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UHF/VHF Weekender Transceiver Kit Review

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by M1MRB, Mar 17, 2019.

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  1. M1MRB

    M1MRB Ham Member QRZ Page

    ICQ Podcast Episode 289

    In this episode, Martin M1MRB is joined by Chris Howard M0TCH, Martin Rothwell M0SGL and Frank Howell K4FMH to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief and this episode’s feature is a review of the UHF/VHF Weekender Transceiver Kit by Martin M1MRB.

    ICQ AMATEUR/HAM RADIO PODCAST DONORS

    We would like to thank our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

    News stories include:-

    • Radar makes 5 MHz Band 'Useless'
    • Neil G0WPO - SOTA Mountain Goat
    • Free Foundation Training Books for Australian Amateur Radio Students
    • Radio Ham Takes on Department of Justice
    • ITU Strengthening Emergency Telecommunications in the Americas
    • GQRP Club Founder the Rev. George Dobbs, G3RJV, SK
    • State of the Hobby Survey 2019
    • BYLARA Launches New Bulletin Publication
    • RSGB AGM Online Voting
    The ICQ Podcast can be downloaded from http://www.icqpodcast.com

    upload_2019-3-17_19-31-9.png
     
    KB7AZJ, SV3IRG, KE9OL and 1 other person like this.
  2. K8ZT

    K8ZT XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    KU4FL likes this.
  3. G1ZRN

    G1ZRN Ham Member QRZ Page

    KU4FL likes this.
  4. AG6ZZ

    AG6ZZ Ham Member QRZ Page

    I can't find any links to the kit itself.
     
  5. N4CAX

    N4CAX Ham Member QRZ Page

    KM5BOR and K0GOV like this.
  6. K4FMH

    K4FMH Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Thanks KG4YUS! I've asked Colin Butler to add a link the show's description at icqpodcast.com. Sorry for this omission! We appreciate your listening to the show.

    73 de K4FMH
     
  7. N2OBS

    N2OBS Ham Member QRZ Page

    While reading the 2 meter side, there's no 5 khz step? Is this correct?
     
  8. AD0HT

    AD0HT Ham Member QRZ Page

    it appears so:

    User can select step from 12.5 kHz, 100 kHz, 1 MHz and 10 MHz with a short press to encoder switch.

    and:

    Frequency coverage from 134 MHz to 480 MHz with 12.5 kHz spacing*
     
  9. N5KBP

    N5KBP XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    They are using the DRA818 module which is available in either a vhf or uhf model but not both. As far as the step size goes I'm sure the 12.5 step size comes from the uhf instructions. Even if that is not the case it looks like the source is available. Editing the step size should be very simple to do.
     
  10. KC9DAX

    KC9DAX Ham Member QRZ Page

    do you have the schematic to that radio
     
  11. KC9DAX

    KC9DAX Ham Member QRZ Page

    kc9dax vernon
     
  12. WU3U

    WU3U Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I bought one of these kits and built it. It can be built in the matter of a long evening. I will eventually post a You Tube video describing the radio. The guys a AX elektronika have been very nice to deal with. I have been testing some upgraded firmware that is newer than what was shipped with the radio. You can now enter your local repeater frequencies, PL's and offsets. I'm surprised how many local repeaters that I can bring up with just 1 watt on my outdoor antenna. I ran it into my RM Italy 85w VHF amp and it puts out about 20w. 1 watt is just not quit enough drive for the RMI amplifier to put out full power.

    A few friends have asked me why I didn't spend that same money and buy a couple of Chinese radios. I think there's something to be said for soldering a bunch of parts together and having a radio that you can use and say that you built. The DRA818 chip is a good surface mount chip to get your feet wet with being that it's easy to tack down and solder in place. It's about the size of two regular size postage stamps situated end to end.

    You'll need to have an AVR programmer to upgrade the firmware and then they give you a program to upload to a nano which turns the nano into a serial programmer. You'll need the nano in order to program your own presets into the radio. I think most people that are into modern day kit building already have those two items around but both are inexpensive if you have to buy them. They will also point you in the right direction of a free windows program to do the channel programming. A simplex frequency can be entered in on the fly without an external programmer or you can enter in multiple simplex frequencies via the computer into the presets for quick access at a later date.

    The receive audio sounds very good with the built in speaker and I even connected the audio output to my Beats Pill speaker and the sound was even better. This will be fun for some 2 meter hill topping with my Elk antenna. I repurposed a dynamic CB mic for use as the microphone. It is very lightweight and I think the current draw at 1w was right around 1 amp. I didn't test it at the .5w level. There is an internal jumper for output power which would be easy to wire to an external switch if necessary.

    Here's a picture of my board prior to me adding the pins for programming which go just above the larger of the two IC's. I also changed the mic wiring shown here over to a short piece of coax that they provided with the radio in order to keep noise out. I missed that on their original instructions and quickly found out why it was provided with the kit.

    Curt M.

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    Last edited: Apr 17, 2019
    AD5CA likes this.

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