After a bit of research, I realized I was most certainly using the wrong revision of instructions. Whoops.

I have a Rev 4 kit, but the instructions I’ve been using are Rev 3.

Well, that also explains why I have

• four 10uF capacitors instead of six
• a few extra 1uF ceramic capacitors and
• why I have two extra resistors laying about

The good news is that I won’t have to remove or rework anything, yet I won’t know for sure until I’m done assembling and testing.

Note to self: make sure the schematics match the PCB… and vice versa.

The story so far:

Still several more things to do yet:

• toroids to wind,
• a few potentiometers to install,
• jacks for headphones and an external key,
• a few pushbuttons,
• and of course a display

Will it work? No idea. But I’m eager to find out.

A slightly more subtantial, and tunable QRP transciever, the QRP Lab QCX kit, is rather well-underway:

And I’ve come to the conclusion that I should really improve my interior project bench.

All in due time, of course.

The latest assembly from Casa de Juan;

A zap-o-matic? A high-precision random-number generator? A molecular stun-gun?

a 50-Ohm dummy load for testing transmitters up to 20w output to minimize the risk of

1. transmitting a signal; and
2. burning up a transmitter while not hooked up to an antenna

It’s effectively a sandwitch of small PCBs surrounding resistors along with an appropriate capcitor and diode to smooth out the signal while testing.

Yep, the soldering work still needs some improvement. Like the last project, I’m actually rather impressed that I was able to make it work as expected.

And next time, we’ll do something a bit more challenging.