maybe we’ll run into you on the air.

Thanks. My eyesight has gone down hill the past few years as well so I bought this kit off Amazon. They were crucial in this build. Never would have been able to complete it without.



https://www.amazon.com/YOCTOSUN-Rec...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[harleymac1]

Nice piece of gear. My hat is off to those who master code. I didn't use it enough to be good. I had a friend who was so at ease with code he could carry on a QSO and participate in conversation with guys at the table while eating a sandwich.

I am starting to get about 80% of a QSO at about 12 wpm. It has taken me a good 18 months to get there. I will probably never read much faster but I still have fun. I have one of those friends too. At one point he was holding cw QSO's while driving to work in the mornings. He can head copy at 35 wpm which blows my mind.

 

[PappyD]

Really cool to see some guys on this forum that are hams AND builders! Kind of a lost art in many ways so kudos to all of you.

I use to build some kits- have an early Oak Hills Research 40m kit and a 20m Small Wonder Labs setup. Both are QRP. Probably did more with the OHR 40m kit back when my kids were little and we camped a lot. Had a 40m dipole I made and would get it up in the trees as much as possible and could "work the world" as they use to say.

My father in law got me re-interested in Morse code- I had had a little training in the Army back in the late 70's. He had been a radio operator stationed on Guam during the Korean War. CW was still common and used daily then. Wow, was he fast! 20 wpm was cruising speed for him. I'm more like an easy 12-15 wpm, but I would have to practice now to get up to speed again. He lived in Massachusetts and we used to get on the radio - 20m during the day and 80m at night. I would ask my wife, "hey you want to talk to your Dad?" She would laugh and say "no, I'll just call him by phone!"

All my ham gear is put away as we recently moved into a smaller home. I do like to listen to HF and try and copy code for fun. CW QRP is pretty cool and about as fundamental as you can get.

Thanks for sharing! Pappy KG9KF Extra Class