Back when Halted Specialties Company (HSC) was in business in the SF Bay
Area I bought a PIXIE2e kit from them for $14.95. It is a crystal
controlled direct conversion transceiver using only a 2N2222 oscillator
and LM386 audio amp on a 1" x 2" PCB. It came with crystals for 80m and
40m. RF output 200-300 mW with a 9v battery. I never built it and dug
the kit out of my "archives." I'd be glad to offer it up as a design or
evaluation candidate.
73,
Brian, K0DTJ
On 10/17/2019 11:05, Wayne Burdick wrote:
Hi all,
Someone recently told me that he'd benefitted throughout his life from learning
Morse code as a teen. Ham radio helped him cope. He's gone on to promote Morse
because it can help kids with certain cognitive or social issues. Such problems
are exacerbated by social media, these days. We all know of teens who've ended
up ostracized or worse.
He was wondering what the ham community may be able to do for them.
I proposed a simple ($5-$10), unlicensed CW transceiver (kit or assembled or both) that
would put out maybe 1 milliwatt. It would serve as a code-practice oscillator for solo
use. But with a short wire hanging from the PCB, kids could work "DX" -- like
across a room, or better yet, outdoors.
This got his attention. I went on to describe a scenario that he found very plausible,
based on his experience with Morse advocacy: You hand kids the little modules (just a PCB
with a built-in 4x AAA battery pack, code key, antenna wire, and cheap earbuds), and ask
them to try sending/receiving a few letters. The complete code would be silkscreened onto
the PCB. After they try this, you say, "Now see how far apart you can get and still
copy you friend's signal." This is where the magic happens, at least for those of us
who have been leveraging action-at-a-distance ourselves for many years :) It takes
things a step beyond ordinary code practice. Connects kids to other kids. At best it
could serve as a bridge to a world outside themselves.
I'm picturing the little rig as SA602 based, with one crystal for TX and one
for RX, running so little power than licensing is a non-issue. Frequency? TBD.
Something available in cheap fundamental crystals from Digikey. Each one would
have its crystals offset slightly from the others, so the effect of having a
number of them in one room might be a bit like being on a crowded CW band.
Picking out the pitch of a signal of interest and copying it is a skill many of
us have learned. I'm sure kids who are motivated would be able to do it as well.
It should not have debilitating clicks or thumps when keyed. The only control
should be for volume. It should be full break-in, which at this power level is
easily obtained.
This is a project I would gladly take on myself if not for my
greater-than-full-time commitments to Elecraft products. I'm hoping there's a
tinkerer out there with more free time who could start from a minimal
description and design the little rig. The gentleman I spoke to has been
frustrated over the years in trying to get his message out, and in trying to
find ways to take Morse code to a wider range of kids. He felt that this idea
had a lot of merit.
If you're interested in this project, or know of something that matches this
description that's already available, please contact me directly.
73,
Wayne
N6KR
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