W9TH.com – Page 2 – QRP before QRP was cool…

February 23, 2023 Jeff

Micro Keyer Paddle

I found this micro sized keyer paddle at the Hendricks County Indiana Hamfest 2023. It is so tiny, but has an excellent feel. The paddle is also fully adjustable. The cost – $10. The ham who was selling these didn’t mind me posting about it, but he declined to be identified. He is not in the business of mass production of these paddles for commercial sale. The paddle is 3-D printed. I’m sure the details for such a paddle are on some well known 3-D printing sites. I plan to use it with my SW-3b and AT Sprint III backpack

August 1, 2022 Jeff

Heathkit GR-64

This was my novice receiver in 1971-72. It was quite a challenge to make contacts with this receiver, but I think it was a good learning experience. Here is the PDF scan of the GR-64 manual:

January 9, 2022 Jeff

RockMite 30

Purchased in 2005, I finally decided to assemble the kit after 17 years. The assembly took about 5 hours. Before putting the radio in the case, I tested it on the bench. I knew that once it was in the case, it would be very difficult to remove it for troubleshooting or modification. The radio worked the first time I powered it up (I get lucky sometimes). The sensitivity is very good, and the transmitter output was 300 mW. I had tested a pile of 2N2222A transistors before assembly to find the one with the most gain. I’m surprised the

December 29, 2021 Jeff

uBITX V6 Part 1 – Enclosure Painting

Santa delivered a new uBITX V6 to my door this Christmas! I have a few days off work, so I decided to assemble the radio right away. The first step is painting the enclose “Sunburst Yellow”. This is my favorite color for homebrew radio projects.