‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2007 QST PAGES 66, 67 AND 100 ‰ RECEIVER TO MY HP LAPTOP. THIS PARTICULAR LAPTOP IS ONLY ABOUT A YEAR OLD, SO I FIGURED THAT IT WOULD WORK FINE. NOT SO. I SOON DISCOVERED THAT THE BUILT IN SOUND CARD HAS NO STEREO LINE OR MIC INPUT, ONLY A MONAURAL ONE. MY OTHER HOUSEHOLD COMPUTERS WERE OLDER ‰ FROM PAGE 100 ‰ JA1SYY/344 JA2CGH/337 JA2VMU/335 JA3MLJ/333 JA3PG/336 JA4ITW/331 JA6CM/345 SPECTRUM ANALYZER AND ACTUALLY LOOK AT NEARBY FREQUENCIES, ALL FROM THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD. NEAT, HUH? BUILDING THE KIT THE FIREFLY IS A MONOBAND TRANSCEIVER, SO YOU NEED TO PICK 30 OR 20 METERS. I HAVE LOTS OF 20 METER RADIOS, SO I PICKED THE 30 METER VERSION. THE KIT USES THROUGH HOLE COMPONENTS. THERE ARE FIVE SURFACE MOUNTED PARTS, BUT THEY ARE INSTALLED BEFORE THE KIT SHIPS. THE KIT ARRIVED IN A DECEPTIVELY SMALL BOX. YOU NEED TO GET A COPY OF THE MANUAL IN PDF FORMAT FROM THE WEB SITE WWW. QRPKITS. COM. ONCE I HAD THE MANUAL PRINTED ALL 66 PAGES OF IT. I TOOK IT TO OFFICE MAX AND HAD IT SPIRAL BOUND. THAT ALLOWS IT TO LAY FLAT ON THE WORKBENCH AND OFFERS AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO STORE THE MANUAL AFTER THE BUILD. THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS WAS TO INVENTORY THE CONTENTS AND BE SURE THAT EVERYTHING WAS ON HAND IT WAS. I CANNOT OVERSTATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS STEP. YOU DONT WANT TO DISCOVER, HALFWAY THROUGH THE BUILD, THAT YOU DONT HAVE THE PROPER PARTS TO COMPLETE THE KIT. RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO DIVE ‰ FROM PAGE 100 ‰ F6CDJ/343 F8KA/345 G3LAS/338 G3MIR/341 G4YRR/337 G5LP/355 GM0VRP/331 HB9BCK/336 HB9BPP/338 HB9CRV/337 HB9CSA/337 HC1HC/340 HK3YH/344 HK5LEX/335 ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ TAYLOE, N7VE, THE FIREFLY ATTEMPTS TO MARRY A SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO SDR SSB/CW RECEIVER WITH A CONVENTIONAL VARIABLE FREQUENCY CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR VXO CW TRANSMITTER FOR A STATE OF THE ART RADIO SET THAT IS LOADS OF FUN TO BUILD AND OPERATE. THE STABLE TRANSMITTER HAS 3R5 W MINIMUM OUTPUT AND, THANKS TO USING A DUAL CRYSTAL SUPER VXO CIRCUIT, NICELY COVERS MUCH OF THE 30 METER BAND. A CW KEYER AND FULL BREAK IN QSK ARE INCLUDED ON THE BOARD. ANOTHER VERSION OF THE FIREFLY KIT COVERS 20 METERS. IN ESSENCE THE FIREFLY PLACES THE FRUGAL QRPER ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF RADIO TECHNOLOGY. THE RECEIVER REQUIRES A MODERN COMPUTER WITH SOUND CARD AND SPECIAL SOFTWARE TO OPERATE MORE ON THIS LATER. BASICALLY, AN SDR IS A HARDWARE PLATFORM THAT, THROUGH THE USE OF ON BOARD FIRMWARE AND ASSOCIATED COMPUTER SOFTWARE, CAN BE RECONFIGURED ON THE FLY WITHOUT RESORTING TO HARDWARE MODIFICATIONS. IF YOU HAVE AN SDR, YOU CAN CHANGE THE OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RADIO SIMPLY BY MODIFYING THE COMPUTER SOFTWARE THAT RUNS THE RADIO. A FEW KEY STROKES OR MOUSE CLICKS AND YOU CAN ALTER IF FILTER PERFORMANCE, CHANGE OPERATING MODES, CHANGE FREQUENCY, OR CALL UP A ‰ FROM PAGE 100 ‰ AA4XR/341 AA8CH/336 AB5EB/335 AD6W/339 AE5B/351 AI5B/340 AJ9C/339 CT1YH/337 DJ5AI/356 DJ9UM/345 DK5JI/341 DL1DUL/331 DL1KS/359 DL6CNG/331 DL6RAI/337 DL8FM/342 DL9OH/374 DS2BGV/331 EA1QF/343 EA3GHZ/331 EI6FR/334 F5XX/334 ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