That's quite lively, but this simple set has a far too wide an audio response. There are some interesting tweaks that can be done around the LM386 to address this somewhat.
joblessalex , Many HAVE made QSO's with the Pixie. I did use my 40-meter Rockmite with about 1/3 watt and Xtal-control to make 67 QSO's a while back.. It IS possible, but we are so far down in the sunspot cycle-- NOW would be a real challenge. My next- door neighbor is a ham...I could give him a call :). 73's.
Hi, Ray, thanks for your comments. The Pixie II is the very inexpensive XCVR Kit from China offered on EBay. I have no schematic for it. If you jump down a couple of comments, I told some me one how to add the VXO by adding in a Polyvaricon to the negative leg of the crystal. The VXO can then be switched in and out, by shorting out the Polyvaricon. The audio amp was simply cannibalized from a 1-watt , $10.00 boom cube, also available on EBay. Hope this helps. 73's de Rick.
I'm studying now for my Technician's License. I bought a Pixie on EBay (that I have not yet assembled) just to practice soldering. Your rig with the key and audio amp sounded like a great idea. I hope to make a good copy. Thanks for the help. 73
William Grice , for the 1-watt audio amp., I just cannibalized a $ 10 boom cube (available on Amazon) and laid it out on a sheet of clear plastic used in packaging. This plastic layer can be bent to fit inside the tin on top of the Pixie PCB.. The boom cube then connectes directly to the Pixie II audio output. The VXO was created from a small Polyvaricon capacitor (Qrpkits.com) that connected between one leg of the Xtal and where it have plugged into its ground connection. A simple switch then would short out the Polyvaricon and bring the Xtal only back into the circuit. 73's.
If you were to build and sell these, how much would each unit cost? What would the price be for the transceiver itself and what price for the transceiver plus antenna and everything someone would need to get on the air?
The Transceiver itself was built from the Chinese Pixie II kit sold on EBay for around 7 bucks. I added the cube 1-watt amplifier and tore it away from its plastic square enclosure. The cube-also available on EBay cost around $10. The polyvaricon capacitor came from qrpkits. The rest is homebrew, including the Morse key, added a few switches and a length of wire for the antenna. You can order the parts as described and build one yourself for under $25. 73’s.
Have several, lightning struck my shack dead on. Killed my stuff. pixie to the rescue. Then finally got on my feet.. the pixie's have a reserved place on my table. de kv4li
I have one pixie for 3.960 that receives on sideband and transmits on cw. Have had many comments (some like get off here with that junk) that are favorable. Greg KA8ZAF
I love it, can you send me the audio amplifier project?
Best Pixie ever, Thanks
That's quite lively, but this simple set has a far too wide an audio response. There are some interesting tweaks that can be done around the LM386 to address this somewhat.
Wow👍nice job.
Very nice:) I`ll have to build such a toy:)
73
Not even a peek inside?! 😉
Good video! Thank you!
Let's see a contact with it.
joblessalex , Many HAVE made QSO's with the Pixie. I did use my 40-meter Rockmite with about 1/3 watt and Xtal-control to make 67 QSO's a while back.. It IS possible, but we are so far down in the sunspot cycle-- NOW would be a real challenge. My next- door neighbor is a ham...I could give him a call :). 73's.
laseraddict777 Hah! I've made 1w voice half way across the states, 1w jt65 to Australia. Just wanna see a pixie do something.
nice video
I know this is four years old but do you have plans or a schematic diagram on this rig? The area to wind an antenna is brilliant.
Hi, Ray, thanks for your comments. The Pixie II is the very inexpensive XCVR Kit from China offered on EBay. I have no schematic for it. If you jump down a couple of comments, I told some me one how to add the VXO by adding in a Polyvaricon to the negative leg of the crystal. The VXO can then be switched in and out, by shorting out the Polyvaricon. The audio amp was simply cannibalized from a 1-watt , $10.00 boom cube, also available on EBay. Hope this helps. 73's de Rick.
I'm studying now for my Technician's License. I bought a Pixie on EBay (that I have not yet assembled) just to practice soldering. Your rig with the key and audio amp sounded like a great idea. I hope to make a good copy. Thanks for the help. 73
which audio amplifier and VXO tuner was used on this and how did you tie in the second layer of circuitry to the Pixie board?
William Grice , for the 1-watt audio amp., I just cannibalized a $ 10 boom cube (available on Amazon) and laid it out on a sheet of clear plastic used in packaging. This plastic layer can be bent to fit inside the tin on top of the Pixie PCB.. The boom cube then connectes directly to the Pixie II audio output. The VXO was created from a small Polyvaricon capacitor (Qrpkits.com) that connected between one leg of the Xtal and where it have plugged into its ground connection. A simple switch then would short out the Polyvaricon and bring the Xtal only back into the circuit. 73's.
If you were to build and sell these, how much would each unit cost? What would the price be for the transceiver itself and what price for the transceiver plus antenna and everything someone would need to get on the air?
The Transceiver itself was built from the Chinese Pixie II kit sold on EBay for around 7 bucks. I added the cube 1-watt amplifier and tore it away from its plastic square enclosure. The cube-also available on EBay cost around $10. The polyvaricon capacitor came from qrpkits. The rest is homebrew, including the Morse key, added a few switches and a length of wire for the antenna. You can order the parts as described and build one yourself for under $25. 73’s.
Have several, lightning struck my shack dead on. Killed my stuff. pixie to the rescue. Then finally got on my feet.. the pixie's have a reserved place on my table. de kv4li
Does the Pixie have room to put more Radio Crystals than just the one?
deltafour1212 no
I have one pixie for 3.960 that receives on sideband and transmits on cw. Have had many comments (some like get off here with that junk) that are favorable. Greg KA8ZAF