QRP By The Bay, Chelsea Beach, Melbourne, Saturday 8th February 2020

QRP By The Bay is a regular meet-up of amateur radio operators, makers and experimenters , Chelsea Beach, Melbourne. On Saturday 8th February the weather was summery, a warm 28 degrees C, but windy, 35km/h blow from the south-east. A strong turn out resulted in lots of conversation, show-and-tell, and general story telling. The video shows some of the faces and activity. If you want to know more about any of the people or projects drop a comment below.

I was expecting Peter VK3YE to take his wade-tenna into the shallows for some pedestrian mobile contacts, but the wind made that option risky. No matter, there was plenty to see and discuss at the tables.

Thanks to Peter VK3YE for continuing this series of ‘eyeball’ QSOs, a now regular and much appreciated date on the amateur radio calendar in Melbourne.

Federation Range VK3/VN-029 Jan 2020, with VK3EAR and VK3KR

Federation Range at 1490m is the highest point in the Yarra Ranges, and a comfortable 4km walk from Lake Mountain resort, 90 minutes drive north east of Melbourne. The 24th January 2020 was planned a few weeks in advance and fortunately, the weather was favourable, the area was well clear of bushfires, and Owen VK3EAR and David VK3KR were both able to join in.

8 Band Superhet AM Receiver

Amplitude Modulation holds a fascination for me. It dates back to those hours spent as a teenager listening to the big broadcast-like amateur AM stations in the 1970s and 80s, on 160, 80 and 40 meters. Signals that seemed as wide and loud as medium wave commercial broadcast stations, bearing sonorous, paced voices that projected a wealth of wisdom and experience, and in many cases, a grandfatherly manner. Back then, AM was known as ‘The Gentleman’s Mode’.

Two activators, two summits in the Yarra Ranges (25/10/2019)

On the 25th October 2019 I dragged David VK3KR out to the Yarra Ranges for some SOTA fun. The story is told by the video. Thanks to all chasers!

QRP By The Bay, Chelsea Beach, Melbourne, 2nd Nov 2019

QRPers at play.

QRP By The Bay was held again at Chelsea Beach on Saturday 2nd November 2019. A crowd of QRP, homebrew enthusiasts, and amateur radio knockabouts gathered on a wet and windy day, some with show-and-tell items, some obviously shy of bringing a full scale portable station on account of what the unpredictable weather might do.

Dummy loads for an AM PWM transmitter build

My Pulse Width Modulated AM transmitter project required dummy loads to match the load impedance of the RF power stage (50 ohms) and the Pulse Width Modulator (12 to 16 ohms). Surely any self-respecting amateur radio station would have a decent 50 ohm dummy load, I hear you ask incredulously. I do have one at VK3HN … or I did.

A 300 Watt DC Power Supply for a QRO AM Transmitter

This post describes construction of a 300 watt DC power supply for use in a 150 watt Class D AM transmitter. The transmitter design calls for about 150 volts DC at 2 amps continuous and up to 4 amps peak. This post describes the 240v mains DC supply. The switch mode regulator is described in another post. The other modules in this QRO transmitter project are to follow.

A 300w switching regulator for a QRO AM transmitter power supply

Laurie VK3SJ is an accomplished RF designer and homebrewer in Melbourne’s 160m scene. You can hear his excellent AM signal regularly on the 160m AM Coffee Break net most weekdays. Laurie has spent a great deal of time experimenting with Class D, E and Pulse Width Modulators. He has an interesting Class D AM transmitter design with a pulse width modulator. Laurie’s design has been built by Wayne VK3ALK, who I met online in the Class E Forum on AMFone. After lots of emails and a few calls with these homebrew AM experts, I decided to proceed with my build of a VK3SJ AM transmitter for 160m.

A Pulse Width Modulator for the FAT5 160M Class E Transmitter

After a few months of operating my FAT5 160m AM Class E transmitter with its linear modulator, it was time to try Dave and Eric’s Pulse Width Modular module (PuWMa). This is a PWM using the Texas Instruments’ UCC25701 PWM chip, with TC4421 drivers and IRF640 switching FETs, followed by the obligatory Low Pass Filter to clean the 170kHz AC off the modulated DC.

Microphone Compressor from 1978 lives again (ETI490)

Whilst sorting electronics junk recently I unearthed this board. My build of the Electronics Today International microphone compressor, ETI490, published in the magazine in December 1978. I remember preserving my copy of this magazine for many years, long after the pages faded and cover tattered, as it contained the construction article for this useful amateur radio station component.