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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:33 pm
by pjeva
It was 2 months ago.. ebay was full of them!
They are from china but they are working their job as it should...
Edit: Try to search for item number 300893596881
Not cheap as it was, but 15$ for 100 pcs is still decent price...
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:53 am
by nrg-uk
Hey sinus give me a call i have loads of bb809s i can send you some also good work with the board mate
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:41 pm
by sinus trouble
Many thanks berlin and pjeva!
C13 on my layout diagram i think would be a good placement for another varicap exclusively for tuning!
il give it a go!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 11:48 pm
by sinus trouble
nrg-uk wrote:Hey sinus give me a call i have loads of bb809s i can send you some also good work with the board mate
nice 1 Mr NRG
Currently i have loadsa MV104s for the moment! But i will be in touch soon geez!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:23 pm
by Albert H
The NRG philosophy was to use "standard" components, and not use pre-programmed ICs at all. The idea was that if you broke it, you'd be able to buy spares to mend it anywhere in the world.
Also, the NRG boards were single-sided for a few reasons: The push-pull oscillator coils didn't like being too close to a groundplane, Stephen believed that the "numpties" building the boards would have trouble removing incorrectly located parts, and the PCB-etching company (Fisher Plastics in Bradford) couldn't do double-sided! We built a few on double-sided boards and the (already low) carrier noise was reduced, and the output spectrum was a bit cleaner. We also added screens to separate the logic from the RF, and that improved things still further....
Remember - all electronic design is compromise!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:32 pm
by Albert H
A quick fix for varicaps - if you need a small swing (like for modulation), just use a 1N4148 reverse-biased. If you need mode mod sensitivity, use two in parallel!
If you need a larger swing - for VCO tuning - try reverse-biased green LEDs! You'll be pleasantly surprised how well they work. One thing - don't let light (particularly fluorescent or LED light) get on to them, or you'll get hum. I paint them black with a marker pen!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 10:51 pm
by sinus trouble
That is true! All diodes have a capacitance, some smaller than others!
Leds and the 1n4148 are sensitive to light!
both can be used as basic photodiodes!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:26 am
by Albert H
That's why I paint them with black marker!!!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:47 pm
by Uksoundz
Hi, sorry to dig up an old thread but I'd like to have a go at building this.
Where oh where can I find a 5k resistor, can't seem to find that value anywhere? Anything else that could be used?
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:06 pm
by Uksoundz
Actually come to mention it I can't find quite a few of these parts. Are some of them now outdated?
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:46 pm
by sinus trouble
Greetings Mr Soundz
The 5k was a bit of trial and error to begin with, A 6k8 will work fine!
The other parts are all still available from Dutch RF Shop (SAA1057, PIC16F84A, BF199, 2N4427)
The trimmer caps have a couple of options? A 6-80PF red can be used in the output but may have pinout differences? I now use the Teflon 5-65PF type, A bit overkill but are robust and fit the PCB perfectly
I had trouble locating the purple trimmer? But I am sure they are obtainable?
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:56 pm
by Uksoundz
sinus trouble wrote: ↑Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:46 pm
Greetings Mr Soundz
The 5k was a bit of trial and error to begin with, A 6k8 will work fine!
The other parts are all still available from Dutch RF Shop (SAA1057, PIC16F84A, BF199, 2N4427)
The trimmer caps have a couple of options? A 6-80PF red can be used in the output but may have pinout differences? I now use the Teflon 5-65PF type, A bit overkill but are robust and fit the PCB perfectly
I had trouble locating the purple trimmer? But I am sure they are obtainable?
Thanks Sinus. So you use the 5-65pf trimmers for all the trimmers?
As you can tell from these questions im no expeet here, and for the record it's unlikely that I'd use this, I just find this kind of electronics building fascinating. I don't even have any test equipment so it would be foolish for me to stick it on air.
Guess it's just to see if i can build it from sourced parts and an inkjet printer on!!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:58 pm
by Uksoundz
sinus trouble wrote: ↑Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:46 pm
Greetings Mr Soundz
The 5k was a bit of trial and error to begin with, A 6k8 will work fine!
The other parts are all still available from Dutch RF Shop (SAA1057, PIC16F84A, BF199, 2N4427)
The trimmer caps have a couple of options? A 6-80PF red can be used in the output but may have pinout differences? I now use the Teflon 5-65PF type, A bit overkill but are robust and fit the PCB perfectly
I had trouble locating the purple trimmer? But I am sure they are obtainable?
Thanks Sinus. So you use the 5-65pf trimmers for all the trimmers?
As you can tell from these questions im no expeet here, and for the record it's unlikely that I'd use this, I just find this kind of electronics building fascinating. I don't even have any test equipment so it would be foolish for me to stick it on air.
Guess it's just to see if i can build it from sourced parts and an inkjet printer PCB!!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:58 pm
by sinus trouble
Glad to help Mr Soundz
Just to clarify, It would be foolish to stick ANY FM transmitter on air without licence..... Irrespective of your ability!
As seen there are four trimmer caps! The oscillator trimmer (purple) is around 5-40PF and is physically smaller, The rest are 5-65PF (yellow)
A few things to bear in mind!
An inkjet printer will not be suitable, It must be a laser printer! PCB image has been pre reversed for transfer but will need re-sizing!
PCB Making also involves toxic chemicals and will be a very tedious task! Time and perseverance is needed!
There are many tutorials on this subject via the web if you have not done before?
The PIC16F84A will need to be pre programmed before fitting! The HEX file can be found at PIRA.CZ in the archive section!
I also have a new Version of the PCB which addresses pad problems that I had, I will post it soon!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:07 pm
by Uksoundz
sinus trouble wrote: ↑Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:58 pm
Glad to help Mr Soundz
Just to clarify, It would be foolish to stick ANY FM transmitter on air without licence..... Irrespective of your ability!
As seen there are four trimmer caps! The oscillator trimmer (purple) is around 5-40PF and is physically smaller, The rest are 5-65PF (yellow)
A few things to bear in mind!
An inkjet printer will not be suitable, It must be a laser printer! PCB image has been pre reversed for transfer but will need re-sizing!
PCB Making also involves toxic chemicals and will be a very tedious task! Time and perseverance is needed!
There are many tutorials on this subject via the web if you have not done before?
The PIC16F84A will need to be pre programmed before fitting! The HEX file can be found at PIRA.CZ in the archive section!
I also have a new Version of the PCB which addresses pad problems that I had, I will post it soon!
Thanks my friend. I will await your updated PCB, will order the parts and give this one a go after Christmas!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:58 am
by XXL
did this ever get updated ?
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:32 am
by RF-Head
You can get all the parts here incl the Philips trimmers
https://www.hf-electronics.nl/Webwinkel ... 3Cnl%3E%3C![CDATA[Trimmers]]%3E%3C-nl%3E%3C-lng%3E.html
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:00 pm
by XXL
I want to build it but there is mention of problems with it that was going to be updated and looks like the thread just died out.
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:39 pm
by sinus trouble
XXL wrote: ↑Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:58 am
did this ever get updated ?
The simple answer is no.
At the time when i came up with the idea, There was not many available or affordable alternatives for me?
I must have built around 10 of these Exciters over the years and every single one worked great!
The only problem i found with the PCB was that some of the solder pads were sometimes damaged by the drilling process.
Obviously now times have changed and there are less labour consuming options.
I will post the modified PCB in a sec, I must warn you that i never built this version!
Currently i have no plans to reproduce this project? But if i did? It would most likely be a JLCPCB job!
Re: Sinus 1watt PLL
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:54 pm
by sinus trouble