Where to find a good clean design / kit?

[Ignite]

Hi,

Reading through all of the previous discussions on transmission kit, it's very difficult to get a proper perspective on what is good and what generates large amounts of RF pollution. I know that the Chinese rubbish should not be touched and that some transmitters coming from a Caribbean nation are not the best. However, what is worth looking at and where do you go to obtain it?

Are the NRG PLL Pro III boards on Ebay worth looking at? Are there any other kits that are currently recommended to look at? I'm sure that there will be a general consensus as to what is good and what is bad.

Many Thanks

Ignite

[Bton-FM]

Sinus 1 or 5 watt pll?

[sinus trouble]

Hello Ignite

Ofcourse they are NRG/PIRA designs! I have built many of these over the years and they work everytime!

You will have to etch the PCB and program the PIC yourself, I am happy to help with any uncertaincies!

Good Luck!

[Ignite]

Of course they are NRG/PIRA designs! I have built many of these over the years and they work everytime!

You will have to etch the PCB and program the PIC yourself, I am happy to help with any uncertaincies!

Good Luck!

Thank you for the welcome. Your designs look very interesting. I've got access to PCB fabbing facilities so making PCBs is not an issue. Do you have any Gerber files for your designs?

Many Thanks

Ignite

[Albert H]

There are a few credible kits around. The NRG ones from New Zealand are good. The RDVV ones from the Netherlands are OK as well. Most of the others are a waste of time and money.

However, you're going to run into problems if you don't have the basic test equipment:

You need a good digital Multimeter. Don't buy cheap junk, and look for fused probes (they can save your bacon!). I have a few multimeters - my day-to-day portable one is a Fluke 77, and I have an old Solartron job on my workbench. I also have an aged Avo 8 which I've used for years.

You'll need a frequency counter. You can get reasonable ones from China on sites like https://www.banggood.com/ and from https://www.dx.com/ for not much money. You might have to make a box for it - my portable counter is a little module from Ebay with an LCD display and an SMA input connector. It works from about 10 Hz up to 6 GHz and runs from a "9V" rechargeable battery. I printed a plastic case for it, and added some thin PCB material inside as screening. The whole thing cost about €18 to make. A cheap module that'll get you started is https://www.dx.com/p/high-accuracy-1-50 ... gFzGdngqV4

You'll need a dummy load - 50Ω non-inductive - capable of handling whatever power you intend to generate. You might also need a 75Ω low power load too. My bench load / power meter is American, branded "Green" and has full scale power readings of 1, 3, 10, 30, 100, 300W and 1kW. It has a built-in blower for higher power and a temperature alarm in case things are getting too hot!

You'll need an SWR bridge for aligning aerials. An antenna analyser is nice to have, but not essential.

You'll need a regulated bench power supply, and an oscilloscope is indispensable.

You need a way of checking for harmonics and parasitics - an absorption wavemeter / dip meter is an easy thing to build and calibrate. It's better to have a spectrum analyser and network analyser, but you're talking thousands of pounds for those - even secondhand. A wavemeter is a great way to tune up rigs.

You're going to need a good, temperature-controlled soldering iron (and know how to solder properly), and you'll need a comprehensive set of tools.

You can set up a credible RF workshop for a few hundred pounds if you shop around.

Warning: you'll end up like me with "Gear Acquisition Syndrome" - it gets expensive!

[Ignite]

Thank you Albert. Most useful.

All of the RDVV boards and kits that I've seen on amateurradioshop.nl seen to be a mix between RDVV and pkbee. Are these OK or is there somewhere else I should be looking? Are there any particular ones to avoid in the range?

I've just had a check with our electronics department for test gear and I've got access to a Tektronix MDO3024 scope which has a 200MHz spectrum analyser as part of it's functions.

In my own kit I've got a Fluke 115 meter, Weller temp controlled iron and a hot air soldering rig. I was fortunate enough to be taught to solder properly about 30 years ago and to rework boards so that the customer could not see where you had been.

Just need to sort out a dummy load and SWR bridge.

[sinus trouble]

Sorry, No Gerber files here!

They are hand made from scratch, The 5watt also requires you to fabricate a heatsink for the MRF237

Ofcourse Albert is correct! But it depends on you specific application? If you are like me and wanted a project with reliable results, This is for you!

However if you are looking to broadcast hundreds of watts long term? I would not recommend this!

[Ignite]

Sorry, No Gerber files here!

They are hand made from scratch, The 5watt also requires you to fabricate a heatsink for the MRF237

Any chance you can send me a link to the latest artwork and details please?

Thanks

[sinus trouble]

I did try to share the files via G Drive but it didn't seem to work? These file share things are a PTA!!

[ronald001]

Thank you Albert. Most useful.

All of the RDVV boards and kits that I've seen on amateurradioshop.nl seen to be a mix between RDVV and pkbee. Are these OK or is there somewhere else I should be looking? Are there any particular ones to avoid in the range?

Excellent boards!

Also have a look at Dutchrfshop, his design is also very good

[Maximus]

These kits are good:

https://www.amateurradioshop.nl/webshop ... broadcast/

[thewisepranker]

You can set up a credible RF workshop for a few hundred pounds if you shop around.

I think that's a bit of a stretch!

[Bton-FM]

Gotta really have an analyser for an rf workshop

[Albert H]

You can get away with a reasonably sensitive absorption wavemeter!

I got one of my Spectrum Analysers from John's Radio in Yorkshire (I think they're now defunct) for £400. I still use it, and had it recalibrated about five months ago. It's an old HP job, and when used with its Tracking Generator, it is just as good as my £27000 Advantech set-up! It also goes up to 22GHz!

Stewart of Reading are really good for secondhand test gear at reasonable prices. They also give good warranties on their gear - important with old kit!

[yellowbeard]

I seen this on an amateur radio site - going to get one of them when the credit card goes back to pre Christmas levels...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Nanovna- ... SwiT5dePwr
There are lots videos of it in use on youtube, it looks alright even as an antenna analyser and its tiny - handy if you're on a roof or up a pole, worth a punt even if it is not tremendously accurate.

[Ignite]

Having had a good look over the different options, I'm looking at giving this one a go https://www.amateurradioshop.nl/webshop ... -2018.html
Has anyone had a play with it yet and if so, what's it like?

[Ignite]

I did try to share the files via G Drive but it didn't seem to work? These file share things are a PTA!!

Thank you for trying. Is there some other way that you could get stuff to me as I would love to give your designs a try as well as another kit.

Thanks

[sinus trouble]

[sinus trouble]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

[Ignite]

Thank you. I've got the files. I'll have a look over everything later.