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The Pixie II is
a simple cw transceiver for 80/40/30.
The Pixie II is a small, versatile radio transceiver that is very popular with amateur radio operators the world over. The design schematic is readily available all over the Internet, which is where I found it. In its unmodified form, it is a QRP CW transceiver. In HAM parlance, QRP is a code for “please reduce power”, and CW stands for “continuous wave”. What these things really mean is that this radio is a low power radio that transmits a tone; basically, it can be used for Morse code communication. One of the most impressive features of the Pixie II is that it can operate at a wide range of RF frequencies. The main modifications required to change the operating band are replacing the crystal and altering the output filter. Still, the real beauty of this radio is its simplicity. The design is fairly transparent and easy to follow, and it is easily modifiable.
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I built my first Pixie II in an Altoids tin, above. It was on 80mtrs 3560. I was very surprised how well it worked for such a simple transceiver. On rx it was ok but I did get quite a lot of broadcast break in but I modified the feed to the lm386 as per a mod in SPRAT, and that made a lot of difference. I have worked quite a lot of stations with this simple little rig. The very first one was a g5 who came back to my cq call one afternoon, he was down in Dorset, later that evening I worked into Denmark and was amazed to get a 579 report. This with just 800mw and an indoor magnetic loop antenna. |
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email for more information
mailto:g4kki.william@ntlworld.com
