Hi Paul (M0BMN) From kanga here, thanks for the nice review, let me answer a few questions people have asked. The receiver does use the ne602/612 chip, why? well its a well tested chip that although now getting hard to find in DIL format can still be obtained as a SMD device from a number of source, I now supply the SMD version but already mounted on a small adapter board that allow it to by used like a standard chip. By the way you can get copy NE612 from a number of sources, I tried a few and 75% of the ones i tried didn't work, BUT if you are after these chips and you cant get ay original ones try the copy SMD version, I have recently bought 50 to play with, I expected about the same success rate but found 100% of them worked just as good as the original ones I use, the markings differ but I was surprised that they worked so well . Back to the questions, the circuit, yes I will be happy to update the instructions with that so I will this weekend. Its similar to the sudden, the sudden was a kit Kanga also offered in the past but now we are using a different VFO arrangement and by selecting the varicap diode to install you can cover the bottom half (CW) or the top half (SSB) section of 40m, the two trimmers allow the range to be adjusted , you can set the top freq received with the high trimer and the lowest received freq with the low trimer, more use on CW if you want to limit the tuning range to be say 7.000-7.040mHz for example, that way the tuning is more bandspread. The 3 pins under the headphone socket, what are they for? well your right , i didn't explain that at all, another change to the instructions needed! The pins have a 2 way header plug, install as shown uses the output from the voltage reg to be used with the varicap diode circuit, that gives lower tuning range but is very stable as slight changes in battery voltage on high signal peaks could cause chirp on the rx audio , the selection of this as shown will stop that problem. if you simply must have the widest tuning range possible move the jumper over to the other side and now you are using the full voltage from the battery , it may not be so stable but will give you a extra few KHz range. Looks like i need to update the instructions with more info . Thanks for the heads-up! 73 Paul M0BMN Kanga Products
Thank you so much Paul. I very much appreciate this. And also for the info on the pins as that was the only thing that made me wonder why is it there ? now I know. The thing about extending the tuning range is explained in the instructions... you just can't make the "connection" between that info and the three pins. Now it all makes sense to me. If is ok... I will copy paste this comment in the blog article as well just in case it helps the blog readers as well. Cheers and have a fantastic weekend. 73, YO6DXE. P.S. Meanwhile I fixed the issue on the audio output ( mono/stereo ) and it works fantastic. It was just a bad contact inside the connector, most probably due to soldering/unsoldering it too many times.
I honestly didn't thought of making a video about this one. But I also searched for videos and found only a few. Considering that is such a nice little receiver... I thought it would be nice to make a video. This way more people get to enjoy it as much as I do )).
Thanks once again for an interesting and useful video. I have built a few experimental receivers, but I am always looking for better ideas. When you do know enough Morse to get on the air, maybe I will hear you. I am not a fast operator and I would always be happy to have a QSO at any speed with a fellow home-brew enthusiast. Best wishes.... ZL3ABX
Thank you so much Stephen. I am pretty sure I won't be too fast either 😅😅. I would be happy to have as many QSO's as possible with my fellow UA-cam friends. Its always nice to hear on air familiar callsigns. 73, YO6DXE.
Chip, i does seem strange that Kanga missed the function of the shorting pins on the board. They seem to be next to the volume pot, so maybe they are a function of the audio amp maybe. Less or more audio? Stereo or mono phones?
Possible. But because I didn't know what exactly they do... I didn't want to mess around with them... just in case. So I don't mess up anything 😅😅. I will try to figure out what they do. I can't find anything in the instructions I downloaded. 73 Nigel.. we chat soon. Bed time here ))
The schematic ? I had it figured out at the end by looking at the traces of the PCB board. But it would be nice if it was by default in the users manual. I mean for others buying the kit... it didn't bother me much personally. 73, YO6DXE
Yes it was. Is an older schematic I guess that is the reason. I think you can still find NE602... but for sure no one knows where they are made ))). Too bad they discontinued such a nice little IC.
Thank you so much. Ehh it depends hahaha... some are some not so much. It depends on how much free time I have to make them and how much I have to work on that particular project. I try my best to make them better. 73, YO6DXE.
Hi Paul (M0BMN) From kanga here, thanks for the nice review, let me answer a few questions people have asked.
The receiver does use the ne602/612 chip, why? well its a well tested chip that although now getting hard to find in DIL format can still be obtained as a SMD device from a number of source, I now supply the SMD version but already mounted on a small adapter board that allow it to by used like a standard chip. By the way you can get copy NE612 from a number of sources, I tried a few and 75% of the ones i tried didn't work, BUT if you are after these chips and you cant get ay original ones try the copy SMD version, I have recently bought 50 to play with, I expected about the same success rate but found 100% of them worked just as good as the original ones I use, the markings differ but I was surprised that they worked so well .
