From Pixie to Pixie

Pleading for the Pixie

As you know the little  transceiver has got a long history, its origin dating back to the 70s: a Swedish  Optimist, some English versions Foxx, Micro - a Russian one, even the Oner from the GQRP Club, Pixie II, an Aelva – which means  Pixie in Swedish – Mighty Mite, Tiny Tornado…RixPix  and some more.

Recently  ( Dec 2008)  I  was pointed to the web site of PY2OHH where you can see his Curumim which again goes back to the roots : one transitor , one IC only.  All have in common to be minimal TRX versions.

Building the Pixie is straight forward, a weekend project perhaps when I leave out the preface on how you have to estimate your own skill,  soldering experience, where the hot side of the iron is, how to wind an Amidon little core etc etc…

Your intention is to get a simple but really working TRX ready within a short time. No core winding, you can use the Ls which look like thick Rs.

Well, you build it, then you’ll get frustrated.

Well ,you build it , then you will  be satisfied and happy.

Ooops?

Operating this little love is like free climbing. Many  people know it, few have seen it, fewer have experienced it themselves. It needs time, energy to work up to the summit with bare feet   and only your knowledge on  which route to go.

Perhaps you build 10 Pixies before you will have 10 qsos. Never give up. Know how to use a good ATU, know band conditions…
That’s the challenge of this project.  This way it is not a beginner’s project, by no means.

My ham friend DL7UWE has designed the board for a basic Pixie which is 5 x 3 cm.

He has just finished his Pixie ( Dec 2008)  and made some qsos already into  DL, PA, some 100 to 600 km, some real long chats – won’t believe it!

I  am going to  build the very same version in Manhattan Style soon.

Let’s see whether I can add some pics here.

You should find the schematics at least, the board and a pic of an assembled  Pixie by DG3DBO on a larger board, ca 6 x 7 cm. A lot of space.

When you feel you sit rockbound in the Frequency Ocean and nobody is answering your desperate calls

you will then need some modifications, a side tone, experiments with other transistors, install some extra Ls to extend  switchable little frequency range, perhaps two crystals, increase the fraction of a watt power…This is what you can easily find when you google.

Stop! That’s the moment when you could also start  building an SST or SW.

I would recommend the SW with its wider qrg range and it comes together with a fine tutorial book which explains the function of the single stages. Both are of the same size and require  nearly  the same skill and effort.

Why not build the new PFR-3 : 1 board  containing 3 bands, a simple balanced line tuner, full 5 watts out from the internal battery case?

It’s a pleasure to follow Doug’s report  on the rig’s history  here:
http://arsqrp.pbwiki.com/Impressions+of+the+Hendricks+PFR3

I have put some pics into the pfr list’s gallery which offer a bit of insight during my construction time and they could also offer some hints for a newcomer together with the list entries ( mind, there are more than 500 by now, hi) .

Log in here

https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?.intl=us&.src=ygrp&.done=http%3a//groups.yahoo.com%2Fgroup%2Fpfr3_group%2Fpost

At this time you can as well assemble the K1. I love the K-elecraft series. They have such an excellent manual, take you by the hand, use the internal measuring facilities. Great! DL qrpprojects offer some rigs as well worth having a look at.

At this moment you again remember the little Pixie.  The PFR has its  DDS heart  premounted on board, all SMD, jolly good job done by Steve Weber.
Why not design a board for the Pixi  for  SMD  parts? When you have built your third Pixie this way you will be able to solder the ATS by Steve. But I myself have still got to exercise SMD soldering.

The SMD Pixie will be small, the biggest parts being the crystal and the BNC socket, hi. And all will fit into a matchbox.

What  we know now is you can  start building a Pixie as a beginner and start building a Pixie  when you already have built some other kits.

Please be kind enough to visit my home page where I displayed some ideas on QRP

www.swschwedt.de/kunden/dl2bqd

and you can see all the little rigs from 80 to 6m  which gave me the base for my personal experience. But – and it is a big but – I have a good friend round the corner who is a radio mechanic by profession and is well equipped with measuring tools  a n d  he knows what & why to measure and above all he is able to interpret the results he gets!

I think that these basic elements can be trained with a Pixie very well.

As a beginner I would like to invest in a good MultiMeter, a  little box to measure Ls and Cs  and a transitor tester. A few cents more into a log book where one  notes construction progress  - believe me, you will have forgotten in a week what you did yesterday, at least I will  - and all info which could be of further use later…

Well, I won’t bother you with all these hints. You will find them  in Chuck Adam’s .pdf  and also Harris has written some chapters on homebrew technology.

The Pixie is a great teaching project. Get on the air with minimal parts, be a master to handle the key and make friendly contacts with a power less than the bulb of a bicycle.

You can also take part in a real  qrpp event. Annually there is one organised by the qrpp , DJ7ST, Hal. Please have a look there:

http://www.qrpcc.de/index.html

I took part last year with a two transistor TX only and used my home TRX as Rx station, switched antenna with a heavy  coax switch, hand key, …oh, dear, all this switching and listening and keying… handling three things at one time.

That’s  why I want to have  this Pixie.

Cu there!

Don’t say no. I remember a sked  qrpp organised some years ago

between  DL  and  State Side by DF2OK. The story should be somewhere on the Net.

72, Dieter DL2BQD