The Wireless Amateur Experimenter

The Wireless Amateur Experimenter Group

The BARC WAX Group

[ QRP ]

Requirements for membership:

Minimum of Basic Amateur Radio qualification with HF privileges
Must already know or be willing to learn morse code
Must know or be willing to learn basic soldering and kit construction skills
Must build and be able to operate a simple low power (QRP) HF CW transceiver and have made several contacts on the air
Must enjoy being a Ham Radio Operator
Must enjoy helping other Hams
New applicants will be considered to be Associate Members until they have proven their skills by building and operating their own CW QRP transceiver

One example of a good low cost HF QRP rig that you can build, is the Small Wonder Labs RockMite40 http://www.smallwonderlabs.com/.
One popular morse code instruction program is the G4FON Koch Trainer from http://www.g4fon.net/ .
If you don’t have HF privileges, re-write the Basic exam with an 80% mark.

To get an idea of what the original Wireless Amateur Experimenter was, read “From Spark to Space, the Story of Amateur Radio in Canada”. This is required reading for WAX members, so as to understand how and why Amateur Radio came into existence in Canada. It can be downloaded from: http://www.barriearc.com/Spark2Space.pdf (this is a 42MB file).

Another article on the history of Amateur Radio (from an American viewpoint) is The History of Ham Radio. If you've wondered where the term HAM came from, read Word Origins - Ham.

The purpose of the WAX Group is to try to bring back to the club some of the original essence of the Amateur Radio Operator, or Wireless Amateur Experimenter as we were originally called. Every Ham should have the opportunity to experience the thrill of making his first contact on a ham station that he built himself!

The group will meet for “build sessions” so that new members can help each other in constructing their QRP CW rig, antenna, antenna matching unit or other equipment. We will also be providing help in learning morse code. As a group, we are hoping to have periodic trips to a city park to setup and operate our QRP equipment - an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the fun of Ham Radio to the general public.

Once qualified, you will be issued a WAX membership number and receive a certificate like this one.

Al Duncan – VE3RRD
WAX membership #1
email: ve3rrd (at) rac (dot) ca

The RockMite 40 Step-by-Step Assembly Manual - an excellent construction guide by NE1RD.

RM 40 Step-by-Step manual notes - corrections and additional info

The Small Wonder Labs Rockmite 40 Instruction Manual

The SWL RockMite Connectors/Controls kit

The SWL Rockmite Supplement and Troubleshooting Guide

Workbench Hints and More Hints - lots of good ideas for the kit builder from DL2BQD

K7QO's QRP Laboratory Notebook - many good equipment homebrewing ideas (8MB pdf)

The Handyman's Guide to Homebrew Construction Practices Part 1 - by NA5N

The Handyman's Cuide to Homebrew Construction Practices Part 2 - by NA5N

Crystal Sets to Sideband rev12 - by K0IYE (13.5 MB pdf ebook)

The new DXer's handbook - by K7UA

Construction tips - use PC board to make an enclosure - by AA7EE

If you don't have PowerPoint on your computer to be able to use the BC-1 drilling template (link on the right), install the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer (just Google it)

Comments on choosing a first kit to build:
Hopefully members of the WAX Group who build a RockMite 40 will try building other, possibly more complex, kits in the future. Members already comfortable with kit building can try something more complicated, as their first WAX Group project, if they wish to.

Important concepts behind the formation of The Wireless Amateur Experimenter Group are:

Inspiring both new and old Hams to build something themselves (not just going to a ham radio store or a Hamfest and buying something ready to plug-in and use). You miss a whole part of what Ham Radio is if you only follow the "plug-and-play" philosophy. In the case of us "old timers", it may have been many years since we soldered up a radio project.
Choosing something to build as a first project that is simple enough so that it will be completed in a reasonable amount of time and not cause frustration/failure.
Choosing a kit that is cheap enough so that everyone can play, not just the fortunate few.
An opportunity for all WAX Group members to learn how to solder and build a kit (if they haven't already had an opportunity to learn these skills).
An opportunity for members to learn CW, or brush up on their CW skills if they haven't used this mode for a while.
Building something that can get members active on HF (just being active on repeaters or even on IRLP/EchoLink is a very limited view of what Ham Radio can be). You are missing out on another whole aspect of Ham Radio if you don't take advantage of your HF privileges.
An opportunity for members to learn how to make simple wire antennas for HF. Why pay a lot of money for someone else to put some wire together to make an antenna when you can do it?
An opportunity for more hams to get involved in a different kind of club activity.
A chance to feel the sense of accomplishment when you finish a project that you made yourself and it works. Even if it doesn't work the first time, there is a further sense of accomplishment in figuring out what's wrong and fixing it.
An opportunity to get together with others in a park or other "in the field" location to set up your HF QRP station and have fun making a few QSO's, or explaining Ham Radio to interested on-lookers.
A chance to feel the excitement when you make your first QSO with a transceiver and antenna that you built yourself. I find that every QSO I make with my RockMite 40 is a more exciting and satisfying experience than a QSO on my commercially manufactured transceiver.

73, AL - VE3RRD, WAX #1

Want to increase your chances of making contacts with your QRP rig when competing with the "big guns", read the article by K8ZT: Top Secret QRP Tips - for QRPers only

Pictures from a WAX Group "build session" -

WAX Group members hard at work on their kits. It takes a lot of concentration to count the turns of 24AWG wire on an FT37-43 toroid!

