Pixie-II

Pixie II

For an excellent step by step construction of the Pixie II see W5NIG's site.

20 October 2010

I ordered my kit this week (17 Oct 2010). Hopefully it gets here before the weekend so I will have time to at least take a look at it!

Surfing the web one night in search of QRPp information brought me to HSC Electronic Supply where they are selling the PIXIE II kit for 80 meters for $9.95. Needless to say, I bought this right away, then added a QRP Crystal Pack (80, 40, 30, 15, 17, and 10 meters) for $14.95.

More to come after I get to building...

21 October 2010

Got the kit today! Counted out the parts and everything is there. Now it is off to Radio Shack to pick up a few parts (phono plugs, switches, etc..)

Although all my parts were in the package, please note the kit does not come with the necessary crystal(s). It does come with the required Inductors for either 80m or 40m. This is not a problem as long as you get the QRP Crystal pack.

24 October 2010

I finished the build this evening complete with getting the radio housed in an Altoids tin. I have not tried it out yet since it is getting late and I have an early day tomorrow. Hopefully this week I will get to try it out!

6 November 2010

Well, I think I may have not had too steady of a hand while soldering the components to the board. When powered, no smoke (so that is good at least), but no audio or RF out. After troubleshooting I was able to get some audio (too bad it was 1240am locally), but I did notice a few spots where the solder seems to have combined with the solder next to it. So, I will have to clean that up. Not giving up though! More to come...

10 April 2011

I know it has been a long time since the last post on the Pixie, but life got in the way as well as my unsteady hand... First, we welcomed a new little girl into the family in November, so I didn't work on the Pixie too much. Next, I royally screwed up the soldering on the board. After investigation, I determined I used too large a diameter solder. So, this Pixie is toast. I intend to order another soon, though.