Back to the questions, the circuit, yes I will be happy to update the instructions with that so I will this weekend. Its similar to the sudden, the sudden was a kit Kanga also offered in the past but now we are using a different VFO arrangement and by selecting the varicap diode to install you can cover the bottom half (CW) or the top half (SSB) section of 40m, the two trimmers allow the range to be adjusted , you can set the top freq received with the high trimer and the lowest received freq with the low trimer, more use on CW if you want to limit the tuning range to be say 7.000-7.040mHz for example, that way the tuning is more bandspread.
The 3 pins under the headphone socket, what are they for? well your right , i didn't explain that at all, another change to the instructions needed!
The pins have a 2 way header plug, install as shown uses the output from the voltage reg to be used with the varicap diode circuit, that gives lower tuning range but is very stable as slight changes in battery voltage on high signal peaks could cause chirp on the rx audio , the selection of this as shown will stop that problem. if you simply must have the widest tuning range possible move the jumper over to the other side and now you are using the full voltage from the battery , it may not be so stable but will give you a extra few KHz range.
Looks like i need to update the instructions with more info . Thanks for the heads-up!
73 Paul M0BMN
Kanga Products
Thank you so much Paul. I very much appreciate this. And also for the info on the pins as that was the only thing that made me wonder why is it there ? now I know. The thing about extending the tuning range is explained in the instructions... you just can't make the "connection" between that info and the three pins. Now it all makes sense to me. If is ok... I will copy paste this comment in the blog article as well just in case it helps the blog readers as well. Cheers and have a fantastic weekend. 73, YO6DXE.
P.S. Meanwhile I fixed the issue on the audio output ( mono/stereo ) and it works fantastic. It was just a bad contact inside the connector, most probably due to soldering/unsoldering it too many times.
Cheking videos about this RX, I was surprised how few reviews present in the UA-cam.
Finally you solved this problem by adding your video 🎉
I honestly didn't thought of making a video about this one. But I also searched for videos and found only a few. Considering that is such a nice little receiver... I thought it would be nice to make a video. This way more people get to enjoy it as much as I do )).
Thanks once again for an interesting and useful video. I have built a few experimental receivers, but I am always looking for better ideas. When you do know enough Morse to get on the air, maybe I will hear you. I am not a fast operator and I would always be happy to have a QSO at any speed with a fellow home-brew enthusiast. Best wishes.... ZL3ABX
Thank you so much Stephen. I am pretty sure I won't be too fast either 😅😅. I would be happy to have as many QSO's as possible with my fellow UA-cam friends. Its always nice to hear on air familiar callsigns. 73, YO6DXE.
Chip, i does seem strange that Kanga missed the function of the shorting pins on the board. They seem to be next to the volume pot, so maybe they are a function of the audio amp maybe. Less or more audio? Stereo or mono phones?
Possible. But because I didn't know what exactly they do... I didn't want to mess around with them... just in case. So I don't mess up anything 😅😅. I will try to figure out what they do. I can't find anything in the instructions I downloaded. 73 Nigel.. we chat soon. Bed time here ))
If you contact kanga they will send you one in pdf format...
The schematic ? I had it figured out at the end by looking at the traces of the PCB board. But it would be nice if it was by default in the users manual. I mean for others buying the kit... it didn't bother me much personally. 73, YO6DXE
If you have problems with obtaining a schematic, let me know, and I will send you it... have a good day👍
@peterarmitage5357 Thank you so much Peter. Yes if you want I wouldn't mind at all. 73, YO6DXE
How come it has an NE602? Wasn't it discontinued?
Yes it was. Is an older schematic I guess that is the reason. I think you can still find NE602... but for sure no one knows where they are made ))). Too bad they discontinued such a nice little IC.
nice one!
Thanks buddy. I love it 😁... I was not expecting it to work so well. 73, YO6DXE.
Do not, repeat, do not leave that Duracell better in the radio, you will be very upset as they leak very often.
I usually don't leave batteries inside by default. Lesson learned in the past... valid for any brand not just Duracell 😅😅. Thank you 😁.
@@dxexplorer Good. DCells are at that top of the leakage list. At one time they were the best.
@DCDura Ohh yes. I have bad memories with them ))).
I don't leave batteries inside stuff because I usually don't have more than 2 or 3 good batteries, so I use them for multiple circuits haha
@bobi_lopataru Hahahaha. Good point 😅😅
I am gonna say your videos are way better than it was in the past. good luck in future. I am really enjoying your videos.4L1LAT
Thank you so much. Ehh it depends hahaha... some are some not so much. It depends on how much free time I have to make them and how much I have to work on that particular project. I try my best to make them better. 73, YO6DXE.