Left to right: Bob VA3BNC, Robert VE3QTH, Dave VE3ILA, Joe VE3GSL, Werner VE3DIL, and Al VE3RRD wearing the magnifier hood.

Two more WAX Group members, left to right: Dave VA3WHI and Tom VE3THR. Missing from the empty seat is Jack VE3RDQ who was taking the pictures.

I finished building my QRP rig and it works, so now what do I do?

A really fun thing to do is to join some of the numerous QRP Clubs, many offer free membership and most organize on-air contests or other activities for their members.

The Flying Pigs QRP Club International is one of the popular ones, their motto is "We're Here to Have Fun" - http://www.fpqrp.com/ . They have a monthly CW contest for members called the "Run for the Bacon" held every third Sunday night of every month at 9 PM Local time in New York City (Eastern Time). This contest runs for two hours until 11 PM local time in New York City.
Another is the North American QRP CW Club http://naqcc.info/ , they also hold monthly contests called the NAQCC Sprint.
The New England QRP Club http://newenglandqrp.org/ holds "QRP Afield" each year on the 3rd Saturday of September.
The NorCal QRP Club http://www.norcalqrp.org/index.php sponsors a contest called the "Zombie Shuffle" (Zombies don't sprint!) held on the Friday closest to Halloween each year. You can read more about it at: http://qrp.kd4ab.org/2000/001019/0031.html and http://www.zianet.com/qrp/ZOMBIE/Zombie.htm and can download your own Zombie badge from: http://www.zianet.com/qrp/ZOMBIE/zombiebadge.pdf
The QRP Amateur Radio Club International http://www.qrparci.org/ does charge for membership, but the annual dues include a nice quarterly magazine. QRPARCI also sponsors a number of contests each year.
Take a look at the N2CQ QRP Contest Calendar at: http://www.amqrp.org/contesting/contesting.html to find out about many other QRP contests for CW and other modes.

How about getting out of the house and taking your QRP rig on a hike, or a trip to the lake, cottage etc. If you are operating from a provincial/state or national/federal park, then you can take part in P.O.T.A (Parks On The Air), where members are recognized for being the first to activate a park, see their Yahoo Group at: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/p_o_t_a_/ . There is also an international group called the World Flora Fauna Foundation http://www.wff44.com/en/rules/ .
If you are really lucky and have access to mountains that are recognized by SOTA (Summits on the Air) http://www.sota.org.uk/ , you have a chance to activate a summit and become the rare sought-after station that other hams want to contact. Clubs such as GORC (the Great Outdoors Radio Club). http://www.wa3wsj.org/GORC.html , and the Polar Bear QRP Club (operate outdoors in the winter) http://www.n3epa.org/Pages/PolarBear.htm can provide new ideas for outdoor QRP operations.

Other possibilities are to activate a lighthouse http://wlol.arlhs.com/ , or an offshore island recognized by IOTA (Islands on the Air) http://www.rsgbiota.org/index.php . You could also activate one of the many interior islands of Canada recognized by CISA (Canadian Islands Award Program) http://www.qsl.net/ve3tpz/cisa/ .

If you want to find out what QRP stations are active, check QRPspots at: http://www.qrpspots.com/ . This is also a good way to advertise your own QRP activity whether at home or when you are heading out to have fun.

The latest project that will be "tackled" by several of the WAX Group members is the construction of the Tony Parks KB9YIG Softrock Ensemble RXTX SDR (Software Defined Radio) 1W QRP transceiver. You can try to order this US $74 kit from his website at http://www.kb9yig.com/ but he only sells them in batches of maybe 20 units at a time, and these disappear in a matter of minutes from the time they show up. We managed to purchase 5 kits for the five of us that will be building it for the 20m, 30m, 40m configuration. The assembly information can be found at http://www.wb5rvz.com/sdr/ensemble/ , WB5RVZ's builder notes can be found at http://www.wb5rvz.com/sdr/common/index.htm , and more information/support is available on the Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40/ . A 16W RF amp that could be used with this 1W transceiver kit is found at http://openhpsdr.org/wiki/index.php?title=PENNYWHISTLE with more information at http://www.dspradio.org/df7tv/sr1004 .

A couple of articles to help understand how SDR radios work can be found at: The SDR Concept and at http://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/frank_radio_sdr.htm

A Basic CW Operating Manual - by KB0OBU. You are ready to make that first contact. Your palms may be sweating and your heart rate may be racing. That’s ok. We’ve all been there. Here is some help with establishing that first contact.

Ideas and Projects for QRP - prepared by RK3ZK. A lot of good info on antenna projects from AntenTop.

QRP Transceivers and PA's from Accessible Parts - prepared by RK3ZK from AntenTop.

The New Jersey QRP Club ( http://www.njqrp.org/index.html ) holds very interesting online technical meetings for anyone interested in homebrewing equipment, or just learning more about subjects such as antennas. They meet periodically using TeamSpeak3 client software (free from http://teamspeak.com/ ). MP3 recordings complete with comments and notes of previous meetings can be downloaded from: http://www.njqrp.org/teamspeak/TeamspeakChat.html

Click on the links below

RockMite circuit board
Link to RockMite Yahoo group