‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2007 QST  PAGES 68 AND 100  ‰
THEIR LOW VOLTAGE RATINGS.  THE HPS 1A IS A VERY TINY PACKAGE, JUST 1R6 X
3R4 X 5R3 INCHES AND WEIGHING A MERE 20 OUNCES.  APART FROM THE LABELING,
THE FRONT HAS ONLY A SINGLE LED FOR POWER, GIVING IT A SLEEK APPEARANCE.
THE BACK OF THE SUPPLY CARRIES THE POWER
‰  FROM PAGE 100  ‰
SP5GRM/340 UA0AZ/337 VE2NW/336 VE3KP/343 VE3LYC/331 VE3PNT/337 VE3RIG/332

THERE MAY BE SOMETHING TO THIS SDR STUFF AFTER ALL.  IM VERY PLEASED WITH
THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE FIREFLY.  THE FRUITFUL MINDS OF DAN TAYLOE,
N7VE AND DOUG HENDRICKS, KI6DS, OFFER THE FRUGAL QRPER AN INEXPENSIVE,
FEATURE PACKED KIT THAT IS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR THE RADIO
AMATEUR.  COUPLE THAT WITH THE ENJOYMENT OF BUILDING YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT,
AND THE FIREFLY IS A GREAT CHOICE FOR THE INTERMEDIATE AND EXPERIENCED KIT
BUILDER.  I FOUND OUT MORE THAN I EVER CARED TO KNOW ABOUT SOUND CARDS.
SERIOUSLY, BUILDING AND TESTING THE FIREFLY TRANSCEIVER KIT WAS A POSITIVE
EXPERIENCE.  LEARNING TO USE THE CAPABILITIES OF AN SDR RECEIVER PROVIDED
ME WITH AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT THIS NEW GENERATION OF RADIO GEAR.  ONCE THE
FIREFLYS RUNNING, YOU CAN TRY OUT OTHER VERSIONS OF SDR SOFTWARE, AS THEY
BECOME AVAILABLE, TO ADD FEATURES OR PERFORMANCE TO YOUR RIG.  SINCE THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE FIREFLY IS SO DEPENDENT ON THE SOFTWARE, WE DID NOT
INCLUDE THE USUAL PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BAR CHART THAT WE GENERALLY USE
‰  FROM PAGE 100  ‰
N4TX/343 N5BV/339 N5EPA/337 N5FTR/336 N5GH/332 N5HSF/336 N5KM/340 N5XG/340
N5XZ/344 N6ED/334 N6XJ/347 N7ACB/337 N7OJ/334 N8KF/340 N9AG/336 N9CHN/338
‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ

ON THE AIR AT LAST ON AIR TESTING WAS A BLAST.  IN KEEPING WITH THE
FRUSTRATION ENCOUNTERED WITH THE SOFTWARE, 30 METERS SEEMED DEAD WHEN I
FIRED UP THE FIREFLY.  I ATTACHED MY ELECRAFT XG 2 TEST OSCILLATOR TO THE
FIREFLY ANTENNA INPUT AND IMMEDIATELY FOUND THE GENERATORS 10R106 MHZ
SIGNAL IN THE SPECTRUM DISPLAY.  TWEAKING C75 AND C87 PEAKED THE RECEIVER
PRESELECTOR FOR MAXIMUM SIGNAL INPUT.  SO MUCH FOR THE RECEIVER ALIGNMENT.
A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER I ASKED MICHAEL TRACY IF HE COULD TRY A QSO FROM
W1AW AND LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE FIREFLY SIGNAL.  NO SOONER WAS I ON
FREQUENCY TESTING THAN MARK WILSON, K1RO, THE PRODUCT REVIEW EDITOR, CAME
UP ON FREQUENCY AND WE CHATTED A BIT.  MARKS SIGNALS WERE A SOLID 599 AND
HE GAVE MY QRP SIGNAL A 579 AT HIS NEW HAMPSHIRE QTH.  IN THE MEANTIME,
MICHAEL AND W1AWS CHIEF OP, JOE CARCIA, NJ1Q, WERE READING ME 599 AND I
WORKED THE HPM MEMORIAL STATION NEXT.  THE FIREFLY SOUNDED GOOD ON BOTH
TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE, AND BEING ABLE TO SEE THE OTHER STATIONS SIGNALS ON
THE DISPLAY WAS EXTREMELY COOL.  A QUICK CLICK OF THE MOUSE AND I WAS ABLE
TO NARROW THE RECEIVER IF PASSBAND TO IMPROVE THE RECEIVED SIGNALS.  HEY,
‰  FROM PAGE 100  ‰
KE7PB/336 KG6AM/336 KJ0M/340 KM9G/338 KN4T/346 KR9A/339 KS3F/338 KS4YT/331
KW8T/349 KX4DX/342 LA4OGA/336 LA7AFA/337 LA7JO/347 LU2AH/345 LX2PA/337
N1PM/336 N2JD/345 N3RX/337 N4BQD/337 N4EKD/336 N4RF/337 N4RU/346 N4SZ/340
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